New Year's Resolution for All Adults
Save the Children!
Promote a rapid global shift to 100% plant-based eating
SOS #190 -- J. Morris Hicks -- (12-27-22)
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Animal agriculture is the ONLY major driver of climate change that it is possible to completely eliminate quickly.
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That said, if we shoot for anything less than a 100% shift, we will undoubtedly end up far short of enough reduction to prevent our near-term extinction -- with today's children doing most of the suffering during the final days of Homo sapiens.
In the movie, the Earthlings found another planet, Pandora, that could sustain them. But no such planet exists for us...meaning that we must make our stand on this one.
This week, I want to reinforce that message by going back to the beginning when we first emerged as a species some 300,000 years ago -- in an area of Africa that made it possible for us to survive by using our brains, our legs and our hands.
This is a story of how humanity lost its way and what options we have for getting back on a path to sustainability.
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Like our cousins in the wild, we evolved as a species that depends on brains over brawn for our survival.
In the beginning, we had no tools and no weapons. We just had hands and we had experience living in trees and finding food wherever we could. So that's what we did.
We also had brains that set us apart from all of the world's other creatures. We had the ability to figure things out.
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So how did we survive, thrive and
become the rulers of the planet?
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Let's start with those original humans in Africa -- before they had any tools, weapons or knowledge of how to harness the power of fire.
Things were simple back then. Like all of nature's species, our purpose was to survive and reproduce. To survive, we had to eat -- and since we had no weapons for killing wild animals, or tools for skinning them and cooking their flesh, we followed the simple path of our ancestors -- the path of gathering fruit, nuts, seeds...whatever we could find.
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Without any schools or books, we simply knew what to eat. That's how nature works.
So in the beginning, we were gatherers of plant foods. Later, when we invented weapons, we became hunters and gatherers. Even so, the "natural diet" for our species did not change. Our teeth and intestines were NOT designed for eating meat -- and they still aren't.
But with our big brains, we were able to figure out how to survive when the fruit, nuts or berries (the natural diet for our species) were not available. What could we do?
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There was a reason why we started eating animals. |
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Remember what sets us apart as a species? Our creator gave us big, and much more powerful, brains than all of the other creatures. Above all, nature provided us with a burning need to survive.
Survival meant constantly finding something to eat -- even when there were no fresh nuts, seeds, herbs or fruit that we could easily gather. In many parts of the world, those convenient foods were non existent.
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So, rather than perish, we developed tools and weapons, and learned how to catch, kill, cook and eat wild animals. And when we ran out of animals to eat in one place, we moved on to another place.
Fast forward a few hundred thousand years and we Homo sapiens had taken control of the entire world -- on every continent and in all kinds of weather.
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Here is the key point!
Perhaps the most important point in the history of humanity. Our bodies did not change whenever we relocated. We didn't have time, if it were even possible, to evolve into a meat-eating species -- and we never will.
The natural diet for our species remained the same -- but in order to survive and feed our young, we didn't hesitate to eat whatever we could find. And for those who ate meat, it became an important part of their family traditions -- like eating turkey at Thanksgiving.
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A lot has changed in our lives since then. But what hasn't changed much is our hands, our teeth and our intestines.
We were created by nature as herbivores and just because we started eating meat, fish, eggs, cheese and other animal products to survive -- it does NOT mean that it is the "right" food for our species.
You see, nature never errs. She had a plan for what we should eat and, once we drifted away from that plan, we began to suffer the consequences: heart disease, diabetes, cancer and a whole host of other maladies that need never exist.
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Fast-forward to 1900 and the changing of diets during the industrial revolution |
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A lot has happened since we originally migrated out of Africa and settled in every single part of the world. Most importantly, along the way to global civilization, we forgot what we should be eating -- even though it was much less expensive than our preferred meat, dairy, eggs and fish. We forgot that we were designed by nature to eat only plant-based foods.
Also, for thousands of years, our ancestors have been making those animal-based entrees their traditional favorites -- and featuring them at all "special" occasions.
Not only that, our parents never told us about the natural diet for our species. Because they did not know themselves. Like everyone else, they learned to cook and season those foods in such a manner that most humans absolutely love eating that way of eating today.
I didn't learn that whole, plant-based foods were the natural way of eating for our species -- until 2002, when I was 57 years old. And no one ever told me. I just happened to discover it on my own -- by accident.
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Over the last few thousand years, we humans learned how to process and cook animal products in ways that made them very attractive, very tasty and almost irresistible.
In fact, that's what the food industry is all about today.
It is about processing everything we eat, whether animal or plant-based, so that those foods become truly addictive as they drive us away from the natural, health-promoting diet-styles that our creator had in mind for us.
