... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, dear. You're welcome. Ladies and gentlemen, in keeping with our celebration of the fourth anniversary of the hour of the time, which actually is on Saturday, May the 4th. We began broadcasting on May the 4th, 1992, and we've been broadcasting ever since. I racked my brains today trying to come up with something fitting. And by golly, I did. And I think you're going to really enjoy it. I know I'm going to really enjoy it. And don't go away because I'm going to reveal to you just exactly what that means right after our lead-in music. You know, on the hour of the time, we always have that kind of stuff and sort of reflects my viewpoint after four years when we didn't even have an inkling that this broadcast would last a week. And we have continually been surprised and absolutely amazed when it lasts another week. Every week. Every week. Each month. Every year. For four years. And next week, I will still be amazed and surprised that we're on the air. If, indeed, we are. I'm back in the saddle again. Out where a friend is a friend. Where the long-horned cattle feed on the lowly ginseng weed. Back in the saddle again. I'm riding the range once more. So do my old 44. Where you sleep out every night and your will all rise. Back in the saddle again. Yippee-tie-tie-tie-tie-tie-tie. Oh, rockin' do and fro. Back in the saddle again. Yippee-tie-tie-tie-tie-tie. I go my way. Back in the saddle again. Come on. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm really happy to tell you that tonight we have one of my favorite people in the whole wide world as our guest. And not only is he one of my favorite people, but he's going to be one of your favorite people as soon as you have listened to this broadcast. For those of you who attended the last conference that we had, you know who he is. And for those of you who listened to the broadcast during that conference and to the interviews that we conducted with him, you may remember who he is. For those of you who are new listeners since that time, you're in for a real, real treat. And for those of you who know him and who have heard him on this broadcast before or who have attended his lectures at the Intelligence Service Conference, I know that you're going to be very pleased to hear him again. Michael Cottingham, welcome to the hour of the time. Are you there? Yes, I am. How's it going? Oh, it's going well. Pooh has a couple questions for you, I think. Hi, Pooh. Hi. How are you doing? Fine. What's your question? Well, I wanted to know how old your baby is. Larea, she's 17 months old now. 17? Yeah, 17 months old. That's one year and five months. Do you know how long that is? No. Well, you know how long one year is, don't you? You're almost six years old. Yeah. Well, you remember she was a little baby, right? When she was at the conference, just a little bitty baby? No. You don't remember? I don't remember. You told me you remembered. Did not. Oh, yeah. Well, it doesn't matter. Say welcome to Michael. Welcome, Michael. Oh, thank you, Pooh. You're welcome. I'll see you later, babe. All right. Bye. Bye. Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Cottingham is one of those rare people who, up on first glance, you might think is left over from the 60s, the hippie generation. Up on second glance, you'll notice that he definitely is not. It's the long hair that may fool you. On third glance, you'll absolutely, without any doubt, understand that this is a gentle man, an extremely gentle man, a very quiet man, and a man who's devoted his life to trying to make people healthy through natural means and do it in a way so that they don't get ripped off by all these snake oil salesmen and all of these things that promise you tremendous, fantastic results and just don't deliver. And that's not to say that all alternative methods of health care are not good, but the best method of taking care of your health and anyone who has ever studied health and methods of maintaining your health and curing disease will tell you that the very best, the number one method is the method that's always been preferred by people who understand health and health care and nature is the natural way. Michael, why don't you talk a little bit about your background, how you got to where you're at, and then I've got some hard questions to ask you. All right. Well, I would say ever since I was a young boy, probably at the age of five or maybe around six, I don't know. It's always my parents always took me out into the field and out into the woods, and I got an early exposure to the natural world and to plants and animals. And as time went on, I always found that I didn't really realize this until I was about 30 years old, but I have a natural gift as far as herbal medicine goes. It's plants and the identification of plants and the usage of plants and being able to bring herbal medicines to people has always come easy for me. As you know, for someone who plays a violin or a piano, you know, some people try and some people do it. And for me, working with plants and herbal medicines was something that was easier for me to do than not do, and it was something I was always good at. And so I've been doing herbal medicine for a long time. I'm 36 years old now. And the last six years, I've been involved with running an herb store in southwestern New Mexico. And this herb store is a mixture of a retail wholesale establishment, but it has more of an emphasis on being actually a clinic, where part of our tradition in the southwest is the usage of herb for healing. And it's a strong tradition and continues to thrive. And our store sort of facilitated this tradition in allowing people to have access to herbal medicines, and it's worked very well. And you actually work with medical doctors, is that correct? Over the years, absolutely. When