Monday, May 26, 2008

Franti... and Harmony...

~~~

“Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe. But maybe, by raising my voice I can help the greatest of all causes - goodwill among men and peace on earth.”

~ Albert Einstein
~~~




I know I've mentioned before the fact that I've spent a lot of my life volunteering. Doing something without payment, just giving -- time, energy -- is as old as having neighbors... it is the right thing to do. And most certainly, not all my volunteering has been political in nature. Far from it. Whether it was working with Grampa Semu, or Fresno Wildlife Rehabilitation or the work I do now with Harmony Event Medicine (check out Harmony's MySpace page too), even just picking up trash in the wilderness, or providing a meal to the homeless occasionally... these all benefit others beyond the self.

Selfishness has its virtues... and as an illustration I like using the example of Crazy Horse. He was a terrific warrior but lived with little of his own. He understood the need to remain strong and healthy, to follow his medicine in order to be a quality provider and protector. But he had no need to amass wealth for himself. His prestige in his community came from the good things he did for the elders, for the widows and children... for his people.

I've been volunteering for Harmony Event Medicine (HEM) since its beginning (in about 2003). HEM started from the demise of AVIVA Rock Med... an organization that fell by the wayside, but instrumental in drawing the current HEM folks together. The purpose of HEM is providing medical service to public events. We do mostly concerts and festivals but have provided medical service to the Eugene Celebration and this year we'll be working the Art in the Vineyard event at Eugene's Alton Baker Park.

HEM's volunteers are some great folks, many of whom I've worked with for years. We provide a service that is essential to both the patrons of an event and to the promoter as well. "Event medicine" (as practiced by HEM, came out of the '60s and '70s work by caring medical providers doing what is known as Rock Medicine, or RockMed.

RockMed grew out of the need for intervention at concerts. Folks experiencing "adverse drug reactions" (bad trips) needed friends and an environment of safety in order to come down without suffering mental/emotional trauma. The hospital emergency room or a jail cell is no place for psychedelic journeys. So mainstream is the work of concert/event medicine today that even our local Red Cross is working some events. Which is ironic for me personally...

I post at a blog operated by a California newspaper and there is an "anti-drug activist" (a Prohibition fanatic) there that thought that RockMed should be illegal. OK...

But Event Medicine is basic common sense. When you have an event -- whether its for a few hours or a few days -- what you have is a small temporary community (and sometimes not-so-small). There is generally a team of personnel that insures security, there are folks providing food and liquids, there are those maintaining the infrastructure, folks coordinating the entertainment, folks who do the cleaning/trash pick and sanitation... so why not medical services? It just makes sense... its an added level of safety for the event goers (the citizens of the temporary community). Now, not to harp but it is a major sticking in my craw, under the philosophy of the drugwar/Prohibition mind set, there is no allowance for the possibility of drug use and what we get is the anithesis of RockMed... militarized police intervention. Which...well... just doesn't work. (Unless of course the goal is to prove how big a prick government can be.) Take for example the experience of attendees at a Rave in 2005 in Utah:

Close to midnight on a Saturday evening late this summer, a police helicopter crested over a ridge in a desert canyon near Salt Lake City, descended into a low hover over a private ranch, and lit up the area with floodlights. Below, about 1,000 young people were dancing to electronic music at a legal, long-planned rave. They had no idea the police in the sky were armed to teeth and had them surrounded.

Suddenly, cops on the ground stormed in to stop the whole thing.

About 90 uniformed officers, equipped with guns, dogs, Tasers and tear gas, marched like a conquering army into the crowd.

They shut off the music and ordered people to leave; anyone who gave them trouble -- anyone who merely asked what was going on -- was dealt with harshly.

People in the crowd reported being brutalized, terrorized with guns, dogs and other weapons.


Those who dream up these militarized invasions of private citizens are -- I'm sorry -- un-American Jackasses who should be run out of town. This is not Soviet Russia, the old USSR, this is the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." Remember?

... sigh...

Anyway... where was I? Ah ha! HEM...

Our volunteers are just folks who have medical training ranging from CPR/1st Aid all the way up to ER nurses, doctors, EMTs... but the common thread that binds us all is a love of music. Live music...

