Well known photographer and writer Douglas Faulkner, was born on October 13th 1937. At age five he went to Florida with his parents, and took his first swim in the ocean with his father. At fourteen he SCUBA dived off the Florida Keys. In 1962 he took his first underwater photograph. Out of his efforts have come six books, among them, The Hidden Sea, This Living Reef, Dwellers in the Sea and Living Corals. Photographer, Ernst Haas, wrote: Faulkner is our only Orpheus who brings back songs from the underworld.

All four of the above mentioned books contain images that attest to the beautiful marine life of Belau. This Living Reef which took 7 years to complete is entirely about the islands and reefs of Belau, an archipelago at the western edge of Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean. Of all the years of his underwater work, Faulkner considers Belau to be the pinnacle of his efforts. All the more so because his love of the islands, the reefs and the people of Belau overflowed into his oral petitions presented before the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations in New York.

In the early 70s Faulkner knew of a huge oil transhipment facility proposed for Belau which would be a way station for oil shipped from Iran to Japan. Such a facility would destroy the beautiful reefs of Belau, and the land and the culture as well.

At the same time the United States wanted the rights to revamp Belaus islands and reefs to fit them to an intended military base. Faulkner knew his work was nearly done there and he could have walked away from Belaus future problems. He could have gone on to other untouched realms of beauty, but he decided to stand and fight for Belau, (now the Republic of Palau.)

 Douglas Faulkner decided to publish his petitions in BELAU The Promised Land because they show the will of the artist to defend what he loves. It does the environment little good to be shown as the beauty it is if no one defends that beauty. If people are only content to look at the beauty in pictures, and not the beauty around them; soon that beauty of everyday life will disappear. A picture may be worth a 1000 words, but sometimes it needs those 1000 words to defend its right to exist. The same holds true for what they depict. BELAU The Promised Land were those 1000 words that put the United Nations and America on notice.

Douglas Faulkner decided to publish BELAU The Promised Land because he did not want his ideas about massive development versus the environment to lie buried in the files of the United Nations. His last petition before the United Nations Trusteeship Council was presented in 1987, and the world and Belau which is a small part of that world still faces destruction. He believes that only if mankind sees that it is to its own best interest not to destroy the beauty of the planet, will the planet and mankind survive.

Well known photographer and writer Douglas Faulkner, was born on October 13th 1937. At age five he went to Florida with his parents, and took his first swim in the ocean with his father. At fourteen he SCUBA dived off the Florida Keys. In 1962 he took his first underwater photograph. Out of his efforts have come six books, among them, The Hidden Sea, This Living Reef, Dwellers in the Sea and Living Corals. Photographer, Ernst Haas, wrote: Faulkner is our only Orpheus who brings back songs from the underworld.

All four of the above mentioned books contain images that attest to the beautiful marine life of Belau. This Living Reef which took 7 years to complete is entirely about the islands and reefs of Belau, an archipelago at the western edge of Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean. Of all the years of his underwater work, Faulkner considers Belau to be the pinnacle of his efforts. All the more so because his love of the islands, the reefs and the people of Belau overflowed into his oral petitions presented before the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations in New York.

In the early 70s Faulkner knew of a huge oil transhipment facility proposed for Belau which would be a way station for oil shipped from Iran to Japan. Such a facility would destroy the beautiful reefs of Belau, and the land and the culture as well.

At the same time the United States wanted the rights to revamp Belaus islands and reefs to fit them to an intended military base. Faulkner knew his work was nearly done there and he could have walked away from Belaus future problems. He could have gone on to other untouched realms of beauty, but he decided to stand and fight for Belau, (now the Republic of Palau.)

 Douglas Faulkner decided to publish his petitions in BELAU The Promised Land because they show the will of the artist to defend what he loves. It does the environment little good to be shown as the beauty it is if no one defends that beauty. If people are only content to look at the beauty in pictures, and not the beauty around them; soon that beauty of everyday life will disappear. A picture may be worth a 1000 words, but sometimes it needs those 1000 words to defend its right to exist. The same holds true for what they depict. BELAU The Promised Land were those 1000 words that put the United Nations and America on notice.