I first started practicing herbal medicine in our town, there was, I think, only one doctor that actually knew anything about herbs and prescribed them on a regular basis to his patients. And when we opened our store and started working with the public, you know, it's a small town, 12,000, 14,000 people. And, you know, word gets around. I mean, it's like so you can't really hide what you're doing, not that you would want to. But when you start working with people in the health field, soon other health care practitioners learn about what you're doing, and some of them become curious. And I would say, as of today, there are probably now about 12 or 14 physicians, regular medical doctors that prescribe herbs and people to the herb store on a regular basis. That's a big difference from only one doctor when I first started. And part of that reason is because you're extremely honest. I mean, most stores like that, if somebody came in and said, wow, I just heard about this new cure, and here's the brochure and all that kind of stuff, and I've been taking it, and I just feel really great, the proprietor would have said, wow, I'm going to order some of that, you know, so that the rest of the people in town can get it. And you refuse to do that. Well, I mean, for me, working with plants and people has always been very much a passion. And, you know, as funny as it may sound to a lot of people, especially in this country, you know, making a living or making money from it was, you know, was always secondary. Because, you know, the truth of it and the honesty of it is when, you know, when you're dealing with people's health and you really want to make a difference and you really want to help them, if you do what you do good and you're out to help people, you know, my belief was that you would always make a living and, you know, you would get all your needs met, you know, your financial needs met. You wouldn't become rich, but that was never a point. And definitely today, just about anywhere you go, there's always a vogue herb or a formula or an idea in health care, and it gets written about and then products are made and or sometimes vice versa, the products are made first and then they're written about and they're touted as the great cure-all. And pretty soon they're in every store, healthy store, an herb store and on every shelf and people want to try this next thing. And they spend millions and it lasts for a few months and then a new thing appears when, you know, people are actually missing the real point in most of the health care problems. Well, I find that that's very true. I mean, from time to time you see these things spring up and you get things in the mail and you talk to your friends and they're doing this new thing and you listen to radio and it's just absolutely amazing. It goes from diatomaceous earth to what is this stuff with silver? What do you call it now? It's colloidal silver. Colloidal silver. Colloidal silver. And that started off and they said that that would cure everything in the world and that no germs and no viruses could live in the presence of this colloidal silver. They were charging $35 and $40 for a little vial of this water that supposedly contained this colloidal silver. And then came colloidal gold and then colloidal platinum and then colloidal copper. And everyone that came along was a succeeding different metal in a colloidal state which would cure every disease known to man, would make bad friends go away, would cure heartache and misery from disappointments and all diseases known to man including cancer and everything else. And the truth is that there is no proof of any of this whatsoever at all. Any hard proof. There's lots of testimony and there's lots of assertions and there's lots of innuendos. But none of these people will come out and absolutely state that these things will do what they say they will unequivocally without attaching some disclaimer to it simply because if they did, they'd go to jail. Is that correct? That's absolutely correct. And, you know, I don't know, maybe some people believe in their products and maybe they created something and actually it works for them. And, you know, often it gets so confusing for people to actually, you know, what supplement and what formula and what new, you know, idea to try for their health care problem. When I think, you know, over the years it was confusing and, you know, there's so many things to choose from. And, you know, in the field of herbal medicine in this country alone, there's thousands, there's over 2,000 herbal medicines at the least to choose from. But I found it could be simple if people would address some basics. That, you know, food is the best medicine. And that if this substance isn't helping you to eat better or, you know, bringing you to an understanding that food is the best medicine, that was one idea. Water is another thing. In this country, most people drink chlorinated water. Chlorine is probably, in my opinion, and with what I've learned and witnessed, is that chlorine and chlorinated water are, you know, it's probably one of the leading factors in a variety of health problems. And so if you ate better and you strived to work on your diet and actually understood that food is the best medicine and you maybe purchased a simple but yet effective water filter, the money that you've spent on trying to eat better and educate yourself that way and the money you've spent on purchasing a water filter to remove chlorine would be basically the price of just, you know, a small price of some of these supplements that you, that most people would go out to buy. I mean, some people spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars per month on these supplements that are basically missing the two basics, which is good food and good water. And, you know, one of the things