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Here are three clusters of comments by futurist John Petersen and clairvoyant Kevin Blackwell.  In a November 4, 2011, presentation, they took turns sharing observations about coming times.  From Kevin …

Humans are being activated … to do more, to be more, etc.  There’ll be greater potential for all.  This was actually predicted by “Mulkasadick” – the Old Testament leader of priests …

“The shift is inevitable.”

 Shifts lead to new light, which leads to Gaia, which leads to us.  We needn’t do anything;  it’s happening.

Most people believe the Mayan 2012 predictions meant the end of the world was at hand.  Actually, their forecast was for the end of a major phase of civilization and the beginning of an entirely new era.

Kevin – and clairvoyants who channel different “entities” – describe a “veil,” a separation between our physical world and the world of spirit.  In a large number of writings, one consistent forecast is for the veil to get thinner.  That means communication with spirit entities will become more easily accomplished.

Many get an occasional “gut sense” about something.  It’s not an emotion, just a “sense” or “intuition.”  That’s called “clairsentient.”  If their forecast is correct, we’ll be better able to use our intuitive abilities, to better achieve goals we set for ourselves.

You’ve likely heard stories of someone who’s about to board a plane hearing a voice telling them not to board that plane.  Typically, something happens to that flight.  That’s called “clairaudient.”  It’s like radio stations that are now in the air, but are not audible – unless we tune our radio to the same frequency as one of the stations.  Clairaudient people simply have a frequency that matches what is being sent by specific entities.

Many (besides Yogi Berra) have had “deja vu” experiences.  In a dream, you might be in a room with a certain setting and certain people.  A few days later, you walk into a room and it’s an exact match of your dream!  Receiving visual messages is “clairvoyant.”  People around whom religions are built were clairvoyant.  (Sayings attributed to them are strikingly similar, as they came from the same source.)  Other noted clairvoyants were Nostradamus, Rudolph Steiner, Edgar Cayce.

The shift Kevin describes means a larger number of humans having an ability to communicate with spirit, giving them considerably expanded abilities.

John Petersen’s forecasts are based on a synthesis of piles of more traditional data …

Magnify efforts with groups of like-minded people.  Instill a process of feeling grateful – on a regular, daily basis.  It opens our energy, and counters fear.  Expressing gratitude increases our frequency and our love feelings.

 www.HalfPastHuman.com – uses language of the Internet to pick up patterns, and can predict events with considerable accuracy.  Tensions are increasing.  Increased disruptions in our present systems are coming soon.

Today, more live with increasing levels of fearfulness.  The media shower us with “doom and gloom” messages, constantly.  John’s suggestion of using such a simple approach as “expressing gratitude” is actually quite powerful.  As he suggests, it should be done regularly, preferably daily.  You’ll soon feel a real difference in your outlook, your disposition, and your ability to solve problems.

Finally, some additional Kevin “messages” about coming changes …

A lot of companies, governments, and people are hitting the wall.  New senses will come to the surface.  We’ll stop living from our brain and logic and begin living from our heart.  We’ll be bringing the masculine and feminine into balance – and will reconcile the opposites.

Seems like we’re all giving birth to new versions of ourselves.  We need to get out of the habit of not thinking expansively.  Dreams can and must be bigger.  We can do more than ever before.

Change is happening.  All we need to do is live from our core, our essence.  Everything else will fall into place.

His first paragraph brings to mind “current events”:  Upheavals in many countries;  regimes in place for decades that are toppling;  the Occupy movement taking hold in over 90 cities, globally.  The unrest - including in the U.S. - is global, is spreading, and is intensifying.

Economies are also floundering.  Whenever the current recession seems slowly ending, another wave occurs that deepens it … in the U.S. and around the world.  Trade, one key aspect of human intercourse, will continue.  But our current systems of trade seem likely to change … which will send out massive ripples of nervousness.

Kevin’s comments about the balancing of masculine and feminine energy are intriguing and positive.  We’ve had 2,000 years of masculine energy, with striving, competition and wars.  Before that were eras of feminine energy – Cleopatra, the Queen of Sheba.  It’s the first time we’ll have a balance of the two leadership styles.  Not sure what day-to-day life in that environment will be like, but I sense something quite positive.

Kevin’s expansive thinking and dreaming comments feel great.  So many seem to be “hunkered down,” looking at short-term and more local events, and just “getting by” … rather than creating visions of how they’d like to live, and setting plans for manifesting those visions.

Kevin and John, operating from radically different data bases, share a sense of drastic and massive change that will be happening, no matter what.  We’ll need to make our own adjustments, to “go with the flow” that will be happening, and …

to expect to enjoy greater capabilities and

a brighter quality of life than we’ve ever known!

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Our Garden Atriums “Net Zero” sustainable housing development has been heralded by a Finnish University’s sustainable institute as the most sustainable project in the U.S.  Yet, it’s our first effort.  And the physical aspects – the technology to reach “Net Zero,” or 100% sustainability – just isn’t all that difficult.

When people – including many architects and engineers to whom clients turn – ask about being Net Zero, they’re often told it just isn’t economically feasible.

Nonsense!

Before launching this development – which required placing 100% of our personal assets at risk – I thought about our existing infrastructure …

Isn’t it easier and cheaper to

renovate the millions of existing buildings?

We can’t just trash all our buildings.  And what do we do with communities’ infrastructures – roads, water lines, wastewater lines and power lines?  Well …

Infrastructure maintenance costs are rising;  community revenue is declining.  Ruptures in water and wastewater lines – as well as bridge failures – are increasing in frequency.  And it’s a lot easier and less expensive to create new Net Zero buildings than fix up existing ones.

