lloyd's Blog

Organic and Sustainable Farmers Can Feed the World
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/01/06/organic-and-sustainable-farmers-can-feed-the-world.aspx

A key question that is often asked about ecological agriculture, including organic agriculture, is whether it can be productive enough to meet the world's food needs. While many agree that ecological agriculture is desirable from an environmental and social point of view, there remain fears that ecological and organic agriculture produce low yields.

Below is a summary by Lim Li Ching, a researcher with Third World Network, of the available evidence to demystify the productivity debate and demonstrate that ecological agriculture is indeed productive, especially so in developing countries.

A recent study examined a global dataset of 293 examples and estimated the average yield ratio (organic : non-organic) of different food categories for the developed and developing world (Badgley et al., 2007). For most of the food categories examined, they found that the average yield ratio was slightly less than 1.0 for studies in the developed world, but more than 1.0 for studies in developing countries.

On average, in developed countries, organic systems produce 92% of the yield produced by conventional agriculture. In developing countries, however, organic systems produce 80% more than conventional farms.

With the average yield ratios, the researchers then modeled the global food supply that could be grown organically on the current agricultural land base. They found that organic methods could hypothetically produce enough food on a global per capita basis to sustain the current human population, and potentially an even larger population, without putting more farmland into production.

Moreover, contrary to fears that there are insufficient quantities of organically acceptable fertilizers, the data suggest that leguminous cover crops could fix enough nitrogen to replace the amount of synthetic fertilizer currently in use.

This model suggests that organic agriculture could potentially provide enough food globally, but without the negative environmental impacts of conventional agriculture.

For the entire article, please click on the Source Link below.
Sources:

* Organic Consumers Association December 19, 2008

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Dr. MercolaDr. Mercola's Comments:
I’m continually amazed that so many policymakers find it hard to believe that organic and sustainable farming can actually produce enough food to feed the world.

If you’re still unconvinced, I highly suggest you read the whole article linked above. As you’ll read, one recent study that examined a global dataset of 293 farming examples found that in developing countries, organic systems produce 80% more than conventional farms. And a review of 286 projects in 57 countries found that farmers who used "resource-conserving" or ecological agriculture had increased agricultural productivity by an average of 79%!

“It is clear that ecological agriculture is productive and has the potential to meet food security needs … Moreover, ecological agricultural approaches allow farmers to improve local food production with low-cost, readily available technologies and inputs, without causing environmental damage,” Lim Li Ching writes.

Really, the question we should be asking ourselves shouldn’t be ‘Can organic or sustainable farming feed the world?’, but ‘How can food production possibly continue as it is?’

The Modern Food System is Crumbling

There are so many problems facing the food system that it’s hard to even pinpoint a place to begin, but I’ll start with factory farms -- the modern world’s “solution” to raising animals for food.

It may surprise you to learn that such farming creates some of the worst pollution in the United States. The Farm Sanctuary points out that farm animals produce 130 times more waste than humans. And agricultural runoff is the primary reason why 60 percent of U.S. rivers and streams are polluted.

Meanwhile, in areas where animal agriculture is most concentrated (Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Illinois and Indiana round out the top five states with the most factory-farm pollution) bacteria known as pfiesteria is common in waterways. Not only does pfiesteria kill fish, it also causes nausea, memory loss, fatigue and disorientation in people!

Aside from the pollution, factory farms use vast quantities of resources. According to FactoryFarm.org, industrial milking centers that use manure flush cleaning and automatic cow washing systems, go through as much as 150 gallons of water per cow per day.

Energy costs are even steeper.

A 2002 study from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that industrial farms use an average of three calories of energy to create one calorie of food. Grain-fed beef is at the top of the list of offenders, using 35 calories of energy to produce one calorie of food! And this does not even take into account the energy used to process and transport the foods, so the real toll is even larger.

So when I hear someone extolling the virtues of “modern” agriculture and wondering how “organic” or “sustainable” farming could possibly be the solution, I maintain the fact that we have come to accept inefficient, industrial practices, including dousing our food with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as a viable way to grow food is the real wonder.

And what about genetically modified foods, which were “supposed” to end the global food crisis years ago? Well, lest I open up another can of worms entirely (GM foods are easily one of the biggest threats to both mankind and the earth today) I will suffice to say that GM crops have NOT increased yields as promised.

In fact, research by Dr. Mae-Wan Ho of the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) found that GM soy decreased yields by up to 20 percent compared with non-GM soy, and up to 100 percent failures of GM cotton have been recorded in India.

It is quite apparent that the food system began its dramatic decline the second the world turned away from the farming practices of our ancestors, and began to attempt to outdo nature with technology. What is needed is clearly a return to nature, and that is what organic and sustainable farming practices are striving to accomplish.

How to Support Organic and Sustainable Farming Movements

If you have the time and the space, I encourage each of you to consider starting your own small-scale “farm” in your backyard. It takes just a small patch of land, or even several large containers, to grow ample amounts of produce for your family.

I also suggest you steer clear of foods that come from factory farms or any large industrial farms, and instead support sustainable agriculture movements in your area. After declining for more than a century, the number of U.S. small farms has increased 20 percent in the past six years. This is in large part a result of the growing demand for locally grown foods, which is slowly but surely shaping the business of food in the United States.

So please realize that each and every one of you can make a HUGE difference.

To find sustainable agriculture movements in your area, from farmer’s markets to food coops and more, please see this comprehensive list.

It is important to understand the impact you have when you spend your money on factory food. Changing your shopping patterns by supporting local agriculture will not only help improve your health, it will also help improve the environment and bring back our rural communities.

Related Articles:

How to Avoid Being Fooled at the Supermarket

What is Wrong with Environmentalism?

The New American Food System

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Trinity Wellness
[ Joined on 12/08 ] [ Posted on December 28, 2008 ]
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The economics of agriculture in the United States have resulted in the loss of over 90% of the family farms in the US. Twenty-five percent of the population used to live on farms. Now it is under 2 million people!

With so much of the arable land in the hands of Agribusiness, and so much of that land depleted by industrial chemical farming, the only short term alternative would be something akin to the World War II era "victory garden".

An organic greenhouse vegetable garden in every backyard for year round production of chemical free plant based nutrition!
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Julieanne
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I don't have the figures, but it seems to me there was less starvation in Africa when there were more small farms growing crops organically. Then we showed them how to be more 'efficient' by using chemical fertilisers, hybrid seeds and other Western practices. This has been a disaster wherever it has happened.

One of the reasons small organic farms in less developed countries can produce higher yields is the diversity of crops they grow together. It may not look as neat and tidy as our methods - crops all growing higgledy piggedly - but it is far more productive.

Many of the original ideas for Permaculture were taken from Third World countries - read Bill Mollison's book 'Permaculture 1'. It is full of practical ideas we could all follow in our own backyards.
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Mercola

DivineLight58
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Mercola

Look at this article.

www.greenpeace.org/.../no-need-for-condoms-ge-corn


renak
[ Joined on 12/08 ] [ Posted on January 1, 2009 ]
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Composting, growing our own fruits & vegetables, raising our own livestock....just unacceptable to most people I know. They would rather take the chance of letting Big Agro poison them. I'm not being sarcastic, that's what I truly believe.

I've produced a large portion of my food for most of my life. My experience is that people don't want any part of growing, raising & processing their own food. However, they are always more than happy to receive the end result. Americans are lazy. Most Americans would let their families starve before the did the back breaking labor associated with raising food.

It will be hard to run out Big Agro. They serve a need, the need of the lazy, cheap American people.
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Mercola

stoic
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Mercola
it's called specialization & division of labor, renak, & it raises productivity & living standards across the board....
Mercola

Brian1
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Mercola

You probably don't need to grow nitrogen fixing crops just to fix the nitrogen and you definitely don't need chemical fertilizers. Liquid human waste should work since it is high in nitrogen. It also reduces the amount of water and other wastes going down the treatment plants. It saves money too.

I tried used it with a bit of diluted sea water(for the trace minerals) and the zucchini and cauliflower leaves were big.
Mercola

ldyfrmr
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I agree to a point but when you show them how to grow salad fixings in tubs then they get excited to see that they can grow something and are willing to expand. We have to train and encourage.
Mercola

Sean Uisce
[ Joined on 11/06 ] [ Posted on January 15, 2009]

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Mercola

Brian1, yes liquid human waste is an excellent resource - as is our more solid excreta!

Unfortunately however we have become very 'squeamish' as a society and these methods of closing the circle are not seriously considered. Even amongst (supposedly) holistic and sustainbly-minded people.

But perhaps our societal lethargy regarding using our own wastes to feed the plants that eventually feed us (or feed the animals that feed us) is also subconsciously driven... because if we used our wastes, it wouldn't take long for our toxic habits to come right back at us! And deep-down we all know the consequences of that and so are avoiding moving in that direction?!

Because if everyone switched to composting their body wastes right now, the chemicals they currently have in their bodies from drugs, non-organic food, public tap water, industrial exposure etc would come right back at them. Not only almost immediately (within one or two seasons) but also time and time again!

And of course if they introduced new toxins via their life-choices they would only be introducing more toxins into the circluar system in their own back yard.

So maybe it's in an effort to avoid this reality that society generally uses the (illusory) excuse of hygiene problems to keep going with the idea (also illusory) that as long as we flush it away and someone else somewhere else processes it and throws it in the ocean for us, it'll not come back to haunt us.

Those interested in learning more about the massively health-enhancing option of using human excreta as fertiliser should check out:

www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html

Oh, and compost (whether it includes human waste or not) can also be used to heat water! Simply put your copper cylinder in the middle (1yr old) of three compost heaps and you'll have hot water day and night. Permanently. And as I found out at a friends place as I turned on the tap to wash the dishes, this system can produce water almost hot enough to scald!


Amicus Curiae1
[ Joined on 02/08 ] [ Posted on January 13, 2009 ]
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A rule of thumb for smarter farming is the Law of Return, if you take from the soil either as crop or stock, you Must return to the soil what you took, animal manure should be returned to the soil not stockpiled to leach into waterways, farm plant residue should be grazed, not burnt,. Feeding livestock on grain and chicken ***, with melamine, chemicals, added salt, and processing waste is a crime against the animals, and we are paying for the crime, and our willful ignorance with our health, Cows have 4!! stomach areas to handle tough lignins, they are NOT grain eaters by choice, they do not eat just grass either, a healthy cow will select a range of plants, many we call weeds, for their innate mineral and health giving properties.Pigs that are grain fed, used as a selling price hike, are actually more likely to produce sallow, sour meat. they also need a wide variety of foods, including meat and minerals, they are! omnivorous and will hunt live prey if they can.

no plant or animal waste should be allowed off farm, it should be mulched composted and returned. the only excuse to burn off are serious fungal infections. and RUST can be beaten by changing the crops grown for a few years, and grazing, to change the soil biota back to healthy. i have been a permie for 16 years, it works.

i now assess soil biota, and film live soils, my soil is alive, farm soils are dead, with even the bacteria at minimal levels, breaks my heart, to see what some people bring in for me to test, so much chem contaminants that even fungi cannot grow in it, and they and the bacteria nematodes and others are what give the minerals to the plants, via cation exchange. NPK farming +gmo+chem kills soils. and by association, US!
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notig
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One thing this study doesn't even mention is that if we compost our own waste things would look even better. In Asia.. for centuries they used "nightsoil" which is basically uncomposed humane manure... today we have the ability to compost it and return it to the soil. It Composting is one of the few things we can do that actually enhances and accelerates nature.

