ATLANTA, Georgia – The “rags-to-riches” story! Few of us haven’t dreamed about it! Maybe one day lightning will strike and we’ll be rich and be happy! But more often reality check strikes, a rags-to-riches tragedy, like the Michael Jackson story. When it hits, it makes us wonder, why aren’t people who have so much going for them happy?

The thing is that riches place you in a whole different league, a place where some can’t make it.

I learned about that from an old friend who came into money. It was not a “King of Pop” kind of fortune, but still her newly earned “riches” put her in a different league. She never felt comfortable in that world of wealth. She told me she saw some people get ruined by their financial success.

But my friend’s story has a different ending. Because she found a way to be happy in her new circumstances. Her answer was to stay grounded in her old world.

She clung to her old friends but had to make a few adjustments. People from her old circles couldn’t afford her lifestyle. It meant toning down her spending and spreading the wealth, just enough, to avoid making her friends uncomfortable. That’s worked for her. 

Michael Jackson never had the benefit of my friend’s “old circles,” the friends before success struck. You know, the ones who keep you grounded and tell you the truth, no matter what. 

Jackson was a star since he could remember. I once heard him describe how, as a child being driven to a rehearsal, he wished he could join the kids playing outside.

He never had a life beyond show business to develop the kind of relationships that helped my friend survive financial success AND be happy.

HONG KONG, China — What’s your food addiction? Let’s be honest. Everyone has a snack or a food that keeps them reaching for more. For me, it is Doritos. Not just any Doritos…but Cool Ranch-flavored Doritos. For some reason, I can’t seem to stop at one. My hand is reaching into the bag as my brain is saying, “Stop.” We explored the issue of “food bliss” with a guest on Friday morning on CNN Today. Dr. David Kessler is the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.

Dr. Kessler became curious about food bliss when, one day, he couldn’t stop thinking about that chocolate chip cookie sitting on his kitchen counter. So he spent time researching the topic and has some interesting findings. He answered our questions about the link between combinations of ingredients and their effects on our brain.

I put out a Tweet and asked viewers what their food weaknesses are. The answers are coming in from many different countries. Owais from Pakistan says “Cheese Pizza.” From Seoul, South Korea kayakapuccai  tweets,” I like almond and potato chips. sometimes once i start eating them it’s hard to stop and eat too much in the end. wanna know why.” From San Francisco in the U.S., foodielive says, “ice cream, diet coke.”

You can tweet me with your food obsession at paulineCNN.

BLACKBURN, Scotland – Finishing runner-up in the “Britain’s Got Talent” contest almost seems anti-climactic for Susan Boyle.

Hers was a story that one almost expected would have a Hollywood ending. At least that’s how it began. But Saturday night, for reasons we will probably never know, the British public decided that a dance troupe from East London and Essex should perform for the queen, leaving the second place spot for Ms. Boyle.

At the community center in her hometown of Blackburn where some 200 people showed up to watch the finale, you could imagine hearts collectively drop. It was a nail-biter of a show and if a microphone was attached to every heart in the seconds before the announcement, one would probably think all 2008 Fou drummers from the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony were performing right there.

After the announcement, residents went home visibly disappointed. For them, it was a depressing end to what has been an amazing six weeks from the moment Susan Boyle captured the world’s attention.

One resident told us she “was disappointed for Susan” but that “her career starts now.”

Back on Yule Terrace, Boyle’s street, neighbors shook their heads in amazement at the outcome. Margaret Miller who lives across the street and has known Boyle since she was a baby said she was sad for her.

But when we asked her what she thought about reports that Boyle could stand to earn millions, Miller replied, “Good for her, because they were a hard working family. There were nine children and had lovely parents, lovely mother — she was a gem.”

She went on to say that by performing on a national stage Susan had made her mother’s dream come true and that “it was a pity her mum died before all this.”

So while this particular chapter in Susan Boyle’s life has come to an end, her story continues. Newspapers predict she could earn millions with a recording contract, a book deal, and perhaps even a movie about her life — all possible projects that could happen for her.

And when you visit her street and learn more about this woman who grabbed hearts globally, you wouldn’t want to begrudge her that.

BLACKBURN, Scotland — Hearts collectively dropped in Blackburn Saturday night. The town’s shining star Susan Boyle did not win the contest “Britain’s Got Talent.” That prize went to a dance group called Diversity — a group of young men from East London and Essex.

