Waving or Drowning?

White Water Adventure

Just for the heck of it, yesterday Pete and I rafted down the Thompson to where it joins the Fraser at the town of Lytton. Why not? The highlight would be jumping out of the raft and running one rapid hanging onto the side. Yes, on purpose.

The other point of interest would be rafting under the offending trestle and watching workers vacuum up the spilled coal from the Lytton derailment earlier this month. 5 cars still under water.

A great day, and we lived to tell.

Celebrity... and Stars That Shine

From previous posts you can infer some of my thoughts on the phenomenon of "celebrity". I think our need for icons is a sorry commentary on the state of society, as well as a hint of our desire for the Kingdom, for the true Hero.

But every once in a while a celebrity comes along who makes me smile. Invariably they demonstrate a simple pattern:

A. They acknowledge that celebrity status is absolutely ridiculous, then

B. They determine to use this "currency" for the benefit of humanity.

I've just added Matt Damon to the list.

A star determined to shine on Africa
Like his pal Brad Pitt, Matt Damon is coming to the Toronto film festival and wants to make his celebrity count for something charitable

SIMON HOUPT
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

NEW YORK — 'It's the most pointless thing," says Matt Damon, speaking of fame. "If not for something like this, if it can't be used to try to shine some light on some issues, what could celebrity possibly be for?"

Read the rest here.

Official Archived Coverage of AIDS 2006 Available

Well, the crowds have gone home, the banners have come down, and Steve has crept back below the tree line, so AIDS 2006 must be over and done with. Those interested in accessing the incredible amount of information and media generated during the conference will want to take note of the following email I received from the good people at the Kaiser Foundation:

We want to thank you for choosing kaisernetwork.org to provide you with official coverage of the XVI International AIDS Conference earlier this month. Archived, online coverage of AIDS 2006: XVI International AIDS Conference is now available from kaisernetwork.org in partnership with the International AIDS Society.

Archived coverage includes:

• Webcasts and transcripts of each day's sessions, including the opening and closing sessions, all plenary sessions, and selected other sessions and press conferences;
• French, Spanish, and English audio podcasts of select sessions; 
• Slide presentations from select sessions;
• Daily narrated video highlights;
• Interviews with newsmakers and journalists summarizing conference developments; and
• Special coverage of select sessions as well as news summaries from international media in the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report.

The coverage can be accessed at any time at: http://www.kaisernetwork.org/aids2006  Archived coverage of the 2004 and 2002 International AIDS Conferences is also available.

To follow HIV/AIDS news and developments, subscribe to theKaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, a free daily email and online report about the pandemic's economic and epidemiologic effects, research breakthroughs, and prevention and treatment initiatives. Read today's report at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/hiv and sign up for the free daily or weekly email at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/email.

Thank you!

Move Along

B.C. bylaws targeting homeless face court challenge
SHANNON KARI
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

VANCOUVER — Should municipalities have the right to make it illegal for people to sleep in public spaces if there isn't enough shelter space for the homeless in the community?

The criminalization of poverty continues. Read the rest here.

It occurs to me that this is an excellent (and unfortunate) example of the inverse of what we've been talking about with justice and mercy (scan the linked post for definitions.) On the level of mercy, none is being shown. And on the level of justice--well, that's another story. Instead of looking to see what systems are contributing to the problem of homelessness, we're in fact designing new systems (such as these bylaws) which only compound the problem. (I say "we" because if we live in cities with such bylaws and do not speak out against them, then we are complicit...)

David to Africa

Today we had some HUGE news from our friend and fellow whatever-ite David! (And a good call it was on the part of World Vision. That dude is so talented.)

And I can say I knew him when...

Robert on The More Things Change

(Mike's note: Our friend Robert came across an interesting quote the other day...)

Great minds think alike:

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."
-- Herman Goering, Nuremberg

So maybe W does read history after all.

Religion vs. Transcendence

I left this as a comment on a recent post of Jordon's over on the Resonate blog. It's one of those things that just popped out of my head without much thought, and now I'm going to sit with it for a bit. See what you think:

I think the search for religion drove our parent's generation to church, and the search for transcendence is driving ours (and others younger than us) from it.

(Additional thought: I'm not a big believer in the generational divide implied here, but it does tie in with the original post from Brian McLaren that Jordon was commenting on.)

Fore! (Crying out LOUD)

Speaking of yesterday's flight, here's something I scribbled in my journal on board. I'm sure it will make no sense to anyone, but I know what I was thinking when I wrote it:

As I write this I'm on Westjet 803 from Toronto to Vancouver. Seat 10C - that's me.

We've been in the air about an hour and a half. I'm doodling some ideas for a book, and I have the Bridgestone Invitational on my satellite TV. As I sit here, I've been reflecting a little on the culture of golf. I can't explain why, but i don't think its healthy. Our culture's need for a hero seems to be reaching psychotic levels. (Mike's Afterthought: I also think it smacks of the Kingdom.) More specifically, it occurs to me that we used to watch the field play golf. Now, we watch Tiger Woods play golf.

Now he's just hit the damn ball onto the clubhouse roof, and apparently the world must come to a stand still while we figure out what to do.

I think I'm done watching golf. Maybe for good.

Yesterday: Toronto to Vancouver

(h/t to Bob)

Cue the Barn Door

I guess the cheques have cleared...

Inquiry Opened Into Israeli Use of U.S. Bombs
David S. Cloud
Published: August 25, 2006

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 — The State Department is investigating whether Israel’s use of American-made cluster bombs in southern Lebanon violated secret agreements with the United States that restrict when it can employ such weapons, two officials said.

Read the rest here.