Just a soft promo for one of my favorite companies!

A Small Start to Growing Organic

Today, I started my herb "garden."  Really, I wouldn't call it a garden, but maybe more of a tiny collection of herbs in my strawberry pot my husband and I received as a wedding gift.  

I've been wanting to grow my own culinary and medicinal herbs for a few years, but due to lack of motivation on my part and a little bit of fear of the unknown, I put it off.  So, finally, today, on my fifth day with no husband around (he has been working on an out of town job), I decided to just go for it.

I've been reading about planting seeds vs. transplanting, sunlight exposure, types of soil, watering methods, fertilization (pre-made vs. home-made with compost), and all those other hundreds of things that you need to know before you start trying out your green thumb.  I came to the conclusion that since we are in an apartment situation at this juncture, I'd do the transplanting.  I went to Armstrong Garden Center which is a California chain of nurseries/supply stores since their website had the most info and the best selection (that I could find online without having to drag a ton of other nurseries in the valley).

I picked out German Chamomile, Peppermint, Upright Rosemary, Fern Leaf Dill, Sweet Italian Big Leaf Basil, Onion Chives, Super Chili Pepper, and Hungarian Hot Wax Pepper.

I know to experts out there, this pot probably 

looks really retarded and poorly planned out.

I also picked up an aloe vera plant to pot separately due to the fact that I've lost my Solarcaine, and recently got a leeeeetle too much sun last weekend at the beach.  Plus the alcohol content in most commercial sunburn reliefs dry me out more than help the burn. Sidenote: I was introduced to a great organic moisturizing Aloe Vera gel by J/Ā/S/Ö/N by a friend, and while I like fresh aloe vera, straight from the plant, this seemed to be not as messy and more portable than carrying around squishy aloe vera leaves in my purse!

Anyway, as I do with most first-time endeavors, I kind of rush into them head on, but at the same time, I'm anal retentive about everything!  If that makes any sense...  Our balcony and apartment in general is not the sunniest of places since the recording studio that is next door nearly butts up against our balcony.  This is great for us, since our place stays in the shade almost the whole of the day and therefore our electricity bill stays fairly low, and I don't have to lie on the kitchen floor naked in an attempt to stop burning up (which is a true story from our previous residence here in California since our studio guesthouse had no insulation and one wall unit A/C that put out probably an eighth of the necessary BTU for the whole entire place!!!).  June through August is no longer a nightmare for humans in our abode.

However, most plants need full sun.  And if you know anything about the plants I listed, you'll know that most of them need full sun... soooo I'm taking a little bit of a gamble.  I'm hoping that in monitoring the sun exposure on the balcony tomorrow I can figure out the best spot to place my pot so that the plants get a good 4-6 hours of sun at the very least.  Watering shouldn't be a problem... and I did read enough to know that if my strawberry pot did not have a drain hole (which it didn't because it's from yuppie Crate & Barrel, who I love, but they tend to make things for aesthetics and not complete functionality), I needed to fill the bottom inch or two with either crock (broken terra cotta from what I saw online?) course gravel/sand, or stones so that the soil would drain and not drown the herbs.  I know to set my pitcher of tap water out overnight so the chlorine can "gas off."  We don't have access to a hose spout... boo.  But I'm a little worried about the sun exposure.  I will carry on though, and just keep an eye on things.

Should I fail in this endeavor, well then I'll just keep my planting to a low/partial sun exposure requirement.  It's just that all of my favorite herbs (Rosemary, Basil, Oregano, etc.) usually require 6+ hours of sun.  Boo. I know I could just get a grow light, but that would be a bigger investment than I'm willing to make at this point, especially not knowing if my "wing it" approach just might actually work!

It would really be great if I had a way to hang the pot off of the balcony railing since that's where the most sun is during the day (it's just past the overhang, so the sunlight isn't blocked as well).  But I can't seem to find an adequate railing bracket for planters of that size that work with round, metal railing that's around 8" circumference.  I thought about building my own balcony box, but I have no shop and I'm really quite rusty at the whole wood working thing these days.

All in all though, for now, I am quite happy when I step out onto the porch and see my green pot with all the green herbs that look nice and fresh and happy.   If this venture works, I might just look into building that box so I can plant a little bit more.  I know my husband is going to come back tomorrow and think I've lost my mind.  Starting projects like this runs in my family and he doesn't exactly understand the desire to try all these new and crazy things (making necklaces, making soap, making blankets- which I have yet to start, and growing herbs).  I guess I just feel like if I never try it, I'm less of a complete person.  Now, that sentiment doesn't apply to everything, i.e. drugs and other dangerous activities, but it definitely applies to activities and endeavors that contribute to a full and well-rounded existence.

