sunday funnies

baltimore woman first ‘U.N. citizen ambassador’ from U.S.

The Baltimore Sun reports:

The United States’ first and only United Nations Citizen Ambassador lives in an apartment above her father’s garage in Catonsville with a couple of Persian cats, a few sticks of furniture, cameras and several computers. She doesn’t have a car, so there’s no way to know if the customary diplomatic parking privileges will apply, nor do lavish cocktail parties appear to be in the offing.

Still, Emily Troutman cannot help seeing her new status as an opportunity to take her international pursuits to another level, and that is apparently reward enough.

“I have the ear of the U.N.,” said Troutman, one of five winners of the first and just-completed Citizen Ambassador video competition, and the only one in the United States.

For a few years now, Troutman – a graduate of Catonsville High School with a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Minnesota – has been traveling, taking pictures and blogging about her experiences. She drew on that experience to create a three-minute video in response to a U.N. call for submissions last month that took the form of a question: If you could speak to world leaders, what would you say?

U.N. public information officer Einat Temkin said the contest builds on the partnership the organization established with YouTube a year ago in an effort to “engage young people with the work of the U.N.” [...]

At 30, Troutman is the oldest of the five winners, who also include two men and two women from Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The five – whose videos were selected by a panel of six U.N. judges from 477 initial submissions – gathered at U.N. headquarters in New York last week to briefly meet Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and to attend the annual U.N. Day concert dedicated this year to the organization’s 115,000 peacekeepers.

As the Citizen Ambassador is a new creation, Troutman said the role is still being figured out.

“They’re hoping that we’re going to be able to spread the message” of global citizenship through online media, she said, adding that she hopes her success in this contest will expand her opportunities to travel. In the meantime, she plans to head back to the Congo in December, dismissing concerns about safety.

“It’s hard to go anywhere if you’re afraid,” she said.

Congratulations to Emily Troutman.

thank you for being a friend …

From The Advocate:

The estate of late actress Bea Arthur gave a top homeless youth service organization $300,000 for its operations.

Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center in New York City, said his organization was “overwhelmed with gratitude that Bea saw that LGBT youth deserve as much love and support as any other young person and that she placed so much value in the work we do to protect them and to help them rebuild lives.”

The announcement comes after the center released details on a plan to establish a house to accommodate 12 homeless youths and name the building in Arthur’s honor.

The Ali Forney Center offers food, emergency housing, medical treatment, HIV testing, and educational training for as many as 1,000 young people annually.

Just one more reason why I continue to love Bea Arthur.

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republicans in congress

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happy coming out day!

sunday funnies

senators restore abstinence education funding

Just how stupid are these Senators? It’s been proven that abstinence-only education doesn’t work. So would someone tell me why two Democrats and all ten Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee voted to restore funding under the guise of “health care reform?”

A Senate committee voted Tuesday night to restore $50 million a year in federal funding for abstinence-only education that President Barack Obama has pushed to eliminate.

The 12-11 vote by the Senate Finance Committee came over objections from its chairman, Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.

Two Democrats – Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas – joined all 10 committee Republicans in voting “yes” on the measure by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah.

The measure would still have to pass the full House and Senate. Hatch said abstinence education had been shown to work, though Baucus disagreed. Obama had proposed in his 2010 budget to direct money spent on abstinence-only education to broader teen pregnancy-reduction programs.

An alternate measure offered by Baucus also passed. Baucus’ measure, which passed 14-9, would make money available for education on contraception and sexually transmitted diseases, among other things, in addition to abstinence. Lawmakers will have to reconcile the two measures, both approved during debate on a sweeping health overhaul bill, as the legislation moves forward.

Geezz … when will these idiots get it?