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Click here for other Liberally programs Damn the Leaks...or Dam the Leaks?Submitted by Justin Krebs on Thu, 07/29/2010 - 8:26am.A leak in the Gulf that's taken 100 days to plug A leak in the media about Afghanistan Meanwhile, an economy that continues to leak jobs We can stamp & fume and damn the leaks. Either way, a little leak can lead to big change. There will be no leaks coming from our liberal libation DRINKING LIBERALLY Will Wall Street Reform or Simply Re-Form?Submitted by Justin Krebs on Thu, 07/22/2010 - 10:24am.Nearly two years after the titans of Wall Street It should've been inevitable but was near impossible And while there's no doubt the financial industry The people won. In the face of new measure, will Wall Street reform? That may be up to us. Come out tonight to toast the new reforms DRINKING LIBERALLY The Senate Must Have Been Watching the World CupSubmitted by Justin Krebs on Thu, 07/15/2010 - 8:01am.The Senate must have been watching the World Cup Soccer players constantly run, run, run -- The athletes play as much defense as offense And in both soccer matches & the Senate, Yet, soccer starts are beloved around the world... Why can't the Senate learn that tip from the World Cup? Now, if only we could drown our Inhofe World Cup may be over, but refill your cup DRINKING LIBERALLY Even Conservatives Love 538 Ways to Live, Work and Play Like a LiberalSubmitted by Brian Sonenstein on Mon, 07/12/2010 - 12:18pm.If you're at all familiar with what we do here at Living Liberally, this excerpt from Matt Lambash's Weekly Standard coverstory (that's right, the conservative magazine) should not surprise you:
As Lambash puts in plain terms, the goal of Living Liberally as a whole has been empower our every day activities by giving the more purpose and meaning. Indeed, despite the mocking tone this article takes, that's the task laid before readers of Krebs' new book, 538 Ways to Live, Work and Play Like a Liberal. Luckily for us, Lambash decides to celebrate America's independence this past 4th of July weekend by summoning the bravery to put himself to the test. As a born again Liberal, he sheds his conservative garb and gives in to his most vulnerable "liberal tendencies, all of which are on Krebs’s list," before attempting to make at least some of the changes prescribed by each of the sections of Justin's book. And if you can wade through all the cliche, sarcasm and derision crammed between the margins, you may even discover Lambash inadvertantly celebrating some aspects of the Liberal lifestyle and enjoying a little liberal-living in spite of himself. But the burning question remains: will our conservative protagonist survive this epic transformation? Check out this 'playful' piece at the Weekly Standard to get a glimpse for yourself. Then, grab a copy of Kreb's book 538 Ways to Live, Work and Play Like a Liberal to see what changes can be made in your own life. You can help Justin promote 538 Ways by contributing to his book tour, here. America: Too Big To Flail?Submitted by KAT on Fri, 07/09/2010 - 7:09pm.If correctly identifying your problems is the first step to solving them, I'm afraid we'll all be peeling tar balls off our heels before we get a handle on the BP blowout. "Please stop calling it a leak!" Bill KcKibben pleaded at the Slow Money conference in Shelburne, Vermont last month. A leak, after all, suggests a kind of dribble. A spill sounds like something you might mop up with a towel. "We've punched a hole in the bottom of the ocean," McKibben added. "Is a knife wound a 'blood leak?'" We're hitting some fundamental limits, he added, citing the 'thousand year' storms that seem to come every four or five years now, and the fact that we're facing the hottest year on record, so far (and that was before the heat wave that hit the whole Eastern seaboard this past week). Yes, we need to plug that hole in the ocean floor before the entire Gulf becomes one gigantic dead zone. But there's an onshore contaminant threatening our future, too, and it's called fast money. Fast money spews from the wells of Wall Street and spatters the globe from Beijing to Bangalore to Bentonville. It creates land-based dead zones filled with underwater mortgages and sinking businesses. Fast money "does violence to the web of relations on which the health of communities and bioregions depend," according to Slow Money founder Woody Tasch. Tasch shares Bill McKibben's fervent belief that you can't have a truly sound economy unless you practice sound ecology. The subtitle of Tasch's book, Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money, says it all: investing as if food, farms, and fertility mattered. But don't expect Tasch to declare war on Wall Street. In a statement to the six hundred or so farmers, philanthropists, investors, eco-preneurs and real food rabble rousers (like me) who came to historic Shelburne Farms for Slow Money's second annual conference, Tasch explained why he's not going to pick that fight--or any fight, for that matter:
