The Inside Scoop: Stories by Global Activists

I have been reading Anodea Judith’s book Waking the Global Heart: Humanity’s Rite of Passage from the Love of Power to the Power of Love, this week. It is a thoroughly original look at human/cultural evolution that blends history, mythology, psychology and chakra energy systems to explain the collapse of our institutions and material world, and provide insight for developing a new story for humanity that is life-affirming. She argues that since humans are now capable of influencing the trajectory of evolution, we are faced with a tremendous responsibility which is calling forth a maturity of the heart so that each of us can choose how, or whether, to take part in the creation of a more livable world.

Many people are already engaged in creating a more livable world and their stories are being told more, and more. While each of these stories centers on personal experience with human or environmental misery, I offer them up as hopeful antidote to the doom and gloom so prevalent these days, because of the courage, creativity and action they portray.  May you too find ways to share your concern and your gifts with the global community

 More than good intentions: how a new economics is helping to solve global poverty, by Dean Karlan and Jacob Appel.

 And still peace did not come: a memoir of reconciliation, by Agnes Kamara-Umunna and Emily Holland.

 Rat island : predators in paradise and the world’s greatest wildlife rescue, by William Stolzenburg.

 It happened on the way to war : a marine’s path to peace,  by Rye Barcott.

 How sportsmen saved the world : the unsung conservation efforts of hunters and anglers, by  E. Donnall Thomas Jr.

 When Johnny and Jane come marching home: how all of us can help veterans, by Paula J. Caplan

The Inside Scoop from Technical Services – In the News

If you are up on your news you know that the Mississippi River still has not crested. Meanwhile, millions of people wait to see if the Army Corps of Engineers can siphon-off enough water using dams and spillways, to keep down-river homes, businesses and communities from being swept away. Wicked river: the Mississippi when it last ran wild, by Lee Sandlin takes us back to the days before engineers and spillways when the river, and the people who lived next to it, did indeed run wild. Other new books that cover issues in the news are:

Wikileaks: inside Julian Assange’s war on secrecy, by David Leigh

 Rewired: understanding the iGeneration and the way they learn, by Larry D. Rosen

 The heart and the fist: the education of a humanitarian, the making of a Navy Seal, by Eric Greitens

 What’s gotten into us: staying healthy in a toxic world, by McKay Jenkins

 Speaking Christian: why Christian words have lost their meaning and power—and how they can be restored, by Marcus J. Borg

 In-laws, outlaws and granny flats: your guide to turning one house into two homes, by Michael W. Litchfield

     

Election 2010: Don’t Forget to Register!

Are you registered to vote? Have you moved recently? Check your registration status and update your existing registration through the Oregon Secretary of State’s website at

https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/vr/register.do?lang=eng

Registration deadline is October 12th!

Urban and Rural Reserves – Hearings Scheduled in April

For the past several years, agencies and citizens around the Portland area have been working hard to come to agreements on how to maintain as well as expand the Metro Urban Growth Boundary to accomodate growth in the next few decades. Recently, a major milestone was reached, with agreements in principle about urban and rural reserves, particularly in Washington County. The next step is to write the local ordinances that set the boundaries.

The first of these is being created as “Ordinance 733“.  Areas affected include rural areas outside the Metro Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) and the cities of North Plains and Banks, as shown on the maps in the ordinance. Public hearings on the ordinance are scheduled in April:

Planning Commission – April 21, 2010 at 7:30 pm

Board of County Commissioners – April 27, 2010 – 6:30 pm

A printed copy of the ordinance is available at the Cedar Mill Community Library and for viewing online at:
http://www.co.washington.or.us/LUT/Divisions/LongRangePlanning/2010-ordinance-733.cfm
Look for the print version (reference copy only) at Cedar Mill on the round display behind the copier next to the front door of the library.

More information:
Washington County LUT Urban/Rural Reserves website –
http://www.co.washington.or.us/LUT/PlanningProjects/reserves/
Metro Regional Government – Urban/Rural Reserves
http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=26257

Banned Books Week

Celebrate your freedom to read- with banned books.

Every year the American Library Association and libraries across the country take a week to bring attention to the practice of book banning.  The ALA compiles a yearly list of books challenged by individuals and groups who want to remove books from schools and public libraries. Reading should be an individual choice, and libraries support freedom of access to materials. We believe that everyone should have the freedom to choose what to read, and that no one individual shouldn’t have the ability to decide what is right for all.

At Cedar Mill Library, there is a display of banned & challenged books available for checkout. Cedar Mill & Bethany have many of the books that were banned or challenged elsewhere. Take a look- you may be surprised at what you find. A brochure, available here,  lists the books that were banned or challenged in 2008-2009, why they were challenged and by whom, and what decision the reviewing entity made. The history of banned books from previous years is available at the CML Adult Reference desk.

While they last, there are bookmarks and “I read banned books” buttons, free for the taking.  New this year, there is also a “name the quotes” contest at both Cedar Mill and the Bethany branch. Quotes from famous banned books are displayed & everyone can enter to win a prize. Come into the library to see how many quotes you can identify.