Social Justice News, 1-26-07

Hey everybody,
Something really funny happened this week. I got a call from Newt Gingrich’s staffers. Yes, THAT Newt Gingrich. Apparently, I am on some kind of list as a conservative. Yes, I know your laughing… Anyway, they asked me if, as a good conservative (don’t faint from laughing too hard yet, I’m not to the good part) would I be willing to listen to a recorded message from Mr. Gingrich? For a second I thought about telling them that I’m a Democrat and hanging up, but then I decided to play along. The message was all about getting the GOP “back to basics” along with a lot of rigamorale about left wing nuts trying to hijack the country. I kept the phone away from my ear at first, afraid that I was going to get some kind of subliminal message through the phone: “You are now a conservative. Bush is right. Support Bush.” Apparently, according to him, in November people didn’t vote for the Democrats, but against the Republicans. All right, you could’ve fooled me! Then the staffer came back on the line and asked me for $200. After I hung up, I ended up in the floor laughing so hard I had to clutch my sides.
My new job is going okay, though they have some crazy things going on there. It’ll last for a while at any rate. I have to be at work at 7 in the morning, and I work till 3, so I won’t be able to go to the rally. My apologies –I hope it’s a great one! Someone please let me know how it goes.
Bush called for a 20% cut in gasoline consumption in his State of the Union, as expected. He wants to make it up with ethanol. One analyst pointed out that in order to replace 15% of our gas with ethanol and NOT lose any food production, we’d have to convert an area the size of Kansas and Iowa COMBINED to growing corn. No worries, we’ll just cut down a rain forest or two. That’s it.
Anyway, here’s the news.

FEATURED ARTICLES
Parent’s Angry over ‘Truth,’ Get Film Pulled: That’s right –angry evangelical parents have gotten Gore’s movie pulled from science classrooms in Seattle, and now it can only be watched if ‘balance’ material is presented. And here I thought science prevailed over religion in this country!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012401807.html?sub=AR

Want to cut your carbon output? This is the article for you! Check it out.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/cash/story/0,,1994984,00.html

Big Brother and Big Oil: This is the best analysis of the Bush drama on Capital Hill this week (otherwise known as the State of the Union Address) that I’ve seen. It’s also a little bit worrying.
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/bigoilbigbrother.php

Energy Fascism’s Rise: Maybe this will come true, maybe it won’t but the signs are there, and frightening!
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/46838/

GOOD NEWS
Climate Change Concerns Rising Fast: Worldover, the general public is (finally! –sorry, I couldn’t resist) starting to wake up to the reality of global warming.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070125/lf_afp/unclimateopinion_070125031842

CLIMATE CHANGE
IPCC’s Final Verdict: The World as we know it will be gone by 2100. Bye-bye mountaintop snowcaps. Bye bye 2/3 of the world’s species. Hello, climate change.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1995348,00.html

Are we nuts? We buy health insurance, life insurance, fire insurance, auto insurance, even though we may never need most of them. But we won’t do anything to stop climate change. So this author asks –are we nuts? I would say yes. We may be the first species in the planet’s history to commit mass suicide –and mass murder along the way.
http://baltimorechronicle.com/2007/011507Lindorff.shtml

Awakening the Giant: There are now hopeful signs that the American public is finally awakening to the reality of climate change.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-enviro2007jan20,0,3131999.story?coll=orl-opinion-headlines

POLITICS
State of the Apocalypse: Global and domestic rampage, the failing war in Iraq, the changing climate, none of these were included in Bush’s speech the other night, now were they?
http://www.alternet.org/story/47127/

POLLUTION
Kid’s Lung Damage Caused by Roads: The exhaust from cars is causing mass damage to the lungs of kids who live next to the roads. Gee, I thought we drove cars to keep the kids safe!
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2186523.ece

ENVIRONMENT
The Sand Takes All: The Sahara desert is advancing relentlessly across Africa, while activists try to stop it, seemingly to no avail. Meanwhile, many villagers can’t see the connection between the continuous felling of trees and the desert’s advance.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6288445.stm