Like the show I worked at Eugene's Cuthbert Amphitheater on Saturday night...

Probably my favorite contemporary group, Michael Franti and Spearhead always provide a great show attended by a crowd that loves their Spearhead... and Michael Franti. The group's music is definitely political/consciousness based with a style that is unique. Not HipHop, not reggae, not Rock&Roll but all of those in a unique blend that absolutely rocks the house. For the first time in a long time I took my camera:





If you haven't heard Michael Franti and you like energetic, good music, buy one of Spearheads' CDs or better yet, catch them live at one of their upcoming shows.

If you live in Oregon, are medically trained (at whatever level) and like good music, consider volunteering with Harmony. If you live somewhere east of Oregon and want to work RockMed (there seems to be little of this type of service provided anywhere else in the country) contact me or HEM and we'll try and assist you in either hooking up with an organization or getting you started in doing something similar.







Yesterday, Alex and I headed up to Opal Creek to shoot some waterfall pics. They'll be posted next time. Until then...

Kay sh'nuk sh'mah...

[post edit]

I sent an email to my friends at Fresno Wildlife Rehab, telling them that I gave them a mention in this post. I rec'd a reply that I just have to share. Dave and Cathy Garner run FWRRS and have since its beginnings. They're great people and have been providing this service to the Fresno area since before I met them in the very early 1980s. Totally dedicated to what they do they also help people. Giving presentations to school classes, scout groups, service clubs... they stay pretty darned busy. But over the many years they have shepherded a large herd of volunteers through the process of caring for a wide variety of critters, injured and orphaned. I haven't seen them for about 25 years but I still feel real connected and any time I think about the birds and other fauna I took under my wing (doh!)... so to speak... I can't help but smile.

Anyway in their email they said this:

Good things have been happening to FWR over the past few years. Did you ever see the thing that Audubon did on us? We were their cover story for their March 2004 magazine. It was a real treat and took them almost two years to do it.

This past fall, Jeff Corwin came and filmed a fox, bobcat and great horned owl release with us. It recently aired on his new series "Into the West" with Jeff Corwin, so I guess it showed all over the world. Pretty cool. If you go to Google videos and type in wildlife you can see what one of our volunteers did with his filming of the show filming us. It was a hoot!

Just this coming June, we are being honored as "The Spirit of Clovis" by the Clovis Chamber of Commerce. Who would have ever thought???????????? Also, this year, we got the cover of Clovis' magazine called "Connecting with Clovis." We got the cover shot and one more inside but no real article, just a note. Anyway it still brings in interest and that is OK but what we really need are donations to build our nature center. Have you heard about our project to build a nature education and wildlife rehabilitation center in Clovis? If you know anyone with bug bucks, we need some serious cash to begin this much needed work. Once it is built, we will be able to match up kids with critters, many of the kids come from bad environments, gangs, etc. and wildlife help the kids reach for other goals in life. Dave and I are 61 years old now and realize that if we don't get this thing moving, it may never happen in our lifetime.

Keep up the great blog you have. It is very impressive. When do you have the time??? I can barely find time to tie my shoelaces. Too many mouths to feed............see how some things never change? Right now we have 9 Red-shouldered hawk youngsters in a playpen, 3 Kestrels in the kitchen and 5 Barn Owls in the laundry room and various other animals outside. Whew, and that doesn't count the many animals that are at volunteer's homes. What a crazy life we have created for ourselves. One year we worked with over 1200 birds and mammals. Believe me, there are many late nights when these two old timers flop into bed and ask each other, "Why did we ever start this thing?"


Thats a busy, busy life. And they do it with great love, caring and enthusiasm. If anyone is in or has friends in the Fresno/Clovis, California area and can help them out contact them through their website, posted above in a hyperlink, or email me and I'll get you connected. There is no experience like the first time you care for an orphaned batch of barn owls. The first day you wake up and find them all laying down the first thought is "are they dead?" But they're not. Just sleeping the way they sleep... and then when they're watching you from their nestbox... wow...

Thanks for all you do, Dave and Cathy! You both are wonderful folks I'm very proud to call friends.


~~~

“kudos to the educators, athletes, dancers, judges, janitors, politicians, artists, actors, writers, singers, poets, and social activist, to all who dare to look at life with humor, determination and respect”

~ Maya Angelou

~~~

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Back to Tibet and the Olympics...

