Today's Weather in Mumbai

In the United States, ninety-five percent of television news is focused on the U.S. and everything else is lumped together into a vague, mysterious Other. In this view of the world all the important stuff happens in the U.S., of course, and happenings in the Other are only reported when they affect the U.S. Some Americans were killed, perhaps, or an American company is plotting ways to gain market share in a foreign economy.

Here in Buenos Aires, we have cable television. Besides the expected Argentine stations, there's a group of stations that we run across wherever we travel: CNN International (US), BBC World(UK), Deutsche Welle (Germany), RAI (Italy), and TV5Monde (France).

There's a subtle but significant effect when watching these international channels. The U.S. is no longer the center of the universe, and the reports from Africa, Asia, and Latin America are included because they are important in and of themselves. Mugabe tries to woo foreign investors while maintaining his grip on dysfunctional Zimbabwe, Indonesian police kill a noted terrorist, and Argentina and Uruguay are still hotly disputing the envirnomental damage caused by a new paper mill.

Even the weather reports reflect this different, broader perspective: the forecaster points to charts of storms approaching Japan, winds across Africa, and cold fronts in South America. Then there's a bit of upbeat elevator music while the station scrolls a quick listing of high temperatures and sky conditions in major cities around the world. Mumbai will be hot again today; it's only 7 a.m. there and it's already 27°.