Lummi Island Wine Tasting October 26 ’13
Coal Hard Cash
As we mentioned a few weeks ago, this year’s Whatcom County Council election, in which people are already casting their ballots by mail, might have global implications because of the proposed Coal Port development at Cherry Point (yes, folks, we can see it from here!). Curiously, the Coal Money we all expected to see in the race has not seemed to materialize…until just a few days ago! As a final campaign finance window was about to close, about $150k suddenly showed up in the coffers of Save Whatcom, a brand new PAC backed almost entirely by Big Coal interests. Their first nonsense-filled flyer hit our mailbox yesterday. Never mentioning coal, the message focuses on the usual job-creation mythology industry has been using for decades to squeeze sweetheart tax benefits from unwitting communities (more on this below).
(click on photos for better resolution)
Brief Rant on the Job Creation Myth
For most of the last fifty years, businesses have perpetuated the myth that local communities reap such huge benefits when businesses decide to locate there that communities should offer huge subsidies to attract them, including tax breaks, environmental compromises, or special prices on public utilities. The supposed community benefits are “jobs,” which are only a “benefit” in the very rare case when such a business arrival coincides precisely with the skills of the currently unemployed labor pool in the community. But in the general case, the entire infrastructure of the host community will have to expand to accommodate the new workers, their families, their utility needs, their cars— i.e., the phenomenon we all know as sprawl, which most rational people would agree is something most devoutly to be eschewed. So the last thing a community should do is subsidize business with sweet deals! Look for variations on the “business is doing us a favor by locating here so hey, let’s sell them our only cow for a handful of genetically engineered beans!” argument in your mailbox any minute.
The Really Scary part of all of this is that lately a whole new crop of politicians (aka “Tea Party”) has spread across the land who actually believe this nonsense. This is the knee-slapping and gut-wrenching Reality of our present time, as evidenced by the recent government shutdown: these people actually believe the idiotic rhetoric that the Republican Party and Fox News have been putting out for the past twenty years! How scary is that? Read more on job myths
Foggy Island Mushroom Bloom
It’s been the foggiest week I can remember around here, most of the day, every day for the past week. Cold, dark, and damp. A little trying for some of us, but as it turns out GREAT for mushrooms. A walk through Otto Farm yields an amazing array of exotic fungi, but even in our own neighborhood I found all of these (below) just today. Our forest-supporting, underground fungi thrive in this weather, making their presence known by sending up mushrooms –sort of “fungus flowers”– or “fruiting bodies,” of certain fungal organisms; their role is to produce spores and release them, after which they can melt back into the earth (as in last photo). Many, of course, are delicious to eat; others are deadly poisonous; and still others can turn you into Alice chasing the White Rabbit.
This week’s tasting
Cloudlift Cellars Updraft ’11 Washington $17
Tom Stangeland’s beautiful interpretation of a classic White Bordeaux (sauvignon blanc and semillon) with the added weight and ripeness that Washington’s climate usually delivers.
Eguren Protocolo Rosado ’12 Spain $8
Bright, mineral-accented aromas of redcurrant and strawberry, with incisive citrus fruit and red berry flavors that gain weight with air. Finishes dusty and long, with lingering spiciness.
Borsao Berola ’09 Spain 90pts $13
(70% garnacha, 20% syrah, 10% cabernet sauvignon; Pungent, smoky aromas of dark berry preserves, cherry pit and spicy licorice; broad and fleshy palate of cherry, blackcurrant, and a touch of succulent herbs.
Palama Negroamaro ’10 Italy $10
Elegantly expansive, rich and robust, with silky mouthfeel, aromas of violets, plums, fresh ground pepper, and palate of blackberry jam with accents of cinnamon, leather, tobacco and smoke.
La Rocaliere Lirac Rouge ’10 France $16
Equal parts grenache, mourvedre, and syrah. Clay hillsides and serene aging in cement tanks yield this
inky purple wine with deeply pitched aromas and flavors of cherry-cola, licorice and violets.
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2072 Granger Way