Help stop human trafficking! As many of you know every May 3rd is my own personal "stop human trafficking day" This annual observance started on May 3rd a couple years ago as result of a powerful documentary I saw on that day.

So say a prayer with me today for the thousands trapped in this industry. And if you don't know much about the issues check out these links...

http://www.catwinternational.org/

http://www.amnestyusa.org/stopviolence/trafficking/

"mainly, i think that the rise in gas prices is important because it is the only way to bring fundamental change to a culture which thrives on consumption without responsibility. global warming and air quality are issues that are already threatening the health of our species; but equally threatening is our population's cultural infatuation with a consumer lifestyle. this is what drives reactionary politics which retard long-term perspective; this is what motivates exploitation of the third world, global inequities in health and wealth, and ultimately the prejudices which justify social hierarchies and immoral wars.

the rise in gas prices might help to encourage community where previously people were at liberty to operate as individuals. it will certainly spur technological innovation which will protect the environment. and at the very least, it should force us to reconsider how carelessly we consume our world's most valuable natural resource."

can you say, "WORD!"

Sabbath economics?

The interesting thing about knowledge is that it changes you...and once you know enough you start feeling like you can't go back..even if you want to.

This Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you discard. After answering 15 easy questions you'll be able to compare your Ecological Footprint to what other people use and to what is available on this planet.

Eureka!

I LOVE this person whoever they are!! hehe! They pretty much did the bulk of my work for my up-coming training called, "Christians and Sustainable Living"

Oh man, I'm so glad I found this link! This is really going to help....

"The Center for a New American Dream is dedicated to reducing resource consumption and improving the quality of life in North America."

http://www.newdream.org/


Uh-huh....that's what I'm talking about.

Hubba mumma...getting busy. Four more weeks and the birds are singing, the flowers bursting forth. And I'm even beginning to think of the things I'm going to miss about little ole Brattleboro, VT.

Okay, news about where I'm going next soon to come......... :-)

Spring is here!

Thank you, Jesus!!

Jeff Sachs sporting his red power tie

Aren't we all down with Montreal....

Montreal

Raaaaarrrrrrr! Montreal

Cheers! to one of the finest hosts in NYC...

Joyce in ny city

My team and I are doing our training tomorrow. I've been preparing some interesting stuff. Part of our training includes the stages of cultural identity formation proposed by Myron Lusting and Jolene Koester.

Unexamined cultural identity-one’s cultural characteristics are taken for granted and consequently there is little interest in exploring cultural issues

Cultural identity search-involves a process of exploration and questioning about one’s culture in order to learn more about it and to understand the implications of membership in that culture

Cultural identity achievement-characterized by a clear, confident acceptance of oneself and an internalization of one’s own cultural identity

Reading stuff like this through out the year has made me think a lot about "white culture", white cultural identity and what the relation is between race and culture...

Scholars have suggested that the cultural identities of many European Americans, in particular, have remained largely unexamined, a consequence of the power, centrality, and privilege that the European American cultural groups has had in the United States.

As Judith Martin, Robert Krizek, Thomas Nakayama, and Lisa Bradford suggest,

"This lack of attention to white identity and self-labeling reflects the historical power held by whites in the United States. That is, whites as the privileged group take their identity as the norm or standard by which other groups are measured, and this identity is therefore invisible, even to the extent that many whites do not consciously think about the profound affect being white has on their everyday lives."

Hmmmmmm.....

Help stop the genocide in Darfur....

"After reflecting on the genocide in Rwanda, the Senator Paul Simon said: "If every member of the House and Senate had received 100 letters from people back home saying we have to do something about Rwanda, when the crisis was first developing, then I think the response would have been different."

That's a powerful statement. It means that we had the power to stop the genocide in Rwanda, but that too many of us chose not to act. It also means that we have the power now to stop the genocide in Darfur if we do choose to act."

one small act...

I'm back in Vermont and it's the final stretch, baby! 6 weeks and counting!

Uh-huh!! Ooooh-yeah! (doing the Napoleon Dynamite dance...)

Why am I always too busy when I come home to visit? I asked this rhetorically as I was leaving my sister's house tonight and she answered matter of fact, "Because it's a short of amount of time." And I was like, "oh yeah." :-)

In other news...
As my sis's fam and I were eating at a restaurant tonight I was struck with how excessive this American life is. We were chit-chatting and I looked down at my salad fit for three. And even though I continued with the conversation, I felt a bit sick about the excessive and often blissfully ignorant lives we live. Stuffing ourselves into obesity while others starve. I almost had to stop eating. I felt fat, bloated...wasteful.

On a less serious note, I'm excited to share my plans with you all in the near future. Things are coming together, so I think I can share more details soon.

good news: i'm in san diego! (yeah!)

bad news: i'm sick. (boo!)

But i'm still having a good time...pictures to come....