Professionals who haven’t done it may say it’s not practical – because they haven’t actually done it.  And utilities talk sustainability out of one side of their mouth, but they exist to sell you their service.  And communities falter because public servants tend to be risk averse, and fear trying anything new could precipitate public outcry.

Now … here’s a positive model.  An entire community is not only generating 100% of their electricity sustainably, but is making money doing so.  From a “Natural News” article …

“German village generates 321 percent renewable energy than it needs, selling it back to the national power grid.”

Monday, December 19, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer, NaturalNews

Developing a renewable energy system that creates energy independence and even a considerable new source of revenue is not some sort of sci-fi pipe dream. BioCycle reports that the German village of Wildpoldsried, population 2,600, has had such incredible success in building its renewable energy system. Wildpoldsried generates 321 percent more renewable energy than it uses, and it now sells the excess back to the national power grid for roughly $5.7 million in additional revenue every single year.

By utilizing a unique combination of solar panels, “biogas” generators, natural wastewater treatment plants, and wind turbines, Wildpoldsried has effectively eliminated its need to be attached to a centralized power grid, and created a thriving renewable energy sector in the town that is self-sustaining and abundantly beneficial for the local economy, the environment, and the public.

You can view some amazing pictures of the Wildpoldsried village at:  (http://inhabitat.com/german-village…).

Possessing admirable vision for the town and strong motivation to see the project as a whole succeed, Mayor Arno Zengerie has led the way for many years in making Wildpoldsried’s energy independence efforts a success. As far back as 1997, the village has been investing in building and promoting new industries, maintaining a strong local economy, generating new forms of revenue, and ultimately staying out of debt. And the best way it saw fit to accomplish much of this was through the implementation of self-sustaining, renewable energy technologies.

Not only did Wildpoldsried successfully reduce the amount of time expected to generate the necessary funds to build local treasures like a sports hall, theater stage, pub, and retirement home with the revenue generated by its thriving renewable energy sector — the village has already successfully built nine community buildings, with more on the way — but it also achieved all this and more without going into debt.

“We often spend a lot of time talking to our visitors about how to motivate the village council (and Mayor) to start thinking differently,” said Mayor Zengerle, who now gives talks around the world about the successes of his award-winning village. “We show them a best practices model in motion and many see the benefits immediately. From the tour we give, our guests understand how well things can operate when you have the enthusiasm and conviction of the people.”

Be sure to read the full, inspiring account of Wildpoldsried’s history of, and successes in, renewable energy at:
(http://www.jgpress.com/archives/_fr…).

Is there anything special about this community of 2,600 that prevents us from replicating what they’ve done?

No.

They now enjoy a sustainable supply of electrical power – meaning it can continue indefinitely – at lower costs to citizens than traditional utilities.

Why are our communities not doing this?

A few years ago, we conducted market research, in three different geographies, concerning what are called “Live-Work-Play Communities.”

What are they?

Developers, tired of fighting municipal bureaucracies, were buying large tracts of land outside of city limits.  There they created entire communities, with a variety of housing, schools, light industry, and commercial, retail and recreational spaces.  And they created their own utilities.

Their utilities are not all “sustainably” designed – though they could be.  They’re newer and more efficient.  They cost community members less, as their maintenance costs are less and they’re more efficient.

The municipalities were unhappy;  they were losing some of their better tax base … giving them even less revenue to offset increasing infrastructure maintenance costs.  Yet, they’re unable to change their infrastructure systems or their bureaucratic processes.

The town cited in this article provides a proven model that’s successful in all ways.  Either our communities adapt to changing times or … residents will continue “voting with their feet.”

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Another theme in writings of aboriginal wisdom is the contrast between their perception of “things” – materials that support a life style – and that of Europeans.  Clear links to “sustainability” begin with Black Hawk’s P.35 comments from Kent Nerburn’s “The Wisdom of the Native Americans” …

“We have men among us, like the whites, who pretend to know the right path, but will not consent to show it without pay!  I have no faith in their paths, but believe that every man must make his own path.“

Continuing, P.40 comments from Chief Luther Standing Bear …

“Indian faith sought the harmony of man with his surroundings;  the other sought dominance of surroundings.

“In sharing, in loving all and everything, one people naturally found a due portion of the thing they sought, while, in fearing, the other found need of conquest.

“But the old Lakota was wise.  He knew that man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard;  he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans, too.  So he kept his children close to nature’s softening influence.”

Extending our “dominating our surroundings” attitude to lacking respect for nature and other humans is interesting.  Continuing, Kahkewaquonaby’s P.59 comments …

“No nation, I think, can be more fond of novelties than the English;  they gaze upon foreigners as if they had just dropped down from the moon.

“They are truly industrious, and in general very honest and upright.  But their close attention to business produces, I think, too much worldly-mindedness, and hence they forget to think enough about their souls and their God.

“Their motto seems to be “Money, money, get money, get rich, and be a gentleman.”  With this sentiment, they fly about in every direction, like a swarm of bees, in search of the treasure that lies so near their hearts.”

Observing many people I know, those olden comments seem to ring true today.  Continuing, P.104 comments from Ohiyesa …

“It has always been our belief that the love of possessions is a weakness to be overcome.  Its appeal is to the material part, and if allowed its way it will in time disturb the spiritual balance for which we all strive.”

“Sustainability” must include “quality of life” experience.  And what he calls “spiritual balance” seems essential to that.  Many wealthy people – who can have whatever possessions they wish – seem out of balance and are, on a daily basis, unhappy.  On P.127, Ohiyesa links his observation to both global relations and religions …

“Once we had departed from the broad democracy and pure dedication of our prime, and had undertaken to enter upon the world’s game of competition, our rudder was unshipped, our compass lost, and the whirlwind and tempest of materialism and love of conquest tossed us to and fro like leaves in a wind.

