DAVID AND GOLIATH

I’ve been accused of being a natural sh** stirrer. But I really think Democracy is still supposed to be “…for the people, by the people…”

Maybe that is quaint. But, geez, all I hear about is fake news vs real news.  Them against Us.  Why can’t we make government work for everyone?

Jim used to say, “I listen to no news. It’s all bad and I can’t do anything about it anyway.”

Segue to North Dakota, a state of ordinary people. A lot of down home farmers, raising their kids. Providing us with healthy food.

The issue was a 1932 law passed by the people banning non-family, corporate farm ownership. They wanted healthy, rural communities with sustainable agriculture practices.  Some clever Big Ag lobbyists and state legislators with the help of a corporate funded Governor decided to overturn that ban.

But the North Dakota Farmers Union recruited some progressive forces, and grass roots volunteers and got a referendum on the ballot last June giving the voters the final say.

The vote was loud and clear. 76% of North Dakotans rejected the corporate powers and restored the outright ban on corporate controlled farming.

Yahoo! David wins again!

Thank you Jim Hightower for bring that to my attention.

FRENCH CANADIAN COUSINS

French Canadian families of my parents generation were large.  Genealogical historians indicate that  King Louis gave instructions to those bold families striking  out to settle the new world that each family should strive to have 12 children to populate “New France”.  Those were times when  it was typical for families to be large and to lose  children at childbirth, and from horrible diseases with no cure. My maternal French grandmother lost six babies, and two young children.  She raised ten who all married and had children. Oh, my!  My cousin Vicky Buelteman, left,  is the daughter of my mother’s brother. She lives in Scottsdale, AZ.

We spent an afternoon remembering the past. Vicky’s father taught me to dance when I was a pre-teen,  so I could dance at his wedding.  Vicky and Rod’s daughter,  Michele is studying microbiology in college. She was always fascinated by microscopes and didn’t get turned off by seeing things crawling around in her drinking water. Her goal is to work in a medical capacity.

We spent a couple of hours chatting and at one point tried to figure out how many cousins we have?  It was a half-hearted effort because we have so many. We don’t really know all of their names or where they are. A fun endeavor anyway.

We contemplated how many of us didn’t go to college or graduate from high school and how much better educated the  next generation of cousins is.

We move to a new location today, and Jim spent the morning before our visit  plotting the State Parks of New Mexico on a map, since we plant to spend a great deal of time there in 2012.