I was shocked this morning to read the news of the assassination of Brother Roger, the 90-year old founder of the Taize Community in France. He harbored Jewish refugees during the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, then built the ecumenical Taize Community with a mission to reconcile all denominations of Christians and promote dialogue and peace. A mentally ill woman slit his throat with a knife during an ecumencial prayer service Tuesday night in front of approximately 2500 (mostly young) people.

Part of what hit me so hard about this was that on Tuesday, I was just looking at the Taize site for music to download and play on my computer during labour (whenever this baby decides to be born). I hadn't looked at the site in a few years, so I don't know why I ended up there on Tuesday. When I was a grad student in Oxford, I used to get up early a few mornings per week and go to the Anglican church for sunrise Taize services. They were always so quiet and peaceful with everyone singing along to the short repetitive prayers in many different languages. Growing up Catholic, I always loved the ones in Latin (e.g. Nada Te Turbe). Most of all, though, I've always been impressed with the Taize spirit of creativity, generosity and compassion.

It's sad to lose a man who has given so much to make that a reality....

"Staff at Knowsley Safari Park are monitoring smaller vehicles, including Smart cars and Mini Coopers, after the lions started paying special interest. David Ross, park manager, told the BBC News website that a group of lionesses chased after one Smart car after being confused by its compact appearance."

From the BBC...

Does anyone else find it funny (in a sad, not a haha, sort of way) that within the last week, the US Congress has passed two major pieces of legislation: the first was a comprehensive energy bill, the second a highway transportation bill.

The $14.5b energy bill was pushed forward by the President and Congress bemoaning US oil dependence. They came up with a whole new raft of incentives to produce oil, natural gas and coal domestically to meet rising energy demands. Along the way, they also made polite statements about the need to reduce energy demand, but the funding put into this side of the equation was pitiful in comparison to the supply side of things.

Now, this week, the US Congress passes a MASSIVE $286b highway transportation bill.

Now, call me crazy, but if you spend $286b in six years on expanding the highway system and $14.5b in ten years on developing new sources of domestic energy - doesn't it seem like at the end of the day all you end up with is a package of incentives that keeps Americans spending the majority of their lives in their cars? There are a lot of studies coming out that indicate that more roads = more traffic - countering Bush's claims that better highways will save lives and will REDUCE gas use since people will not be idling in traffic for so long.

Couldn't we spend tax dollars a BIT more wisely and invest them in transit projects instead of highways??? Perhaps change some land use planning practices so people can live closer to where they work? Get folks out of their cars and onto bikes so they don't continue to die at an increasing rate of obesity-related diseases?

I really wish US lawmakers had just taken the summer off, gone to cottages somewhere and READ current studies and research rather than passing bills which buy short-term economic (and political) gains at the expense of the long-term quality of life of the American people and neighbours around the world.

Another bit of news to watch... According to US lawyers in the Maher Arar case, foreign citizens passing through American airports have almost no rights. The U.S. government is interpreting its powers in such a way that passengers never intending to enter the U.S. connecting to international flights at U.S. airports must prove they are no threat and could be allowed to enter the country. If passengers are deemed to be inadmissible, they have no constitutional rights even if later taken to an American prison. The interpretation means travellers can be detained without charge, denied the right to consult a lawyer, and even refused necessities such as food and sleep.

Seems like a serious infringement on universal human rights if you ask me... If you can, please consider boycotting US-routed flights to protest this policy.

Now that I'm officially on leave from work, I finally had time to set up a Web page for Thumper. It's hard to believe that this baby is due in 11 days. It kind of feels like I've been pregnant FOREVER. But, for those of you who still can't picture it, I've posted recent photos over there and everything...

In order to keep my TIG blog relatively clean, once the baby is born, I'll be posting baby pictures and stuff on the other site - although I'll post at least the birth announcement here for y'all as well.

Have a great week!