that's always disturbed me is a lot of these supposed cure-alls claim to destroy every microbe known to man, which means bacterium and virus. And there are bacterium that must exist in the body that are friendly bacteria, and if you kill those bacteria, you are doing just as much to hurt yourself as if you had some terrible disease. Is that correct? That's absolutely true. And, in fact, that, you know, that question, you know, unchoreographed actually really supports my theory and my true belief on the dangers of chlorinated water because chlorine and the whole process of purifying our water through chlorine does kill just about every friendly microbe and, you know, any friendly flora and fauna. And many of these things, I mean, have led to allergy problems and digestive problems and intestinal tract problems and skin problems just simply because we're, you know, we're a nation that drinks chlorinated water. And as a result, we've eliminated much of this natural intestinal flora that's vital for health. And, you know, we wash our food in chlorinated water. We over-sterilize them. And not to remove the emphasis, but sterilization and washing the hands has, you know, done more than all the antibiotics combined. You know, I mean, since physicians started washing their hands prior to surgery, I mean, less infections have taken place and more people have literally been saved from that little simple procedure of washing hands. But chlorinated water kills not only in bacteria and small flora and intestinal flora, but will eventually kill us in many subtle and not-so-subtle ways, causing everything from candidiasis to allergy problems to liver disease. And, I mean, a lot of this is my empirical observation. And once I've removed chlorinated water from people's diets and have actually gotten eaten, you know, apples and bananas that have not been washed, but sort of even, I won't say quite say rotted, but, you know, if you slice an apple in half and you leave it on the counter and it starts to turn brown, you know, that actually could be a medicinal application because the bacteria that has nurtured on that cut apple could benefit the intestinal flora, and often it does. And that's not the whole extent of it. In other words, people who take these snake oil cures like coilodal silver on a daily basis basis or an every other day basis, if it really did what it claimed to do, it would kill all the friendly flora and fauna and microbes in the body and would actually render them more susceptible to illness, sickness, disease, and things of that nature. I believe so. And, you know, not only are we a nation of, you know, as you always say, procrastinators, but we're definitely a nation of addicts. You know, we find something that we like and something that we think is good, and more is usually better, so we think. And so we take more and take more. And maybe at some point something like coilodal silver has a point, you know, in its existence of helping certain people, but most of us will think that more is better, take more of it, and actually, as the end result, be in the opposite direction and worse off. And it's, you know, there's no easy way out with health. I found that, you know, not only, like you said, and which I truly believe, that freedom, you know, is a full-time job and a 24-hour-a-day job, but so is health. And if you want good health, you have to almost, you know, you have to, it's a battle in this country, for instance, because, you know, the American Medical Association came out with a statistic that said about 60% of all food, excuse me, all 60% of cancer in this country is dietary-related. Well, I mean, what they effectively didn't say, but what they really say is that, I mean, we have to ask the question, where do most of us shop, and where do most of us buy our food? And since we aren't that self-sufficient of a nation anymore, and most people don't have a garden, or if they do, or, you know, even if they do grow some, that the percentage of self-sufficiency as far as food goes for the individual is probably only about 10% at the most. I mean, I would like to think some individuals are supplying 50% of their family intake with what they produce. But since most of us shop at a place that, by the ANA statistics, is recognized carcinogenic, they say 60% of cancer is dietary-related, so I translate that to 60% of what's at the grocery store is carcinogenic. And... Well, let's put that in more understandable terms. It's not that the food at the grocery store is carcinogenic. It's what is added to the food to preserve it, to make it look prettier, to give it a better taste. And all of these things are to kill the bugs that may prey upon that particular crop in order to produce a larger crop. Insecticides, fertilizer, chemical additives, all of these kinds of things are really what they're talking about. There's nothing in nature that is taken as food by any animal that actually is produced naturally that is carcinogenic. Well, it's... Yeah, exactly. It's that... It's... So much is added to the natural foods, and they're manipulated so significantly from, you know, from the taste and the color. I mean, you know, the concept for most people is that they'd rather have an orange that is completely orange and dyed that orange color than an orange that actually was naturally grown and that is modeled and has maybe... That really looks like an orange. That really looks like an orange. And at some point in time, we're going to have to confront, I mean, that what we eat really is what we are. It's a horrible old cliche that we've all heard time and time again. But, you know, I mean, it took me maybe 30... Well, no doubt, it took me 30 years for that to actually sink in, that, you know, that we are what we eat. And, you know, I have to mention this because, you know, there's an argument