wow all, thanks for all the interesting responses, especially the ones that directed me toward the clubs in my area. in the end we decided to make our own so as to get just what we need and after pricing things at a local shop realized this was the way to go. please forgive what seems to have been perceived as arrogance as it stems from inexperience in the computer group world. i'm really a pencil and paper sort and only in the last few years did i break down and get one of these machines and it has been useful. what ever the format i'm prone to error and omission so i apologize.
please let me add that while i am a citizen of the u.s. i prefer to think of myself as an earthling and feel disheartened when i look around the world and see the pain and suffering we humans can generate and endure. i am interested and puzzled by the nature that allows us to strive for peaceful ideals and beauty and yet participate in or tolerate actions and endeavors that result in so much misery. when i was growing up in the sixties i thought the trend was toward enlightenment and harmony and that we were on the verge of a new and peaceful world having realized the error of our ways in vietnam.
i still believe in this trend. i'm just not so sure about the time frame. eventually we will realize what it is in our natures that allows us to be so wasteful of our time and energy and each other. until then i prefer to be optimistic and humbly do what i can in my little corner to share love and kindness and hope that somehow it may spread.
we can be productive without making a huge mess of this world and there can be tolerance and peace. there may be a time when we realize our great fortune to exist and draw breath on this little planet in a vast and cold universe. the ability to communicate directly with each other through the world wide web is a likely way to circumvent the cranky old men in governments around the world whose fearful memories allow them to act with a harshness that typically results in the continuation fear and misunderstanding.
so if we could just stop with the weapons large and small and pick up a book or go online and talk or help a neighbor or write a letter to some power broker our species still may have a chance for peace.
thanks, ben