The decline of the soil is detrimental to society... in many ways. Not only does it affect yields.. but health... and even psychological health of human kind to an extent.

http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html

In my opinion when you go to the store there shouldn't be an "organic" and "conventional" section.. everything should be organic.. and chemical fertilizers should be downright illegal. Along with pesticides.
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Mercola

HansMassage_203
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Mercola

Human wast composting would work but first pharmasutical contamination of the human waste would have to be stopped. It is redely available in my area but it can not be used for food because the composting can not break down many of the pharmasuticals and many of them enter the food chain.


Apoztel
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This user is BELOW novice level and all their comments need to be reviewed with great caution.

Organic and sustainable are both very good things, but we also need to look at the nutritional content of the food. A guy went around to farmers' markets and food stands in the USA and tested their tomatoes for nutritional content. He found that the iron content ranged from 1 ppm to 16,000 ppm. If the soil doesn't have any nutrition in it then neither will the fruits or vegetables that it produces.
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Mercola

Vee.M
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Mercola

Apoztel you have said what so few people realise..even organic food may not contain a good level of nutrition as it is more about not using toxic chemicals..organically farmed soil will be better..but there is more to nutrition than chemical free food..Here in the UK we have the "Good Gardeners Association" which promotes no-dig growing and also conducts tests on the nutritional value of foods grown by different methods in diferent soils...see www.goodgardeners.org....Government here advises us to eat five portions of fruit and veg a day, based on ASSUMED levels of vitamins and minerals in them..but how can you tell if a carrot is bursting with Vit A or has little or none.? or whether there is loads of Vit C in an orange or very little.?..tests have shown a very worrying down trend in the mineral content of soil in the UK since the 2nd World War, so much so that most of the population is deficient in (for example) selenium, which is vital to good health...Soil has been over compacted by large machinery (as will be the case in some parts of the US) and much of it is virtually dead..How can this soil produce healthgiving, vital food.?
Mercola

Julieanne
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Mercola

Vee.M, organic growing is NOT just about pesticide-free food. O. Growers build up their soil with compost, add mineral fertilisers, manures, blood and bone ans seaweed products. They rotate their crops and grow a diversity of plants- no monoculture.

I wish people would emhasise the positive aspects, not just the negative (what the food DOESN'T contain).


mo54
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renak if you think Americans are too lazy to do anything for themselves you have bought into the media. Or you have only been to a city. In the country we work our butts off doing things for ourselves. I can raise crops, any animal you name, put up a barn and lay water pipes. AS well as can the fruits and vegetables, make cheese from fresh milk, make our clothes, and put up fence. My husband can do most of those things and a few more.
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Amicus Curiae1
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hi heather marsh, as a fellow aussie i can advise that the waste from non chem, ie dry composting toilets, can be held in black plastic bins and allowed to reach 50C for a week or longer, as today was 38C , not a problem,

then add some straw or mulched garden waste and let it sit for a couple of weeks, when it cools down, add worms! between the heat, the organic matter adding good bacerial breakdown, and the worms cycling it, it is safe. if in any doubt, do not allow it to be top dressed, always apply to the soil when starting.

for your clay soils you need to add GYPSUM, the straw will not break it up, it will just form tougher possibly anaerobic matter that will not help your plants at all! the gypsum will loosen the bonding in the clay particles, allowing it to become more porous. DO NOT buy ALROC it used to be a safe mineral rock blend, however now the are adding flyash with a cadmium warning of between 2 to 15%

to stoic..specialisation in todays terms usually means big agro, that means lower standards for food and higher unemployment and LOWER standards of living. small scael specialist permaculture will out produce any chemical farmer and give higher yields and better product be it animal or plant.

this year past, chem fertilizer went up from 400avg to 1,100+ per ton, pesticides also sykrocketed. yet markets controlling grains are keeping the price per ton at same to lower than previous harvest paid. fuel also nearly doubled, you tell me how? with that startup cost, and huge seed costs for copyrighted seeds, equipment costs,drought etc, any standard farmer can survive? and our aussie farmers are NOT subsidised in any way, whereas eu and usa and japan china, all subsidise to near 50% of the cost

alternatively, pure rockdusts, animal manures and organic fertilizer( N-Fix, i use), using nonpatented seed, immediately reduces input Please read.. .www.foodproductiondaily.com/.../Wheat-yields-will-be-slashed-as-phosphate-runs-out-warns-scientist
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Heather Marsh
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there are now waste disposal and grey water recycling systems that use earthworms and beetles to process the waste and water into water and compost that is safe to use on gardens (and saves on the costs of nutrients.

eg:www.therenewableenergycentre.co.uk/waste-water-recycling-and-sewage-treatment

As for my home- my husband is now enthusiastically using the 'water' from my worm farm on our plants.
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Mercola

Heather Marsh
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Mercola

It is not legal in Australia to use unprocessed waste on food plants.....although citrus seems to respond well when small boys are toilet training in the back yard.

The cucumbers and tomatoes given the 'worm water' fruited profusely - too profusely. We may have to give some away to neighbours!

I have also asked hubby to obtain some pea straw to dig into our clay soil. Eathworms love it - so the soil gets extra nitrogen and aerated at the same time. I haven't read much about permaculture, but feel that digging in spent legume plants is probably excellent for improving the quality of future crops.

Hopefully some small farmers will return to the old ways of crop rotation.
Mercola

Julieanne
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Mercola

Heather, I would advise you NOT to dig in the pea straw - lay it on top as a mulch instead. It will break down over summer as you water it. Although pea straw contains a certain amount of nitrogen, it will still rob your soil as it breaks down if you dig it in, like any dry material. And laying it on top of the soil is less work!


ExJohnson
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One word of caution, using human manure for your vegetable garden must be done in a safe and systematic way for it to be viable and healthy. Most people have active pathogens in their stool. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it you are building a project and you want a self-composting toilet to help with the garden, I only suggest what other experts do: for the first year, use human manure only on your flowers (a good flower variety brings bees and pest control to your garden, both good). Pathogens are actually quite picky about their environment, much like yeast. A good organic environment doesn't work to well for them, but starting from scatch, it just might take awhile. For those who know this website, think of the gut as a prime example. Yeast actually wouldn't do to well in a healthy gut with healthy food. They need antibiotics to kill off competition, lots of sugar to proliferate, limited fiber so that the food passes slowly, and a pH balance that suits them. The Stad. Amer. Diet provides all these for them, so just take that as advice for your compost. Give it a year to decompose, to 'cook' if you will. Make it as nbatural as possible, feed your compost 'good' things, and down the road, human manure is GREAT for a garden.
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Leo
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Not surprising that Big Agro spends a lot on Big Chemo and, that only developed economies can foot that bill.
Note that Big Agro pays lobbyists, gets subsidies from Big Government, creates Big Farm, exploits the working forces (mostly illegal workers) and, destroys everything in the process. The end product barely resembles Just Food.
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LindaLou_203
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I highly recommend reading 'Sea Energy Agriculture' by Maynard Murray, MD. It explains how all of the earth's elements are in sea water, and when properly diluted, is the perfect fertilizer for all crops. The plants are healthy so the bugs don't eat them (pesticides kill the messengers), have a very long shelf life, and contain all the vitamins, minerals and trace elements they were designed to. When animal feed was grown using sea solid fertilizer, animals were always larger and resistant to disease. Rats fed sea solid fertilized food could be injected with carcino-sarcoma cells and not only survive twice as long as the control group, but a large percentage was sacrificed with no tumor to be found. This being said, one way to ensure a source of super healthy food is to grow your own wheatgrass seaponically - it absorbs about 94 elements besides being rich in vitamins and doesn't require much room or time. It is truly a survival food! It can be dehydrated, ground to a flour, and placed in capsules instead of juicing.
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charli_horse
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So many people are unaware of the plan to further monopolize the world's food. Have any of you heard of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS)? It will require every person who owns any "livestock" animal, whether or not that animal is used for human consumption, to register their "premise" in a privately-held database, microchip each and every animal, and repost every single movement on and off your "premise". If you take your animal to the vet, County Fair, breed show, auction, or simply move it from one pasture to another, you MUST report the movement to the USDA or face a fine of up to $10,000 or MORE depending on your State. Does this sound like a good idea to you? To make things worse, agribusiness does not have to follow the same rules as family farms. They can assign a LOT number to a herd of animals; whereas, a family farmers needs a separate number for each and EVERY one. Sound absurd? For more info, please go to NAISinfoCentral.net and NoNAIS.org Thanks!
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Mercola

northernherbalist
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Mercola

You're right. In VT there's much resistance to the animal microchip ID system. Small farmers say they're much more aware and concerned with their animals' health than any agency ever will be. Plus, migratory animals land or roam on their "premises" and have contact with their animals all the time, yet no one's keeping track of them, so what's the point? To harass small farmers but not huge agri-businesses? Yeah, I think so.


ldyfrmr
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I invite people to attent Bruce Tainio's seminar in February and learn on easy it is to have healthy soil to grow plants in. We had 110 acres grown under his plan and did it all without pesticides and had bumper crops with excellent taste and shelf life. Dr. Arden Anderson will be one of his guest speakers this year also. He is an horticulturist and a Dr of Medicine. Bruce works with farmers around the world.

I also do soil tests and and instruct people how to amend their own soil and grow super crops. Balance the soil and you have no insect or disease problems. Add the beneficial soil organisms and you can negate any harmful chemicals. I have remarkable results using Bruce's products for the past seventeen years.
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HansMassage_203
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An interesting patern has been happening in the greater Seattle area. During the 50's agra business descoverd they could use health and safty regulations to drive the small producer out of business. But over time the population pressure alowed the realestate developers to drive the agra business out. Now the demand for natural food has driven legislation to incourage preservation of farm land and make it easier for small producers. Family farms with just a few cows can get certified to sell raw milk. There is a movment to get USDA certified mobile slaughtering facilities so small producers can sell meat without hauling it 300 miles to a certified slaughter house. Even our small peninsula had a succesfull farmers market last year with a longer season and more variety pland for next year.

So with the requirment to have 5 achers of land to retire out hear in the rurals we may as well be social security suplemental farmers. Keeps us healthy.
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curious7
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I wish I could explain just what this means to us a people. Presently we are treading water. Many well meaning farmers do not rotate their crops, nor allow their land to rest every seventh year. In turn the soil is robbed of the life giving nutrients, we absorb through our food. Then along comes "THE EVIL EMPIRE" Monsanto and tell us science has a better way. Not to mention developement of what was farmland, and the manipulative means in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, used to aquire said lands, in the first place. I care not what the USDA, or the FDA, says about GM foods. It has and will continue to harms us as people, and the wildlife as well. Making us sterile, and in some studies it has been found to harm the chromosones which assign gender.

