lummi island wine tasting April 3, ’26
Open Friday 4-6 pm
painting by Anne Gibert
Friday Bread This Week
Colomba di Pasqua (aka ‘Easter Dove’): A traditional Italian Easter cake similar to Christmas panettone. Made with a sweet Italian levain, known as a lievito madre, kept at a warm temperature for a sweet, cake-like dough rather than a sour one. Contains plenty of eggs, sugar and butter plus fresh and candied orange peel, topped with a crunchy almond/hazelnut glaze and pearl sugar before baking in a dove-shaped baking form as labor of love Easter dove! – $10/loaf
Italian Breakfast Bread – A delicious sweet bread. Made with bread flour eggs, yogurt, a little sugar and vanilla as well as dried cranberries golden raisins and candied lemon peel. Perfect for breakfast as toast or even better for french toast on Easter morning – $5/loaf
Hot Cross Buns – An enriched dough made with plenty of butter, sugar and eggs. Full of spices, including cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. And plenty of currants, and candied lemon and orange peel. Topped with a flavorful paste and glazed these are a delicious treat to celebrate spring. 2/$5
This week’s wine tasting
Willamette Valley Vineyards Oregon Blossom Sparkling Rose Oregon $18
88% Pinot Noir, 12% Muscat from Willamette Valley grapes, this slightly sweet sparkler bursts with notes of cherry, strawberry and melon; best with ham and cheese croissants, watermelon/ feta salad, goat cheese crostini, or …??
Tenuta Sant’Antonio Monti Garbi Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore ’21 Italy $21
Spicy and intense, with hints of crushed ash and smoky black cherries; silky texture and pure, with notes of sour wild berries and salty minerality; long, energetic, spicy finish of blackcurrant & mocha,
Torbreck Woodcutters Shiraz ’21 Australia $26
Succulent, rich aromas of dark berries and black plum with notes of sandalwood, rosemary and thyme;
soft tannins and structured, voluptuous mouthfeel adds the poise and piquancy expected from this winery.
Economics of the Heart: The War on Critical Thinking, pt 2
The section below was originally posted in September ’23 to support the case that the glue that held Maga together was at root a methodical War on Critical Thinking— you know, that actual measurable thing that we go to college to learn…? That war swung into action in the late 80’s as soon as Reagan’s FTC removed the long-standing news broadcast rule requiring fair representation of all points of view on any story.
That single change opened the door for a 24/7 barrage of angry, preachy, self-righteous talk show hosts aiming to make conservative white Christians believe that Democrats were lying, conniving sinners that were trying to take their stuff. The arguments were in all cases complete fabrications and deliberate ad hominem lies to make people angry, keep top Democrats on the defensive, and build a completely fictitious world where top Democrats secretly worshiped Satan and ate babies. (I’m not making this up!)
As promised in the Project 2025 manifesto made public in early 2025, Tweetster 2.0 is following a carefully drawn plan to replace Constitutional government in the U.S. with a white, Christian, male-dominated autocracy with no further need for elections, voting, or Congress. This time around from Day One federal laws, rules, chains of authority, security— everything– were to be replaced with an autocratic structure. Workers would have neither contractual rights nor protections; audit trails would disappear; Congressional Democrats would be ignored; and Heritage Foundation would determine and control a Cabinet of people chosen because they were neither capable of nor interested in Critical Thinking.
Think about it…(you know, if you can!)…is there even a single Cabinet member in this administration that is doing the sworn duties of their position? These people are, across the board, all people who think only in black and white, and are proud of it. All of this is richly and gut-wrenchingly illustrated in the hour by hour, day by day insanity of dumping our traditional allies, starting a shooting war in the Middle East with no clear strategic purpose, screwing up the entire global economy and our place in it. And we haven’t even mentioned ICE.
So…it is worth taking a look at what critical thinking is while wondering about where we would be today if our government were actually willing and able to apply it.
