message to MoveOn.org, U.S. Congress, and You

Is there anyone who isn't painfully aware that the U.S. is far, far behind in providing decent healthcare to its citizens and residents?
It is a pitifully broken system !
While the pharmaceutical industry is the most profitable industry in the U.S. (percentage of profit vs. sales income) --the U.S. medical system as a whole is one of the leading causes of DEATH and illness (iatrogenesis = doctor created illness, google it !)
One of our neighbors is arguably one of the poorest nations in the world (no thanks to right-wingers "blockade" of trade, now ongoing for 40rys+ [note to Barack Obama: END IT ?]) -yet Cuba provides BETTER HEALTH CARE for little or NO cost to residents and even to visitors !
Human beings in the U.S. are treated like some kind of valuable crop of diseased cattle, valuable in the sense that as long as the REMAIN DISEASED there is PROFIT to be SUCKED OUT of them, by the blood sucking and completely broken pharmaceutical/medical combine (think of Dwight David Eisenhower's warnings about the military industrial complex .. we've seen the truth played out there, and it is the same truth that has diseased and killed the U.S. medical system .. profit at any cost, human life a commodity, bought & sold.)
We need an FDA who is a CITIZEN's ADVOCATE -instead of the "lapdog of the pharmaceutical industry" & "revolving door" where pharmaceutical executives are hired-into FDA, push through approvals on drugs which inevitably are harmful / dangerous, then finally fired or resigned in disgrace, only to be re-hired by the pharmaceutical industry with bigger salary. Sickening. Emotionally sickening as well as literally a major source of the sickness which has nearly killed the medical system as a whole, and which is sucking life out of many people and families.
The NEW FDA must be RE-ORIENTED, such that non-pharmaceutical and non-surgical methods of healing are (naturally !) preferable ! Science-for-hire must be removed from the equation.
The NEW FDA is not about making money !
It is about empowering citizens and residents with information that supports optimal health and well-being.
The "F" in FDA is FOOD.
"Let food be thy medicine" is a quote attributed to Hippocrates, Father of Medicine.
SO, let FOOD .. as medicine .. become a PRIMARY focus of the NEW FDA.
Out with bogus "minimum daily requirements."
IN with "optimum daily recommendations" and nutritionally based "therapeutic recommendations"
OUT with pseudo-scientists hired by drug companies who make up phony "studies" to "prove" (with their doctored "evidence") that their new pharmaceutical wonder drug-of-the-month is harmless or effective
IN with time honored, time tested "alternatives" to the iatrogenic pharmaceuticals; alternatives such as naturopathic herbalism, homeopathy, TCM (acupuncture and Chinese herbalism,) and many other natural treatments & therapies which the pharmaceutical industry had pressured the OLD FDA into banning, persecuting, prosecuting, etc.. because pharmaceutical "medicine" cannot maximize profits where "alternatives" flourish, and the OLD FDA was controlled by the money that the pharmaceutical industry extorted from US by suppressing all of its competition!

Homeopathy : magic = "any technology too advanced to be understood within current paradigm"

Hi Jill, & re:

>Holy shit, David! My foot feels better for the first time since August.
>I cannot begin to express my gratitude enough.
>Once again, you've come through for me when I really needed you.
>I really thought I was destined to just deal with this, ongoing
>- wish I hadn't waited so long!
>
>I will definitely post to your blog this weekend,
>both about this and my accident three years ago.
>
>Thank you for being such a good friend to me.

It's odd how easy it is for us humans to witness "a miracle"
(like how quickly your bones healed after the post-accident surgery
three years ago, and how quickly your recuperation progressed)
and to not be able to take this on board as "evidence" of
(whatever it it pertains to, in this case.. the "magic"
(Clarke's 3rd law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic.")
- of homeopathy (and several other "alternative" healing arts)
which worked in your life to bring forth a miraculous recovery.
I'm so glad it is working in your life again
-in similar manner!
Please keep me posted; don't "overdo" the remedy -you've seen
the power of homeopathy, and the fact that one tiny pill
can be a little TOO MUCH of this good thing..
stick to (what homeopathic scholar David Little teaches to as)
liquid posology (managing a homeopathic case so as to maximize
healing potential aka "speed the cure") while minimizing
the occurrence of "healing aggravation" such as you experienced
just after taking the one little pill which represents the
"standard dose" of one part homeopathic mother tincture
to 500 tiny pills (yup, you took the equivalent of 1/500th
of ONE DROP of mother tincture.) By using "liquid posology"
we're fine tuning the optimum dose which you could repeat often..
(speeding the cure) .. (magic; miraculous healing, etc ;-)
(ONLY) after minutely altering the energy of each "dose" by sucussion
[banging the bottle containing the remedy solution against a hard object;
one of the steps in manufacture of homeopathic medicines]
so that the remedy always presents a "new" (slightly different)
healing impetus to your "inner healer" (which homeopathy terms the
"vital force" after the thoughts of Hippocrates)
On the Vital Force, Primary and Secondary Actions by David Little