Susan Boyle remains at the top of the charts for people in Blackburn, Scotland.

It was a nail biter, though. You could almost hear hearts thumping in the community centre where the town gathered to watch and wait for the final result. And when that result came, Susan Boyle could be seen looking almost relieved that she didn’t win the big prize. After hearing the announcement she said graciously “the best act won.” But in Blackburn it was a devastating disappointment. For many in this small town just outside of Edinburgh, the excitement Susan Boyle has generated has been more than many have seen and felt in a long time.

For all intents and purposes, Boyle put Blackburn on the map. From the moment she stepped onto the stage six weeks ago, she had everyone’s attention. In the beginning, though, Boyle was subjected to looks of scorn and disdain … simply because of the way she looked. But as soon as she started to sing, everything changed. From that moment on, life for Susan Boyle would take a dramatic turn. Celebrities supported her and media from around the world camped outside her home to catch a glimpse of the woman who defied stereotypes.

But for Blackburn, it’s a dramatic end to a rollercoaster ride. A neighbor said “I’m disappointed for Susan, but this is just the beginning of her career.” In July, Susan Boyle is scheduled to record an album with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and there’s even talk of some performances in London’s West End. And while she didn’t win the opportunity to perform in front of the Queen, she did make her and her late-mother’s dream come true, to sing in front of the world.

But perhaps more than that, Susan Boyle showed the world that just because one doesn’t look like a stereotypical star, doesn’t mean they can’t shine.

Last week I was asked to speak about women and the media at a Global Women’s Summit in Chile.

As I prepared my speech, I found some disturbing statistics – global surveys showing women are both marginalized in news coverage and underrepresented in top positions. My personal experience did not fit these statistics, most of my bosses have been women. But that didn’t make the problem less important. So what was I going to say? The search for an answer would lead me to question my basic professional values.

According to the Global Monitoring Survey only 21 percent of the news covers issues important to women. Studies show the imbalance can be corrected if there are more women in decision-making positions. But according to the International Federation of Journalists, only 12 percent of executive positions in the media are held by women.

So what should we journalists do? Should we try to correct the imbalance? In other words, should we have an agenda?

I believe the media cannot have an agenda, no matter how noble the cause! Having experienced communist censorship first hand in my native Bulgaria, I’ve seen agendas get corrupted. Communism was sold as a society where all were supposed to be equal, but in George Orwell’s words, some became “more equal.” So if the media can’t have an agenda, how do we correct the imbalance?

A few years ago I read a book by one of CNN’s former female executives. Gayle Evans wrote: “Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman.” She used her experience as a CNN executive to chart a roadmap for female success in the corporate world.

As an executive, she found herself in a game where the rules had been set by men, since they were the first to start playing. So she started playing like a man, learning the rules and getting good at it. That enabled her to eventually start winning like a woman, on her own terms. She strongly believes that the more women engage in the game, the more the rules start to change to the benefit of both sets of players.

Some at the conference disagreed with me, saying my way would take too long. But I just can’t accept an agenda for the media. Our role is to inform people, to take every story on its merit. And speaking of merit, that’s where we women journalists can help, by explaining the merits of stories that matter to us as women and more men will understand.

I remember a conversation with my doctor who told me he didn’t quite get the glass ceiling women faced in society, until he had three daughters. He thought he and his three brothers did, but it was not until he was personally exposed to the issues, did he truly understand …

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao for Philippines president? Definitely not now, says the man himself, but he doesn’t rule it out in the future. What looks increasingly likely though is that he will run for Congress, perhaps as early as next year.

Manny Pacquiao is ready to launch a political career.

It’s a question that is raising passionate debate in the Philippines. Should the fighter known the world over since last Saturday’s demolition of Briton Ricky Hatton go into politics? Would this “people’s champion” be a good politician?

Pacquiao himself appears serious. He has already formed his People’s Champ Movement, a nascent political party which was this week endorsed by the Commission for Elections.

And he obviously has huge popular appeal; that goes a long way in Philippines politics. Look at former president Joseph Estrada – a local movie star who always played the hero parlayed that into a presidency. It ended with him being found guilty of economic “plunder” and given a life sentence.

Take a non-scientific straw poll on the streets of Manila and the answers are surprising. Most Filipinos want Pacquiao to keep the gloves on. They prefer him as world champion boxer.

