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BOOKS ART soul Cultivating PeaCe Becoming a 21st Century Peace ambassador & sciousness, has become paramount. O'Dea's prerogative, "cultivating peace," outlines personal training to James O'Dea From the inner sanctum of the "Shift mentor- hood," James O'Dea joins Barbara Marx Hubbard, Ervin Laszlo and others in yet an- other appeal to evolve or die. Chaos point reached, the need to creatively move beyond the entrenched policies of profit and resource exploitation in new, collective-based con- enhance inner and outer peacefulness. And he should know. He has con- ducted international social healing and reconciliation dialogues for 20 years, from Rwanda to Northern Ireland, to Israel/Palestine—as past director of Amnesty International, president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, and board member of the Peace Alliance. Global consciousness expands steadily to encompass fuller and broader manifestations of humanity's unity and policies that express and encourage it. This book intends to offer a formula for training as ambassadors of a new humanity, reaching beyond previous decades' zealotry and "storming of the gates"—external expressions of peace, and the desire for it. Without deeply personal inner peace, however, we cannot overcome the disconnec- tion and separation in which our personal, societal and global strife is rooted. O'Dea's training focuses on synchronizing inner and outer expressions, in order to build peace in its broadest sense. In each chapter, O'Dea introduces integral concepts, followed by a call to action and practical applications. He stresses communication and dialogue, to avoid the chronic pitfalls of intergenerational traumas and revenge to heal pres- ent, past and thereby, future, hostility. Acceptance of conflict inherent in all human interactions comes to serve as stimulus to acceptance and reconciliation. (Shift Books) —Mac Graham WhiteWaSh the Disturbing truth about Cow's Milk and Your health Joseph Keon Though cited researchers in Whitewash cred- ibly demonstrate ill-effects of dairy products on everything from obesity, diabetes and heart health to cancers, learning disabilities, Parkin- 32 wholelifetimesmagazine.com son's and MS, the book's larger focus is the fallacy of calcium and osteopo- rosis. Here, industry, research and dietary dogmas have not only crumbled, but also public health policies in their wake, demonstrating that the myth of dairy's "perfect food" status is not only misleading or downright untrue, but potentially detrimental—actually harmful to human health. Not only is a deficiency of calcium from cow's milk not the problem with osteoporosis, but dairy, the author alleges, contributes to the reduction of bone density and rate of fracture. So beyond not helping or preventing the condition, it actually causes problems. Beyond the nutritional, metabolic, hormonal and allergenic problems as- sociated with dairy loom even larger concerns—milk's particular vector for injecting environmental contaminants into the food chain. Many of the mod- ern world's most virulent contaminants are lipophilic, or fat loving. As such, they attract and attach to fats in cow milk, and thereby bioconcentrate up the food chain into all subsequent consumers. Could there be a better agent for transmitting these ubiquitous contaminants than milk? In addition to detailing the link of dairy products to virtually every malaise reference source, since its endless citations—all fastidiously documented to encourage further inquiry—admit fallibility and the need for follow-up re- search. Since the author is a wellness consultant and fitness expert, rather than a research scientist or doctor, the reader is well-advised to take advantage of his scientific sources. (New Society Publishers) MuSiC gOD iS MY BiKe eclectic South American singer. Following up on a five-song EP of Rancid covers sung in cabaret, folk-acoustic styling, God Is My Bike—a play on a special evening for this non-religious musician—is a brilliant exploration of Maïa vidal The moment "The Waltz of the Tick-Tock of Time" began, I imme- diately thought of Brazilian singer Cibelle. While Barcelona's Maïa Vidal predominantly sings in Eng- lish, the daughter of French/Japa- nese/German parents emits a similar quirkiness and musicality to the imaginable, Keon also laments the incursion of "big ag" money into policy, legality and mass perception. Though banishment of all things dairy may bring a renaissance of health (and health care), the vulnerable masses will still clutch their food and lifestyle addictions. Caught between preaching to the choir and valiantly broadcasting to a hopelessly habituated populace, this and similar studies ring loud and true, the proverbial "tree falling in a forest." Hard-hitting analysis that it is, Whitewash functions even better as a —MG