lummi island wine tasting Oct 24-25 ’25
Hours this weekend: 4-6 pm Friday & Saturday
Here’s our new “bread protection” awning…
improved structural design and adds some color!
This Week’s Wine Tasting
Decoy Chardonnay ’23 California $16
Blended from several CA central coast vineyards; aromas of sweet mandarin orange and white peach; juicy and vibrant palate of tropical fruit flavors with a hint of oak from its time in barrel.
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,
Angels & Cowboys Proprietary Red ’22 California $22
Attractive nose of red berries, orange peel, spices, and crushed stone; medium to full-bodied and succulent, with silky, mellow tannins and lavorful finish.
Eddie Bauer Wool Shirt, Light Gray Herringbone Found in Wine Shop Oct 3
…Looks like someone’s comfy favorite,
…give us a call to claim!
…Sadly it’s just a little small for us..! 🙁
Economics of the Heart: Christian Nationalism vs American Democracy
Bombardment of Fort Sumter – 1861 Currier Ives
Every day makes it increasingly clear that the current, ongoing, years-in-the-making assault on American democracy is the product of some 40 years of planning, scheming, conning, lying, and stealing by a tight coalition of billionaire “Christian Nationalists.” They began by patiently built a nationwide coalition of mega-churches through which they conned millions of people out of billions of dollars by convincing them that Democrats were merciless Satanists and perverts that killed and ate children and had to be Stopped.
In the late 80’s they launched a massive, 24/7 media attack on all things Democrat via Fox News (et al.)) and an nationwide army of angry radio and TV talk show hosts across the nation that has continued nonstop, all day every day for over 30 years. Heavily funded by billionaires like the Koch brothers, Leonard Leo, and other ultra-wealthy white male supremacists, their long-term goal has been to replace our Constitutional democracy with a Christian autocracy run by and for them alone. Voting would be only for show, with results predetermined. Women would not work except to have children and manage the home. Make no mistake: in the Utopia of these self-styled, self-centered psychopaths, no one matters but them.
Everyone paying attention in our nation, like the 8 million of us who protested around the country last weekend (yay!!) is being increasingly activated by the ongoing cruelty of this ultra-Fascist movement. The guys running this coup intend to do away with the Constitution completely. A small group of hateful, angry people are actively assuming the authority to commit any crime, any time, against anyone they want to punish. It’s already happening, despite ongoing delaying tactics in lower courts.
The great wisdom of our Founders to give everyone freedoms of/from religion has successfully protected us for 250 years from the tyranny of religious oppression. As we all know, religious freedom is now directly in the crosshairs of Project 2025, which is already well down the road toward its dystopian autocratic vision for our country. Our Constitutional government has survived many assaults in 250 years, and what is happening right now is the new Civil War by the same sort of self-entitled, slave-owning, wealthy plantation owners that started the Civil War. This coup is their new Ft. Sumter.
Out of curiosity, I browsed online yesterday for any critiques of Christianity’s use of Old Testament interpretations to justify wars, brutality, and murder and according to AI found they often center on its methods of interpretation, theological contradictions, and ethics issues within the text. You can read the fascinating response here. \
lummi island wine tasting oct 10-11 ’25
Hours this weekend: 4-6 pm Friday & Saturday
click for photo of Padilla Bay dramatic sky
This Week’s Wine Tasting
Novelty Hill Stillwater Creek Chardonnay ’22 WA $22
Aromas of lemon verbena, thyme and apple blossoms; creamy fruit flavors of mango, lemon curd, pineapple, and crème brûlée.
MAN Vintners Pinotage ’22 South Africa $14
Aromas of dark coffee beans, red berries, nutmeg, and vanilla spice turning to dark berries and smoky plum; rustic yet silky and juicy, with smooth tannins, balanced acidity, and comforting intensity.
Idilico Tempranillo ’21 Washington $19
Aromas of leather, forest floor, and balsamic notes wrapped around a core of red fruit, notes of fresh dried herbs, sweet spice and red currant; medium bodied with juicy mouthfeel, soft tannin, and a lingering finish.
