Comments for wendy's opinion on just about everything http://shepherdess.wordpress.com Just another WordPress.com weblog Thu, 28 May 2009 23:30:24 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 Comment on urban homesteader before her time by Harriet Fasenfest http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/urban-homesteader-before-her-time/#comment-2132 Harriet Fasenfest Thu, 28 May 2009 23:30:24 +0000 http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/?p=165#comment-2132 Hey Wendy, Thanks for the mention. This is Harriet of Preserve. And just so you know, I offered the class on ordering meat from a farmer because doing so yourself is a total "abstraction". There is a long political trail to follow there, not the least of which has to do with industrial systems, grass vs. grain, type of cuts available (does anyone even know what a seven-bone roast is) and on and on. You'd think it would be easy to ferret out all this information yourself but it was not so for me hence the class. And since I am an advocate of sidestepping the grocery stores in direct support of farmers, I consider these classes a helpful guide to that end. Besides the comment on our needing to become producers I also go to some length to suggest that this is not a designer movement - not just the latest thing to be fascinated with. I heard someone say onetime that chickens are the new IPODS. Funny, but we do turn everything into a designer expression of sorts. But should this house holding movement ever take hold, considering it chic or just the next great thing to do will be our undoing. It is hard work and I, for one, approach it in response to.......well, I'm assuming you have read my other posts or writing on my website. Or else maybe not. It would be hard to imagine "chic" as a word to describe me or my efforts. In point of fact - this ain't about jam. In any event, I hope you are finding fellowship now that you are in Portland and have turned in your power mower for the Portland chic variety - the push mower. Hey Wendy,

Thanks for the mention. This is Harriet of Preserve. And just so you know, I offered the class on ordering meat from a farmer because doing so yourself is a total “abstraction”. There is a long political trail to follow there, not the least of which has to do with industrial systems, grass vs. grain, type of cuts available (does anyone even know what a seven-bone roast is) and on and on. You’d think it would be easy to ferret out all this information yourself but it was not so for me hence the class. And since I am an advocate of sidestepping the grocery stores in direct support of farmers, I consider these classes a helpful guide to that end.

Besides the comment on our needing to become producers I also go to some length to suggest that this is not a designer movement – not just the latest thing to be fascinated with. I heard someone say onetime that chickens are the new IPODS. Funny, but we do turn everything into a designer expression of sorts. But should this house holding movement ever take hold, considering it chic or just the next great thing to do will be our undoing. It is hard work and I, for one, approach it in response to…….well, I’m assuming you have read my other posts or writing on my website. Or else maybe not. It would be hard to imagine “chic” as a word to describe me or my efforts. In point of fact – this ain’t about jam.

In any event, I hope you are finding fellowship now that you are in Portland and have turned in your power mower for the Portland chic variety – the push mower.

]]> Comment on friends in strange places by Brad http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/friends-in-strange-places/#comment-2129 Brad Thu, 14 May 2009 16:10:51 +0000 http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/?p=170#comment-2129 I read the story on how practice makes genius, and have had it going through my mind ever since. David Brooks gives me hope that rational debate with the other side is good, and helps me see that the tug of war can produce interesting ideas.Thanks for getting back to your blog, I am enjoying it. I read the story on how practice makes genius, and have had it going through my mind ever since. David Brooks gives me hope that rational debate with the other side is good, and helps me see that the tug of war can produce interesting ideas.Thanks for getting back to your blog, I am enjoying it.

]]> Comment on economic disconnect by Glen http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/economic-disconnect/#comment-2127 Glen Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:03:35 +0000 http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/?p=157#comment-2127 In the middle searching old friends, found your website.Just passing by.By the way, your website have great content! :) _______________________________ Don't pay for your electricity any longer... <a href="http://rosezy.earth4.hop.clickbank.net/1133629" rel="nofollow">Instead, the power company will pay YOU!</a> In the middle searching old friends, found your website.Just passing by.By the way, your website have great content! :)

_______________________________
Don’t pay for your electricity any longer…
Instead, the power company will pay YOU!

]]> Comment on wendy’s recipe of the day: roasted chicken with olives by lalber http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/wendys-recipe-of-the-day-roasted-chicken-with-olives/#comment-2115 lalber Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:56:27 +0000 http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/?p=139#comment-2115 Wow, that's a recipe I could willingly and easily follow. Sounds delicious. Wow, that’s a recipe I could willingly and easily follow. Sounds delicious.

