[Ccpg] February Newsletter

Sat Feb 5 09:14:46 PST 2005

FRIENDS OF THE TREES E-NEWSLETTER

February 1, 2005

Green Greetings,

 Some of you receiving this email will have also gotten
a January 1 email which has a lot of information and links.  

Others of you will not have gotten the January 1 email.  
If you want to read it go to: www.friendsofthetrees.net

If you get two copies of this email, it is because we
are compiling our two separate email address systems
into one.  It shouldn't happen again.  

So following is more information on the big picture.  
Just remember to balance it by working with the plants
and the earth.

A number of friends have responded with information
that I think is worth passing on. 

JOHN MICHAEL GREER

I was impressed with a number of articles by John
Michael Greer. His viewpoint is that western civilization 
will fall apart gradually rather than with a catastrophic 
crash. His articles go into some detail on what we can 
do in these times. Following are the links to his articles. 
http://www.oilcrisis.com/whattodo/DeindustrialAge.htm
http://www.survivingpeakoil.com/article.php?id=facing_dark_age
http://www.oilcrisis.com/whattodo/decline.htm

RECENT MESSAGE FROM THE HOPI ELDERS

They are asking for our help as they attempt to keep
the world in balance. 
www.jnanadana.org/hopi/dan's_message.html
Read Chief Dan Evehema's Message to Mankind

UNDERWATER VOLCANIC ACTIVITY

Robert Felix's website hypothesizes that we are about
to enter a new ice age.  There is a lot of information
on recent weather events from around the globe. The
most novel part of his theory is that one of the large
drivers for  current climate shifts is underwater
volcanic activity.  80% of the volcanic activity is
underwater and world volcanic activity has been
increasing. This heating of the ocean creates more
clouds and eventually triggers an ice age.  
www.iceagenow.com

PHOENIX FIVE EARTH CHANGES BULLETIN. 

Michael Wells Mandeville:
One of the best "synthesis" websites I have found yet
about current global trends and scenarios.  Mandeville
draws on history, current economics, global politics,
solar system alignments, solar sunspot cycles, earth
changes, tectonics as well as Mayan and Hopi prophecy.
www.michaelmandeville.com
Lots of links to information worldwide. 

HONORING PUGET SOUND

Probably 1/3 of my email contacts live near Puget
Sound. All Puget Sound residents are invited to
participate in an event to honor Puget Sound on
Wednesday, March 16.  Ceremonies will be held at the
Golden Gardens Park in Ballard, Seattle. People are
invited to hold ceremonies throughout Puget Sound.
Contact:  blesspugetsound at hotmail.com

WEBSITES RECOMMENDED  by Don Weaver: 

AGRICULTURE:
www.ruaf.org
www.remineralize.org 
www.dirtdoctor.com,
www.rodaleinstitute.org
www.farmaid.org
www.ifoam.org
www.soilassociation.org
www.organic-research.com
www.agbioindia.org
www.organic-europe.net/
www.organicaginfo.org/aboutOrganic.cfm
www.i-sis.org.uk/organicproductionworks.php

HYGIENE/RAW FOOD
www.livingnutrition.com  

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POSSIBLE FUTURE SCENARIOS

Scenario A. Over the next 20 years more and more
people become open to alternatives, sustainable
agriculture, participatory democracy, alternative
energy, fair trade, compassion and love. It becomes
harder for governments and corporations to exploit and
oppress. People do not tolerate repression and war any
longer. There is a gradual transition to an
environmentally-sound and socially-equitable world.
There is no major cataclysm.
(This is happening. Go to www.worldpeaceemerging.com 
for continued updates. This site is only just beginning
- Saphir, Michael's office assistant)

Scenario B. Current trends continue. Globalization
proceeds. Control of people increases, Poverty, hunger
and oppression increase.

Scenario C. Global civilization gradually falls apart
over the next 50 years.

Scenario D. Catastrophic changes and the world 
changes dramatically quickly. Every year disasters 
affect some 211 million people, two-thirds of whom 
live in underdeveloped countries where poverty 
increases their vulnerability. The United Nations 
Development Programme (UNDP) published a report, 
Reducing Disaster Risk: a Challenge for Development, 
in February 2004, in which it wondered whether it was 
useful to continue to talk of “natural” disasters. The 
impact of an earthquake, a tropical cyclone or a flood 
varies enormously between countries and often depends 
upon preventative policies implemented by the authorities.