that, you know, people say, well, natural food and organic food and all this. It costs so much more, and I really can't afford it. And, you know, it's basically for most people it's the accessibility, you know. There's not much... There's more and more accessibility to organic and unpolluted food. But really, in the long run, it's not that expensive because if you get sick and you get an illness or you get a disease and you don't have health insurance, it adds up the cost of it so quickly when you use conventional medicine. And not that all... I mean, we're all going to get sick at some point in time. And, you know, even if we eat the best food and exercise and drink periods of water, it's just natural for the humans to get sick. And I really believe, though, that, you know, if we concentrate on, you know, pursuing and seeking the best food, the organic food, buying water filters and filtering our water and thinking about... are using well water in an area where the well water is not polluted by surrounding septic tanks or atomic power plant runoff or leakage or anything like that. But the truth is that natural water from streams, rivers, and wells, if you can get natural water that is in a pure state, is healthier than distilled water or filtered water or chlorinated city water or any other kind of water that you can drink. Absolutely. And I even, you know, I mean, you can take this to an extreme. And, I mean, it's really, you know, it's a mess out there and everywhere, but it's not hopeless. And it becomes, I found that, you know, fighting for my health and seeking good food and good water, it becomes a battle. And it's a fight that I want to win as much as I can. Yeah. You know, but I, hell, I'll drink a cup of coffee, you know, and, you know, stop at a convenience store. I mean, you know, I'm a human just like everyone else and have my ups and downs and have my, you know, weaknesses and likes and dislikes. And, you know, some people are addicted to ice cream. But, you know, I don't want everybody to get the wrong idea. I live in an area where there are a lot of cattle roaming free on the range. And while there are a lot of clear running streams and beautiful lakes and water holes and things like that, we dare not drink from these without filtering that water because wherever cattle are and wherever cattle defecate, there is a danger of guardia, which is extremely dangerous to human beings. Absolutely. And, you know, it's a naturally occurring amoeba, you know, but it has grown out of proportions with cows grazing and with, I mean, it's also spread by deer and elk and most likely other mammals. But it is, yes, it's become epidemic. It is very upset to drink the water from the streams. But, you know, a little pocket water filter that can remove it, you know, remove these amoebas actually is a wise investment. And it's... The unfortunate thing, though, is it removes so much of what is healthy in the water that is actually needed by the human body. That's true. And it's, you know, it's a give and take in many respects to achieve a balance. The body is always striving to achieve balance, regardless of our health, you know, regardless of what we're doing to it. The body, it seems like the body's prime directive is to maintain balance in order to stay alive. And what I found a way to approach, you know, a health problem, which can be complex and confusing for people, is to look at, number one, the body is trying to heal itself all the time. And it's trying to maintain a balance all the time, regardless of what you're doing to it. And so if you recognize that factor, number one, and then if you realize that sometimes the body's out of balance because we're doing something to it, obviously, maybe we should do less of that detrimental thing. But sometimes by adding something. So I guess, you know, it can get confusing, but number one, the body's always striving for balance. Number two, sometimes you need to take away just even a little bit. If you're drinking five cups of coffee a day, I'm not going to tell you, you know, reasonably. I mean, it would be, you know, it would not be fair for anyone to suggest that somebody try to become, you know, like a saint in their pursuit of health care. I have yet to meet anyone in my entire portfolio of acquaintances that I've ever had in my life who even approached the qualification of a saint. So it's okay what you're saying, Michael. And I know why you're making these qualifications is because you're such a gentle and kind person that you just don't want to insult anyone. Well, actually, I've learned over the years that sometimes a little insulting and a little rudeness actually can sometimes snap people out of their irresponsibility to their own body. I mean, you know, it's part of, you know, one of my beliefs is that, you know, not only are we individuals that are irresponsible to our nation and to, you know, and to everybody around us, I mean, and to our environment, but it's like that reflects that we have no responsibility for ourselves for the most part. I mean, people mostly go to the doctor or to a health care practitioner to receive a pill or to receive a treatment that will cure the problem, and as a result they won't have to deal with the problem anymore. But really it's like, you know, it's complex, but bottom line is we keep, you know, we keep avoiding the real issue, which is, you know, responsibility. Yes. So we're in our health, our nation, our children's welfare, and, you know, it's like... Every time you say that word responsibility, 500 socialists run and hide from this broadcast. I wouldn't be surprised because, you know, it's a, you know, some of the, you know, some of the health, you know, wise people, some of the sickest people as far as their health goes often are the most irresponsible people that I've ever met. They