(Mike Licht image.) McClatchy reports that small banks are failing at an alarming rate: 155 so far this year.  And the banking system is so unstable that the FDIC, which tries to place the assets of failed banks with solvent banks, can't find enough solvent banks.  It has changed its rules to allow private equity funds to buy up the remains of bank failures.Does this bother you?  It should.  When there aren't enough solvent banks to support the system, we're in ... Read Full Story

(Pieter Musterd image.)My bank, a small, local institution, posted the following on its website this week: Today (11/5/2009) around noon SBSU was targeted by a cell-phone text messaging scheme. The bogus message claims that your "ATM card is suspended" and asks you to call a 1-877 phone number and input your card information. While these attacks concern us, we trust that you recognize a phishing scheme when you see one. Criminals want your entire card number, expiration date and PIN, which ... Read Full Story

(New Scientist image.)The Week reports on a new book, Time to Eat the Dog?: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living.  Says the Amazon.com review, "Challenging the orthodoxies that underpin our entire economic system, this is one subversive read." Among it findings: the average medium dog kept as a pet requires more land to grow its food than the average person in Vietnam.  According to the book, "it takes slightly more than 2 acres of land to produce the roughly 360 pounds of meat... Read Full Story

(Paul Williams photo: Dust Bowl ghost town.) "Climate change and increased populations around the world are problems that are all tied together... They all point to a world that's living beyond its means." --NPR Since 1976, Wes Jackson has been working on a solution to the 10,000 year old problem of unsustainable farming. He's come up with a solution: a cross between wheat and prairie grasses that's perennial, meaning it doesn't require the soil to be re-plowed every year. That keeps soil ... Read Full Story

California, desperate for money, has made employees an offer they can't refuse: starting this week, the State will withhold 10% more taxes from employees' checks.  That's not just State employees, but every employee in the state.Essentially, that's a non-consensual, interest free loan.  If a private party did that, they'd call it extortion.In theory, taxpayers will get a refund when they file their tax return is April.  But as we've seen in the past, just because... Read Full Story

Cindy47452 photo: An Amish barnraising. Over at Jackrabbit Ranch, we've started a Wiki: the Self Reliance WikiResource.  It will cover such topics as: Renewable energy Self employment Gardening Making cheese Preparedness Cooking & recipes And more... It's not exactly an encyclopedia, because it will contain personal experience as well as facts.  So we're calling it a resource. At present it only has a few pages.  I'd like to invite you to add something, or edit someth... Read Full Story

(Ernst Moeksis photo.)Beleagured CIT Group announced over the weekend that it would seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy, eliminating all its equity holders.  That means the value of its stock will go to zero-- including the $2.3 billion stake held by the U.S. Treasury.  So much for socialism.Wiki's report on CIT shows a long and troubled history, and includes this tidbit: CIT was not qualified to receive TARP funds from the fed, so it reorganized itself as a bank holding company in 2008 in o... Read Full Story

How much does a batch solar heater cost?  That's a question I can answer, because I built one for use in our cheese facility.  I started with a tank from a doscarded 30-gallon propane hot water heater.  Freecycle is great for stuff like this.  I stripped off the exterior metal and the insulation, wire brushed the residue, and spray painted the tank flat black. The cost of the tank so far: $0. Then I built a frame for the tank.  Since the most important element of ... Read Full Story

Even today, my favorite. Read Full Story

"When wilt Thou save the people,Oh Lord of mercy, when?The people, Lord, the people, Not thrones and crowns, but men?" I have loved Godspell since, as an adolescent, my mom took me to see a production of it at our local playhouse.  Based on the Gospel of Matthew, it is both irreverent and respectful, challenging and freeing.This question of salvation-- when wilt thou save the people?-- presupposes another question: what is salvation?  Godspell presents a very pragmatic view of sa... Read Full Story