Waging Peace?

America is the aggressive global bully, and I think most of the world is aware of our hypocrisy. Just think about the obvious arrogant actions of our country.

• Jailing a journalist... torturing him in a maximum security prison for revealing US war crimes, as we criticize other countries for lack of press freedom.
• Declaring a new unelected president of Venezuela and stealing their national wealth, companies, and gold, as we install crippling sanctions because we don't like countries with governments who help their people more than our corporations.
• Constantly harassing Cuba over decades for daring to try socialism.
• Refusing to recognize our own agreements whether it is the Iran Treaty, our guarantee not to move NATO one inch East, or our endless broken treaties with our own first nations peoples.
• Promoting global war with Iran, China, Russia...and anyone who challenges US hegemony.

It is past time to try to wage peace. To be a global friend and neighbor assisting countries not raping their resources and peoples. The US political system has been captured by the oligarchs and their corporations, so how to promote peace? Perhaps we just need to practice as individuals and refuse to participate in the political farce. Let's look today at some successful practitioners.

Directing the Flow with the Magic of Water

What a long, wet week its been. About a foot of rain last week. It rained every day. It's just breaking up today with a forecast of a few dry sunny days. So with water flowing everywhere, it seems a natural topic for this column. Like other lifeforms, we are mostly water. Water is life. Over two thirds of our planet is covered with water. However less than 2% is fresh water, and most of that tied up as ice. As the climate continues to become more extreme, we can expect both more droughts and more flooding. However if we manage our environment sustainably we can cope with these wild variations.

Get with the System...the Ecosystem

Really a garden, farm, or homestead is an ecosystem. Working with nature, emulating natural processes, and flowing with the system is the key to producing food in a sustainable manner. It can be done in almost every environment. Soil can be improved, but as climate chaos accelerates, we all may need to consider how to buffer our gardens from the wild weather swings we're beginning to see. So this past weeks cold weather led me to write about techniques for winter production as well as creating a food producing ecosystem. We can live in harmony with the planet...(3 min trailer)

Learn and Grow

It is a new year and time for new growth. When I arrived (like the shipwrecked person floating on the C99 sign) on this site, I was hopeful. I thought Bernie was destined to the presidency and our nation was going to move in a better direction. As Bernie was being cheated from the nomination illustrating the impotence of politics, we had the Standing Rock protest which I saw as a powerful statement about many things from environmental justice, indigenous rights, and citizen movements to fossil fuel's dominance, climate chaos, and complete corporate control... including mercenary domestic policing. I continue to study and learn of our situation...social, political, and ecological. Perhaps there are answers and political paths toward peace and prosperity, but I personally don't see a political way forward. I come more and more to the conclusion of my youth - to be a gardener, a naturalist, a musician and enjoy my corner of the world - the biologically rich eastern deciduous forest. So I want to shift the focus of this column to look at stories about people and communities that are living at peace and harmony with the planet while maintaining an eye on the news of the day.