A Few Signs of Hope

Just a few items that have come across my vision in the past weeks that have me thinking, maybe the tide is turning.

The first on an article from the London Times "Bliss! Hippy days are here again Sixties survivor Donovan is back but this time, he tells John Naish, he really is going to change the world with transcendental meditation." Now I don't think I can repost the entire article even in a fair use mode, so will leave it to you to follow the link. But here a few snippets:

"After the summer festivals, he plans a meditation-promoting tour of universities in America and possibly Britain, alongside fellow high-profile proponents of TM, the film director David Lynch and the quantum physicist John Hagelin.

'“It’s the start of a world tour to reconnect and establish ties with TM groups in Australia and South Africa,” he says. “Last year saw the release of my autobiography and this year the accent will be on the jewel of the bohemian Sixties ideas — meditation. Its time is now.”'

What is good about this, is it has a public component, meditation with a purpose to bring awareness. I hope to be able to attend one. I might just be ready by then. OHM!

Next what comes is hearing about the project to reclaim the marshes in southern Iraq. This is the Eden Again project, for more information on that here's the site: Eden Again. This is their intro:

"The marshlands of southern Iraq and Iran were once the largest in western Eurasia, encompassing an area larger than the Florida Everglades. During the 1990s, a combination of upstream damming and local drainage projects resulted in their almost complete disappearance. These Mesopotamian Marshlands and their human inhabitants represent unique aspects of our cultural heritage and are vital elements of our global environmental mosaic.

The Eden Again Project was begun in 2001 by a group of Iraqi expatriates alarmed at the loss of their beloved marshlands. This website has been developed to provide more information about our project, and to educate others about the marshlands and their significance to the world. We also hope that this website will also bring together all of the organizations who are interested in restoring the marshlands and assisting the marsh dwellers to return to their native ecosystem."

As a Scot who may very well be descended from the very garden--more on that later. This project makes me tear up just thinking about it. How can we bomb the very country that is The Garden of us all?

And now through my tears for the last bit of sunshine in the rain (as it always does in Oregon--"It's raining in the sun" you know the tune). The Greek goverment has allowed that the Pantheon may be worshipped again. For more information on that visit: Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, et al.

After 5000 years, perhaps it is time to rethink the monotheistic one way thinking.

Give me that old time religion.

Yours fondly,

Y

Farout Candles

An old flame, the candlemaker, at the Street Faire. From an article in the Daily Emerald (University of Oregon student publication).


Media Credit: Zane Ritt Photo editor

John Exline shows one of his candles to a potential customer. "It's finally not raining so we're having a good time," said Exline, who has been a fixture at the fair for the past six years.


And here's the article.

All the World's a Fair By: Christopher Funk

A Family Tradition

So as his mom sat vigil (that'd be me) at the National Guard Armory in Corvallis, young son Max rode by on the Ride of Silence to mark the passing of a friend killed on a bicycle. Does go to show that the personal is political.