On the other hand it makes someone rich. GM foods supports the need that some have to control the population growth, and fuel the need for BIG PHARMA, as far as the un-informed are concerned. But take heart, this is AMERICA. As you know America can do no wrong.

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GEFS Classes [+ PMEC]
- NOTE
* First a brief note to PMEC members: PMEC is a project of my Peace Philosophy & Activism course, which is one of the departments of GEFS, i.e. Golden Eagle Friends Free School. We seem to be developing 4 departments: the departments of Peace, Co-Business, Health & Ecology. Some PMEC members expressed interest in teaching and learning Peace Philosophy & Activism. That course will be discussed here below, before the other three.
- LEARN BY DOING
* I propose that GEFS, our free school, emphasize Learning by Doing. This school is intended to teach a new culture of world peace and freedom. A peace culture is very different from the culture of war and greed. To teach peace requires a revolutionary departure from conventional teaching methods, which latter are essentially brainwashing, which is a form of violence.
* I'm proof that Learning by Doing works. I've never organized a school before and I didn't get a degree or take courses to learn how to organize a school. I've read diverse materials on many subjects and learned by experience in helping to organize informal meetings. That and "intuition" has guided me in organizing GEFS to this point. It's too early to call GEFS a success, except that a number of people have agreed informally to participate in building our school, and that in itself is an accomplishment.
* Since this is a different kind of school, I intend that all responsible members feel like they have equal opportunity to influence the growth of GEFS. If you have questions or concerns about learning by doing etc, email them to me and I'll try to make your concerns heard by our members and acted on.
- TEACH RESPONSIBILITY BASICS
* I propose that each GEFS course include teaching what might be called Responsibility Basics. These are what I mean: Step Ten; Strategic Planning; Hear to Win-Win; Consensus; Suzuki Method; & Scientific Method. And I'm only talking about adopting the heart of each of these, so they're meant to be short, but potent. These all seem to be foundational principles for a culture of peace.
* Step Ten refers to taking private Moral Inventory and Making Amends for wrong-doing without coercion by anyone.
* Strategic Planning is about setting goals and planning to achieve them in practical ways.
* Hear to Win-Win is a method I'm developing, similar to Non-Violent Communication, meant to be used in group settings for settling differences amicably. Hear means to hear and repeat the other person's concern. Win-win means to find solutions that satisfy everyone's concerns.
* Consensus means unanimous rule in small groups.
* Suzuki Method refers to acclimating to public speaking or performing by starting in a large group and gradually adjusting to smaller group setting, until a person is comfortable acting in public alone. More people are said to have stage fright than fear of death. That's great for a war culture, but a peace culture needs people to feel confident in public.
* & Scientific Method refers to the natural ways to learn truth. Conventional science violates many of the rules of proper scientific method. When we know what the rules are, we can easily see how rules are being violated. Much of conventional science is BS, and I feel very confident in making that assessment.
- GEFS CURRICULUM
* I've toyed with several names for our courses. As I mentioned initially above, it seems there are 4 basic departments for teaching peace culture, i.e. departments of a. Peace, b. Co-Business, c. Health & d. Ecology.
* Here are ideas I have for sub-topics for each course.
* The Peace Activism course will teach Progressive, Libertarian & similar peace philosophy, as well as writing and speaking about it. These are to be used for effective political activism, or for running for office or helping other peace candidates run for office, or for helping pass laws that support peace and freedom.

*a. PEACE
.1.Basics: Step Ten; Strategic Planning; Hear to Win-Win; Consensus; Suzuki Method; Scientific Method
.2.SOX Event Organizing
(SOX means Spirit of Xmas, which is the spirit of peace)
- SOX events are meant for attracting members, raising funds & providing a setting for unifying diverse peace supporters & for teaching classes.
.3.Christian, Islamic etc Peace Philosophy
- This is meant to show that the Bible and Quran etc support peace, which I'm confident they really do, when properly interpreted.
.4.Communicating
- As students learn Peace Philosophy, it is hoped that they will write and speak about it in as many media as possible.
.5.Campaigning
- Peace Activism is intended to help recruit good peace candidates to run for office and to support their campaigns.
.6.Lawmaking
- Most public officials constantly violate the Constitution, which is the highest law of the land. They do it mostly out of ignorance, but the higher-ups likely do it out of not caring. This class intends to teach peace candidates the law, so they can fix it properly.

*b. COBIZ
.1.Basics
.2.Co-operative business
.3.Alternative economics

*c. HEALTH
.1.Basics
.2.Natural diet
.3.Natural remedies
.4.Anatomy & Physiology

*d. ECOLOGY
.1.Basics
.2.Organic growing
.3.Permaculture
.4.Eco-Tech

http://portland-or.net/healthcare-collective/What-is-a-Healer.pdf

We all are healers - every person has within the power to heal herself, and also to help others to heal. The human organism comes complete with an innate ability for self-healing. When we come into contact with a substance in our environment, the body responds. If that substance is a toxin, the body works to isolate and remove the toxin. Inflammation, heat, swelling, vomiting, fever, diarrhea….there are myriad ways that our bodies work to keep us from danger and to restore balance. A healthy person is not a person who never gets sick, but is a person whose mind and body show balanced and appropriate responses.
In order for health to exist, there are some preconditions that need to be met. We all need: clean air, food and water; shelter, clothing, meaningful relationships, work and activity, expression of our emotions, sexual expression, exercise, an outlet for creativity, etc. When these preconditions cannot be met, our ability to be healthy starts to be compromised, and our bodies’ responses start to be out of balance - recurring headaches, colds that never go away, chronic pain, and so on.
There are endless assaults on our minds and bodies in everyday life that move us further away from being in a state of health and we’ve come to a point where a person needs to consciously make the choice for healthy living and work to ensure that the conditions exist. As Natural Therapists, our role is to work with the bigger picture of health and lifestyle of the people in our care. Our task is to help the people in our care to find the obstacles to health in their lives, to ascertain what preconditions for health might be lacking, to support them in
making the necessary changes, and to help them through the period of rebalancing. A therapist’s role is not to impose anything on the client; the person needing help has to take an active role, if possible, in their own healthcare.
The word "healer" indicates an action and ability. It indicates that the person has the power to impose healing on another person. I don’t doubt that there are individuals whose mere presence and energy can stimulate the healing processes in another person; however I don’t feel entirely comfortable with its general usage to refer to a therapist. As therapists, we are conduits for healing - we use our skills and abilities to help the people in our care, but with our help it is they, as biological organisms and as conscious individuals, who do the healing. Themselves.

Sue Scandale
Feb. 2004

"How much do you charge?"
The honest answer to that question is : "nothing!"
We work as volunteers, and the services we provide are on a non-profit, non-commercial basis.
We don’t charge anything for our services. We do ask, however, for help of all sorts.

We feel that the practice of Natural Therapy can only be effective if it exists and operates outside of the profit-system, as a natural part of the political- economy of the alternative and radical community, within a global and local network of people and organizations based on mutual support, cooperation, exchange of goods and services, and a commitment to serve the higher principles and values involved in the efforts for the Spiritual and Political Liberation of all of humanity.

We believe that the kind of healthcare provided from within the profit system, ultimately leads healthcare providers - even the ones with the very best intentions - to treatments and procedures which promote the exploitation of death and illness by the large corporations and governments. It also leads to methods which maintain a dependence on that kind of healthcare, instead of promoting methods aimed at accomplishing the ultimate goal of all healthcare providers: to make ourselves unnecessary!

We would appreciate your help, greatly!
We ask that people who support our work give only according to ability.

Our greatest need is for volunteer help, especially with secretarial office skills, most specifically with computer typing. We are always in need for help with typing documents in both the hellenic and the english language. We seek this cooperation both from a distance (utilizing faxes and the internet) and from up close, within a close -working relationship with us. Any arrangement is always very welcome!

There are also opportunities to go out for collecting herbs, preparing herbal and homeopathic remedies, cultivating medicinal plants, delivering food or supplies or messages to people in our care, preparing informational pamphlets or researching articles - the works! It’s all open and available to anyone who feels that their own life might be improved by helping to improve the lives of others.

We are always very grateful to all of our benefactors who make our work possible, and to the volunteers, who choose to shoulder some of the work themselves for the mutual benefit of everyone involved. And we are often asked to convey thanks from many of the persons in our care who have benefited over the years from your offerings, who don’t have the ways to thank you directly, especially since much of the donations are anonymous.

Thank you, All !

Petros Evdokas

Sue Scandale

- Our Courses on 1. Peace Philosophy & Activism; and 2. Natural Diet & Healthcare are ready to begin immediately.
- Most of the other subjects we plan to start teaching by January 2009.
- To sign up for a Course, contact LKINDR@yahoo.com and mention which course/s you prefer.
1. Peace
2. Health
3. Cuop Business
4. Organic Growing
5. Alternative Technology
6. other

Lloyd wrote to Petros, Edwin & Gayle:
* I propose that Petros and Edwin supervise the GEFS Health course
* (because they have alternative healthcare experience - Gayle too)
* and decide whether or not to proceed with the IISD project
* i.e. Interactive Internet Self-Diagnosis
* IISD could be a good draw for potential students
* We have several people who want to learn Health
* they could be asked to help on the project
* the Database of "Cures" might be useful at http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=poYZVVZT4tbQ-rAnPZDdDcA&hl=en
* I hope to keep promoting it on my Curezone blog
* I'm willing to assist with the Health course and IISD quite a bit
* I can assist by communicating to forums and on Curezone
* I can help with planning or making formats or google forms etc
* I don't want to be in charge
* I need to put my effort into the Peace Movement Empowerment Circle
* (The Circle is a project of the Peace Activism course)
* The Circle will help GEFS and vice-versa
* (because it promotes 7 ways to peace, free school being one such way)
* the course and project should be egalitarian
* IISD could be part of the health course
* It could be publicized so as to draw students to the course

---

Tuesday, December 2, 2008 8:01 PM
Petros wrote:
* I still feel that GEFS and its principles are worthy of our support
* I'd like to support with variable levels of participation
* a group of volunteers may emerge to work on the project
* They could put together this online entity (GEFS)
* my role would be student, teacher, consultant, volunteer etc
* I have experience as a "key person" in various online projects
* Such projects take long stretches of time and investment of trust
* They need to be promoted to link up with new interested people
* we have to weave each new person into the project

* I have 10 years experience as a "key person" in online projects
* they involved shared work, congealing networks of people
* Some have been going on continuously for 8 or 9 years
* they have a solidified "base" of people with shared values and projects
* each project had unique, very difficult challenges and deficiencies
* but each continues going right along
* 1st example is Entheogens group: groups.yahoo.com/group/Entheogens
* 2nd is A reapproachment Peace group working accross an active military border: groups.yahoo.com/group/kalimerhaba_HellenoTurkish_Community
* 3rd is A global network of several hundreds of independent journalists,
editors, techies and activists: indymedia.org