warm wishes,
David Hartley
www.holistiq.com

notes to Self on Forgiveness

In essence, forgiveness is of ultimate simplicity.
As life's lessons magnetize us toward more 'godlike' thought, attitudes, and behaviours.. One of the things that becomes clear is that our ego, our 'little self' is not so godlike (another name for ego is "the monkey mind.")
So -- shedding egoic attitudes -such as the concept that we are in any way capable of (or served by) sitting in Judgement of another.. becomes highly desirable.
Whatever thoughts, attitudes, emotions attempt to infuse the monkey mind with righteous judgement are essentially and ultimately part of The LIE.
The Grand Illusion. Maya. The veil that separates us from the Divine.
The perpetuation of Suffering.
The simple truth is: no one of us knows all aspects of any situation and thus we're not COMPETENT to judge (even if it weren't a self-defeating exercise) -speaking of which... generally, when wrapped up in judging another, we are simultaneously involved in negative self-judgement
(which is the greatest and perhaps the ONLY "sin") .. and 'projecting' the angst & self hatred which we suffer from onto "the other"
(where in essence, we're all One, all part of the same energy field, no possibility of being "other" than a holographic fragment [a holotropic one, at that]) .. of the All.
So.. forgiveness boils down more or less to
"redemption from original sin."
(where "sin" is from Latin: "ignorance")
thus "redemption from original sin" .. "enlightenment?"
Judge not lest ye be judged
Plucking of one's eyeballs, casting of stones, all that stuff.
Practically?
When busily engaged in judging an "other" .. try to forgive yourself for sitting in judgement.
None of us is perfect.
Sufi invocation:
Toward the One,
the Perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty, the Only Being;
United with All the Illuminated Souls,
Who form the Embodiment of the Master,
the Spirit of Guidance. warm wishes, David Hartley http:/www.holistiq.com Berkeley, California, USA

healing arts - "life's work?"

(written as response to a new friend from Craigslist's "man seeking woman" section)

> wandering-dervish@somewhere.net wrote:
> I've often wondered if I would still be
> doing massage at 50.
> How long have you been practicing?
> Is this your life's work...to be a healer?

Most people I've known or heard of .. have slowly phased out of "primary practice" of massage; in favor of a practice that includes healing arts which are likely to have more profound effect (reach 'deeper' toward root causes of dis-ease / non-optimal health AND are less physically demanding (I've known of people whose hands/wrists &/or forearm tendons .. simply could not bear the repetitive stress over time.)

I can no longer pretend to know what is my life's work {smile}
.. about 10yrs ago, when I studied homeopathy & craniosacral work in-depth..
I THOUGHT this was my life's work -- possibly it will be at some point, but at THIS point, in THIS area of the world.. I've found it extremely difficult.
I was able to create a successful 1/2 time massage practice incorporating a little of craniosacral work -and oriented toward 'deep tissue' massage .. practicing all the while some 'energywork' in each session --- yet was never able to evolve that practice into what I'd envisioned: a practice of primarily craniosacral work and homeopathy.

SO- I grew bored with massage, and found it easier to concentrate on my other expertise:
computer / I.T. /network administration, etc. -and now have a new client whom I COMPLETELY enjoy working with/for, Cafe Gratitude, who owns 5 Vegan & mostly Raw Food restaurants, a central-kitchen/office, a small organic farm, and is presently opening 1 more restaurant .. with an eye to continued growth. Recently, I'm working the last bugs out of an 'enterprise class' VoIP (voice over IP; computer telephony) installation, which routes all 6 locations' phone traffic over the Internet and features extensive hosted PBX & voicemail functions. I'm beginning to feel it is at least a part of my "life's work" to be the technical guru to these lovely & loving people.
Soon, I intend to start offering my healing arts services on sliding-scale to the cafe workers (whose wages make it somewhat difficult for them to feel they can afford most healers' rates here in this pricey San Francisco Bay Area.)