“There was undoubtedly much in primitive Christianity to appeal to the Indians, and Jesus’ hard sayings to the rich and about the rich were entirely comprehensible to us.  Yet the religion that we heard preached in churches and saw practiced by congregations, with its element of display and self-aggrandizement, its active proselytism, and its open contempt of all religions but its own, was for a long time extremely repellent.”

On P.129, Ohiyesa shares observations of inconsistency between what we profess and how we behave …

“More than this, even in those white men who professed religion we found much inconsistency of conduct.  They spoke much of spiritual things, while seeking only the material.  They bought and sold everything:  time, labor, personal independence, the love of woman, and even the ministrations of their holy faith!

“The higher and spiritual life, though first in theory, was clearly secondary, if not entirely neglected, in practice.”

On P.130, Ohiyesa adds more inconsistency observations …

“Another of the older men, called upon for his views, kept a long silence.  Finally, he said, “I have come to the conclusion that this Jesus was an Indian.  He was opposed to material acquisition and to great possessions.  He was inclined to peace.  He was as unpracticed as any Indian and set no price upon his labor of love.  These are not the principles upon which the white man has founded his civilization.  It is strange that he could not rise to these simple principles which were so commonly observed among our people.”

Finally, on P.132-3, Ohiyesa evolves a “big picture” perspective that seems at the root of “sustainable living” …

“When I reduce civilization to its most basic terms, it becomes a system of life based on trade.  Each man stakes his powers, the product of his labor, his social, political, and religious standing against his neighbor.  To gain what?  To gain control over his fellow workers, and the results of their labor.

“Is there not something worthy of perpetuation in our Indian spirit of democracy, where Earth, our mother, was free to all, and no one sought to impoverish or enslave his neighbor?  Where the good things of Earth were not ours to hold against our brothers and sisters, but were ours to use and enjoy together with them, and with whom it was our privilege to share?”

The turbulence happening today may be a shift in which our global population is rebelling against greed-dominated corporate and political leaders who feel justified dominating everyone and anything.  Many countries are experiencing internal turbulence – including the Occupy protests that seem unnerving even to our U.S. government.  The question …

How do we continue enjoying the technology we’ve evolved,

but shift our attitudes back to a way of living that’s in

harmony … with nature and with other humans?

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Trends on the physical side of sustainability indicate price increases for heating, cooling, electricity, automobile fuel, water, etc.  But – unless prices jump suddenly, we don’t do much about it.

Food is the biggest concern.  It won’t just be a matter of price;  at some point, many supermarket shelves may be empty.  It’s never happened in this country;  people don’t believe it’s possible.  Corrective action – things to do so the crisis never happens – is difficult to “sell.”  From the December 13, 2011 USA TODAY comes a clear statement, by Dennis Cauchon, of the escalation … and likely continuing escalation of electricity prices.

*     *     *     *     *

Electric bills have skyrocketed in the last five years, a sharp reversal from a quarter-century when Americans enjoyed stable power bills even as they used more electricity.

Households paid a record $1,419 on average for electricity in 2010, the fifth consecutive yearly increase above the inflation rate, a USA TODAY analysis of government data found. The jump has added about $300 a year to what households pay for electricity. That’s the largest sustained increase since a run-up in electricity prices during the 1970s.

Electricty is consuming a greater share of Americans’ after-tax income than at any time since 1996 — about $1.50 of every $100 in income at a time when income growth has stagnated, a USA TODAY analysis of Bureau of Economic Analysis data found.

Greater electricity use at home and higher prices per kilowatt hour are both driving the higher costs, in roughly equal measure:

•  Residential demand for power dropped briefly in 2009 but rebounded strongly last year to a record high. Air-conditioners and household appliances use less power than ever. A new refrigerator consumes half the electricity as a similar one bought in 1990. But consumers have bigger houses, more air-conditioning and more electronics than before, outpacing gains in efficiency and conservation.

“People have made a lot of money selling weight loss programs. It’s the same for energy. Behavior is hard to change,” says Penni Conner, vice president of customer care at NSTAR, a Boston-based utility.

•  Prices are climbing, too, hitting a record 11.8 cents per residential kilowatt hour so far this year, reports the Energy Information Administration. The increase reflects higher fuel prices and the expense of replacing old power plants, including heavily polluting — but cheap to operate — coal plants that don’t meet federal clean air requirements.

“Higher bills are a huge problem for low income families,” says Chris Estes, executive director of the North Carolina Housing Coalition, which opposes a proposed rate hike in its state by Duke Energy. “Utilities are what people’s budgets start with.”

Duke Energy says the rate increase is needed to pay for replacing old power plants and making the transmission system more reliable. The Charlotte-based utility has reached a tentative agreement with North Carolina to raise rates 7.2% in February, lower than its original 17% request.

“The industry as a whole is facing higher costs because we’re retiring our aging fleet” of power plants, says Duke Energy spokeswoman Betsy Conway.

Electricity cost varies widely depending on where you live. Cheapest: Northwest communities near hydropower dams — as low as 2 cents per kilowatt hour. Most expensive major utility: Consolidated Edison, supplier of New York City — 26 cents per kilowatt hour, according to EIA.

High taxes, limits on air-polluting fuels and the expense of maintaining an underground transmission system keep consumer costs high, says ConEd spokesman Chris Olert.

A potential bright spot: Electric bills appear roughly the same so far this year as last when adjusted for inflation, based on preliminary reports.