*****
Below is broader discussion of the developmental stages of critical thinking from our Sept 29/’23 post
Every creature has some form of sensory discrimination that allows it to survive. We are gifted with a unique nervous system that lets us tell this from that, one from two, gray from black, mine from yours, and right from wrong. Our ability to think, especially to think critically, depends entirely on our ability to observe and make meaning from differences in quantities and qualities of the world around us, and to communicate about them with each other through language.
The abilities to differentiate and reason are the primary characteristic of critical thinking. We all have the sensory ability to discriminate tastes (salty, sweet, sour), feelings (pleasant, unpleasant), and numbers (more, less), and the cognitive ability to tell truth from lies and fact from fiction. We can also form ideas, execute plans, and evaluate and learn from the results. These abilities constitute what is generally known as “critical thinking,” and is the whole point of maturation in general and education in particular.
The most detailed model for the development of intellectual maturity was put forth by William Perry from data gathered back around 1960. Perry’s research found that in general, a student’s college experience could be viewed as “an intellectual Pilgrim’s Progress” in which the student’s way of thinking evolved through four “stages” from a world of binary choices into a world of complex contexts with which to differentiate ever more nuanced distinctions.
Perry observed that beginning college students generally began at Level 1, Duality, a world of opposites: (right/wrong, good/bad). With study and reflection, that view gradually broadened over a couple of years to Multiplicity, which opened a space to hang out with the curious uncertainty of “don’t know for sure.” Over time these broaden to Mode 3, a relativistic layer of “it depends.” The evolution to Level 4, as it turns out, is then a major developmental step in critical thinking with “a fundamental transformation of one’s perspective from a vision of the world as essentially dualistic, to a world as essentially relativistic and context-bound with relatively few right/wrong exceptions.”
The Big Takeaway here is that human beings have been shown to hang out at Levels 1-2 until they learn otherwise from increasing age, education, and/or experience. Which brings us to Maga Republicans. Who are they? According to a study from UW, they have the following characteristics, and they are a mortal threat to our democracy.
- Demographics: MAGA supporters are older, Christian, retired men, the same base as the Capitol riots, with about half middle-class by income, and 1/3 by education.
- Geography: From every state, in proportion to population density from urban to rural;
- Affiliations: 85% support gun rights; 60% support both charities and pro-police groups; 50% support pro-life groups; 38% ‘stop the steal’ ; 23% pro-militia movement;
- Political Activism: Over 75% have signed a petition, contacted representatives, or boycotted, 60% donated $, 50% attended meetings or rallies; nearly 100% voted in every election; nearly all distrust 2020 election results, and believe that voting is too easy.
- Pandemic and Paranoia: 90% agree: COVID rules over-reactive, COVID a Chinese bioweapon, Trump honest about pandemic.
- Race: Large majority disagree that slavery made upward mobility or achieving their potential more difficult for blacks, while agreeing blacks would be doing as well as whites if they tried and should work their way up like other minorities.
- Gender: Large majority agree women interpret innocent remarks as sexist, seek special favors, make unreasonable demands of men, and seek more power than men.
- Immigration: majority believe immigrants change our culture for the worse and break more laws.
The UW analysis ends with this: “These findings are but the tip of the proverbial iceberg. We have much more to share. For us, the implications are clear: our country is in grave danger since one of the two major parties is essentially captured by the MAGA movement. We invite you to draw your own conclusions from these preliminary findings.”
lummi island wine tasting march 27 ’26
Open Friday 4-6 pm
Friday Bread This Week
Kamut Levain – Kamut, aka khorasan wheat, is an ancient high-protein grain preferred by many who can’t tolerate other wheats. Fermented overnight with a levain before adding bread flour & kamut flour for a nutty, rich flavor and golden color loaf. – $5/loaf
Rye w/ Currants, Pumpkin Seeds & Cracked Coriander – Made with a starter fed with rye instead of wheat flour, bread flour and freshly milled rye flour, some molasses for sweetness, and pumpkin seeds, currants and cracked coriander seed make for an interesting flavor profile – $5/loaf
…and pastry this week…
Chocolate Croissants! – The traditional laminated french pastry made with sourdough and another pre-ferment to create the traditional honeycomb interior, rolled out and shaped with delicious dark chocolate in the center. – 2/$5- $5/loaf
This week’s wine tasting
Bread & Butter Chardonnay ’22 California
Essentially this is a mass-produced California chardonnay blend from many sources and engineered to mimic the pleasantly rich texture and smooth, vanilla-y, CA oakiness of CA chards of the past with .