* It may take a few months to assemble five or six compatible volunteers
* a few more weeks or so to conceptualize together a health course
* guide it by clear educational goals
* set a policy to evaluate student progress and our own effectiveness
* a few more months to assemble teaching materials, resources, etc
* shape them into a Course of say six to eight months duration
* that will have value for students
* say one weekly lesson or two or three per month
* then do a first run of the Course
* carefully publishing our dialogue during the process may draw students
* we can choose who to admit or be "open to all"
* we can discuss if some material would need Prerequisite knowledge
* the project might require one or two years
* that's what I had in mind when initially volunteering

* we may not all share the same concept
* instead of putting Petros "in charge", let's continue on an egalitarian basis
* let's focus on what the project may require of us
* and think how to weave in volunteers
* let's explore what each thinks should be our next few steps
* we might generate a projected timeline
* then we can have more reflection again.
* Please share this with whoever you think should see it

---

On Wed, 12/3/08, lloyd kinder <lkindr@yahoo.com> wrote:
Subject: Free School Update
To: gefs@yahoogroups.com, mercola@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 7:43 PM
* Exciting News! See below. I paraphrased below my and Petros' recent proposals to each other about our free school plan for Golden Eagle Friends School.
* This is going to 2 of my yahoogroups and GEFS supporters. To teach, learn, or work with our school a few minutes or hours each week or so, or to join work on the peace movement empowerment circle, go here:
spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=poYZVVZT4tbS94nVLQtnZOg&hl=en
* If I misparaphrased Petros, I'll try to correct my mistakes.
* Petros, I appreciate the thoughtful reply to my proposal
* I'm glad you may be willing to be a key person on the health course
* I trimmed our dialog down for better digestion
* Indymedia? Everyone's heard of it. What is/was your role? also in Cyprus?
* Slow but sure sounds good, like a Taurus
* some people may want to take the course now or soon
* I propose we let em read the lessons on gefs.lefora.com
* And we can add other lessons now and then, eh?
* As a student, have you had time to read them yet?
* We should work well together because we're kind of opposites
* I'm willing to have students start learning now with no preparation
* I'd say go read x
* To evaluate them I'd ask verbally something like:
* Where does food go when you swallow it?
* Name each location the food is in on its journey;
* Where does food go when you're upside down and you swallow it?
* What moves the food?
* What's the worst fuel you can use for a car?
* What happens to the car when you use improper fuel?
* What happens to your body when you use junk food?
* and on and on
* I believe people can learn a lot from being asked questions
* assuming they're interested and not under stress
* To evaluate my teaching I'd likely need to compare students' knowledge before and after teaching, eh?

---

Re: Free School Update - Thursday, December 4, 2008 10:56 AM
From: "Edwin Purcell" - To: gefs@yahoogroups.com, mercola@yahoogroups.com, lkindr@yahoo.com
* For the health course:
* What is our target student body? Is this to be directed primarily to underprivildeged teens or a broader audience?
* Am I correct in assuming our goal is to promote wellness through natural, holistic means?
* Is the format going to be direct and sequential with a beginning and end with an evaluation mechanism so that people can say I have taken a "course" or are we looking at a constantly evolving program with stand alone units so someone can come in at any time? Obviously the first paradigm requires a lot more planning up front. The second could build into an ongoing reference compendium. Perhaps it could even be organized into an interlocking tree format.
* Whatever we do, I think it needs to be presented with a degree of flash. It needs to be entertaining as well as informative and relate to real life experiences. People need to want to come back.
* Edwin

---

Thursday, December 4, 2008
<lkindr@yahoo.com> wrote:
Hi Edwin.
* What are your preferences and reasons for the preferences with regard to your 4 questions? Likewise, Petros.
* I favor allowing anyone to take the course, but focusing our advertising toward those under 30, because younger people are generally more open to alternatives and new learning and have a longer remaining life expectancy.
* I favor focusing on natural healing, because I think it's much more healthful and affordable, but I also favor remaining open to potentially useful findings from conventional medicine, even though it seems to be organized so as to suppress information that is effective and cheap.
* Maybe your 3rd question is based on the apparent differences between what Petros and I have already said. I favor a constantly evolving program that may not require much planning, while Petros seems to favor doing a lot of planning before the grand opening. My reasons include the impression that the knowledge is already available and easily accessible and people are ready to start learning right away. And I don't sense a need to follow tradition much. Petros referred to his experiences with establishing committed team members and I can see that that's very important and could take time, as he predicted. I'll settle for any health teaching actions that you two or more prefer to take. I'm just happy to have your potential commitments to the course.
* I agree that flashiness is preferable to drab presentation of the material and the marketing. That entails getting a flashy website to begin with and David said he could start on that within a couple of weeks, though he didn't discuss flashiness per se. Edwin, you said you have experience presenting material on the internet etc, I think. Do you also have experience with building a website? David said his goal is to set ours up so that it will be easy for any of us to make changes to it that we want, without knowing much about html etc. So that sounds exciting, like a nice Xmas present.
* Good Day. Lloyd

11/23/08?
ATTRACT YOUNG BOARD MEMBERS
1.Attract young people to join your Board of Directors
2.Be the school & take your school, i.e. yourself, to the people.
Have caring staff who make followup calls after events.
3.Make professional website with blogs, facebook, twitter etc, that get users' interest quickly.
4.Have local ownership of businesses where young people can work. (nerenew.org?)

1. How non-profits can attract young board members
**I’ve written before that twenty-somethings should extend their volunteer roles to include executive-level volunteering, such as joining boards and committees for non-profit organizations. >>I can't find that article<<
- However, organizations have to provide key things, if they want to attract young people to help lead them:
a- A sense of purpose. **>>review & update the mission statement<<
b- Clarity. **>>clarify job description<<
c- Accountability. **>>add rule that board members must contribute or lose position<<
d- Technology and social networking. **>>get prof website & start using conference calls, voice over IP, online document collaboration, chats, and social networking groups that can allow busy people to contribute outside of boring meetings<<
e- Benefit to them. **>>help board members network, develop their skills, have fun etc<<
f- A sense of accomplishment. **>>get lots of teachers and help lots of students start peace culture careers so GEFS members will feel sense of accomplishment<<

11/23/08?
>>I gleaned some info off the internet lately on Strategic Planning and Attracting Young People and here's the best parts.<<

Strategic Planning
10. SchoolPlanning
**Make a Goals Grid of what you want to: Achieve - Preserve - Avoid - Eliminate
**Also try the Copenhagen process

**.Create your vision and mission statement,
- guiding core values,
- and educational philosophy for your school.
>>The business plan has much of that, but is probably improvable.<<

**.Form a small working committee of capable peers
>>I'm looking for people for that who can spare a few hours a week. And I welcome anyone's help to find such volunteers.<<

**.ensure that each member has the same vision
>>Okay. I'm trying.<<

**.Develop your strategic plan at the start, your blueprint of how your school is going to start and operate over the next 5 years.
>>I suppose this could be added to the business plan. I'm not clear on how the school is going to start, except that I'm trying to start it by looking for volunteers who will help recruit, teach, manage, fund-raise, make a website etc. There are 2 volunteers ready to teach and 1 soon ready to make our website.<<

**.Write job descriptions, personal files, benefits, and pay scales for your staff and faculty and administration.
>>I don't think we need to have personal files or pay scales, or say much about benefits. Here are some job descriptions. The teacher-adviser job involves helping students learn their chosen subjects and deciding whether to do or request fund-raising to support themselves and or any of the students' projects. The recruiter jobs involve finding people to be students, teacher-advisers, or staff. Office jobs involve making course material, building a website and communicating with staff members, students, potential students, supporters and the public.<<

**.Marketing includes: public meetings, newspaper ads - inserts, mail drops, radio, community TV, and coffee sessions.
>>Okay. We'll have to think about these before long.<<

**.design your own brochure, communication material, web site, and set up a mailing list to keep interested parents and donors in touch with progress. >>I can use help with most of those tasks. Someone volunteered to do our website in mid-December.<<

.Open your school office and phones
.have the Head of School begin admissions interviews and tours.
**.promote the unique benefits of your school, not just the features, and most importantly, create a buzz!!
>>Each recruiter and teacher-adviser will be doing most of this. I can give them material about our benefits to tell potential students about.<<

**.have your new staff & faculty help develop the educational programs and culture of the school, including:
**-design of the curriculum,
>>Okay. Let's do that.<<

**educational [and extra-curricular] programs,
**handbooks,
[contracts, student management systems, reporting, policy, traditions, etc.]
>>Most of those are irrelevant. I'm not sure what an educational program would be that's different from our subjects. Maybe handbooks will be needed eventually. The internet seems sufficient for the most part.<<

**.Now it’s opening day. Welcome your new parents and students and begin your traditions. Start off with something memorable, bringing in dignitaries, or having a family BBQ.
>>I guess each local branch of the school where there's a teacher-adviser can think about such things.<<

**.Start to set up memberships in national, provincial, and state private school associations.
>>I guess our BoD can think about that some day.<<

-------------------------

>>Maybe we'll need to do that some day as follows.<<

**Preparation for Strategic Planning
**.The most important factor in accomplishing complete attendance to planning meetings is evidence of strong support from executives. Therefore, ensure that executives issue clear direction that they strongly support and value the strategic planning process, and are visibly involved in the planning process.

**Sample Planning Process and Design of Meetings
.the following includes four planning meetings and develops a top-level strategic plan later translated into a yearly operating plan by the staff:
.1st Mtg.
for 4-8 hr'
-introductions
-explanations of benefits from strategic planning
-organization's commitment to the planning process
-facilitator's overview of the planning process
-board chairs explanation of who will be involved
-visit the mission, vision, values, etc.
-identify current issues and goals
-ask Planners to think about goal strategies before the next meeting
.2nd Mtg.
-finalize strategies to deal with each issue.
-form a subcommittee to draft the planning document for the next meeting, which includes updated mission, vision, and values, and also finalized strategic issues, goals, strategies.
-distribute This document before the next meeting.
.3rd Mtg.
-have planners exchange feedback about the content and format of the planning document
-incorporate the Feedback in the document-distribute it before the next meeting
.4th Mtg.
-the board authorizes the document during a regular board meeting
-the staff may take this document and establish a yearly operating plan which details what strategies will be implemented over the next year, who will do them, and by when.