However, the future of energy prices and the upcoming closure of more polluting coal plants makes the long-term outlook cloudy for consumers. Duke Energy plans to ask for another rate hike next year to cover the costs of new natural gas-fired plants.

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Utilities are private corporations enjoying a monopoly.  To ensure their service and pricing is fair, governments established utility commissions that, in theory, look out for the public good.  In practice, that may not be true.

Initial Garden Atrium sustainable homes use natural gas for cooking;  most cooks seem to prefer that.  Utility bills ran about $3.00 a month, as cooking was the sole natural gas use.  (Heating and hot water are solar.)  Suddenly, utility bills jumped to over $21.00 a month;  the utility commission approved a “service fee” of nearly $20.00 … just for being hooked up.

If the natural gas utility needed additional maintenance revenue, they could have increased the price of natural gas … as gasoline and electricity providers do.  A flat service fee has no discernible impact on major users, but was a 700 percent increase for small users.  The approach penalizes sustainability.

Efforts to contact the utility commission, requesting an explanation – by phone, email, or letter – received no response.  Conclusion:  utility companies control the utility commissions.

Many sustainability movements aim at influencing government policy.  Ultimately, sustainable living has to be accomplished by each of us … not by hoping “someone up there” will take care of us.  Remember …

If a frog is placed in a pot of hot water, it’ll jump out.

But, if the water is heated slowly, the frog

will sit there until it boils to death!

Long-proven technology for eliminating utility bills exists.  Two booklets from our web site detail how to slash utility bills.  Many of these blog postings list additional things you can easily do.  It’s up to each of us to act … not to sit in water as it’s being heated … but to ACT.

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Twenty-first century life styles provide amenities and opportunities never before experienced.  Few would relish returning to the life style of Native Americans, centuries ago.  Yet, they hold lessons that could further enhance how we live today.

From pages 29-30, “The Wisdom of the Native Americans,” by Kent Nerburn, comments by a “The Outlaw Josie Wales” co-star, Chief Dan George …

“My friends, how desperately do we need to be loved and to love.  When Christ said that man does not live by bread alone, he spoke of a hunger.  This hunger was not the hunger of the body.  It was not the hunger for bread.  He spoke of a hunger that begins deep down in the very depths of our being.  He spoke of a need as vital as breath.  He spoke of our hunger for love.

“Love is something you and I must have.  We must have it because our spirit feeds upon it.  We must have it because without it we become weak and faint.  Without love our self-esteem weakens.  Without it our courage fails.  Without love we can no longer look out confidently at the world.  We turn inward and begin to feed upon our own personalities, and little by little we destroy ourselves.

“With it we are creative.  With it we march tirelessly.  With it, and with it alone, we are able to sacrifice for others.”

Many people work away, making a living – some wealthy – yet, are aimless, unhappy and neither loving nor feeling loved.  Not sure we need to dance in circles, singing “Kum bah yah.”  But “quality of living” certainly seems to include qualities such as giving and receiving “caring,” and “respect.”

Next, pages 53-4, James Paytiamo’s comments …

“I remember the old men of my village.  These old, old men used to prophesy about the coming of the white man.  They would go about tapping their canes on the adobe floor of the house, and call to us children.

“Listen!  Listen!  The gray-eyed people are coming nearer and nearer.  They are building an iron road.  They are coming nearer every day.  There will be a time when you will mix with these people.  That is when the Gray Eyes are going to get you to drink hot, black water, which you will drink whenever you eat.  Then your teeth will become soft.

“They will get you to smoke at a young age, so that your eyes will run tears on windy days, and your eyesight will be poor.  Your joints will crack when you want to move slowly and softly.

“You will sleep on soft beds and will not like to rise early.  When you begin to wear heavy clothes and sleep under heavy covers, then you will grow lazy.  Then there will be no more singing heard in the valleys as you walk.

“When you begin to eat with iron sticks, your tones will grow louder.  You will speak louder and talk over your parents.  You will grow disobedient.  You will mix with those gray-eyed people, and you will learn their ways;  you will break up your homes, and murder and steal.”

“Such things have come true, and I have to compare my generation with the old generation.  We are not as good as they were;  we are not as healthy as they were.  How did these old men know what was coming?  That is what I would like to know.     “

In the past century, these prophesies do seem to have come true.  I’m don’t want to give up a soft bed, warm blankets and warm clothes.  And I may not rise with the sun.  Yet, many activities cited are truly unhealthy for us and society.

How do we keep the positive qualities and

eliminate those activities that are detrimental

to our health, to our society, and to our environment?

Crow Belly’s P.70 comments may be one key to why we’ve done so well …

“The Great Spirit has given the white man great foresightedness;  he sees everything at a distance, and his mind invents and makes the most extraordinary things.  But the red man has been made shortsighted.  He sees only what is close around him and knows nothing except what his father knew.”

One of our great cultural essences is our capacity to “explore and adapt.”  Think how much we’ve learned that befuddles our parents and grandparents.  Our kids learn and use technologies – as second nature – that amaze us!  When we cease to learn and grow, we may be essentially dead.

Yet, some perspectives and values rooted in our parents and grandparents – elders – likely have great value.  And perhaps our lives could be considerably richer if we connected periodically with those perspectives and values.  A marriage of both worlds.

 Finally, pages 74-5, Chief Seattle comments …

“A few more hours, a few more winters, and none of the children of the great tribes that once lived on this earth, or that roamed in small bands in the woods, will be left to mourn the graves of people once as powerful and hopeful as yours.

“The whites, too, shall pass – perhaps sooner than other tribes.  Continue to contaminate your own bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.