I've always let LIFE have a fairly free hand in determining what my work shall be..
-which is good, since otherwise I might feel crushed as a failure ;-)
...and am excited about current directions, opportunities, co-workers.. "wandering dervish.." .. could easily describe my life path -and philosophy (to some extent) warm wishes, David Hartley www.holistiq.com www.holistiq.gaia.com

Conscious Enlightenment - meets the Corporate world ?

hmmm... well Christopher,

In a similar fashion to how the mass-mail below DOES NOT seem to constitute "reaching out personally"
-it seems likely that the fervor over corporate branding DOES NOT bode well .. except for those "packaging" and "mainstreaming" social alternatives ... often as vanity items for acquisition by various yuppies. While I'm sure that yuppies on yoga are better than yuppies on Golds gym.. it'd be great if CASH and the bottom line, while certainly of some merit, did not DRIVE the organization.

One of the things which REALLY CREEPS ME OUT about zaadz (among any/all others who fit the picture)
-is their "integrative medicine" section, in which people with the typically stilted "western" / "modern" medicine (read: drugs & surgery) -viewpoints (read: indoctrination, investement, etc) PRETEND to be interested in viable ALTERNATIVEs (to the pharmaceutical-industry sponsored drug & surgery brand of "modern medicine") so as to "integrate" (read: marginalize further, by making amateurish and ineffectual use of ALTERNATIVE therapies) into their practices (thereby appearing to be open to alternatives; actually a means of trashing the alternatives EXCEPT in the very rare case where the "western" "modern" drugs & surgery Inc type of practitioner will deign to work with an alternative practitioner who actually knows h/ir stuff 1000 times better than for instance, a chiropractor who's taken a weekend seminar before "integrating" an "ALTERNATIVE" into h/ir menu of items for sale (few of which s/he may be actually capable of wielding as effective healing-arts tools..)

'nother example.. Whole Foods. (even Rainbow grocery) USED TO BE "alternative" NOW they're yuppie-driven.
"Alternative" folks who spend a reasonable amount of their attention on "conscious enlightenment" are, in large part, unable to pay yuppie prices for food. $8 per pound for red bell peppers ?
I worked for a short time (over 30yrs ago) at Semillas de Vida (Seeds of Life) .. the precursor to Rainbow grocery, and have continued to shop at Rainbow.. though recently, the price of Rainbow's success has started seeming to be price-gouging at the register.

I'm sure there is plenty of good y'all can do. BEWARE of morphing into the corporate mindset ! It's insidious, not to mention invidious. Our world is currently ruled through a corporate plutocracy... some "trading with the enemy" is certainly necessary, and a desire to seed the dominant paradigm with better ideas is likely the way to the future... but lest we BECOME "the enemy" we need to keep it REAL. Money cannot be the god or the guideline of "conscious enlightentment."

Good luck in keeping it real,
David Hartley
www.holistiq.com

================
Conscious Enlightenment’s New Partners
Dear friend of CE magazines,
As you’ve probably already heard by now, our family of magazines has recently entered an exciting new phase in our growth, joining forces with leaders in green living/health and wellness media to create a unified LOHAS community. Our partners are LIME.com (a multimedia lifestyle company with multiple platforms focused on leading a healthier, greener, and more balanced lifestyle), Zaadz.com (the leading social networking site in the LOHAS space), and Gaiam, Inc., (a lifestyle media company catering to people who value personal development, natural health, ecological lifestyles and inspirational entertainment).

There’s been quite a bit of buzz around this news, and so I wanted to reach out personally to explain what this means to you as an advertiser and supporter of our magazines — to highlight some of the possibilities this opens up for all of us.

First off: to clarify, as part of our partnership, Gaiam has invested in Conscious Enlightenment — the parent company of Common Ground, Whole Life Times and Conscious Choice magazines. It’s a common misconception that an investment is the same thing as an acquisition. However, in our case, Gaiam has made an investment in CE — in the full sense of what that word means. Gaiam has invested in the goals, mission and vision of our company, supporting us to continue to develop our family of multimedia products and services geared toward empowering the greater conscious community.