.various subcommittees might be charged to gather additional information and distribute it before the next planning meeting.
-avoid wasting time by ensuring meetings are well managed, having short meetings as needed rather than having fewer but longer meetings, and having realistic expectations for the planning project

.Note: To Ensure Implementation of the New Plan:
.1.When conducting the planning process, involve the people who will be responsible for implementing the plan. Use a cross-functional team (representatives from each of the major organization’s products or service) to ensure the plan is realistic and collaborative.
.2. Ensure the plan is realistic. Continue asking planning participants “Is this realistic? Can you really do this?”
.3. Organize the overall strategic plan into smaller action plans, often including an action plan (or work plan) for each committee on the board.
.4. In the overall planning document, specify who is doing what and by when (action plans are often referenced in the implementation section of the overall strategic plan). Some organizations may elect to include the action plans in a separate document from the strategic plan, which would include only the mission, vision, values, key issues and goals, and strategies. This approach carries some risk that the board will lose focus on the action plans.
.5. In an implementation section in the plan, specify and clarify the plan’s implementation roles and responsibilities. Be sure to detail particularly the first 90 days of the implementation of the plan. Build in regular reviews of status of the implementation of the plan.
.6. Translate the strategic plan’s actions into job descriptions and personnel performance reviews.
.7. Communicate the role of follow-ups to the plan. If people know the action plans will be regularly reviewed, implementers tend to do their jobs before they’re checked on.
.8. Be sure to document and distribute the plan, including inviting review input from all.
.9. Be sure that one internal person has ultimate responsibility that the plan is enacted in a timely fashion.
.10. The chief executive’s support of the plan is a major driver to the plan’s implementation. Integrate the plan’s goals and objectives into the chief executive’s performance reviews.
.11. Place huge emphasis on feedback to the board’s executive committee from the planning participants.
.12. Have designated rotating “checkers” to verify, e.g., every quarter, if each implementer completed their assigned tasks.
.13. Have pairs of people be responsible for tasks. Have each partner commit to helping the other to finish the other’s tasks on time.

11/21 to 11/25/08
What Are the Peace Careers?
Here's my short list of peace careers, which are alternatives to the war and greed culture, and which peace supporters should whole-heartedly support.
.1. Freedom Philosophy & Activism
- To me this means Liberal/Progressive & Libertarian primarily. These are the ones who have most supported peace and a peace culture. Freedom philosophy seeks to protect all natural human rights and freedoms and to end all abuses of power, including not just war, but inhumane imprisonment, compulsory taxation, compulsory education and all authoritarian abuses. We of these 2 groups have our differences on economics etc, but we must unite for the sake of the peace culture and must tolerate our minor differences.
- Freedom careers for young people would be political activism in these groups, such as running for political office with their support. Teaching, writing, speaking, entertaining, or preaching in support of the peace culture are also freedom philosophy careers.
.2. Natural Diet & Healthcare
- The culture of war and greed is killing us all. GMO (genetically modified) foods are probably causing the horrible disease called Morgellon's. Microwave ovens often leak and expose everyone nearby to hazardous levels of microwaves. Cell phones are among the most dangerous spewers of microwaves, because people tend to hold them close to their heads. And cases of brain tumors and many other related conditions are rising explosively. Artificial and processed foods aren't so much foods, as toxic imitations.
- Careers in this category include natural healthcare practitioners and consultants, health food store and restaurant operators, teachers, counselors et al.
.3. Permaculture & Organic Growing
- Agribusiness and the junk food processors, like the drug companies, are part of the war and greed culture. Organic Growing is an alternative, part of the peace culture. For careers one can grow herbs, garden crops, flowers, or organic grains, orchards etc, raise dairy animals for raw milk and dairy products, raise hens to lay organic eggs, raise aquaponic fish, raise other animals or insects etc for meat, wool, honey etc.
.4. Alternative Technology
- Suppressed technology would probably be the most beneficial to humanity, but in our emergency situation, other alternatives may help people survive. In case petroleum products, like diesel fuel, become unavailable, vegetable oil can substitute. I believe enough oil can be pressed from ten acres of oil-type sunflower seeds to take care of fuel needs for a year on a small farm of about 200 acres. It's said to be easy for diesel engines to run on veg oil, once the engine is running. The remaining portion of the pressed seeds are also still useful for food. Enough ethanol can also be produced from a few acres of corn, but I think it's a bit harder to make ethanol, which only works on gasoline engines.
- Careers in this category could include mechanics, farming, inventing, teaching, consulting etc.
.5. Cuop Business
- I spell co-op as cuop. One thing the war and greed culture does is program people to be individuals who have independent careers to provide for only themselves and their immediate families. The peace culture can offer a much better alternative: careers in which friends work together to help supply the needs of the community. A Cuop Business would make decisions by sociocratic consensus, i.e. no-objection unanimous rule, meaning any proposal is accepted if there's no objection or modification to the proposal.
- Cuop businesses can be any business that supports the peace culture and doesn't support the war culture.
.6. Arts & Crafts etc
- Artists and crafters should form cuops too and seek to provide for the real needs of communities, including the need for beauty, inspiration and creativity.

Six Best Ways to Bring Lasting World Peace

Short Rational Version
1. ORGANIZE PEACE SUPPORTERS by forming a Peace Intergroup
==because the peace culture is much less organized than the war culture==
2. UNIFY PROGRESSIVISM & LIBERTARIANISM
==because these are the main Peace groups & they're not unified enough==
3. SUPPORT PEACE CANDIDATES
==because laws need to be improved to promote Peace & Freedom==
4. TEACH PEACE CAREERS
==because conventional careers support the war culture==
5. BOYCOTT: Boycott the war culture, esp big businesses & colleges
==because they're the main supporters of the war culture==
6. CONVERT YOUNGER CONSERVATIVES
==because conservatives are the main voters for the war culture==

Planning Version
1. Form a Peace Intergroup for peace movement unity;
a1. (INVITE) Invite Peace supporters to form a Peace Intergroup;
a2. (NAME) ask what's the best name for a Peace Intergroup;
- Peace Movement Empowerment Circle
- Peace & Freedom Empowerment Circle
- Peace & Freedom Intergroup
- PFMEC: Peace & Freedom Movement Empowerment Circle
a3. (FIND) define & identify peace groups & compatible people;
- Peace groups support nonviolence and boycott violence in society;
- Compatible people do not support violence in society;
a4. (PITCHES) write persuasive pitches for callers & emailers to use;
a5. (INVITE) ask supporters to call, email to invite new members;
b1. (ORGANIZE) do non-authoritarian/egalitarian self-organizing;
b2. (CONTACTS) ask each group to provide a PI contact;
c. (ONLINE) interact mostly online;
d. (CONNECT) ask members to join Peace groups to relay messages;
e. (PLAN) set goals and follow plans to achieve them;
f. (SCHOOL) support peace school;
g. (EVENTS) ask local Peace people to hold weekly PI events;
==so Peace supporters can interact, promote, fund-raise etc==
h1. (WEBSITES) design websites to maximize effective PI interaction;
h2. (HOW) ask what sites show how best to interact online;

2. PHILOSOPHY: Unify & promote Progressivism-Libertarianism;
a. (POWWOW) invite Prgs & Lbts to settle differences & join PI;

3. POLITICS: Find & support Peace-committed candidates & elected officials;
a. (RECRUIT) recruit peace candidates;
b. (FIND) identify peace-committed public officials;
c. (CAMPAIGN) support peace candidates' campaigns;
d. (LAW) help peace-committed public officials fix laws;

4. PEACE CAREERS: Support GEFS;
a. (SELECT) identify peace & non-peace careers;
- Peace careers are:
-- 1. Philosophy & Activism;
-- 2. Natural Diet & Healthcare;
-- 3. Permaculture & Organic Growing;
-- 4. Alternative Technology;
-- 5. Arts & Crafts;
-- 6. Alternative Finance; etc.
- Non-peace careers include:
-- 1. Authoritarian Philosophy & Activism;
-- 2. all Big Businesses whose owners support Authoritarianism, Violence orWar, including (1) Big Banks & Law Firms, (2) Major Media, (3) War Industry, (4) Prison Industry, (5) Drug Companies, (6) Agribusiness, (7) Big Food Companies, (8) Major Manufacturers etc;
-- 3. Governments that support pre-emptive war, inhumane imprisonment, or other authoritarianism;
-- 4. Schools that support compulsory education, the war industry, or other authoritarianism;
b. (CULTURE) teach peace cuops & peace careers;
c. (PHILOSOPHY) teach Prg-Lbt Philosophy + History;
d. (POLITICS) teach students to be candidates & campaign supporters;
e. (TEACHING) teach students to be candidates & campaign supporters;
f. (INVESTING) teach students to boycotting & local investing;
g. (PREACHING) teach students to help convert conservatives;

5. INVEST: Promote peace culture & boycott war culture;
a. (INVEST) promote local investing & alternative finance;
b. (PRO-GEFS) promote alternative education & careers;
c. (BOYCOTT) boycott big businesses & colleges;

6. CONVERT: Promote Peace to younger conservative Christians;
a. (VIDEOS) make online videos;
b. (FORUMS) write to forums, blogs ...;
c. (ANSWER) answer neocon commentators;
d. (PAPERS) write Letters to Editors.

- VOLUNTEERS: If you can help, go here http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=poYZVVZT4tbQHisBlDZnybA&hl=en

pfmec Survey: Which task/s can you do for our Circle?
1. forwarding emails to Peace groups and Peace supporters
2. calling Peace groups or Peace supporters
3. helping to organize or make plans
4. helping Peace candidates or peace public officials
5. designing, fixing, or building a website
6. teaching, advising, or assisting people with learning Peace careers
7. learning and starting your own Peace career

1. Six Ways; 2. Job Descriptions; 3. Strategic Planning Material; 4. Introductions and Questions
- Hi Friends.
- I think GEFS planning/organizing is coming together.
1. Six Ways
- I think the PRIMARY GOAL of GEFS is to build a dominant culture of world peace and freedom.
- The SECONDARY GOAL is to teach careers that support the peace culture and undermine the war culture.
- Therefore, GEFS should determine what are the best ways to bring lasting world peace and freedom and then support them.
- My estimation is that the best ways in order of effectiveness are:
1. Organize peace supporters; 2. Unify & promote Progressivism - Libertarianism; 3. Support peace candidates; 4. Teach peace careers; 5. Boycott big business & colleges; 6. Convert younger conservatives.
- It happens that ways 1, 2 and 3 are the top careers to be taught by GEFS, called Philosophy & Activism, so it's apparent that, if my estimation is right, these 6 ways to bring lasting world peace & freedom should be adopted by GEFS as goals in the order given. I'll refer to these as the 6 Ways.
- I've written up a more detailed plan for the 6 Ways and posted it below.
- If anyone wants to modify those in any way, please submit your proposals at any time. Or if you need anything clarified, let me know.
- I expect to post the Six Ways to several yahoogroups and to Curezone too.

2. Job Descriptions
- I'm adding these job descriptions to the business plan. Let me know if you propose any changes.
- The teacher-adviser job involves helping students learn their chosen subjects and deciding whether to do or request fund-raising to help support oneself and or any of the students' projects.
- The recruiter jobs involve finding people to be students, teacher-advisers, or staff.
- Office jobs involve making course material, building a website and communicating with staff members, students, potential students, supporters and the public.
- Does anyone suggest any changes in those or others?

3. Strategic Planning Material
- I posted some material about strategic planning, along with my comments after the Business Plan at . Anyone can look it over and let us know if any of it inspires you to want to try any of it sooner or later.