The global food industry that replaced our natural way of eating is ONLY interested in sales and profits -- and most people who work in those industries are innocently ignorant of the horrors that have resulted from our modern day food choices. Once they got us hooked on those unnatural foods for humans, there were many consequences. Here's one.
Our unnatural of eating has given birth to another giant industry. It's the global healthcare industry that makes huge profits while treating diseases that would have never existed had we not drifted far away from eating the natural diet for our species.
Check out the figures below. Now, at the end of 2022, well over 80% of the humans in the developed world have been led to believe that we must eat many forms of animal-based foods in order to achieve optimal health.
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Nothing could be further from the truth. Notice here the top two causes of death in the United States -- both of which have been closely linked with our love affair with a completely unnatural diet-style for our species.
Heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and many other chronic diseases -- are preventable and even reversible in many cases -- simply by shifting back to the natural diet for our species.
Aside from damaging our own health, there are two other HUGE problems associated with our animal-based foods:
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On a per calorie basis (on average) it takes over ten times as much land, water and energy to produce animal-based foods as compared to plant-based foods.
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In the process of using all that land, water and energy for growing animals -- that entire global industry has become, by far, the leading driver of climate change!
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How could that be, you might ask? Well, you see, the global processes of producing all of that meat, dairy, eggs and fish have some really nasty side effects -- the primary one being the global deforestation that has turned the world's forests into carbon sources instead of carbon sinks.
That's right. Primarily due to growing animals for humans to eat, we have destroyed roughly one half of the six trillion trees that were growing on our planet Earth a few thousand years ago.
Here's a slide that I use in my public presentations that summarizes some of the other ecological consequences of our money-motivated, animal-based, artificially flavored, unhealthful way of feeding ourselves in the 21st century.
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So, why don't more people "get it?"
I answer that question in this next slide:
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Crises like the simple fact that the world's animal agriculture industry is, by far...the
#1 Driver of Climate Change
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There are many reasons why this happened and there are many reasons why it will be extremely difficult to change.
Actually, there could and should be a very simple and easy-to-execute solution to this predicament. Wouldn't it be great if we could just have the United Nations announce that all of the world's countries MUST join together and totally replace the animal-based food industry with one that promotes human AND ecological heath.
Obviously, that is not going to happen (for a host of reasons) -- even though it is so necessary and would be so easy to accomplish -- provided that the will was there. You may be asking, why do we now find ourselves in such a disastrous situation?
How could the smartest creatures in the history of the world have failed so miserably when it comes to recognizing and acting upon the simple logic contained in this SOS Memo?
How could the smartest creatures ever -- not figure out what they should be eating?
There are many reasons for this collective failure: politics, tradition, religious dogma, widespread ignorance and the collective profits of the many industries that benefit from the wasteful and harmful lifestyle habits of the populace -- habits that, if continued -- will almost certainly lead to our demise as a species later this century.
So who is going to fix this mess? I am pretty sure that it won't be governments, academia or the scientific community. They have already proven that they're real good at telling us how bad things are getting -- but they appear to be helpless when it comes to developing a survival plan for humanity.
And none of them ever mention the simple, efficient and powerful solution covered today in this SOS Memo.
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Here's some good news! A new 2022 video that makes it very easy to understand what went wrong on this planet...
AND what we can do about it!
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Take a look at this 15-minute video that clearly explains the mess we are in and how we can easily get back on the right track. Some scientists believe that we have already passed the point of no return, but I choose to believe that we still have a chance.
It won't be easy, but it is POSSIBLE -- and this short video reveals how we can get it done quickly.
Fortunately, the film accomplishes its mission in a manner that any 8th grader can understand. Maybe some of our world leaders will read this SOS Memo, watch this compelling video -- and finally be shamed into taking urgent action.
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Just click on the slide
to watch the 15-min video
In it, our creator returns to Earth for a follow-up visit after a 50,000 year absence and, after surveying the damage herself -- has a frank conversation about what has gone wrong in her absence and what must be done very quickly to save the biosphere that supports all life on this planet.
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Ready for more good news?
We can learn how to manage climate change!
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Dr. Rao, Glen Merzer, a few of our colleagues and I truly believe that there is a theoretical way out of the mess on this planet for which we humans are responsible. But we must get moving quickly before we pass too many environmental tipping points.
Through no fault of our own, we humans simply got too smart for our own good -- yet we never fully learned the laws of nature when it comes to our own place on this planet. That said, thankfully, there is one possibility that you've never heard about on CNN.
Let's talk about that possibility. Scientists tell us that there have been five ice ages in the Earth's history and that human behavior (massive deforestation) during the past few hundred years may have prevented the sixth ice age.
This 2016 scientific study suggests that our human emissions may have delayed the next ice age by 50,000 years. |
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That's a good thing and we must learn from it.