Criminals, Terrorists, or Something altogether different? An in-depth look at the “ecoterrorism” incidents in the past few years, and at those who committed them.
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/46847/

OTHER
110 SWAT Team Incidents EVERY DAY Last Year: SWAT teams were called out about 110 times every single day last year. Why? Terrorism? Hostages? No –to serve warrants. And guess who got hurt? Innocent adults and children. Gee, let’s just send out the paramilitary to arrest someone who didn’t show up to traffic court! What a bright idea!
http://www.antiwar.com/roberts/?articleid=10382

More Cooks, Waitresses, and Busboys than Farmers: Seriously. There are now more of these folks than those who actually grow food! If this continues, soon all food production will be in the hands of Monsanto and its ilk. And when that unsustainable system breaks down? Well….I think it’s a good time to learn to garden!
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070125/un_global_unemployment.html?.v=3

Website of the Week: Ecology Action. These folks do a lot of good work. (Full disclosure: I bought some seeds this year from their garden catalog.) http://www.growbiointensive.org/

UU Joke of the Week:
Conversation overheard:
Person A (Mainstream Protestant Denomination): I hear that you allow all sorts of weirdos in your church. Atheists, Buddhists, Pagans...
Person B (Unitarian Universalist): We allow Christians too -- we're very open minded!

Have a good weekend everybody!
-Rebecca

Gandhi's Legacy

This is the second installment of my three part series on how empires are brought down. If this is your first time visiting, or the first you’ve read of this series, my purpose here is to discuss how empires fall, particularly how they are brought down from within. In the first essay I discussed violent revolts, and in this essay I shall tackle nonviolent rebellion. The third essay, entitled The Third Course, will sum up and discuss what I feel are the key factors in whether or not an empire is brought down successfully.

First, I am going to discuss my own feelings about nonviolence. That will be the first question that comes to mind for anyone who reads this. I consider myself to be a conditional pacifist. That isn’t a conventional term, so give me a minute to explain that. The tradition definition of pacifism can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifism For the most part, this fits me, as I do not believe violence is a legitimate way of solving problems. I am not a violent or aggressive person, and given my druthers I would and will live my life in as peaceful away as possible. That said, I am a child of the streets and as such am wise enough in the ways of the world to recognize that pacifism is a luxury. I have the highest respect for the Amish and the Mennonites; they are an amazing group of people. But they are able to live as they do because their neighbors are generally peaceful and orderly people who do not want to hurt them or take what they have. If that were to ever change, they would either have to let the intruders have their way or fight to stop them. In the world of Genghis Khan and his ilk, the Amish would simply have been wiped out.

Likewise, I am able to live my life peacefully at the moment because I live in a fairly ordered society. If I were suddenly plunked down in the middle of Darfur, I would immediately lose the luxury of being pacifistic if I wanted to keep life and body together. Therefore, I consider myself a conditional pacifist: I will not harm you, I will not be aggressive towards you, and I will never initiate aggression against another human being. But, I also believe in self-defense. If someone broke into my house tonight, I would have no compunctions against shooting them dead. Likewise, if someone invaded us with the intent of taking over our land and us, I would support fighting them and be ready and willing to fight myself.

That is what I mean by conditional pacifist.

But that is not the purpose of this essay. Its purpose is to explore the non violent route of bringing down empires, how and if it works, and what the advantages and drawbacks are. So, here is the essay.

*****

It happened one morning in early September, the 11th to be exact. No, not that September 11th –this one was in 1906. I have no idea what the weather was like, but perhaps it was a cool, crisp fall day just as our 9/11 was. On this day, a man did what had long been considered impossible: he brought down an empire. And he did it using unconventional means. There was no war, no attack, no violence of any sort. He simply walked away. And a few million others followed him. The beleaguered, battered, tottering British Empire couldn’t withstand a loss of support of this magnitude, and it simply crumbled.

The relevant question for this paper is, was what Gandhi did an anomaly or it a useful tool for bringing down an empire? I would argue that the answer lies somewhere in between.

