More Flush Rush

I know I have already written about flushing Rush, but since he is still on the air, we still have work to do.  We have expanded our Flush Rush campaign to local chapters where Rush still airs on local stations.  A lot of our chapters are excited for this action.  Our targets are the local radio station as well as the local sponsors.  Our chapters will either hold a protest outside the station or one of the sponsors or conduct petition drives and deliver the signatures to the sponsors and station.  I am excited because we have planned an action for the national office as well.  So the last day of my internship will be spent protesting Rush Limbaugh, and I cannot think of a better way to spend my last day.  


The office is also preparing for their annual conference, which will be held in Baltimore at the end of June.  Their conference is very interesting, because it serves as the governing body of the organization.  On the last day of the conference, the members vote and discuss resolutions.    Every four years, they elect new officers.  When they say they are a grassroots organization, they are not joking.


Hope everyone at a wonderful Easter and Passover!

Falafel House!

Hello Everyone! Work is work, and I think my butt and the chair are eventually merging to become one. Work is good! Here are some pictures to distract you from noticing I have nothing to say about the internship:

Falafel House!

You weren't suppose to take pictures. Oops. 

I visited Adam's Morgan for the first time during the day, and it's grand. I walked somewhere around 8 miles on Saturday and had to put my feet up for the rest of the day. Had the best falafel of my life, went to a chocolate store called Cocova, and went into a Tibetan and African store--they had stuff they bought for like 2 cents in those country and sell here fro $30. But walking into the store is a treat itself.

Happy Passover/Easter everyone! Hope ya'lls is doing great!!!

Hey All, Sorry I've forgotten to update you all in a while. Life in DC is pretty great. Lauren and I are currently enjoying a lazy Sunday at her dorm. This last week I went to the "Good Jobs, Green Jobs" conference in Philly which was put on by the Blue-Green Alliance. The conference aimed at promoting conversation between environmental groups and the unions. As these two groups are often pinned against each other this annual conference offers an opportunity to reinforce our common ground. At work, I'm working on the preliminary recruitment and strategizing of the "Campuses Beyond Oil Campaign". This will be the parallel student campaign to the Beyond Oil Campaign. The official launch will be next fall. In my minimal free time I've been studying for the LSAT. It's been rather discouraging thus far, but hopefully the tides will turn before the June LSAT. Hope all of your internships are going well! -Marla

A Little Late...

Sorry my posts have been a little spotty, but I’m doing the best I can remembering to post in this thing every week.  I never was a big fan of blogging or journaling, but I’m trying!  Things here at Niagara have slowed down a little bit again.  I just missed the Consul General of Japan coming in on Tuesday because I was at the doctor getting a camera shoved down my nose to look for a fish bone that has been stuck in my throat since I  was in Turkey three weeks ago!  Anyway I’m helping with this brand new project at Niagara where they try to get people from the three Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) together to have dinner and create dialogue about their religion.  It seems like these dinners would be pretty interesting once they program gets going.  Right now I am plotting everyone’s addresses on a google map and putting those interested in participating in groups that include someone from each faith.  Other than that, not much is going on here at Niagara but it has still been a great experience.  I’m excited to be back in class with all of you in the fall.  See you soon!

- Joey

The ACA is here to stay

Last week the Supreme Court were hearing oral arguments about the Affordable Care Act.  Therefore, Monday through Wednesday I spent my mornings outside the Supreme Court protesting in favor of the legislation.  If you want an idea of the protestors on both sides, John Stewart has a wonderful clip on it.  Every day there were hundreds of people from all walks of life outside the court showing their support.  We were not alone.  We had company from Tea Partyers who did nothing but amused me.  They really are a special group of individuals.  Never have I seen so much American flag clothing.

If you haven't been following the ACA, I'll try to break it down for you.  Obviously, I am biased so take that into account.  Those who are opposed to the ACA see it as a violation of the Constitution because of the individual mandate that requires everyone to buy health insurance.  Some people also see it as a violation of religious liberty, because they believe it makes religious institutions and churches pay for contraception and abortion.  This is false.  Churches and places of worship are exempt, and religious institutions' insurance providers have to pay for contraception.  Those who are for it see it as equality.  Insurance companies can no longer drop people with pre-existing conditions or charge women more for the same coverage.  Obviously, this is a very narrow breakdown, and it is more complicated than this, but overall, I think it is a very good piece of legislation.  It is by no means perfect, but it is a great starting point.

Best Birthday ever.

Hello yall! I had my birthday last Monday, and it was pretty damn unique, but the week leading up to it was remarkable as well.
When I came to work Monday, I seriously had no idea that the office had conspired and made plans to surprise me for my birthday. First there was Cinnamon coffee cake, following with donuts, then Crumble's cupcakes, the a gift of Barbie and a headset, because I kept stealing my friend's set. A bunch of the people sang happy birthday to me loudly and awkwardly, but I was delighted. Later in the day was a volunteer event I had signed up for previously, and for which I drafted remarks--I volunteered because I thought that doing something like this instead of going out for my birthday was worth it. The volunteering itself was kind of neat, because I think they really didn't need us, but they wanted us to have the experience of going. I stood outside letting in important guests who I recognized on TV, but before I left for that I was informed that I'd be able to meet everyone's boss and his wife and take a picture, as a sort of happy birthday. I can't write the damn words down but I hope you can put two together. So anywho, I got to meet him and her, and I was basically terrified. I think they were also wondering why they were meeting and taking a picture with an intern--and although they were polite you could tell they were puzzled, wondering why I was there. He wished me happy birthday, and then I exited the wrong door and had to be called back to leave the right one. Exceptionally awkward.
Which is perfectly fine by me.

Happy April!

Hi! Can you guys believe it's already April? Time flew by sooo fast! Last week was a normal week. I had an over the phone interview for my assistantship position for next school year, so cross your fingers for me! I also found out that I didn't get the summer internship with the DNC. "/ Ehhh, oh well! Oh, another one of my clients got hired, and he told me that his supervisor was really impressed with his resume (pats myself on the back). This past week was also Poverty Awareness Week. The events went pretty well overall; however there was a simulation that was put together about navigating the social service world, which had to be cancelled because not enough people signed up for it. I was really looking forward to this, so I was pretty upset. Hopefully, there will be more people interested next year, and the interns make changes to how they advertise for the event. Yesterday, we had another on-going training, and our guest speaker was the director of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs from Loyola. We spoke about stereotypes and stigma, and how they affect our clients and how we relate to them. The conversation got pretty intense, but it was cool hearing everyone's point of view about stereotypes. Plus, the speaker was really nice and down to earth, which made the meeting more fun than usual