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“The prize reaffirms our conviction that with truth, courage and determination as our weapons, Tibet will be liberated. Our struggle must remain non-violent and free of hatred.”

~ Dalai Lama
~~~

Watching the news this evening on TV and I saw my first summer '08 Olympics ad. Which for me is just a prompt to provide an update.



First... I just have to provide a link to this story, provided by the Students for a Free Tibet:

Dalai Lama offers help to the Chinese

THE Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, has made a gesture of goodwill to China by announcing that he wants to donate to the Chinese earthquake fund, despite Beijing’s denunciations of the “Dalai clique” and its description of him as “a demon”.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, he said he was worried that a gift to the victims would be misunderstood by China, which accuses him of helping to foment the riots that struck Tibet in March.

The Dalai Lama, who is due to meet Gordon Brown in London this week, adopted a conciliatory tone in his remarks on China, giving strong backing for the Olympics and expressing his desire to become a fully fledged Chinese citizen. “At the moment I am a refugee. But I would like to return to Tibet as a member of China’s Tibetan minority,” he said.

Although many of his supporters have called for a boycott of the Olympics, the Dalai Lama said he would have liked to attend them. “It is right that China should have been awarded them,” he said. “It has the world’s largest population and a great and ancient culture. In normal circumstances I would very much like to have gone to Beijing as a spectator.”


~~~

Amazing that the Dalai Lama practices what he preaches. There is a lesson there I think we could all heed.

~~~

Out of New Jersey comes this story:

Olympics boycott cry grows louder

The quote I want to provide deals with the fact that Tibet is not China's only human rights issue:

Speaking from his Washington, D.C., office yesterday, U.S. Rep Chris Smith, R-Hamilton, an advocate of religious freedom and human rights in repressive countries around the world, said the "grandiose hoopla" of the opening ceremonies will be all about hypocrisy.

"At the very least, we should boycott (the opening ceremonies). Unfortunately, propaganda is ever present, and the Chinese are denying facts about their own government. There is a steady stream of propaganda about (the spiritual practice) Falun Gong, religion and the West."

Smith has criticized China for forced sterilization and persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.



~~~

Another good read is this column from the Boulder (CO) Daily Camera, written for the LA Times by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:

Jabbar: Olympics Boycott questions: '68 vs. '08

Should we boycott the Olympic Games to protest China's arrogant human rights performance, its political imperialism, its shoddy exports that recently have left some Americans ill or dead?

The answer is no. While it may seem disingenuous to be playing games with countries that aim weapons at us, the same claim can be made about us by many other countries.

I am of a mind that the actions of Smith and Carlos made a difference in 1968. However, this Olympics is an entirely different situation that requires different tactics to achieve a satisfactory resolution. Instead of turning our backs, we need to continue a dialogue with the Chinese.

The more we talk with each other, the more we understand each other and can reach compromises that will benefit the lives of those we are trying to help. Jackie Robinson once said that the great thing about athletics is that "you learn to act democracy, not just talk it." That's what our athletes will demonstrate to the 1 billion Chinese who may be watching.

~~~



For me... I say continue with the boycott pressure. I mean if Ronald Reagan was able to be an instrument in the falling of the infamous Berlin Wall, surely the Dalai Lama can be one of the instruments of peace that tears down the Red Wall.


~~~

PS...

One of the problems with walls? Just as soon as you tear one down, 2 more go up. That Medusa thing, dontcha know...

Israel/Palestine:



US/Mexico:



~~~
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”

~ Albert Camus

~~~

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

aaah... spring...

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“Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!""

~ Robin Williams
~~~

Yep... it is official, spring is here. It is going to be in the low 90ยบ range in the next few days. Woohoo! That'll get the flowers blooming, especially up in the mountains...

Here is a batch of photos from the last couple of weeks from here at home and over at Golden Garden Park, celebrating spring and its bursting of colors:





















~~~

“The only thing that could spoil a day was people. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.”

~ Ernest Hemingway

~~~

Friday, May 9, 2008

Daughters, sons, Iraq... and more... always more...

