By March Twisdale If you’re a consumer, this article will offer new information regarding the growing push back against “Bank Taxes” designed to skim the cream off the top of local economies everywhere. If you’re a business owner, this article will point you in the right direction, should you wish to submit a claim. This…
Island Businesses, Island Resilience, May 2024
On The Rise – Island Bakery Makes Good, Part 1
By Jane Valencia Visit the VIGA Farmers Market on Saturday morning, and you’ll come upon Fernhorn Bakery and their selection of fresh-made sourdough organic breads and bagels. Taste, and you know you’re eating a bread like no other, attentively made, nutrient-dense, and with unique, vibrant flavors. Please join us in a conversation with Thomas Vroom,…
Gardening, Island Resilience, May 2024
Pruning, Part 3 – Fruit Trees
By Kim Cantrell and John Rettmann Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful spring. As the trees are budding out, the blossoms have been nothing short of gorgeous, and the early pollinators are at work. Let’s continue forth with talking about pruning; this time, we are getting specific in our endeavor. In the first two…
Island Resilience, May 2024
The Best Money
By Stephen Buller Most people know the golden rule: Treat others how you wish to be treated. Here is a lesser-known golden rule: He who holds the gold makes the rules. Most people I meet think of gold as a commodity, a shiny metal, or pretty jewelry, but when I say gold is the best…
April 2024, Island Resilience
The AI Bubble and its Needles
By Marc J. Elzenbeck Hot as the Dot-Com bubble may have been, the AI bubble is blazing. There are strong connections between now and then. At its height in 1999, a smallish company named Sun Microsystems made computers key to powering the graphical internet, and its stock was bid to a staggering 10x price to…
April 2024, Island Resilience
The Value of Giving a Damn!
By March Twisdale After a year of talking with Island businesses about the significant negative impacts of point-of-service (POS) transaction fees (Bank Taxes), I came up with an idea. How about passing these fees back to customers paying with plastic, just like the grocery stores charge customers who show up without a bag? The only…
April 2024, Island Resilience
Ham Radio in “Peacetime”
By Andy Valencia Last issue, I talked about the strength of ham radio in providing communications during catastrophic disruptions of our traditional networks. But what does a ham radio operator do when the world hasn’t gone full Mad Max? If you have a handie-talkie (a hand-held radio, about the size of a cell phone), the…
April 2024, Children, Island Resilience
Herbs With Kids – Springtime!
By Jane Valencia Spring is here, and behold! Many of our beloved herbs are in vibrant form, with new leaves unfurling and some actually in flower. This is a fine time for you and your children to forage for herbs, as the new growth that beckons us mirrors the vitality the plants impart to us….
Island Resilience, March 2024
Looking for a Good Neighbaaa
By Marc J. Elzenbeck Call me stupid. My auto and home insurance stayed nearly unchanged for the most part of a decade, with only minor upticks reflecting an occasional policy adjustment. Towing coverage was added on a couple vehicles, plus a separate umbrella covering teenager mishap, malfeasance, or vandalism. Starting in January 2022, both basics…
Island Resilience, March 2024
Gold, Bitcoin, Money, and Currency
By Stephen Buller “Gold is money. Everything else is credit.” – John Pierpont Morgan Regarding money, it would be wise to listen to the words of the founder of the largest bank on the planet, but I doubt he could imagine the world we live in today. Did Mr. Morgan simply lack the perspective to…