Celebrating "Harmony"
Musical AND Environmental
SOS #202 -- J. Morris Hicks -- (3-21-23)
This SOS was inspired during a recent stirring performance by the United States Coast Guard Band.

That special event took place nine days ago in a concert hall at the USCG Academy, which is walking distance from my new writing studio/home in New London, CT.
While sitting near the front row of Leamy Hall and listening to the uplifting music -- it made me proud to be a veteran of the USCG. And it made me proud to be an American.

As the concert began, I was struck by the uplifting "musical harmony" that was taking place before my eyes -- and was inspired to write about environmental harmony in this SOS Memo.

For the record, I've been using the word harmony in my tagline since publishing our first book, Healthy Eating, Healthy World twelve years ago:

Promoting health, hope
and harmony on planet Earth!
A little background. Knowing in 1968 that I would be compelled to serve in the U.S. armed forces upon graduation from Auburn University in June of that year, I applied for officer candidate school (OCS) with the Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard -- and was accepted by all three.

Naturally, I chose the Coast Guard -- as it remains the only branch of the service in the USA that is focused primarily on saving lives instead of killing enemies.

Timing is everything -- and fortunately for me, I was sworn into the USCG in downtown Pittsburgh in the summer of 1968 -- just weeks before being drafted into the army. Too close for comfort.

As for saving lives, fast-forward 55 years -- and I'm now primarily focused on doing all I can to promote the saving of ALL human lives on the planet. The only way we can get that done is by saving the biosphere that keeps all eight billion of us alive.
Saving the Biosphere. Saving Lives.
I will return to that topic in a minute, but first, I must tell you how fantastic I was feeling to be at that concert -- as a former officer in the Coast Guard.

It was a genuine thrill for me to be wearing my old USCG bridge coat pictured here. I bought that coat "used" from a place in Seattle during OCS in 1968, and it is still looking mighty fine, fifty-five years later.

As for that harmonious concert, it was absolutely fantastic -- featuring the band's new soprano, Allison Anderson (Musician First Class) who was singing in her very first concert with the USCG band.

Pictured below, she delivered the most thrilling solo musical performance I have ever witnessed -- and I told her as much after the concert. The event was live-streamed on YouTube and I used it for background music in my home for a few days after the concert. Sadly, the video is no longer available online.
During the event, I was emotionally uplifted by the purity of the moment -- featuring a remarkable combination of beauty, harmony, purpose and musical excellence. I found the event to be a giant relief from today's world that is filled with so much conflict, hate and despair.

So, putting all of those troubles out of mind, I just sat there and enjoyed the performance. Then, I stood with goosebumps -- alongside a few other Coast Guard veterans in the room -- for the final segment of the armed forces medley. Of course, that inspiring piece was the Coast Guard hymn entitled Semper Paratus, which in English means "always ready."
As for Harmony and the Biosphere...
I saved those thoughts for my walk home.
While walking home that day, my mind quickly shifted back to the #1 topic in my life -- promoting human ecological harmony with nature -- a prerequisite for preventing the near-term demise of Homo sapiens.

It's too bad that there are no federal agencies that focus on eliminating the leading driver of climate change. But there's a reason for that failure. It's because none of our governmental leaders have realized, or admitted, that the leading driver of climate change is animal agriculture.

To make matter worse, most citizens of the developed world, including we Americans, have been taught since childhood that we must eat significant amounts of meat, dairy, eggs and fish regularly in order to be healthy.

All of the above represents a giant, embedded falsehood that is financially rewarding for many industries; therefore, it will be nearly impossible to downsize that massive global network enough to prevent our demise.

What is our best chance for getting that "downsizing" done? I've concluded that our best chance is a near-term awakening by a handful of powerful, globally-respected leaders.

What can we do to bring about that awakening? Having spent the final third of my business career as an executive search consultant, I have been making it my business of late to conduct a never-ending search for those kinds of rare leaders.

Any degree of success in that quest could have a considerable impact on helping us successfully address this problem:
Sadly, that widespread nutritional ignorance is the simple truth why the USCG, along with all other agencies and all other world governments -- are simply not up to the task of telling us how to prevent the loss of billions of lives -- and indeed the prevention of our near-term extinction as a species.

That's because those crucial truths are not taught in any of the service academies or in any of the major colleges and universities throughout the world. I have been writing about that global educational system failure for years. Here's a relevant piece about Cornell that I wrote in 2012.

