Tag: nelson mandela

2013 in Review: SAA’s Top 5

saa12302013(12/30/13)  It’s been a fast and furious year at Sex Across America and our parent company, Fallen Angel.  We’ve really enjoyed bringing you a weekly look at sex trends and breaking news this year and we want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the wonderful encouragement we’ve received throughout.

It’s truly a labor of love for us and, since we would like to keep this a free resource for all, the only viable way to grow is through the generosity of readers who take a few moments to pass along our quirky banter and help spread the word throughout their circles.  We deeply appreciate the tremendous support we’ve received in that regard and hope that everyone has gotten something useful from our coverage.

With 2013 drawing to a close and as we plan our editorial calendar for next year, we thought it might be nice to review which topics trended highest during the year so that we can better focus our upcoming coverage.  Since it’s been said that there are, “…three kinds of lies:  Lies, bold-faced lies and statistics,” we really didn’t want to over think this little exercise, but rather have it result in more of a “Hmm.  Maybe I missed something that others thought was interesting” kind of thing for you while helping us to refine our planning.

(Actually, and against our better judgment, we were forced to feed our statmonkeys in order to get them to crunch the numbers for us.  Fortunately we had some cookies left over from the holidays so here’s what the now-happy bunch came up with.)

SAA’s 2013 Top 5 Trending Topics (in reverse order):

# 5:  Kickin’ a Sex Bucket

# 4 (tied):  SAA’s Salute to Nelson Mandela and SAA’s Salute to the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom

# 3:  The Millenial Generation

# 2:  The Swinger Scene

And (drumroll please)–coming in at # 1:  SAA’s Recommended Reading List

While we try to ensure that all of our topics are as timely and pertinent as those that trended to the top, it’s also extremely important to us that our coverage includes subjects that have a personal connection to you–our readers.  Towards that end, we hope you’ll let us know if there’s something you’d like us to cover or events for your organization that we can help publicize and we’ll do our best to add it to our upcoming schedule.  Just drop us an email and we’ll take it from there.

Once again, thank you for all of the encouragement and support this past year and please accept our best, heartfelt wishes for good health, much happiness and great success in 2014.

Happy New Year, everyone,

Luc & Alexandra

S.A.A. Salutes: Nelson Mandela

SAAgraphic12162013(12/16/13)  The world has lost a giant.  More importantly, the world has lost a friend.

Nelson Mandela was laid to rest yesterday, but his legacy lives on brighter than ever.  Though known mostly for his triumphs in civil rights and social justice, his sphere of influence–and inspiration–on a multitude of other issues reached so much further.  Among these was his steadfast commitment to expanding global HIV/AIDS awareness and championing substantial prevention strategies.  As we’ve listened to and read many of the recent poignant tributes in his honor over the past week, we’ve noticed a distinct absence of coverage regarding his efforts in this area.  Accordingly, we would like to offer our thoughts with a bit of focus on what’s been missing.

With all of the emphasis on Mandela’s courageous battles against injustice and his hard-fought victories in transforming a nation, it’s easy to understand why some aspects of his leadership might be overshadowed, but it should never be said that any of these are subordinated because they were somehow less important.  Indeed, though hardly ever the headline, Mandela made it a priority to voice his concern about HIV/AIDS and take direct action where he could.  Joining alongside other high-impact organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Philip Harvey’s DKT International, the Nelson Mandela Foundation was formed specifically with the mission to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention campaigns.  Though one might think that he would have centered his efforts specifically on his native South Africa where, according to the United Nations, there are more than 2 million orphans due to the disease, he made it a point to leverage his global statesmanship as broadly as possible, particularly in the years following his presidency.  As a direct result of these efforts and partnerships, along with inspiring other organizations worldwide, the number of new AIDS cases dropped by about 1/3rd over the past decade.  With an infected population of over 35 million people globally, obviously there is still a lot of work to be done, but at least there is a glimmer of positive progress.

A glimmer, but progress nonetheless.  Throughout his remarkable life, Nelson Mandela proved that every little thing adds up.  A key lesson that he left us with is that no problem is insurmountable if everyone does something, even if small, to make humanity better.  So, although the world is now a lesser place without his presence, we hope that many will honor his memory by becoming active in organizations such as those noted above and supporting their efforts in whatever ways possible.  Through such action, even if small, you’ll be helping to ensure that his legacy becomes even brighter–and you’ll be making the world a better place.