Last week I was in Boulder, Colorado for a meet-the-team/brainstorming session with Gaiam, Lime, Zaadz and the assorted others coming together through the new investment. The trip was a lot of fun, both on a personal level — meeting all the great people in our new extended family — and on a professional level — looking forward to the creative collaboration that is going to come out of this relationship.

After the meeting in Colorado, I am doubly sure: Gaiam has chosen to support CE because they share our mission. They believe in the magazines, in Yogamates.com, in MonthlyYogaDVD.com, in Organic Media Design and in the Enlightenment Card. They recognize the power of the individual brands, and they are committed to fostering our growth and development in the direction that we’ve been moving since the company’s conception.

To be specific: the magazines (and additional brands) are not changing, becoming more corporate, or product-oriented, editorially and otherwise. In the short-term, we get to continue doing what we do best as we see fit — with the added support and extensive resources of the various brands at our fingertips.

In the long term, the extended Gaiam family (Lime, Zaazds, Spiritual Cinema and Earth Cinema Circle, Real Goods, Harmony, etc.) is on hand for creative collaboration, systems support, resource sharing, etc., and to swap ideas that have worked in the past so that we don’t end up reinventing the wheel. I will keep you updated as we learn more about all of the resources available and better understand how we can help support each other.

In the meantime, I’d like to extend a direct invitation to you as a supporter of our magazines to participate in this period of positive growth and change. If any of you have any ideas for what might work moving forward — anything that we can do better to serve your needs as an advertiser, or as a reader, or as a fellow worldchanger — I’d love to hear them. This is a time of exponential possibility and growth for Conscious Enlightenment, and there’s room for everyone to play a part.

Here’s to positive change and continued success for our ever-growing community,

Christopher Miglino
CEO
Conscious Enlightenment

"A Little Human Love"

Hi K,

I'm glad you enjoyed my "web presence" - I figure it's best to use the technology to make something of myself known to potential friends, holistiq business contacts, craigslist-daters , etc. (grin)

Thanks for writing back; I'd love to meet you some time, where do you live / work ? I'm in Berkeley, as you may be aware.

With regard to spirituality, and our connected-ness with "ALL" and with regard to your quotes:
>I become disheartened and discouraged often by the state of our society.
>I do believe in love, painfully so, but a life partner?
>I just don't know anymore to be honest.
>It seems when we focus on a connectedness with everyone, often we
>become slightly asexual.
>Does that make sense?

According to Buddhist tradition, and according to the sometimes painful evidence of our own senses, we are living in the "Kali Yuga" .. the "Iron Age," the last of four Maha-yugas spanning a nearly incomprehensible amount of time, and representing the inevitable and periodic downhill slide from "Golden Age" toward the eventual dissolution of the material universe as we know it .. a cycle that is compared to our own breath .. where the exhalation is nearing its end, and the new intake of breath will be the beginnings of creation for an entirely new Spirito-physical Universe. (physical plane, astral plane, causal plane, etheric plane are some ways of thinking of inter-permeable divisions of manifested Universe .. as opposed to Unmanifest which is beyond any description and outside of "creation.")

So, from this perspective, everything (as usual - smile :) is proceeding along its normal course, all is well and the Gods are in their Heavens (to co-opt a phrase into the service of Pantheism, since I like to think of the Universe as being populated by gods, godesses, and godlets) .. even though I experience the reality of the "One God" theory in a deeper manner .. (Ek Ong Kar Siri Wha Guru Sat Nam : "There is one Creator whose name is Truth. Great is the ecstasy of that Supreme Wisdom") - the essence of Monotheism far predating Christianity.

As we identify with/as Spirit, and release judgments we may have harbored against the Universe, its Creator, our Self, and our Neighbor .. we may approach an equilibrium, a sort of philosophical detachment.. where we Fundamentally and Primarily hold the most Deepset and Unshakable Knowingness that we are All One .. that "injustice" is a perception which is caused by our own delusion (illusion being defines as anything which obscures that One Truth) ..and that our Way as spiritually awakening beings is to act as channels for flowing the higher tones of creative juice (love, bliss, hope, charity) and to transform the lower (fear, anger, greed, despair, attachment, vanity) into the higher and to continue thus to channel the height of creativity .. our purest experience and understanding of Divine Love / Cosmic Love.

