"The amount of maintenance involving hair is genuinely overwhelming. Sometimes I think that not having to worry about your hair anymore is the secret upside of death."
— Nora Ephron
human rights. feminism. politics. art. misc. people who make me smile and/or inspire me: Hillary Clinton, Rachel Maddow, Somaly Mam, Tina Fey, Madeleine Albright, Chris Colfer, Regina Spektor, Nicholas Kristof, J.K. Rowling, Lea Michele, Sheryl WuDunn, Amy Poehler.
Ask me anything... within reason!
June 27, 2012
June 27, 2012
June 27, 2012
Mali: Refugees in a Vulnerable Situation
A political crisis has divided Mali since the end of January. People displaced by conflict are leaving the north of the country; hiding in the bush or fleeing en masse to Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mauritania. Often they settle in places where people are already living—places that have already been weakened by food insecurity in the region. MSF is responding to the growing humanitarian need in the region, providing assistance to refugees as well as to local people.
MSF is responding to the needs of vulnerable people by supporting health centers in Burkina Faso (Gandafabou, Férrerio), Mauritania (Fassala, Mbéra, Bassikounou), and Niger (Chinagodar, Bani Bangou, Yassan). Every week, MSF’s mobile clinics treat people in refugee camps in Burkina Faso (Dibissi, Ngatoutou-Niénié, Déou) and Niger (Ayorou, Maigaïzé, Bani Bangou, Abala, Gaoudel, and Nbeidou). Since February, MSF medical teams have carried out more than 23,000 consultations in the border regions of Mali. “We are mainly seeing respiratory infections, malaria, and diarrhea,” says Férir. “These problems are often due to the very bad conditions that the refugees are living in.” MSF teams are also treating a large number of women in need of obstetric care. One hundred women have given birth in the MSF health post in Mbera camp in Mauritania.
Photo: Malian refugees in a makeshift shelter in Burkina Faso Burkina Faso 2012 © Aurelie Baumel/MSF
June 27, 2012
United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama today. Said the president, ”Dolores was very gracious when I told her I had stolen her slogan, Si, se puede. Yes, we can. Knowing her, I’m pleased that she let me off easy— because Dolores does not play.”
(Source: The Wall Street Journal, via coolchicksfromhistory)
May 31, 2012
Khin Maung Win/Associated Press - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, center, arrives at Yangon International Airport to leave for Bangkok, her first trip out of Myanmar in 24 years, Tuesday, May 29, 2012, in Yangon, Myanmar.
(Source: Washington Post)
May 31, 2012
I’m just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood
(Source: muffinbuffalo)
May 30, 2012
THE GLOWING HOMELESS
We could not say this better than ignantblog.com…the following is an excerpt from their piece on Fanny Allie’s, The Glowing Homeless
“It is this ghostlike existence, the state of being absent while being present, which is of interest to the French artist Fanny Allié. ‘The Glowing Homeless’ is an installation of neon tubes which represents the silhouette of a sleeping human. It precisely refers to the figure of a homeless person who chooses to perform the actually intimate act of sleeping amongst the park’s crowd but still stays excluded. He becomes a part of the surroundings of trees, benches and playgrounds and is thus almost invisible. Using the warm glow of the neon tubes, the artist creates an alluring object with the aim to bring light in to the darkness of New York’s parks and to change people’s attitude from avoidance into curiosity so they are drawn towards the figure on the bench. Thus Allié brought an object into being that represents the thousands of homeless that face social exclusion and the troubles of street life every day and night and, without becoming monumental, she also manages to aesthetically confront the difficulties of the ongoing art theoretical debate of the merge of private and public space.”
(via dontstopthefrizz)
May 30, 2012
Wellesley Tumblr Roll Call
Can we do a roll call for all the Wellesley peeps on Tumblr? Just reblog this if you go to/went to Wellesley. If you are inclined, you can add your name and year but it’s fine if you don’t.
<3 Wellesley Underground
Brianna, Class of 2015!
May 30, 2012
"Ignorance is not your enemy. Only complacency with ignorance is to be resisted."
— Melissa Harris-Perry, Wellesley College Commencement 2012
May 30, 2012
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — More than 120 girls and three teachers were admitted to an Afghanistan hospital Wednesday after being poisoned in their classes with a type of spray, a Takhar provincial official said.
…
“The Afghan people know that the terrorists and the Taliban are doing these things to threaten girls and stop them going to school,” said Khalilullah Aseer, spokesman for Takhar police. “That’s something we and the people believe. Now we are implementing democracy in Afghanistan and we want girls to be educated, but the government’s enemies don’t want this.”
(Source: CNN)
May 13, 2012
"Hillary standing up and having her photo taken without a layer of pancake makeup between her and the lens, smiling, looking normal…this is a huge coup. Anyone criticizing it, or commenting that she looks like she needs a rest, is quite woefully missing the point. Would a man be asked, or mocked, about something like this? And, actually, doesn’t Hillary look far better than the typical male politician at her—or any—age? She is 64. Even as we shouldn’t be concerned about her appearance, she looks great!"
— Hillary Clinton Looks Good, OK? - Politics - The Atlantic Wire (via elizs)
(via callmeclinton)
May 13, 2012
Students visit a park in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo: Bay Ismoyo / AFP-Getty via The Guardian)
May 13, 2012
A “Talk Show” Uses Humor to Inform Domestic Workers About Their Rights
There’s nothing funny about the treatment many nannies, housekeepers, and caregivers receive from their employers—including missed wages, no sick days, and strenuous hours. But a new public art project is using humor as a vehicle to educate workers, their bosses, and the public about the New York Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, a state law passed in 2010 that guarantees basic protections to a vulnerable class of workers.
click-through to read more
May 13, 2012
May 10, 2012
Myanmar Issues Passport to Opposition Leader
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon on Tuesday. She won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, but could not attend the ceremony in Norway because of her house arrest. She plans to go there in June.
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader, received her first passport in 24 years on Tuesday ahead of a planned trip to Norway and Britain.
click-through to read more