Here's more good news, posted last month on that topic -- from perhaps the most prestigious university in the world. Students at the University of Cambridge, in the UK, vote to go 100% vegan. That's good news -- but there are many roadblocks to be overcome before that actually happens.

At least it's a start when it comes to thinking differently about food. Now, what we need is powerful, well-known leaders who have the courage and integrity to speak up loudly on delicate topics that no one wants to talk about.
Sadly, there are no well-known, highly influential individuals who have the knowledge and/or the courage & integrity to tell us the truth about such a crucial topic.

A tiny few have the knowledge, but lack the courage and integrity. I wrote about one of those well-known individuals on January 31st of this year: The Curious Case of Al Gore’s Delicate Ego

You see, Al Gore is one of the extremely rare, well-known public officials who actually knows the truth about the leading driver of climate change -- but for ego reasons (apparently) -- has chosen to remain silent on this most crucial of all topics.

After announcing that he had gone vegan seven years ago, he quickly realized that such an admission wasn't good for his popularity, so now he seems to have forgotten that he ever even considered going vegan.

As one of the world's most respected environmental heroes, I can only imagine what could happen if he began candidly, sincerely and LOUDLY speaking the truth about our ONLY chance to slow climate change enough to prevent our imminent demise as a species.

Just think what could happen If he had the will and the courage. He could start by having a private meeting with the only man in this group who also spent eight years as VP of the United Sates: President Joe Biden.
Mr. Gore could bring Jeff Anhang (co-author of the 2009 World Bank paper on Climate Change) and Dr. Sailesh Rao, the author of a 2019 peer-reviewed climate change paper) to a few of his sessions with President Biden. Together, they could get to the bottom of the most urgent threat in the history of humanity.

But, for that, it would take exceptional courage and leadership, and I have seen very little of either -- from VP Gore or from President Biden. I have much more faith in the nine women pictured below. It has been my observation that women, unlike most male leaders, are rarely constrained by outsized egos.

The first four of the nine women pictured here already know about the leading driver of climate change. And, given just a half day with the other five women, I believe that they all might be willing to risk their healthy egos for the billions of innocent children in the world.

Famed athlete, Ruth Heidrich, and I are trying to figure out a way to make that happen.
The Bottom Line
My Never-Ending Drumbeat on the Same Topic
When there's a huge hole in the hull of the Titanic or when there's a raging fire in your children's bedroom -- There's only ONE issue on your mind!!!

I wrote about that horrifying scenario last month in SOS Memo #197 (2-14-23) Fire in the Basement! Children are sleeping.
It's really too bad that there is not a single governmental agency in any country of the world that is focused solely on the most important challenge in the history of humanity -- the crucial necessity of understanding, and acting upon, the truth about what humans were designed by nature to eat.

In closing today, I am still as proud of the Coast Guard as I was when I was commissioned in January of 1969 at the USCG Training Center in Yorktown, VA.

Later that month, I arrived at my duty station at USCG Base Honolulu, a place where I wore nothing but khaki and white tropical uniforms for the next three years. Here is Ensign Hicks, shortly after reporting for duty:
In closing, I want to make one thing clear. Humanity's collective failure to do whatever it takes to eliminate the leading driver of climate change is not the fault of any governmental agencies anywhere in the world.

It is the fault of leaders in the executive and lawmaking branches of all the governments of the world. It is the fault of well-known people like Al Gore who enjoy an influential position on the world stage, know the truth about this most crucial topic -- but chooses not to talk openly about that truth.

Need more info? Here are handy links to my five most-recent SOS Memos on this same theme. It will always be the same theme...as long as our children's futures are in peril.

Finally, are you among the rare group of humans who are making the direct connection between our lifestyle choices and our future as a species on this planet? If so, I would love to collaborate with you. Contact me and tell me your story: jmorrishicks@me.com.

Do you want to do your part to help people get healthy...while slowing, stopping or even reversing climate change at the same time? Then, share this SOS Memo and the free books below with everyone you know.

Also, scroll on down to the Big Picture Documents and Video Section where you will find links to a plethora of references regarding the validity and the urgency of the information contained herein.
FREE: Two "Big Picture" Books
Our health. Our planet. Our future as a species.
Here is the first book we are now offering FREE to the world public: a quick and easy read that I published with Stuart Scott in 2020. Just click below for individual links to each chapter.

To our knowledge, OUTCRY is the only book ever published that features a summary of "outcries" from the natural world, along with consensus conclusions of nine big picture scientists regarding our dilemma — AND an envisioned sustainable civilization of the future, using today’s technology.