]]> Comment on wendy’s recipe of the day: roasted chicken with olives by zentrader http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/wendys-recipe-of-the-day-roasted-chicken-with-olives/#comment-2114 zentrader Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:42:42 +0000 http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/?p=139#comment-2114 Believe me! It is delicious! :) Believe me! It is delicious! :)

]]> Comment on he’s not there by shepherdess http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/hes-not-there/#comment-2113 shepherdess Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:18:24 +0000 http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/?p=133#comment-2113 what an interesting analogy! hopefully President-elect Obama will prove a facilitator, not a divider! what an interesting analogy! hopefully President-elect Obama will prove a facilitator, not a divider!

]]> Comment on I’m dreaming of a white christmas…not by zentrader http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/im-dreaming-of-a-white-christmasnot/#comment-2112 zentrader Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:12:22 +0000 http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/?p=129#comment-2112 Bah humbug, Shepardess! The cold weather enhances my ruddy complexion and my desire to put on snow shoes and tramp around Mount Hood, followed by a nice hot bowl of cheddar stout soup and warm hearty bread! The crunch, crunch, crunch of the snow under my feet, the icy wind that leaves me gasping and eyes tearing reminds me that I am from the earth, and the nordic side of it at that. Hawaii is great, sure, if you want to get lulled in to a indulent stupor, and true, you don't need clothes, but what's life without a thick Irish wool sweater and a Donnegal cap! Aye, Lassie, that's the life for me. Bah humbug, Shepardess! The cold weather enhances my ruddy complexion and my desire to put on snow shoes and tramp around Mount Hood, followed by a nice hot bowl of cheddar stout soup and warm hearty bread! The crunch, crunch, crunch of the snow under my feet, the icy wind that leaves me gasping and eyes tearing reminds me that I am from the earth, and the nordic side of it at that. Hawaii is great, sure, if you want to get lulled in to a indulent stupor, and true, you don’t need clothes, but what’s life without a thick Irish wool sweater and a Donnegal cap! Aye, Lassie, that’s the life for me.