There can be little doubt that Gandhi left behind an impressive legacy. Martin Luther King. Rosa Parks. The Children’s March. The Freedom Riders. Powerful images that evoke powerful feelings. The entire Civil Rights struggle in the U.S. and countless other social and liberation movements in other countries drew from the teachings of Gandhi. Without Gandhi, there might never have been the great social upheavals of the mid-20th century.

By now, astute readers will have noticed an important difference between these movements and the subject of this essay: these were movements for social change and the subject here is social revolution. The distinction is a very important one. Social change is relatively easy compared to revolution. The goal of such a movement is to change the society within its currently existing paradigms. The goal of a revolutionary movement is to change the paradigms themselves, thereby creating a new society. In the former example, the existing Empire merely changes a few of its rules to quiet the rabble rousers. After it’s over, the same Empire exists underneath. Basically the end result is a face lift of the prevailing Imperial structure. The goal of a revolutionary movement is not to change the Empire, but to bring it down.

Social Movements need surprisingly little support to succeed. The rule of thumb I was taught in my upper-level sociology courses was 3%. That’s all it takes to change the face of a society. That’s the reason some Equal Rights movements have advanced so rapidly. Take the LGBT rights movement, which has made incredible gains in only two decades. LGBT individuals make up at least 10% of the population of the U.S., and well over half are politically active. Add in their supportive friends, families, and other straight allies and you have a powerful force for change.

But again, social change is not social revolution. As an example, could 3% of an Empire’s population walking away bring it down? Probably, but it wouldn’t happen –except in the extraordinary cases were, like the British Empire in 1906, said Empire is all ready in rags and there is nothing to stop them. For one thing, were would they go? It’s easy for one person or a family, or even 100 of them, to walk away. It’s not so easy for 10,000 or 100,000 to do so –much less a few million. Those people still have to have food, income, clothing, and so on and so forth. Unless there are alternatives to those provided by the Empire, they will still be dependent upon it to some extent. It’s impossible for that many people to simply walk off into the woods.

There is one other example of people bringing down an Empire by primarily non-violent means. But this is an example of how NOT to do it, because said Empire was replaced by another that was far worse than the first. Two millennia ago, give or take a century, a young Jewish carpenter was executed in a rather hideous manner. His followers didn’t just disband, as was hoped for by the ruling elites of the time. Rather, they grew and became such a popular movement that the Empire was toppled. And thus, was the Roman Catholic Empire born with the passing of Rome. There is no doubt that this one was worse than its predecessor –after all, the Church not only plunged the world into the Dark Ages for over 1500 years, but they also burned some of the most priceless works in human history, destroyed the cultural heritage of millions, started countless bloody wars, repressed well over half the human race, and burned over 5 million women at the stake (just in the first 3 centuries), many for “crimes” that included midwifery. Ok, so that was my Catholic Church rant. I’m entitled to it –I am pagan after all!

In conclusion, if walking away from an empire won’t bring it down, and picking up arms won’t necessarily bring it down, then what are the necessary ingredients in a successful revolution? That will be the subject of my next essay, The Third Course.

As an aside, I would like to suggest that walking away is probably the best course to take if one is going to survive the collapse of an empire. To have the best chance of survival, one needs to be as far as possible from the seat of Imperial Power, and also be as independent from the services of the Empire as one can be.

First Day of Classes

Yesterday was my first day of classes. I’ve all ready figured out to watch the beauracracy of this school; last week I had to go up there on Friday to re-register and take care of my financial aid. That took most of the day, lol. Yesterday I got a call telling me that one of my classes had been changed from Monday nights to Thursday nights, and today they called telling me that they’d changed it back. So I was sure to leave early last night to get my parking permit before class. It took forever to find the police station, and when I did they needed all kinds of different documentation: class schedule, driver’s license, registration, insurance –it was worse than getting on a plane! That took nearly an hour. After that, I still had to find the building and a parking spot where I wouldn’t get towed. I ended up going into the wrong wing of the building (north versus south) and then it turned out they’d changed the classroom and the building! But I ran into two other girls in the class and we found the new location together, so that turned out well. And then when class let out a lot of us (me included) got an unpleasant surprise: there are three ways in and out of the university, and after seven they lock two of them (as in, they close and padlock big iron gates and the guards leave). So I went to the main entrance and found it locked, turned around and had to find another way out. There was a whole line of cars circling the school on those one-way roads looking for an open exit! It was actually pretty funny. Then when I did find the way out it let out into a strange neighborhood, and I spent 30 minutes finding the right way to get home!