don't want to admit they have a problem. They don't know, you know, they don't know how to seek help or ask for help, or they don't know, you know, they just want a pill. They just want an easy way out. And, you know, there is no easy way out except, you know, except make it simple and look at the, you know, look towards the basics, you know, which is your food, your water, your environment. I mean, it's like, you know, I believe that, you know, we're 50% of our problems are inherited and 50% of our problems are environmentally acquired. Yeah. And, you know, in the respect of, you know, of health problems. And we really have to stop and question, you know, the things we put into our body. And, you know, no longer can we afford to drink polluted water. I mean, it's catching up with us. I mean, when you have 60% cancer rates for the food that you eat, I mean, it's how much longer can it? Due to irresponsibility, it's 50% being due to environmental factors. I know a lot of you are conditioned to believe that environmental means tree huggers. And that's, I can assure you from my heart that that's not what Michael is talking about at all. Don't go away. We'll be right back with this fascinating interview with Michael Cottingham. Thank you. Thank you. Well, welcome back to the Hour of Time. We're not going to have a commercial tonight, ladies and gentlemen. I know you all know that this broadcast is sponsored by Swiss American Trading, and I know you're going to call them and thank them for sponsoring this broadcast. And tomorrow night, Craig Smith, the owner and president of, I should say, senior stockholder and president of Swiss American Trading, is going to be our special guest in honor of the fact that Swiss American Trading has sponsored this broadcast for about the last three years of the four years that we've been on the air. And I think that merits special consideration, especially considering many of the things that he personally and the company, Swiss American Trading, has done to help this broadcast and keep us on the air, delivering our message to the entire world. We don't just broadcast to America, as some of you may believe. The purpose of this broadcast is to awake the sheeple, inform the people, and save freedom for the world. And in many of the early broadcasts, I've stated that over and over again, we broadcast the entire world so that they will understand what is happening in America, because if we lose this battle, the entire world loses its freedom. And that's the truth. So let's get right back now to Michael. And Michael, first I want to preface this by saying, for all of you out there who believe in all these, some of these snake oil things, that when we talk about these things, I'm not saying that they won't work in some instances or that they're no good altogether. What I'm saying is that when somebody comes out and makes a claim that anything will cure everything or destroy every germ and every virus and all this kind of stuff, and you take it every day and you experience good health for a while or whatever, I'm telling you right now, you're being taken. It's a crock of crap. If it really did kill all the microbes, all the bacteria, all the viruses in your body, you would immediately, almost immediately, become ill, become sick, because you need certain bacteria and microbes in your body and one-celled parasites, so to speak, in order to be a healthy, functioning person. And that's the absolute truth. So, you know, you have to be discerning. And when you're dealing with someone or some store or some company or some whatever it is that starts off with one thing, say like colloidal silver, and then they see that that's a great sales success, and they have people on that tell you that it cures everything in the world. It cures cancer. It cures this. It cures that. It cures every illness. It'll keep you from getting sick if you take a teaspoon every day, and they're charging you exorbitant prices for what amounts to a little vial of water, which is all it is, with supposedly ionized silver or gold or whatever they're saying is in there. You're being taken for a ride, folks. And when you see that they experience this great sales success with the first one, which in the instance I'm talking about is colloidal silver, and then they jump to colloidal gold, and then they experience the same success telling you that it cures the same things. I mean, why would you even buy it if the first one kills the same things that the second one claims to kill? And then they go to colloidal whatever it is, and then the next one and the next one in copper and so on and so forth, and they all kill everything. So, I mean, what's the point? And why are you believing all of that crap? Because if it was true, they would have no problem. They wouldn't have to sell it. And these things were tried many years ago. These run in cycles. And believe me, if cocaine were legal, you'd still be buying Coca-Cola with cocaine in it that would cure every disease known to man, because that's the way Coca-Cola started out, and all these other things. You would be buying bottles of crude oil that would claim to do the same thing. And we have thoroughly investigated all of these things, ladies and gentlemen, the intelligence service, the Cajie News Service, and I'm not talking about me personally. I'm talking about hundreds of people around the world have thoroughly investigated, and there is no substantiation whatsoever except the claims of people who say they were cured because they took such and such and such and such. And in some instances, it may have helped. In some instances, some people may have been cured, but there is no documented evidence whatsoever that they were ever cured by these snake oil remedies that they say they were cured by. Would you generally agree or disagree with that? And you