Juggling Dynamite

CBC reports on how a growing number of seniors are declaring bankruptcy. Here is a direct video link.

Six hellish months at the center of the European debt mess, bestowed with a seemingly antithetical mandate to keep Greece in the EU while demanding that its lenders write off bad loans, Finance Minister Varoufakis says this Sunday’s referendum will decide whether he continues or resigns. Varoufakis understands math better than most and he knows impossible terms when he sees them. So far, he has refused to pretend and extend despite intense pressure from many sides to do so. Politicians who resign rather than sell out and break their word to those they represent are rare. If Varoufakis quits, Greece will be left to self-serving wolves once more.

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said he’ll quit if Greece votes to accept creditors’ bailout proposals in Sunday’s referendum. He said he would “rather cut my arm off” than sign a new accord that doesn’t restructure Greece’s outstanding debt. Varoufakis expects Greeks to follow the government’s recommendation to reject the bailout proposals, which would require further tax increases and spending cuts in exchange for continued aid.  Here is a direct video link.

Urban farming initiatives are cropping up all over. Growing fresh, healthy, organic food right where people eat it. Cutting out middlemen, big food corps, and carbon-intensive shipping and packaging.  Perfection. See:  Urban farming a growing trend:

When many people think of farming, the city isn’t often the first location that comes to mind. But that’s exactly what a couple of Edmontonians are doing: urban farming.

“We started off just kind of dreaming up the idea while we were both in grad school, both studying food and agriculture-related topics,” said Cathryn Sprague, co-owner of Reclaim Urban Farm.

Sprague and her business partner, Ryan Mason, operate at 15 urban sites, mainly in the Whyte Avenue area. With permission from the property owners, the pair reclaims front and back yards, empty lots and gardens, and turns them into mini farm sites. Here is a direct video link.

In Detroit too. Here is a direct video link.