I think I'm gonna go draw up a schematic for that box.  It's on my brain.

If You Aren't Careful, These Freedoms Will All Disappear...

And our nation will no longer be what it once stood for.

What has made America unique?  What has made the U.S. any different from any other country in the entire world?

Our freedom.  Much like Ancient Greece, we were forerunners of new thought in how our politics worked and how people who were oppressed by and tired of their government rose up and started a new life for themselves, their children, and the generations that followed.

We are now at a time where these freedoms and rights that made us unique and special, and laid out a road map for countries wanting to follow suit, are being taken away, one by one.

Whether it's in the name of security or "patriotism," it is a travesty that we are allowing this to happen.

What brought this subject up for me to blog about after a brief hiatus?

This Article:

When do we stand up? Ever?

By roberthayles on May 26, 2011

Wouldn't it be nice if ALL TSA inspectors were this efficient?

“Sacrificing liberty for security is tyranny”.

It is also unconstitutional.

The federal government tells us that they are making us more secure, but that is only half true. While protecting us from foreign threats, their security methods make us less secure…from them. Tyranny, terrorism, and danger are the same whether the threat is from Al Qaeda or the Transportation Security Agency, from Islamic extremism or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Tyranny is tyranny. Terrorism is terrorism. Danger is danger, regardless of the source.

And lost liberty is lost liberty, regardless of who it is lost to…a foreign terrorist or a domestic bureaucracy.

TSA – Liberty Lost

In Santa Fe, New Mexico a judge orders that security pat-down at a high school prom…a PROM for God’s sake!…be supervised by the TSA. The TRANSPOPRTATION Security Administration. Talk about mission creep…what does a prom have to do with transportation or national security?

Just move along, folks. Nothing to see here.

TSA – Liberty lost, take 2

The Transportation Security Administration is under Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The TSA is in existence in answer to a perceived threat to the United States by terrorists entering this country for the purpose of doing us harm, or so the program was sold to the American people.

Like most government agencies, once given a bit of power the TSA continually reaches for more. Secretary Napolitano has stated her intent to expand the powers of the TSA to include oversight of security on trains (including Amtrak and subway lines) and even over automobile traffic on the nation’s highways, leaving open the possibility of random “security checks” of people traveling up and down the highways just as states do now by setting up DUI checkpoints.

Just move along, folks. Nothing to see here.

TSA – Liberty lost, take 3

Not content to having the Transportation Security Administration oversee security of transportation, Secretary Napolitano has stated that she envisions the TSA having the same authority it now has in airports extended to malls, hotels, and large public gatherings such as sporting events in stadiums.

Just move along, folks. Nothing to see here.

TSA- Liberty lost, take 4

In its attempt to fulfill its unconstitutional mandate to give us security at all costs, regardless of the loss of liberty and the ignoring of constitutional protections, the TSA proves to be woefully inept due to political correctness.

Congressman Paul Broun of the 10th congressional district in Georgia recounts his observation of the uselessness of the TSA’s methods here recently observed while on a trip. After passing through TSA security himself, he observed the TSA agent doing a pat-down on an elderly lady behind him, then on a young child behind her, then giving a pass to a young adult male that was Middle Eastern in appearance and wearing “Arab style” garb.

Just move along, folks. Nothing to see here.

TSA – Liberty lost, take 5

This past weekend the Transportation Security Administration once again took action against private enterprise that had absolutely nothing to do with either transportation or security. Without due process they seized and shut down seven websites for allegedly, not proven, selling of counterfeit merchandise and allowing for unauthorized downloading of intellectual property. The web sites seized were:

• Re1ease.netWatchnewfilms.com

• Dvdcollectionsale.com

• Dvdscollection.com

• Dvdsetsonline.com

• Newstylerolex.com

• Mygolfaccessory.com

It is hard to see “www.mygolfaccessory.com" being a threat to either our transportation system or our national security.

Just move along, folks. Nothing to see here.

TSA – Liberty lost, take 6

When a state tries to assert its rights, protecting its citizens when either the Feds won’t OR when the Feds are the offending entity…remember the 10th amendment, the thorn in the side of the federal government?…the Federal government resorts to Mafia-like intimidation methods, more appropriate for a criminal enterprise than for a government that is supposed to follow the constitution.

The legislature in Texas, in response to the TSA’s insistence on committing sexual assault under the guise of security pat-downs, was debating a bill (HB 1937) that would make it a felony to “touch the anus, sexual organ, buttocks, or breast of another person, including through clothing; or touch the other person in a manner that would be offensive to a reasonable person.” In other words, it would be a felony if you touch my junk.

The TSA responded in typical criminal enterprise coercive style. In a letter to Texas lawmakers the Justice department warned that:

If HR 1937 were enacted, the federal government would likely seek an emergency stay of the statute,

The letter continued:

Unless or until such a stay were granted, TSA would likely be required to cancel any flight or a series of flights for which it could not ensure the safety of the passengers and crew.

So, the TSA considers using economic oppression, threatening the financial well-being of hundreds of Texas businesses, to be appropriate tactics to use against a state and its citizens for asserting their right to not be molested.

Just move along, folks. Nothing to see here.

The Federal government tells us they intend to give us security, to protect us, to take care of us.

What they don’t tell us is that they intend to take our liberty, and that they don’t want to protect us from our greatest threat, a threat that our founding fathers saw all too clearly…

Our own government.

Classic Conditioning of Our Next Generation of Children

I'll add more to this later, but take a look at this article (and the news clip).

Parents of 6-Year-Old Girl Pat Down at Airport Want Procedures Changed

My comment for now?

Classic Conditioning in effect... 

Start it when they're young and they are less likely to buck when they're adults. 

These people are prepping the next generation for COMPLETE control.

Smart, Rich People Have Money Problems Too... Which Makes Them EASILY BRIBED.

This article is taken from Dr. Mercola's website.

Monsanto's "Unlikely" New Business Partner -- A Name You Know Well...






Many have long suspected that U.S. policy on genetically modified (GM) organisms was being influenced by the multinational corporations that profit from genetic engineering and the export-oriented agribusiness. However, recently released Wikileaks cables document just how close that relationship has become.

The U.S. Department of State has virtually become an agency for promoting the private interests of the Monsanto Corporation.

As European social movements pressure their governments for an ongoing moratorium on GM seeds and foods, Monsanto and other biotech corporations have been pushing to find new market footholds, using hybrids even in impoverished Haiti following the January 12, 2010 earthquake. They have been pursuing such goals in collaboration with USAID, the U.S. State Department and the Gates Foundation Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

According to Netline:

"The collusion of the Gates Foundation with Monsanto corporation is no accident, as high level officials leading AGRA are former Monsanto executives. The recent purchase by AGRA of $500,000 worth in Monsanto stocks was vivid proof of that close relationship. Despite many words by Gates officials since the inception of the AGRA agenda denying that GMO seeds would be used as part of AGRA, their close relationship with Monsanto has now been revealed to be a key element in their agronomic 'new green revolution' strategy."

In the video above, you can also see Gates' wrong-headed ideas about vaccines.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates was recently interviewed by CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta. Gates was attending the World Economic Forum to push his mission of eradicating polio by 2012. Gates, through his foundation, has pledged $10 billion to provide vaccinations to children around the world .

In the course of the interview, in regards to the vaccine-autism connection, Gates said:

"... [I]t's an absolute lie that has killed thousands of kids. Because the mothers who heard that lie, many of them didn't have their kids take either pertussis or measles vaccine, and their children are dead today. And so the people who go and engage in those anti-vaccine efforts -- you know, they, they kill children. It's a very sad thing, because these vaccines are important."

How can someone so smart also be so confused about this issue? Unfortunately, that may actually be part of the problem.

Bill Gates may be one of the most destructive "do-gooders" on the planet because he is rich enough to get what he wants and he has a high opinion of his own intelligence. It is hard enough fighting Big Pharma, Big Government and Big Medicine on vaccines, but when another opponent is one of the wealthiest and most influential philanthropists in the world, it is even harder.

Fortunately, truth is more powerful than money. It is the only reason that the voices of parents and vaccine injured children continue to be heard above the relentless promotion of lies by the wealthy and powerful.

SOURCES:

 Netline January 2011

 CNN February 4, 2011


DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENTS:


As I discussed last month, Wikileaks has revealed just how deeply entrenched the US government has become with Monsanto. It's long been known that the government was being unduly influenced, but the leaked cables revealed the reality is far worse than expected; the US Department of State is actively promoting the private interests of Monsanto across the world.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the US Trade Representative also have a special set of revolving doors' leading straight to Monsanto, which has allowed this transnational giant to gain such phenomenal influence.