Douglas Faulkner decided to publish BELAU The Promised Land because he did not want his ideas about massive development versus the environment to lie buried in the files of the United Nations. His last petition before the United Nations Trusteeship Council was presented in 1987, and the world and Belau which is a small part of that world still faces destruction. He believes that only if mankind sees that it is to its own best interest not to destroy the beauty of the planet, will the planet and mankind survive.

It is not an incongruous analogy with human disease to trace the historical root of the problem of global warming. Global warming outwardly appears as an environmental problem of the planet Earth. However, we cannot understand and take an appropriate approach to the problem without any reference to the origin and nature of our planet. The contextual work of the whole picture and underlying problem is the planet Earth.

Some deny the reality of global warming and man’s contribution to it. Some see global warming and natural disasters as natural cycle consistent with the nature of our physical world.

These are questions we should ask: Is global warming natural and an essential part of planet Earth? Is it a symptom of a serious, invisible condition of the earth? We seek an answer from two representative accounts of the origin of things, the big bang theory and creationism as described in the Bible.Many scientists claim that the rise in atmospheric temperature leading to global warming is due to the effect of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases. The gases are emitted into the atmosphere through the heavy use or burning of fossil fuels and through the deforestation.

The United Nations (UN) believes that global warming is responsible for the melting glaciers and the natural disasters of floods, droughts, heat storms, and the list goes on. While the UN aims to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is concerned with ethical issues arising from the effects of natural disasters, particularly on poor nations.

Unfortunately, the two organizations are so focused on their respective areas of interest that they cannot see the forest for the trees.

The UN is convinced that human activities are to blame for climate change. This august body is leading the war against global warming and advocating a long-term solution through the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, the production of clean technology, and tough energy-efficiency standards for all nations.

However, it is not the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that pose the greatest danger for our planet. The role of man, the heavy use and burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, and the motivation behind these man-made activities should be taken into consideration.

This book affirms with human activity and its motivation that the problem of global warming is both moral and environmental. Therefore, the fight against global warming requires a two-front approach that recognizes its environmental and moral factors.

The big bang theory is one of the theories about the origin of our universe. It is considered a contrast to the biblical account of creation. Our overview of the two different accounts of the origin of things is intended to provide a broader and objective consideration of the planet Earth in regard to the issue of global warming.

From a layman’s understanding of the big bang theory, the universe began billions of years ago. A small infinitely hot and dense matter inflated and expanded to the size of our current universe. The hot universe cooled to retain its current temperature. The inflation and eruption effect of the big bang led to the formation of stars and galaxies. The theory claims that the combination of the nuclei of the stars turned into hydrogen and helium, causing complex elements that eventually prepared the way through millions of years for the emergence of the sun, earth, and humans. Proponents of this theory also claim that the stars produced the atoms found in humans. The theory implicitly credits the stars for human life and existence, thus making the big bang the master creator and source of the universe and all of life.

Based on the inherent nature of the big bang and its product, one would expect a direct influence of the big bang on global warming or climate change. But in spite of the inbuilt dense and hot nature of the big bang, the theory is short of being linked to climate change or global warming.

Furthermore, some today claim that the Cosmic Microwave Background, electromagnetic radiation, a sort of heat or energy in the sky, is a leftover from the big bang. Surprisingly, neither climate change nor the cause of global warming is attributed to the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. Besides, none of the atmospheric scientists has linked either global warming or natural disasters or both with the supposedly inbuilt hot element of the big bang.

A layman sees the big bang effect like lava or molten metal that cools into different materials, colors, and shapes unaided by anyone. This is not an oversimplification of the big bang theory. This effect is in contrast to the work of a blacksmith who predetermines a pattern or shape. The blacksmith manipulates a molten metal to the predetermined shape and color.

Naturally, whatever has power to create life and other material must also have the power to regulate and destroy it. But scientifically, this behavior is not what we see in either the big bang or the stars or both. There is neither self-existent life nor a seed of life in inanimate stars or in the big bang.

