Whenever I'm asked how we'll know if our side is really making progress, I always respond:  "The day McDonald's starts closing stores."

 The business community is abuzz over poor performance at McDonald's--domestically, not in foreign markets.  Apparently American sales are flat lining.  In response to profit needs, they raised their prices.  No more customers, just higher prices.

 And interestingly, a growing discontent among franchise owners indicates frustration over a solution.  It's not a mutiny yet, but definitely expanding and accelerating discontent over not being able to pay loans these folks took out to buy into the celebrated brand.

 Is this an early crack in the castle?  We can hope.  Sometime I want to do a blog on all the businesses that would not exist if everyone spent money like me.  The one at the top of my list is McDonald's; it epitomizes everything that's wrong in our food and farming system.  And wields incredible influence over how soil is treated, how animals are treated, and how our microbes are fed.  As an influence peddler, it makes a big ripple.  Time to rein it in, don't you think?

 How about a great American McDonald's out, like the Great American Smoke-Out?

 How long has it been since you or anyone in your family entered a McDonald's?