"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
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"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
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"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
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"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
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"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
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"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
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"Hawke" wrote in message
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The Wall Street Journal, 25 June 2008, page A1.

Joe Gwinn

Organic cotton: The problem is that Patagonia has it all tied up.
That's
because they invested in it a long time ago, before it was
fashionable.
Now
Patagonia is one of the highest-profit clothing retailers in the
business.
FWIW, ordinary cotton probably wrecks more land than any food crop.
It's
an
environmental bitch.

Welcome to the future of business, Joe. Note that both parties are
on the
bandwagon. The rest will fall off.

--
Ed Huntress

I wonder how it is that any innovation happens in the business
world. With
it being dominated by conservatives it's a surprise that they just
don't do
everything exactly like they did it in the past. I know they want
to. Maybe
that is why we have liberals. So there can be progress and change.
The
liberals are always looking for a new and better way. Green is a
good
example. How many conservatives or business run by conservatives are
not
looking to go green compared to the ones that are? Do most agree
with Larry
Kudlow and think we need to drill, drill, drill to the future? I'm
sure most
businesses are resisting any changes. Whether it's in agriculture,
tech, or
industrial sectors the liberals have seen the light and are moving
to a
world where fossil fuel will be phased out in favor of alternative
sources.
As usual they are being held back by conservatives. The Democratic
national
convention will signalize the fact that the Democrats have embraced
a new
way of doing things. The republican convention will be just more of
what we
had in the past although they will throw in a few, we're for
changes, while
they're at it. As usual. It'll be interesting to see if the public
is ready
to follow the lead of the progressive Democrats or will buckle in to
their
fears and stick with the tried and failed policies of the last
decade. We'll
find out in November.

Hawke

I'm not so sanguine about progressives, who tend to jump on these
things too easily. But sustainability won't be an option before very
long. What I expect to happen is a stricter accounting for
externalities -- if you sell a product in plastic bottles, you pay
for their disposal at the manufacturer's end. Then we'll find out
what's efficient and what's not.

As for the Bushies' approach to things, I think something that
happened today puts it in perspective. The BLM has approved something
like 60 drilling projects on federal land in recent years, all of
them with a blanket environmental approval. But they haven't allowed
a single solar-generation project. They put a halt to all of them a
year ago, saying they would need two years to evaluate their
environmental impact. Today, under pressure from a couple of
Senators, they reversed themselves and said they would allow some
solar projects pending simultaneous environmental review.

They use the laws for their convenience, and they do so to favor
their friends. It makes me want to punch them in the mouth.

--
Ed Huntress


Does your lovely wife have any new authors she recommends? Tell her
I've been hooked on Nora Roberts lately, she'll get a kick.

She says, "why in the heck does he read Nora Roberts?" g

She's too busy to read these days. She's teaching summer school.

--
Ed Huntress


Tell her I'm so old now that I skip over the sex. I've run out of
doorstop epic fantasy, military adventure, space operas and paranormal
suspense...so, Nora was the next logical genre.

If you're up for reading some hard stuff, get your hands on a copy of
_The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot_ by Russel Kirk. It will give
you a good idea of what's been going on in politics. You want the 7th
Edition. It's been around since the early '50s, but, like Adam Smith's
_Wealth of Nations_, everyone claims to know what it's about but hardly
anyone has read it. d8-)

--
Ed Huntress


Truthfully, I hate reading "Hard Stuff". I view my reading time as
escapism and renewal.

That's what my wife does, too. I view it as penance for spending my time
looking down Marie's dress in English class.

--
Ed Huntress