The UNDP has estimated that $80 billion a year would
be enough to guarantee every human being on earth
access to basic services - drinking water, shelter,
adequate food, primary education and healthcare. This
figure is exactly the same as the supplementary budget
that President Bush recently requested from Congress
to finance the war in Iraq.

Scenario E: We must always leave room for the unexpected!

WORLD ECONOMIC SITUATION. 

I have been trying to make some sense of the reasons
for the impending economic collapse which many think
is imminent. Here are a few points.  

Oil is priced in dollars. OPEC oil exporting countries
require payment in US dollars.  This means every oil
importing country needs to maintain a dollar reserve. 
The US imports far more than it exports. The federal
government has been running at tremendous deficits.
The national debt is huge and the debt is mainly owned
by Japan and China. The US is the only country that
can print dollars and it floods the world with ever
cheaper dollars.  Other countries are starting to lose
lots of money as a result including banks and large
financial interests.  More and more of the world does
not like this situation. People in far away lands are
tired of shipping their goods to the USA. So far no
one has wanted to rock the boat because the world's
economies are now so intertwined. But it looks like
the end may be near. 

World opinion of the US is declining rapidly. The
belligerent and arrogant actions of the Bush
administration including the Iraq war, disregard of
the Kyoto accords, disrespect for international law
and obvious ltwo-facedness have been taking their
toll.  The rest of the world has indirectly been
financing and giving resources to building up the US
military machine and now it increasingly looks like
the US federal government will use the military to try to
control the rest of the world.  This is another reason
that people in other countries wants to change the
system which benefits the US at their expense.  

At some point the holders of US debt are going to cut
their losses and switch to other currencies. So if
everyone starts switching to euros, yuan and yen they
will be cashing in their US dollars at whatever they
can get for them.  The dollar's purchasing power will
drop precipitously, triggering a stock market crash in
the US.

The total US personal debt also contributes to world
financial insecurity. The mortgage boom in the USA is
unstable. If a depression happens, more and more
people will lose their jobs and won’t be able to make
payments on their mortgages and debts. Consumption 
and living standards of the lower and middle classes will
decline. This undoubtedly will be traumatic for many
people and challenging for most.  

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

1) Pray for the best and get involved. Every person 
has an inspiration to participate, a part to play, be it 
growing food, caring for children or elderly, political 
action, community development, creating new solutions, 
or any of a myriad of other roles. You are important and 
your part is needed now.

2) Connect with your inner connection to the Divine.
Your inner source of strength, stability, compassion
and love.

3) Realize that we are all one. I believe there is a
spark of divinity in all people and in all life-forms.
All are evolving. All are learning. This includes the
worst of humankind. As Ghandi so exemplified, one can
take action without hating the opposition. Be a center
of positivity, of hope and possibility.

4). Garden, grow food, learn useful skills and become
more self-reliant.  Reduce your personal consumption
and impact on the planet. Encourage decentralized
local production based on local, renewable resources. 

5) Heal the Planet. We know how to go about restoring
the health of the land. There are ways to stem
erosion, build soil, clean waterways, increase native
plants and enhance ecosystem richness and
biodiversity. This will enable ecosytems to meet human
needs at a higher rate than in their current depleted
and poisoned state.  

6) Build community and local alliances. Also build
friendships and alliances at larger levels. The
development of modern communications and the 
internet make worldwide  communication more 
possible then ever before. 

It is a good idea to grow food, help heal the planet,
build more friendships and live simply whether you
believe the sky is falling or not. 

Local food production can feed the local populations
in most parts of the globe. There is no excuse for
hunger. The current poverty of the third of humanity
living on $1 to $2 a day can be greatly alleviated if
they had a little land and access to good information
on sustainable food growing. 

There is currently a large amount of information known
about sustainable agriculture and gardening. This
includes both indigenous and traditional knowledge and
more recent forms of permaculture, bio-intensive
gardening (John Jeavons' method), organic and many
others. The agriculture links posted on my website
will lead you to many of them. 

Earth will work with us.  Every plant, animal, insect,
lichen, fungi and life in general is on the side of
peace and the environment. 

Whatever happens, my advice continues to be:

Grow food
Build local community
Keep love in your heart

Michael Pilarski

See www.FriendsoftheTrees.net for our 2005
workshops and gatherings. 

Please send me me additional websites and information
sources on these topics.

If you want to see a few updates a year on these
topics check:

www.friendsofthetrees.net 

If you want to be removed from my email list, let me know. 

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