Author: Paul Deaton

Corporations Are Making Me Grumpy

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date April 30, 2014

LAKE MACBRIDE— The bills come quickly as the second session of the 85th Iowa General Assembly draws to a close. They are required to produce a budget, and legislators tend to follow this law. It is not every day they comply with the law. For example, they still owe the school districts a 2016 supplemental state aid number. Not likely that will happen before adjournment sine die.

It is not the scofflaw aspect of the group that makes me grumpy, although there is plenty about the legislature’s actions or lack thereof to grumpify a person. In many cases they are puppets for corporations and that isn’t a happy thought. I’d be happier if the members were required to wear lapel pins to show their corporate sponsorships— the way ARCA, NASCAR and other motorsports club drivers adorn their fireproof suits. Maybe then I wouldn’t be appalled by some of the bills they support. It wouldn’t be good, but it might make the citizen experience more tolerable and lower my blood pressure. After all, in the post-Reagan era it’s all about me, isn’t it?

Garrison Keillor’s appearance at the First United Methodist Church in Iowa City at 7 p.m. on May 4 is making me grumpy.

My favorite local bookstore is sponsoring Keillor at a reading from his newly released collection of writing, “The Keillor Reader.” Back in the day I would have been first in line to buy a copy and be inside the church to hear him from the pulpit. But you see, we had a falling out over his acceptance of a sponsorship from the investment firm Allianz which invests in the nuclear weapons complex.

Maybe be he read my blog and dropped them based on the strength of my position, I hoped. Anxiously googling their relationship, it was worse than I thought. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of South Florida tried to get National Public Radio to pull the Allianz ads because the company collaborated with the National Socialist German Worker’s Party in their heyday. No Keillor for me, even though until last year, I listened to his program on Saturday nights, and had done so since our daughter was very young.

Which brings me to the connection. Why do I care about these corporate sponsorships anyway? Whether it is our legislators, or Garrison Keillor, or whoever? Why can’t I just live my life?

Someone has to be engaged in sustaining a life on the prairie, and it isn’t the ones sponsored by corporations.

Tags Iowa Legislature, politics

Social Commentary Writing

First Share and Living in Society

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date April 29, 2014

Asian Greens in Scrambled Eggs with Vermont Cheese and Pickled Bits and Pieces

LAKE MACBRIDE— The first share from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm was ready yesterday— asparagus, lettuce, baby bok choy and Asian greens. Anticipation over spring and summer cooking is building, even if living on bits and pieces from the pantry will continue until the full flow of local produce is unleashed. Picking up the share at the farm was a fine beginning.

We had more than two inches of rain since Earth Day, so outdoor plants are growing. The garden is too wet to work, although as soon as the soil dries, seedlings are ready to go into the ground. Meanwhile I will go on living in society, and that is today’s topic.

The phrase “in society” has a particular usage here. It is part of a spectrum of relationships with people that contrasts with “chez nous,” the French term that refers to “at home” or “with us.” Maybe there is something else on this jumping green sphere (thanks Lord Buckley for this phrase), “outside society” or “foreign,” but most of our lives are spent chez nous or in society. My tag “homelife” could be changed to “chez nous” and sustain the meaning.

Living in society is that set of relationships which sustains a life on the plains. It includes friends, family, neighbors, workplaces, institutions, retail establishments, and organizations with which we associate or interact. The relationships are interpersonal, that is, specific people are associated with each part of society— it is not an abstraction.

When young, we don’t see our life in society this way. We had an ability to live in the moment without a history of interpersonal relationships, anchoring us into something else. As we age, we are more like a character in a William Faulkner novel that must work to suppress the endless flow of memory.

If experience connects us, the way we live in society is based on thousands of previous interactions. For example, someone ran for the U.S. Senate after a long, productive life. If I saw him today in any of a number of settings— at a retail store, at the retirement village, at a literature reading, at a veterans meeting, at a public demonstration— I would think of the courage he displayed by taking on personal debt to challenge an entrenched incumbent politician who would otherwise have run unopposed. I would also think of our many conversations over a period of years. Our relationship is driven by my respect for his courage, and I picture him when I think about the associations we share. When I use the phrase “in society,” it might be referring to an interaction we had, or one like it with someone else.

My usage of the phrase “in society” may have been explained by others who are smarter, but because it is organic there is a peculiar sense to it on this blog. It is personal, but not really, because is it also public.

I am entering one of the richest periods of personal interaction in life. Old enough to have had experience, and young enough to gain new ones. Each day’s potential is vast midst the galaxy of people with whom I interact. Favoring the phrase “in society” enables me to talk about them without revealing where the specific interaction may have occurred. This protects people from unwanted intrusion into their lives, and enables the writing I do for a couple of hours each day.

