Sunday, July 3
You never forget your first time
Let me start off by thanking Sir Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Atlantic, for chartering one of his huge planes and letting me sneak on. Of course he does not know I was on board because I am joined by this lovely throng of anti-poverty activists and a gaggle of other media types. This is my first time to fly Virgin and I am stoked.

Branson showed up at JFK as I was snatching coldcuts and cheese wedges off the snack tray at the Virgin Upper Class lounge. He looks tanned, toothy, and exceedingly charismatic. He fits the profile of someone who has attempted to circumnavigate the globe in a hot-air balloon. In his autobiography, Losing My Virginity, he writes: "I do not believe in God, but as I sat there in the damaged [balloon] capsule, hopelessly vulnerable to the slightest shift in weather or mechanical fault, I could not believe my eyes."

I am kind of intrigued by thrill seekers who do not believe in God. With all due respect, why not touch base with the CEO upstairs? It can only help. Without wanting to sound flippant, He's not a bad one to have in the rolodex.

During the press conference, Branson made the comment that “Christianity has been bad for Africa” – one of the more silly comments made at the press conference. Within the context, he was talking about the reluctance, or downright opposition, that the Catholic Church has to condom distribution in Africa.

Are you seriously going to blame Christianity or the missionaries, faith-based doctors and nurses and teachers who built schools, hospitals and homes and cared for the sick and dying before rich celebrities gave a damn? Give me a break. If Branson, or Elton John for that matter, wants to cover the continent with condoms (airlifting Virgin Condoms?) who is standing in their way?

Oh well, I will get off my soapbox.

Most recently, Branson has been trying to muster up the business plan for commercial space travel (Virgin Galactic). If any one can pull this off, I imagine it will be Branson. He is like Donald Trump, only cooler. In addition to Virgin Atlantic, there is Virgin Rail, Virgin Megastores, Virgin Finance, Virgin Cola, etc.

Despite my cranky response to his comments about Christianity, I like Branson. He wandered around the plane taking pictures with the activists and got on the intercom periodically and chatted to passengers.

Virgin’s seats are a little cramped but the entertainment center for each customer is extraordinary. There are more than 20 movies available at anytime, along with TV shows, and an awesome musical library. The flight attendants are more than gorgeous. When they ask if you are interested in a spot of tea with that cute little British accent, you are ready to sip a spot of swampwater if she will be serving it.

Djimon Hounsou was at the JFK press conference. What a great guy. He is from the African nation of Benin. You may recognize him from Gladiator or Amistad. A few months ago, I had the chance to interview him at the junket for Constantine. Very thoughtful, contemplative, and purposeful.

Hounsou put a very big emphasis on the problem of corruption. This was interesting because there is a tendency amongst some of the anti-poverty activists to view talking about African governmental corruption (which in not a rumor, but a fact) as a dodge or an additional excuse not to do anything to help the poor. Djimon hit it head on. Of course he is angry about corruption in Africa because it only further denigrates and humiliates the poorest of the poor when children starve and fatcat African dictators have Swiss bank accounts and legions of specially handcrafted Mercedes.

"So many countries in Africa have not really had great leaders because of corruption, so I'm working with Bono in trying to find ways to get Afr ican scholars and African artists together to find solutions to end corruption in some of the places," Hounsou has said.

"We do need to improve in trading with the West and we do need to improve on an education level. We do need to end corruption... We need help, but more than anything, Africa needs to be able to trade with the West. That 's the only way we can be self-sufficient."

"The continent which stood for so much and was the cradle of life has become the cradle of death," says the Academy Award nominated actor. "Everybody has gone to Africa and everybody has drawn or gotten something from Africa. I think it's about time we gave something back to that continent."

He just concluded a recent fact-finding tour of Mali with Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair Campaign. “You know something is wrong when the world’s wealthiest countries and the world’s poorest countries are competing against each other in the same world market and yet the rich countries won’t play by the same rules that they themselves set,” he observed.

The flight was long and I watched Hitch and Team America. Not a bad way to pass the time away.

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