EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *dancing all over*

*bounce bounce bounce*

The Group of Eight (G8) ministers -- meeting for a second day Saturday in London -- backed a deal that calls for an immediate scrapping of 100 percent of the debt owed by 18 countries.

^___________________________________________^!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*dancing*

We've only been telling them to do this since, what, '99? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *happy happy happy so happy*




*runs and glomps the breath out of the nearest Bono* <3

 
G8 summit's coming up - take a couple of seconds to add your name and drop an email to poke them into addressing the issue of extreme poverty.

Also coming up: Live8. *happy dance* July 2! ..can't even begin to believe who all's playing, it's amazing...here's hoping that's a start to kick things off and get it noticed.

from an e-mail sent along the makepovertyhistory list from bob geldof:
Let me start by saying, this is not Live Aid 2 - this time its not people's money we need, it's themselves. The five concerts taking place around the world are the starting point for The Long Walk To Justice, an event that will see hundreds of thousands of people heading to Edinburgh to tell the G8 leaders that the whole world is expecting them to deliver.
By doubling aid, fully cancelling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 have it within their power to change the future for millions of men, women and children. What we need to do is show them in our millions that we care and that we're watching.

 
The news can be such a mixed bag... the smallest stories make the biggest headlines... (anyone else feel there are more important things than Michael Jackson's trial right now? yes. thankyou.)


bah but our country aggrevates me.
Our countries are developing a proposal for the G8 that will eliminate 100 percent of that debt," Bush said.

But the U.S. president has opposed key elements of a 10-year, $25 billion British plan that would commit donor nations to double their aid to the poorest African nations.

In a compromise, Bush pledged an additional $674 million for "humanitarian emergencies" in Africa.

Bush's response to Blair's push for more aid for Africa received a mixed response, with aid agencies saying the amounts promised were inadequate.

Jonathan Glennie, a senior policy analyst from Christian Aid, told the UK's Press Association the deal on debt was "very good news for some of Africa's poorest countries and it is definitely a move in the right direction."

But he added: "The sum of $674 million is a drop in the ocean compared to what Africa really needs."

*sigh* bah.

And then, of course, there's the usual cheering news from China...
"This decision will enable those in power to control online news and information much more effectively."
[...]
A report released by the OpenNet Initiative in April called China the world's leading censor of the Internet and said the government employed thousands of officials and private citizens to monitor and control online content.
[...]
"The authorities also hope to push the most outspoken online sites to migrate abroad, where they will become inaccessible to those inside China because of the Chinese filtering systems," Reporters Without Borders said.

At least there was something to make me a bit happy.. not every politician's blind to the bullshit they usually surround themselves with.
Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean on Wednesday defended his recent harsh criticism of Republicans, including his observation that they are "pretty much a white, Christian party."

Dean noted that he, too, is a white Christian. But he said the GOP is too narrow in its scope and the Democratic Party is far more diverse.
[...]
"I think this country has a purple heart, not a red heart or a blue heart," [Sen. Joe] Biden [D-Deleware] said. "If we can't bring this (country) together, man, boy, we're really in deep trouble."

This is just cool.. not that I'm huge on Bach, and I doubt the recording will be anything all that terribly interesting, but.. that's just fecking cool.

And this..just.. *shivers* (well, I'd been thinking of writing a ghost story for awhile....)
Though what interested me most was the comment of the person who found it in their yard at the end of the article... "But I am very glad that I live where I do," she said, "so I don't have to run for my life like this man probably was doing."

 
So. Yes. Hi. *giggles* Been awhile...

ONE bracelets came today, will distribute. ^_^

This is making me bounce all over the place with happiness.

Laur and I invaded our old hs afterhours today, which was quite fun as ever.

Have spent nearly my entire late afternoon/evening trying to kill some adware my stepbrother Jeff picked up... HI WORLD USE FIREFOX PLZ KTHX. >____<;;;;

Community Music Fest Chicken bbq was Sunday, went, our district's music groups rock as much as ever. <333 Jazz band and wind ensemble were pretty damn amazing.. combined symphonic bands finally upstaged our second clarinet section's puppet show during "Africa" - they had people running around during "Lord of the Rings", complete with props and costumes. (a billion points to whoever made shadowfax - a stick with a sock on the end.)

uhhhmmm... worked nearly every afternoon last week, which was good money-wise, but bad in terms of aching and not having time to play. *giggles* nights have been spent playing old computer games and random things.. current addictions are klax, death gate, tetron, and armagetron (the latter two thanks to tom, who I'm usually playing against).

other'n that, not much new around here.. nothing really new with me personally, per se. emulsion is getting pretty constant updates (though nothing else really is just now), so go enjoy that. ^_^