There is no life in lava or molten metal. There is none in the self-luminous mass of a gaseous celestial body. No doubt everything in the universe, animate and inanimate, including stars, is of matter; this fact suggests a common source of all things. But the undeniable truth is that life begets life. Human or animal life is not material power. It is neither atomic energy nor the result of a chemical reaction. Therefore, it is difficult for any conservative creationist to comprehend either man’s evolvement from or affinity with the inanimate and amoral stars. Human, animal, and vegetative life is too complex to come from the stars. In addition, the frame, structure, and human skin colors cannot have evolved by the sudden explosion or casual hit of the big bang.We give credit to the theory for at least acknowledging that the universe has a beginning. The theory, however, fails to explain where the infinitely hot and dense phase of the universe comes from or why. Is the big bang a self-existent, self-destructive, or time-sensitive dynamo that timed itself, erupted, and expanded into our universe?

Scientists believe that the universe, which began with a dense and hot state, has been expanding ever since. The ever-expanding universe may eventually expand to a dead end because whatever has a beginning must also have an end. The outcome or direct effect upon all humanity of our expanding universe that is moving toward a dead end is unsettling. Equally unsettling is the picture of an aimlessly and ever-expanding universe that is inherently and perpetually chaotic. Nonetheless, the general picture presented by evolution is that of a world that evolved from a crude, rough beginning into a stable, peaceful, and refined state—thus implying an ever-evolving process into a more glorious, eternal, and perfect state of things. But this is not the picture we see in nature or the physical world today. No one would ever think of droughts, floods, heat waves, or natural disasters as evidence of a better world to come. Perhaps the theory bargains for natural disasters as a means of rooting out the weak and preserving the fittest of all human, animal, and plant life. This technique is unlikely because natural disasters are neither selective nor respecting of anything that stands in their way.

Besides, the billions of years assigned to the age of our universe are outrageously inflated. The billions of years needed for the existence of the universe and the millions of years needed for the formation and dev

It is not an incongruous analogy with human disease to trace the historical root of the problem of global warming. Global warming outwardly appears as an environmental problem of the planet Earth. However, we cannot understand and take an appropriate approach to the problem without any reference to the origin and nature of our planet. The contextual work of the whole picture and underlying problem is the planet Earth.

Some deny the reality of global warming and man’s contribution to it. Some see global warming and natural disasters as natural cycle consistent with the nature of our physical world.

These are questions we should ask: Is global warming natural and an essential part of planet Earth? Is it a symptom of a serious, invisible condition of the earth? We seek an answer from two representative accounts of the origin of things, the big bang theory and creationism as described in the Bible.Many scientists claim that the rise in atmospheric temperature leading to global warming is due to the effect of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases. The gases are emitted into the atmosphere through the heavy use or burning of fossil fuels and through the deforestation.

The United Nations (UN) believes that global warming is responsible for the melting glaciers and the natural disasters of floods, droughts, heat storms, and the list goes on. While the UN aims to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is concerned with ethical issues arising from the effects of natural disasters, particularly on poor nations.

Unfortunately, the two organizations are so focused on their respective areas of interest that they cannot see the forest for the trees.

The UN is convinced that human activities are to blame for climate change. This august body is leading the war against global warming and advocating a long-term solution through the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, the production of clean technology, and tough energy-efficiency standards for all nations.

However, it is not the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that pose the greatest danger for our planet. The role of man, the heavy use and burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, and the motivation behind these man-made activities should be taken into consideration.

This book affirms with human activity and its motivation that the problem of global warming is both moral and environmental. Therefore, the fight against global warming requires a two-front approach that recognizes its environmental and moral factors.

The big bang theory is one of the theories about the origin of our universe. It is considered a contrast to the biblical account of creation. Our overview of the two different accounts of the origin of things is intended to provide a broader and objective consideration of the planet Earth in regard to the issue of global warming.

