just in case you missed this. . .

water, water and more water

Wading through the crisis

Hundreds routed but few injuries; Rising river levels still on flood watch

+

___________

Happier Me :)

Women Rising Up!

I can't help but see a pattern, which of course is pure observation, but nontheless I believe there is merit in the recent trends of women cleaning house. Historically "hands-off" institutions are being held accountable by women in power- but also women are constructing new institutions to take the place of what has proven to be broken, corrupt, and ineffective policy.

Say Nope to the Pope

Maureen Dowd, NY Times, March 28

Yup, we need a Nope.

A nun who is pope.

The Catholic Church can never recover as long as its Holy Shepherd is seen as a black sheep in the ever-darkening sex abuse scandal.

Behind Consumer Agency Idea, a Tireless Advocate by Jodi Kantor, NY Times, March 24th 

Ask Elizabeth Warren, scourge of Wall Street bankers, how they treat consumers, and she will shake her head with indignation. She will talk about morality, about fairness, about what she calls their “let them eat cake” attitude toward taxpayers. If she is riled enough, she might even spit out the Warren version of an expletive.

Pelosi proves it ain’t over until the Speaker lady sings By Diane Kim Rogers, Christian Science Monitor

The passage of the healthcare reform bill can largely be attributed to Nancy Pelosi. There are lots of good stories speaking of Speaker Pelosi’s own determination and the pressure she put on the President to follow through with the necessary leadership on health reform that only the President (if anyone) could provide.

 On health care, listen to the nuns

EJ Dionne, Washington Post, March 28th 

..Fortunately, major Catholic leaders -- most of them women in religious orders -- have picked up the flag of social justice discarded by a bishops' conference under increasing right-wing influence. On Wednesday, a group representing 59,000 Catholic nuns plus more than 50 heads of religious congregaions issued a strong statement urging "a life-affirming 'yes' vote" in support of the Senate bill. . ."We as sisters focus on the needs of people," said Sister Simone Campbell, a spokeswoman for the group. "When people are suffering, we respond."

“We will go through the gate. If the gate is closed, we will go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we will pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, we will parachute in. But we are going to get health care reform passed.” 

NANCY PELOSI, NY Times, JAN. 28

Food Revolution

I am kind of obsessed with this show. . .


the second show came out yesterday,

more chicago pics :)

More pics from Chicago :)

The crew greets me shopping with their traveling gallon of coffee to go- now THAT'S my kind of morning!

but then they decide to walk in Millennium Park...

And then to the Field Museum- via foot, against all odds we made it :) 

Chicago!

Some went to Jamaica. . . others Colombia, but this girl- Chi-town! Where there are heaters on the L platform so you don't freeze to death. Only the midwest :) But in all seriousness, it was the best weekend. I met up with my bro Nick and his gf Nicki. Also, was able to meet up on Saturday and Sunday with my old roommates Bekah and Maureen. I haven't had a chance to see Maureen since she got back from Guatemala where she did Peace Corps. 

Here are the pics:

Nicki scored us The Palmer downtown for $68 a night! This was Nick's excitement

never can be too cute

cute couple at dinner. Yummy Thai!

While I slept- these two and their friend stole my camera and went out until 4am :)

and their night ended with Dunkin Donuts. . .

Night two! We went to Improv Olympics- So fun! Then off to a great bar which had a photo booth. . . 

And here is the gang- Hannah (Nicki's friend from undergrad), Nicki, Nick, Louis, Maureen and Beks

Date Night!

Well, after multiple communication issues, I finally went out with another great Match find. I tried to throw an outfit together and much to my horror I realized right at the last minute what was bugging me-- I looked like VELMA!! Oh lord. We will see if that boy calls :)

Desmond speaking some truth in the WaPo

In Africa, a step backward on human rights

By Desmond Tutu

Friday, March 12, 2010

Hate has no place in the house of God. No one should be excluded from our love, our compassion or our concern because of race or gender, faith or ethnicity -- or because of their sexual orientation. Nor should anyone be excluded from health care on any of these grounds. In my country of South Africa, we struggled for years against the evil system of apartheid that divided human beings, children of the same God, by racial classification and then denied many of them fundamental human rights. We knew this was wrong. Thankfully, the world supported us in our struggle for freedom and dignity. (continue)

Sunday afternoon plan

+

Among the benefits of Fletcher

Is great clothes advice! Which is needed- b/c this gal has a date with a new man on Satuday night! I got the babysitting gig moved to make it work, and now I am thinking what to wear!? Of course I am also thinking how my role play is going to go later this afternoon wherein I am playing Rumsfeld for 2 hours of grilling by teacher and class. Oh God...