“I don’t think he would be very good. Politics is ugly and he could end up being used by the wrong elements,” said one person we spoke to. It was a typical response. Manny is above the political murk; he should stick to what he knows best.

It is by no means universal. Some say he can do both. Why can’t you be a politician and an athlete, asked one who described himself as Manny’s No.1 fan in the Philippines. (I met at least 20 “No.1 fans”).

Incumbent politicians also seem to be lining up with their advice. Perhaps not surprisingly it’s negative. And some of the Manila-based newspapers also have their doubts.

But you have to applaud the man at least for thinking of the longer term. Too many champion boxers end up with nothing.

But here’s a thought, expressed in the opinion page of the Philippine Enquirer. Why, it asks, did Pacquiao go against the advice of the World Health Organisation, a plea from his own Government and potentially put his young family and countless fans at risk of infection of swine flu by returning to the Philippines?

He would have lost nothing, the paper says, but a few days by staying in quarantine away from his country until he was medically cleared of any infection.

His actions would also have done a huge amount to promote public awareness of the virus.

Did he, as the paper suggests, “demonstrate an appalling incapacity to sacrifice for the common good.” That’s a damning suggestion for any aspiring politician.

I kept hearing from public figures that they had plans in place for a flu pandemic, but I wanted to see for myself.

I contacted Westminster City Council, which has legal responsibility for emergency planning in central London, and asked what they could show me.

They invited me into their Emergency Control Center which is housed in a rather non-descript public building – the exact location of which I cannot reveal.

I was directed to the back entrance via the trash cans. I was taken up in a lift, past a bank of security cameras and into windowless room that looked a bit like a computer training center.

I waited there until I was asked what I would like to do. Then I realised this WAS the Emergency Control Center. OK.

My guide was the John Barradell, the council’s deputy chief executive who is also a former senior police officer and one of the country’s most experienced people when it comes to emergency planning.

He explained that planning for a crisis is not nearly as exciting as we are led to believe.

It was also made clear to me that everything you needed to run London in a crisis was in this room, and you could do it all from just one of these computer terminals.

I was shown a list of folders on a monitor which gives you access to every system used to run the capital.

You could tap into the hospital network, the police, social services – health and safety.

If you made a decision in this room you could make it happen on the ground at the click of a mouse.

The control room was located next to the office for Street Services, and that is no accident.

The systems that control parking for example would be crucial in a pandemic.

The parking team have people on the ground throughout the capital in the form of traffic wardens.

They also have one of the world’s most extensive networks of street cameras at their disposal.

If there was a flu pandemic, Street Services becomes the eyes and the ears for emergency co-ordinators in one of the busiest and biggest cities in Europe.

It was a fascinating insight into the preparedness of London for a possible pandemic. The systems are all in place, but not quite in the form you would expect to see in a Hollywood movie.

ATLANTA, Georgia — There’s more to global consumption than meets the eye lately. Spending money for the sake of spending is out. Spending money for a cause is in.

There something in the air, a growing global social conscience. The new global consumer is a discerning one, looking for the purpose behind the brand.

Spending money doesn’t bring the kind of happiness buying with a purpose does. Global trend surveys like the annual “Good Purpose Survey” find only 25 percent of the respondents say shopping makes them happy.

More and more of us would like to become consumers with a with a cause. More than 80 percent say they’re willing to change shopping habits if it will help make the world a better place and 68 percent say they’re willing to stick with a more expensive brand if it serves a cause.

University enrolment in the United States, the world’s biggest consumer nation, is expected to decline for financial disciplines discredited by the global financial crisis, experts say. More and more of America’s young want a career with a purpose. They’re signing up for science and public service seeking to make a difference in the world.

This trend may also be fueled, in part, by a hunger for quality that became apparent the night that unlikely singing sensation Susan Boyle grabbed the world’s attention on “Britain’s Got Talent” with her heavenly voice.

It seems to me that like other forms of consumption, entertainment becomes less frivolous in times like these. Then the question is, how long will this last.

Is consumption with a cause here to stay? We’ll know when the good times come back.

U.S President Barack Obama’s maiden trip to Europe is narrowing the transatlantic gap, but the Atlantic still lies in between.

President Obama seems to be moving American foreign policy closer to America’s Western European allies and assuming a posture towards easing tensions with Russia. While the shift in U.S foreign policy will help bridge the transatlantic rift between Western Europe and the U.S, it is bound to disappoint some of the “new Europe” states.