4. Introductions and Questions
- Maybe everyone or someone would like to meet everyone in our group of Golden Eagle Friends School fans and volunteers. Many of you have expressed considerable interest in the school's goals, values and vision.
- TEACHERS: Here are those who offered to be teachers, advisers, student helpers:
ksmith2279, carsofohio, edwin2trees, petros, CarrollAP, freewillhomeschoolers, epiclewts, aenyart, gibsonkedrick, arrowoody
- Katy said she'd commit to finding and helping students about 5 hours a week.
- STUDENTS: These want to be online students:
petros, cstraq, alemap99, epiclewts, arrowoody
- WEBSITE: David wbrinda offered to build a website for us in mid December.
- PLAN: These offered to help with planning or Board of Directors etc.
edwin2trees, van3hijos, carsofohio
- FANS: These expressed interest in the school:
picknick, tranet, browneyes008, lancevieau, tbartam, gaylemeiske
Proposal
- I proposed privately that Petros, Edwin & or Gayle take charge of our Health course and IISD Internet Self-Diagnosis project, because they all seem to have quite a bit of health experience. I offered to assist and suggested that some of our members may like to assist as well, especially those who want to be Health students.

- If I made any mistakes above, let me know.
- Those who offered to help find or edit material for GEFS courses may go to gefs.lefora.com to see what I've put up so far. You may add material there yourselves under the appropriate subjects.
- I think I'm likely to focus on the Philosophy & Activism course myself, because it appears that that's the most important career field for people to pursue in order to bring lasting world peace and freedom asap. I may ask our board of directors soon if we want to ask our teachers and recruiters to give top priority to that as well. I think the Health field or Cuop Business field should have 2nd highest priority and Organic Growing next highest.
- It seems that a list of suggestions for recruiting and teaching should be composed for those who don't have much experience.
- Does anyone have questions or comments?

-----------------------------------------------------

Here are suggested Six Best Ways to Bring Lasting World Peace, by GEFS free school.

Simplified Version
1. Organize peace supporters;
2. Unify & promote Progressivism - Libertarianism;
3. Support peace candidates;
4. Teach peace careers;
5. Boycott big business & colleges;
6. Convert younger conservatives.

Rationale Version
1. UNIFY: Organize Peace supporters by forming a Peace Intergroup
==because the peace culture is much less organized than the war culture==
2. PHILOSOPHY: Unify & promote Progressivism-Libertarianism
==because these are the main Peace groups & they're not unified enough==
3. POLITICS: Find & support Peace-committed candidates & elected officials
==because laws need to be improved to promote Peace & Freedom==
4. PEACE CAREERS: Promote Peace cuops & Peace careers
(All 6 of these are Peace careers)
5. BOYCOTT: Boycott the war culture, esp big businesses & colleges
==because they're the main supporters of the war culture==
6. CONVERT CONSERVATIVES: Promote Peace to conservative Christians
==because they're the main voters for the war culture==

Planning Version with Links
1. UNIFY: Organize Peace supporters by forming a Peace Intergroup
e.g. http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=27
a. (NAME) What's the best name for a Peace Intergroup?
- Peace Movement Empowerment Circle
- Peace & Freedom Empowerment Circle
- Peace & Freedom Intergroup
b1. (PLAN) PI write persuasive pitches for callers & emailers to use
b2. (INVITE) PI call or email to invite supporters to join
c1. (ONLINE) PI interact mostly online
c2. (EVENTS) PI have local Peace people hold weekly PI events
==so Peace supporters can interact, promote, fund-raise etc==
d. (WEBSITES) PI design websites to maximize effective PI interaction
e. (HOW) PI ask what sites show how best to interact online

2. PHILOSOPHY: PI Unify & promote Progressivism-Libertarianism
e.g. http://pdamerica.org/policy/priorities.php & http://freestateproject.org
a. (POWWOW) PI invite Prgs & Lbts to settle differences
b. (PREACH) PI or GEFS teach Prg-Lbt Philosophy + History
c. (TARGET) GEFS +students help convert conservatives

3. POLITICS: Find & support Peace-committed candidates & elected officials
e.g. http://pdamerica.org/policy/priorities.php & http://freestateproject.org
a. (RECRUIT) PI recruit peace candidates
b. (FIND) PI identify peace-committed public officials
c. (TEACH) GEFS teach students to be candidates & campaign supporters
d. (CAMPAIGN) PI support peace candidates' campaigns
e. (LAW) PI support peace-committed public officials

4. PEACE CAREERS: Promote Peace cuops & Peace careers
a. (CULTURE) GEFS teach peace cuops & peace careers
i.e. http://gefs.lefora.com
b. (INVEST) PI promote local investing & alternative finance
e.g. http://solari.com

5. BOYCOTT: Boycott the war culture, esp big businesses & colleges
a. (BOYCOTT) PI boycott big businesses & colleges
e.g. http://solari.com & http://wearenotbuyingit.org
b. (PRO-GEFS) PI promote alternative education & careers
i.e. http://gefs.lefora.com

6. CONSERVATIVES: Promote Peace to younger conservative Christians
e.g. http://freewebs.com/bilib & http://freewebs.com/2mop
a. (VIDEOS) PI make online videos
b. (FORUMS) PI write to forums, blogs ...
c. (ANSWER) PI answer neocon commentators
d. (PAPERS) PI write Letters to Editors

- I sent this to the same groups plus volunteers et al.
What's a Persuasive Ad for Young People?
- Our Free Peace School needs help with writing up ads, press releases etc that persuade young adults [and older teens] to try our free courses on careers etc that support the culture of world peace [and boycott the culture of war and greed].
- The courses will at first be taught very informally in a group self-help fashion, but as an exciting activity that involves learning either Freedom Philosophy and Activism, Natural Diet & Healthcare (including natural food recipes, herbal formulae etc), Permaculture & Organic Growing, Alternative Technology, Arts & Crafts etc, or any combination.
- Our student helpers will be located in many places, at first mostly as individuals probably. They will decide when and where to meet and what subjects they want to help students with. So the ads will say when and where the events will occur and what the subjects will be.
- If you have suggestions for titles for ads and for statements that will let students know how exciting the events will be, and the best places to place ads, please submit your suggestions etc at this link: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=poYZVVZT4tbTzRYrN8h1jNg&hl=en

- This is my Message to several large yahoogroups.
Obama = Change = Building a Culture of World Peace
- Now seems to be a good time to interest young people in careers that support a culture of peace, instead of a culture of war and greed.
- Isn't our goal to start a new culture of peace and end the culture of war forever?
- And doesn't this mean we must persuade young people to help support this new culture?
- And doesn't this mean we must help them start careers that contribute to the culture of peace and not of war?
- Isn't this something they can get excited about? Even much more so than the Obama campaign?
- Don't they need to understand that THEY are the change and they must not rely on "leaders" for change?
- And how can they be the change, if they pursue careers that support the culture of war?
- The military-industrial complex is the leading component of the war and greed culture. Other components of the war culture are most big businesses, which all support the war culture to various extents. The ruling class is the primary owner of all these war culture components, including the military-industrial complex, major banks and financial institutions, major law firms, the major media, which includes school textbook publishers, major construction, oil & energy companies, agribusiness, which is the major food companies etc, drug companies, major communication and transportation companies, major manufacturers & so on.
- We cannot stop doing business with some of these companies immediately, but here are what I categorize as components of the peace culture, where we should do most of our business and help young people start careers.
. Freedom Philosophy & Activism, i.e. Progressivism & Libertarianism etc, including running for public office with those values;
. Natural Diet & Healthcare;
. Permaculture & Organic Growing;
. Alternative Technology;
. Cuop [Co-operative] Business;
. Arts & Crafts;
. Alternative Finance etc.
- The next question is How do we best help or persuade young people to start careers in these fields?
- I'm working on a free school for that, but I don't know if there's already something better. There are about a dozen people so far who've expressed interest in helping this school operate, both online and in the locations of the participants.
- My question is, what other groups or individuals are already doing this?
- And are they effective?
- The business plan for our free school is at http://gefs.lefora.com/2008/10/30/business-plan/page1
- Are there any groups that are organized better than our new school?
- Do they have any of these advantages that support peace and boycott war?
1. Are they focused on promoting a new culture of peace, and boycotting the culture of war and greed?
2. Is the school or training or guidance non-authoritarian? Are decisions made by consensus unanimous rule? Is sensitivity to feelings practiced and taught, like nonviolent communication? Is the organization a co-operative, in which all participants are owners? Is it a "church", which is not required to have any ties to the government, such as by filing with the IRS etc, as per 501c3?
3. Are students or trainees actively involved in learning and teaching, instead of being passive? Do they participate in sharing knowledge, when they choose to? Do they learn to be co-leaders, rather than mere followers? Are they helped to develop true responsibility as co-leaders?
4. Are class or apprenticeship hours totally flexible?
5. Is the school or training or guidance totally free of charge? Are the management and staff volunteers, or paid by donations?
6. Does it maximize fun and minimize displeasure, rather than conditioning students to boredom and following orders?
7. Does it give only one grade, G for Graduate? If students are not yet qualified, is no grade given?
8. Does their practice work in their chosen courses count as "employment", that can be listed on their resume's, since that is more meaningful than conventional college degrees?
9. Are students or trainees supported after graduation too?
- If you know of such an organization, please go here http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=poYZVVZT4tbRc1g8UoUzEBw&hl=en to name them. I'll try to post everyone's responses here and on a few other forums soon. I want to try to cuop with any other such groups, or at least try to learn from them.
- Thanks for responses.
- LKINDR@yahoo.com @ yahoo.com.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

NATURAL HYGIENE
The Cause of Disease: http://www.enotalone.com/article/13244.html
The Digestive Process, Part 1: http://www.enotalone.com/article/13245.html
The Digestive Process, Part 2: http://www.enotalone.com/article/13246.html
The Progress of Disease: http://www.enotalone.com/article/13247.html
Secondary Eliminations are Disease: http://www.enotalone.com/article/13248.html
Fasting: http://www.enotalone.com/article/13249.html
How Fasting Heals: http://www.enotalone.com/article/13250.html
The Stages of Fasting : http://www.enotalone.com/article/13257.html
Colon Cleansing : Part 1: http://www.enotalone.com/article/13267.html
Colon Cleansing : Part 2: http://www.enotalone.com/article/13268.html

LOW CARB DIET
Low Grain and Carbohydrate Diets Treat Hypoglycemia, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Cancer and Nearly ALL Chronic Illness
http://www.mercola.com/article/carbohydrates/scientific_evidence_low_grains.htm
http://www.mercola.com/article/carbohydrates/scientific_evidence_low_grains2.htm
http://www.mercola.com/article/carbohydrates/scientific_evidence_low_grains_ref.htm

SPROUTS
The Value of Sprouts: http://www.living-foods.com/articles/sprouts.html
Sprouts for Optimum Nutrition: http://www.sproutnet.com/Press/sprouts_for_optimum_nutrition.htm
Scientific Studies on Sprouts: http://sprouting.org/science/index.html

NATURAL HEALING
My Naturopathic Healing Biography and a Disclosure Statement: http://www.theherbprof.com/Biography.htm
Looking At Live Blood Cells: http://www.theherbprof.com/InfoLiveBlood.htm
Herbal Formula Information: http://www.theherbprof.com/HerbalFormulas.htm
A list of Acid / Alkaline Forming Foods: http://www.rense.com/1.mpicons/acidalka.htm

The Cuop Business course is at http://ncbs.lefora.com

This is the Business Plan Template I used for GEFS, although I modified it a bit: http://www.cida.co.uk/images/lib/Business_Plan_4336.pdf

SCIENTIFIC METHOD & FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE
The Scientific Method involves:
1. making accurate observations of reality;
2. making a hypothesis to attempt to explain observations;
3. testing the hypothesis by experiment, using accurate and relevant measurements, using logic and, if needed, math as well, and taking relevant, accurate notes of all procedures involved, to determine if the hypothesis is contradicted;
4. revising the hypothesis and the experiment, if contradicted;
5. publishing the experiment;
6. getting 2 or more unaffiliated parties to replicate a successful experiment;
7. publishing the hypothesis as a probable fact and a scientific discovery, if all experiments are successful; and
8. using the discovery to increase control over nature for the purpose of improving the conditions of society.

