Monthly Archives: August 2009

Here comes the next bank bailout

Posted on August 27, 2009 by coopgeek

This morning I found a cute little article about a very non-cute topic. It turns out the FDIC’s bank insurance fund dropped 20% in the 2nd quarter, to a rather alarming balance of $10.4 billion. What the article failed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

No more giant carrots!

Posted on August 25, 2009 by coopgeek

I went downtown for an early dose of Ted this morning, and got an wake-up call about the danger of incentives, those carrots and sticks that supposedly make the world go round but actually are an affront to nature. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Healthcare debate feels pointless

Posted on August 23, 2009 by coopgeek

I never wanted to be stuck in the middle of this argument. When I started blogging about the co-op plan, I thought it would be a flash in the pan and then I would be able to get back to happier … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Sustainable rural transit

Posted on August 20, 2009 by coopgeek

Gas is creeping back up above $3.00/gallon, and this is bad news for everyone. But nobody feels the pain as much as people living in lightly-populated rural areas. When businesses shut down, it means that people must drive for dozens … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Escape from the Beltway

Posted on August 19, 2009 by coopgeek

There are two debates on healthcare reform: The first debate is on the merits of various proposals, and how they will impact people outside of the notorious Beltway. The second debate is about motivations of the individuals and organizations pushing for those … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Corruption is everywhere

Posted on August 17, 2009 by coopgeek

DailyKos blogger BenGoshi points out a very interesting “co-op litigation” web site assembled to help members of electric co-ops network around their respective legal struggles with their cooperatives. This raises a point that has often been deployed to argue against … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Death of a cooperative

Posted on August 13, 2009 by coopgeek

Humboldt Creamery, an 80 year-old organic milk producers cooperative, has been bought in a bankruptcy auction, and will now be folded into a major California milk producer. It is the end of an era. This story first developed last spring, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Meanwhile, outside the healthcare bigtop…

Posted on August 12, 2009 by coopgeek

The past week saw an increasingly disturbing trend of disruptions at events related to healthcare reform. It got to the point that today’s news included a mention that President Obama’s town hall meeting was NOT disrupted (it went on to note that Sen … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Rust Belt shines

Posted on August 7, 2009 by coopgeek

I just returned from the Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy, a gathering of about 150 brave souls doing good work. I’m very inspired, although somewhat scatterbrained from all the new leads and ideas. Without getting into much detail, I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Process point on health reform

Posted on August 4, 2009 by coopgeek

Over at the Daily Kos blogsite, mcjoan has brought up an excellent point: The process by which the Senate Finance Committee is approaching its work is deeply flawed. She and I may disagree on the merits of the “co-op plan” that they … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment