Beautiful post, Emily! I especially love this: "Even his enemies benefit from his (and his team's) wise decisions." It's the most heartbreaking thing about the attacks on Team Biden - they're often coming from the people the team is working most diligently to help.
Beautiful post, Emily! I especially love this: "Even his enemies benefit from his (and his team's) wise decisions." It's the most heartbreaking thing about the attacks on Team Biden - they're often coming from the people the team is working most diligently to help.
My dad was a farmer, and I grew up farming. We were taught that the job HAS to be finished. If you finished your row, you helped the person (usually my younger brother) finish his row, then move on.
The little communities where we lived are drying up. Farming changed dramatically with more mechanization. Small textile plants moved offshore, etc. My husband and I left home because there were few opportunities for him as an engineer.
Regarding the poison pill of cutting SNAP, that's the equivalent of stealing from the poor box in church.
I agree. You can't argue that 41 million people are lazy. I work sometimes in a food bank in a community with fewer than 300 people. We routinely serve more than 400 families, which means that people are coming from all over in this corner of rural Utah, which includes part of the Navajo reservation. Our only source of "groceries" here is a gas station that carries a lot of snacks, mixes and a few potatoes and onions There's a Dollar Store on the reservation, hardly a source of good nutrition. When state development team surveyed our area, they argued that you need at least (I think) 3,500 people. The best thing that has happened this year is a gardening program with raised beds started by a local church.
Boy oh boy I think EVERYONE should have "mindful meditation" at this point.. How many people who literally exist on SS do so with the help of SNAP benefits? Pres.Biden's speech is great but the message MUST get to the people who will benefit from this help. Noise - billboards - every possible way.
We keep hearing much about how great the "economy" is - that there are jobs out there - but sadly, the pay is NOT out there. My daughter works in a drs office - making less than McDonald's workers! And I believe shes not alone in that respect. Having a job is great, but being paid enough to survive on would be really nice.
It's good that the church started the garden, that church even coupled with additional churches and charities cannot provide enough resources to address the hunger problem exacerbated by lack of grocery stores. The tiny town where my husband grew up now has no grocery store. Convenience stores are not intended to be full spectrum grocery stores. Not a good situation for any community.
If you read The Nation, the whole recent issue is about water use and water availability problems in the Great Basin, which of course includes Utah. A previous recent issue focused on the major problems with the Great Salt Lake. We have been heading into a water calamity and of course you know who Fox and the MAGAts will blame.
Terry Tempest Williams has written eloquently about the Great Salt Lake, first in her memoir about the cancer in her family, Refuge,and more recently in the NYTimes in a huge page feature. Not only is its demise a great loss for migrating birds, but there's toxic waste in the remains, which will blow everywhere. And both Lake Powell and Lake Mead, whose dams supply much of the region's electricity, experienced dangerously low water levels this year. Now that it's come back a little, some people are in the "no problem" mode, but it is a BIG problem. Much of Utah's water upstream helps sustain crops that are sold abroad, but no one wants to deny those big farmers of their profits.
Great comment! One of the authors of The Nation's articles on the Great Basin water crisis details how water rights developed, and how foreign countries like Saudi Arabia have essentially purchased a whole lot of water in the form of hay, which is what the Spring flows from the "ice islands" above are used by ranchers to produce.
As for the Great Salt Lake, they make the points that there are dangerous dust storms, filled with poisons, that coat the surroundings and also that the lack of water kills the salt flies that are essential to a zillion or so migrating birds that stop at this natural wonder on their journey north, or south.
It seems to me that the various minerals and chemicals were part of the soil of the lake bed and had been there for a very long time, exposed only by the drought. But here's the link to the article - https://www.thenation.com/article/environment/dust-great-salt-lake/ No time to get into it as I'm getting ready for a flight.
Those big farmers, progwoman are really giant agricultural corporations who don;t even live in Utah. The people actually doing the work and running the farms are commonplace employees, many of them they immigrants the magats so despise.
I want to raise my hand and stand on the soapbox for a minute.
In the Great Depression, I wager "most" people still were agrarian rather than urban - many were growing their own food. (Remember WWII Victory Gardens?)
In the 21st century, that is NOT THE CASE In the USA!
Most elementary school students would be hard pressed to identify more than a dozen vegetables and fruits in their grocery store, and I warrant even fewer know how to fix them from scratch (core an apple, remove seeds from citrus, dice melons into bite-sized pieces, etc.)
Bottom line - food deserts and supply chains are another of the at-risk systems that will deepen environmental crises in our society. "Non-nutritious" habits that include sugary drinks and fast food have also harmed our youth and contribute to the ongoing obesity epidemic.
