Cyclones, Democrats, & touring my street

marjorie says...

In the midst of trying to keep up with work while traveling I haven't had much time to blog, other than have a raging debate about the stock market in the comment section. But here are some quick hits:

1. I can barely wrap my head around the death toll and now desperate plight of the survivors of the cyclone that hit Burma (currently known in some circles as Myanmar). The Burmese people live under an incredibly repressive military dictatorship that has been quite slow in opening the country to international relief efforts. These types of scenarios always give me pause in my general belief that the U.S. should not act unilaterally in the world. But, it's just a pause. Really, I think if anything this type of situation demonstrates why we need a stronger U.N.

2. I'm glad to see the Democratic primary winding down. This has been one intense ride, and the end seems almost unreal. But it will end and the Democrats will have a nominee. It's going to happen! There's been a lot of angry division during this primary, and it'll be interesting to see whether or not the Obama people will lead the way in forging a reconciliation within the party. As for myself, I'm actually most interested in the intra-feminist debate this race has spurred, which has been pretty explosive in some parts of the blogosphere. I touched on some of the reasons why here on m-pyre over the past five months, and will try to revisit the subject comprehensively in the next week or so.

3. Happy Birthday Barb.

4. Look, there's a Mother's Day historic homes tour in our neighborhood. Thankfully, we were *not* asked to open our home (Mikaela--tell me this is a true statement please). But if any of you are in the neighborhood you should certainly drop by.