GaryBaumgarten's Open Salon Blog

2 contrasting views of Christmas gifts

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:12:45 -0500

The images are a bit embarrassing.

In cities across the United States, people fighting in line over a chance to get the new Air Jordan $200 plus sneakers. Fights. Stabbings. Pepper spraying. Arrests.

Now, contrast that with an interview I conducted at about the same time. A story that got much less attention. One that I'm sure was being played out across the nation as well.

In Hazlet, New Jersey, a decade-old charity called RAINE, answering letters from needy children. Making sure each has a Merry Christmas. At least one gift under the tree.

Many of them also have clothing on their Christmas list. Not $200 plus sneakers though. Basics. Like bras. And socks.

And one, heartbreaking case, RAINE co-founder Patti Dickens told me. A boy, nine or 10 years old, asking for a blanket and a pillow for Christmas.

Which Christmas story - the fights over sneakers or the desperate pleas of needy children, ought we be focusing on?

2 amazing women and remembering John Lennon

Fri, 9 Dec 2011 12:12:13 -0500

Photo by Julie Baumgarten

Yesterday I participated in the domestic violence radio row at Liz Claiborne's Manhattan Fashion District headquarters.

Co-sponsored by Talker's Magazine, parent company of the Talk Radio News Service, the It's Time to Talk event brings radio show hosts from across the country together to talk with the nation's top experts on domestic violence.

Liz Claiborne just released a survey of college age women. Some of the results were pretty horrifying.

It found that nearly half of dating college women report having experienced violent or abusive threats of physical violence. More than one in five were the victims of actual physical or sexual abuse or threats of physical violence. And more than one-third o college students said they would not know how to get help on campus if they found themselves in an abusive relationship.

I had the opportunity to interview two women who are immersed in the issue of domestic violence. They come to it from two different directions.

Ann Burke is president and co-founder of the Love is Not Abuse Coalition and founder of the Lindsay Ann Burke Memorial Fund - named after her daughter - who - at the age of 21 - was murdered six years ago by an ex-boyfriend.

It was an emotional and difficult interview, I think for both Ann and myself. But it imparted to our audience so much information about the signs of abuse or impending abuse and how family and friends can best intervene and support the victim. Ann has learned through painful experience that some of the actions and reactions to abuse may seem counter-intuitive. And that it's very important that a woman in an abusive relationship get help from one of the organizations that have been established to assist dv victims. Counselors there, she says, are more adept at helping than private therapists because they are experts in the field.

For more information or to contact Ann, go to www.labmf.org.

The second interview was fascinating. Iconic documentary photographer Donna Ferrato became intimately aware of the problems of domestic violence by taking pictures. Of abused women. Of abusive men. Of cops intervening and making arrests.

The photos are gritty, raw and bring to light the dirty secret that's hidden behind walls and doors. They put faces, sometimes beaten and battered faces, to the statistics. They make you want to reach out and hug and support the women. And make you want to help put the men away. Her heralded book, Living with the Enemy, brings these stories to light. You can order Living with the Enemy by calling 212-367-7004.

Donna went beyond just documenting. She started Domestic Abuse Awareness, whose mission it is to end violence against women and children through awareness, education and action.

And she made an offer to the audience. To any woman in an abusive relationship. She'll put cameras up in the house and catch the abuser in the act.

Yesterday was also the anniversary of John Lennon's murder in 1980, so my daughter, her boyfriend and I gathered with others, representing multiple generations, at the Imagine mosaic at Central Park's Strawberry Fields, joining in song as musicians acoustically jammed one Lennon song after another.

A candle burned in Yoko Ono's window overlooking the park.

2 amazing women and remembering John Lennon

Fri, 9 Dec 2011 12:12:55 -0500

Photo by Julie Baumgarten

Yesterday I participated in the domestic violence radio row at Liz Claiborne's Manhattan Fashion District headquarters.

Liz Claiborne just released a survey of college age women. Some of the results were pretty horrifying.

I had the opportunity to interview two women who are immersed in the issue of domestic violence. They come to it from two different directions.

For more information or to contact Ann, go to www.labmf.org.

Donna went beyond just documenting. She started Domestic Abuse Awareness, whose mission it is to end violence against women and children through awareness, education and action.

And she made an offer to the audience. To any woman in an abusive relationship. She'll put cameras up in the house and catch the abuser in the act.

A candle burned in Yoko Ono's window overlooking the park.

Facebook the new town crier?

Wed, 7 Dec 2011 19:12:28 -0500

The other day I covered a horrific tragedy in Bayonne, New Jersey.

A domestic dispute - the guy walked into the house, opened fire and shot four people - three fatally - before turning the gun on himself.

As I said, a horrible, horrible story.

I got right on it, arriving while the scene was still "fresh." A small crowd had gathered. Looking for some immediate information I polled the gawkers.

"Do you know the people in that house? Did you see what happened?"

Answer: "No, I don't live on this block. I'm here because it's already on Facebook."

On Facebook?

Maybe 20, maybe 30 people, gathered at this tragic scene. Not because they have any direct connection with any of the people. But because they got the word on Facebook.

It's one thing to read about how social media motivates people - as in the Arab Spring demonstrations. It's another to see it in action.

And it's a bit humbling. That people are not just turning to the Internet for news. But to Facebook, of all places - at least for the initial burst of raw information.

I've been scooped before, of course. But never before by a program designed to keep in touch with friends.

An unanswered ethical question

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:11:40 -0500

Just as I went to air today on News Talk Online on the Paltalk News Network, CNN proclaimed "Breaking News."

The big news? Yet another woman has come forward to say she had a sexual relationship with Herman Cain.

This one says she had a long-term affair with the GOP presidential hopeful. So, whether this falls into the same category of the previous allegations - that Cain inappropriately and against the will of women over which he held control or sway - remains to be seen. But it prompted me to ask a question that, to my mind, went insufficiently answered.

That being, how is it that we become so righteously indignant over a politician or candidate's alleged or real sexual indiscretions but we seemingly fail to pause to consider the ethical or moral consequences of going to war?

Riley from the UK called to argue that the two issues are completely different. But I believe that misses the question's premise.

I just don't get why we are all over the private lives of politicians on moral grounds - but not the decision to put American lives at risk and the killings of thousands of people when the nation goes to war.

You'd think, with so much more at stake - like the lives of Americans and others, civilians included - than whether a politician can keep his zipper up - there's at least be some discussion of the morality.