]]> Comment on the Wendy Gordon bailout plan by zak http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/2008/11/20/the-wendy-gordon-bailout-plan/#comment-2111 zak Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:10:16 +0000 http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/?p=122#comment-2111 There was once a time when this country had thriving textile, footwear, toy, food, auto, etc. industries that employed millions of Americans who were able to live solid middle class lives and harbored great expectations for their children. But those jobs and aspirations were dashed. The culprit? Their fellow American citizens. Why? Because Americans want it all, and they want it cheap, and they don't share core values that insure that they protect their neighbors. For lack of a better word, we now live in a WalMart society. Why support your local stores selling American made goods owned by your neighbors if you can buy the same goods made in China or wherever cheaper from Walmart? Because that enables you to buy more, and after all, isn't that what it's all about--the acquisition of cheaply made, expendible junk to satisfy a craving for a sense of self-worth or value that our society no longer provides? Sure, we can blame it on TV and major corporations who constantly barrage us with the message that unless we have more, we have nothing. Sure we can blame it on classes like home economics, shop and economic classes being removed from middle and high school curriculums to insure that future generations of Americans are stupider than the last. Why know how to shop economically? Why know the value of buying from bulk bins and making food yourself when you can buy Lunchables? Why teach basic economics when you can get $milliion dollar mortgages with $50K incomes? Why buy $2 pints of strawberries produced locally by your local farmers when you can buy Chilean berries at Winco for $1. After all, you don't even have to worry about them going bad! All those herbicides and pesticides that were banned in the USA in the '60's became exports for Monsanto, etc. to countries like Chile. Result? We get those pesticides right back in that wonderful produce we now import back into the USA. Why? Because it's cheaper! Why buy one good toy for your cchild made in America by a local craftsperson when you can buy 5 peices of junk plastic from China for the same price? Starting to get the idea? So, what do we do about it? Well, for starters how about universal healthcare coverage for every American from cradle to grave. Can't afford it? BS! We seem to have enough money to bail out Hank Paulsen and his partners at Goldman Sachs with $750,000,000,000.00 Wow! That's alot of zeros! And even that is not reflective of the true cost to American taxpayers! Luckily, our "leaders" know that so long as they dose Americans with 7 hours of TV per day and cheap beer to accompany their sports viewing on weekends, we won't notice that they are selling our birthright, and our children's futures, to China. that they are ccondemning future generations of Americans to downward mobility, the end of the American dream! And we deserve it because we are letting it happen! What kind of society has the audacity to call itself "civilized" that lets 55 million Americans live without basic healthcare ccoverage? And do you think you ddon't pay for it anyway? Just check out emergeny rooms across the country? that's where people with no coverage go--and that's the ssingle most expensive entry point into the healthcare system! Want to help small business people? Want to promote employment of young Americans just entering the workforce? How about by providing healthcare for all americans so that older Americans can afford to retire, without having to worry about what happens to them if they get sick? That'll open up jobs for new workforce entries. And what kind of society allows families and children to be without a roof over their heads in winter? Aren't these things basic values? Why is it that we have become a society that beleives in corporate bailouts but doesn't protect the basic rights of individual Americans? How stupid can you be to buy into the idea that somehow helping your fellow Americans when times are tough is SOCIALISM but bailing out AIG, Goldman Sachs, GM, Fordd and Chysler is "the NEW CAPITALISM"!!!Hello? Is anybody home? In true capitalism, if car companies refused for decades to make cars people actually wanted and society actually needed they would go broke, and car companies with a better idea would fill the gap left by the dying dinosaurs? Bail out the auto companies? Are you kidding? Toytoa, Subaru and Honda ARE American auto makers, and provide jobs to millions of Americans right now--let them take over the corporate resources of the bankrupt auto makers. They've proven their efficiency. Back to healthcare for a minute. Want to make it affordable? Take out the middleman healthcare management companies who exxist only to take money out of your pocket and line their own. The have a vested interest in keeping healthcare UNAFFORDABLE!! That's how they make money. DUH! And how about Socciety paying for those who qualify to go to medical school so young doctors don't ccome out of school hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt? And in exchange? A 7 year commitment to work as doctors for the country. Malpractice premiums driving doctors out of business? How about making lawyers responsible for the lawsuits they bring to court. When I took my oath before the Bar I swore fealty as an officer of the Court. What the heck happened to that oath? Why not make lawyers responsible for the cases they bring. If they fill the docket with crap cases that amount to little more than an attempt to extort money out of people and companies who figure it's easier and cheaper to settle frivolous suits than to fight them make them pay all costs! Watch how well they once again fulfill their oaths of office, and watch how malpractice insurance premiums go down! And what will that do? Lower the cost of healthcare for all Americans. And why not support local restaurants in your communities that support local farmers? Buy local, shop local, just say NO to Walmart, buy better, buy less, turn off the TV, get involved, don't expect to get bailed out of the stupid decisions you make, be accountable, and demand accountabilioty from your elected officials, but especially, turn the friggin TV off and get involved with your kids, and their schooling, and their lives! Nuf said! There was once a time when this country had thriving textile, footwear, toy, food, auto, etc. industries that employed millions of Americans who were able to live solid middle class lives and harbored great expectations for their children. But those jobs and aspirations were dashed. The culprit? Their fellow American citizens. Why? Because Americans want it all, and they want it cheap, and they don’t share core values