This Sunday, June 27th, we will host a live video web chat with Brian Keane, Director of Land is Life. A man who has dedicated 20 years trying to get us to listen to the elders, to the people who have a proper relationship with the earth, with the sky, with the air and with the water. These people can help us now with this crisis in the Gulf, and they could have helped us long before....

Our response to the Gulf oil spill disaster has not been deep or complete. It has been from a place of policy and economics. We have sprung into action and forgotten to deal with the symbolic, spiritual and emotional nature of this crisis. I have seen no mainstream press organizations, the companies that caused the situation or the government communicating what it means to take FULL responsiblty for causing all this suffering.

It is easy to blame, but what is my role? Since we are not separate, I need to take responsibility for causing all this suffering. I have not spoken out enough, I have not listened properly, I have not respected our Mother, I have used resources mindlessly and I have forgotten to be thankful. But MOST importantly, I have been afraid to use my power to protect.

This crisis in the Gulf is a wake up call to me. It has awoken the "No" inside me. It has gotten me to a place where I will not rely on others to do the right thing in my home, my neighborhood, my community, my city, my country and my earth Mother. I will stick my nose in it and maybe make people angry or uncomfortable, but if I do not do this, then who?

There have been some people and organizations I think have responded fully and I thank them for it, like James O'Dea and Spirituality & Practice. They have expressed a full and appropriate response -- grief, sorrow and asking for forgiveness. Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee also is right to remind us of the importance of the symbolism of this experience.

On Sunday I plan to ask Brian how the indigenous people are responding to the Gulf oil spill. Then I am going to listen. I am going to listen with my heart and allow myself to feel the pain of my own and our collective forgetfulness. I am sorry it has taken us so long to get here. What I mean to say...is I am sorry it has taken me so long to get here.

China's economy is slowing as it is the world over. One cause is the dramatic recent drop in U.S. consumption of Chinese imports. But nearly every day now, we are reading of deals struck by China that promise to turn the economic tide in Beijing's favor.

In Latin America and Vietnam, Chinese firms have signed deals to expand natural resource production. The New York Times reports that deals made in recent weeks in Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, and Brazil include terms designed to decrease demand for the U.S. dollar. From Vietnam, TIME interviews locals fearful that China's plans to mine bauxite will result in devastating environmental and job losses.

China's military is also assuming a more aggressive stance. The state navy hints that it may soon develop an aircraft carrier and expand its global missions along the lines of recent anti-piracy sorties in the Gulf of Aden.

The Economist though predicts China could chart a more peaceful route to recovery. This scenario would include long-term investment in domestic priorities such as public transit and health care. Chinese officials are reportedly "fascinated" by European models of welfare and public health, and could cooperate with the EU on future projects.

Can China achieve economic recovery in a manner that is peaceful and sustainable? Or should we remain skeptical of a world shaped by Chinese priorities?