We've also started calling this book a "User's Guide for Planet Earth." We are giving it away because of this troubling fact that was stated by Jeremy Rifkin early in this recent 15-minute video:

"the most important info in all of humanity
is going undiscussed."

We're talking about the crucial information regarding how we can possibly slow or stop climate change within a few years.

Want to help relieve the desperate situation in which we find ourselves, read OUTCRY as soon as you can and send it to everyone you know. Just click on the book cover above.
Here is the 2nd book that is now FREE: a quick and easy read that I wrote with Dr. Kerry Graff in 2015.

Using the Power of Food
to Heal Ourselves and Our Planet

This compact book is still highly relevant, focusing on helping people take charge of their health and reverse chronic disease by urgently shifting to a whole-food, plant-based way of eating. 

A fringe benefit of their efforts is the steady downsizing of the leading driver of climate change: animal agriculture. Merely suggesting that the masses cut back on their meat, dairy, egg and fish consumption will accomplish very little. 

We want everyone to completely eliminate all animal-based foods from their diet. Yes, that includes cheese, eggs and all forms of seafood

For your children and grandchildren, just do it!
Please share today's timely SOS Memo with everyone.

Click this image to watch my May 2022 presentation. 
A 45-minute talk whose title says it all.
Don't have time to watch the entire Honolulu video? Click here to view all 60 slides in that talk

Finally, please contact me about arranging a FREE "live" Zoom talk for your group. They will get a lot more out of my talk if they have read our two FREE books in advance of my talk.

Sincerely, J. Morris (Jim) Hicks

PS: Scroll on down for more "big picture" information that is mainly in the form of powerful videos, most of which are free.

For a concise summary of "big picture" information about our situation, take a look at the landing page of my primary website that I recently updated. Just click hpjmh.com
What about the preservation of civilization?
To clarify, we're not trying to preserve civilization as we know it. Because what we have now is extremely wasteful, harmful and grossly unsustainable. It's an incredibly reckless way of living that is now threatening our very existence as a species.

We're talking about replacing it with an entirely new, ultra-green civilization of the future -- and we do our best to paint a picture of that envisioned way of sustainable living in OUTCRY. For what one Ohio State professor emeritus of history had to say about that book on Amazon, click here.
As for making our stand on the only planet in the universe capable of keeping us alive, our "Big Picture" section below will provide you with handy reference materials on this most crucial of all topics.
"Big Picture" Documents & Video Section
Chronological timeline of climate change research
This section begins with a conversation with our creator after a 50,000 year absence.
And Mama ain't happy.

A very revealing and entertaining (2022) 15-minute video. Watch it and share it with everyone you know.