Common errors that undermine the Scientific Method:
1. making inaccurate observations of reality;
2. making an untestable hypothesis;
3. misusing logic or math in the experiment;
4. recording false or inaccurate data, or taking inaccurate notes;
5. suppressing potentially useful experiments;
6. failing to replicate an experiment by unaffiliated parties;
7. publishing false or misleading statements about experiments or experimenters; and
8. misusing scientific findings for the detriment of society.

Human imperfection results in many experiments being done improperly, or reported on inaccurately, or suppressed unfairly.
Sociology needs to study these problems and devise means to prevent abuse of science.

The purpose of science is to understand and control the environment for the betterment of humanity and life.
The scientific method is controlled experiment.
In a traumatized society there are members who oppose scientific method.
Science must be used to heal such trauma.
Active Listening and overcoming false pride heal trauma.
Members of a group have vast uncollected knowledge.
Surveys can serve as efficient depositories of their knowledge.
Each member can independently deposit knowledge in proper locations.

FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE

Knowledge exists in our minds. Without our minds, no knowledge exists. Our minds are consciousness. Consciousness is awareness i.e. experience i.e. knowledge.
The two kinds of consciousness are sentience & thought. Sentience is perception & emotion. So consciousness is perception, emotion & thought.
Memories, dreaming, focus, will, reason & caring are largely subconscious. Thought & dreaming are brief experiences of the subconscious.
The mind must logically be consciousness & subconscious.
Logic is reason, i.e. making sense i.e. understanding i.e. comprehension.
Memories are distorted copies of perceptions & thought.
Dreaming consists largely of subconscious memories. And dreaming is largely without reason. Lucid dreaming is conscious dreaming with will.
Perception is seeing, hearing, bodily feeling, taste & smell. Emotion is nonbodily feeling.

SENTIENCE, TIME & SPACE

Time i.e. change is a feature of all consciousness. Time is a feature of memory, dreaming & reason. Time as a feature of focus, will & caring is unknown.
Space is a feature of seeing, hearing & bodily feeling. We can see and feel length, area, volume & direction, i.e. space. We can hear direction and length of distance. Space as a feature of taste, smell, or the subconscious is unknown.
Perceptual space of seeing, hearing & feeling can be called p-space. P-space is length, area, volume, or direction.
The 2 kinds of p-space are matter and vacuum. The 4 states of matter are solid, liquid, gas and plasma.
The 3 kinds of vision are color, shape & size.
The 2 kinds of hearing are pitch & amplitude.
The 2 kinds of bodily feeling are pressure & heat.
The 5 kinds of taste are sweet, sour, salt, bland & bitter.
The 6 kinds of smell are sweet, sour, bland, pungent, sulphur & hydrocarbon.

MY REPLY TO FIRST REPLY
Hi Gayle.
- I appreciate your reply and am glad to know you kind of like the idea.
- Yes, I think you understand the basic idea.
- I haven't thought about this deeply today, but I've had fleeting ideas occasionally along similar lines for several months or years. The things I've been working on lately helped things fall into place better for me.
- I don't really think such a project would threaten to cut off your nose, so to speak.
- People in the modern era, or the industrial age, have often felt unsettled by progressive change, but generally, I think the changes have been largely beneficial for society, not counting progress with the military-industrial complex.
- I think my idea is inevitable to manifest within a few years anyway, so it's just a matter of who's going to manifest it. Will it be accomplished by alternative healthcare, or by conventional, or both? I think it's important that alternative people spearhead the project.
- I believe in using consensus, i.e. unanimous rule, in decision making, so, if that model is followed, you'd have as much influence on the decisions as everyone else on the project. So you would help decide whether people are directed to your site, for example.
- I haven't thought consciously about how much time the project would take until you asked. And now my impression is that a lot could be accomplished in one year, if enough good people get involved. With lots of people involved, there should be a lot of flexibility with the amount of time each person contributes each week or month. Much of the research, editing, software development and website building should be doable individually, with just a coordinator for each team keeping track of everyone and communicating weekly or a few times a week.
- So, if you have a few hours' or days' time available each month, I think any amount of help would add up. Do you have more thoughts?

FIRST REPLY TO MY CUREZONE EMAILS
your health form idea
Monday, November 17, 2008 10:39 PM
From: "Gayle Meiske"
Dear Lloyd,

Are you saying that you are going to create a website where people can fill out a form and gain access to the specific information they need to cure their health problems and thereby reduce the burden of information overload? If so, it sounds like a good idea. I am into social networking and creating synergistic liaisons, but I would not want to cut off my own nose to spite my own face by contributing to a project in direct competition. Would the project be directing people to my forum at Cure Zone?

I already have a forum and a blog, however, and I'm not sure how much time I would have to contribute to something like this. Could you elaborate on how much time investment this opportunity might require both short term and long term?

Thank you,

glaxony
parasite glax the worm guru
cure zone

Gayle Michaels
Institute of Intimate Wisdom
http://www.gaylemichaels.com
512-280-0583 Home
512-626-4850 Cell

Here are the Curezone users I'm contacting:
3) Donn, 3 days
12) High on Water, 3 days
32) Vulcanel, 3 days (1 replies)
2) CyrusSteel, 4 days
5) Hveragerthi, 4 days
15) LuellaMay, 4 days
9) mouseclick, 4 days
4) Raine13, 4 days
7) Tony Isaacs, 4 days
2) Bugsy193, 5 days
4) hanna, 5 days
7) Telman, 5 days
2) msteve666, 6 days
3) blackngold, 7 days
5) johny apple bomb, 8 days
3) torn2tears, 8 days (1 replies)
2) Jackdaw, 9 days
3) molly bloom, 9 days (3 replies)
24) chrisb1, 10 days
2) Corey, 10 days
3) Dr. Lam, 10 days
32) glaxony, 10 days
21) jessesmom1987, 10 days
14) miss helfinger, 10 days
62) mo123, 10 days
6) pepe, 10 days
4) warthog, 10 days
22) HarmonicCharge, 10 days (2 replies)
3) patientadvocate, 11 days
3) strangeme, 11 days (1 replies)
23) wombat, 11 days (2 replies)
2) l*u*l*u*, 11 days (6 replies)
5) peggyaus, 12 days
15) snakeater, 12 days
55) rabbitears, 12 days (4 replies)
3) jaymz, 14 days
9) PuppetMaster84, 14 days
23) grzbear, 17 days
2) Sacristia, 18 days
5) telluride, 18 days
3) Quinta_Essentia, 18 days (1 replies)
20) Dquixote1217, 18 days
2) Ladylove, 18 days
5) HennaHead, 18 days (7 replies)
12) abcxyz, 18 h (2 replies)
7) cora, 19 days
2) justpassingthru, 19 days (2 replies)
6) smuse, 19 days (5 replies)
3) michael432000, 20 days
4) O, 20 days
2) katstump, 21 days
5) Zoebess, 21 days
3) Rainbow Girl, 21 days (33 replies)
2) MadamB-Fly, 22 days<<<54>>> These above I've emailed already.

25) trapper/kcmo, 22 days
2) kezmet, 23 days (22 replies)
2) bagsy, 24 days
2) sheldon, 25 days
5) chirontherainbowbridge, 25 days (2 replies)
3) tomato, 30 days
3) matchmaker, 30 days (27 replies)
3) #102879, 31 days
2) camillep, 32 days
9) InCharge, 32 days
11) #70428, 32 days (2 replies)
9) #87980, 33 days
3) MissCast, 33 days (3 replies)
3) Bythc, 34 days
4) Savagegrace, 34 days
2) lilypond10, 34 days (6 replies)
2) ParaZapper, 35 days
2) pioneer1, 35 days
3) hopinso, 35 days (92 replies)
9) fledgling, 37 days
2) DeniseinAZ, 39 h
4) MadArtist, 42 days
2) Celcius01, 45 h (2 replies)
2) 333333, 48 days
5) knows, 53 days
4) citingsources, 56 days
5) ask vanja, 58 days (4 replies)
2) Mr. Nascent, 62 days
12) parrotgreen, 62 days (4 replies)
2) BlueRose, 64 days
2) Infinitelove, 65 days
2) Somer, 72 days (6 replies)
2) jjmikemike, 77 days (6 replies)
2) drhiii, 80 days
2) curedbycurezone, 3 mon
2) knowledge seeker, 3 mon
2) trysten3000, 3 mon

THE CUREZONE PROJECT IDEA
- This is what I'm writing to some of the more helpful Curezone members.

