Dear Friends,
Once again, Kathy and I will combine food and music, and you’re invited. Our next house party is Sunday, May 25, 7:00-9:00 pm, at our home, 735 19th Street in Des Moines. We have limited capacity and can accommodate the first twenty who RSVP to ed@fallonforum.com. (Note that this is not a drop-in event. Come and enjoy the full glorious two hours.)
Here’s the deets:
7:00 – 7:45 – Ed performs Chopin Nocturnes and whatever else comes into his head.
7:45 – 8:00 – We serve drinks and hors d’oeuvres made from food from our garden.
8:00 – 9:00 – We lead a discussion about the importance of relocalizing food production.
In other news … CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S TALK SHOW/PODCAST
BILL MCKIBBEN DISCUSSES “SUN-DAY.”
The build-up to a massive day of climate action has begun. SunDay is “a day of action on September 21 to celebrate solar and wind power, and the movement to leave fossil fuels behind.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu leaves the Old North Church after lighting a green light to kick-off the build-up to “SunDay.”
Bill and I talk about last week’s brilliant kick off to SunDay, when Boston Mayor Michelle Wu lit the lantern at the Old North Church, reminiscent of Paul Revere’s lighting of the church’s lanterns to warn people that the British were coming.
Well, the Brits were bad (attests this Irish-American). But the climate chaos barreling toward us is worse. Way worse.
Yet President Trump continues to regard climate science as a hoax. We need to rise up against the tyranny of ignorance and the insatiable greed of the fossil fuel industry. Sure, many of us have been doing that (me, since 2007). SunDay presents a great opportunity to broaden the movement and deepen our personal and collective commitment.
Find out more about SunDay and how you can get involved here.
JOE HENRY DISCUSSES LEAD PIPES.
In response to a federal law requiring local action to address toxic lead pipes, Iowa was among the states passing legislation this year to begin to further address the problem.
The threat of being poisoned by lead pipes is more serious than I imagined. Joe’s a realtor, so he’s up to speed on such matters, and advises that people have their homes and buildings tested. Kathy and I used the “coin method” to test our pipes, and were relieved to find that we don’t have a problem — which surprised us given that we live in the oldest row house in Des Moines.
Joe says the coin test is ok, but better still would be having a water sample tested by a certified lab.
Because Joe’s also a longtime community activist with deep roots in a wide range of policy initiatives, we discuss immigration and Gaza. Nothing good to report on either of those tragic situations, sadly. But with the tireless efforts of so many good people, rebelling against the inhumanity of Trump’s immigration debacle and Israel’s genocidal destruction of Palestinians, the tide will change and we will have justice for all those whose lives have been derailed or destroyed.
REPUBLICAN EMINENT DOMAIN REVOLT.
Giving credit where credit is due, a tip o’ me cap to the twelve Iowa state senators who threw down the gauntlet before the State Senate’s leadership. Their demand: bring up legislation to ban the use of eminent domain to build CO2 pipelines or there will be no vote on the state’s budget bill.
That’s an impressively bold action. Coupled with the solid eminent domain bill passed by the South Dakota legislature and signed by the state’s governor, it might be enough to kill Summit’s pipe dream. Stay tuned.
MAY GARDEN Q & A.
As we do the first week of every month, Kathy and I answer seasonal garden questions. Not surprisingly, many of this month’s questions have to do with tomatoes. We just got ours planted this week, and hope for a better harvest than last year.
Thanks for reading, listening, and taking action.
— Ed Fallon
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In addition to our PODCAST, listen to the Fallon Forum on these affiliates:
(01:29) Boston’s Old North Church heralds a new revolution, with Bill McKibben;
(18:38) Lead pipes are a problem, with Joe Henry;
(36:32) Twelve Iowa Republicans take a stand against eminent domain;
(52:55) May garden Q & A, with Kathy Byrnes.
– KHOI 89.1 FM (Ames, Iowa)
– KICI.LP 105.3 FM (Iowa City, Iowa)
– WHIV 102.3 FM (New Orleans, Louisiana)
– KPIP-LP, 94.7 FM (Fayette, Missouri)
– KCEI 90.1 FM (Taos, New Mexico)
– KRFP 90.3 FM (Moscow, Idaho)
– WGRN 94.1 FM (Columbus, Ohio)