Changing Places

“What Barrier is There that Love Cannot Break? — Gandhi

Glimpse

Over the years we at Jeanine Payer have been privileged to be asked to create wedding rings for so many couples; some of them gay, some of the straight, all of them deeply in love and joyously wanting to celebrate their tremendous sense of commitment through the act of marriage. In light of recent events surrounding the passage of Prop 8, we feel like it is time to take action, make something beautiful, and donate half the proceeds towards the fight Californians now face for equal marriage rights. Using the Gandhi quote, “What barrier is there that love cannot break?” on the popular Dale necklace design, we have made a piece that people can wear proudly in the knowledge that love can indeed overcome all obstacles.

Fifty percent of the proceeds from each sale of this piece will be donated to Equality California. Founded in 1998, EQCA celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2008, commemorating a decade of progress towards equal rights for all Californians. In the past 10 years, EQCA has helped change California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil rights protections in the nation. Visit them at http://www.eqca.org/.

The advice to buy what would normally seem expensive right now while it is being sold at more attractive prices seems like great advice from Barry Ritholz to me. I tend to buy a lot of handcrafted jewelry from a particular silversmith friend of mine. I also will buy art and craft pieces that are attractive to me, well made, and that I know I will enjoy for a long time. I look for those things for friends as gifts as well.

Part of this is that things are well priced right now, and part of it is my desire to support artists and crafters during these difficult times, and support those who are becoming more artistic and creative as the economy turns down. I enjoy well-made things, and one thing I do like about recessions is that a lot of very nice, very well-made things become less expensive, and there are more artists and crafters out there as people have less money and more time. I also encourage people during this time to find some art and crafting passions of their own, if only to enjoy the pleasure of making things for yourself or friends while times may be tight. You never know what skills you might discover, or where your talents may lead you!

The Barron’s Interview | The Big Picture

One client said to me, “I’m tired of hearing bad news. I don’t care what it is, what can you tell me that is good?” I told him to make a list of things he’s wanted to own, but has been afraid to buy or unable to because of the cost. I don’t care if it is art, trophy properties, vacation homes, collectible automobiles or boats. Figure out what you are willing to pay, and I can all but guarantee you that by the time we are done with this deflationary cycle, many of those objects will be available at your price. I wouldn’t be surprised if, when everything is said and done, a lot of these things are off by 50% or worse.

Good article — worth a read.

What Michael Pollan Hasn’t Told You About Food

Patel’s new book Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System makes visible the people behind the abstraction and reveals a global food system that, with our complicity, continues to alienate farmers and consumers alike, all while fattening the pocketbooks of a few middlemen.

To read Patel is to understand the logic behind the sweets company, Nestle, acquiring the weight loss magnate Jenny Craig or why WalMart is free to raise prices in areas where they have already killed off the competition. In the language of markets, these problems are not “self-correcting.” Only the profound failure of the prevailing metaphor of the Invisible Hand hampers us from seeing what Patel has spent years of research making visible. In an interview with AlterNet, Patel explains how, “the way we choose food today comes from distinctly abnormal roots,” how these roots connect us to farmers and consumers around the world, and why we should get angry, not feel guilty.

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Why is it that only rich people get to have pleasure? Why is pleasure not the birthright of everyone? The rich and radical moment is when you take this idea that pleasure should be the right of everyone and you go do something about it The slow food movement was responsible for helping to drive up agricultural wages and instrumental in creating a two hour lunch break. They did this, not through individual shopping choices, but through concerted political action and working with people, organizing, being democratic, and then taking on power.

I think this emphasis on joy and reconnecting with our joy can actually be very political. Obviously, it’s been derailed in some ways by the bourgeois circle jerk of olive oil and red wine enthusiasts, but it can be very radical. I think that should inform the kind of changes in the way we get our food. Staying out of the supermarket, going to your local farmers market, and getting involved in community food policy councils are all good ideas. The spirit behind it is not that “we must have the finest tomato” but rather, everyone has the right to good food. That democratic impulse is what needs to propel us to a better food future.

Click here.

God, I love the internets. I’ll have to keep this site in mind for future stupid questions….