lastly,ithinksomethingthatisimportanttoconsiderinthiscaseiswhattheultimategoalis.isitforcnntofirecafferty?toincreasethevisibilityofchinese-americans?toincreasetheirintegrationintoamericanlife?tocausecnnfinancialharmcommensuratewiththeharmfeltbymanychinese-americansasaresultofthecommentsthatweremade?oncethegoalisagreedupon,thenmaybethisstrategymayormaynotbeagoodidea.further,consideringyourgoalsmayalsoillustratewhetherthisstrategygoesfarenough.usually,socialactivistgroupsdonotrelysolelyonlitigation,butalsohaveamediastrategy,astrategyforcivildisobedience/directaction,fundraising,politicallobbying,etc.butallofthishastobebasedonwhatthegoalis.

lastnightireadaboutanumberofpeopleorganizingthemselvesinmakingnumeroussmallcourtclaimsinasituationwheretherewasanairportdevelopmentthatgreatlyincreasedthenoisepollutioninthenearbycommunity.ibelievethegoalofthosecoordinatedsuitswastomakethedevelopmentceaseoratleasttoreducethenoiselevels.

so,iwanttomakeasuggestionifimay.iwouldurgepeopletoconsiderfindingoutmoreinformationabouttheveryeffectiveandshrewdstrategysurroundingthefiringofdonimusforhiscallingtherutgerswomen’scollegebasketballteamabunchofnappyheadedhos.asirememberit,theyoungwomenheldaverydignifiedpressconference,andthentheirsupportersbeganacampaigninthepressandwithadvertiserstopressuretheradiostationandmsnbc,whichwasbroadcastingavideoversionofhisshow,tocancelhisshow.ithinktheadvertiserswerekeytobothmsnbc’sandtheradiostation’sdecisiontofirehim.(thoughheisbackontheaironanotherradioshownow.)similarly,theclintonsmanagedtogetatvcommentator(onmsnbcithink)suspendedwhenhesaidthatbillandhillarywerepimpingoutchelsea.soit’snotimpossibletoachieve,butnotably,neithercaseinvolvedthecourtssofarasiknow.

thetoughpartwillbetryingtogetleverageovercnn.idon’tthinkthatsmallclaimscourtssuitswillnecessarilydothetrick,especiallynotontheirown.ithinkamediaandactivismstrategyisprobablymoreeffective,butitmaybewellcomplementedbythe

strategyoutlinedinthatpost.iwouldjustbemorecautiousthanthewriterofthepostaboutthepossibilitiesofthesuccessofthestrategyorofcnn’scapacityandwillingnesstofightbackincourt.

stoptellinghertoeat!

mypartnerlost20lbsorsoinaspanofroughlyayearfrom2006to2007thankstoaverypainfulgallstone.shewasabletokeeptheweightoffsincethen.sincetheweightloss,she’sbeenbombardedwithcommentslike:

•oh,mygod!youaresoskinny!doyouevereat?

•oh,mygod!youarethin!eatsomething!

•oh,mygod!areyoueating?

oh,mygod!youshouldeat!

oh,mygod!ican’tevenlookatyou,youaresoskinny.

yougettheidea…

todayatwork,ireceiveda“911call”fromher,ofcourseiwasinthemiddleofameeting(asalways!)butthankgodiwasbornwiththemostunderstandingheartandtheultimatepatienceintheworld…iheardtheentirerantandhelpedcreateherdefense…

“youwouldn’tbelievewhatpeopleajustsaidtomewhileiwastakingbitesoutofabigtunasandwich!‘oh,mygod!doyoueat?’imean,hello!!!whatdoyouthinkiamdoingnow?”

“sam,honey,don’twasteyourenergywithvision-challengedpeople.”

“itisn’tthefirsttimethatpeoplesaidthesethingswhentheycanclearlyseei’meating.”

“…”

“whileifullyrealizethefactthatiamskinny,istilldon’tthinkthisisafairassumptionaboutmenoteating.”(samis5’8”,andcurrentlyabout112lbs)

“ofcoursethatisn’tfair,thesepeopledon’tknowyou,ignorethem.”

“well,idon’tgoaroundandtellpeopletochangewhattheydo.”

“ofcourseyoudon’t.”

“youknowwhat?amongpeoplewhotellmetoeat,someactuallymanagetosaythatandonlythattomeeverysingletimetheyseeme.theyseemewhilewalking,lookmeupanddown,andgo‘omg!youaresoskinny!’thentheywalkawayandcontinuetoshout,‘youshouldeatsomething!’repeateverytimetheyseeme.”

“well,maybetheyareuncomfortablewiththeirownweight.thoughit’snofaultofyoursthattheyarenothappywiththemselves,they’vedecidedtoeitherblameyouforbeingskinnyordemandthatyoueatsoyoucanbeplumpertomakethemselvesfeelbetter.”

“ironically,onepersonwhotoldmetoeatwastoldbyarandompersononcethatshewastoobig.sheprotested,‘whenhasitbecomeokayforpeopletosaythat?’well,whenhasitbecomeokayforpeopletoimplythatbecauseiamskinny,inolongereat?”

“…”

“you’dbettersaysomethingthatmakessenseandmakesmefeelbetter,andsaysomethingquick.”

“okay…youwantthediplomaticversionorthebitch-of-the-dayversion?”

“letmehearthebitchone.”

“k,youaskpeoplea,‘doiwalkbyyouswiftlyandtellyoutostopeatingbecauseyouaretoofat?becauseireallybelieveyoucouldbenefitfromlosingafewpoundsforaestheticandhealthreasons.”

“whilepeopleadoeshavethickskinandisusuallyoblivioustocriticism,idon’tthinksheisimmune.plus,imightgetfiredorfiredatbecauseofthat…solet’sheartheniceversion.”

"ok,tellthem…’peoplea,thereareseveralfactsaboutmethatyoudon’tknow’…

“fact#1,youcaneatawholelot,almostcompetitiveeatinglevel.ifyouweretrainedordecidedtogettrainedtobeacompetitiveeater,youwouldprobablyhaveagoodshotattop10.tellthemyou’venevermetanyoneinpersonthatyoucannotouteat,sounlesstheyarekobayashiorjoeychestnut,chancesareyoucanouteatthem.butyouweretrainedtobeamodelbefore,soyouareusedtoeatinasensibleportion,butkeepinmindasensibleportionisnotairplaneportion,it’stherightamountoffoodthatwillbringsufficientnutrientsoutoffood.”

(myheadisspinning,idon’tthinki’veeverchargedmybrainwiththismuchofspeed.)

“fact#2,tellthemyouwereneverconsideredbig,byusstandardsanyways.evenwhenyouatetoyourheart’scontent,atyourbiggest,youwereneverover130lbs.”

“three,youlovefood!especiallyfishandfruits.youregardwastingoffoodasadeadlysin…