It is this type of government infiltration that allowed genetically modified (GM) alfalfa to be approved without any restrictions at all, despite the protests of the organic community and public comments from a quarter or a million concerned citizens...

As if that's not enough, Monsanto now also has one of the wealthiest and most influential "philanthropists" supporting their agenda and spreading misleading propaganda, namely Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft.

In addition, in the CNN interview above Gates also muddies the waters with his personal, misguided opinions on vaccines. Between his close ties to Monsanto and his aggressive pro-vaccine stance—without regard for safety on either issue—Gates may just be one of the most destructive "do-gooders" on the planet.

The Close Alliance Between Gates Foundation and Monsanto

As revealed by previous Wikileaks documents, the Bush administration conspired to find ways to retaliate against Europe for refusing to use genetically modified (GM) seeds, mainly by engaging in aggressive trade wars against reluctant nations.

The Guardian recently reported that the "cables show US diplomats working directly for GM companies such as Monsanto." The cables also revealed that the US has worked closely with Spain to persuade the EU to not strengthen their biotechnology laws. In one cable, the embassy in Madrid wrote: "If Spain falls, the rest of Europe will follow."

But it doesn't end there.

As reported by Netline, Monsanto and other biotech companies have collaborated with the Gates Foundation via the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to inject genetically modified crops into Africa. The Gates Foundation has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to AGRA, and in 2006 Robert Horsch was hired for the AGRA project. Horsch was a Monsanto executive for 25 years.

In a previous Huffington Post article, Eric Holt Gimenez sums it up nicely:

"Under the guise of "sustainability" the [Gates] Foundation has been spearheading a multi-billion dollar effort to transform African into a GMO-friendly continent. The public relations flagship for this effort is the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a massive Green Revolution project."

It would be naive at this point to think that these collaborations are designed to solve any other problem than how to help Monsanto monopolize the world's food supply with expensive GM seeds that have to be purchased each year and require expensive chemical treatment.

After all, if you own the rights to all the food grown everywhere, you literally rule the world...

Gates tried to keep his ties to genetically modified seeds on the down-low, but the issue got major attention last year when Monsanto tried to inject its hybrid seeds into Haiti after a massive earthquake devastated the island. Fortunately, the Haitian farmers were too smart to fall for this devious scheme. Farmer groups criticized the Gates Foundation's involvement, committed to burning the GM seed, and called for a march to protest Monsanto's presence in Haiti.

Social movements around the world are pressuring their governments for a moratorium on unproven GM seeds and foods, yet the US is giving Monsanto free reign, aiding and abetting their agenda, and the Gates Foundation is starting to look more and more like just another arm to further Monsanto's reach.
Gates' Financial Conflicts of Interest Sheds Additional Light on his Foundation's Agenda

In the second quarter of 2010, the Gates Foundation purchased 500,000 shares of Monsanto stock with an estimated worth of $23.1 million.

In August of last year, AGRA-Watch wrote:

"The Foundation's direct investment in Monsanto is problematic on two primary levels," said Dr. Phil Bereano, University of Washington Professor Emeritus and recognized expert on genetic engineering.

"First, Monsanto has a history of blatant disregard for the interests and well-being of small farmers around the world, as well as an appalling environmental track record. The strong connections to Monsanto cast serious doubt on the Foundation's heavy funding of agricultural development in Africa and purported goal of alleviating poverty and hunger among small-scale farmers. Second, this investment represents an enormous conflict of interests."

It seems clear that despite the denials that GM seeds would be used as part of AGRA's strategy, the close ties between the Gates Foundation, AGRA, and Monsanto, and the financial conflicts of interest between the Gates Foundation and Monsanto appear to be "a key element of AGRA's "new green revolution" strategy," Netline writes.

"The interlocking and corrupting nature of that agenda as documented further by Wikileaks release of US State Department cables should be of concern to all people of good will concerned about the future biodiversity of crop seeds in the world.

It is an undisputed fact, no matter what one might think of the merits of GMO seeds, that transnational concentration in market share and power inevitably means a diminishing of crop biodiversity, in many cases for all time, as seed varieties are lost in the shuffle. That is the bottom line.

And that is why small-scale farming, based in and loyal to the communities they nourish, must prevail as the model for the future of agriculture! Seeds have always been shared freely among farmers, guaranteeing a biodiverse basis for farming everywhere. Without that basis, there can be no food sovereignty and therefore fewer and fewer practitioners (family farmers) on the ground capable of slowing global warming and feeding the hungry of the world through sustainable land usage and reforestation.

