''If everyone does their own thing, someone here, someone there, another one over there, we will never make it. We have to come together as One People and try to make Peace. Take care of our Mother, for our children and for the future generations, because she is suffering.''
-Anishnabe Elder William Commanda, Peacemaker and Prophecy Keeper
Why is pro-organic, UK celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, promoting pro-GMO, Monsanto-stock-owning Bill and Melinda Gates? Oliver says in his promotional video, “I’m super excited about being able to support Bill and Melinda’s annual letter…” and how he’s spent 15 years campaigning for better food and food systems. Sure enough, people have already begun to call him out. And he’s responded on his FB page with this statement:
“Hi guys, my video message in support of Bill and Melinda Gates' letter was in response to their big bets for the next fifteen years. My big bet is that food education for all is fundamental to fixing our broken food system and feeding the world. Following my message a lot of you have shared your concerns about GMOs so I wanted to make sure you knew that my video message wasn't in support of GMOs but instead sharing my belief in food education. Sharing views, having a right noisy debate and getting to the food truth - including about GMOs - is essential to tackling the big problems we face and is at the heart of the Food Revolution. Jamie”
We agree with Jamie that “food education for all is fundamental to fixing our broken food system.” GMO Free USA has been doing that since we were founded. But Jamie then sends people to Gates’ website where there is a whole lot of propaganda about GMOs and a whole section on farming that is aimed at getting Africa to accept GMO crops and chemical agriculture. Though the Gates website talks about various potential solutions to the problems of hunger and malnutrition in Africa, it’s clear that their central simplified solution to Africa’s problem is to adopt GMO corn and chemical farming. Does Jamie Oliver agree with this, or is he being used as a Trojan Horse for unsustainable and unhealthy GM agriculture?
Fear is becoming rampant on the planet. We can see it every day in the news. Fear is a lack of trust in ourselves, and because of this, we don’t trust Life. We don’t trust that we’re being taken care of on a higher level, so we feel we must control everything from the physical level. Obviously, we’re going to feel fear because we can’t control everything in our lives.
Trust is what we learn when we want to overcome our fears. It’s called “taking a leap of faith” and trusting in the Power within that’s connected to Universal Intelligence. Remember, the Power that supplies our breath is the same Power that created the Universe.
You’re one with all of Life. The more you love yourself and trust Life, the more that Life will love you, support you, and guide you. You can trust in that which is invisible, instead of trusting only in the physical, material world. I’m not saying that we do nothing, yet if we have trust, we can go through life much easier. We need to trust that we’re being taken care of, even though we’re not physically in control of everything that’s happening around us.
Fear limits our minds. People have so much fear about getting sick or becoming homeless or so many other things. Anger is fear that has become a defense mechanism. It protects us, yet it would be so much more powerful if we stop reevaluating fearful situations in our minds and love ourselves through the fear. We’re at the center of everything that happens in our lives. Every experience, every relationship, is the mirror of a mental pattern that we have inside us.
One of my favorite writers, Susan Jeffers, has a marvelous CD called Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. In it, she states: “If everybody feels fear when approaching something totally new in life—yet so many are out there doing it despite the fear—then we must conclude that fear is not the problem.” She goes on to say that the real issue is not the fear, but how we hold the fear.
At any moment you have the opportunity of choosing love or fear. In moments of fear, I remember the sun. It’s always shining even though clouds may obscure it for a while. Like the sun, the One Infinite Power is eternally shining its light upon me, even though clouds of negative thinking may temporarily obscure it. I choose to remember the Light. And you can, too. Feel secure in the Light. When the fears come, choose to see them as passing clouds in the sky, and let them go on their way.
Affirm: I am not my fears. It is safe for me to live without guarding and defending myself all the time. When I feel afraid, I open my heart and let the love dissolve the fear.
Love is the opposite of fear. The more we’re willing to love and trust who we are, the more we attract those qualities to ourselves. When we’re on a streak of really being frightened or upset or worried or not liking ourselves, isn’t it amazing how everything goes wrong in our lives? It’s the same when we really love ourselves. Everything starts to go on a winning streak, and we get the green lights and the parking spaces. We get up in the morning and the day flows beautifully.
We need to love ourselves so that we can take care of ourselves. We have to do everything we can to strengthen our hearts, our bodies, and our minds. We must turn to the Power within, find a good spiritual connection, and really work on maintaining it.
Here are some of my favorite affirmations for releasing fears. Give them a try:
I am willing to release my fears. I live and move in a safe and secure world. I free myself from all destructive fears and doubts. I accept myself and create peace in my mind and heart. I rise above thoughts that attempt to make me angry or afraid. I release the past with ease and trust the process of life. I am willing to release the need for this protection. I am now willing to see only my magnificence. I have the power to make changes. I am always divinely protected.
Seawer is a self-supported hydroelectric power station that can generate electricity using seawater at the same time that it cleans up plastic waste. The huge structure separates plastic particles and fluids, recycles seawater and releases it back into the ocean. The structure receives energy from the sun, ocean and plastics and moves slowly from one polluted area to the next. The project received an honorable mention in the 2014 eVolo Skyscraper Competition.
Millions of tons of trash enter the ocean each year and cluster in particular areas of the world’s oceans. One of the most infamous plastic debris patches is located in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, commonly referred to as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). This piece of “plastic soup” is twice the size of Texas and contains six times more plastic than plankton biomass. Seawer skyscraper was designed to tackle this issue while generating electricity at the same time.
South Korean designer Sung Jin Cho submitted the Seawer Skyscraper project as his proposal for this year’s eVolo Skyscraper Competition. The project includes a huge drainage hole 550 meters in diameter and 300 meters in depth that would be located at the heart of the GPGP. The structure consists of five layers of baleen filters that separate plastic particles and fluids. The particles are taken to an onboard recycling plant while purified seawater is stored in a large sedimentation tank at the bottom of the structure before it is released back into the ocean.
Cleanup continues after Saturday's oil spill into Montana's Yellowstone River. Almost a week later, residents of Glendive, MT aren't sure when they will have clean water. It's just the latest example of the dangers of extracting, transporting, and burning fossil fuels.
Learn more about fossil fuel disasters in the U.S. with our new interactive map and timeline --> sc.org/MTSpillViz