Peace. Health. Fertility. Too bad our current notions of how to keep America secure and prosperous have brought us just the opposite: war, disease, barren seas and soil. And how do you sell the virtues of "small acts of care and restraint" to a nation that prides itself on living large and thinking big? Except that we really don't think big, anymore, when we think at all. We have a shockingly defeatist, "can't do" attitude when it comes to tackling our current crises. Hence the mindset that we can't afford a moratorium on deepwater drilling because it will cost even more jobs than BP's disastrous deepwater drilling has already destroyed. We need the oil and the jobs, come hell or high, oily water. As Tasch wrote in his book:
The Slow Money conference showcased the socially responsible investors, sustainable agriculture proponents, and ecologically savvy entrepreneurs who have not only dared to imagine another way, but are actively pursuing it. No, I'm not going to claim that all our problems will be solved by backing the manufacture of such locavore luxuries as organic kale chips and granola bars, or artisanal grass-fed sausage sticks, or (my personal favorite) a chia-based beverage that was delicious in a viscous way. But I was impressed and inspired by the presentations from a variety of innovators: Midwestern Bio Ag, Terra Green Biologics, and Marrone Bio Innovations, who've found environmentally safe ways to boost soil fertility and control pests; City Fresh Foods, Peoples' Community Market, and Home Town Farms, who are improving their communities' access to fresh, healthy food; and Farmland LP and the Carrot Project, dedicated to fostering the growth of sustainably farmed land. And as a dedicated DIYer, I was delighted to learn about a totally non-toxic but super durable varnish from Vermont Natural Coatings that is made from whey, a by-product of the local cheese industry. Together, these trail blazers, among others, made a compelling case that nurturing the kinds of small, regionally based businesses that they exemplify could not only create jobs and revitalize our economy, but also address what Bill McKibben called our "social deficit...the ecological and psychic wounds that we've inflicted on ourselves." As McKibben noted, anything that's "too big to fail" is, by definition, too big, period. That goes not only for our financial system, but every other system we rely on, including our food and energy systems. How many more fast money blowouts can we afford? Slow Money, on the other hand, is about growing things, not blowing things up, whether it's in pursuit of the coal beneath a mountaintop or the oil at the bottom of the sea. McKibben ended his keynote by saying that we need to "take very drastic action, now." Is it time to put a cap on capitalism? You can help bring our economy back down to earth literally, now, by signing on to the Slow Money Soil Trust. If You Can't Stand The Heat, Get Out of DCSubmitted by Justin Krebs on Thu, 07/08/2010 - 8:45am.A record heat-wave brings brown-outs & black-outs As the temperature rises, so do tempers We're sunstroked as the thermometer tops 100, The heat was on to deal with serious issues -- Then everyone went on vacation. I don't blame them for escaping the DC heat. Beat the heat with cool drinks & warm company DRINKING LIBERALLY Ladies, gentlemen, treat yourself…. to Date NightSubmitted by Living Liberally on Thu, 07/01/2010 - 9:55pm.By Bec Zajac Okay, I’m going to admit it--my dirty little secret, something I’ve been struggling with for a long time that I just can’t hide anymore: I like romantic comedies. I really do. I see them early. I see them often. I get excited when I hear there’s a new one coming out. And when Sandra Bullock won an Academy Award, goddamnit, I even cried a little! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to defend all that’s problematic about films in the “romcom genre”. And believe me, I know there’s a lot: they reinforce gender stereotypes, they promote hetero-normative paradigms, they idolize marriage; and, yes, I agree, every time J-Lo does another movie, a baby angel loses its wings. But even with all its problems, for some reason, the romantic comedy keeps drawing me back in. Even though, after seeing one I tread a fine line between feeling warm and fuzzy inside, and seething with rage and self-hatred, I keep taking that chance. So lately, I’ve asked myself: Why? Why the hell do I keep seeing these terrible, sexist movies over and over again? More After the Jump.... Independence in America...but Dependents in DCSubmitted by Justin Krebs on Thu, 07/01/2010 - 10:40am.We find ourselves so dependent on oil Our nation's capital is so thick with lobbyists Our elected reps are so reliant on money And despite the Tea Party rhetoric, They were looking to create a vibrant democracy, Our elected leaders & Supreme Court Justices Too bad Texas is rewriting history books Yet around the country, the spirit is alive Toast our country's birthday & talk national news DRINKING LIBERALLY |
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