Hightower Highlights

Hightower put on a good show last night at the Melting Point. While speaking specifically about efforts to put in high-speed commuter railways in Georgia, his largest point was that coordinated and sustained citizen action was required in order to achieve economic equality, social justice, and any semblance of real democracy. As would be expected, his stump-speech was peppered with hilarious down-home humor with a message, like the slogan of his neighborhood hardware store: "Together we can do it yourself." Just a few of the best:

"You don't have to be in 'Who's Who' to know what's what!"

"Some people want to label 'agitators' unpatriotic. I remind them that the agitator is that central column in a washing machine that gets the dirt out."

and my personal favorite, "Status quo is latin for 'the mess we're in'."

For more of his thoughts, click here

It's Hightower-Time!

Jim Hightower, a populist activist of the stump-preaching tradition who once said, "There's nothing in the middle of the road except for yellow lines and dead armadillos," will be speaking in Athens at the Melting Point tomorrow night - Monday the 25th.



Hightower is a former Texas state politician who has long argued forcefully (and humorously) for an American democracy that is less captive to the interests of "big money." He will speak Monday night about efforts to rebuild Georgia railroads, and the event will be preceded by a volunteer work session and a public forum.

See this recent Flagpole article for more info.

Springtime Seed Swappin'

Collecting and swapping plant seeds is a skill and practice that has largely died out with the rise of commercial agriculture. In many cases, seed (bio-technology) corporations have successfully lobbied law-makers to make collecting seeds from cultivated plants illegal - a conception of intellectual property which clearly favors corporate interests and also suggests the extent of the commodification of nature. For some thoughts on the far-reaching consequences of this see Kloppenburg's classic book, or this website.



All that said, there are still people who collect seeds. But networks of seed-traders are increasingly important due to the decline in collectors, and later this month outside of our very own Athens, GA is a sure-fire seed swap. It has been running for many years and we are trying to increase the number of participants and exposure to this important practice, so come on down and check it out! There will be all kinds of fun to be had in addition to learning about seeds: home-made cider; live music; good food...