It is our duty, even as community gardeners, to learn how to save seed and to do so. We thus represent the front line primary defense against crop variety loss, famine and pestilence for future generations!"

I agree.

Genetically modified crops represent one of the most significant threats to life on this planet and must be stopped. Unfortunately, there's no shortage of smart men misusing their intelligence. Bill Gates is just one of the most prominent in this group.

How Could Bill Gates Be so Confused About Vaccines?

Moving on to the second topic of this comment: Gates' vaccine opinions. It is very difficult to watch Bill Gates "speak out" about vaccines, knowing he's directly responsible for using his considerable wealth and influence to advance one-size-fits all vaccine policies that lack good science to back them up.

However, if you're savvy to the way this game is played, you'll realize that the absolute and derogatory terms he uses to defend his actions—such as labeling vaccine safety advocates as "baby killers"—actually reveals the level of pressure and mounting panic the vaccine industry is feeling right now.

They're definitely worried, or else they wouldn't have to resort to using people like Bill Gates to label you a killer if you question vaccine safety or want to make voluntary vaccine choices, in an effort to shame or scare you back in line.

He also spouts off the same tired propaganda speech about how Dr. Andrew Wakefield is somehow singularly responsible for creating mass-hysteria about the link between vaccines and developmental delays, including autism. This is beyond simplistic, and does in no way describe the truth about the problems with poor science being used to pass laws requiring everyone to use more and more vaccines that are both unsafe and ineffective. Anyone who has read even a fraction of my articles on vaccines will see that trying to hinge the entire anti-vaccine movement on the results of one study published in one medical journal is ridiculous.

The consolation is that the awful truth is more powerful than Gates ill-conceived attempts at quenching safety advocates.

But what's his motivation for promoting vaccines, you may ask?

Well, you have to remember that years ago, when the US government slammed Microsoft with anti-trust violations, he and his wife, Melinda, soon thereafter created their foundation and partnered with the US Department of Health and Human Services and the pharmaceutical industry to "save" the children of the world from infectious diseases—through the use of vaccines.

It appears as though, in return for a slap on the wrist, Gates was roped into the vaccine-promoting business, which likely explains why he would make such appalling statements against those who have valid and significant concerns about the safety of vaccines.

However, in the end, truth is more powerful than money. This is the reason why the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is still in operation and why my voice and the many voices of parents of vaccine-injured children continue to be heard above the relentless promotion of lies by the wealthy and powerful.

We have our work cut out for us, both in the fight against the dangerous promotion of genetically modified food crops and the mass-use of vaccines without proper safety evaluations. But sanity and reason can still win, through the propagation and dissemination of information. Below I'll provide helpful guidance for avoiding both GM foods and unwanted vaccines.

How You Can Avoid GM Foods, and Help Others Do the Same

I urge you to print out and use the Non-GMO Shopping Guide, created by the Institute for Responsible Technology. Share it with your friends and family, and post it to your social networks. You can also download a free iPhone application, available in the iTunes store. You can find it by searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications.

If you're feeling really ambitious you can order the Non-GMO Shopping Tips brochure in bulk and distribute them to the grocery stores in your area. Talk to the owner or manager and get permission to post them in their store.

For more information, I highly recommend reading the following two books, authored by Jeffrey Smith, the executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology:

1. Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating

2. Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods.

There are also a number of great films and lectures available, including:

• Hidden Dangers in Kid's Meals 

• Your Milk on Drugs - Just Say No! 

• Everything You Have to Know About Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods

For timely updates, join the Non-GMO Project on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.

Please, do your homework. Together, we as consumers have the power to stop the biotech industry from destroying our food supply, the future of our children, and the earth as a whole. All we need is about five percent of consumers to simply stop buying GM foods, and the food industry would have to reconsider their source of ingredients.

Do Your Homework Before Vaccinating for Anything

Personally, I'm not anti-vaccine but rather pro-education and pro-vaccine safety. I also believe it is extremely important to have the right to choose preventive health options and to be allowed to exercise informed consent to taking ANY medical risk, including making voluntary decisions about what you want to inject into your child, and yourself, and when.

If you choose to vaccinate selectively, you don't have to reject use of all vaccines. You have a number of options, one of which is use a more sensible vaccination schedule—one that will not subject your child to multiple vaccines simultaneously, or in quick succession, as a newborn.

