Comments on: Rundown 3/16 http://www.hereandnow.org/2009/03/rundown-316/ National and international news analysis, film, theater, music and more, from WBUR and PRI Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:59:43 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Betty R. http://www.hereandnow.org/2009/03/rundown-316/comment-page-1/#comment-273 Betty R. Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:07:55 +0000 http://www.hereandnow.org/?p=2834#comment-273 Thanks for doing the segment on factory farming today! That's a tough topic for lunchtime. I'm a vegetarian because I'm convinced the way we produce meat in this country is harmful to the environment and unecessarily cruel. It's good to see that kind of information brought to a discussion like that. I love it when people think about what they're eating. Thanks for doing the segment on factory farming today!
That’s a tough topic for lunchtime.
I’m a vegetarian because I’m convinced the way we produce meat in this country is harmful to the environment and unecessarily cruel. It’s good to see that kind of information brought to a discussion like that. I love it when people think about what they’re eating.

]]> By: On Rihanna and Chris Brown. « Beginning to See the Light http://www.hereandnow.org/2009/03/rundown-316/comment-page-1/#comment-272 On Rihanna and Chris Brown. « Beginning to See the Light Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:20:40 +0000 http://www.hereandnow.org/?p=2834#comment-272 [...] on Here and Now, the mid-day news program on the Boston-based NPR affiliate WBUR, reporters spoke with Boston-area [...] [...] on Here and Now, the mid-day news program on the Boston-based NPR affiliate WBUR, reporters spoke with Boston-area [...]

]]> By: William Round http://www.hereandnow.org/2009/03/rundown-316/comment-page-1/#comment-270 William Round Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:07:29 +0000 http://www.hereandnow.org/?p=2834#comment-270 Show topic: 10 Big Ideas Comment: I liked your guest's big idea about a store where basic items needed for survival are sold in a casual sales setting. Your guest mentioned many items needed for our emerging modern lifestyles. People need canning jars, rain barrels, sewing notions and generators to cover for the short comings of a stretched infrastructure. I suggest that such a store exists right now and is close by all of your listeners: It's called a hardware store. A Hardware store is a place where you go to buy stuff to fix things. Some rediscovered characteristics of the emerging modern lifestyle is that old is not bad, patched is good, fixed is better, knowing how to do it is great and that deferring or avoiding a purchase is fantastic. Up here in New England, the old Yankees said "Use it up, wear it out, make it do…. or do without!" These people are for the most part gone. They have been replaced by generations of "consumers" who happily purchase merchandise that contain "no user serviceable parts" with internal operations they can not understand. The simple operation of a wall light switch has become a high tech challenge requiring professional attention. I have worked in a hardware store my entire life. I have daily encounters with people who can not fix or repair anything, but who can no longer afford the professional electrician, plumber or carpenter. In my bleaker moments, I revisit my vision of America as a science fiction apocalypse where survivors roast rats over open camp fires... surrounded by technology they can't understand, use or repair. In my brighter moments, I am encouraged by people who have paused to consider the implications of consumption on a massive scale. They come into the hardware store for the things they need in quantities appropriate for the project. The Hardware Store operates on a scale suited to the community. It alters inventory and services to accommodate the surrounding area. As an organization, the Hardware Store makes makes more sense for our times. Regards, William Round Round's Hardware Stoneham, Massachusetts 02180 bill@roundshardware.com Show topic: 10 Big Ideas
Comment:

I liked your guest’s big idea about a store where basic items needed for survival are sold in a casual sales setting. Your guest mentioned many items needed for our emerging modern lifestyles. People need canning jars, rain barrels, sewing notions and generators to cover for the short comings of a stretched infrastructure.

I suggest that such a store exists right now and is close by all of your listeners: It’s called a hardware store. A Hardware store is a place where you go to buy stuff to fix things.

Some rediscovered characteristics of the emerging modern lifestyle is that old is not bad, patched is good, fixed is better, knowing how to do it is great and that deferring or avoiding a purchase is fantastic.

Up here in New England, the old Yankees said “Use it up, wear it out, make it do…. or do without!”
These people are for the most part gone. They have been replaced by generations of “consumers” who happily purchase merchandise that contain “no user serviceable parts” with internal operations they can not understand.

The simple operation of a wall light switch has become a high tech challenge requiring professional attention.

I have worked in a hardware store my entire life. I have daily encounters with people who can not fix or repair anything, but who can no longer afford the professional electrician, plumber or carpenter.

In my bleaker moments, I revisit my vision of America as a science fiction apocalypse where survivors roast rats over open camp fires… surrounded by technology they can’t understand, use or repair.

In my brighter moments, I am encouraged by people who have paused to consider the implications of consumption on a massive scale. They come into the hardware store for the things they need in quantities appropriate for the project. The Hardware Store operates on a scale suited to the community. It alters inventory and services to accommodate the surrounding area. As an organization, the Hardware Store makes makes more sense for our times.

Regards,
William Round
Round’s Hardware
Stoneham, Massachusetts 02180
bill@roundshardware.com

]]> By: Cindy Haigh http://www.hereandnow.org/2009/03/rundown-316/comment-page-1/#comment-269 Cindy Haigh Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:55:52 +0000 http://www.hereandnow.org/?p=2834#comment-269 Thank you so much for the segment you had on a few minutes ago on factory farming. Thank you so much for the segment you had on a few minutes ago on factory farming.

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