~~~



~~~

"The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood. It will bring a mark of everlasting infamy on the present generation – enlightened as it is – if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of designing men."

~ Sam Adams
~~~

Just one of those days...

We had more shoplifters at work. I was sitting in my car on my break and watched them pull into the parking lot. I was suspicious just from appearance... ratty car, two young women with bags over their shoulders, a man following them in... but I'm always willing to give folks the benefit of the doubt. But when the women came out of the store, together, their bags looking heavier than when they went in, I had my alarm going off. So, I took down their license plate number, gave them the eye as I walked by... and went and told the boss "I think we've been hit again." We checked the security cameras and sure enough...

They stole about 9 brass plumbing valves, big ones. About 40 pounds of brass. The local metal recycling center says brass is going for over $2 a pound. The retail loss to the store is over $400. But we have their images, a description of the car, a license plate number... odds are they're tweakers -- methamphetamine addicts -- who will try and sell the valves for scrap. Of course the recycling yard has a description of the items and a police report number should they try and sell them there.

I've no problem with a person choosing any substance to use, abuse, or kill themselves with. I'm a big believer in Darwin. The dumb ones we can do without. But I'm also a believer that folks should be free to snort, smoke, inject or supposit anything they want. Crime however -- theft, assault, child and spousal abuse -- sucks. The redneck part of me says they need to pay. The humane, human rights, sympathetic, empathetic part of me says they can change or need to be made to understand the need to change.

But I live in a country that suffers under the shadow of mass hysteria about drugs. Whatever someone does in their own home, is their business. If they get high and go out and drive recklessly it is the driving recklessly that is the crime. But then a government that invades a person's home because of what they are doing in the privacy of their home is also criminal. And now, here in the US, we have armed home invasions by police -- armed as heavily as any military combat squad -- as a regular occurrence. And innocent people die from these raids far, far too often. There is a young man at the Cato Institute, Radley Balko, that has investigated this travesty of injustice for the past several years and his reporting (he is also an editor at Reason Magazine) paints a dismal picture of a policy that has become routine virtually everywhere across the country. (and if you're really curious about drug policy and want to meet some of the best and brightest minds and read up to date info, vsisit my friend Pete Guither's blog, Drug WarRant)

Now... I've avoided this issue here at the Morning Donut completely. Its an issue that has been stuck in my craw (not craw, CRAW!)(for you Maxwell Smart fans) for personal reasons for over a decade and the incident of shoplifting at the store today tipped me over the edge. So there you have it... but, because I do focus on this issue in depth in other venues I won't overburden you with my pet peeve. I'd rather focus on positive things, Opal Creek and Pablo, my photography and the beauty of the natural landscape, but today, I had my chain pulled.

And not to dwell, but it is a very provable fact that the drug war is both a failure and a policy destined to destroy our Constitution. If you support the drug war I can only say, you are in error in your support. You would be hard pressed to provide any positive results from what many call Prohibition II (or in new millenium techo-talk, Prohibition version 2.0). Where at one time addiction was a minor problem that was dealt with by the addict with their physician, addiction to drugs today is a problem that has escalated into an epidemic of health (HIV and hepatitis among the needle sharing crowd and in prisons) and crime. Whereas those whose addiction is to alcohol have socially acceptable diversion choices, a drug addict must admit to illegal activity and the choices available to them are far far less than those available to the alcoholic seeking treatment.

A lot of drugs suck, they're just not fun and lead to problems. The counter to that is that most who use drugs, legal or illegal, do so responsibly, have jobs and families and don't fall prey to abuse of their substance of choice. And, like I said above, what anyone does in private is no one else's business. When someone's activities become criminal, then... Houston we have a problem. And most importantly, under a society dedicated to principles of liberty, professed defender of the democratic process, to usurp the very principles of freedom (principles that are in fact of a very universal innateness) is both hypocritical and deserving of contempt and derision.

It is that notion of human dignity and the essence of freedom that prods me to write about Tibet and indigenous people's plights. I would hope that the old saw about it always being darkest before the dawning of a new day really is true. Well friends, these are truly dark times. But we need only to shine a light to scare the cockroaches back the corners and wither the vampires and other boogeymen of the dark who drain our positive possibilities away.

Like Chief Dan George said, playing the role of Lone Watie in the 1975 Clint Eastwood movie, the Outlaw Josie Wales, "we must endeavor to persevere."


~~~

And if you were wondering what the heck my title had to do with this post...

My daughter Robin has a young male friend, Ryan, who is leaving for Iraq in a couple of weeks. If I hate the drug war because it is a fatally defective policy founded upon a stack of lies, then I have to hate the Iraq War for the same reasons. But I'm a vet, my brothers are all vets and my dad was a WWII vet who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. I'll never diss a soldier. I understand. More than I care to sometimes... so I ask, if you are the praying type, send a good word out for safety for all those young men and women in uniform. And when you are done praying, tell your elected representatives to do something positive for our nation's veterans. For a change...

No pictures today, sorry... my mental landscape is too cluttered to focus in that direction. But you know I'll be back atcha again when my mood lightens up.

May we someday know peace. In Sha ' Allah
~~~

“Liberty is to the collective body, what health is to every individual body. Without health no pleasure can be tasted by man; without liberty, no happiness can be enjoyed by society.”

~ Thomas Jefferson

Sunday, May 4, 2008

hmmm...

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~~~

“I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief... For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”

~ Wendell Berry
~~~

I'm just sitting here at the computer, coffee is made and not much on my mind (something I've been blamed of many times in the past). So pardon me while I just roam the mental landscape...

Willie Nelson, probably my favorite "country" singer (country is in quotes there because while he is country he also eclipses boundaries like no one else I know), turned 75 the other day. Happy Birthday Willie! Call me next time you come thru town...



38 years ago today 4 young students at Kent State University died in a barrage of bullets fired by National Guard troops. Not many know that 10 days later at Jackson State, in Mississsippi, two students were shot and killed and 12 injured by gunfire (the FBI estimated 460 rounds were fired) from 75 city policemen and Mississippi State Police officers armed with carbines, submachine guns, shotguns, service revolvers and some personal weapons.




And me? In May of 1970 I was goofing off, pretending to go to Junior College. I was bored with school, eighteen years old and living close to SoCal beaches. There was sun and girls in bikinis... who needed college? Politics were not part of my life.

...sigh...

But I wouldn't go back. Nope, not a chance.

Today is Eugene's second running of the Eugene Marathon. Of course that is just a run in the park (literally if you know Eugene and the course of this year's marathon, a lot of it following the Willametter River). I was eating lunch in a sports bar the other day and on one of the TVs I saw folks running in the desert.



Interesting I thought, thinking it was probably somewhere in the US Southwest. Hah! Not even close. These 800 or so runners were participating in the Marathon des Sables (this year's event was just a month ago), a marathon's marathon. This is a 6 day, 151 mile race. Through the Sahara desert of North Africa. The winning time was over 19 hours... Wow... the things one can learn sitting in a sports bar

I've got plants to plant today. The yard needs yarding, the house needs cleaning, the dishes need washing, laundry needs laundering... a boring day. Ain't it grand? I will leave you with some of my recent photos, shot here at home and over at Golden Garden Park:









Friday, May 2, 2008

aaah...

~~~

“Do not think of how big the universe is, it will merely hurt your head.”

~ Buddha

~~~


U.S. Jewish Leaders Urge Boycott of Olympics

-snip-

In a statement, the group said it is urging a boycott because it believes China is using the Olympic Games as a way to deflect attention from its human-rights record, much the way that Nazi Germany used the 1936 Olympic Games to distract attention from its persecution of Jews.

-snip-


So... it seems China is squirming a bit under all this global visibility. Do nations have egos?

We still have a ways to go but there are signs of change -- or at least some minor tremors -- that China doesn't like the criticism. Well, duh... considering that China's purge of Tibet is half a century old and some 1 million people are dead and/or disappeared... and now more people are becoming aware of China's assault on a very peaceful Tibetan civilian population... I hope they squirm right out of Tibet.

On the news front, this was the headline I saw this morning on GoogleNews that prompted this post:

Dalai Lama's office: Envoys leave for China for Tibet talks (and let me know if this link breaks, the article is only an hour old)

-snip-

Beijing has faced a chorus of calls from world leaders to open a dialogue. The decision comes as something of a reversal in the face of Beijing's relentless claims that the Dalai Lama and his followers had orchestrated March's violence in Tibet.

The recent protests in Tibet marked the most widespread and sustained action against Beijing's rule in decades, focusing attention on accusations that China's policies in the Himalayan region are eroding its traditional Buddhist culture and mainly benefit Chinese who moved there since its 1951 occupation by Communist troops.

-snip-


The people of Tibet deserve help. This is not a political issue, this is not an issue of religion, this is an issue of import to all humanity. We cannot exist for long in a world as tumultuous as ours by ignoring the daily wrongs perpetrated against people by governments anywhere.

Since I became aware of the scope of world hunger some 30 years ago, the number of people that starve to death or die from malnutrition related disease has not changed. There are still tens of thousands dying each day. How is it that governments can afford huge military arsenals? How does it happen that day after day humanity marches on and nothing, really, changes? Is this wave of humans spreading across the globe like a snowball rolling downhill, getting bigger and bigger, rolling faster and faster as it gains weight and momentum... and all of us swept along for the ride, knowing that there is a bottom, somewhere, to this hill...?

How do we make governments accountable? The problems today are as old as the day when humans began living in communities and hierarchies became established. But today it is happening on a scale that is an indictment that should appall each and every one of us. And nowhere is there any religion that is founded upon any truth, that advocates vioence against another. If there is a monk, a preacher, an imam... a rabbi... whatever... that advocates death, that calls another an enemy... that one is an imposter, a fake and a fraud. And the same for governments.

Being 56 years old I remember a lot of the politics shadowing the Olympics over the years... John Carlos and Tommie Smith lowering their heads and giving the black power fist raising salute in Mexico City's 1968 Olympics:



...the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics:



and there were those games I don't remember (borrowing from Wikipedia's Olympics page here):

...the 1956 Olympic Games which were boycotted by the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland, because of the repression of the Hungarian Uprising by the Soviet Union; additionally, Cambodia, Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon, boycotted the games due to the Suez Crisis...

And some I do...

- In 1972 and 1976, a large number of African countries threatened the International Olympic Committee with a boycott, to force them to ban South Africa (Apartheid), Rhodesia, and New Zealand...

- In 1976 China itself used the Olympics to make a political statement when it told the Taiwan Olympics team it could not compete using the name "Republic of China"...

- Sixty-five nations refused to compete at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan...

- The Soviet Union and 14 of its Eastern Bloc partners (except Romania) countered by skipping the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, arguing the safety of their athletes could not be guaranteed there and "chauvinistic sentiments and an anti-Soviet hysteria are being whipped up in the United States"...

- Even pot/marijuana/reefer/ganja has held a position as an Olympics controversy when snowboarder Ross Rebagliati was stripped of his Gold Medal in 1998's Japan Winter Olympics for testing positive for cannabis, a medal later restored to Rebagliati when (IMHO) the situation came to the point where no one officially wanted to call the much maligned herb a "performance enhancing drug."

But now... even the world's highest mountain has become part of Olympic's controversy:

Olympic torch to scale Everest amid tight security

-snip-

The flame could reach the summit as early as this weekend or early next week. Already, one American climber, who has been carrying a pro-Tibet flag, was kicked off the mountain and heavy security is reportedly enforcing the no-climb rule in effect from May 1 to May 10 in Nepal, which, like China, controls access to part of the mountain. Nepal's forces have reportedly been urged to shoot at protesters.

-snip-




Humanity is not well. Its governments are even worse... if you are one of those agreeing with those of us calling for pressure on China over its human rights shame, please keep the pressure on. Tell your friends -- and your enemies if you have them -- to boycott the Olympics, tell President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies...

And in one final note... I did not know that China was involved in Darfur (Sudan, Africa), but the recent announcement by Steven Spielberg to resign as artistic advisor to the Olympics because of China's muliple problematic situations involving Tibet and Darfur, brought that aspect of the issue to my attention. It seems China buys 2/3 of the oil produced by Sudan:

-snip-

while selling it weapons and defending Khartoum in the U.N. Security Council. Fighting in Darfur has killed more than 200,000 people since 2003.

-snip-


So... remember... Boycott: the sound of one hand not opening a wallet.


~~~

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.

~ Plato
~~~