have no obligation to agree with me because of what I said, Michael. No, I pretty much couldn't find anything to not disagree with. It's true. In fact, I would say that one out of three people that I would see on a clinical level, I would never even recommend a supplement or sell them any herbs or recommend vitamins because basically what they lacked was water. I found that one out of three people I never sold anything to, and I would sometimes spend 10, 15, 20 minutes with them, just described the importance of drinking more water and how they needed to rehydrate their cells and flush more waste just with water. And I find, you know, I am an honest person. I try, I strive to be, and I try to, you know, work with herbal medicine with that in mind all the time. And I would say for people when they're looking at supplements and they're looking and talking and looking for a health care practitioner, you know, it's, I don't know how to stereotype someone that would be, you know, to give somebody an idea, but I would say you're looking for somebody who's, you know, who may not even make a single cent from spending time with you trying to help your, you know, trying to help you get your health in order. And, well, Michael, that's why you're on this broadcast tonight, to help us celebrate the fourth anniversary of the hour of the time is because you are honest. And I know that. And I have seen and heard and witnessed some of the recommendations you've made to people. When you could have milked them for many, many dollars, you didn't even attempt to take a penny from people. And I've had letters from people who live in your area who have witnessed to the way that you treat them and talk to them and help them. And in most cases, they were most impressed by the fact that you didn't want to get into their pocketbook, but you were so emphatic about helping them get on the proper road to help by ways that they could do it themselves without buying anything from you. And if it was necessary for them to purchase something from you, your prices are so reasonable that it's just amazing because most health food stores charge 8, 10, 12, 50 times what you charge for your herbal remedies. Oh, like I said, it never was about, you know, I think once you find what you love to do and you can make a living at that and you realize that money is a tool. And if you get enough of it to actually accomplish, you know, what you want, I mean, I mean, personally, I like plants and I like working with plants and I like trying to bring people to plants because for me, I believe that the more people that have a relationship with herbal medicine and in a greater sense to the natural world, for me, when I have a problem or a difficulty, you know, nature has always been able to help me solve it. And I truly believe that we're, you know, not only a nation but a world out of balance and just as the body strives for balance, we're all trying to strive to find a balance. And I believe maybe one of the answers is taking a couple steps back into the natural world. And I don't mean, you know, living in caves and tree hugging. I mean, you know, if people don't grow any of their own food anymore because they're too busy, I think they really lose in the long run. Not only, you know. Well, it goes way beyond that and you're absolutely on the right track. If people would turn off their television set and just talk to each other. Exactly. Every night, which is the natural way that it was meant to be and talk to their neighbors. You know, there used to be a time when every home had a front porch so that when the neighbors passed by, you could converse with them and you could sit out and enjoy the evening and talk to your family members. And this was before air conditioning and part of it was to escape the heat and the confines of the home in the summer night or the summer evenings. But it really contributed to conversation and intercourse between people, which is so necessary to the well-being and the health of any community or society. Yeah, I find that, you know, I get offended and upset when there's obstacles to keep me from being with the natural world. And it seems all around us, you know, there's just nothing but a lot of lies and deceit and a lot of effort has been made to keep people away from having a relationship to nature because there's a lot of freedom in nature. There's a lot of, you know, a lot of answers come from nature. And people who have a relationship to nature cultivate self-sufficiency and responsibility. And without nature, you really have no freedom. And, you know, I mean, that's one of my beliefs, and I really strive to live that, to have a relationship to nature in a way that's balanced, you know. And it's hard for me to describe that to a lot of people who may, you know, if you're living in a city somewhere and you, I would say, you know, you take more walks in nature and you kind of look at things in a way not as an outsider, but we are part of the natural world. And the sooner, you know, we come to those terms and realize that, I think, the better off we'll be. But, I mean, in the times of Thomas Jefferson, so many people were self-sufficient farmers. And, you know, 90% at least of the country was self-sufficient, you know, in their own food production, the individual family. And those people had a relationship to the natural world that most people today, myself included, can hardly even fathom that relationship they had. And I think it's important to take a couple steps in that direction in one's life. And in that, you find more happiness, I believe. You definitely find better health. And for me, with herbal medicine, the plants teach so much. I mean, not only are there foods and provide shelter and utility objects, but, I mean, they're there to enlighten us in a way that when I take a walk in the