Live in North America? How about calculating your ecological footprint to find out how much you are wasting and its relation to the rest of the world?

As our amazing, sensitive, and completely non-vindictive President Bush is readying the country and the world for a war on Iraq, I would like to protest "Not in Our Name". Please check out the site and consider taking up the call yourselves. This war is not my war. I refuse to support it or to completely support our government through this time. I do not say the Pledge of Allegiance because I cannot pledge myself to everything that the American flag flies over. I also do not say the Pledge of Resistance because I cannot pledge myself to these beliefs, either. They say what is wrong without suggestions to fix it. I do not feel it is the United States' job to police the world, and I do not belief that Bush is acting in the best interests of the world when he does what he does.

I would also like to quote something that a friend of mine posted (his info was from: Children's Defense Fund, UN Human Development Report 2000, U.S. Vital Statistics, Energy Information Administration, Amnesty International, and Patrick Moynihan: "Family and Nation" 1986, pg. 96.):

We're number one. We're number one in millionaires. We're number one in billionaires. We're number one in military spending. We're number one in fire arms deaths. We're number one in per capita energy use. We're number one in CO2 emissions (more than Australia, Brazil Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Germany, Mexico, Italy, and the United Kingdom combined.) We're number one in oil consumption. We're number one in natural gas consumption. We're number one in per capita garbage production. We're number one in hazardous waste produced. We're number one in least amount of tax revenue. (as % of GDP) We're number one in budget deficit (as % of GDP) We're number one in daily per capita consumption of calories We're number one in lowest voter turnout We're number one in recorded rapes (as % of population) We're number one in injuries and deaths in road accidents. We're number one in number of births to mothers under the age of 20. We're number one in number of international human rights treaties not signed. We're number one in Legally constituted governments of the UN not to ratify the UN Convention on the rights of a Child. We're number one in number of known executions of child offenders. We're number one in likelihood of children under the age of fifteen to die from gunfire. We're number one in lowest eighth grade math scores. We're number one in becoming the first society in history in which the poorest group in the population are Children.

What about the world's population? Try this somewhat-interactive site on for size -- 6 Billion Human Beings, an exhibit from a museum in France. It gives a very good overview of the reasons for our population increase and puts all the statistics into perspective.

Generation Terrorists is not even about terrorists, but it is a wonderful thinking site -- very nice to find these days, no? You do want to spend some time looking at this site, I know you do. So go for it.

Have a laugh with some Religious Kitsch..... No, it truly is terrible!

What, this space didn't tell you what you wanted to know? Start a conversation. I dare ya.