Nine more handy "big picture" documents and/or videos:
  1. 2006 UNFAO report: 18% of climate change attributed to animal agriculture (far more than the world's entire transportation sector, combined). After pressure from the massive animal agriculture industry, they lowered their estimates to 14.5% a few years later
  2. 2009 World Bank Group researchers concluded that at least 51% of climate change is being driven by animal agriculture -- almost four times more powerful than the numbers being reported by the revised UNFAO study.
  3. 2012. What is the right food for humans to be eating? For our own health and for the health of the planet. Five-minute video with J. Morris Hicks
  4. 2019 Dr. Sailesh Rao peer-reviewed paper.This former member of Al Gore's environmental team concluded that 87% of climate change is driven by animal agriculture. His paper was recently featured in Forbes.
  5. 2021. A 19-minute video session with the producers of the new documentary, Eating Our Way to Extinction.
  6. 2021.The Animal/Climate Controversy? Dr. Gerard Bisshop, Director of World Preservation Foundation sorts out the various studies regarding the huge role that animal agriculture plays in climate change (9 minute video).
  7. 2021. This six minute video features Dr. Sailesh Rao, speaking candidly with Klaus Mitchell about the sad truths and commercial interests behind the leading driver of climate change. It will make you want to scream.
  8. 2022. Published in PLOS Climate (2-1-22) a paper by Michael Eisen and Patrick Brown, "Rapid global phaseout of animal agriculture has the potential to stabilize Gh Gas levels for 30 years and offset 68 percent of CO2 emissions this century."
  9. A summary of THE FACTS timeline from Dr. Sailesh Rao, wherein he explains how in 2012, the UNFAO scientists declined to continue the 51% debate with Goodland & Anhang in the Animal Feed Science and Technology Journal -- but they failed to admit that fact to the public.
Five World-Changing Films
That People Everywhere Must See
Film #1 in 2014
In 2014, Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn produced their first documentary film Cowspiracy. Executive producer is Leonardo DiCaprio, it runs 90 minutes and has been on Netflix since 2015. In 2020, I met Kip and Keegan in Sedona where I was honored to be able to speak at the same conference with them and other great leaders in this movement like Dr. Sailesh Rao and Dr. Michael Greger.
Film #2 in 2017
Also on Netflix, Kip and Keegan teamed up again in 2017 to produce What the Health, which is also on Netflix. It runs 92 minutes and may be the best documentary ever that focuses on the health reasons for choosing to eat plant-based. Click here to watch the short trailer. You can also watch the full movie for free on Vimeo.
Film #3 in 2021
In 2021, Kip Anderson teamed up with British filmmaker Ali Tabrizi, to produce Seaspiracy, an 89-minute film that vividly and alarmingly reveals what is at stake when it comes to the crucial importance of our oceans to our future as a species. Most people have no idea regarding the environmental horrors of commercial fishing -- a disgusting industry that kills dolphins by the thousands and tosses them back into the ocean. It runs 90 minutes on Netflix. Click here to view the trailer.
Film #4 in 2021
As our situation becomes more desperate, the documentary films become more terrifying. As alluded to earlier, we are literally Eating Our Way to Extinction, a process that is vividly covered in this 2021 film (81 minutes). Narrated and produced by Kate Winslet, you can watch this great film on Amazon Prime or on YouTube for $3.99. The great ocean scientist and former head of NOAA, Dr. Sylvia Earle lends powerful credibility to such a crucial topic.
Film #5 in 2022
This new film (89 minutes) features a young activist who travels around his country, New Zealand in an effort to find out the truth about the horrors of the dairy industry in his native land.

The film uncovers alarming information about the environmental and health impacts of the industry -- leading up to the discovery that we are on the edge of the biggest global disruption of food and agriculture in history. This new film is now available for $2.99 on Vimeo.
Grasping the "Big Picture"
These 2 films will help in understanding
our unprecedented dilemma.
This 83-minute documentary is all about the findings that were documented in Dr. Stephen Emmott's 2013 book. TEN BILLION.

He brilliantly describes the grossly unsustainable way of living that has brought us to the emergency situation in which we find ourselves. Since I met him in London in 2013, he has become much more serious about the need to abolish the practice of eating meat, dairy, eggs and/or fish at almost every meal.

Just click on the hourglass image. Dr. Emmott delivers a very compelling message from the stage of a theater in London. This 2013 film is still relevant and will certainly help more people grasp that all-important "big picture."
Finally, this half-hour video was published in November of 2021. It was produced by Michael Dowd, a non-scientific researcher like me who does a very fine job of explaining the many facets of the obstacles standing between us and our survival as a species.

As do practically all researchers, Dowd focuses entirely on the problem; not the solution. I prefer to focus on both.
What else can you do?
Probably a lot more than you think
  • Start with the new documentary (Film #4) mentioned earlier -- Eating our way to Extinction for $6 on Netflix. Watch it often with your friends and family.
  • Share this SOS Memo widely: Certainties, Uncertainties & Priorities by J. Morris Hicks.
  • Get an e-copy of OUTCRY. Visit Outcry page on Amazon and get a much bigger understanding of the situation in which all humans find ourselves.
  • Inform all the young people in your world that you are deadly serious about this topic. Urge them to read these SOS Memos and our latest book, OUTCRY.
  • Completely stop eating meat, dairy, eggs and fish today and tell everyone why you are taking such a "radical" step. You're doing it for the innocent children of the world.
  • As noted above, do yourself a favor and make sure that your plant-based meals of the future consist of whole plants -- the kinds of foods that prevent or reverse most chronic diseases AND enable your body to effortlessly seek its optimal weight.
I am confident that if a few million people carefully read and digested this book that there would be a more robust conversation around the world regarding our grossly unsustainable way of living in the developed world.

To my knowledge, OUTCRY remains the only book ever published that features an envisioned, totally-green, ultra-sustainable, super-desirable, future way of living for humans -- along with ideas for how we might get there as quickly as possible.


The links below to earlier SOS Memos will help you understand how these ideas unfolded since 2018.
You can join my mailing list and/or find all of my previous postings by visiting the SOS Memos page on my website. 
Promoting health, hope and harmony on planet Earth
Want to see earlier SOS Memos? Click here
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