The Tennessee Walking Horse, TWH, is a gaited horse that got its start in the late 1800s when the Narganset Pacer was crossbred with a number of other breeds. The result was a horse with a smooth, surefooted, mile eating gait, that was perfect for use on large farms and plantations. This gentle, versatile breed
In the US today, 40 of the 50 states have what has been termed the “tampon tax.” Women in these states pay sales tax on feminine hygiene products, which have been described as “luxury” items, whereas things like food and medicine are considered “necessities.” Oh, and in some states, Viagra. Viagra is considered a “necessity.”
Recently, I posted about the problem of planned obsolescence, and how industry profits mightily by creating products with shorter than necessary lifespans in order to drum up repeat business. On one hand, this practice creates jobs for people who keep producing the items people need as the old ones wear out. On the other hand,
Those who plan to vote for Hillary Clinton this fall as the lesser of two evils should consider carefully their position. These are not our candidates. This is not our election. The New York Times, otherwise an arm of the Hillary Clinton campaign, did have the honesty to run a story titled “Only 9% of
Right now, an estimated 15.5 million children in America live in poverty, with 15.3 million of those children going hungry on a daily basis because they live in food-insecure households. This typically means these kids eat 1-2 meals per day, which are often provided through free breakfast and lunch programs available in public schools. This
The modern consumer economy is a thing of wonder, isn’t it? We don’t just have iPhones, we have brand new models of iPhones every couple years. We don’t just have two linen shirts to wear anymore, we have new lines of fashion twice (or more) annually and most clothes are so cheap, it doesn’t matter
Monsanto’s Round-Up Ready GMO soybeans are facing a classic Red Queen race. Originally modified to include a gene that renders the soybeans resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, enabling farmers who planted them to spray their fields with Monsanto’s Round-Up without harming their crop, they are becoming less useful to farmers because the weeds that the
I was nine years old when, in 1983, the first black woman was crowned “Miss America.” I admit that at the time, I didn’t fully comprehend the significance of what she had achieved. To that point, I had never been exposed to people who actively despised others they didn’t personally know. In fact, I hadn’t
A given population, whether it is the yeast in a homebrewer’s carboy or nation-state of people, will tend to expand to fit or exceed the size of the available resource base. If a population exceeds the budget of resources that can be reasonably accessed, the inevitable result is suffering, as the overshoot resolves itself. (In
What will be the reaction now that millions of Americans have been Berned? For legions of Bernie Sanders supporters, the Vermont senator’s syrupy speech Tuesday night at the Democratic Party’s convention, culminating in his call for Hillary Clinton to be nominated the party’s presidential candidate by acclamation, was difficult to choke down.