Sunday, October 31, 2010

IntLawGrrls

IntLawGrrls

Newest woman head of state

Posted: 31 Oct 2010 03:35 PM PDT

Brazilians have just elected their 1st woman President.
An economist and former Cabinet minister, Dilma Rousseff (right), won a runoff election by a margin of 55.2% to 44.8%.
Key to the political newcomer's victory, according to Reuters: the endorsement of outgoing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as "Lula," coupled with a promise to continue Lula's
policies that have lifted millions from poverty and made Brazil one of the world's hottest economies.
Rousseff replaces Slovakian President Iveta Radičová as the newest woman national leader; as posted, in July Radičová seized that mantle from Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

In passing: ¢ for UNICEF founder

Posted: 31 Oct 2010 12:04 AM PDT

Often completing this 'Grrl's Halloween costume was the tote at left.
Many a year we Midwestern children would knock on doors to "Trick or Treat for UNICEF," seeking donations to help the United Nations help children in need. For many of us, it was an early raising of awareness -- an early invitation to consider how we might respond in our own small ways to the plight of others throughout the world.
Of great interest, therefore, was the news that the woman who founded the campaign has died at age 93, just a few days short of the 60th anniversary of her achievement.
As detailed in The New York Times' obituary, the idea came to Mary Emma Allison, a schoolteacher long concerned about social justice, while shopping in 1949 in Philadelphia. (credit for photo of Allison and her costume-clad children) Soon she and her husband had created a global movement, called "Pennies for UNICEF" in those days of less deflated economy. Enlisted in the effort have been cultural icons ranging from Casper, the Friendly Ghost (below), to Superman, the Man of Steel. Since its founding the campaign has raised more than $160 million.
No need for a collection box to contribute in Allison's honor; anyone can click here to donate to UNICEF this Halloween.

On October 31

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 09:04 PM PDT

On this day in ...
... 1860 (150 years ago today), in Savannah, Georgia, a daughter was born to a Chicago native and her husband, an officer in the Confederate Army. They named the girl Juliette Magill Kinzie Gordon, but called her "Daisy." Following schooling in Virginia and New York, she traveled in the United States and Europe, eventually marrying an Englishman and thereafter was known as Juliette Gordon Low (right). She returned to the United States to serve as a nurse during the Spanish-American War; her husband died soon after. On March 12, 1912, at age 52, she brought together 18 girls in Savannah, and thus founded the Girl Scouts, an organization now numbering 3.7 million members. Gordon Low died in her birth city in 1927.

(Prior October 31 posts are here, here, and here.)
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