“When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the cent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires, where is the thicket?  Gone.  Where is the eagle?  Gone.

“And what is to say farewell to the swift and the hunt, to the end of living and the beginning of survival?  We might understand if we knew what it was that the white man dreams, what he describes to his children on long winter nights, and what visions he burns into their minds, so they will wish for tomorrow.  But we are savages.  The white man’s dreams are hidden from us.”

With environmental disregard, we may have a swifter rise and fall than other civilizations.  We’ve trashed the Gulf of Mexico.  Huge masses of waste cover large areas of our oceans.  And we decimate our forests.

How many of us create a dream … a vision of how we’d like to live our lives?  We may be too busy “making a living” … and acting like gerbils inside a wheel.

“Sustainability” must include a high quality of life experience.

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On the physical side of sustainability, food is, without question the biggest issue.  Here’s an article by Linda Carroll, a USATODAY.com contributor, that may elevate your awareness regarding the safety of fruit juices.

*     *     *    *    *

The apple and grape juice your kids are drinking may have arsenic at levels high enough to increase their risk of cancer and other chronic diseases, according to a new study by Consumer Reports.

A full 10 percent of the juices tested by the magazine had arsenic levels higher than what is allowed in water by the Food and Drug Administration. Urvashi Rangan, senior scientist at Consumer Reports, told TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie:

“What we’re talking about here is not about acute affects, we’re talking about chronic effects. We’re talking about cancer risk. And so, the fact that 10 percent of our samples exceeded the drinking water standard underscores the need for a standard to be set in juices.”

The fear is that over time arsenic will accumulate in children’s bodies and raise their risk of cancer and other serious illnesses.

The new report echoes a study commissioned by Dr. Mehmet Oz back in September. When Oz reported his findings on his popular television show, the FDA responded by calling Oz’s study flawed and “extremely irresponsible.”

One of the issues the FDA had with Oz’s study was its failure to separate out measurements of inorganic and organic arsenic.  Studies have linked inorganic arsenic to a variety of cancers.  But many consider organic arsenics – especially the types commonly found in seafood – to be safe.

As far as Consumer Reports is concerned, that’s a head-in-the-sand approach.  The magazine noted:

“Questions have been raised about the human health effects of other types of organic arsenic in foods, including juices.  Use of organic arsenic in agricultural products has caused concern. For instance, the EPA in 2006 took steps to stop the use of herbicides containing organic arsenic because of their potential to turn into inorganic arsenic in the soil and contaminate drinking water.”

Beyond this, Consumer Reports researchers noted evidence that organic arsenic converts into the inorganic form when chickens consume feeds that contain the compound.

For its new study Consumer Reports tested 88 samples of apple and grape juices sold around the nation.  Included among those tested were popular brands like Minute Maid, Welch’s and Tropicana.

The Consumer Reports study found five samples of apple juice and four of grape juice that had total arsenic levels exceeding the 10 parts per billion (ppb) federal limit for bottled and drinking water.

“Most of the total arsenic in our samples was inorganic.”

The brand with the lowest arsenic level was Welch’s Pourable Concentrate 100% Apple Juice (1.1-4.3 total arsenic ppb).  Other juices with low arsenic levels include:  America’s Choice Apple;  Tropicana 100% Apple;  and Red Jacket Orchards 100% Apple.

Current FDA guidelines require water to have no more than 10 ppb of inorganic arsenic. The agency also has standards for juices and those allow higher levels of the compound – 23 ppb.

The level is allowed to be higher because it’s assumed

people will consume more water than juice in a normal day.

Rangan took exception to that line of thinking because the standard is based on how much water an average adult will drink in a day.

“It’s not about a child who weighs far less.”

The new findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that juices may not be as safe as we think.  Rangan pointed to an FDA study that found arsenic levels at 86 parts per billion in a baby apple juice.

The new report might prompt the FDA to change its standards for juices. In a written statement, the agency explained its response to the new data.

“We welcome the research that Consumer Reports has undertaken and look forward to reviewing the data that formed the basis for their story and their recommendations.  We continue to find the vast majority of apple juice tested to contain low levels of arsenic, including the most recent samples from China.  

“For this reason, FDA is confident in the overall safety of apple juice consumed in this country.  By the same token, a small percentage of samples contain elevated levels of arsenic.  In response, FDA has expanded our surveillance activities and is collecting additional data”

That was all good news to Oz.  If we look at how the nation handled a similar problem two decades ago, it’s clear that we can make a difference for our kids.  Oz told Guthrie:

“Twenty-five years ago we had a problem with lead in America.  And we have over the last generation been able to reduce by 90 percent the amount of lead that our kids are exposed to and that is found in their blood.  As a doctor it makes me much more confident that we can do the same thing for arsenic.”

*     *     *    *    *

I enjoyed seeing specific brand names cited in the study.  And more people may begin to seek out totally organic fruit juices.  With the influence corporations have in controlling government legislation, when given solid research data, as Consumer Reports seems to provide, our best votes are ultimately with our purchases.

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Exploring indigenous peoples’ writings, as their connection to the Earth was more in-tune than ours, I found Kent Nerburn’s “The Wisdom of the Native Americans,” containing quotes and essays from many North American Indian leaders.

I’m not implying they had it all right and we have it all wrong.  For example, a page 70 Crow Belly quote …

“The Great Spirit has given the white man great foresightedness;  he sees everything at a distance, and his mind invents and makes the most extraordinary things.  But the red man has been made shortsighted.  He sees only what is close around him and knows nothing except what his father knew.”                                                                                                                 

If Europeans hadn’t come to this continent, would we have the Internet, global wireless telecommunication, laptop computers with many gigabytes?  Our civilization has evolved greater technology – and longevity – than mankind has ever known.  But our competitive nature and desire to conquer – the mysteries of science or the plant and animal kingdoms – also has downsides.

