Dear Friends, CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM: (01:46) Are MAGA voters being played?, with Mark Clipsham; (20:37) Have you had enough yet? (34:47) Don’t support politicians who Continue Reading →
Dear Friends, CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM: (01:12) A conversation with Rep. J.D. Scholten; (35:27) Big Oil uses the courts to try to silence opponents; (43:57) How Poland fought Continue Reading →
Ok, so there’s farmers, and there’s farm managers. Being a small-is-beautiful guy, I’d rather see more farmers than farm managers. But there are big farms and there will be big farms. So there will be farm managers. What we need is for everyone involved in agriculture to embrace sustainable practices.
Last week, one of my program contributors shared a story about a farm manager who took over operation of several farms 25 years ago. The manager told farmers renting land from him that, instead of tilling in the fall, they would be required to sow cover crops.
Some farmers didn’t like that. But the farm manager tells of one farmer who hasn’t applied chemical fertilizers for eight years. His yields are the same or better than when he used chemicals. He was able to sell off some machinery that was no longer needed. His costs are less and his profits are up. Most important, his soil is being enriched instead of degraded. Continue Reading →
It’s no secret that I view Donald Trump as a dangerous, narcissistic authoritarian, even as I respect my friends and acquaintances who voted for him. My question for these friends is this: Has Trump delivered what you hoped for, or has he gone off the rails in directions you hadn’t anticipated?
Take eminent domain. Trump supports it. Strongly. Years ago, he even said: “I happen to agree with it 100%. If you have a person living in an area that’s not even necessarily a good area, and … government wants to build a tremendous economic development, where a lot of people are going to be put to work and … create thousands upon thousands of jobs and beautification and lots of other things, I think it happens to be good.”
Trump’s willingness to take people’s property by force might explain why he hasn’t cancelled the 45Q tax credits. Without that handout, Summit Carbon Solutions’ CO2 pipeline isn’t viable. Continue Reading →
Dear Friends, CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THESE CONVERSATIONS: (00:47) One man and his donkey’s 1,800-mile journey around Ireland, with Kevin O’Hara; (21:06) An interview with Martin Daly, member of Continue Reading →
In an interview on Fox News earlier this week, Trump said the country’s “greatest” threat was nuclear weapons that are “big monsters.” He went on to lament the amount of money the US has spent on its nuclear weapons program.
That’s good, right? But is it just rhetoric, as it was when President Obama flip-flopped on nuclear weapons?
Yes, sorry to have to remind you, but Obama’s record on nuclear weapons was a classic case of political hypocrisy. On April 5, 2009, in Prague he said: “Today, I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”
Ah, hope and change. Well, that didn’t go so well. As the Federation of Atomic Scientists pointed out, at the end of Obama’s second term, “the Obama administration has reduced the U.S. stockpile less than any other post-Cold War administration.”
I share this historical reflection not to dwell on one of the broken promises of the Obama years but as a sobering reminder that many politicians often say one thing and do another. Who knew.
So, while I love what Trump said this week (and previously) about the nuclear threat, his chaotic foreign policy has several European and Asian countries pondering whether they should acquire their own nuclear weapons.
As Debak Das writes in An Unreliable America Means More Countries Want the Bomb, “While on the surface it might seem as though a warmer relationship between two of the world’s largest nuclear powers could reduce the risk of nuclear war, the opposite is true. We are on the precipice of a global turn toward nuclear instability, in which many countries will be newly incentivized to build their own arsenals, increasing the risk of nuclear use, terrorist subversion, and accidental launch.”
Bottom line, Trump’s rhetoric doesn’t match his actions. But the fact that he’s calling out the nuclear threat is a starting point. Maybe those who have his ear can push him to embrace a foreign policy that moves us toward nuclear disarmament, not deeper into the peril of a globe armed to the teeth with weapons that could end life on Earth.
Continue Reading →
Dear Friends, Check out THIS WEEK’S FULL PODCAST, with Jeffrey Weiss, Kathy Byrnes, and me: (01:20) Iowa removes protected class; 21st century train heists; (09:31) Buyer’s regret; (16:06) Zelenskyy confronts Continue Reading →
Regarding the budget carnage in Washington, DC, here’s a few things I feel strongly about. I’m interested to know if you agree or disagree.
1. A federal budget deficit of $1.8 TRILLION is unacceptable and unsustainable. The federal government needs to end deficit spending and enact a balanced budget amendment.
2. Federal spending, especially on the military, has grown way too big.
3. There absolutely is waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal budget.
Agree, yes? Yet Elon Musk’s metaphor for addressing legitimate budgetary concerns is a chain saw. I’ve used a chain saw (on wood, to be clear). It’s not a delicate or discerning tool. Cutting federal waste, fraud, and abuse with a chain saw will eliminate much more than the fat. Americans are seeing that, and more and more are unhappy about it.
To “muskify” (my latest linguistic contribution) programs that benefit most Americans and protect our environment, national parks, water, and air might be deemed juvenile if it weren’t so devastating. Devastating as in life-and-death devastating. Continue Reading →
I’ve got a big announcement to share: In my spare time, I’ve managed to learn and memorize all 21 Chopin Nocturnes!
Check out the first recording on my YouTube channel. The rest will be published over the next 12 weeks weeks on Thursday mornings. Know in advance that: (1) I’m not a virtuoso, but I don’t suck; (2) the recordings include improvisations that might offend “serious” musicians; (3) there are classical guitar, Irish whistle, and vocals thrown in; and (4) I had more fun with B-roll than adults oughta have.
But wait, there’s more. You’re invited to a live performance combined with conversation about relocalizing food production. Kathy and I and others are hosting a series of house parties/events. The format is a 60-minute concert followed by 60 minutes of food talk. At the two events at our home, Kathy and I will serve “sips and nibbles.” We’re asking for free will donations for Birds & Bees Urban Farm and The Fallon Forum.
Let me know if you’re interested in hosting or sponsoring an event. Continue Reading →
Let’s cut right to the chase. Some of my Republican and Independent friends (yes, I have a bunch of them) don’t want to hear this: Donald Trump is leading America into dictatorship!
If that wasn’t obvious before, it’s becoming more and more obvious with each passing day. With every new executive order and presidential tweet, we can see where things are headed.
As we (individually and collectively) decide how to respond, it’s helpful to understand how we got here.
First, I blame the endless growth economy. Dictatorship is the logical outcome of an economic system that denigrates people as mere “consumers.”
Dictatorship is where you land when “the economy” becomes, essentially, the state religion, when people, land, plants, and animals are trampled because they’re in the way of resources coveted by industry.
You know you’re on the precipice of dictatorship when leading political figures are millionaires and even billionaires — some of them unelected. Continue Reading →