Other thoughts going thru my mind.....

Alright.. down to the deeper things. I promised the other day I would find some time to blog about something other than house projects. Seriously, I have not turned into an HGTV clone...throwing myself 100% into home improvement projects while the rest of my mind turns to jello. I am reading about 4 books, grading papers (well, I should be) prepping for the Spring Dean's Book Course on Poverty/Homelessness and getting ready for the Dead Sea Cafe this Saturday where I will attempt to present an overview of the Politics and Spirituality Conference I attended 2 weeks ago in DC.

So, let's have at it...... here are a few of the thots running thru my mind tonight.... (besides thots about the painting and trim work I have to do in the AM)

Ok... the latest thing first.....

Rick Warren (Purpose Driven Life) was just on CNN, as the voice of the evangelical community, to repsond to the State of the Union adress last night. He was singing Bush's praises for a program to fight AIDS in Rawanda. Seems Rick has just returned from a tour of 3 African countries. He also said he has families in his congregation who want to adopt African babies with AIDS but that US immigration doens't allow it. So, Rick has spoken to people in our government. He expects the policy to change within the year. After all, the only other country to have such a ban on AIDS immigration is Lybia! He also announced that there has been a shift in evangelical churches in that they are now ackowledging the societal values issues more broadly... things like poverty and justice. Golly Gee, I am really glad to hear that.

Meanwhile, I had just been doing research about the U.S.'s rankings in foreign aid... we're right up there with the world's best. HA! gotcha! No...we are... not... we are on the bottom of the heap. But... a bit more about that Sat. PM as the DSC.

Then there is the book I am reading for the second half of my Spring Dean's Book Course: Ordinary Ressurections (Kozol). It is a fairly up close and personal look at children from the South Bronx. The kids are participants in an after school program at an Episcopal Church. The book is actually very hopeful in an odd sort of way. BUT....here's one of the things that got me: here within our own country, the inequalities are so brutal. Kozol says that in So Bronx the per child expenditure for education is $5,200 per year. In NYC itself it is $8,000, in the burbs it is $12,000 and in the elite Long Island communities...around $18,000 (mid1990's figures). This is unimaginable to me. I could see such disparities if one was comparing a developing or third world country to the U.S., but such disparities between communties within the U.S. and all within 45 minutes of one another? Something is terribly wrong. Terribly, terribly, terribly wrong. Education is absolutely critical to one's future... most every aspect of one's future. This disparity is just another form of slavery I think.

Last thing running thru my mind worth reporting on: President Carter was on Larry King tonight. He mentioned a number of interesting things but here is one: When he became Pres. the U.S. was using 8B barrels of oil per year. He initiated strict useage restrictions and by the time he left office we were using only 4B. We presently use 12B. Augh!! I think our whole freakin' nation has ADHD. Well, anyway, relief from this insanity is evidently on the way! I am so glad to see in the headlines that Bush spoke up against the U.S.'s addiction to oil in his speech last night. Wow........... what a progressive and insightful, and revolutionary leader we have. Now I can sleep in peace... to the warmth of my woodstove. Go Bush!