The class itself was Personality. The prof is nice, and so eccentric one kid muttered that she must have become a shrink so she wouldn’t have to pay for one. I liked her though –and she worked 4 days of “distance learning” into the schedule to, as she was sure to let us know, help combat global warming. So yeah –I definitely like her.

Social Justice News, 1-12-07

Hey everybody,
I’m feeling better this week but am still recovering. I have a bit of a cough left and still tire easily. Plus my sinuses are plugged up still. Bronchitis always hits me hard when I get it. I spent most of Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in bed. Now that I’m recovering, I’m dealing with a seriously ill cat. We spent all day in the vets office, and I have to take her back in the morning for them to finish the tests. She’s curled up on my bed right now sleeping. I’m worried about her but she’ll be all right. If it’s not one thing it’s another, isn’t that how the old saying goes?

I don’t have many leads on the job front. If anyone hears of anything, I’d appreciate it if you’d pass the info along. I need something part time if possible. I’m in school full-time now, and I really can’t do that and work full time!

Featured Articles
Step it Up 2007: A campaign to fight climate change this year.
http://grist.org/comments/dispatches/2007/01/08/mckibben/index.html

Global Warming, Warring, and Warning: Amy Goodman’s take on last year.
http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0111-28.htm

Justice, Farms, and Victory Gardens: A very good essay on sustainable food production. A highly recommended read!
http://www.energybulletin.net/24634.html

The 100 mile Diet, even in winter: This is an idea rapidly gaining traction, among both environmentalists and nutritionists. I urge everyone to read this article, and seriously consider attempting it –at least for a week or a month!
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/46472/

GOOD NEWS
Humans Are Causing Climate Change: Really? You don’t say? But now it’s (finally!) the official word from a U.S. agency. I thought they’d wait until the Washington Monument was flooded by the rising seawater, but hey, wonders never ease! (They’ll just wait to act on it until then, I’ll wager.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/science/10climate.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

CLIMATE CHANGE
Where ‘Truth’ Left Off: A review of the new climate change book, Heat, by George Monbiot.
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/46318/

Thinning Ice: How precarious is the polar bears position?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16409848/site/newsweek/?GT1=8921

Connect the Dots and Be Scared: Global warming is here. Not in 100 years, or 50, or even 20 or 10. but now. Follow the yellow brick road and see where it leads. Next stop on the Climate Express: Waterworld. I’m going to go out back now and start building a big boat…
http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0109-33.htm

Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest: Why are weathermen across the country playing dumb? They should be bright enough to know what’s behind the wacky weather. So why don’t they just come out and say it? Maybe they’re afraid of scaring people. Me, I’m going back to work on that boat…
http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0109-26.htm

Global Warming Pledge: A pledge people can take to help fight climate change.
http://www.culturechange.org/global_warming_pledge.html

Wake-up Call: Canada’s new environmental minister has called the wacky weather a “wake-up call” on climate change.
http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/politics/news/shownews.jsp?content=n010847A

Rich versus poor: It’s the rich nations that produce most of the world’s carbon dioxide –producing more in a day than many countries produce in a year –but it’s the poor countries that have to suffer the worst consequences (so far). The rich party, the poor pay. Surprise surprise.
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2137667.ece

I Love Global Warming: This made me hit the roof when I read it. It is almost too ridiculous to be true, but here it is: this guy is claiming the net benefits of global warming will outweigh any negatives –including drowning polar bears, etc. And he says that people who die in heat waves are “who are likely to die soon anyway”.
http://www.forbes.com/home_europe/free_forbes/2006/1225/038.html

Gore Part of the Problem: An interesting take on An Inconvenient Truth a friend forwarded to me. I am neither agreeing with nor endorsing this viewpoint, merely sharing it as a different (and interesting) perspective.
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Archives2007/FittsGore.html

