A political path to inner peace

1. I am crushed. 2. I am emboldened to work harder next time. 3. Bravo to Elizabeth for her courage, energy, and commitment.  Please run again. 4. Thank goodness Representatives are re-elected every two years. 5. Maybe Sanford will be an ardent supporter of immigration reform with his Argentine fiance by his side? 6. There are plenty of people in South Carolina who support progressive issues.  50,000 of those who live in District 1 voted for Elizabeth, giving her 45% of the vote.  That is not insignificant.   Please do not write us off.   7. If you are not from South Carolina, please refrain from making jokes about our state for at least a couple of days.  The wound is fresh. 8. Let's turn disappointment into action.  Donate: https://scdpsecure.ngpvanhost.com/form/contribute-now

I am not from Boston.  But, as the President said yesterday , I still claim it.  I claim its people, its values, and, yes, even its sports teams.  The winters may be long, but the springs are all the more beautiful.  I love thick Boston accents heard on the T, the view of sailboats and skyline from the Longfellow Bridge, and the fact that Sweet Caroline rings out from Fenway during every Red Sox home game.  Just as I have learned—and am learning—from Boston’s great universities, so have I learned from its people.  Bostonians are strong and proud—never more so than when provoked by senseless acts against our values.  We are an independent people.  We believe in community and service to others.  And we have an intractable faith in our ability to persevere—and to prosper, especially when others want to keep us down. I am writing these words of strength as much for me as for anyone else.  The truth is this week’s events in Boston have been c...

Cross posted from MIT Sloan's Admissions blog At 8pm the heat is still stifling in that slow-moving Equatorial way of things. Shadows dancing against the night sky could be large insects or small bats—a question I choose not to ponder for too long. We’re in the rural community of Zingiziwa, Tanzania, about two hours from the dusty metropolis of Dar es Salaam. Thirty children and adults have crowded around the television—a half moon of people curious and transfixed by an electrical device in an off-grid world. We are about an hour from the closest power line, where few families have a working light-bulb in their homes, much less the television and DVD set that plays before them tonight. The roadside TV, powered by solar energy stored in a battery, is a weekly marketing event for  EGG-energy , an off-grid energy distribution company launched by MIT and Harvard grad students three years ago. My classmate Jorge and I are here for two weeks to round out a semester-long consultin...