From a layman’s understanding of the big bang theory, the universe began billions of years ago. A small infinitely hot and dense matter inflated and expanded to the size of our current universe. The hot universe cooled to retain its current temperature. The inflation and eruption effect of the big bang led to the formation of stars and galaxies. The theory claims that the combination of the nuclei of the stars turned into hydrogen and helium, causing complex elements that eventually prepared the way through millions of years for the emergence of the sun, earth, and humans. Proponents of this theory also claim that the stars produced the atoms found in humans. The theory implicitly credits the stars for human life and existence, thus making the big bang the master creator and source of the universe and all of life.

Based on the inherent nature of the big bang and its product, one would expect a direct influence of the big bang on global warming or climate change. But in spite of the inbuilt dense and hot nature of the big bang, the theory is short of being linked to climate change or global warming.

Furthermore, some today claim that the Cosmic Microwave Background, electromagnetic radiation, a sort of heat or energy in the sky, is a leftover from the big bang. Surprisingly, neither climate change nor the cause of global warming is attributed to the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. Besides, none of the atmospheric scientists has linked either global warming or natural disasters or both with the supposedly inbuilt hot element of the big bang.

A layman sees the big bang effect like lava or molten metal that cools into different materials, colors, and shapes unaided by anyone. This is not an oversimplification of the big bang theory. This effect is in contrast to the work of a blacksmith who predetermines a pattern or shape. The blacksmith manipulates a molten metal to the predetermined shape and color.

Naturally, whatever has power to create life and other material must also have the power to regulate and destroy it. But scientifically, this behavior is not what we see in either the big bang or the stars or both. There is neither self-existent life nor a seed of life in inanimate stars or in the big bang.

There is no life in lava or molten metal. There is none in the self-luminous mass of a gaseous celestial body. No doubt everything in the universe, animate and inanimate, including stars, is of matter; this fact suggests a common source of all things. But the undeniable truth is that life begets life. Human or animal life is not material power. It is neither atomic energy nor the result of a chemical reaction. Therefore, it is difficult for any conservative creationist to comprehend either man’s evolvement from or affinity with the inanimate and amoral stars. Human, animal, and vegetative life is too complex to come from the stars. In addition, the frame, structure, and human skin colors cannot have evolved by the sudden explosion or casual hit of the big bang.We give credit to the theory for at least acknowledging that the universe has a beginning. The theory, however, fails to explain where the infinitely hot and dense phase of the universe comes from or why. Is the big bang a self-existent, self-destructive, or time-sensitive dynamo that timed itself, erupted, and expanded into our universe?

Scientists believe that the universe, which began with a dense and hot state, has been expanding ever since. The ever-expanding universe may eventually expand to a dead end because whatever has a beginning must also have an end. The outcome or direct effect upon all humanity of our expanding universe that is moving toward a dead end is unsettling. Equally unsettling is the picture of an aimlessly and ever-expanding universe that is inherently and perpetually chaotic. Nonetheless, the general picture presented by evolution is that of a world that evolved from a crude, rough beginning into a stable, peaceful, and refined state—thus implying an ever-evolving process into a more glorious, eternal, and perfect state of things. But this is not the picture we see in nature or the physical world today. No one would ever think of droughts, floods, heat waves, or natural disasters as evidence of a better world to come. Perhaps the theory bargains for natural disasters as a means of rooting out the weak and preserving the fittest of all human, animal, and plant life. This technique is unlikely because natural disasters are neither selective nor respecting of anything that stands in their way.

Besides, the billions of years assigned to the age of our universe are outrageously inflated. The billions of years needed for the existence of the universe and the millions of years needed for the formation and dev

Here in this guide you will find the most up-to-date links to websites that are dedicated to the environment. You can do something that has a greater impact on your environment. You will be able to make more sense of recycling codes, carbon offsets, and alternatives that are available for clean energy with solar or wind turbines. You can find services available to recycle your cell phone. Do you have the ability to carpool, or bicycle to work? If you think about all the small things you could alter in your life if it were just high enough up on your agenda, you can make time to steward your planet when it is on your watch. I believe all of us have a responsibility for this planet. Every small change we can make is an investment in our future. It is no new news that global warming is evident and is not reversing. All of us have heard of the polar ice caps melting. Learning is the key to developing a sense of the need to become a “greener” you. I hope to encourage everyone who hears about this book to make one new change in the way you live. Start recycling, begin to refuse those plastic bags at the store, (Do you always need one?) reuse, reduce, and be as green as you can be.