forest, I don't see plants with names. I literally see a pharmacy. Everywhere I go, I know at least a few of the plants, at least in the United States, whether it's the Appalachian Mountains. Oh, you're being extremely modest, Michael. When we did the conference here, you drove from where you live in New Mexico over to the conference in St. John's. And along the way, you just stopped at a couple of places and picked some plants. And those plants are what you use to give your lecture with. They're everyday plants that everyone sees alongside the road that we all equate with weeds and worthless. And don't bother with those. We want to exterminate those. And your lecture opened so many eyes, and you demonstrated it. And one of the things you did was you witnessed that I was sort of limping around. And, you know, I confess that my leg was really bothering me. It was hurting me quite a bit. And I normally, when that happened, took ibuprofen or Advil to alleviate the pain. And it's something that there's nothing I can do about. I'm going to have this pain for the rest of my life. And you recommended that I chew aspen bark, which not only would take the pain away, but would contribute fiber to my diet and help to give my stomach a full filling, therefore making me eat less and contributing overall to not just relieving the pain, but my complete health. And so you gave me some of that bark, and I did chew it. And it worked better. And this is the absolute truth, folks. It worked better than any of the store-bought pain relievers that I had been taking. It did have a tendency, because it was fiber, to decrease my hunger and, therefore, my intake of food. And I felt better every time I've ever used it. It's a little bit of knowledge and a little bit of, you know, plant knowledge and the right plant. It's really amazing. It becomes one little tool, one herbal medicine in conjunction with drinking more good, clean water and with eating, starting to work towards eating better. Those are just three little things that all of a sudden, you know, make a big difference for a lot of people, especially since most people don't eat right and their water is totally contaminated and over-chlorinated, and they know no herbal medicines. I've got to tell you this little thing that I learned was that I may have been reading it in Discovery Magazine, but it was about a study that was done in Africa. And it was where there was a primatologist, a person who studies primates in the wild, was noticing that the chimpanzees were eating leaves off a particular bush that they normally don't eat. In fact, the chimpanzees would move several miles to these particular bushes and eat the leaves off these bushes for several weeks, and then they stopped eating them. Well, they did some studies with the stool specimens of the chimpanzees, and they analyzed them, and they looked into the local herbal tradition, and they found out that the plants that the chimpanzees had been eating for those two weeks, the leaves were anti-parasitic, and they found in the stool specimens of the chimpanzees, parasites that had been killed by the leaves. And so the scientists, the primatologists, continued watching the chimpanzees, and they found out that on the average, a group of chimpanzees, an average adult chimpanzee, knows about 40 herbal medicines. And these herbal medicines are brought into the dive for particular reasons at different times of the year. And I was astounded. Here are wild animals, which we may consider relative, maybe not, depending on your beliefs. But there was chimpanzees who had the knowledge of 40 different herbal medicines. And then I thought about the average American, for the instance. Who doesn't know anything more than Walmart? Who doesn't know anything more than Walmart? They don't even know one medicinal plant. They may know pepper. And I was just, all of a sudden, it just shocked me. I gave that story in my classes when I teach because it shows us that there is a lot in the natural world to learn from. Yeah, and folks, I want you to understand that when I do things like that, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at me because I have been so guilty of this. And I've met many people in my life who have tried to educate me, and some of them have educated me in some areas. But no one, no one has ever, ever touched me or educated me or opened my eyes like Michael Cottingham has. And I know that all of the people who attended the last conference were just as affected. When he got up there and just showed common weeds that he pulled up by the side of the road and started telling us what these weeds could do and cactus plants. And we live in Arizona, and there are cactus, and there are weeds, and we live between the desert, which is low and hot and provides all the hot desert low country plants and all of the middle country in between and the high country where I live at 7,500 feet where there are dense, wonderful forests and on another side grazing land, which is called high desert. And all of these amazing plants in between that I had never learned about or known about or even considered or had any conception of until Michael came along. And I've got to tell you that he's going to be at our next conference, and I haven't decided what that date has been, but he has expressed an interest in doing another presentation like he did at the last one. Only this time we're going to double his time, and we're also going to provide a nature walk where he can actually take you out into the wild and show you and let you see and feel and touch and find the plants for yourselves and explain what they are to you. But this isn't a commercial for the next conference because we don't even have a date for it. We don't even know when it's going to be. I'm just letting you know that this is how highly I think of Michael, and