“Beneath The River of Grass”

And I pray,
Oh, River beneath rivers
Creator of All things
Innovator, Genius, deliverer of dreams
Hear my calls
Come to me
Break through this layer of invisibility
Grant me The Vision,
of truth I yearn to see

End this separation
Giving me glimpses

glances
but holding away the totality

In this very acknowledgement, lies the key!
For I know better then to think that I am separate from Thee
How can I ever be?
You are the river beneath the great river of grass
you are the river beneath it all, nourishing life, glade and gator

The illusion of seperateness lasts as long as I disbelieve
In our interconnectedness and everlasting unity

Like Trees all growing and nourished from the same root
We live in a dark, dismal forest of self imposed separation
All silently linked to the source
But we, the trees, may stand there unaware
not seeing the global interconnectedness
Or perhaps some trees stand proud and tall, happy to see circular movement of energy
every tree, aware or not, plays a critical part
in Divinity’s Creation

The Ever Glades are a divine creation
and we are those trees, silently linked to the source, mostly unaware that we are tied together as partners in a delicate ecosystem where every element, every bird, every ‘Tree”, is tied to the river, The Great River, that flows and nourishes all life forms from the depths, from the depths, since the beginning of time. That river has given and sustained life for eons. We are a team. When the Everglades are attacked, we are ALL attacked.

We must protect her like we would our own Mother for in reality, like a Mother, she gives life to all of us and her love and gift of life is sacred. To be honored. To be loved. To be protected. To carry on infinitely.

Fort Lauderdale Beach

August 22, 2015 / Jane Fawkes

Marando Farms: Being a Localist and Being Green In Broward

July 11, 2015July 11, 2015 / Jane Fawkes

When my son and I went to Marando Farms last month, I was literally blown away and like a kid in a candy store. The assortment of organic, locally grown produce is amazing and blows Publix and Walmart away with their meager organic offerings. In addition to supporting local farms, they also support local dairy farms and many local, businesses producing products that are not only delicious but also build sustainability, health, and local economy.

The couple that owns Marando Farms, Chelsea and Fred Marando, are dedicated to saving Florida’s farms and ranch land and do so many amazing things for their community and The Green, Local Economy Movement. Here’s a short list of some of the things that really impressed me about Marando Farms and by no means covers all the incredible aspects of what they do and stand for:

Farm animal section of previously abandoned animals
Community Garden
Pesticide free farming
Artisan Market
Awesome smoothie and juice bar
Field trips for local schools

But, don’t listen to me talk about them. Check them out. You won’t be disappointed!

http://www.marandofarms.com

Marando Farms

The Greeks Refusal of Austerity: Citizen’s Rights & The Constitution

July 8, 2015July 10, 2015 / Jane Fawkes

Let’s look at the People in Greece. The People in Greece were actually given a choice, to vote “Yes” or “No”, to austerity and basically allowing The Elitist to continue to control them capitalize from their suffering, or to say, “NO!”, we have had enough. You are not welcome here, you can take your and blood money and leave. You’re not helping us anyway, all you do is make life worse, and we are not going to continue to PAY you to harm us. Austerity is a critical tool of Capitalism. It is how the system makes immense profit through slashing public funding for the greater good of the people, increasing taxes and raising the retirement age. Hmmm…. Sound familiar? The undeniable fact is that The American People and indeed, the entire global community are feeling the effects of Austerity. The simple truth is that the people in Greece were within their rights as citizens to reject austerity as most constitutions are designed to grant citizens that right to institute changes when the government has become polluted and destructive to the rights granted to the people. such as the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It was within their right, but also a very frightening time and a huge undertaking. We should recognize the people of Greece for their courage, bravery and unity. That gives us all hope. That is proof that it CAN be done. We the People will also say “NO!” Our day will come when we present the government with our demands. We have the rights. It is not revolution or treason to discuss it. It is practical and within our rights as citizens. We can and SHOULD discuss our Constitution, in our households, with our families, co-workers, neighbors, friends, City Council, Mayors, Congressman, Senators and The President of The United States Of America. We are the People of The United States of America and it’s about time we all take a closer look at our constitution and it’s amendments. How does the original vision and purpose of The Constitution differ from what we see in today’s world? Let’s start the conversation. Here is some food for thought

We The People, actually have a duty assigned to us by The Constitution of America, ” read it for yourself:

“THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

In Congress, July 4, 1776

THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION of the THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.–That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operations till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that as free and independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour.

