US – Thursday, September 2

Playing Nintendo in the mine
The 33 miners trapped underneath a Chilean mountain are safe. The most challenging task now is making sure the miners don’t lose their sanity as they await rescue.Illegal population has fallen
The number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. shrank 8 percent to 11.1 million in 2009 from a peak of 12 million in 2007.Mideast: Mosque debate is US issue
A heated U.S. debate over a planned Islamic center near New York’s World Trade Center site is seen by Middle East media, scholars and citizens as more of a domestic American issue than an attack on their faith.‘Housewives’: The Beverly pill-billies?
Coming fresh off of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” reunion (did you all catch that horror show? One word: cray-cray) is the announcement that Bravo is set to release yet another Real Housewives franchise, “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” next month.We won’t diss ‘Distance’
Most coastal city-dwellers who are familiar with the grittier, busier side of life, relationships and indie-rock bands will love “Going the Distance”; the rest of America, not so much. University City back in business
From Baltimore to Lancaster avenues and along Market Street in between, University City is abuzz from the arrivals of college students and professors back after summer vacation.Tiger losing, and so is his clothing line
Tiger Woods fans have put up with the philandering, the text messages and the domestic spats. Now comes what may be the hardest thing of all to tolerate: losing.‘Check out the moobs on that guy’
While breast-enhancing surgery has become almost a norm for American women, men are also heading to the plastic surgeon’s office more often — to have their man-boobs (moobs) removed. The very best in Cape Cod’s clam shacks
If you are what you eat, then most Cape Codders would be a clam — or maybe a lobster roll A land named for a type of fish should abound with chances to sample tasty seafood, and Cape Cod does not disappoint

‘I am good enough, I am smart enough ... ’
So you squandered an estate note on a bachelor’s degree, then trudged through more entry-level hardships and thankless internships than should be legally permissable, only to backslide into a self-esteem shattering, résumé-derailing grind, several tax brackets below your dignity. 

Neil deMause 

Preaching the shop-local gospel

It’s not an easy time to be an American consumer. At every turn, we’re told that our free-spending ways have brought us to the brink of economic disaster. And now that we’re again hiding money in our mattresses, what’s the solution? As Uncle Sam ordered from the cover of last week’s Newsweek: “I Want YOU To Start Spending!” 

Fortunately, the Rev. Billy has a way out. The performance-art activist and Green mayoral candidate has converted his Church of Stop Shopping to the Church of Life After Shopping, to help us in these troubled times. “When the smoke from the battle clears, it turns out we have the next step to take,” he says. “And that is realizing we are the stimulus, and what we spend means a lot right now,” Billy said. 

For the reverend — real name Bill Talen — it’s about having faith in startups and local stores that can fill the gap as chain stores file Chapter 11: “We have more single-household farms than we had 12 months ago — the first time in 50 years this was true — and that is feeding a greatly growing green market. There’s a record number of small companies starting up every week. People are making livings right now in new swap economies and thrift economies that didn’t exist a few years ago.” 

It’s a vision that’s picking up steam: In Detroit, where unemployment has soared past 22 percent, there’s a push on to use the city’s ubiquitous vacant lots for community farming. But if we’re going to reach this local economy promised land, the government’s going to have to do more than just offer tax breaks for buying cars and houses. “Localism” advocate Michael Shuman has called for easing securities laws to make it easier for micro-businesses to draw investors. And until drug companies start accepting home-grown tomatoes as payment, people need affordable health insurance that’s not dependent on having a traditional 9-to-5 job. 

Rethinking what we mean by economic health will be a long, hard slog, but then, we’re already mid-slog as it is. Done right, we can join Rev. Billy in shouting: “Local-lujah!”

Neil deMause is a Brooklyn-based journalist and author. He can be contacted at demause.net and fieldofschemes.com.

Metro does not endorse the opinions of the author, or any opinions expressed on its pages. Opposing viewpoints are welcome. Please send 400-word submissions to letters@metro.us

	Advertise with us | About Metro | Contact us | Careers | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Classified Advertising   Editor: Matthew Killorin © Copyright 2010 Metro International