‘Raise Your Voice’ Archives
“Democracy” and Bees
My butternut squash plants have commenced to flower and set their early fruit. Like all curcubits (squash, melons, cucumbers, gourds, pumpkins) they are monecious, meaning the male and female aspects are embodied in one plant. However, the flowers themselves are not hermaphroditic. The male and female blooms are separate. The males reveal in morning, only to fade before the day is done. By then bees will have gathered the pollen, and the sperm contained within. Nectar laden females flower the following day, blossoms adorning the miniature fruits with their ovaries and eggs. Joyous bees appear positively ecstatic! But what? Market forces, the profit motive, and corporate domination are killing off our bees. I have in hand two letters from Susan Allen, my state representative. She writes: “Thank you for contacting me to share your support for Governor Dayton”'s proposal for a minimum 50-foot buffer strip along waterways”¦to help increase water quality in our [...]
Cut Worms And Radishes
By Peter Molenaar “Cut worms” are members of the largest family in the Lepidoptera, i.e., they are larvae of a moth. It was not a rabbit which murdered your tender young tomato, it was the devil incarnate. Behold the innocent one, plump and curled in the form of a C beneath the severed plant. What role in nature did its ancestors play? What Karmic consequences might ensue should you destroy it? In this matter, I choose to honor my Christian grandmother. Straighten the “worm” between thumbs and forefingers, meditate briefly, then pop it in two. On the other hand, experienced gardeners will follow mitigating steps: 1.) weed and rake the garden clean before turning the soil in late autumn, 2.) turn the soil again come spring, 3.) plant a trap crop. Who can eat a hundred radishes? Plant them in April, weeks before setting out expensive transplants. A few fallen radishes will reveal the whereabouts”¦ Hmmm”¦philosophical [...]
Fly the Friendly Skies
By Peter Molenaar Monday, May 18”¦ The Metropolitan Airports Commission was to convene its monthly meeting with a lengthy agenda. Star employees were to receive awards! Smile. However, the deeper concern was this: Should the low-wage classifications be bumped up $1.00 from the minimum wage? So rendezvous at the Lake Street Station for a light rail hop to Terminal I. Traverse the dark recesses”¦enter the light of day among red shirt activists. The gathering was lead by “15 Now” (Socialist Alternative) and SEIU Local 26. “Fight for $15/hour at MSP Airport” was the slogan. We were able to pass the security gauntlet (to mixed reviews) and entered momentarily the bourgeois market place. We did not dwell there, but ascended one flight to find the MAC meeting space. After much to-do, the time for public testimony did arrive. I had filled out a card requesting to speak on behalf of the Communist Party USA. To my [...]