Lapostolle Grand Select Carmenere ’23 Chile $18
Fresh nose with red fruits such as strawberries and plums in addition to red paprika and spices. It is well-balanced with a lovely red fruit expression, a medium structure, and juicy tannins.
Catena Malbec’23 Argentina $ 16
Leads with an elegantly perfumed, juicy bouquet accented with turned-earth aromas; precise, vibrant texture, and high-toned finish with a savory, sturdy core.
Economics of the Heart: Mean Spirits
that’s a lotta weight to carry, huh…?
Over the past year I’ve been reading a lot of books set in the Middle Ages by English historian and prolific writer Bernard Cornwell. In several overlapping series of compelling stories stretching over a thousand years of feudal Britain between about 500 and 1500 AD he has created a compelling picture of the times. The backgrounds he paints of feudal organization form a myriad of overlapping, self-proclaimed kings, each with an army of knights, archers, corrupt priests, fighting brutally for days at a time, and killing hundreds or even thousands of opposing soldiers in brutal, all-day battles face to face with swords, and at a distance with arrows from longbows and crossbows.
The image and feel of the period Cornwell portrays comes across as a time of relentless churning for power in an era driven by the need for standing armies for defense, for payback, and of course for the hubris of gathering ever more power. While each little village or town might have its resident farmers, fishermen, shopkeepers, and inns, it also had to maintain some kind of defense against surprise incursions of larger, wealthier, better armed bands who might attack on a passing whim and wipe out an entire town or village. Uncertain times meant “keeping an eye to weather” at all times.
The books as a group form a compelling portrait of the times and the destructive nature of humans, in particular wealthy males with an insatiable need to dominate. Most people of the era were serfs working at the pleasure of their lords for basic sustenance. Life was hard and unpredictable.
Over time power consolidated into larger political entities with more formal organizational structures, larger populations, and more complex economic relationships. But underlying it all was the enduring fact that a substantial enough number of wealthy, titled men were so consumed by the desire to control ever more that “old age” began at thirty for soldiers, and ordinary people were frequent “collateral damage.”
Today we stand, in this 250th year of our great country’s existence, in a time unpleasantly reminiscent of the senseless, thoughtless, ruthless, and ego-driven cruelty of the Dark Ages. Right now, mimicking the merciless, ego-driven real and fictional butchers across Cornwell’s books, steps the Project 2025 plan to end democracy and freedom for everyone but the trillionaires, the politicians they have bought, and the corporate CEO’s they either are or have bought.
Our country has survived many existential threats since its founding, but nothing like this coalition of a emotionless autistic billionaires and their fawning Congressional lackeys who, as the old saying goes, willingly sell their souls for a bigger share of money and power.
At present a quick view of the news at any moment of the day is enough to confirm that everything this Republican government is doing aims to turn our nation and perhaps our entire planet into a Dark, Dystopian, and Unsustainable world with a short, dark, and agonizing future.
Our survival requires that every Congressional Republican must be replaced asap with an actual human being, with a mind of his/her own, gratitude for his/her good fortune to be an American, and a dedication to restoring the Constitutional balance our country and our world most desperately need to maintain life as we have known it for 250 years.
