Longer Step: Ideas for Justice and Sustainability

WashPost has a good article on how little most of us know (incuding me) re which steps are most important in fighting climate change. Very important (in order): Reduce our meat and dairy consumption***. Cut your flying miles by 50 to 75%. Insulate your house and stop leaks. Replace a gas furnace with a heat pump. Drive an electric car. Don't buy as much new stuff. Buy local (lower the # of your "shipping miles"). Vote for a climate-friendly candidate. Not as important as we think they are (but we should still do them): Recycling. Install solar panels. ***If 3/4 of the people on Earth ate a plant diet, it would avoid 100 GIGATONS of emissions. And yet most people--influenced by corporate lying campaigns--see these as the least-helpful solutions.

  I love following the US women in the World Cup. But they played so poorly in their first three games, and Sweden (ranked #3 in the world) played so well, that when the oddsmakers came out favoring the US to win today, I knew the smart bet was on Sweden. The odds were really lopsided. The US was a clear favorite: For very dollar you bet, you would get $2.50 back if Sweden won. This was despite the facts that: The US was missing five starters to injuries; the US was missing its best midfielder due to two yellow cards; the US front was playing really lousy, uninspired soccer for all of its first 3 games in the Cup; and I thought "everybody knew" how great a team Sweden is. So I placed a big bet on Sweden to win. The game was at 2am today. SURPRISE! The US played the best soccer I've seen in maybe their last 10 games. Inspired, hard-working, driven. But they could not score against Sweden. Similarly, Sweden was outplayed on the field by the US today, but they did have some ...

  We always have to stop and think, and avoid knee-jerk reactions. The Left (the space where I reside) is upset that the Supreme Court terminated Affirmative Action. But California did the same, decades ago, and has found ways to ensure that its public universities' student mix "almost perfectly matches the state's diversity:" 47% are Hispanic,, 21% White, 4% Black... And, while I don't support the Court's decision, I do understand it. Giving preference to any minority group is a form of discrimination against other groups, and, in general, discrimination should be unlawful. Personally, I'm fine with giving special treatment to all groups that have been systematically downtrodden, by our bad policies, for centuries. It's a way to try to right a wrong. But, the law generally frowns on that. But this ruling, in the hands of Red states, will have the effect (whether it's done intentionally or not) of reducing the number of minority students in their u...

 Sometimes we need to remember that not everything that we think we know is correct. Sometimes, huge numbers of people are supremely confident that they know something, but in fact they are flat wrong. So it is with the humble black walnut tree. Birds or squirrels or wood elves have been planting black walnuts all over our yard. An impressive feat, considering I've been unable to find such a tree within 200' of us. Why am I looking? Let me count the ways.  1. If you grow one for a few decades, the trunk's wood is worth thousands to woodworkers.  2. If you can get some of the ripe nuts (the squirrels are better and more persistent at it than we, sadly), they are really great, especially in ice cream ;) .  3. The mature black walnut tree is a great shade tree, and shade on your house can save you $1000s in eletricity cost over the decades, and help save the planet too (through less electricity use). 4. But today, for me, I need unripe green walnuts in order to make Noc...

  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...