Europe’s reaction to Obama’s pivot in Afghanistan is revealing some interesting things about post-Bush relations. The new U.S President’s greater focus on rebuilding Afghanistan’s ability to stand on its own, while fighting terrorist al Qaeda and Taliban threats on its soil, is yielding good will from NATO allies.

Europe is pledging some more combat troops, but mostly in civilian roles. It’s also promising more money to help rebuild the country. But Obama needs more to fight a growing terrorist threat in Afghanistan, he needs European combat troops in hotspots where the insurgency is at its peak.

But for now, fighting a resurgent Taliban and al Qaeda remains primarily America’s fight, even though President Obama himself pointed out al Qaeda poses a bigger threat to Europe, than to the U.S.

With weak European combat support, Obama needs all the help he can get because he faces an emboldened insurgency in Afghanistan. This is where “resetting” relations with Russia comes in.

Russia is offering a crucial supply line for U.S troops through its territory into Afghanistan, as U.S military supply routes through Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan are coming under increasing militant attacks.

But narrowing the gap with Moscow comes at a price which is sure to disappoint former Soviet states who still fear Russia’s intentions. It looks like support for two U.S initiatives in former Soviet block areas will be left on the back burner, to please Moscow.

The Czechs and Poles who still have Cold-War era fears of Russia, might see Obama slow, if not shelve, plans for a U.S missile defense shield on their territory. And it looks like U.S support for the NATO membership of Ukraine and Georgia is going to be left on Obama’s back burner as well.

President Obama’s foreign policy is helping restore America’s image around the world, but the U.S will still have to rely more on self-help than its allies, when it comes to battling the biggest threat to its security abroad.

America’s allies stand to gain from his efforts and are willing to help some, but mostly get out of the way. It’s up to Obama to keep pushing them to match their words of sharing the burden with action.

What do you think? Should the Europeans do more to help in Afghanistan?

LONDON, England — I’ll never forget the day an envelope from Buckingham Palace dropped through my letterbox … the handwriting was immaculate, the paper expensive and the seal was, well, very royal.

I was a young reporter at the time, just starting out at Yorkshire Television in the north of England, and I had been invited by the Queen for an evening reception at Buckingham Palace. I must have re-read it a dozen times before it actually sunk in.

In the summer of 1998, the Queen welcomed a group of young achievers to her London residence. Included in the envelope was a booklet with the names of all the other invitees … I remember that footballers Michael Owen and Ryan Giggs were on the list, along with actors and television celebrities.

I bought a new suit, got myself a proper haircut and tried not to cut myself shaving as the big moment approached. My proud family waved me off at the grand gold-tipped gates and although I was 25, I felt like it was my first day at school as I headed inside.

Security was tight (as were my shoelaces) and cameras were banned (this was before the days of cell-phone photography.)

If anything can be informal and formal at the same time, this was it.  And at times it resembled something of a free-for-all as everybody jostled into a long line to shake Her Majesty’s hand. But etiquette and courtesy prevailed; as the Queen approached, courtiers whispered advice on how she should be addressed.

When my moment came, I nodded deferentially and said “Ma’am.”  In what was then a brief conversation, she asked what I did and I said I worked in television. “Hmm,” she replied, “we’ve had quite a few of you in here tonight.”

Whatever ego I had up until that moment was crushed. Clearly my big moment wasn’t quite as big a moment for the Head of State. The Queen had worthier souls to meet, and she was quickly onto the next handshake, the next gloved handshake.

Quite honestly I had felt like a fraud all night; I was surrounded by people that had served their country in the line of duty, been injured in the line of fire, worked for charitable organisations or overcome tremendous odds to succeed in their personal lives. I was just some bloke that had anchored a few live shows at a young age.

Still, I was grateful for the experience and I never thought that I’d be standing in front of the Palace more than a decade later talking to a global audience about my brief audience with the Queen.

I wonder if any of the world’s top leaders will be as intimidated as I was. There is no doubt they will all be respectful and mindful of their surroundings. But it’s still easy to commit faux pas’s in such company, and the U.S. President should be careful about eating too many biscuits at tea or turning his back on Her Majesty.

The same will go for the rest of the leaders at their meeting later on … but unlike in my situation, a social mis-step will be seized upon and reported right around the world!