University of Texas professor Robert Jensen offers his analysis of the "white people's burden, saying in part, "That is the new White People's Burden, to understand that we are the problem, come to terms with what that really means, and act based on that understanding." He makes an interesting case, one that is completely lost on most of the commenters at this site. I suspect that many of the people responding so strongly against Jensen haven't had a good heart-to-heart with someone who has experienced racism and prejudice first-hand.

I am sure that I am not alone in having taken a few days to fully grok the long-term affects of the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina. There were two things yesterday that made it sink in for me: 1) seeing that 25,000 people were heading to the Astrodome in Houston as refugees, expecting to be there for several months, and 2) hearing about displaced Tulane students who are taking classes at the University of Texas (and elsewhere).

The first of these two is of course the most eye-catching (and add another 25,000 heading to San Antonio). How awful, to think of joining thousands of others in sleeping on cots in the Astrodome for months, with nothing to do, no job, no privacy. That is truly horrible.

Inspired by the WorldChanging article "Bird Flu: Can We Out-Collaborate a Pandemic?" (dead link removed; SF 2025), I want to join the blogosphere chorus for educating the public about the dangers of avian influenza. This is a nasty topic almost no one knows about. Instead of writing my own article, I've borrowed the following from one Barry Campbell and his blog Enrevanche, licensed under the Creative Commons SA 2.0.

Change happens. Today is not the same as yesterday, and both are far different from a few decades ago. Nevertheless, most of us look at the troubles of the world and feel more or less hopeless than any social change will ever lessen the suffering and degradation of more than a small handful of any given populace. But change does occur. Legalized slavery was abolished in the United States. Citizens stopped hunting for witches. Democratic movements swept over the Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon. Gandhi and King preached non-violence, and with non-violence achieved at least the first vital steps toward realizing their dreams. How this change comes about is the topic of an excellent essay, albeit one in need of some tightening, called The Six or Seven Axioms of Social Change.

Are those devils or dervishes dancing on my wingtips? I can't deny a certain...
    Beauty...
To it all;

Grace is not found in riveted
Planes of steel—
Even the birds register disapproval,
But perhaps its in a lonely red dot
Awash amidst gray and white,
Or maybe, yes, certainly
In the majesty of suspension while
Earth rolls 'round and 'round.

A recent article on George Lucas, the Presidio, and the URI in the Canada Free Press is an excellent example of the yellow journalism that now plagues the Internet, particularly in the blogging domain. Instead of providing the courtesy of a link to the article, I'll just talk about it instead. Some might say I'm engaging in a yellow tactic myself — but then again, I don't claim to be producing news at Conscientia.

I'll give you a couple of choice quotes though:

"Lucas creatures join the murky, hypocritical, we-have-a-monopoly-on-peace taxpayer-supported Neverland of the populous United Nations brethren." …

"URI claims that since 1996, over 1,000 people have participated in six regional conferences around the world. The cathedral in Chartes, France is the latest to join the movement. Its global headquarters and interfaith board of directors are located in San Francisco. Supporters have waited since 1996 for the release of a draft charter from the organization, and the draft is scheduled for release in June of 2005."

PBS's Robert X. Cringeley thinks Intel is poised to buy Apple (removed dead link; SF 2025), saying "Apple's Decision to Use Intel Processors Is Nothing Less Than an Attempt to Dethrone Microsoft. Really." What is a fan of upstart competitors to do when his favorite upstart (Apple) might merge with one of the upstarted (Intel as opposed to AMD)? Course its sheer speculation at this point, but Cringley makes fascinating observations. Since a friend mentioned two days ago not wanting to replace his broken Powerbook, as it would be obsolete in a year or two, I've wondered why Apple would make such a big announcement and risk major sales losses. Hm...

2¹⁴— that's the maximum number of files in a folder on the Windows operating system. If you fill this up, you don't get any more (unless you move a few files to another directory). In layman's terms, that 16,384 files. Just thought you should know.

A lonely flame chases away
The velvet embrace of dark
Claws extending toward my spirit.

Spirit not only lives but
Dies as the fire extinguished
By imbalance of nourishment.

The dancing gaiety ebbs every
So often blow the bellows,
Resuscitate soul, psyche, spirit.

Though she burns she is not sun,
Rather radiant rays of moonlight
Captured under forests' eaves.

The forest is the father of my
Fears and bearer of my hopes,
Nursemaid of my dreams.

O live on forest!
Live on my hopes, my dreams!
Even the whispering fears too,
For ye are all but one—
In spirit.

April 7, 2005. San Francisco, USA – The United Religions Initiative Global Council in March voted to endorse the Darfur Unity Statement in recognition of the continuing necessity for international intervention in the Darfur region of Sudan. Originally signed by over 100 non-governmental agencies in July of 2004, the Save Darfur Coalition's Unity Statement remains relevant today with over two million refugees in need of aid and death toll estimates in the region now exceeding 300,000 (the statement can be found at www.savedarfur.org).