he has made such an impact on me because he is such an honest, wonderful, gentle, kind, loving person that I would just love to be all the time and can't because of what has been assigned to me to do in my life precludes me being that kind of person most of the time, except to my intimate close friends like Michael and other people whom I dearly love and are very close to me whom I can be that way with. But, Michael, you know, this hour is just going by too fast, and I want this anniversary of the hour of the time to be a complete thing. Would you consent to come back on Monday night? Oh, let's see. And really get into some nitty-gritty. Tonight we've done a lot of prefacing. We've talked about alternative cures. We've talked about why this and why that and food and plants and things. But could you come back on Monday night and really get into some nitty-gritty and name some plants and talk about some things that people can do to really help their health? I might be able to. We can talk about that. Okay. And I would love to come back as soon as possible. Great. I would love for it to be Monday night if it's possible. We'll talk about that since you can't make a commitment right now. But in the last, I think we've got about four minutes left that we can talk. In the last four minutes, I would like for you to just take over the broadcast, and I'm going to shut up and give the very best advice for that complete four minutes that you possibly can to the listeners of this broadcast that can, in that short four minutes, help them to realize, if not better health, how to find someone or find a way to reach that better health status. Okay. Well, I would say maybe the first step is to, you know, in my belief, I found that the natural world has a lot to offer and that, you know, a couple steps in that direction, one of which, as hard as it may be for a lot of people, and those that are doing it will understand, try to grow more of your own food, you know, even if it's just some sprouts, and there are many books at the library, and there are many avenues of educating yourself. You don't have to have a yard full of edible plants, but you could start with a few pots, a few containers, where you put in a few seeds and, you know, you water them and nurture them along, and you could grow lettuce in a small six-inch pot. It doesn't have to be in a yard. Just try to grow more of your own food. That is the only way to be assured that it's unpolluted and doesn't have pesticides and hasn't been treated in harsh ways, and that's really one of the first steps. Food is the best medicine. The second thing that is vitally important is to really look at your water, and $200, $300 is a lot of money, but actually in the long run, a $300 water filter, and there are really good ones out there that actually can remove chlorine without removing heavy, you know, without removing the minerals and some of the nutrients that pass through, because chlorine is a different type of molecule that can actually be eliminated easier. Now, without running the risk of turning some people off, they can buy distilled water at the grocery store. Yes, definitely. I mean, if you have water that's so heavily chlorinated, that should be one of your first things that you do, one of your prime directives is to get away from chlorinated water as quickly as you can. And there's a smoked tobacco. When you take nicotine, one of the alkaloids in tobacco, and combine it with chlorine, you get a very deadly, deadly substance. That really is the true reason that most people get cancer in the industrial countries that have chlorinated water, is chlorine and nicotine come together and create a very sinister type of chemical that is very carcinogenic. Yeah, it's been a tremendous stumbling block with the medical community to explain why people in third world countries where there were not all these health measures taken with the water supply live to 102, 103, 104, 84, 96, smoking every day of their life and never had a sick day. Yeah, it's water. It's what we really are comprised of in 70-some percent, and it is one of the most important medicines that you can put into your body every single day. And one of the things that we're wanting to know the plants is try to learn the herbal medicines and the plants that are right there where you live in your yard. Start with the plant right outside your front door. Learn to identify it. Find somebody. Go to a garden store or an arboretum or a botanical garden and read the plaques. Read the signs and try to identify those plants that live around you. And then you can start with looking up. There's plenty of books out there and information for the basic uses. And once you've eliminated poisonous plants as a potential harmful problem, try the plants right where you're at. And when you start to learn a few of those and bring them into your life, you'll be opening the door to the natural world and learning more. And everywhere you go, there's a pharmacy. And if you have good, clean water that you carry with you and... Michael, I hate to interrupt, but we're out of time. Oh. I want you back on Monday. I'll call you tomorrow and we'll talk about it, okay? Okay. Folks, I hope you've enjoyed tonight's broadcast. It's an effort to help celebrate the fourth anniversary of the Hour of the Time. And I could think of no better way to do that than with Michael Cottingham. Good night. And God bless each and every single one of you. If you want to love her, oh, do anything. If you want another kind of love, oh, wear my liver mask for you. If you want a partner, take my hand. Or if you want to strike me down in anger. Here I stand. I own your man. If you want a boxer, I will step into the ring for you. If you want a Jewish doctor, call on a couple. Here I am to view. If you want a Jewish doctor, call on a couple.