So, I am focusing on pretty things :) This is a fab website: ModCloth!

amazing

And then there was DC

Hello everyone :) I am sitting down, on a what is going to be a beautiful sunny day in Boston, in the morning calm with a fabulous bowl of oatmeal with fresh cut apple and cinnamon+ peanut butter. Delish. The quiet after a great night of sleep is just what I needed. I knew Feb/March/April were going to be busy--but "knowing" is so much different than "experiencing." I think it will all be fine, I just need to let some things go. Most likely it will be a babysitting job, which is too bad b/c the families I have been working for on Tuesdays and Thursdays are so great. I am not sure how to randomly select which ones to cut. Anyways, I am finally processing the DC Career Trip. It was excellent. Here are my thoughts:


Fletcher has a huge, we are talking in the thousands, alumni network in DC. Once a year the school office of career services hosts an event in DC, so that students can connect/network/learn about what professions fletcher students are  in. We had a choice of panels and places that we could choose from, and we were given "points" in a lottery selection process. I wound up with the following:


Thursday (Drove the 8 hours after classes Wed:) and stayed with my bro!)

Humanitarian Assistance, Refugee Affairs and Human Rights Alumni Career Panel Where we heard from: 

• Mercy Corps
• The Special Assistant to the Associate Director of Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations (RAIO), Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
• a Legal Associate at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, 
• Humanitarian Assistance Advisor/Military Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, U.S. Agency for International Development

Conflict Resolution Panel  Where we heard from:

•  the Advocacy Director , International Crisis Group
•  Executive Vice President, Search for Common Ground, 
• Senior Associate, Consensus Building Institute, 
• Operations Analyst, Africa Region, Fragile States, Conflict and Social Development Unit, The World Bank

Then on Thursday night it was the Alumni Network event- Cocktails at the National Press Club. 250 Fletcher students+250 Fletcher Alums.
[Of course I couldn't come to DC without seeing the Bread for the World folks- so after the 2nd panel I went to the Bread office and saw friends/former colleagues and then went for drinks with Todd and Eric, and it was SO GREAT!]


After the Alumni cocktail deal (not free drinks, therefore, I was drinking the H20.) Joe and I grabbed dinner at Old Ebbitt. 


Friday: 
Met former colleague Charles who now works for USAID, he is working on rebuilding their institutional capacity. He is a morning guy. I am the opposite, but for him, I could make it work, so we met at 8 at Sbux. So wonderful to see him, especially to hear his perspectives on USAID right now as it is going through a period of growth, the first in 3 decades! 


Then: 

• US Institute of Peace (USIP) Site Visit                  
•  followed by USAID Site Visit
• Followed immediately by nap, then shower, and off to meet Meg and Susan at Lauriol Plaza, an old favorite of mine. There were some communication issues with the bro- but we worked it out, and he joined us as well :) Which was the plan all along.  We all went to drinks at Cafe Citron afterwards, but as can be expected, after Mexican food+margaritas+big week+best of friends= sleepy emily. So, I had Joe and I hopped in a cab (much to his chagrin) and I passed out promptly at home!

Saturday!

8:30 AM TAXES!!!!! Yes, I went to my old tax site to get my taxes done. It was by the grace of God that they could fit me in, and this time, after 3 hours and lots of catching up with my old tax friends, I got a fair return this time!! Yay for moolah! Now I could do my FAFSA :)

Off I went to the old house, Chris and Ken's to catch up on how they are. The house is beautiful and they are doing well. 

After that, it was naptime again. Greatness. But, I took a detour by watching the Tsunami coverage on CNN, which thank God John Stewart took it to town the following Monday. OMG CNN was hilarious: 

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Uninformant
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

Then, it was off to Susan and Tim's to meet baby Reagan! Reagan was born right when I was leaving DC! Reagan is 9 months old now, and just as cute as can be! I wish I took more pictures, but here is a pic of the meal they made (all out! Scallops+Champagne+Risotto!) )

Tim and Reagan

Magnifique!

Reagan celebrates eating :) 

9 Months ago. . . A very preggers Susan points out to Marcy some butterflies; Pic of the super cute place settings at the baby shower Meg and I threw for dear Sus

Ok, I won't bore you with the rest of Saturday night. Let's just say that Joe made it mission critical for me to party. Ouch, that car ride was a long one on Sunday, but luckily I had some very sweet passengers.

Anyways- that is that! 

Kristof's NY Times Article: "Divorced Before Puberty"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/opinion/04kristof.html

World's Most Unfortunate Names Revealed

Ok- I will update everyone soon on the DC trip... that will be around Thursday. Until then, be satisfied with the following list of names from the BBC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7909561.stm