charity

"when i read people magazine about jessica simpson jetting to africa to help kids with facial deformities..., sure, i laughed. but then again, what was i doing to improve the lives of needy children in africa? reading people magazine? verily, then, jessica simpson traveled to kenya not for her sins but for mine. when a pop star inserts herself into world matters, she may seem ridiculous, but only because we are too -- because she has reminded us that we spend so much time on trivia that we ignore matters of life and death to other people." -- from an article "the year of charitainment" in the december 26th issue of time magazine by james poniewozik, pp 64-65.

interestingly enough, the pop star outraged charity organizations when she had to cut her ten-day "humanitarian" trip short - to just two days - with an excuse of being sick, in order to embark on a safari of the same length.