Here in this guide you will find the most up-to-date links to websites that are dedicated to the environment. You can do something that has a greater impact on your environment. You will be able to make more sense of recycling codes, carbon offsets, and alternatives that are available for clean energy with solar or wind turbines. You can find services available to recycle your cell phone. Do you have the ability to carpool, or bicycle to work? If you think about all the small things you could alter in your life if it were just high enough up on your agenda, you can make time to steward your planet when it is on your watch. I believe all of us have a responsibility for this planet. Every small change we can make is an investment in our future. It is no new news that global warming is evident and is not reversing. All of us have heard of the polar ice caps melting. Learning is the key to developing a sense of the need to become a “greener” you. I hope to encourage everyone who hears about this book to make one new change in the way you live. Start recycling, begin to refuse those plastic bags at the store, (Do you always need one?) reuse, reduce, and be as green as you can be.

The production of biomethane, the renewable version of natural gas, from the biological conversion of organic matter at an industrial scale is fast advancing in several areas of the world. A confluence of factors is fueling the rapid expansion: cost-reducing continuous advances in the technology that make biomethane competitive to fossil natural gas, the emerging concerns over global warming and the need for developing renewable energy resources, and the looming “peak oil” consequences on the international political-economic stability and in particular the national security of the United States and several major energy importing nations. All types of organic wastes generated by our advanced society, as well as dedicated energy cash crops, can be and are employed separately or combined to produce this renewable fuel. Unlike other biofuels derived from limited food crops, biomethane is a universal natural fuel that is produced in a sustainable fashion because organic fertilizer as a coproduct of the conversion process is used to grow optimally the employed energy crops. Biomethane can be most effectively utilized as a replacement of gasoline and diesel in the transportation sector and is the only practical solution to do so in the foreseeable future. A biomethane-based road transportation system in the United States can generate over 1 trillion dollars in economic output and support 10 million direct and indirect “green” jobs in manufacturing, engineering, construction, farming, and services. Vision and political will are sufficient to mobilize the vast American natural resources, know-how and economy in order to effect full transition from oil dependency to an indigenous biomethane economy within twenty years.

The production of biomethane, the renewable version of natural gas, from the biological conversion of organic matter at an industrial scale is fast advancing in several areas of the world. A confluence of factors is fueling the rapid expansion: cost-reducing continuous advances in the technology that make biomethane competitive to fossil natural gas, the emerging concerns over global warming and the need for developing renewable energy resources, and the looming “peak oil” consequences on the international political-economic stability and in particular the national security of the United States and several major energy importing nations. All types of organic wastes generated by our advanced society, as well as dedicated energy cash crops, can be and are employed separately or combined to produce this renewable fuel. Unlike other biofuels derived from limited food crops, biomethane is a universal natural fuel that is produced in a sustainable fashion because organic fertilizer as a coproduct of the conversion process is used to grow optimally the employed energy crops. Biomethane can be most effectively utilized as a replacement of gasoline and diesel in the transportation sector and is the only practical solution to do so in the foreseeable future. A biomethane-based road transportation system in the United States can generate over 1 trillion dollars in economic output and support 10 million direct and indirect “green” jobs in manufacturing, engineering, construction, farming, and services. Vision and political will are sufficient to mobilize the vast American natural resources, know-how and economy in order to effect full transition from oil dependency to an indigenous biomethane economy within twenty years.