What would happen if we all made a list? We should. Let’s each make a list of how we think our rights have been compromised. Perhaps we also need to remind our Government of the rights granted to We The People as our forefathers reminded their government. I hope they do not remain deaf to the voices of We The People as England did in the 1700’s.

Corporations Using Court Decision As Shield Against Human Rights Abuse Charges… And It’s Working

July 8, 2015 / Jane Fawkes

A 2013 Supreme Court decision that makes it much harder to sue foreign companies for human rights abuses is now being used by U.S. corporations to dodge culpability, a newReuters analysis reveals.

Last year’s ruling in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum tossed out a lawsuit levied by Nigerian citizens against oil giant Shell for its role in pervasive human rights abuses—including torture, rape, and extrajudicial killings—against the Ogani people in the 1990s.

The plaintiffs invoked the Alien Tort Statute—a law that dates to the 18th century and “gives federal courts the power to hear suits by aliens for torts ‘committed in violation of the law of nations,'” according to a synopsis by the Center for Constitutional Rights.

The court acquiesced to Shell’s argument, ruling that in such a case, where a foreign corporation is accused of acts abroad, the court does not have jurisdiction.

The ruling was a blow to human rights litigation, because for over three decades, the Tort Statute had been a key tool for levying charges against multinational corporations, as well as military and civilian individuals, for a host of abuses—from police torture in Paraguay to the oil company Unocal’s oppression of Burmese villagers.

Now, as Reuters journalist Lawrence Hurley explains in his new analysis, the ruling is having a chilling effect that goes far beyond limiting lawsuits against foreign corporations.Hurley explains:

In the roughly year and a half since the ruling in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co, U.S. companies such as Chiquita Brands International Inc, IBM Corp and Ford Motor Co have successfully invoked the Supreme Court’s reasoning to fend off lawsuits alleging they were involved in human rights abuses in South Africa, Colombia and elsewhere.

In the seven cases involving U.S. companies that federal appeals courts have decided since the Supreme Court rulings, corporate defendants have won five, according to a Reuters review of the court documents. Only one ruling was an outright win for plaintiffs.

A similar pattern has played out in lower courts, with judges citing the Kiobel decision in favor of defendants in seven of eight human rights cases involving U.S. companies that have been decided since the ruling

With rulings tending to favor companies, human rights lawyers are thinking twice before filing new lawsuits. The Reuters review shows only one new human rights lawsuit filed against a U.S. company since the ruling came down in April 2013. In the 1990s and 2000s, up to half a dozen cases were filed every year against U.S. or foreign corporations.

However, human rights lawsuits under the Tort Statute are not completely dead.

Center for Constitutional Rights lawyers are currently invoking the statute in a federal suitbrought by four Iraqi victims of torture against the U.S. company CACI for its role in war crimes and torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

CCR lawyers are also invoking the statute in a federal suit on behalf of Sexual Minorities in Uganda against Abiding Truth Ministries President Scott Lively—a U.S. citizen—for his attack LGBTQ rights in Uganda.

In the immediate wake of the Kiobel ruling last year, Pamela Merchant, Executive Director of the Center for Justice and Accountability, declared, “In spite of the Court’s decision, the human rights community will continue our work to ensure that U.S. courts give victims what they were denied abroad: a chance to seek truth, healing, and a measure of redress.”