Shirt Found in Wine Shop last Friday
click link for photo : found in wine shop last week…
Economics of the Heart: National Guard and Illegal Orders
“Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown today (10/8) led a coalition of 24 AG’s and governors in an amicus brief supporting Oregon’s court challenge to the Trump administration’s attempts to illegally use the military for civil law enforcement…”Every day we’re witnessing tactics by the President of the United States that have been used by fascist leaders across the world — sending the military into cities, threatening to jail political opponents and trying to intimidate into silence the media, academia, law firms and any other perceived critic,” Brown said. “Our Founders never envisioned this for our country, and the law simply does not allow it.”
Joining the brief are AG’s from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin, and the governors of Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
2. According to Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, “if the United States, or any of the Commonwealths or possessions is invaded or in danger of invasion by a foreign nation; experiences a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States; or the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States, “the President may call into Federal service members and units of the National Guard of any State in such numbers as he considers necessary to repel the invasion, suppress the rebellion, or execute those laws, BUT: “ Orders for these purposes shall be issued through the Governors of the States or, in the case of the District of Columbia, through the commanding general of the National Guard of the District of Columbia.”
There should now be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Project 2025 is completely committed to hijacking US military forces to help them destroy democracy. In the war against immigrants we have gone from “they’re eating the dogs!” to grabbing people off the streets at gunpoint and disappearing them to foreign countries (even Florida!) with no legal process or paper trails, to using our military to bomb from the air (on camera!) random small boats at sea and killing everyone aboard with undocumented assertions that they were smuggling dangerous drugs into the U.S. That is just plain old vicious, unjustifiable, literally unwarranted Murder.
You can draw a straight line from these expanding threads of irresponsible murder, kidnapping, and brutal ICE raids all over the country directly to the current effort to invade major Blue cities and states with heavily armed police, soldiers, and masked ICE agents creating deliberate chaos in American cities, especially Blue ones. This is where the brutality starts following even more faithfully the models established by Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, and other Fascist, Nazi, (name your dictator) rulers.
What you can do: If you have a friend or relative in the military or National Guard, remind them that they have both a right and a responsibility to refuse to obey illegal orders.
The more service members that understand their obligation to refuse to be part of an insurrection, the safer we all will be.
lummi island wine tasting Oct 3-4 ’25
Hours this weekend: 4-6 pm Friday & Saturday
This week’s wine tasting
Garzon vineyards, Uruguay
Garzon Single Vineyard Albarino ’20 Uruguay $34
Medium-bodied white with dense texture, rich, elegant aromas, and succulent flavors of pineapple, lemon zest, chamomile, sea salt, and stone fruits, with bright, tangy acidity, pleasing creamy texture and deep flavors.
Idilico Monastrell ’22 Washington $19
Known as Mourvèdre in France, Spanish monastrell typically has notes of dark cherry, pepper, and a bit of gaminess, bright acidity, and freshness and low alcohol levels. Fermented on the lees and aged in neutral barrels.
Perrin CdR Rouge Réserve ’20 France $16
Fresh, bright and fleshy GSM Rhone blend shows peppery aromas and flavors of black cherry and raspberry, finishing warm and long. Excellent value!
Economics of the Heart: The Silence of the Generals
https://www.stripes.com/
My first reaction to the Tweetster’s summons of America’s top military leaders from across the planet for a face-to-face meeting with him and so-called SecDef Hegseth was a certain paranoia about security. The way the ongoing Project 2025 coup has been going, with roving gangs of anonymous, masked “ICE agents” rounding up and disappearing thousands of people with no legal process, no records, and no accountability, if you’re not a little paranoid, then you haven’t been paying attention.
So it has been easy to imagine various Maga scenarios comparable to Hitler’s Reichstag fire, where in one act of terrorism his Nazis burned down the building that housed the government, suspended civil liberties, and pursued a “ruthless confrontation” that “removed” enough of the Communists (the opposition party) from government to give Hitler dictatorial control of the entire government and set the stage for the international horror of WWII.
Any sudden gathering in one place of pretty much all of our top military leadership from far-flung positions around the world should raise lots of security alarms. But right now we are already up to our waists resisting a long-planned, targeted assault on our Constitution by a coalition of autistic billionaires and white/racist/sexist/male/neo-Christian/anti-abortion nationalists, as we recently discussed here and here.
It was a relief to see that standard military protocols were intact during what turned out to be more the Tweetster’s audience with the nation’s military leaders, not the other way around. Besides the ongoing wreckage of his moment to moment exposition, he also seemed genuinely puzzled by the absence of his cheering, interactive Maga-Rally groupies. These guys were not his usual puppets, and neither he nor the so-called SecDef was prepared for the formal silence of their audience.