lummi island wine tasting March 20 ’26
Open Friday 4-6 pm
Setting sun edges toward Spring Equinox near Orcas Island’s north end…
Friday Bread This Week
Whole Wheat Levain – Sourdough mix of the dough- which is then fermented overnight in the refrigerator. This long slow process allows the fermentation process to start and the gluten to start developing. About 25% fresh milled whole wheat, a ‘toothy’ crumb, great texture and flavor and a nice crisp crust. – $5/loaf
Breton – All the flavors of the French Brittany region. Bread flour, fresh milled buckwheat, and rye make for interesting flavor and the salt is set gris -the grey salt from the region that brings more mineral flavors to this bread. – $5/loaf
…and pastry this week…
Black Sesame & Candied Lemon Brioche: A delicious brioche dough full of eggs, butter and sugar. Filled with fresh lemon zest and candied lemon and as if that wasn’t enough, topped with a black sesame streusel before baking. Ooh la la, what’s not to like…? – 2/$5.
This week’s wine tasting
Bread & Butter Chardonnay ’22 California
Essentially this is a mass-produced California chardonnay blend from many sources and engineered to mimic the pleasantly rich texture and smooth, vanilla-y, CA oakiness of CA chards of the past with .
Lapostolle Grand Select Carmenere ’23 Chile $18
Fresh nose with red fruits such as strawberries and plums in addition to red paprika and spices. It is well-balanced with a lovely red fruit expression, a medium structure, and juicy tannins.
Catena Malbec’23 Argentina $ 16
Leads with an elegantly perfumed, juicy bouquet accented with turned-earth aromas; precise, vibrant texture, and high-toned finish with a savory, sturdy core.
Economics of the Heart: The Two Sides of Right-Wing Authoritarianism
Wikipedia defines Right-Wing Authoritarianism as “a set of attitudes describing somebody who is highly submissive to their authority figures, acts aggressively in their name, and is conformist in thought and behavior.”
Of particular interest at this point in American political history is the critically important fact that there are two interlocking sides to any authoritarian system: the aggressive and manipulative authoritarian leaders and their willing followers who are somehow comforted by a strict set of rules that everyone must follow.
Since 2015 we have witnessed, 24/7, the complete merger of Fox News and the Maga movement it feeds. Studies have shown that some 40% of Maga voters scored in the highest quartile of the authoritarian aggression scale. These are people who take comfort in rigid rules that everyone must follow.
The Wikipedia article is lengthy and data-driven, and paints authoritarian systems as needing the willing support of enough passive authoritarians, i.e. those who can only feel safe when they can believe everyone follows the same set of demanding Rules. The reliable conformity to a strictly enforced set of punitive rules gives them the illusion of safety. Creepy, huh…?
In the past year, of course, all of the rules have regularly broken by those in charge, often twisted into deadly violence against those who stand for the rule of law.
Congressional Republicans offer neither comment nor action to help bring order to the chaos, fully embracing their roles as obedient servants to the unraveling of democracy, the wanton deployment of sadistic cruelty against ordinary people for no reason at all, and the complete conversion of the United States of America into someone’s dystopian wet dream of in which only white, wealthy, Christian men have rights.
Maga is at present deploying the massive destructive power of the US military against the people of Iran and Lebanon, with no concern for the resultant death, destruction, and misery. Our long time allies and friends have turned away in horror and sorrow as our nation tosses aside everything it has stood for for 250 years.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the cruel brutality of Project 2025 destruction is sowing the seeds of its own destruction at an ever-increasing pace.
Obviously, in the interest of charity and good will, we should all do what we can to help them along with that, n’est-ce pas??
lummi island wine tasting March 13 ’26
Open Fridays 4-6 pm
Setting sun edges toward Spring Equinox near Orcas Island’s north end…
Friday Bread This Week
Spelt Levain – Spelt is an ancient wheat w/ a nutty, slightly sweet flavor and is made with a levain before blending with bread flour, spelt flour, fresh milled whole spelt and whole rye. – $5/loaf
Le Pave d’Autrefois –aka “old paving stones.” A ciabatta like bread which is simply divided into approximate squares from a mix of bread flour, whole wheat, rye and buckwheat for a hearty whole grain goodness. -$5/loaf (or paving stone) $5/loaf
…and pastry this week…
Pain aux Raisin – Made with the same laminated dough as croissants. The dough is rolled out, spread with pastry cream and sprinkled with a mix of golden raisins and dried cranberries that have been soaked in sugar syrup. Rolled up and sliced before baking. These are my favorites! As always, quantities are limited, be sure to get your order in early! -$5/loaf
This week’s wine tasting
Chapoutier Belleruche Blanc ’24 France $14
Delicious blend of grenache blanc and roussanne; fragrant and perfumed with a light, grilled-lemon note over ripe melon, and a lingering palate of rich white peach.
