Third Week

Dear Folks,

Boy do I have stories! Again, put up with the bullet points! You know what, I'll stop with the disclaimer at this point. Just expect them :P

- We went to the UN on Monday to attend the high level meeting on HIV/AIDS - oddly enough (or perhaps not so oddly for the more jaded of the readers) - all the different delegations had some pretty distorted views of reality. Alot of recommendations floating around involved legalizing prostitution. None of us thought that solved the true root problem though, despite the legalization of prostitutes (sorry, sex workers), it didn't solve the issue of women and girls being forced into an industry that not only fundamentally disrespected the dignity of the human person and used people as means to an end, but it legitimated the process. I don't know if I can be convinced that by making the sex trade legal we are bettering the world by regulating a "necessary evil". They had testimonies of people in the sex trade come up and represent countries (Brazil for instance) and admonish their governments for not legalizing their work, but I wonder that the majority of sex workers are proud and inspired to be in their career (as Brazil lady claims), and aren't looking constantly for help and alternatives to be provided. And wouldn't the authentic, long term, human centred solution be to help women find those alternatives...hum.

- I got a free ticket off Craigslist to see ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN on Wednesday night! It was sooooo fantastic! He played Black Dog, The Battle of Evermore, but aside from those most of it were the collaborations between the two. He was AWESOME! I can only imagine what it would have been like in the days of the Zeppelin.

- Anyway, the guy I got the ticket from, asked for an email describing myself. I said I worked in non-profit, went to school in Canada and was born in HK. Apparently his wife was from HK (Spanish-Singaporean). So that's how I got the ticket - being a poor student from HK! They were die-hard Zeppelin fans too - so much that the wife went to London to see the Page/Plant tour in 2002 - and ended up having tea with Jimmy Page! They had pictures (which they sent me) to show it! What a random but extremely fortunate coincidence she was born in HK, and he worked in non profit as well.

- Coming up next week: A bioethics debate, Fr Neuhaus' led discussion on the Pope's visit to NY, Opera in the Park, hopefully teaching Children's liturgy classes!

Have a wonderful week :D