Dr. Donald Miller is a cardiac surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle and a member of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. Using a more sensible, "user-friendly" vaccination schedule, Dr. Miller advises the following:

1. No vaccinations until your child is two years old. 

2. No vaccines that contain thimerosal (mercury).

3. No live virus vaccines.

Dr. Miller used to advise giving inactivated polio vaccine and inactivated bacterial vaccines like pertusis, tetanus and diphteria in separate shots, but, unfortunately, the drug companies selling vaccines no longer make separate vaccines available. The pertussis, tetanus and diphteria vaccines today only come in the form of combination shots like DTaP and DT for younger children, or Tdap and Td for teens and adults.

Dr. Bob Sears, a California pediatrician and author of The Vaccine Book, supports informed consent and selective vaccine choices. He offers a roadmap for those who choose to vaccinate their children using an alternative vaccination schedule that includes spacing vaccines out over a longer period of time.

Your pediatrician will probably not agree with this schedule, but if you have reviewed the evidence and still feel your child should be given some vaccines, it could be a far safer alternative to the standard vaccination schedule.

Also remember your opt-out options. Although all 50 states have vaccination requirements, all states provide exemptions for medical reasons, and 48 states allow exemptions for sincerely held religious beliefs. Another 18 states allow parents to opt out for personal, conscientious or philosophical beliefs as well.

For more information, please see How to Legally Avoid Unwanted Immunizations of All Kinds.

Above all, educate yourself on the risks and complications of the vaccines that your doctor or pediatrician insists on administering., as well as the vaccine laws in your state. I have hundreds of articles detailing the dangers of various vaccines on this site, and you also have the entire internet at your disposal.

One of your most valuable allies on the net is the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC)—the American vaccine safety watchdog. Their site contains loads of carefully researched, accurate information about vaccines, along with late-breaking news relating to laws, mandates, recalls, safety issues and more.

In some states, legal exemptions for vaccination, such as the religious and personal or conscientious belief exemptions are under attack and being targeted for elimination by drug companies and other special interest groups lobbying state legislators. Please sign up for the NVIC free Advocacy Portal and stay tuned into to what is happening in YOUR state and if you need to take action now to protect your legal right to make voluntary choices about vaccination for yourself and your children.

Why We're Losing... (and Losers)

So, I've been posting quite a few links on my facebook regarding the importance of eating/consuming raw or organic plants, fruits, and vegetables as opposed to blindly buying what's either poisoned, loaded with fecal matter, or pumped full of corn and a lot of other crap, and all legally so and unbeknownst to you.

A family member of mine posted a VERY good link which brought up the poignant fact: What if organic farming, while good for you, is turning out to be actually worse for the environment??

This is a perfect example of what's wrong.  I'll post my replies here.  Read the article first.

..Of course it's not going to be [good for the environment] when they are trying to supply for more than just their area. This is what happens when things get so spread out and so over-distributed. The organic view of farming should really be much more limited than it is.

There were seasons, distances, and unexpected circumstances that prevented local farmers from over-distribution before the boom of mass distributed agriculture. 

The problem with our view of the organic farm culture is that we view it the same way as the current food industry: Everywhere, Anywhere, and all Right Now Immediately. 

If more people bought from farms that were only local and only bought what was available [and in season], it would be much more beneficial to not only the farmers and other local agriculture (such as local wineries) but it wouldn't be half as damaging since their need to produce was small enough they didn't have to dump tons of cow manure and compost on their crops.

The main epicenter of the problems with our society, culture, and nation is the fact that we over do EVERYTHING. We overeat, we over-buy, we hoard when there's no reason to hoard, and we waste when there's no reason to waste.

Most people in American do NOT plan their meals anymore. There's no "weekly grocery list," they have no clue what plants and fruits are in season, and more importantly, their children aren't learning either. Kids are brought up now with this instant gratification mindset. We've got kids running around with cellphones [let's not get started on iPads] because mommy [who probably works a full time job] can't seem to take the time to look after little Johnny and Jane. If they are hungry, they get McDonalds (or Subway which in reality is JUST AS BAD). I see these kinds of kids every day where I work. I take my lunch break and go to the Post Office and usually grab a bite to eat at the grocery store if I haven't packed my lunch. I see kids under 13, by themselves, with their own money, their own cell phone, ordering their sandwiches from Subway. Where are their parents? Where is the nurturing and the family education and how the hell are we going to change anything as long as we have the future of our country, and our species really, running around like adults LONG before the time they even have an inkling of how to do ANYTHING in real life and what their impact on society is???