Return of the Reaper: Tropical diseases have returned to Europe along with the heat. How long will it be before they spread further north? And before things like malaria and dengue fever come to the Southeast?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2534982,00.html

POLITICS

POLLUTION
Drowning in Rubbish: China is literally in danger of being buried in its own garbage.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK208804.htm

ENVIRONMENT
The Seas in Jeopardy: Unless something is done –and fast –the oceans as we know them will disappear forever.
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Enviro/envHEAD01010707.htm

OTHER
Local Economies: Yes! Magazine is running a special on building local economies. Check out these links to some of the articles. They’re really good!
http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1548
http://yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1545
http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1579

Website of the Week: A really cool “green” website! http://www.groovygreen.com/

UU Joke of the Week: General Assembly: Where committees of UUs meet to form next year's committees.

Have a good weekend everybody!
-Rebecca

A New Phase of Life Begins...

A new phase of life began for me yesterday. I officially became a Master of Science candidate. Until yesterday I was taking prerequisites and the like, and had just been admitted. But yesterday I registered for graduate classes. I was terrified –my hands were shaking as I signed the paperwork –but I am also excited. A sure sign that you’re on the right path is when you’re completely terrified. I am worried about how to pay for it, but I will figure it out.

My seed order from Bountiful Gardens came in yesterday as well, along with a copy of How to Grow More Vegetables. I had to break my Compact vow to buy the book, but I haven’t been able to find a used copy, and I judged it important enough to bend the rules for that. I finished off the day by making homemade vegetarian chili and cornbread, with as much of the ingredients as possible coming from the local farmer’s market. That’s a far cry from the way I used to be.
I also have broccoli and some cold weather flowers planted in a greenhouse on my windowsill. They haven’t sprouted yet, but I am checking them every morning for signs. I am like a child on Christmas morning, running in here to check everyday!

I am slowly changing my lifestyle, one step at a time. Thanks to all of you who are sharing this journey with me!

Social Justice News, 1-5-07

Hey everybody,
This may be a short newsletter as I’ve come down with whatever the latest bug is that’s going round and I only want to head back to bed. I think I got it, along with two of my co-workers, from my manager, who insisted on coming to work last week while sick and contagious. I complained about this, because it ain’t right anywhere and most especially in food service, and was told to mind my own business, use hand sanitizer. Speaking of work and being sick, they have a new policy that goes into effect today; it’s called Don’t Get Sick. Or if you don’t get sick, don’t miss work or we’ll require a doctor’s note if you want to keep your job, even if it’s just a common cold. Since we peons don’t get Health Insurance, it would cost us $150 just to walk into a clinic, plus procedures. Even with insurance it would be twenty bucks or better –and that’s a lot to pay for a cold. So, they want you to work, sick or not, or lose your job. Which might not sound that outrageous, until you realize that the folks in the deli and the bakery are also not allowed to take any time off to recover –and one of them has been working all week with strep throat. Gee, I wonder how many folks are going to come down sick? I might get fired when I show up tomorrow without a doctor’s slip. It’s actually cheaper for me to lose this job and find another one than go to the doctor! Oh yeah, and they’ve got me scheduled to work the next ten days in a row, without a day off. Mostly nine hour shifts to boot –and school starts next week. Needless to say, I’m looking for another job.

GOOD NEWS
Polar Bears May Go on Endangered List: This is good news anyway you read it. But here’s something you might not know –whenever something is done in this country that affects or may affect an endangered species, it becomes subject to the ESA and must comply with it to avoid harm to the threatened species. Well, what threatens polar bears? Global warming. And what causes that? Pretty much everything. So, every new power plant, every new car sold, every new strip mall and subdivision, will suddenly become subject to the ESA. Corporate lawyers are (understandably) sweating bullets. Me, I’m sitting back and waiting for the lawsuits to start rolling in. And chuckling. The head of one environmental group alone (can’t remember which one right now, sorry) says they are going to file actions to challenge 19 new coal-fired power plants in the Midwest where they’re based –for a start. Nixon may have been a crook, but signing the ESA into law was one of the greatest things any President ever did for our country.
http://www.emagazine.com/view/?3549

