The only thing that stinks about this story is the British tabloid press villifying Madonna for her charity work, and being perfectly sexist about it as usual (I believe there is a celebrity couple adopting this boy, not a single female celebrity), feeding the usual British begrudgery frenzy.

No one on the planet is worse than the Brits when it comes to this sort of icon smashing begrudgery. No one. It just makes them all look so mean and awful and selfish, not Madonna.

I'm no Madonna fan, and I'm often cynical about celebrity charity work. But not always. There are celebrities who do a lot of good work on behalf of "good works" projects.

What bothers me most is the lies the British press keep spreading about this. Apparently, this is an adoption that has been in the works for far longer than a week. The Ritchies choice to adopt this particular child brings attention to one of the problems facing Africa as it relates to the AIDS crisis especially: that of fathers abandoning their children when the mother dies.

People don't like to talk about how sexist much of Africa is, and how much sexist "traditional African life" is contributing to the AIDs crisis, particularly the spread of AIDs to women of child bearing age because men refuse to use condoms and stop having sex when they contract the disease.

If the Ritchie's adoption of this child opens up even a few peoples' eyes to the crisis, it will benefit far more than just one child.

I'm no celebrity worshipper. For instance, I can't stand Bono. However, I have to admit the guy has been tireless in his campaign to erase third world debt. Now, I don't think that is the right solution to the problems being created by global capitalist domination, but at least he has put his money where his mouth is. The Ritchies seem to have put themselves on a path some celebrities take as they mature, and look for other ways to influence the world beyond their entertainment industry roots.

Lots of billionaires and millionaires do this sort of thing, so why the special scorn for Madonna? And not for Madonna and Guy both, hmmm?