"To save the democracy we thought we had, we must take it to where it's never been."

France Moore Lappe'

As a long-time contributor to the Tideline I have enjoyed seeing it grow from seed idea to active community interface. Like many contributors to that interface, I know how empowering it is to be able to present one's thoughts, needs, appreciations etc. so quickly and efficiently to one's community.

And just how vast that community is! Clearly, a global civil society is emerging and we the people are it! We Earth People have within our hands a new and powerful communications technology that facilitates unprecedented empowerment at the grass roots level. So much is now possible! And yet, the very civil liberties fostering the emergence of this global civil society are being incrementally eroded on all fronts by governments and corporations bent on usurping them. Witness the recent gutting of the U.S. Constitution by the Bush Administration, a glaring example of how quickly things can change when a populace is not vigilant in claiming its freedom. May we not succumb to a similar fate!

On that note, I invite you all to participate in the growth of a "sister site" to the Tideline. Powered by Barry Saxifrages's brilliant Tideline software package and hosted here on Cortes by Shane Nelson's web hosting company, a new community interface is coming alive in the historic mining town of Cumberland, near Courtenay, in the Comox Valley.

Think of this new site as a regional extension of the flame of democracy and community empowerment burning so brightly here on Cortes. An extension of that same fire is now beginning to burn in the psychological coal beds of Cumberland.

So, Cortes, I encourage you to embrace The Cumberlander web site as an opportunity to strengthen and expand the regional presence of the vital Earth-centered values we all share.

You can check out The Cumberlander by clicking HERE.