This is my concern. It's not just one thing... it's the whole bag. Consumption of locally grown organic/raw food is important, but without the understanding that you have to have BALANCE, you can eat all that crap you want and still the world will go to hell in a handbasket.

My thanks to Cynthia for bringing up that very important subject.  I think that this is what will spur this on.  People need to question something if it is not functioning in the way it was meant to function in the first place!  Organic farming should NOT be causing more harm than good to the environment.  That totally defeats the point!  We need to change our whole life styles, and not just keep putting these tiny band-aids over huge gaping wounds.  This doesn't mean I'm going to go out and buy a Prius and a bike tomorrow.  And I can't really move to a farm at the moment, so being aware and asking questions and maybe, just maybe putting a few lightbulbs over people's heads is enough for the moment.  I don't want you to agree with me.  I want you to convince yourself.  Do the digging, find the answers.  Then come back and help plan for a better future.

POST SCRIPT:  I'd like to add how funny it is that the article pointed out a small (even if valid) flaw with organic wineries that affected the environment, yet nothing was said in regard to the HUGE environmental (both domestic and world-wide) effect that corporations like Monsanto have when it comes to destroying environments not to mention corrupt business ethics and no concern whatsoever for people.

From The Venus Project

This is from The Venus Project  - please add your thoughts & comments.  Anything in italics and underlined was emphasized by me.

"The Venus Project is an organization that proposes a feasible plan of action for social change, one that works towards a peaceful and sustainable global civilization. It outlines an alternative to strive toward where human rights are no longer paper proclamations but a way of life.

We operate out of a 21.5-acre Research Center located in Venus, Florida.

When one considers the enormity of the challenges facing society today, we can safely conclude that the time is long overdue for us to reexamine our values, and to reflect upon and evaluate some of the underlying issues and assumptions we have as a society. This self-analysis calls into question the very nature of what it means to be human, what it means to be a member of a "civilization," and what choices we can make today to ensure a prosperous future for all the world's people.

At present we are left with very few alternatives. The answers of yesterday are no longer relevant. Either we continue as we have been with our outmoded social customs and habits of thought, in which case our future will be threatened, or we can apply a more appropriate set of values that are relevant to an emergent society.

Experience tells us that human behavior can be modified, either toward constructive or destructive activity. This is what The Venus Project is all about - directing our technology and resources toward the positive, for the maximum benefit of people and planet and seeking out new ways of thinking and living that emphasize and celebrate the vast potential of the human spirit. We have the tools at hand to design - and build - a future that is worthy of the human potential. The Venus Project presents a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. What follows is not an attempt to predict what will be done - only what could be done. The responsibility for our future is in our hands, and depends on the decisions that we make today. The greatest resource that is available today is our own ingenuity.

While social reformers and think tanks formulate strategies that treat only superficial symptoms, without touching the basic social operation, The Venus Project approaches these problems somewhat differently. We feel we cannot eliminate these problems within the framework of the present political and monetary establishment. It would take too many years to accomplish any significant change. Most likely they would be watered down and thinned out to such an extent that the changes would be indistinguishable.

The Venus Project advocates an alternative vision for a sustainable new world civilization unlike any social system that has gone before. Although this description is highly condensed, it is based upon years of study and experimental research by many, many people from many scientific disciplines.

The Venus Project proposes a fresh approach--one that is dedicated to human and environmental concerns. It is an attainable vision of a bright and better future, one that is appropriate to the times in which we live, and both practical and feasible for a positive future for all the world's people.

The Venus Project calls for a straightforward approach to the redesign of a culture, in which the age-old inadequacies of war, poverty, hunger, debt, environmental degradation and unnecessary human suffering are viewed not only as avoidable, but totally unacceptable.

One of the basic premises of The Venus Project is that we work towards having all of the Earth's resources as the common heritage of all the world's people. Anything less will simply result in a continuation of the same catalog of problems inherent in the present system.

Throughout history, change has been slow. Successive groups of incompetent leaders have replaced those that preceded them, but the underlying social and economic problems remain because the basic value systems have gone unaltered. The problems we are faced with today cannot be solved politically or financially because they are highly technical in nature. There may not even be enough money available to pay for the required changes, but there are more than enough resources. This is why The Venus Project advocates the transition from a monetary-based society to the eventual realization of a resource-based global economy.