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License

and is attributed to Sarah Lazare, staff writer for Reuters

Move To Amend: To Create Viable Solutions to Our Systems Crisis, We Must Reform the Role Corporations Play in Our Government

July 6, 2015July 6, 2015 / Jane Fawkes

Let’s talk about greed, the pursuit of power and wealth and how is effects society. It is a critical conversation we should all be having and putting considerable thought and reflection into. When one studies human rights, sociology, psychology, politics, economics, ecology or history a trend becomes apparent. Greed pollutes. Period. In our society, can we pinpoint and proclaim who is the most greedy? One person, Corporation, Organization, Agency or Political Party cannot fairly be singled out and declared to be The King or Queen of Greed. No, it’s much deeper and complicated than that. Attempting to explain how, when or why greed and the accumulation of wealth started to poison living creatures and ecosystems would be a monumental task. In fact, it may be down right impossible. It’s likely that greed has existed since the beginning of time. We see the innate unwillingness to share in infants, toddlers and many animals. Where else can we see an innate unwillingness to share? In today’s world, I think the answer is obvious and irrefutable. We can point to the unfair lending practices that led to the housing market crash, we can look at corporations who conduct business oversees where labor is cheap and poverty keeps millions working in unbearable conditions at slave wages to produce the very products that we buy, use or consume on a daily basis. We can and will go on and on… For now, let me introduce you to Move to Amend, a non-partisan organization looking to get money out of politics and therefore reduce the influence and power of corporations who do NOT conduct ethical, sustainable, and socially just business practices. Just the opposite, they are the violators of human rights, lighting the flame behind Global Warming and causing mass destruction on a global scale all in the ruthless, relentless pursuit for ever-increasing wealth and austerity while, simultaneously, individual and community wealth and declines to fund their pursuits. They profit. We Pay. We pay in countless ways. Move To Amend’s national website, movetoamend.org provides an educational tool kit for individuals that is exceptional and diverse.

You can also view a documentary produced for Move To Amend for on their YouTube channel and gain a greater understanding of how corporations have evolved in the United States, used money and ill-gotten gains produced through human suffering to accumulate power and wealth which enabled them to literally BUY our Government. Democracy is a dream that doesn’t exist in it’s purist form politically anymore in the United States of America. The People are not being represented by the officials they elected into office to be their voice, advocate and protector, or those politicians genuinely out for the greater good find insurmountable obstacles preventing the kind of huge sweeping reform we are in need of now. Millions of people suffer at the hands of powerful corporate entities that only place value on profits, at whatever the cost. To them, human life is disposable in their ever increasing global conquest to pilfer natural resources throughout the world to feed their destructive, out of control system. Life itself, all life forms, are not valued, nourished and protected. Indeed, life is used and controlled like pawns in their games, games of economic, class and climate warfare. We The People have had enough. We the People want to reclaim Democracy.

Watch this powerful and compelling video that illustrates the destructive role corporations have had for over 100 years and will continue to have if we don’t unite and take back the rights granted to us by our Founding Father’s. Reading the Constiturtion

Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren Are Standing Up for We the People

July 5, 2015 / Jane Fawkes

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders give me hope that there are politicians actually fighting for the American People and NOT the corporations poisoning our society and that of many across the globe. The Elite top 0.1% in wealth and power will never stop their relentless pursuit for global dominance. They will never grow a conscious and feel remorse for the “profit over people” philosophy has harmed millions of people and will continue to hurt all future generations if their power is not abolished. At one time, Royal Familes and Empires ruled the world. Slowly, Royal Monarchs lost power one by one until nearly all lost their grip on ruling the people. The remaining Monarchs commonly viewed are mere figure heads and lack the ability to enslave the masses for the sole benefit of the upper echelon. It has been done in the past repeatedly throughout history. Rulers come and go. They only have their power for as long as their “subjects” let them. Will we continue to let ourselves be used and abused? Or will we all stand up and demand total overhaul to create a just and peaceful society where all global citizens can live a life devoid of exploitation and corporate dominance? Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are standing up. I am standing up and shouting out to you all. Many organizations and millions of people are standing up also. Will you stand up with us? I urge you to stand up. Together, we can create a better future that promotes sustainable, healthy, empowered communities,
My goal and purpose is to inspire people to stand up, to demand a new social and political structure. There are many ways I can try to achieve my goal. One method is this: highlighting the individuals and organizations throughout the world who are also standing up for global change. With respect and gratitude, I commend them for their bravery and dedication to creating a socially just world. Their courage, perseverance, creativity, relentlessness and personal sacrifices inspire and motivate me. I hope they will have the same effect on my readers.

My parting words for now are, “Will you stand up with us?”