As we enter the new millennium, chemical and energy technology practice is in the throes of a paradigm shift. During the past fi fty years there has been a growing awareness of the adverse effects of chemical products, byproducts and wastes upon human health and the environment, and the development of federal and state regulations has been an important fi rst step in the redress of these problems. This book provides a history of these early years from a scientific and sociopolitical perspective to provide the necessary background for charting a course for the new millennium. The sources of pollution of the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land that provides our sustenance and the blood that courses through our veins are no longer regional or even national in scope and it is clear that new ways of thinking are required to insure that the ongoing evolution of chemical and energy technology is in keeping with the needs of all the people and ecosystems of planet earth. The book concludes with an environmental credo to provide the technical, political and ethical bases for the paradigm shift to a sustainable balance among chemicals, human health and the environment.

As we enter the new millennium, chemical and energy technology practice is in the throes of a paradigm shift. During the past fi fty years there has been a growing awareness of the adverse effects of chemical products, byproducts and wastes upon human health and the environment, and the development of federal and state regulations has been an important fi rst step in the redress of these problems. This book provides a history of these early years from a scientific and sociopolitical perspective to provide the necessary background for charting a course for the new millennium. The sources of pollution of the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land that provides our sustenance and the blood that courses through our veins are no longer regional or even national in scope and it is clear that new ways of thinking are required to insure that the ongoing evolution of chemical and energy technology is in keeping with the needs of all the people and ecosystems of planet earth. The book concludes with an environmental credo to provide the technical, political and ethical bases for the paradigm shift to a sustainable balance among chemicals, human health and the environment.

As we enter the new millennium, chemical and energy technology practice is in the throes of a paradigm shift. During the past fi fty years there has been a growing awareness of the adverse effects of chemical products, byproducts and wastes upon human health and the environment, and the development of federal and state regulations has been an important fi rst step in the redress of these problems. This book provides a history of these early years from a scientific and sociopolitical perspective to provide the necessary background for charting a course for the new millennium. The sources of pollution of the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land that provides our sustenance and the blood that courses through our veins are no longer regional or even national in scope and it is clear that new ways of thinking are required to insure that the ongoing evolution of chemical and energy technology is in keeping with the needs of all the people and ecosystems of planet earth. The book concludes with an environmental credo to provide the technical, political and ethical bases for the paradigm shift to a sustainable balance among chemicals, human health and the environment.

Healing Our World is an important book. It is one of the better explanations of the concept of ecology that can be applied not only to the natural world but to our communications environment as well. I recommend the book enthusiastically.

Neil Postman, Ed.D., Chair, Department of Culture and Communications at New York University
and author of 17 books including Amusing Ourselves to Death, Technopoly, The Disappearance of Childhood, and The End of Education

With revolutionary sensitivity, Jackie has put together an overview of the state of our lives and our planet with the rare quality of being rooted in daily experience.

Chellis Glendinning, Ph.D.,
from the Introduction; Author of My Name is Chellis and I´m in Recovery from Western Civilization, Off the Map, and others.

As we settle into the 21st century, it is time to clean house and rid ourselves of many of the false assumptions upon which we have based our lives. Healing Our World: A Journey from the Darkness into the Light, explores how we have been lulled into complacency about the illnesses in our culture. We have been taught to believe that we get sick because of the luck of the draw or because we have the flu rather than because of reckless consumption and the production of life threatening toxic substances. Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that government environmental standards are designed to protect the free-flow of commerce, not our health.

Healing Our World provides a wonderful opportunity to examine our values and what we have placed value on. It can be a joyous time of house cleaning and soul cleaning, a time when we embrace nature’s limits and see value in unexpected places.

Each chapter will take you on a journey of eye-opening revelations of the environmental and social injustices at work in our world. The effects of the greed and self interest of political, corporate and industrial leaders will shock you, depress you, infuriate you, and maybe, move you to action and profound personal examination. But you won´t have to go it alone. You will also be presented with many ideas about how to get personally involved in healing these wounds.

In February of 1997, Jackie was asked to write a story about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity for the Environment News Service and the response to the piece was so great that they asked him to write a weekly column of opinion. Since that time, he has written over 160 articles with over 1200 Internet links.