How we might retain what we do so well,

but without destroying our natural habitat in the process?

Beginning with a page xv quote about Ohiyesa, who also lived in our western culture, and got a medical degree from a northeastern university …

“Even though he had come to believe that white civilization was, at heart, ‘a system of life based on trade,’ he still felt it as the task of the best people, both Indian and non-Indian, to help America find a shared vision.”

Comments about us “living a system of life based on trade” rings as true today is it did centuries ago.  Next, page x, quoting Ohiyesa …

“But they (the inhabitants of this land) shared in common a belief that the earth is a spiritual presence that must be honored, not mastered.  Unfortunately, western Europeans who came to these shores had a contrary belief.  To them, the entire American continent was a beautiful but savage land that it was not only their right but their duty to tame and use as they saw fit.”

From American history readings, this also seems to hold true.  Next, page 3 quotes globally-known environmentalist, Chief Seattle … 

“All things are connected.  Whatever befalls

the earth befalls the children of the earth.”

 I’m amazed at commercials encouraging people to visit the gulf coast states … sponsored by BP!  We trash the gulf, and residents in the area do suffer.  Their economy’s weaker.  Their fisheries are contaminated.  And many suffer from cyanosis – severe illness, hospitalization, and some deaths.  (Google “Blue Gulf Plague.”)

From pages 36-7, Lakota Chief Luther Standing Bear …

“From Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit, there came a great unifying life force that flowed in and through all things … the flowers of the plains, blowing winds, rocks, trees, birds, animals … and was the same force that had been breathed into the first man.  Thus all things were kindred and were brought together by the same Great Mystery.

“Kinship with all creatures of the earth, sky, and water was a real and active principle.  In the animal and bird world there existed a brotherly feeling that kept the Lakota safe among them.  And so close did some of the Lakotas come to their feathered and furred friends that in true brotherhood they spoke a common tongue.

“The animals had rights – the right of man’s protection, the right to live, the right to multiply, the right to freedom, and the right to man’s indebtedness – and in recognition of these rights the Lakota never enslaved an animal, and spared all life that was not needed for food and clothing.

“This concept of life and its relations was humanizing, and gave to the Lakota an abiding love.  It filled his being with the joy and mystery of living;  it gave him reverence for all life;  it made a place for all things in the scheme of existence with equal importance to all.

“The Lakota could despise no creature, for all were of one blood, made by the same hand, and filled with the essence of the Great Mystery.  In spirit, the Lakota were humble and meek.  ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth’ – this was true for the Lakota, and from the earth they inherited secrets long since forgotten.  Their religion was sane, natural, and human”

His thought are irrefutable, yet modern behavior isn’t consistent with them.  The consequences?  From page 73, Chief Seattle … 

“Continue to contaminate your own bed, and

you will one night suffocate in your own waste.”

From pages 88 and 94, additional Ohiyesa thoughts …

“We believe that the spirit pervades all creation and that every creature possesses a soul in some degree;  though not necessarily a soul conscious of itself.  The tree, the waterfall, the grizzly bear, each is an embodied Force, and as such an object of reverence.

“We Indians love to come into sympathy and spiritual communion with our brothers and sisters of the animal kingdom, whose inarticulate souls hold for us something of the sinless purity that we attribute to the innocent and irresponsible child.

“This is the spirit of the original American.  We hold nature to be the measurement of consummate beauty, and we consider its destruction to be a sacrilege.”

Finally, Ohiyesa quotes a tribal elder … 

“Such is the strange philosophy of the white man!  He hews down the forest that has stood for centuries in its pride and grandeur, tears up the bosom of Mother Earth, and causes the silvery watercourses to waste and vanish away.  He ruthlessly disfigures God’s own pictures and monuments, and then daubs a flat surface with many colors, and praises his work as a masterpiece!”   

Interesting perspective about what I’m increasingly defining as “sustainable living.”  Our challenge: 

Can we savor natural beauty and man-made art? 

Can we live elegantly and compatibly with our Earth?

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A few years ago, roughly one hundred architects were taking a short course on land development.  The instructor asked …

“How much can I get for a $300,000 condo?”

The architects mused among one another for some time, until one finally realized …

“Oh … $300,000.”

And the instructor’s response …

“That’s right.

And any ideas that you have that increase my costs

reduce my profits.  That won’t happen.”

If the marketplace says that a $300,000 condo must have a certain size and amenities, then a developer – any developer – needs to satisfy those requirements at the least possible cost … to maximize profit.

 

Can they build the condo out of cardboard?

Of course not.  Developers must meet building code requirements and provide a 12-month warrantee.  And beyond those minimum requirements, they need to provide … nothing.

• If a heat pump is cheaper but less energy efficient and more likely to require maintenance, the developer doesn’t pay utility or repair bills.

 

• If a cheaper carpet looks good but lasts five years instead of fifteen, that’s not the developer’s problem, either.

Initial cost-per-square-foot is king.

In fact, an entire class of building materials is known as “Builders’ Grade”;  they satisfy codes at lowest cost.  The real estate market is built on that initial cost criterion.

When you buy a home and need a mortgage, lenders ask appraisers to determine the value of the home you want – in case you default on your mortgage and they have to resell the home to recover their loan money.

