good news in the news?

Ah, Saturday at midday. On our current schedule, it involves just coming in the house after swim classes a little after noon and dropping the assorted bags of towels, wet bathing suits and library books in the hallway (the library trip often gets squeezed in between classes since it's in the same area). Then it's a mad dash of lunch-making, drink-getting, table-setting, and tear-wiping (oh, the typical drama of two very tired toddlers!), before the lunch/story/nap routine. But, right in the middle of it all, there's the very small window of time when all three children are gorging on sandwiches and I can sit down and actually enjoy a quick bite myself. Today that meant a turkey and cheddar bagel sandwich with a tall glass of ice-cold Tang (if it's good enough for astronauts, it's certainly good enough for me), and as I was putting the finishing touches on my lunch plate, I had a glimmer of hope. Oh, how wonderfully fantastic it would be if the mail had already come and I had the latest Time magazine waiting for me only a step outside my front door. I could sit down and inhale this sandwich in 6 minutes, but have a brand-new magazine to read in that time. Joy of joys, I could see it peeking out from under the mailbox cover as I opened the door. A perfect lunch was in the cards.

Now, Time is up there with NPR for me, only in print and concentrated on Saturdays and Sundays. I'll look through it occasionally throughout the week, but I hit all the most interesting articles and features in the first two or three times I pick it up over the weekend. I have to admit that I read the more fun and entertaining articles and essays before tackling the heavier stuff, and I often find myself struggling to read the more despair-filled articles, whether it be on our dismal economic situation or pain and strife elsewhere in the world. Especially during my speed-lunch, I want to read things that are short, entertaining or at the very least, not horribly depressing.

Imagine my surprise, when I instead turned to an article that actually was... dare I say it... uplifting? An article focusing on business that didn't carry the major themes of greed, dishonesty and shady practices? A focus instead on the actions of a major pharmaceutical company that is making humane choices at the expense of its financial growth? Come again?

Yes, it's true, and you just have to read about what Novartis has been doing in the quest for malaria prevention around the world. In the print article, above the title is a heading: Corporate Conscience--a phrase I would have considered an absolute oxymoron before, but now have evidence to prove that it's not impossible.

Shocked and awed in a good way,