Now that we know how our own behavior affects climate, my colleague Dr. Sailesh Rao, explains that it is now quite possible that we can become a "thermostat" species.
We have seen how massive deforestation and CO2 emissions have led to runaway heating -- and now we know that we have the ability to reverse the process and cool the planet by massive re-forestation coupled with a sharp reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Simply stated, we have the knowledge and the ability to take control of regulating the Earth's temperature for the benefit of ourselves, our children and all living things.
You may be wondering why world leaders, educators and scientists are not sharing all of the above information in their professional capacities? It's primarily because of three factors:
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Tradition. Their parents and grandparents ate meat.
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The economy will suffer initially if everyone shifted to 100% plant-based eating.
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A near universal belief that we all truly need to eat animal protein to be healthy -- a flawed belief that is promoted by the UN FAO and their meat & dairy "partners"
We don't need to eat any form of animal-based foods. The only reason we ever "needed" to eat some of those foods is for our own survival -- when we were living in environments that did not provide us with the natural diet for our species.
It's time to get real serious and think about what's at stake. When it comes to drastically changing what you eat, it may take a few months before your tastebuds and body adjusts, but when they do, you will never have the desire to eat animal-based foods ever again.
Our biggest problem now is that we're running out of time to correct our course and return to living in harmony with nature. The solution is refreshingly simple but will be extremely difficult for the average human in the developed world to understand and accept.
The world's young need your help. If you truly love children and you care about their future, you will know what to do. And you will urgently share that wisdom with everyone you know.
You will also encourage them to keep this life-saving chain letter going.
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The Bottom Line
Let's all resolve to do everything we can to enable our planet to keep the children of the world
alive and thriving -- indefinitely!!
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If the contents of this SOS Memo make sense to you, I imagine that you might be feeling a variety of emotions right now -- and none of them are pleasant.
You may be tremendously disappointed and angry with the world's political, scientific, religious, environmental and medical communities -- and may be asking yourself, why have none of them told us the truth about this disturbing topic before?
If you want to join me in helping to bring these important truths to the forefront while we still have time, here's what you can do:
- If you haven't switched to 100% plant-based already, then clean out your kitchen now and set sail for a voyage to a joyful future of human and environmental health.
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Why does it need to be 100%? Because if you choose to keep animal-based foods in your fridge and cupboard, you will eat more of them than you had planned -- and, as stated below, you will influence fewer people to follow your lead.
- Help your friends and families learn the truth about what is happening to our children's hope for the future.
- Contact me about conducting a FREE Zoom call for your group.
- Send this link to this SOS Memo #190 to everyone you know -- and ask them to contact me about a Zoom call.
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Want to maximize your chances of making a huge difference in the future of your own children -- indeed in the futures of all of the innocent children in the world.
A good place to start might be to scroll down to my "Big Picture Document & Video" section and further educate yourself regarding the most important topic in the history of humanity.
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Are you among that rare group of humans who are taking all of the above seriously? If so, I would love to collaborate with you. Please contact me at jmorrishicks@me.com.
Here are four of my recent SOS Memos (in chronological order) on this same theme:
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“We have created a Star Wars civilization, with Stone Age emotions,” he says. “We thrash about” and are “a danger to ourselves and the rest of life.” Our conquest of Earth has happened so quickly that the rest of the biosphere has not had time to adjust and our heedless destruction of species shows scant signs of abating."
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Happy New Year!!
As always, at the end of these SOS Memos, we provide tons of FREE data & "big picture" reference materials, beginning with free access to our two latest books. After the books below, scroll on down to the:
"Big Picture" Document & Video Section
In closing, 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.
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FREE: Two "Big Picture" Books
Our health, our planet and climate change
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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.
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In mid 2022, we began giving this book away free of charge.
"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.
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Here is the 2nd book we are now offering FREE to the world public: 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 with everyone.
Click the image below to hear my recent (May 2022)
45-minute talk regarding much of what has been covered in my recent SOS Memos.
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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
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What about the "preservation" of civilization? |
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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.
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As for making our stand on the only planet in the universe capable of keeping us alive, this "Big Picture" section below will provide you with handy reference materials on this most crucial of all topics. |
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"Big Picture" Document & Video Section
Chronological timeline of climate change research
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Five World-Changing Films
That People Everywhere Must See
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Grasping the "Big Picture"
These 2 films will help in understanding
our unprecedented dilemma.
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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."
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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.
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What else can you do?
Probably a lot more than you think
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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.
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Share this SOS Memo widely: Certainties, Uncertainties & Priorities by J. Morris Hicks.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The links below to earlier SOS Memos will help you understand how these ideas unfolded since 2018. |
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Promoting health, hope and harmony on planet Earth |
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