"The stability of the large world house, which is ours, will involve a revolution of values to accompany the scientific and freedom revolutions engulfing the earth. We must rapidly shift from the thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered. A civilization can flounder as readily in the face of moral and spiritual bankruptcy as it can through financial bankruptcy."

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Not Again

Why would someone do this?

I just don't understand.

Family Privacy Act

No Child Left Behind really means Every Child Recruited for the Military. Check out the Leave My Child Alone website for more information on how to help get recruiters out of our high schools.

Children should be learning how to keep peace not how to fight.

Country Fair

I went to Oregon Country Fair last weekend and had a great time! There was: faeries, wizards, great food, belly dancers, poetry, drum circles, a sauna, port-o-potties, body paint, trees, Dr Weil, parades, people on stilts, a guy dressed like an Orc, dijeridoo players, massage therapy, and more. Next year, I am going for the entire weekend! And I am dancing in the drum tower!

Update on London.

Earth First Rendesvous

In progress now on Mt. Hood.

Wish I were there instead of in this office right now.

BBC NEWS:

In full: Blair on bomb blasts

Prime Minister Tony Blair has made two statements about the series of explosions in London on Thursday morning. Here are his statements in full:

STATEMENT FROM DOWNING STREET, 1730 BST
This is a terrible and tragic atrocity that has cost many innocent lives.
I have just attended a meeting of the Government's emergency committee. I received a full report from the ministers and officials responsible.
There will be an announcement made in respect of the various services, in particular we hope the Underground as far as is possible and rail and bus services are up and running as soon as possible.
I would like again to express my profound condolences to the families of the victims and to those who are casualties of this terrorist act.
I would also like to thank the emergency services that have been magnificent today in every respect.
There, of course, will now be the most intense police and security service action to make sure we bring those responsible to justice.
I would also pay tribute to the stoicism and resilience of the people of London who have responded in a way typical of them.
In addition, I welcome the statement put out by the Muslim Council who know that those people acted in the name of Islam but who also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims, here and abroad, are decent and law-abiding people who abhor this act of terrorism every bit as much as we do.
It's through terrorism that the people that have committed this terrible act express their values and it's right at this moment that we demonstrate ours.
I think we all know what they are trying to do, they are trying to use the slaughter of innocent people to cow us, to frighten us out of doing the things we want to do, of trying to stop us going about our business as normal as we are entitled to do and they should not and must not succeed.
When they try to intimidate us, we will not be intimidated, when they seek to change our country, our way of life by these methods, we will not be changed.
When they try to divide our people or weaken our resolve, we will not be divided and our resolve will hold firm.
We will show by our spirit and dignity and by a quiet and true strength that there is in the British people, that our values will long outlast theirs.
The purpose of terrorism is just that, it is to terrorise people and we will not be terrorised.
I would like once again to express my sympathy and sorrow for those families that will be grieving so unexpectedly and tragically tonight.
This is a very sad day for the British people but we will hold true to the British way of life.


STATEMENT FROM GLENEAGLES, 1200 BST THURSDAY
It's reasonably clear that there have been a series of terrorist attacks in London.
There are obviously casualties, both people that have died and people seriously injured and our thoughts and prayers, of course, are with victims and their families.
It's my intention to leave the G8 within the next couple of hours and go down to London and get a report face-to-face with the police and emergency services and the ministers that have been dealing with this, and then to return later this evening.
It is the will of all the leaders of the G8, however, that the meeting should continue in my absence, that we should continue to discuss the issues that we were going to discuss and reach the conclusions that we were going to reach.
Each of the countries round that table have some experience of the effects of terrorism and all the leaders, as they will indicate later, share our complete resolution to defeat this terrorism.
It's particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa and the long-term problems of climate change and the environment.
Just as it is reasonably clear that this is a terrorist attack or a series of terrorist attacks, it is also reasonably clear that it is designed and aimed to coincide with the opening of the G8.
There'll be time to talk later about this.
It's important however that those engaged in terrorism realise that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism on the world.
Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilised nations throughout the world.

Story from BBC NEWS

London. But Why?

Brian Paddick, Assistant Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said: "This clearly was a callous attack on purely innocent members of the public deliberately designed to kill and injure innocent members of the public."

Mr Blair, at Gleneagles, said that the attack was clearly designed to coincide with the opening of the summit, which is being policed by a force of some 10,000 officers drafted in from around the country.
He said: "It is particularly barbaric that this has happened on the day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa and the long-term problems of climate change in the environment.
"Just as this is recently clear that this a terrorist attack or a series of terrorist attacks it is also reasonably clear that it is designed and aimed to coincide with the opening of the G8."

I say, who would do something like this? Clearly, there were no political targets here. Only innocent people going about their daily lives. Children, Women and Men, none of whom had ever done anything to warrent such an attack.

This is sick.

Country Fair

The Oregon Country Fair is this weekend and I am trying to think of a way to work it out so that I can go . . . Anyone interested?? We could carpool, Call in sick to work, paint ourselves blue and purple and eat waaaay to much kettle corn!