We realize to make the transition from our present culture, which is politically incompetent, scarcity-oriented and obsolete, to this new, more humane society will require a quantum leap in both thought and action.

An Obsolete Monetary System

The money-based system evolved centuries ago. All of the world's economic systems - socialism, communism, fascism, and even the vaunted free enterprise system - perpetuate social stratification, elitism, nationalism, and racism, primarily based on economic disparity. As long as a social system uses money or barter, people and nations will seek to maintain the economic competitive edge or, if they cannot do so by means of commerce they will by military intervention. We still utilize these same outmoded methods.

Our current monetary system is not capable of providing a high standard of living for everyone, nor can it ensure the protection of the environment because the major motive is profit. Strategies such as downsizing and toxic dumping increase the profit margin. With the advent of automation, cybernation, artificial intelligence and out sourcing, there will be an ever-increasing replacement of people by machines. As a result, fewer people will be able to purchase goods and services even though our capability to produce an abundance will continue to exist.

Our present, outmoded political and economic systems are unable to apply the real benefits of today's innovative technology to achieve the greatest good for all people, and to overcome the inequities imposed upon so many. Our technology is racing forward yet our social designs have remained relatively static. In other words cultural change has not kept pace with technological change. We now have the means to produce goods and services in abundance for everyone.

Unfortunately, today science and technology have been diverted from achieving the greatest good for reasons of self-interest and monetary gain through planned obsolescence sometimes referred to as the conscious withdrawal of efficiency. For example, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, whose function is presumed to be conducting research into ways of achieving higher crop yields per acre, actually pays farmers not to produce at full-capacity. The monetary system tends to hold back the application of these methods that we know would best serve the interests of people and the environment.

In a monetary system purchasing power is not related to our capacity to produce goods and services. For example, during a depression, there are computers and DVD's on store shelves and automobiles in car lots, but most people do not have the purchasing power to buy them. The earth is still the same place; it is just the rules of the game that are obsolete and create strife, deprivation and unnecessary human suffering.

A monetary system developed years ago as a device to control human behavior in an environment with limited resources. Today money is used to regulate the economy not for the benefit of the general populace, but for those who control the financial wealth of nations.

Resource Based Economy

All social systems, regardless of political philosophy, religious beliefs, or social customs, ultimately depend upon natural resources, i.e. clean air and water, arable land and the necessary technology and personnel to maintain a high standard of living.

Simply stated, a resource-based economy utilizes existing resources rather than money and provides an equitable method of distributing these resources in the most efficient manner for the entire population. It is a system in which all goods and services are available without the use of money, credits, barter, or any other form of debt or servitude.

Earth is abundant with plentiful resources; today our practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant and counter productive to our survival. Modern society has access to highly advanced technologies and can make available food, clothing, housing, medical care, a relevant educational system, and develop a limitless supply of renewable, non-contaminating energy such as geothermal, solar, wind, tidal, etc. It is now possible to have everyone enjoy a very high standard of living with all of the amenities that a prosperous civilization can provide. This can be accomplished through the intelligent and humane application of science and technology.

To better understand the meaning of a resource-based economy consider this: if all the money in the world were destroyed, as long as topsoil, factories, and other resources were left intact, we could build anything we choose to build and fulfill any human need. It is not money that people need; rather, it is free access to the necessities of life. In a resource-based economy , money would be irrelevant. All that would be required are the resources and the manufacturing and distribution of the products.

When education and resources are made available to all people without a price tag, there would be no limit to the human potential. Although this is difficult to imagine, even the wealthiest person today would be far better off in a resource based society as proposed by The Venus Project. Today the middle classes live better than kings of times past. In a resource based economy everyone would live better than the wealthiest of today.

In such a society, the measure of success would be based on the fulfillment of one's individual pursuits rather than the acquisition of wealth, property and power.

The Choice Is Ours To Make

Human behavior is subject to the same laws as any other natural phenomenon. Our customs, behaviors, and values are byproducts of our culture. No one is born with greed, prejudice, bigotry, patriotism and hatred; these are all learned behavior patterns. If the environment is unaltered, similar behavior will reoccur.

Today, much of the technology needed to bring about a global Resource-Based Economy exists. If we choose to conform to the limitations of our present monetary-based economy, then it is likely that we will continue to live with its inevitable results: war, poverty, hunger, deprivation, crime, ignorance, stress, fear, and inequity. On the other hand, if we embrace the concept of a global resource-based economy , learn more about it, and share our understanding with our friends, this will help humanity evolve out of its present state.