Chez nous, we would have had breakfast of Asian greens mixed with scrambled eggs, Vermont cheddar cheese and pickled veggies from last season. In society I am part of the local food movement and post photos of my breakfast. Maybe I am drawing a fine line, but it is an important one for a writer.

Tags farming, Kitchen Garden, local food, Sustainability, Writing

Environment

Finishing the Gig

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date April 25, 2014

INDEPENDENCE— Last night I gave my tenth presentation for the Climate Reality Project, and have now completed 40 acts of leadership as a climate leader. This Earth week is a time to reflect on my recent experiences as part of the climate movement.

My contractual obligation with the organization may be complete, but the work will go on. Politico recently published an article based upon an interview with Al Gore, and there are some lessons to be learned.

There is no question that Gore has become a polarizing figure in the climate movement. We can’t blame him for making a living, and if he invests in companies that move the economy toward sustainability, much the better. At the same time, his $200 million net worth, and how he got it, are sticking points for many people I know and respect. That he is associated with the Climate Reality Project puts me, and others, on the defensive from the get go. I’m okay with that, but defending Al Gore is a distraction from the work, and at the end of the day, there is little about him that needs defending.

One concern expressed after my presentation was how to combat the proliferation of letters to the editor by obvious climate deniers. The answer I gave was simple. Ignore them and speak the truth. What the deniers want more than anything is to delay any change that moves us toward a sustainable future. The less we get involved in their spurious arguments, the more potential we have to advance ours. A denier with vested interests wants nothing better than to engage and distract people who seek a solution to the climate crisis.

Money is currently winning the conversation about climate, and it is not that of Al Gore or Tom Steyer, another wealthy member of the movement. The money is not from the Tides Foundation or Michael Bloomberg, which both fund environmental NGOs. The money is coming from the fossil fuels industry and from a host of foundations that want to delay meaningful government action on global warming. By contract, I work as a volunteer, where every tank of gasoline has been from my own checking account, which is miniscule compared to theirs.

The truth is on our side. Regardless of what people come up with as counter arguments, hundreds of millions of people on the planet are being affected by global warming. It is clear that the frequent droughts around the world are made worse by global warming. To an extent, it doesn’t matter that people try to deny it. At some point, and it won’t be long, the need for action will be so clear that people will rise up and take action. We are already seeing it in Syria, Egypt, and other Mediterranean countries caught up in the food shortage caused by the 2010 drought in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. We are buffered from food price spikes it in the U.S. because of our sophisticated food supply chains, but eventually environmental incidents like the 2012 drought, which caused a 20 percent decline in the U.S. corn harvest, will impact our family budget as well.

How long will it take? Al Gore, quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “not long.” I am ready for the work.

Tags environment, Sustainability, The Climate Reality Project, worklife

Home Life

Checking In

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date April 24, 2014

LAKE MACBRIDE— This week has been a whirlwind— the action is not finished. Another Climate Reality talk in Independence tonight, followed by a full weekend of warehouse work. In between, there are three newspaper articles to write and the usual proof reading. This not to mention all the home work that needs doing. I should be able to come up for air by Wednesday.

Last night was time with friends in Waterloo, where we attended a double bass concert and my Climate Reality in Iowa talk. Afterward, we went for dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant and talked until way too late. I arrived home near midnight.

The benefit of presenting a talk about climate change is the intellectual process of questions and answers. I leave half of the time for that, and it always proves to be the most rewarding part of the hour. A question came from a woman who said she was getting cynical about all the petitions, and asks to write letters to elected officials— a seemingly futile effort. Don’t give up, I said.

I spent the drive home watching the road, and feeling the energy from that room. There was no trouble sleeping after falling into bed.

Kitchen Garden

Earth Day at the Farm

019 — Planting Area Near the High Tunnel

Tags farming

Environment

Earth Day 2014

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date April 22, 2014

LAKE MACBRIDE— Needed rain came yesterday, 0.63 inches according to our local precipitation tracker. Things are greening up, and the exposed soil in the garden looks black and teeming with life. Today is a farm day, and along with soil blocking, I hope to spend time outside when my shift is done, soaking in the results of their recent work.

I don’t have a commemorative post for the 44th anniversary of Earth Day, except to say I am still here working, as are many people around the globe. While few knew what we were talking about in 1970, that’s not the case today. For that I am thankful.

The sticky wicket that is environmental advocacy must continue on Earth Day and every day. The focus should be on clean air and clean water— protecting the commons. Yet finding a fulcrum on which to turn the discussion toward sustainability is elusive as society serves the interests of capital.

Even Goldman Sachs and Warren Buffet are in the game of renewable energy, because its economic viability has been proven, and investment in solar arrays can provide a better return on investment than other parts of the economy. Wealth gets increasingly concentrated in a smaller group of people, and I’m not ready to tackle that problem.

