Blog
Provocative articles and stories about responsibility.
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Gone Baby Gone
Posted on March 10, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (108)
At 7:30 on a Monday morning, a teenage girl holding a newborn baby approached a bus stop in Sacramento. The bus stop is only a few miles from the California state capitol building, where a law called the “SSB” was enacted—the safely surrendered baby law. The SSB allows a desperate mother to give up an unwanted baby within three days of birth, no questions asked, no prosecution for child abandonment, and hopefully no infant left in a trash dumpster, the kind of tragic scenario the law was designed to discourage. Read full article »
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Dinner for Two
Posted on March 5, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (3)
Dinner for Two serves up good food for thought. When two chameleons literally get stuck in conflict, there’s a ripple effect throughout their previously peaceful rainforest home. Opportunities are lost. Relationships severed. Innocent bystanders suffer. And violence threatens. Sound familiar? Read full article »
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A Discussion with Dinner for Two Director, Janet Perlman
Posted on March 5, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (2)
For director Janet Perlman, responsibility means doing the right thing, “even when it’s inconvenient.” When the Oscar-nominated Emmy winner was asked to come up with an idea for a film about conflict resolution, she was immediately drawn to using animation. “It was the perfect subject for an animated film,” she explains, “since conflict is at the heart of most good stories.” Read full article »
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Hotel Rwanda Hilton?
Posted on March 3, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (33)
Soon after Paris Hilton’s 23-day jail stint related to DUI charges, she announced that she wanted to go to Rwanda to “help save some people’s lives.” The head of the charity group she was to accompany revealed that Ms. Hilton’s five-day African trip would be documented by a camera crew. Read full article »
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Seen on the Street
Posted on February 27, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (6)
Parental advisories abound these days. Toys are toxic. Cold medicine is dangerous. Sesame Street has an adults-only warning. Cowabunga! Is the letter of the day X, as in Rated? Read full article »
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The Decision
Posted on February 20, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (9)
The golden hour strikes without warning.The golden hour is the critical 60 minutes from the moment a life-threatening injury occurs to when the human body—if left untreated—starts shutting down on a trajectory toward death. Paramedics and other emergency responders encounter it as a matter of course. Read full article »
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Rehab
Posted on February 19, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (59)
By the time British singer Amy Winehouse received five Grammy Awards for “Rehab”—her autobiographical ode to dodging detox—the song had become Hollywood’s newest soundtrack. In the week before Rehab was named record of the year and song of the year, news reports noted that the actresses Eva Mendes, Kirsten Dunst, and Sean Young had all entered rehab, and that Pat O’Brien—host of a tabloid TV show that routinely reports on the rehab struggles of others— was suddenly in rehab himself. All of which prompted one culture-chronicling website to ask: Is rehab the new black? Read full article »
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Shame Game
Posted on February 18, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (7)
If you want to send a message, the old saying goes, use Western Union. In Arizona, authorities who want to send a message to drunk drivers are using public humiliation, by posting the drivers’ photos on a website and on huge highway billboards with this scarlet letter taunt: Drive Drunk…See Your Mug Shot Here. Read full article »
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From the Heart
Posted on February 14, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (6)
On Valentine’s Day, we have a tradition of saying “I love you.” But do we ever have a responsibility to say “I forgive you?” Experts in the study of forgiveness say we do, and that the act of forgiving is a skill we can all learn. Read full article »
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Table Guardians
Posted on February 13, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (4)
Being responsible can be life-changing. Profound. Noble. And annoying. What are we supposed to do when a stranger says “Excuse me, can you…Watch my things?” Read full article »
Categories
Recent Posts
- Safe Haven: Parents’ Bailout?
11/11/2008 - Paper or Plastic: When the Bill Comes Due
11/07/2008 - Vote: The Best Investment
11/03/2008 - Tony
10/30/2008 - The Responsibility Project Index
10/28/2008 - Criminalizing Motherhood?: Who’s to Judge
10/22/2008 - National Service: Do You Have a Responsibility to Help?
10/15/2008 - Jail for Sagging Pants: Fashion Police?
10/08/2008 - Hearing the Call
10/06/2008 - ‘Too Good’ to Play Baseball? Game Over
10/02/2008 - Children and Chores: How Much?
9/29/2008 - Renting a Dog: Barking Up the Wrong Tree?
9/24/2008 - Hurricane Hold-Outs: Rising Tide?
9/23/2008 - Neighborhood Watch: Do You Really Know Who People Are?
9/19/2008 - Teachers With Guns: Don’t Mess With Texas?
9/15/2008
Guest Authors
Now Playing
Tony Trailer
1 little boy.
1 lost teddy bear.
15 minutes to find it. Watch this film »
Tony
1 little boy.
1 lost teddy bear.
15 minutes to find it. Watch this film »
Interview with Tony director Grant Heslov
The director of Tony, Grant Heslov, discusses how he came up with the idea for the film and how it was brought to life. Watch this film »
Hot Seat
Wars have been fought over many things.
Seldom over an office chair. Watch this film »
Interview with Producer Paul Speaker
Paul Speaker discusses the film, Growing Up, that he and co-creators, Geoffrey O’Connor and Ken Yagoda made with The Responsibility Project in mind. Watch this film »
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