Healing Our World´s ten chapters take the reader on a journey into the maladies of our time and the results of our consumer based lifestyle. The consequences of treating the Earth as an endless resource store become painfully obvious. But along the way, pathways toward healing are presented that give the reader solid ideas about how to break the endless cycle of consumerism and start the journey toward considering all life on Earth as sacred.

Readers of Jackie´s weekly commentary will find familiar articles updated and revised, with much new material. Each chapter is introduced with connecting thoughts and the Conclusion brings it all together. Many questions will remain, but the reader will walk away with lots of ideas. The book includes a comprehensive bibliography and extensive index.

Jackie maintains a comprehensive website of his teachings and a complete archive of over 180 of his weekly commentaries. Healing Our World has its own website at www.healingourworld.com where readers will find updated Internet links and updates on the issues presented in the book.

Jackie lives in Seattle, Washington with his son, Justin Forrest. He can be contacted at jackie@healingourworld.com.

Reader Comments on Jackie´s weekly commentaries:

Cindy in Bellingham, Washington wrote:
Thank you so much for your thought-provoking musings on taking action on behalf of the earth...and our selves. I, too, believe there are simple actions we can take that have incredibly powerful benefits - for me personally, for those with whom I have daily contact, and ultimately for positive change on a global scale. Thank you for the reminder about what is truly important and meaningful during this time on earth. And thank you for doing what you are doing - I am inspired and thankful that I am not doing this work alone.

Ann in Washington State wrote this heart-rending comment:
Jackie, Your information and advice is just what I was looking for. I recently underwent cervical spine surgery when the doctors halted the surgery due to a lump in my throat. I was born in Ephrata Washington in 1960 and then lived in Yakima in 1989. My father was also in the Navy and was exposed to the testing of hydrogen bombs and is now monitored by the wonderful government we have. I am so upset. Do you think (I think I know the answer) me living in these areas contributed to my medical condition now? I plan to takes steps now that you have recommended. I hope you will answer my mail, and thank goodness we have people like you (and now me) to make people aware and to take action. God Bless you.

Joyce wrote:
I very much appreciated the piece you wrote about Earth Day which appeared on a Quaker environmental newsgroup digest. I spent part of the day speaking and singing to 5 kindergarten classes about the Earth and our responsibility. I realized at the end of the program that even my presentations to lower elementary kids are now focusing on consumption habits, because even at their age, they are little consumers and have great power there. Thanks for the Kick in the Butt article.

Lynn from East Texas wrote:
CONGRATULATIONS on your accomplishment as well as your obvious ability to think critically and express enlightened ideas. I call myself a recovering Southern Baptist. It´s been an "interesting" path but I am very grateful to have broken through my early programming to a broader perspective. It´s only been recently that I have attended to our Mother Earth; the ecological tragedies that lay at our doorstep…This is not at attempt at profound expression... only a word from a "co-traveler" saying "Good work! Keep it up! Your writings and website are very meaningful to me.

Sonia wrote:
Just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for caring about our companion animals and for the well researched article called Food Even a Dog Shouldn´t Eat. I´m sorry about your beloved dog Banshee´s battle with cancer. Again thank you very much for caring.

Healing Our World is an important book. It is one of the better explanations of the concept of ecology that can be applied not only to the natural world but to our communications environment as well. I recommend the book enthusiastically.

Neil Postman, Ed.D., Chair, Department of Culture and Communications at New York University
and author of 17 books including Amusing Ourselves to Death, Technopoly, The Disappearance of Childhood, and The End of Education

With revolutionary sensitivity, Jackie has put together an overview of the state of our lives and our planet with the rare quality of being rooted in daily experience.

Chellis Glendinning, Ph.D.,
from the Introduction; Author of My Name is Chellis and I´m in Recovery from Western Civilization, Off the Map, and others.

As we settle into the 21st century, it is time to clean house and rid ourselves of many of the false assumptions upon which we have based our lives. Healing Our World: A Journey from the Darkness into the Light, explores how we have been lulled into complacency about the illnesses in our culture. We have been taught to believe that we get sick because of the luck of the draw or because we have the flu rather than because of reckless consumption and the production of life threatening toxic substances. Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that government environmental standards are designed to protect the free-flow of commerce, not our health.

