Longer Step: Ideas for Justice and Sustainability

  I'm not sure what consumer product companies should do about their advertising. The US has become so polarized that we now have Republican beer and Democrat beer. Republican lumber and Democrat lumber. I know a lot of people who would never eat at Chik-Fil-A (I won't, partly because of their owner's far-right politics, and partly because their food is poisonous, at least to me), and some who don't shop at Home Depot (I do), or will shop only at Lowe's (I shop there sometimes, but it's not as convenient a location, and I think THD is by a slight margin the better-run store).  It's interesting. The hate seems to be mostly coming from the Right side. Maybe I'm just missing it, but I don't see liberal groups espousing hatred and violence against various factions of the Republicans (OK, I know one woman who wants to pee on Sen. McConnell's grave, but he won't know, and that will probably just help the flowers there. It doesn't seem quite as ...

  Re: Sudden, dramatic growth in worldwide gov't support for modern (hybrid) winegrapes!   Friends, if you thought that modern grapes ("hybrids") play just a minor role, and are not relevant to your life or to this planet's future, then you need to think again. I have never seen such an outpouring, in just the past few months, of major news from wine regions all around the world, dropping their (stupid) prohibitions against modern grapes, and suddenly embracing them as their regions' salvation for the future. (I want to say "duh," but I need to be professional.) I include many of the latest news stories about this, below. What's the impetus for this? In many regions of the world, it is becoming impossible to grow traditional European winegrapes consistently successfully, due to climate change (higher high temps; unexpected late Spring and early Fall severe cold snaps; worsening droughts; early arrival of Fall, etc.). Sometimes the trigger is the loss...

 As small banks are failing due to lousy management, I've been thinking a lot about why we need banks. We actually don't. America is addicted to debt. We have to have a good credit score, in order to get a job, get an apartment lease, get a mobile phone, get cable TV service, etc. If you avoid debt in your life (as many of our immigrants do), you are significantly punished in the US. Having a good credit score has become proof that you are a reliable person in non-financial ways. Without debt in America, you are a lesser person. Think about that. 1. Isn't it interesting that a good credit score, which proves you are a trustworthy person, can only be obtained if we buy lots of stuff on credit? Meaning, if we buy lots of stuff. Hmm--I wonder if big businesses had anything to do with this system of compulsory borrowing?  2. In most other countries, people have far less debt, or often, no debt at all. It's seen as a sign of poverty, of hopelessness. 3. And "cheap debt...