All in all it was reassuring to this graybeard Navy vet to observe the quiet formality of these highly experienced and decorated officers at this bizarre event. One comes away with some tentative confidence that our senior military leadership will continue to prioritize the Constitution and the rule of law over the ongoing coup. Most of these people have served in the military for at least 25 years, studied international politics and institutions, are highly trained and experienced, and are well-briefed on our security around the world.
Their contrast with the mindless nonsense from the Tweetster/Hegseth team is deeply encouraging.
See, for example, this thoughtful analysis by Moira Donegan in The Guardian.
lummi island wine tasting sept 26-27 ’25
Hours this weekend: 4-6 pm Friday & Saturday
watercolor by Kim Obbink
This week’s wine tasting
Argento Malbec ’22 Argentina $13
From organically grown grapes; deep purple hue; inviting aromas of red berries and flowers, and flavors of plum and sweet blackberry; finishes with ripe, balanced tannins– way over-delivers for its modest price.
Christopher Michael Pinot Gris OR $14
Classic, natural peach-skin color with aromas of Anjou pears and white peaches; juicy and plush, with sweet stone-fruit flavors and bright acidity, and a dry, fresh finish.
Chehalem Corral Creek Pinot Noir ’21 Oregon $32
Elegant, smooth, complex, and light; bright aromatics of strawberry, cherry, toasted oak and baking spice; long, silky, and juicy palate with soft tannins and lingering flavors of bright red fruit.
Economics of the Heart: Cruelty As Government Policy
The first seeds of Republican Cruelty to hit the mainstream were the radio and TV talk show hosts of the early 90’s. Their lies about Democrats became 24/7 ad hominem insults across the nation on right-wing radio and TV. They laid the groundwork for the nonstop demonizing of the Clinton Administration in general and the Clinton family personally. Those deliberate decisions to stream false and outrageous narratives have been the public face of the Republican Party ever since. Those few with honor are long gone.
Dubya took office in 2001, failed to prevent the 9/11 hijacking attacks, and invaded Iraq and Afghanistan where armies of subcontractors made $billions. Thus began the “War on Terror,” which over the next 20 years put lots of $$ in the hands of billionaire investors, killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of people, and laid the path for a major economic recession just as Dubya left office. The Obama administration stepped in in 2008, made the investments and created the legislation to provide health care to all Americans, bailed out the American automobile industry, took out Osama bin Laden, got the economy back on track…you know, the typical transition from Republican looting to Democratic management.
Since the Tweetster’s Jan 6 2021 coup attempt, however, Republican Maga World has taken us down a very different path toward very different goals. Since then, Republican politicians and backers have turned increasingly to a single strategic goal: replacing Constitutional government with a tyrannical religious state run by a handful of extremely wealthy white men who will own everything and decide everything. There will be no “civil rights” in their neo-feudal system outside the small Elite, only liabilities, and cruelty as we have been seeing since January.
There will be subsistence living for ordinary people in good standing who toe the line. Men will be trained and assigned work according to family status. Women will make and take care of babies, manage households, or otherwise work as assigned. Big Brother will be constantly monitoring what everyone says and does, and violations will bring punishment.
This dystopian picture follows from last week’s post on the research of Matthew Boedy on his forthcoming book “The Seven Mountains Mandate: Exposing the Dangerous Plan to Christianize America and Destroy Democracy.” That subject came up last week from searches on Charlie Kirk and his “Turning Point USA” crusade. This talk Kirk gave at the 2020 CPAC meeting clarifies what Boedy is warning about the goals of Turning Point and its close relationship with the Christian nationalist New Apostolic Reformation movement (NAR). Btw, the Southern Poverty Law Center characterizes NAR as “the greatest threat to American democracy that most people have never heard of.”
It is appropriate to be concerned that the ongoing coup right now in our country is linked directly not only to Republican elected officials and their selected billionaire funders, but even more deeply to these terrifyingly hateful behind-the-scenes people who have made up their own Christian religion and intend to punish anyone who stands in their way. And who almost certainly are the force behind Project 2025.
The “good news” is that the ongoing Cruelty of Project 2025 is building more resistance against itself every day while the Tweetster is getting crazier and crueler every day, and our place in global politics and trade is slipping as long-time trading partners are taking their business elsewhere.
2072 Granger Way