… And The King Is Dead
Neil Steinberg writes today about the growing number of retail establishments that are going cashless. That is, they’re not accepting your dollar bills anymore, nor your fins, sawbucks, Jacksons, half-yards, or c-notes, for that matter.
Who Needs It?
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Oh sure, these businesses have their reasons and some of them are even…, well, reasonable. Neil lays these justifications out nicely, so I won’t pilfer from him here (not that I have any moral compunction against such larceny, only that I’m lazy today).
Still, if any biz around these parts opts to refuse to take my paper or metal, I’ll be happy to inform them I’ll take my own biz elsewhere.
I’m guessing this righteous indignation will last, at most, a year or two. By 2020 at the latest, I’ll have become a non-complaing participant in the coming cashless society.
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She Can’t Go Home Again — Just Yet
Check out this week’s offerings in Limestone Post for my profile of a person who’s been living on the streets, in shelters, and, occasionally, in subsidized housing for the last couple of years. Her name is Peggy. I interviewed her on Big Talk a few weeks ago and now you can read about her in the LP’s Big Mike’s B-town column.
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Three For The Show
This week is jam-packed with Big Talk sessions. Man alive, they ain’t nuffin’ like hoarding recordings so’s I won’t have to endure my weekly nervous breakdown worrying about who I’m gonna corral for the next show.
I’m knocking three BT’s off this week, one of which will be a live interview Thursday afternoon at the regular time.
The two recording sessions I’ve already done have reinforced my flagging faith in humanity — honest to gosh. This much needed jolt of optimism has come about thanks to the existence in this mad, mad world of two brilliant, civilized, hard-charging souls named Caty Pilachowski and Kate Hess Pace.
Caty (Catherine, acc’d’g to her birth cert.) is a big shot astronomer at Indiana University. She’s as cool as an October breeze. Wanna know how cool? She has her own minor planet, 17025 Pilachowki by name. The (relatively) little hunk of iron and rock was discovered in 1999 and now, forever, will bear her name. And I’m not referring to those scams you used to see in the backs of mags wherein you could buy your own star or some such Trumpish bushwa. 17025 Pilachowski is the real deal.
The current occupant of the Daniel Kirkwood Chair at Indiana University’s Astronomy Dept., Caty came to the studio Monday afternoon to talk about the upcoming total solar eclipse that’ll swath its way across this holy land in the early afternoon, Monday, August 21st. She explained how the show will play out here in Bloomington — there’s a cool little trick you can do with the shadow of your hand, plus the trees themselves will serve to create a spectacular display as the sun’s light gets occluded by the moon that day. Tune in Thursday, August 10th, for the WFHB Daily Local News at 5pm for all the details.
The next week (Aug. 17th), we’ll present Kate Hess Pace the founder and director of the new regional community advocacy and empowerment org., Hoosier Action. Hess Pace just opened HA’s Bloomington office in April and she’s already guided the gang through a door-knocking campaign to raise awareness of potential Medicaid cuts and a US Capitol building civil disobedience event. She’s begun to grow a list of dues-paying members, too. Hess Pace was doing perfectly well for herself, helping run a Minnesota community organization called Isaiah. In the Town Cities, Hess Pace’s group helped defeat a voter ID initiative on the Minn. ballot, curtail predatory lending, and write a homeowner bill of rights. She was happy, her group was doing great work, and she had no real need to uproot herself and move to these parts — save for her desire to bring community empowerment to smaller town America. She felt a responsibility, answered the call, and here she is in Bloomington.
This week’s show will feature a live colloquy with Liz Watson, Democratic candidate for US Congress. It’ll air Thursday during the DLN at 5.
As always, check back here on Friday for links to the podcast and, when I get around to it, the entire, mostly unedited, original interview.
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