We sure would benefit from learning to grow essential foods in our backyards or container gardens again.
How inhumane are the GOP who don't want kids to be fed or families and the elderly in particular to have assistance???
JennSH, it is a direct assault on the poor and flies in the face of what Jesus taught. This man is no Christian, but just another true believer who has never seen any real light in terms of how he can better serve humankind. He seems to be serving hatred, bias, and his own hubris.
As a Jew who has read the gospels, it always has amazed me how so many Christians never read or understood or put into practice what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount.
Thanks to both of your farming families. I hope more conservative farm families will realize which party has their best interests at heart when they vote.
The old farmers in Texas (at least the ones I ran across) were Dems and remembered who had helped them. Sadly, they have been replaced with Fox-loving malcontents who sit on the front-row pew and think Jesus preached a prosperity gospel.
Because of culture war issues. My MAGA leaning friend (with a good heart, good work ethic, not trligious, and generous) is convinced that grade school teachers were grooming kids to question their sexual identities. He's convinced that he needs a loaded shotgun at home because 'all those criminals' are coming for him. He hates government intervention which protects his job. He hated the idea of wearing masks, even though his workplace has seen repeated waves of Covid.
Sigh. He's not alone. Ironically, he doesn't bother to vote, just rant, and I hope his cohort is mostly just like him.
Sadly, this phenomenon was occurring before Trump, and before Covid together metastasized these toxic brain cells.
Remember how George Dubyah Bush won a narrow re-election due in no small part to fear mongering the then nascent issue of gay people marrying, causing the pillars of the Republic to fall down upon our collective shoulders!
Also, Thomas Frank's "What's the matter with Kansas" tells a poignant and spot on tale of how a formerly progressive State morphed into a regressive red one.
Beautiful post, Emily! I especially love this: "Even his enemies benefit from his (and his team's) wise decisions." It's the most heartbreaking thing about the attacks on Team Biden - they're often coming from the people the team is working most diligently to help.
My mom's family were farmers, too.
My dad was a farmer, and I grew up farming. We were taught that the job HAS to be finished. If you finished your row, you helped the person (usually my younger brother) finish his row, then move on.
The little communities where we lived are drying up. Farming changed dramatically with more mechanization. Small textile plants moved offshore, etc. My husband and I left home because there were few opportunities for him as an engineer.
Regarding the poison pill of cutting SNAP, that's the equivalent of stealing from the poor box in church.
I agree. You can't argue that 41 million people are lazy. I work sometimes in a food bank in a community with fewer than 300 people. We routinely serve more than 400 families, which means that people are coming from all over in this corner of rural Utah, which includes part of the Navajo reservation. Our only source of "groceries" here is a gas station that carries a lot of snacks, mixes and a few potatoes and onions There's a Dollar Store on the reservation, hardly a source of good nutrition. When state development team surveyed our area, they argued that you need at least (I think) 3,500 people. The best thing that has happened this year is a gardening program with raised beds started by a local church.
Boy oh boy I think EVERYONE should have "mindful meditation" at this point.. How many people who literally exist on SS do so with the help of SNAP benefits? Pres.Biden's speech is great but the message MUST get to the people who will benefit from this help. Noise - billboards - every possible way.
We keep hearing much about how great the "economy" is - that there are jobs out there - but sadly, the pay is NOT out there. My daughter works in a drs office - making less than McDonald's workers! And I believe shes not alone in that respect. Having a job is great, but being paid enough to survive on would be really nice.
It's good that the church started the garden, that church even coupled with additional churches and charities cannot provide enough resources to address the hunger problem exacerbated by lack of grocery stores. The tiny town where my husband grew up now has no grocery store. Convenience stores are not intended to be full spectrum grocery stores. Not a good situation for any community.
If you read The Nation, the whole recent issue is about water use and water availability problems in the Great Basin, which of course includes Utah. A previous recent issue focused on the major problems with the Great Salt Lake. We have been heading into a water calamity and of course you know who Fox and the MAGAts will blame.
Terry Tempest Williams has written eloquently about the Great Salt Lake, first in her memoir about the cancer in her family, Refuge,and more recently in the NYTimes in a huge page feature. Not only is its demise a great loss for migrating birds, but there's toxic waste in the remains, which will blow everywhere. And both Lake Powell and Lake Mead, whose dams supply much of the region's electricity, experienced dangerously low water levels this year. Now that it's come back a little, some people are in the "no problem" mode, but it is a BIG problem. Much of Utah's water upstream helps sustain crops that are sold abroad, but no one wants to deny those big farmers of their profits.
Great comment! One of the authors of The Nation's articles on the Great Basin water crisis details how water rights developed, and how foreign countries like Saudi Arabia have essentially purchased a whole lot of water in the form of hay, which is what the Spring flows from the "ice islands" above are used by ranchers to produce.
As for the Great Salt Lake, they make the points that there are dangerous dust storms, filled with poisons, that coat the surroundings and also that the lack of water kills the salt flies that are essential to a zillion or so migrating birds that stop at this natural wonder on their journey north, or south.
Where did all that toxic waste on the lake bed come from, Porter, if you know? Agricultural runoff? Air pollution?
It seems to me that the various minerals and chemicals were part of the soil of the lake bed and had been there for a very long time, exposed only by the drought. But here's the link to the article - https://www.thenation.com/article/environment/dust-great-salt-lake/ No time to get into it as I'm getting ready for a flight.
Those big farmers, progwoman are really giant agricultural corporations who don;t even live in Utah. The people actually doing the work and running the farms are commonplace employees, many of them they immigrants the magats so despise.
I want to raise my hand and stand on the soapbox for a minute.
In the Great Depression, I wager "most" people still were agrarian rather than urban - many were growing their own food. (Remember WWII Victory Gardens?)
In the 21st century, that is NOT THE CASE In the USA!
Most elementary school students would be hard pressed to identify more than a dozen vegetables and fruits in their grocery store, and I warrant even fewer know how to fix them from scratch (core an apple, remove seeds from citrus, dice melons into bite-sized pieces, etc.)
Bottom line - food deserts and supply chains are another of the at-risk systems that will deepen environmental crises in our society. "Non-nutritious" habits that include sugary drinks and fast food have also harmed our youth and contribute to the ongoing obesity epidemic.
We sure would benefit from learning to grow essential foods in our backyards or container gardens again.
How inhumane are the GOP who don't want kids to be fed or families and the elderly in particular to have assistance???
JennSH, it is a direct assault on the poor and flies in the face of what Jesus taught. This man is no Christian, but just another true believer who has never seen any real light in terms of how he can better serve humankind. He seems to be serving hatred, bias, and his own hubris.
As a Jew who has read the gospels, it always has amazed me how so many Christians never read or understood or put into practice what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount.
The Sermon is too woke. They would rather hate anyone who is not like them and punish people for being that way.
The poor box in church is fair game. тАЬConservativeтАЭ cretins think it is their pie and they want it all.
"Regarding the poison pill of cutting SNAP, that's the equivalent of stealing from the poor box in church." True words there...
Thanks to both of your farming families. I hope more conservative farm families will realize which party has their best interests at heart when they vote.
The old farmers in Texas (at least the ones I ran across) were Dems and remembered who had helped them. Sadly, they have been replaced with Fox-loving malcontents who sit on the front-row pew and think Jesus preached a prosperity gospel.
He's a steroids-enhanced
Double-bandoleroed!
cum AK-47 sportin'
blonde hair blue-
eyed Prosperity
Jesus to be
precise
&
by
Gawd
He's just
like them.
Ran for my life
Ain't that the truth, Jeri.
Yeah! What's up with that? Why can they not see they have been voting against themselves?
Because of culture war issues. My MAGA leaning friend (with a good heart, good work ethic, not trligious, and generous) is convinced that grade school teachers were grooming kids to question their sexual identities. He's convinced that he needs a loaded shotgun at home because 'all those criminals' are coming for him. He hates government intervention which protects his job. He hated the idea of wearing masks, even though his workplace has seen repeated waves of Covid.
Sigh. He's not alone. Ironically, he doesn't bother to vote, just rant, and I hope his cohort is mostly just like him.
Sadly, this phenomenon was occurring before Trump, and before Covid together metastasized these toxic brain cells.
Remember how George Dubyah Bush won a narrow re-election due in no small part to fear mongering the then nascent issue of gay people marrying, causing the pillars of the Republic to fall down upon our collective shoulders!
Also, Thomas Frank's "What's the matter with Kansas" tells a poignant and spot on tale of how a formerly progressive State morphed into a regressive red one.
I remember when Dubya won his first election in 2000тАж. Oh, wait, thatтАЩs right, he didnтАЩt.
Ha!!ЁЯдг
Jews for Buchanan!
Hanging chads!
And if you were confused by the butterfly ballot, you were too dumb to vote.
Another from Steve Earle
The Rain Came Down
https://youtu.be/DtWSTnZSGCE?si=lHmRoSLQhn6ODOAY
Steve Earle is magnificent. So sad about his son
We should always ask what sources are behind the opinions of those attacking Team Biden and suggest trying this one.