See also (Link) for article from USA Today. "The Piedmont Local EcoNomy Tender (PLENTY) is a new kind of local money.... Members of NCPlenty agree to accept PLENTYs as full or partial payment for goods or services they provide. Membership is open to any member of our community who wants to offer time, skills, or products in exchange for PLENTYs. The keystone of a local currency is the network of participants willing to trade the currency, so the more folks who agree to accept the PLENTY, the gr...

I AM THE RAIN, Assemblage 23 Too eager to appease The cure is the disease And it's only growing worse Day by day it takes its hold Divides its cells a thousandfold And makes your blindness seem perverse Out of sight and out of mind Are deadly traits when they're combined But it's easier that way Sit and watch the world go by While all the problems multiply With nothing left to do but pray -CHORUS- I am the rain Falling down to cover you Wish me away But I'...

Binary (Assemblage 23) Monochromatic reasoning A divide and conquer legacy Dissect and over-simplify All hail the death of compromise -CHORUS- The world isn't rendered in black and white Other shades lie between Don't view the world with binary eyes We are human, not machine Eliminate the critical When it all becomes too difficult Ignore the layers of subtlety Force feed them full of your beliefs -CHORUS- Some day when we all awake From the dreams we dreamt ...

I don't profess to know "the" way, let alone "a" way. But, I've had some ideas that I've posted in several places that I wanted to share as their own thread. First, Naturyl recently posted a call for Guaranteed Minimum Income ((Link)), to which I responded with some general arguments against. In response to another thread (What the heck do you do if you're a single parent on minimum wage? (Link)), I elaborated more on one of my ideas presented first in Naturyl's thread. I present that idea, ...

Down from $38,000 four years ago. Interest is a thing I get paid now, not them. Not again. Ever. On edit: I know not relevant to the thread, but I say this because it's fresh in my mind. I just -- today -- sent my last $8.11 cheque to Bank of America and now I am totally and completely free of all debt, except my mortgage. Ebullient is not even barely sufficient to describe my levity.

We democratically elect a panel of representatives, say 24-48, who communicate virtually and meet periodically. We support and present a candidate as appropriate. We represent at official conventions as a group. And so on. Start a poll, see who's in favor.... +1 for me.

Overkill, by Solitary Experiments Just another act of crime Thousands of innocent lives had to die. The fear and the fright are spreading around Now we are standing on a trembling ground The silence clouded by a veil Corrosive dust turns the day into night The biting smoke just dims my eyes There is nothing left to hide behind We are the suffering of Hell Caused by a terrible overkill -- We were touched by the darkness And it'll always remind Of the crucial day our Humanity died. Flames of f...

Today, while taking my partner to school, a man was digging through a municipal garbage can. He was transferring recyclables -- carelessly tossed out by his fellow citizens -- from the municipal can to his own can. He does this all year, despite the weather and despite the jeers from those around him. This should give pause to those who believe homelessness results from the individual actions of the homeless. This man understands economics. This man is willing to labor, for the benefit of s...

Tonight, I watched the local news cover Hillary's concession speech, followed by remarks about the Republican Party convention held today. As Mike Huckabee, the guest speaker, wailed that "the change they preach is not the change we need", the camera panned around the loosely-filled room, and I casually waxed aloud to my partner: "Look at all the old people." "And the token Hispanic." "There's the fat, white guy." And I thought -- he is just preaching to the choir. Of course at a convention,...