Work Together for Internet Health Project?
- I'm a student-teacher on Natural Healthcare at Golden Eagle Friends School online. I've been coming to Curezone pretty often since almost 2 years ago.
- I found on Curezone that some of your posts are especially helpful, so I want to invite you and many others to consider helping on an important potential project.
- Here's a link:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=poYZVVZT4tbT9F2cpUMxxSQ

- I just got the idea this morning that the internet can provide a very efficient and free way for the public to get the best info for their health problems.
- I think there could be a simple form for people to fill out, involving checking multiple-choice boxes, to determine what their main health problems are. Then the interactive form can provide the person immediate feedback with the best relevant information. Easy-to-understand graphs etc might be useful too.
- I made something like that a few days ago for myself for giving to potential clients, but with that form I have to respond myself to the client's answers, whereas the proposed interactive form could eliminate most of the need for a consultant.
- I'm calling this a self-help public health project, since the clients can help themselves to the health info they want or need.
- To accomplish this goal quickly, and make such a form available to the public for free online, several teams of people, each working on different health topics, can collaborate to come up with the best info on causes, remedies, stats etc for each health condition. Much such info is already available, but not so much on natural remedies.
- The benefits from carrying out this project would be:
1. no-cost to the public for the best personalized health info
2. convenience
3. quickness & less waste of time to clients & healthcare people
4. increased public health
5. greater public health knowledge
6. better means of training for healthcare students
- Do you think the idea has potential and would be very worthwhile to pursue? If you're interested I hope you'll click on the link above. Also, my email is LKINDR@yahoo.com
- Good Day. Lloyd Kinder

17th November 14:14 p.m.
-- 17 Nov: on where to get practice **CLIENTS: Curezone & other forums where people who tell what their health problems are
-- 17 Nov: on Teaching Health:
1. Online **SELF-HELP Health Consulting;
2. Efficient Live Healthcare **APPROACHES
-1. My efforts to find clients to take my health survey has given me a new idea about how to promote health to the public more effectively. The idea is to make a user-friendly website form, that will automatically give clients the best health info available, when they check their specific health problems.
- My plan is to ask people here and on the Curezone.com forum and maybe others to help on such a project. I intend to contact Curezone (CZ) members, who post the most good messages on various health topics, which should be pretty easy to do, because CZ marks many of the best ones.
- Project members can divide into groups, each working on different health topics.
- If anyone here likes this plan, or thinks the plan could use some changes or additions, I hope to hear from you about that.
-2. The internet does not provide much possibility for human closeness, except maybe potentially via virtual reality software. So I think it's also important for students to learn ways to provide clients such closeness, since it's very helpful for healing.
- Massage provides such closeness, so it seems it would be good for students to learn how to combine massage and health consulting. But I think there should be a less intimate way to do this as well. A friendly voice to listen to, along with psychological insights, would provide a good atmosphere for clients needing health info. Most clients would likely prefer one-on-one relations with consultants; some would prefer the company of a loved one during the one-on-one; others would prefer a group setting or combination.
- The most effective way to get needed health knowledge to the most people seems to require the following:
a. many knowledgeable consultants;
b. low prices, or free;
c. convenience;
d. familiarity & ambiance.
- Here are approaches that come to mind: massage, food service, social work, doctoring, alternative healthcare, nursing, ministry, home safety inspection, local fun events. Each student will have their own favorite approaches, but GEFS should teach approaches that prove to be most effective.
- The 2 basic approaches are for the client to come to the consultant's place and for the consultant to come to the client's. It's probably usually most practical and efficient for the clients to come to the consultant. The consultant can have a room in their home available for clients, like many doctors and chiropractors et al.
- Here are ideas about that.
- Have one or several tables for dining, for clients to buy or make donations for a meal.
- Have a small store of natural foods, herbs and supplements.
- Have some tools for various physical exams.
- Make the room a private club, by invitation only, and invite all the neighbors and ask them to invite their friends and families.
- Ask them to come by once a month for a free checkup and at other times for meals or picking up foods etc, but by appointment only.
- Hold small meetings for the neighbors to discuss local investing, including investing in ways to help local youth start businesses etc that help the youth as well as the community.
- During the investment club discussions, also discuss asking local young adults to run for local public office in order to end corruption; and commit to supporting the candidate mainly by persuading local voters to support himher; and use consensus (sociocracy) for group decision making.

INTERACTIVE INTERNET SELF-DIAGNOSIS PROJECT

28N08 9:51 pm UPDATE
- Today I asked Petros, Edwin and Gayle if they'd like to be in charge of the GEFS HEALTH course and the IISD project, which could be part of the HEALTH course. I offered to assist them. I mentioned that I don't want to be in charge, because I think I need to devote my major efforts to the peace & freedom movement empowerment circle planning, which I think needs to be GEFS's main focus now. Petros said he'll think about it for a while and get back.

18th November 23:02 p.m.
- It looks like the IISD project may take off. Here's a reply about the project from Ed, one of our prospective GEFS volunteers, who is a med school prof., followed by my reply about possible IISD Teams.

--- On Tue, 11/18/08, Edwin Purcell <edwin2trees@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Edwin Purcell <edwin2trees@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: GEFS Big Health Project Idea
To: petros@cyprus-org.net, CarrollAP@aol.com, freewillhomeschoolers@yahoo.com, epiclewts@gmail.com, lkindr@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 8:17 PM

Lloyd,
I really like the idea especially offering suggestions for natural care. It is important that we are offering information for people to chose what to do for themselves as opposed to directly offering a diagnosis and treatment for legal reasons. I can provide a tremendous amount of info here and I am sure the rest of you can as well. What criteria shall we use to divide subject matter so we are not duplicating work? Also, there may be a lot of instances where we can offer links to other sources instead of creating everything from scratch. Peace and Light, Ed

- Hi Ed. Glad to hear back from you with comments and encouragement.
- To answer your question, I made up 2 lists of what the project would seem to require: IISD TASKS & TEAMS.
- To accomplish the IISD goal quickly, and make it available to the public for free online, I figured several teams of people, each working on different health topics, can collaborate to come up with the best info on causes, remedies, stats etc for each health condition.
- I thought there could be about 8 IISD Teams working on the following health areas:
* 1. brain & nervous system
* 2. lungs & respiratory system
* 3. digestive system
* 4. circulatory & endocrine system
* 5. lymph & immune system
* 6. urinary system
* 7. reproductive system
* 8. musculo-skeletal system
(and I suppose we may need one or more teams to cover conditions that involve more than one system)
- And the project and each team would have people doing the following Tasks:
* 1. helping plan & organize the project or a team
* 2. finding people for the project or team
* 3. researching
* 4. editing
* 5. software tweaking
* 6. website making
* 7. website promoting
* 8. fund-raising (only if needed)
- I started a Curezone blog and my first post there discusses the project. It's at http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1302117
- I have a short form for people to sign-up for the project at:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=poYZVVZT4tbT9F2cpUMxxSQ and I put a link to that in my Curezone post.
- You're welcome to use that too, or you can just tell me or us what you may like to work on.
- It seems that the project may attract students et al to our school too, if we remember to mention the school in discussions of the project. So getting students would be a bonus from the project.

- I'm also tinkering with a new free website, where it may be possible to get donations for fund-raising, if needed. I don't know if it will prove to be practical, but it looks pretty good so far. One idea I have is auctioning things off for donations on the website. It would be nice to take bartered goods or services as donations, as well as taking money.
- Do you or others here in our group have suggestions of how our group can best communicate? Is email best, or chatroom, or conference call? I like written communication, so we have an automatic record, but the records do tend to get unwieldy.

---------------------

19th November 10:33 a.m. (cc to GEFS yahoogroup)
1.Today's Plan, 2. Need for Thinkers, 3. Consensus, 4. Commitment
-1. PROGRESS & PLAN: I think I made a pretty good start yesterday kicking off the IISD or Internet Self-Diagnosis project. I told all of you about the idea and I started a blog on Curezone and told people there about it. I changed the name of one of my yahoogroups to IISD-GEFS, which I hope you GEFS supporters may want to join by emailing IISD-GEFS-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. I set the group up in case we need a better forum for communicating with a lot of people on the project. I've gotten only 2 comments about the project idea, but both were supportive.
- For today it looks like the things most needing doing are to:
.- check on feedback, including from the survey (which had no replies yet yesterday) and develop further plans from the feedback; (It's now 10:23 a.m. Central Time. Either 11 or 24 people have viewed my posts on my Curezone blog and no one has commented there or answered the survey linked there.)
.- develop a better presentation of the project idea;
.- seek more people to join the project from Curezone and various yahoogroups and maybe Barbara Sher, Thunderbolts.info and Free State Project forums;
.- start drawing up guidelines for making agreements among project members and for following scientific procedures;
.- seek to help Curezone make more scientific surveys;
.- look for bugs in the overall IISD plan;
.- and develop a website for donations.

-2. THINKERS: It seems that it may be helpful for the project to have communicative thinkers, who think about potential problems or ideas for the project and enjoy communicating to the project forum about them - and who are also willing to think about things that the project members request of them.

-3. CONSENSUS: One procedure I consider very progressive is consensus. But there are several kinds of ways to get consensus. The way I favor is the No Objection way. Any committed member of a group or team may do whatever they like toward group actions after informing the group of their plan, as long as no one expresses an objection or counter-proposal. If either of those is expressed, then the original planner may accept the counter-proposal or submit a modified plan, attempting to satisfy the objection. If there is no further objection expressed re the modified plan, the person may proceed.
- Another thing about this method is that any member may express an objection at any time, no matter how far along a project may be, and the objection

-4. COMMITMENT: In our case we're not yet a committed group or team. I suppose the way to determine who's committed to what is for each member to express what exactly they're committed to. The survey everyone answered indicated members' interests vaguely, but I don't think any of us consider those answers to be sufficient to determine what each person is committed to. I assume everyone is waiting to see what develops before deciding if I develop a plan they want to commit to.
- I'll go ahead and try to express my specific commitment. My commitment is conditional of course, conditioned on others sharing the same commitment.
- The original commitment was to start a free school to teach progressive subjects for the betterment of society. Then I committed to trying to find clients for natural healthcare consulting, in order to have people that students could practice consulting for. The client health survey I made for that purpose, combined with the poor results I got trying to get clients for free consulting led to the IISD idea and using that project to teach students.
- So, now, I'm committed to the IISD project, as long as it appears that enough others are also becoming committed to it. I'm also committed to GEFS free school on the same condition. I intend to work on both projects for at least a few weeks and, if no one else (who is effective) also commits to one or the other, I'll decide then whether to remain committed or not. I intend to keep discussing the project on my Curezone blog for at least 2 weeks, I think, to see if I can find enough support there.
- Would anyone else like to express a conditional commitment to either GEFS or IISD?
- I welcome any comments, proposals, counter-proposals etc.

- Vision
- I envision Golden Eagle Friends School providing knowledge and experience that will improve the quality of life of people in local communities and via the internet in communities throughout the world and these will greatly improve the health or quality of our society.
- Grand View
- Society would surely be better off not focused on money, but on everyone learning healthy living in cooperation with each other.
- Instead of getting a job to make money to survive, we can work with others in community, while enjoying nature, and both survive and thrive.
- Instead of paying taxes that feed the war machine and its investors, we can do things for free and for donations, so we don't feed the machine, but we only feed our communities' peaceful prosperity.
- Instead of driving cars to work every workday, we can stay home in our communities most of the week and reduce pollution and waste.
- Instead of paying high prices for junk foods and its packaging by agribusiness, contributing to our ill health and unhappiness, we can grow most of our food and prepare it ourselves, increasing our health and happiness.
- Instead of paying insurance companies (which are part of the war machine) to "insure" our families' health, we can rely on our own health knowledge and that of friends and internet help.
- Instead of letting poorly trained teachers indoctrinate our kids in compulsory schools, we can educate them ourselves with help from experienced friends and the internet.
- Instead of letting doctors vaccinate our kids at school or in hospitals with toxic concoctions from the war machine's drug companies, we can support each other's right to choose our own healthcare methods.
- Instead of giving our kids junk advertised in the war machine's major media, helping them become addicts of the system, we can give them fun and responsible experiences that help them learn to build a better alternative system.
- I'm eager for the human race to come of age, so that people will become highly responsible and find ways to end war, strife, greed, recklessness, apathy, misery in favor of world peace and prosperity, as well as peaceful exploration and colonization of other worlds.