2006 Activist Successes: The past year wasn’t all bad news, as this article from Alternet shows.
http://www.alternet.org/story/46015/

Garden Girl Promo: An promotional video for an independent DIY show on permaculture, sustainable living, etc.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-882082844236943883&pr=goog-sl

10 Top Bizarro Environmental Moments of 2006: This is under good news because some of it is, and because all of it is funny, and we could all use a laugh right now!
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2006/12/29/183222/30

CLIMATE CHANGE
Hottest Year Ever: Predictions say that this year will be the hottest year ever recorded. But global warming isn’t real. Of course not. That would, like, require people to do, like, something.
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2116873.ece

China’s Warning Paper: Excerpts from China’s first climate assessment report that are, in a word, scary. Who thought a communist country would admit the truth before our putative democracy?
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1227-02.htm

POLITICS
Want Bush to read your mail? Well, he can now according to the bill he just signed. Gee, whatever happened to the Constitution? I think you’ll find it in the storage cabinet of the White House, in the spot labeled ‘toilet paper. Assuming it hasn’t all ready been used, that is.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003508676_mail04.html

Europe’s Plan for Energy Dilemma: Europe has come up with a plan for tackling the energy dilemma. But will it work –and will people go for it? The politicos fear a revolt at the ballot box from the very idea of giving up life-long ‘entitlements’. (I say, let ‘em revolt, and then when Russia cuts off their oil and gas supply –either because of politics or dwindling supplies –and they’re sitting in the dark, say ‘I told you so’. Allright, I’m not that vindictive, but the idea does have a sort of appeal, at least to my cold addled brain.)
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/05/business/EU-FEA-FIN-Europe-Fuel-for-the-Future.php

Higher Taxes Aren’t Worst Disservice to the Poor: This article speaks for itself, and I really like this comment, about hurricanes in New Orleans: "Use your brains. If you are ignored when the sun is shining and the weather is fair, if no one cares about you when you get flooded after a little bit of rain, what do you think is going to happen to you in a big storm? You'll be left to drown."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/05/MTGUENCE8P1.DTL

POLLUTION


ENVIRONMENT
Southeast faces disaster: One final warning from the outgoing head of the National Hurricane Center. Think anyone will listen to him? Not a chance.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-hurricane3jan03,0,3484162.story?track=mostviewed-homepage

Highest Grain Prices Ever: Lester Brown has released a new article detailing how ethanol will (and is) affecting food prices worldwide.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2007/Update63.htm
and speaking of ethanol:

The Ethics of Biofuels: An excellent new paper from Sharon Astyk lays out 12 principles for the ethical use of biofuels, including some controversial ones, such as: don’t let people starve so your fat a** can drive a gas guzzling SUV.
http://www.energybulletin.net/24169.html

OTHER
A Year of Buying Nothing New: 3,000 people signed on for the Compact, which celebrated its 1 year anniversary January 1st. BTW, I am one of those 3,000 people, and I’m happy to take about it with anyone who wishes!
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/27/COMPACT.TMP

WWJD? asks a Jew: A surprising essay from someone of the humble carpenters own religious faith.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1226-21.htm

Holy Warriors of America: Turns out I wasn’t far off when I once thought to myself how most of our cops, at least here in ‘Bama, looked like textbook members of the Aryan Nation and the KKK.
http://www.alternet.org/story/46211/

Website of the Week: A blog from a Minnesota woman engaged in a journey towards sustainability. http://simplereduce.blogspot.com/

UU Joke of the Week: (this one made me laugh out loud)
How many members of a UUA committee does it take to change a light bulb?
Ten, of whom at least
five must be women
two black
three ministers
one Canadian
one youth
two elderly
two gay or lesbian
one Christian
one disabled
one a UUA Board member
and no more than three from any one UUA District!

I'm off to go back to sleep for a while, and then to make some rice-lentil stew to eat for dinner with some homemade bread I baked on Wednesday. Yes, I have been called a hippie. Have a good weekend everybody!
-Rebecca