The appraisers look for “comparables” … homes as similar to yours as possible, that have been sold as near to yours as possible, and as recently as possible.  And when they identify three to five homes that seem comparable, they compare them on a cost-per-square-foot basis, with some adjustments for variations in amenities – such a granite counter tops.  But most aspects of sustainability are not on their standard checklists.  And …

Home buyers themselves usually ask the cost-per-square-foot question when they look at homes and compare different options.

 

How does this picture impact “sustainability”

and “sustainable living”?

When we add photovoltaic panels to a home, a 3 kW system seems to provide 100% of the homeowner’s power needs.  The cost, about $34,000, gets a 30% tax credit.  The remainder adds about $125 a month to a 30-year mortgage.

That’s usually less than what a homeowner now pays per month, over a year’s time.  However, we also get a carbon credit payment that averages over $135 per month.  We’re enjoying free electrical power and actually making $10 a month.  But …

The cost-per-square-foot of our home went up.

Our home may be less desirable in the real estate marketplace, as people shopping for homes ask the cost-per-square-foot question when comparing choices.  The home is also less desirable to lenders.

 

Here’s an even more vital issue … your health.

The three major sources of off-gassing in a home are cabinetry, carpeting, and paint.

• In cabinets, plywood and melamine are cheaper, but they off-gas;  solid wood doesn’t.

 

• In carpeting, color dyes in fabrics are set with formaldehyde.  Dye-free wool carpeting with a natural hemp backing may cost ten times more than builders’ grade carpeting.

 

• Zero-VOC paint doesn’t off-gas, but costs more than double the builders’ grade paint, which off-gasses for ten years.

Why is this a problem?

Allergies!

Recently, a woman reported that her entire family has allergies.  She’d been hospitalized twice.  Her husband has perpetual headaches.  And he and their kids have frequent nosebleeds.  (She phoned when she learned that every resident in our Garden Atrium homes had lost their allergies within days.)

Instead of saying, “I have allergies” we should be saying, “My house is giving me allergies.”  We all have immune systems for maintaining our health.  But when our environment overtaxes our immune system, we’ll get allergy symptoms.  Now the more difficult question …

How do you factor her family’s medical costs,

the days her husband misses work,

the days her kids miss school,

and all their suffering

 

into the

cost-per-square foot model?

Our real estate model needs a new paradigm.  And paradigms are slow to change.  But …

Even without altruistically considering how we’re being better stewards of our planet, a sustainably built home means our health and vitality are better, and our costs – when looking at all factors – are actually lower.

Sustainable living demands a new paradigm.

The builders’ grade paradigm …

Has a failing grade!

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The mantra about sustainable communities is …

“Live Local, Think Global.”

Because of likely shortages of fuel and food, our future – and this comes from multiple independent sources – seems likely to be a world with many small communities that are each self-sufficient … sustainable.  Yet these communities will remain connected to one another with our global wireless telecommunication technology, the internet, and transport.

One of the sources that contributed to my book, “Sustainability,” was a very insightful party I refer to as “D.”  D recently expressed interest in describing in greater detail a different perspective of what “Live Local” is about.  So …

 

This is the time for communities to come together.  “The community” is what will help during these turbulent times.  Communities are places in which one should have roots.  The question that beckons is:

How does one actually

build or strengthen

a community?

Each person needs to put their energy and attention towards their community.  Each person has gifts – knowledge, skills, etc. – that need to be given to a community.  The first gift is the gift of time.  It matters not in what aspect of the community one gives … as long as one gives.

Until you put your attention to

something that is more than yourself,

you cannot build that community.

It is not enough to take care of one’s home and yard or one’s immediate family.  There must be something greater that people choose to take care of.  The effort can be as small as a small garden in front of a community building or as large as being a leader in the community.

The glue of a community is its people.

The community also speaks to the values everyone shares.  The actions people take say what is important to that community.  And the community-focused actions aim to ensure that all are taken care of.  “Community Building” comes from people being with people, so the questions are …

Where do community people gather?

How do they gather?  And …

For what purposes?

 

How is land used?

How is it protected?

 

Are children revered?

Are they able to explore?

Are they allowed to play freely?

Are elders tapped for their wisdom?

 

Does everyone go to bed full every night?

Does everyone have a role and feel productive?

When times are difficult we seek and need community strength.  Do the people in the community support and help one another?  The feeling people have when they come together after a big storm is what is vital in building a sense of community.  One of the big holes in community building is:

How do you actually bring people together?

Places with food and music – such as restaurants or parks – can be used to stage events.  You can even invite some people to events who don’t live in the community … neighbors, friends, local officials, or a family that’s hurting and needs some assistance.

In times of high stress, people need greater degrees of bonding and systems on which they can depend …

Growing or canning food

Mowing lawns or landscaping.

Or just sharing tools.

One of the key words is “Dependency.”  In stressful times, we especially need to be able to be dependent on others – or on our community, as a whole.  Dependency is built by repetition.  If someone grows and provides an abundance of good food week after week, and month after month, we can begin to depend on that person for that food.

Once you’ve built a sense of community …

You should expand it.

Communities should not be islands.  Think of how hurtful high school cliques can be;  they create emotional walls.  In fact, if a community is “too different” from its neighbors, they may be attacked – either emotionally or physically.  As people – or communities – get to know one another, those differences tend to become more enriching than threatening.  Elbow rubbing at events – such as a Farmers’ Market or film festival or gourmet cooking short course – provide opportunities to help people celebrate and use their differences.

No one community can ‘do it all’;  trade between communities is essential.  Each community may happen to create – due to the abilities of some residents – a unique product … a piece of furniture, an appliance, an excellent wine.  Whether using a national currency, such as the dollar, or a local “alternative currency,” such as Ithaca Hours or LETS, communities will need to trade with one another to fulfill all the needs of their residents.

