Friday Homestead Dispatch

Nebulous Nefarious Nuttiness

It would not have occurred to Hal to use the word “fun” to describe her job, or any job, however rewarding. A word meant for things without consequence or the possibility of failure. —Ways and Means, Sana Krasikov

1.
I go a little nuts, slightly psycho, a bit berserk, wig out, and partially lose my mind when I see the lines at Starbucks. We have so many great local options for a cuppa, and usually within very close proximity to the national chains. Just recently a Dunkin’ Donuts had the tenacity to open up right next to a long-time local coffee drive-thru called Coffee Times. I think they have enough loyal customers that they will survive the etiquette breach…but who knows?

Going for the local option keeps the bucks flowing in your community, usually a better product, and supports your friends and neighbors. Eating at home-grown businesses helps preserve local and small-scale farmland, especially those that serve food from local farmers. Reducing the distance food travels cuts down on associated fossil fuel consumption, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.

And by purchasing locally grown foods you help maintain farmland in your community. Tucson has a robust CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, which is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of members who pledge their support to the farm operation, with the farmers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production.

And every week there are several farmers markets in town. The Heirloom Farmers Markets include locations at Rillito Park, Rincon Valley, Udall Park, Steam Pump Ranch, and Green Valley Village (in Green Valley, duh). And just west of downtown, the Mercado hosts the Santa Cruz River Farmers’ Market every Thursday. St. Philip’s Plaza has a market every Friday and Saturday. Joe Marlow, owner/operator of SouthWinds Farm (out of Benson) can be found Sunday mornings 8a until noon at the Heirloom Rillito. Tell him I sent ya!

And don’t forget the local businesses that have that farm-to-table approach. 5 Points has a restaurant and a market that sells local produce, fresh eggs, milk, and cheese. Barrio Bread, owned and operated by the 2022 James Beard Award winner Don Guerra, has amazing fresh bread almost daily, as does Time Market. These are just a few in Tucson so do your homework…

And for you folks in Kansas, Shop Kansas Farms is out of Manhattan, the territory of my youth. And here’s a list of farmers markets happening all across the Land of Ahhhhs.

The point is, it’s not that difficult to support local which is good for your community by stimulating the local economy (one study says for every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $68 recirculates and remains in our local economy while only $43 remains in our community when it’s spent at a national chain), creates character and prosperity (do you really want to see another fucking chain store facade being built in your town?), and reduces the environmental impact.

Go forth and eat!

2.
And in some local good news, we’ve been recycling plastic at the Ward 6 office in the past year due to the pilot program spearheaded by Council Member Steve Kozachik. We just keep a big cardboard box handy and toss in all the plastic that the city won’t take—it’s amazing how fast it fills up. On May 9, Tucson's Mayor and Council voted to approve a service agreement that will result in ByFusion investing in opening its operations in Tucson, making it the first city in the world to scale up a program in which non-recyclable plastics are gathered and manufactured into construction-grade building blocks. Kozachik said, “This will be the first. It certainly will not be the last because other jurisdictions are facing the same problem that we're facing. Nobody has a solution for the non recyclable plastics that are simply filling the ocean, the landfill (and) the sides of the roads. We're demonstrating that there is a productive use for them.”

3.
Even Mitch ‘Turtle’ McConnell thinks Tommy ‘White Supremacists Are Just OK By Me’ Tuberville is out of line as he STANDS UP for the UNBORN. Dozens of military promotions are languishing in the Senate due to his opposition to the Pentagon's abortion policy, which is to pay travel expenses for service members and dependents seeking abortions.

Thomas (who prefers to use his third grade name, Tommy) is saying that he believes Pentagon leaders are forcing troops to read liberal books and are inappropriately driving “white nationalists” out of the service. In an interview with WBHM’s Richard Banks last week, TOMMY said, “Democrats are attacking our military, saying we need to get out the white extremists, the white nationalists, people that don’t believe in our agenda, as Joe Biden’s agenda. We cannot start putting rules in there for one type, one group and make different factions in the military, because that is the most important institution in the United States of America, and our allies, is a strong, hard-nosed, killing machine, which is called our military.” When Banks queried further with You mentioned the Biden administration trying to prevent white nationalists from being in the military. Do you believe they should allow white nationalists in the military? Tuberville said, Well, they call them that. I call them Americans. What happened after January the sixth—and I was here on January the sixth—we were attacked on the Senate floor. Saying all these people that came into the Capitol were extremists, they were against the country. There was a lot of people. There were probably a hundred of them that came in, broke windows and broke doors that should have been locked up. That’s not how we do it in America. But there were hundreds of thousands that didn’t come in, outside, that were true Americans that believe in this country. I look at a white nationalist as a Trump Republican.

This is a man who beat out Democrat Doug Jones for an Alabama Senate seat. Jones is best known for putting away two Klan members responsible for the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing that killed four girls. He reopened the case in the late 90s and got convictions in the early 2000s.

Jones, in an interview with Amy Goodman, said, You know, this is not an old John Wayne movie, where you’ve got that kind of war is hell. This is a very diverse military. It has people of all races, all religions. It has — you know, I think roughly 20, 25% are now women. And the military brass, the leaders of our military, have to protect all of our servicemen and women, and they have to do it in a way that recognizes the differences we have, but at the same time being able to watch the chain of command and keep that in line. That is what is most important. And the extremism, that Senator Tuberville is complaining that there is being rooted out, needs to be rooted out.

Hey Alabama, do you really prefer the TUB over a man like Jones?

4.
And in just one more people-hating move, the New York Times reports that, over the opposition of Democrats and the loud protests at the Capitol this month, the Texas Legislature voted on Wednesday to approve a bill banning hormone and puberty blocking treatments, as well as surgeries for transgender children. The state is poised to become the largest state to ban transition medical care for minors. The bans are part of a national effort by Republican elected leaders to restrict medical care for transgender children, discussions on gender in schools, and drag performances. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida signed a bill (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/17/us/politics/desantis-bills-trans-rights.html) on Wednesday that bans hormone treatments and gender-transition care minors, and penalizes doctors who violate the law with up to five years in prison.

It used to be Republicans were the ones that wanted the government to stay out of our lives. Now it seems that every day there’s a new bill introduce by some uptight white men and the church ladies to impose their belief systems on the whole country, state by state. Get off my lawn! JUST. VOTE. BLUE.

5.
Leroy: Let’s go country swing dancin’ Saturday night.
Mildred: I’d love to…where?
Leroy: Mildred.
Mildred: Yes?
Leroy: Country swing dancin’ Saturday…
Mildred: Yes, where?
Leroy: Mildred.
Mildred: What, I’m right here?!?!

In the days of yore, in the tiny town of Belvue, Kansas, the Pott County Pork & Bean Band would draw hundreds to the local auditorium, dancing and slugging down 3.2 beer all night long. 70s and early 80s Kansas country legends.

Now, in Mildred, Kansas, there’s another small town revival happening in the Mildred Store every third Saturday of the month…and apparently hundreds are flocking to get in on the action. And during the week, you can buy eggs, milk, toilet paper, meat, and jams and jellies from the nearby Amish community; a bag of the special-recipe breading used by the former owners of the beloved Chicken Shack down the road in Moran; or a “Belt Buster” — sandwiches the size of softballs, piled high with over a pound of meat and cheese, wrapped in white paper towels — served at the deli counter at the back of the store. They also have an RV park close to the building with eight hookups for out-of-towners to stay overnight after a hard night of kicking up the dust.

And now…