On Hiatus

Please excuse my absence as I plan a new direction for my blog, possibly in a new site.

Thanks.

Koran Burning Misguided

I may not be an influential world figure, but I just want to go on record as condemning the “International Burn a Koran Day,” organized by Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida.

It saddens me in the deepest possible way to think that this pastor fervently believes such a hateful act is the right thing to do. The pastor’s idea is that Islam is “of the devil” and must be challenged in an aggressive way. By planning this for the anniversary of September 11, he is obviously equating Islam with terrorism, which is ill-informed and harmful.

Burning the Korans is a way to express condemnation and disrespect for Islam, which is what he wants.  But I can’t understand how he thinks it will help to eradicate Islam, which is presumably his goal. On the contrary, his action could only have the effect of strengthening Muslims’ commitment to their religion. In addition, terrorists who are Muslim could point to this incident to prove their rightness in attacking the West—and that is the most dire outcome of this misguided action.

I pray that the pastor will change his mind and not go forward with his plans. However, he has already caused a lot of damage just by planning such an event. I hope that Muslims around the world recognize that he does not speak for most Americans, for most Christians, or for most of any other group.

I hope you'll join me in speaking up against these plans.

Solar Tour de Force

It is said that the sun rays falling on the earth in just one HOUR could supply the electricity needs of the whole world for one YEAR.

Tells you a lot about the enormous potential of solar energy. Of course sunlight needs to be captured and fed into electrical circuits, or stored. The good news is that advanced technology to do this already exists and is constantly pressing forward.

Maybe you’ve considered installing some solar panels or a solar hot water system on your roof (or mounted on the ground) but want to see something concrete first?

Just your luck, there’s a National Solar Tour coming up on October 2, 2010, sponsored by the ASES (American Solar Energy Society.) Hundreds of homes, businesses or public buildings with solar arrays will host a tour that day. You can see solar installations with your own eyes, get information, ask your questions.

For a tour close to you, visit http://www.ases.org/ and click on the icon for the National Solar Tour. Let me know how it goes!

Write What Engages You: An Interview with Meredith Sue Willis

Following up on my interview with Meredith Sue Willis in May, I recently talked to her about her new book, Ten Strategies to Write Your Novel.  Please see my Guest Blog on Kathy Temean's Writing and Illustrating site for the interview.

Evan's Photograph

I’m happy to announce that my short story (adult) Evan’s Photograph was published in the Women Who Write literary journal Goldfinch 2010! I just received my copy in the mail Thursday.

It was a lot of fun to write:
Physicist Ted Everett believes his mysterious new friend Evan is hiding something from him, and he intends to find out what it is.

350.org

Does the name “350.org” catch your eye? How about if you knew it was an organization started to unite people around the world to work for solutions to climate change?

350 refers to the amount of CO2 per million in the air. If we can’t get our carbon levels below 350, (we’re now at 392) the problems of climate disruption will continue and increase. Check out some spectacular photos of people all over the world raising awareness on the home page of http://www.350.org/. There’s a cool wordless animated video (1.5 minutes) to explain the problem in a way people of any language will understand at http://www.350.org/mission.

Finally, they’re organizing a Global Work Party on October 10, 2010 (10-10-10) for doing in-the-trenches environmental work, such as planting trees, fixing bikes, installing solar panels, and anything creative people can imagine.

Put Solar on It

What would happen if world leaders installed solar panels on their roofs, such as on the White House? Would this symbolize their commitment to promoting solar energy? Bring attention and galvanize others to follow suit?
          All of the above is the impetus behind “Put Solar on It,” a citizen’s campaign that is part of 350.org’s Global Work Party on October 10, 2010—10-10-10. Citizens all over the world are asked to send a note to their leaders (see link below) which ends,
Install solar panels on your roof, and then enact legislation to make it possible for everyone in your country to join you in the clean energy future. We need you to act symbolically—and then we need you to act for real.
          So far Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives has signed on. Other leaders targeted are Barack Obama, Pratibha Patil of India, Felipe Calderon of Mexico, Hu Jintao of China, Julia Gillard of Australia and David Cameron of the United Kingdom.
If you agree with me that this is a great idea, go to http://www.putsolaron.it/ to write to your leaders and get more information.