Still.. as a man, with human eyes and human heart, it is quite Painfully apparent that the Faeries and other Spirits of the Land have gone on ahead, and are calling all of the more exotic animals and plants along with them into the Forest Primeval.. (the Unmanifest .. a template of reality we can experience as cultural memory, or karmic memory, or perhaps "direct perception" of non-physical reality) and it is only by making an active choice that I can turn toward philosophical / Spiritual detachment..

The fact that I'm not yet perfect in this area, is evidenced by my emotional twinges .. it nearly brings tears to my eyes.. and leaves me to deal with a bit of depressive emotional funk.. when I see the incontrovertible truth of this beautiful planetary ecology being rapidly ruined (I started to write "planet being ruined" yet that is ludicrous, the planet will be perfectly fine after mankind is gone) -anyway, it makes me terribly sad to read (as I have just been) stories of Indigenous peoples' relationship to their World .. their entire cultural existence .. the framework of perfect and nearly incomprehensibly interconnected ecological symbiosis between all plants, animals, and Mankind .. is shattered .. it is dying .. the deepest wisdoms of our species are literally dying out .. and if one wished to transit in emotional tone from despair to rage .. it is easily done, where it is clearly apparent that genocide and cultural extermination are merely tools used by the least human of humans to gain dominion over lands which had been so perfectly and intimately populated by the web of life which included those wise enough to live as part of that web, rather than its despoilers.

Very, deeply sad, what do we do with such sadness?

it is a long story.. it is not your or my story; we may take on any set of feelings or activities in relationship to the sad stories of the phenomenal world .. as we have done through past incarnations, and shall be expected to do again.. we must persevere in retaining / regaining spiritual detachment.. knowing that we might just as well be on the other side of the fence; the ones viewed as pillager, who is exactly the same as we are, a Spiritual being having a human experience.

the lover and the beloved are One as all Creation is One

What we can do, is choose first of all to rise to the level of our spiritual essence; to gain some equilibrium by practicing the channeling of 'higher consciousness' in terms of placing ourselves in states of forgiveness, compassion, etc .. and thus moving out of judgment, pain, etc, and then see if we can make a difference supporting what we believe to be ways to bring or sustain beauty, truth, freedom, and similar high ideals into our daily walk of life .. somehow, if I can, I would like to make a difference in preserving some of the beauty of this planet and the cultures which are profoundly in tune with their local ecosystems ... so that these things do not pass away during my lifetime, as it appears they may !

Relationships .. ecology .. sustainability, perhaps no coincidence that these concepts are rolling around together here.. for the spiritually awakening individual, lusty human love must take on the aspect of a sustainable ecology in order to survive and thrive The ecology of sustainable intimate and sexual relationship between woman and man takes up many books, and walls full of books, even.

You mention
>I do believe in love, painfully so, but a life partner?
>I just don't know anymore to be honest.
>It seems when we focus on a connectedness with everyone, often we
>become slightly asexual.
>Does that make sense?

First thing last, sure that makes sense from some perspectives.. and for those who dedicate themselves full-time to spiritual studies, it is commonly accepted that celibacy is part and parcel thereof.. it sure can seem like it must be easier just to renounce the fire of lusty human love in favor of the warm glow of divine love ... yet, Life is so arranged that it may not be necessary .. in fact it may be that the attractions and powerful experiences of human love can, with careful cultivation, bring lovers a fine yield of mutual mirroring of divine love.

So, what I'm feeling the desire for, in terms of love and partnership.. is (like everyone else from my viewpoint) basically motivated from the spiritual sense of longing to be re-united with the Divine .. that is the $0.02 synopsis. A spiritual partnership between lovers and helpmates who share some common visions and goals is something that might be sustainable, given PLENTY of love, forgiveness, compassion, etc -- and keeping in check those "lower" states of mental / emotional tone.

What is love? (back to those shelves, even libraries full of books on the topic ;) Essentially, we have our emulation of Divine Love -which is completely unconditional and unceasing; the Sun shines on the wicked exactly as it does on the saintly.

And so, in our hypothetical lifelong love partnership - we must take this as our basic cue, we must pour out unceasing unconditional love (to the best of our ability !) -and be always aware that this is our goal in terms of our beloved (who is a fellow spiritual being, another ray of the same divine sun, essentially as we identify our Self with the Divine, the Beloved and the Lover are One) -so there is a sort of alchemy of transforming the raw substance of human lust, love, desire for acceptance, etc, into a reflection of divine love.. yet without the passion of human love, we are perhaps missing one form of fuel that propels us toward the divine.