Zenato ‘Alanera’ Rosso Veronese ’23 Italy $17
Dark, inky color; rich, focused nose of ripe berries, dusty oak and waxy vanilla bean. On the palate delivers extracted flavors of cherries, strawberry, clay, and hints of crushed mint, soft tannins, and rounded finish.
Alto Moncayo Zisnero Garnacha Spain $16
Ruby red; aromas of cherries and currants; pleasant freshness with notes of laurel and toast, balanced acidity, lingering palate.
Economics of the Heart: Stop! Enough Already! Let’s make US the Good Guys Again!
Olympia Theater Bangor ME c 1921
Being a kid in post-WWII 1950’s America was a kind of heaven. We lived on a nondescript, worn/tidy residential street in Bangor, ME with very little traffic because of the steep hill at one end (blocked off for sledding in winter!).
It was quiet and safe, with lots of other kids, numerous vacant lots, trees to climb, and lots of space to play (including the street). It was home.
Somewhere in that sense of safety and hominess was the seldom-discussed, yet always vaguely present, fact that there had been a horrible war that lasted for years. A lot of people had been killed or injured, but we had been the Good Guys, it was over, and we had won. It was a huge Relief that it was over, and that sense of relief somehow pervaded our lives. There was kindness, warmth, safety, and a sense of belonging. There was also an Air Force base on the edge of town, with familiar and also somehow comforting sounds of takeoffs and landings.
The picture above is of a dilapidated old movie theater about a mile’s walk toward downtown. Every Saturday there would be a matinee for kids with a cartoon, a weekly serial episode ( Superman, Capt Marvel, more) and a movie ( usually a western). Imagine 200 kids shouting YAAyyyyyyyy for the Good Guys and BOOoooooing the Bad Guys.
NOBODY wanted to be one of those despicable, sneering, deeply cruel Bad Guys (Black hats!) that enjoyed making people suffer. The many touches of chivalry in films of the forties and fifties were a product of, and also an aim to preserve that post-war sense of relief, safety, national unity, and hope for the future.
Today’s reality is that the Bad Guys are now in control. As we have suggested many times over the past ten years, the domestic war against US democracy was evolving since the New Deal in 1933, and finally planted its most essential seed in 1987 when Reagan’s FCC removed the requirement that news broadcasts must present balanced views or every public issue.
That opened the floodgates of 24/7 broadcasting on television, social media, rural radio, and right-wing talk shows of deliberate media lies, character assassinations, and ridiculous accusations against “wokeness.”
We are now well into the second year of Project 2025’s plan to eliminate in its entirety the Constitutional government structure which has served us well for 250 years, and replace it with some version of a white male-dominated Christian police state in which a handful of white, wealthy, “Christian” men enjoy dictatorial power over everyone and everything. This goal illustrates precisely the massive hubris which made Jefferson insist on a “wall of separation between Church & State,” a concept earlier promoted by Enlightenment philosophers such as John Locke.
They have invaded Venezuela, kidnapped its dictatorial leader (one of their own!) murdered hundreds of nameless boaters in international waters, deployed hordes of heavily armed, masked gunmen to bring fear and chaos to the streets of our largest cities, and of late are whimsically bombarding Iran.
But don’t be fooled by these chest-pounding distractions. Every insult, shot, bomb, and rocket fired in our name by these traitors is a treason against our 250-yr old nation of, by, and for its people. THEY fight only for $$ego.
WE fight for some 400 million inner children needing something to be yelling YAAYYYY about!
2072 Granger Way