John McCain has died

[jimmyz]

[Kane]

[jimmyz]

[exploited]

That kind of short-term thinking doesn't make me miss farming very much, jimmyz. For decades, my Dad was on the board of an organization that tried to establish water and pesticide self-regulation on local farms. I caught the tail-end of it, which was cool because that was how I got the bulk of my mandated high school volunteer hours. The board had quite a bit of success from the late-80s to the mid-90s, but after that, it fell off - partly because family farmers were being squeezed, and partly because the mega-corps don't listen to local boards composed of relatively minor players. Or they don't care - whichever.

The result has been the destruction of at least three major creeks in the area - they were at one time just barely too small to be called rivers of their own. Sucked dry and poisoned. They are trying to reestablish them now, but since the ground has been poisoned by decades worth of ag inputs, they can't get much to grow. They wash out and become cesspools.

The point is that true conservatism also demands a serious dedication to our environment. We have allowed each other to abuse it flagrantly and we will pay the cost - whether that means pollution or climate change or increased risk for infectious disease... or simply lean harvests. People who care about nature, and thus our species, can no longer content themselves with having a sustainable spot of their own. Your weird whiskey-filled commune, filled with kidnap victims, is also at risk.

[Spider]

[exploited]

[jimmyz]

[exploited]

[jimmyz]

[jimmyz]