Healing Our World provides a wonderful opportunity to examine our values and what we have placed value on. It can be a joyous time of house cleaning and soul cleaning, a time when we embrace nature’s limits and see value in unexpected places.

Each chapter will take you on a journey of eye-opening revelations of the environmental and social injustices at work in our world. The effects of the greed and self interest of political, corporate and industrial leaders will shock you, depress you, infuriate you, and maybe, move you to action and profound personal examination. But you won´t have to go it alone. You will also be presented with many ideas about how to get personally involved in healing these wounds.

In February of 1997, Jackie was asked to write a story about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity for the Environment News Service and the response to the piece was so great that they asked him to write a weekly column of opinion. Since that time, he has written over 160 articles with over 1200 Internet links.

Healing Our World´s ten chapters take the reader on a journey into the maladies of our time and the results of our consumer based lifestyle. The consequences of treating the Earth as an endless resource store become painfully obvious. But along the way, pathways toward healing are presented that give the reader solid ideas about how to break the endless cycle of consumerism and start the journey toward considering all life on Earth as sacred.

Readers of Jackie´s weekly commentary will find familiar articles updated and revised, with much new material. Each chapter is introduced with connecting thoughts and the Conclusion brings it all together. Many questions will remain, but the reader will walk away with lots of ideas. The book includes a comprehensive bibliography and extensive index.

Jackie maintains a comprehensive website of his teachings and a complete archive of over 180 of his weekly commentaries. Healing Our World has its own website at www.healingourworld.com where readers will find updated Internet links and updates on the issues presented in the book.

Jackie lives in Seattle, Washington with his son, Justin Forrest. He can be contacted at jackie@healingourworld.com.

Reader Comments on Jackie´s weekly commentaries:

Cindy in Bellingham, Washington wrote:
Thank you so much for your thought-provoking musings on taking action on behalf of the earth...and our selves. I, too, believe there are simple actions we can take that have incredibly powerful benefits - for me personally, for those with whom I have daily contact, and ultimately for positive change on a global scale. Thank you for the reminder about what is truly important and meaningful during this time on earth. And thank you for doing what you are doing - I am inspired and thankful that I am not doing this work alone.

Ann in Washington State wrote this heart-rending comment:
Jackie, Your information and advice is just what I was looking for. I recently underwent cervical spine surgery when the doctors halted the surgery due to a lump in my throat. I was born in Ephrata Washington in 1960 and then lived in Yakima in 1989. My father was also in the Navy and was exposed to the testing of hydrogen bombs and is now monitored by the wonderful government we have. I am so upset. Do you think (I think I know the answer) me living in these areas contributed to my medical condition now? I plan to takes steps now that you have recommended. I hope you will answer my mail, and thank goodness we have people like you (and now me) to make people aware and to take action. God Bless you.

Joyce wrote:
I very much appreciated the piece you wrote about Earth Day which appeared on a Quaker environmental newsgroup digest. I spent part of the day speaking and singing to 5 kindergarten classes about the Earth and our responsibility. I realized at the end of the program that even my presentations to lower elementary kids are now focusing on consumption habits, because even at their age, they are little consumers and have great power there. Thanks for the Kick in the Butt article.

Lynn from East Texas wrote:
CONGRATULATIONS on your accomplishment as well as your obvious ability to think critically and express enlightened ideas. I call myself a recovering Southern Baptist. It´s been an "interesting" path but I am very grateful to have broken through my early programming to a broader perspective. It´s only been recently that I have attended to our Mother Earth; the ecological tragedies that lay at our doorstep…This is not at attempt at profound expression... only a word from a "co-traveler" saying "Good work! Keep it up! Your writings and website are very meaningful to me.

Sonia wrote:
Just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for caring about our companion animals and for the well researched article called Food Even a Dog Shouldn´t Eat. I´m sorry about your beloved dog Banshee´s battle with cancer. Again thank you very much for caring.