Just Coffee Cooperative

The Honorable Matthew Cameron Earley has been commissioned a Kentucky Colonel!!!

Join Just Coffee in welcoming our own Matt Earley to the distinguished ranks of such pomperosers as Barry Manilow, Ronald Reagan, and Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.

This venerable achievement ushers in a new era of prestige to Just Coffee as well as to the entire fairtrade coffee roasting industry, as Matt is, we believe, the first coffee roaster to have been bestowed this estimable title.

When reached for comment, Matt slowly set his mint julep on the railing of the veranda while his misting eyes looked out over his vast estate surveying all that was his. He then thoughtfully straightened his string tie, brushed the dirt of the shoulder of his seersucker suit, and cleared his throat in a classy southern way. What he said next was lost in the loud chirping of a thousand cicadas and the syrupy goodness of his stately Kentucky drawl.

Then he smiled widely, tipped his white hat, and sauntered into the humid evening to find another refreshing bourbon drink.

If you don't like goofy kid videos, please keep browsing.

However, if you do...

Here is a video diary of my recent trip to Venezuela.

The song in the clip is by a fellow named Luis Llaneton Sandoval. It is called "Las Cachos Suben y Bajan".

I'll post more stories and photos about VZ soon.

Despite the full court pressure of negative press and an incredibly lame op-ed in the Washington Post by Donald Rumsfeld, the referendum on changes to VZ's constitution went off without spawning the apocalypse. And surprisingly, the changes were rejected by a narrow margin. So much for the downfall of democracy in Venezuela.

No matter what you thought about the proposed changes to the constitution, you have to admit that the election was impressive. The US press has made constant reference to the "violent" campaign, but in truth it was largely peaceful. And please note that, unlike our current presidential campaign, no one walked into any of the organizing organizations' offices taking hostages with a pipe bomb.

So if you are a Venezuelan, whether a Chavista or a member of the opposition, I send a salute to you today. You all have a functioning democracy and that is something we could use here in the US.

Hello from sunny VZ. As you can see from this photo, I am having a great time. I have been here for a week-- mostly in the state of Lara in and around the city of Sanare. Lara is west of Caracas and is a great foil to the complete insanity of Caracas.

Actually, that is probably not fair to Caracas. I stayed with two very lovely people from the Communal Councils in the heart of Caracas and I met some incredible activists who are working overtime to organize in their community. In a place where, had I been alone, I would have felt pretty vulnerable and ubergringo-like, I was treated with incredible respect and kindness.

My brother Jim (aka Juice or Baby Hook on the court) and I are both from Lexington, Kentucky. Being from Kentucky, we are basketball addicts. Even though we both grew up railing against the mainstream and taking pride in being freaks, we still could not avoid the hoops. Many a Saturday was spent counting backwards from 10 and throwing up last second circus shots to win imaginary crowns. And the crowd goes wild...

In KY basketball is a religion. No...seriously, it is a bona fide religion. And if it came down to Sunday service or the 'Cats vs. the Cards (or Carolina, or Florida, or Indiana, or K-State Tech A&M, or whoever), you can bet that the churches would be empty. Sorry God, but unless Jesus is a 6'8" power forward wearing a blue jersey and dropping 3s from NBA range, he must wait.

This is a picture of one of the thousands of butterflies from the coffee fields of La FEM. Butterflies are an excellent indicator of how healthy the ecosystem is.

In this case, it is clear that these women's fields are super healthy and organic.

So, we've been telling you about La FEM, the amazing organizaton that, among other things, is the umbrella group for the 4 women's producer co-ops that we visited recently in Nicaragua.

Maybe our best day with them consisted of leaving the FEM meeting house in the little village of Los Llanos on horseback and riding through the mountains for most of the day visiting growers. This was probably the most impressive grower visit that I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

I'll leave you with this picture and follow up with more. This will be the theme of my next few blog entries.

Well we are home.

Went back to the JC today to chase down wire transfers, pay bills, and get caught up in the shop.

Good to be back, people.

Check out the home page for more on La FEM...

We are now in the Best Western across from the Managua airport.

It is quite strange and a little depressing to be back in this environment. We could really be anywhere. This is not Nicaragua.

We visited CECOCAFEN today with our compa from Madison Steve Herrick. Nice visit and a neato tour of SOLCAFE, the place where all CECOCAFEN co-ops process their coffee. Found out we missed our friend Cesar from La Esperanza co-op who was looking for us on Sunday in Matagalpa. Not very cool, but we could not get a bus from Esteli Saturday evening.

Anyway, we had a great day and an amazing trip. We have many pictures and thoughts to share with all yáll. If anyone wants to pick us up at Ohare tomorrow, we get in around 345. If not, we fly into Madison at 745.