WikiLeaks Exposed the Secret Health Annex of the TPP: Big Pharma Would Win Again

July 5, 2015April 24, 2016 / Jane Fawkes

Documents released by wikileaks confirm the beliefs and criticisms of the TPP by millions of voices around the globe. If the TPP is passed it will most certainly give even more power to the pharmaceutical industry and they will specifically seek to destroy national healthcare programs in any nation who has one. Here is an excerpt from the beginning of WikiLeaks expose on the Health Annex portion of the TPP, ”

Today, Wednesday 10 June 2015, WikiLeaks publishes the Healthcare Annex to the secret draft “Transparency” Chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), along with each country’s negotiating position. The Healthcare Annex seeks to regulate state schemes for medicines and medical devices. It forces healthcare authorities to give big pharmaceutical companies more information about national decisions on public access to medicine, and grants corporations greater powers to challenge decisions they perceive as harmful to their interests.

Expert policy analysis, published by WikiLeaks today, shows that the Annex appears to be designed to cripple New Zealand’s strong public healthcare programme and to inhibit the adoption of similar programmes in developing countries. The Annex will also tie the hands of the US Congress in its ability to pursue reforms of the Medicare programme.”

Is anyone surprised? No, I don’t think so. It has become public knowledge that Big Pharma won’t be satisfied until none of us can afford the drugs they produce at astronomical profit rates or until we are all enslaved by debt or insurance premiums to be good little, law abiding model citizens who keep on consuming and are manipulated to think they have no voice or power. A culture of hopelessness is spreading it’s gloom and sense of apathetic acceptance. . Hopeless people don’t rock the boat. WikiLeaks feeds the public with hefty servings of hope almost as if they are passing out plates filled with truth to a hungry, starving global community.

Secrets never serve the interests of the people or the environment. Conversely, any time that corporations team up with any government official or agency, you can be certain that they are not conspiring to benefit society in some way. Any positive contributions they make are big news and get plenty of media attention. I am not saying that ALL corporations are evil giants preying upon The Earth and her inhabitants but I think the good ones are few and far between when the big picture is taken into consideration. Once upon a time, long, long ago, corporations were issued a charter authorizing them to do business with the stipulation that they present a clear benefit for the public good. More on that subject to follow….

To view the entire wikileaks post about the Health Annex of the TPP, you can go to this site:

W ikiLeaks Exposes Sinister Health Annex Component of the TPP

Bury the TPP and Instead Plant Seeds for a Sustainable, Democratic Economy

June 30, 2015 / Jane Fawkes

The current economy benefits the few oligarchs running our nation while exploring all inhabitants of the earth and poisoning all of us as well as the planet which sustains us. It’s time for a new system. A new economy. It’s time for a change to a new system based on equality, social justice, sustainability and protecting and nurturing our planet Earth. Without Earth, none of us survive. If we band together and create innovative, socially just and sustainable alternatives using green power, we can bring manmind into a new era. We could change life as we know it and build a healthy planet, culture and economy for future generations. We can talk and battle politics forever and see little to no change. It comes down to each of us individually and what we do to bring about positive changes in the communities we live in.

What would happen if we all worked together? What would happen if I got together a local group of creative thinkers that also want to change their lives and see vast improvements in our community? I envision a place. A space where we could form a worker cooperative that would benefit the entire community. A place is business where local food are sold and made, wood workers making furniture, bookshelves and anything else their creative mind thinks will benefit the community. Why buy plastic chairs from Walmart or pricey furniture from a corporation who doesn’t share the wealth if you would buy it from a local craftsman? Maybe we would have some seamstresses making linens for the house and clothing. A shoemaker who crafts lovely sandals. An artist. A sculptor. A farmer. People who are talented in making natural, healthy, harsh chemical free cleaning products, soaps and shampoos. I envision a worker/community cooperative where people can make practical items that we all need so that we no longer need to turn to ones lining the shelves in Corporate America that usually do animal testing and contain harsh, in some cases, cancer causing chemicals.

I envision a different, better, healthier future that is sustainable and benefits the entire community. I hope you can see it to. I hope you want it. Let’s make it happen. Democratic Sustainable Economy Tools