Finding a balance between living a profoundly human experience, including savoring the sensual delights is another topic on which countless discourse has been recorded. The Bauls and Sufis have a history filled with beautiful poetic expression of the living allegory of human love and divine love, and how the one prepares and leads us into the other. Some of my favorites of these mystic poets include Kabir, Rumi, Gibran, Tagore.

This is by Kahlil Gibran, from a book I first read as a young teenager .. sadly I did not put this into practice as well as might be hoped, in terms of its purpose as a little bit of guideline toward the ecology of sustainable human love relationships.. perhaps I'll do better next time (smile)

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow. --

The first line of the bit above is something like what brings people into the idea of "soulmates" My own (uh.. feeling? intuition? knowledge?) in this area is that clearly there is no one individual who is our one and only soulmate; and even more so, we are complete in and of ourselves (as human beings) and are positively not in need of nor in any real fashion amenable to having some other human "complete" us .. as some of the wounded-duck humans might quack about (grin) BUT - as we Spirits/ Souls go thru lifetime after lifetime as humans, we develop affinities for others of our immortal kind .. and tend to reincarnate so as to be family, tribe members, and so on. This accounts for some of the inexplicable part of "attraction" - which may be operating as a mutual recognition of a member of the same band of immortal travelers.

-well, this has become overly long ! Please don't be surprised to see the text I've written blogged .. I'm trying to write more often, and you've offered some excellent inspiration, for which I thank you =:-)

warm wishes, David Hartley www.holistiq.com www.holistiq.zaadz.com

Alternative healing "conscious community" Puerto Escondido, Mexico

If you're a bit like me, you're interested in community, alternative healing, off-the-grid living, organic farming, and the whole eco-sustainable ideal (which must include eco-nomic sustainability!)
Current interests include co-creating such an ecologically conscious and economically sustainable community in the Puerto Escondido area of Mexico. I'm inviting a few other alternative healers to take part in a healing arts venue which may take form as a sort of 'spa' and will likely cater to Bay Area (and beyond) tourists with (or without) specific health challenges.. I hope to include living accommodations for guests who may stay for a week or two, doing supervised cleanse / fasting, and in the longer term, develop substantial community guesting capability, which may serve as an income source.
I'd love to offer a number of healing modalities in addition to those which I am proficient in (homeopathy, craniosacral work, massage) -including but not limited to acupuncture / TCM, Ayurvedha, quasi-esthetic 'spa' treatment, dietary consultation, herbalism and more .. Naturopathic doctor, maybe ? It'll be great to also integrate some kind of arts programs; ideally things which connect with the community and its mission and also with the local and indigenous culture.
I have a good working relationship with a construction builder/contractor in Puerto, who also has an active customer base in San Francisco, where I am their I.T. /computer support person.
There is some development in the area; it is not over-developed, but is in the path of immediate future development. Ideally the project will gather funds sufficient to engage in eco-stewardship of some large tracts of land in the nearby mountains, which may be used in some non-intrusive ways such as wildcrafting of herbs and small-scale cultivation of locally indigenous food sources. Possibly also some biomass alternative energy uses. Wind is probably feasible too, and of course Solar will be good to excellent .. there is some cloud cover on occasion, will have to do more research on that.
I have secured webdomains to be used to support marketing, as well as supporting the 'organic' growth of the project.
I have a strong potential of an interested co-creatrix who is a relatively recent Green MBA grad of New College; she has tremendous detail oriented green-vision and also has documentation creating skills I sadly lack ;)
Definitely looking for additional team-members, and also compiling a list of people who'd like to be kept informed as things progress. Naturally, if this is something that you feel strongly drawn to, or feel could fit a similar vision you have, it would be best for all concerned if you make yourself known; see if you'd like to get on board in the early phases. This is already well beyond the wish/hope stage.. one team member has emigrated from the Bay area to Mexico and is a permanent resident of the area in which we will build the first phase of the project. If you want to MAKE IT REAL --in terms of your contributing/compatible vision it could well be that THIS IS IT.
I'm planning a trip soon, probably mid or late March, probably a week to ten days. I should be able to arrange for very inexpensive (and possibly free) accommodations. Airfare is in the $600 (incl. taxes) roundtrip range.