 

Many of the forecasts I’ve read point to coming times that will be increasingly turbulent.

      Faltering economies.

     Crumbling governmental systems.

     Increased natural disaster frequency and severity.

     And radical – almost daily – changes in the technologies we use.

Signs of these problems are in most of the media – almost daily.  These are events that are not for the next generation, and are not decades into the future.  This second decade of the twenty-first century will be the time of enormous turbulence.  Looking at the “big picture,” it’s a time of transition and transformation that will elevate the quality of human civilization and life on Earth for everyone.  But …

Doing things we’ve always enjoyed doing is comfortable;  change is painful.  And major change – turbulence – is even more painful.  Unnerving.  D’s suggestion implies a shift in lifestyle.  But being “In community” – in the way D describes it – does give us an anchor … just as a lighthouse guides a ship safely through a storm.

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“The Schwartz Report,” an excellent on-line future-trends source, detailed growing U.S and global food problems.  (Stephan A. Schwartz – Senior Samueli Fellow and Editor, Schwartzreport.net)   Some excerpts …

 

“Have you ever been hungry?  I don’t mean you wanted a snack, found the cupboard bare, and the store closed.  Nor do I mean a missed meal.  Or a couple missed meals.  I mean persistent real hunger … that focuses one’s entire being on the search for food … any food.  Most middle class Americans have no experience with urgent unrequited hunger.  Perhaps that’s why as a nation we don’t seem to really comprehend hunger.

“Globally, one of seven people goes to bed hungry every night.  Hunger kills more men, women and children than Tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria combined … and it’s getting worse.  A growing consensus of the world’s scientists is convinced we’re moving into a food crisis of unprecedented scale.

“Oxfam International, a confederation of 15 organizations in 98 countries working on food issues reports,

‘The warning signs are clear. 

We have entered an age of crisis;

of food price spikes and oil price hikes;

of scrambles for land and water;

of creeping, insidious climate change.

 

‘Behind these shocking statistics lie millions of tragic stories of

suffering as families struggle to cope with spiraling food prices,

fall into debt, and have no money to send their children to

school or treat them when sick.  These crises are spikes –

often deadly – on a trend of surging food instability.’

“Much starvation is traced to a world food production and distribution system that’s being exploited by speculators, just as real estate was a bubble, created and crashed by speculation, under laws that skew profit above other considerations.  Seen that way, millions of humans are starving so a few thousand can become obscenely rich.

“Food prices have doubled in the last few years.  The world’s poorest people now spend up to 80% of their tiny incomes on food.

“When millions face this reality, the potential for massive social disorder exists.  A small price rise last Spring was the tipping point for catastrophe;  riots and uprisings erupted globally, particularly in the Middle East.  Hunger in the rest of the world will touch even the well fed, because it’s going to change the world.  The American media hardly noticed, but the Egyptian Spring was a food riot, not a ‘drive for democracy.’

“As with much of the developed world, America’s affluence buffered most of us from extreme sensitivity to supply and cost.  Feeding America, the largest U.S. food program, reported in 2010:

‘… hunger is increasing at an alarming rate in the United States …’

 

•  “Feeding America is annually providing food to 37 million Americans, including 14 million children.  This is an increase of 46% over 2006.

 

•  “One in eight Americans now rely on Feeding America for food and groceries.

 

•  “Feeding America … is feeding one million more Americans each week than in 2006.

 

•  “More than one-third of client households report having to choose between food and other basic necessities, such as rent, utilities and medical care.

 

“Speculation and Government

“The United States and developed world seem unable to control speculation, whether oil, food or, increasingly, water.  This inability traces directly to the failure of elected representatives to enact legislation placing common interests above the interest of the few.

“One example:  ethanol.  An abundance of evidence now shows that corn is a poor plant for ethanol conversion.  Evidence also shows that using a major food crop for fuel pits the profit interests of energy against the human need for food.  Higher costs mean fewer people can afford to eat.

“40% of the corn grown in the United States goes to ethanol.

 

“Climate Change

“You’ve probably noticed increases in extreme weather events everywhere.  Ask a farmer whose crop was wiped out by historic flooding along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.  Forest fires swept across tinder dry Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, consuming over 3 million acres.  75% of the 2010 Australian banana harvest was lost to drought.

“The Ukraine exported far less than expected because of climate issues.  These failures, and the 90% price increase, triggered Egypt’s uprising.

“The effect of climate change on the issue of insurance profoundly affects America.  How many farms will continue to operate along the Mississippi if flooding becomes a more frequent event and farmers cannot get insurance?

 

“Healthcare

“What’s the bill for mental and physical illnesses linked to inadequate nutrition?  $90 billion a year, minimum.  On average, that’s $300 per person per year due to hunger … $800 per household.

“The coming food crisis is the result of years of bad policies, many begun in ignorance but continued in the service of special interest greed.  We need to stop lying to ourselves and do what we used to be renowned for:  reinventing ourselves to the benefit of the greatest number, including a measure of decency for the poor.  The Food Tsunami is coming.  The question now is:

“How are we going to respond?

Magicians use “misdirection” to fool audiences.  While you watch one hand, the other is invisibly doing the trick.  “Sustainability” media focus on “energy.”  Remember the basics:  food, clothing and shelter.

•  You can readily modify your home to stay comfortable in different seasons and pay much smaller utility bills.

 

•  Most of us have far more clothing than we really need.

 

•  It’s time to get back to basics … food.

It’s easier to complain about an issue than present viable solutions;  coming blogs will show how to ensure you have an ample and healthful food supply.