Cheers mates. I apologize for not having posted in a wicked long time. It's a problem I hope to rectify while abroad in Eastern Europe this Summer - I'm leaving in just less than a week! Holy crap, did that sneak up on me fast!
In lieu of the mass email I used to send my beloved friends and family from the road when I was a spring chicken, I will post up some basic travel tales on this blog. So keep your eyes out for them!
For now, I'm just anticipating the trip....it's been sinking in slowly, and has just hit me hard over the past couple days. I was at a very long, rather intense conference this past weekend the Precautionary Principle, and how we can use it in our work. The P. P. being the very radical and far out idea that governments, when regulating things like pesticides and industrial chemicals, should strive to allow as little risk for harm as possible. Kinda like buckling your seat belt or looking both ways before you cross the street - taking precautions to make sure what you're about to do won't kill you, or anyone else.
Believe it or not, governments do NOT work in this most logical of ways. The burden of proof is not on proving something's safe before it's used - rather, a new chemical product can be used until someone proves it's not safe, and then it can still be used until they prove exactly how and why and in what quantities it is not safe. Weird, I tell you. You won't be surprised to hear that the motives for operating in this way are largely financial, ugh, but let's not get too much farther into that, it's depressing. The conference itself was also a bit depressing....something about preachy white people that makes me feel funny. There were some preachy, self-centered, quirky middle aged white people dominating the agenda at this thing, hoo nelly. I learned a ton from the conference and had all kinds of brain storms, very productive, but I overloaded on the crowd very quickly.
Now on the other hand, the young people I met, the twenty-somethings at this conference, gave me a great deal of hope and excitement for the future of non-profit progressive advocacy. I am part of a kick-ass, no bullshit generation that seems to be operating in a very smart, sleek, and respectful fashion. I could be biased, but I think it's really true - I see it all around me here in NC, not just at conferences.
Anyway, the whole leaving on vacation thing is starting to sink in big time, and I CAN'T WAIT! I'll post an itinerary soon.
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