that insure that they protect their neighbors. For lack of a better word, we now live in a WalMart society. Why support your local stores selling American made goods owned by your neighbors if you can buy the same goods made in China or wherever cheaper from Walmart? Because that enables you to buy more, and after all, isn’t that what it’s all about–the acquisition of cheaply made, expendible junk to satisfy a craving for a sense of self-worth or value that our society no longer provides? Sure, we can blame it on TV and major corporations who constantly barrage us with the message that unless we have more, we have nothing. Sure we can blame it on classes like home economics, shop and economic classes being removed from middle and high school curriculums to insure that future generations of Americans are stupider than the last. Why know how to shop economically? Why know the value of buying from bulk bins and making food yourself when you can buy Lunchables? Why teach basic economics when you can get $milliion dollar mortgages with $50K incomes? Why buy $2 pints of strawberries produced locally by your local farmers when you can buy Chilean berries at Winco for $1. After all, you don’t even have to worry about them going bad! All those herbicides and pesticides that were banned in the USA in the ’60’s became exports for Monsanto, etc. to countries like Chile. Result? We get those pesticides right back in that wonderful produce we now import back into the USA. Why? Because it’s cheaper! Why buy one good toy for your cchild made in America by a local craftsperson when you can buy 5 peices of junk plastic from China for the same price? Starting to get the idea?
So, what do we do about it? Well, for starters how about universal healthcare coverage for every American from cradle to grave. Can’t afford it? BS! We seem to have enough money to bail out Hank Paulsen and his partners at Goldman Sachs with $750,000,000,000.00 Wow! That’s alot of zeros! And even that is not reflective of the true cost to American taxpayers! Luckily, our “leaders” know that so long as they dose Americans with 7 hours of TV per day and cheap beer to accompany their sports viewing on weekends, we won’t notice that they are selling our birthright, and our children’s futures, to China. that they are ccondemning future generations of Americans to downward mobility, the end of the American dream! And we deserve it because we are letting it happen! What kind of society has the audacity to call itself “civilized” that lets 55 million Americans live without basic healthcare ccoverage? And do you think you ddon’t pay for it anyway? Just check out emergeny rooms across the country? that’s where people with no coverage go–and that’s the ssingle most expensive entry point into the healthcare system! Want to help small business people? Want to promote employment of young Americans just entering the workforce? How about by providing healthcare for all americans so that older Americans can afford to retire, without having to worry about what happens to them if they get sick? That’ll open up jobs for new workforce entries. And what kind of society allows families and children to be without a roof over their heads in winter? Aren’t these things basic values?
Why is it that we have become a society that beleives in corporate bailouts but doesn’t protect the basic rights of individual Americans? How stupid can you be to buy into the idea that somehow helping your fellow Americans when times are tough is SOCIALISM but bailing out AIG, Goldman Sachs, GM, Fordd and Chysler is “the NEW CAPITALISM”!!!Hello? Is anybody home? In true capitalism, if car companies refused for decades to make cars people actually wanted and society actually needed they would go broke, and car companies with a better idea would fill the gap left by the dying dinosaurs? Bail out the auto companies? Are you kidding? Toytoa, Subaru and Honda ARE American auto makers, and provide jobs to millions of Americans right now–let them take over the corporate resources of the bankrupt auto makers. They’ve proven their efficiency.
Back to healthcare for a minute. Want to make it affordable? Take out the middleman healthcare management companies who exxist only to take money out of your pocket and line their own. The have a vested interest in keeping healthcare UNAFFORDABLE!! That’s how they make money. DUH! And how about Socciety paying for those who qualify to go to medical school so young doctors don’t ccome out of school hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt? And in exchange? A 7 year commitment to work as doctors for the country. Malpractice premiums driving doctors out of business? How about making lawyers responsible for the lawsuits they bring to court. When I took my oath before the Bar I swore fealty as an officer of the Court. What the heck happened to that oath? Why not make lawyers responsible for the cases they bring. If they fill the docket with crap cases that amount to little more than an attempt to extort money out of people and companies who figure it’s easier and cheaper to settle frivolous suits than to fight them make them pay all costs! Watch how well they once again fulfill their oaths of office, and watch how malpractice insurance premiums go down! And what will that do? Lower the cost of healthcare for all Americans.
And why not support local restaurants in your communities that support local farmers? Buy local, shop local, just say NO to Walmart, buy better, buy less, turn off the TV, get involved, don’t expect to get bailed out of the stupid decisions you make, be accountable, and demand accountabilioty from your elected officials, but especially, turn the friggin TV off and get involved with your kids, and their schooling, and their lives! Nuf said!

]]> Comment on the Wendy Gordon bailout plan by zak http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/2008/11/20/the-wendy-gordon-bailout-plan/#comment-2101 zak Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:17:45 +0000 http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/?p=122#comment-2101 I know for a fact that you DO have an opinion on everything! I know for a fact that you DO have an opinion on everything!

]]> Comment on tropical reflections by I’m Getting Scared About the Election « Lisa’s Words at Play http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/tropical-reflections/#comment-2086 I’m Getting Scared About the Election « Lisa’s Words at Play Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:27:59 +0000 http://shepherdess.wordpress.com/?p=99#comment-2086 [...] My friend Wendy is political, smart, and funny, and I like this post — which, in fact, got me thinking about the logic-factor. Her post about game-show Palin is [...] [...] My friend Wendy is political, smart, and funny, and I like this post — which, in fact, got me thinking about the logic-factor. Her post about game-show Palin is [...]

]]>