Charlie Rose

JamesHar66  03/30/2009 05:23 PM Report

I think the model of charity ‘bank’ targeting lending to enterprises that can scale in developing countries is a very interesting idea. Providing credit encourages sustainable and potentially growing business activity where as grants can sustain passivity. This is an interesting extension to the micro-credit work. I have started reading her book and happy to report she writes in a wonderfully accessible and engaging style.

Personally believe the sweater story – there are many impossible co-incidences one has experienced in life, as well her interview and her writing suggest strongly to me she is authentic.

J

bratschekind  03/28/2009 11:20 AM Report

By the way, the average height and weight of a 10 year old, the age at which she received the sweater, is 4'3" and 70 lbs. The average for a 14-15 year old, the average age for a freshman, is 5'3" and 110 lbs. (http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/height-weight-teens.shtml) How could anyone believe that she could still be wearing the same sweater as a freshman that she received as a ten year old? In her book, she claims that when she saw the sweater again in Rwanda, it was being worn by child approximately ten years old, but that it "hung so low it hid his shorts...and knobby knees...only his fingertips poked out." (I don’t know how she knew his knees were knobby since they were obscured?) However ten was the age at which she received the sweater and she claimed that she loved it and wore it all the time. Was she wearing a sweater that hung down below her knees? Does that make sense? It’s clear that Ms. Novogratz felt she needed a hook to hype her book. After all, she probably rationalized, what’s the harm, I’m doing such great work. A little embellishment won’t hurt anyone. She didn’t have one, so she invented one.

bratschekind  03/27/2009 03:15 PM Report

Abbiev, why would you suggest I don't like women? What is misogynistic about my observations?

1) You first point is that throwing out the sweater would be illogical. I agree with that.

2) How could her breasts have appeared “MAMMOTH” in high school? She couldn’t have been much thinner than she is now. Did you watch the video?

3) I never lost any clothes at school but if I did, I wouldn’t need my name in the label. I think I would be able to identify it by sight. Unless one went to a school for the blind?

4) Sorry, I haven't seen What Not to Wear but I doubt that’s a good source to buttress your argument. However, she got the sweater when she was 10 and got rid of it when she was a freshman. 12-13 is an average for 7th graders not a 9th grader. Also your argument that she may have remained petite is belied by Novogratz’ claim that she had grown prominent breasts.

5) I don't know anyone who has run up to a stranger and examined the tag in their clothing because it looks like something they used to own.

Maybe Jayson Blair wasn't the best example. Would you prefer James Frey?

So yes, you point out that it is possible to construct scenarios to explain every one of her claims but it requires a belief in the less likely over the likely As you begin to pile each additional unlikely occurrence upon another the story becomes incredulous beyond belief at least to me. If you believe it fine. I don't. And why attack my character (misogynistic) because you feel otherwise?

Abbiev  03/27/2009 11:14 AM Report

How truly bizarre are your comments bratschekind?!?!? Do you dislike all women?

1. Adolescent girls are not derived of logic but emotions so YES throwing out the sweater would FEEL good in that situation.

2. Her breast size as an adult has very little to do with how they appeared as a younger teen. Often girls develop on very thin bodies and it looks out of proportion and MAMMOTH in comparison. The word "snark" fits your comment better.

3. Mothers often write their childrens names on all their clothing - especially school clothes - because it is very easy to lose them. This is not at all unusual.

4. If you've watched any episode of "What Not to Wear" on TLC you would have seen it is VERY COMMON for women to have clothes from their pre-teen and teen years in their possession. Some women are petite enough that these clothes still fit and have "memories" attached to them. So it is not wildly strange that a sweater from age 9-10 would still be in use by a 12-13 year old and then also fit a MALE who is 10 years old in another part of the world. Nothing rings false in this issue.

5. Some clothes are so unique and meant so much that this reaction isn't strange at all.

And I also point to the other comments that the sweater story is the least important point she is trying to make. Why go to Jayson Blair?

Get a grip okay?!

robert  03/27/2009 07:18 AM Report

Type of person who wishes that the planet were only occupied by women.

bratschekind  03/26/2009 07:39 PM Report

REMant, I read you comments. They are well written and I agree with you 100%. However as important an issue as that is, do you really think that's as important as the veracity of the sweater story? (joke)

REMant  03/26/2009 06:48 PM Report

Well the sweater story fascinates to be sure, but read my comments about the substance under Ms Moyo's and Mr Singer's segments.

RWillis  03/26/2009 03:45 PM Report

True, it is a fantastic story. why does it have to be completely plausible? She is not a reporter. I think you have completely missed the point. She is trying to show how we in the US have a tendency to disregard people(s) is far away places because they are somehow different than us and other reasons. She is intent on convincing us that we are all interconnected more than we think. The blue sweater may be allegorical, but it is a powerful way to show how small the world is and how close we all really are. And how we should strive to take care of each other.

I hope she and her company have much success in her endeavors.

bratschekind  03/26/2009 03:17 PM Report

I'm sorry I find the whole story about the blue sweater totally implausible.

1) Lots of kids are made fun of because of their bodies. How does throwing away the clothing in any way rectify this or make any sense?

2) She claims she was being made fun of because of her breast size. What happened to them? Did she go through some type of reverse puberty?

3) If the sweater was so recognizable with it’s mountains and zebras why was it necessary to write her name in it? Who does that?

4) She first got the sweater when she was ten, but miraculously it still fit her when she was a buxom freshman, presumably 14 or 15 years old. (Even if it still did fit, what kid would want to wear the same clothes that they wore in elementary?) And then miraculously, it returned to it’s original size when she saw it ten years later, being worn by “a little boy”.

5) Who hasn’t at some point seen someone wearing an article of clothing similar to something they once owned? The natural reaction is, “oh, I used to own a shirt like that”, not to run up to the person and examine the tag which she remembered (ten years later) had conveniently been labeled with her name.

I could go on and on, like how implausible is it that the sweater would have ended up in Rwanda in the first place? It’s a great sounding story (a little too great) but I suspect that she might want to tone down her future writing a little, lest she end up like her former NY Times colleague Jayson Blair.