In a little while I’ll drive my beater of a car over to the farm and get the next trays ready for seeding. It’s a lot closer to the earth than I have been— and there is much to be done before my life is done and I return there.

May your days be many and your troubles be few. Happy Earth Day!

Tags environment

Kitchen Garden

Garden Log 2014-04-20

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date April 20, 2014

LAKE MACBRIDE— Today I planted seeds outside. Rover F1 Hybrid Round Radishes; French Breakfast Radishes; Purple Top White Globe Turnips; White Globe Radishes; Nelson F1 Hybrid Early Carrots; Bloomsdale Long-Standing Spinach; Razzle Dazzle Hybrid Spinach; and Dwarf Blue Scotch Curled Kale.

Tags Kitchen Garden, spring

Home Life

Easter Darkness and Light

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date April 20, 2014

LAKE MACBRIDE— Easter was the biggest holiday after Christmas while I was growing up, although its importance diminished when I left home at age 18. This photo of my maternal grandmother’s parents— my great grandparents— typified the gatherings of an era that is gone.

Things are more casual today, and seldom do we gather on the lawn for a photo. If we did, our small family wouldn’t have many people in the image. A sign of the times and choices made when we were young.

Our next door neighbor gave birth to her third child on April 10 and yesterday she carried the baby in the yard while we talked about our shared lot line. The baby, swaddled in a blanket, didn’t make a sound. We walked the length of the line, discussing the easement and placement of gardens, hers and mine. The two younger children and her husband joined us. It was a pleasant moment in a life of neighboring.

The lettuce is not up in the garden. In fact the surface looks pretty dry. After the newspaper proof reading, I plan to spend the balance of the day preparing a bed for spring vegetables and working in the yard and garden. There is a lot to be done.

Lingering in the pre-dawn darkness, there is an hour to write, read and think before the rising sun of Easter morning.

Tags homelife, Kitchen Garden

Environment

Earth Week Celebration

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date April 19, 2014

Earth Week Celebration
Remarks delivered at Old Brick on April 19, 2014
Iowa City, Iowa

If you haven’t seen the buffalo at Yellowstone National Park, you should. One gets a sense of possibilities that existed on the plains as the herds wander and belch their way back and forth inside the park. There is space for them to seem vast, even if they are a fraction of what they once were. The herds will never return to the great plains, but to see the bison at Yellowstone made the trip for me.

If you are on the Internet at all, you have likely heard of the YouTube videos showing buffalo exiting Yellowstone. The assertion is that the giant caldera that makes the park unique is getting ready to erupt in a cataclysmic explosion that portends the end of life as we know it. Scientists don’t agree. Yes, Yellowstone is a big volcano. Yes, it last erupted over 600,000 years ago. But no, a new eruption isn’t overdue because science doesn’t work like that, despite the activities of bison.

Here’s what does matter. The difference between natural pollution of the atmosphere caused by volcanoes and that caused by humans.

I want to discuss three more things: Mount Tambora, Mount Saint Helens, and nuclear famine.

On April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora in Indonesia produced the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. The blast was so loud, it was heard 1,200 miles away in Sumatra. It is estimated that the eruption produced 38 cubic miles of volcanic debris.

While some 12,000 people were killed directly by the eruption, the larger death toll was from starvation and disease, as fallout from the eruption ruined local agricultural productivity, killing another 50,000 people or more.

What made matters worse was the dispersion of ash throughout the atmosphere. It darkened the sky and created climate anomalies including what we call volcanic winter. 1816 became known as the year without a summer because of weather. Crops and livestock died in much of the Northern Hemisphere, resulting in the worst famine in the 19th century.

While nowhere nearly as bad as Mount Tambora, the volcanic eruption on May 18, 1980 at Mount Saint Helens is fixed in memory for people living at the time. It was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States.

If we compare them, Mount Saint Helens was much smaller than the Mount Tambora eruption. According to the index that measures these things, Mount Tambora was rated 7 while Mount Saint Helens was rated 5. We know about Mount Saint Helens because it is fixed in our memories. We should also remember Mount Tambora as it was more important.

That brings me to nuclear abolition. Recent research has indicated that two billion people may be at risk in a limited, regional nuclear weapons exchange by two of the world’s nuclear states. The reasons are similar to what caused the year without a summer. The firestorm after the exchange would create soot and ash in the atmosphere many times worse than the single year without a summer after Mount Tambora erupted. Simply put, it would be a disaster of unprecedented proportion. One that could happen or be prevented by humans.

The conclusion people should draw is there is no reason for nuclear weapons to exist and they should be abolished.

The next time people on the Internet worrying about the end of civilization as we know it based upon YouTube videos, I recommend you turn off the computer and focus on preventing disasters we can by abolishing nuclear weapons.

Tags environment, The Climate Reality Project