Locavores--Think Rabbit

Yes, the best way for you locavores who haven't turned vegetarian yet to get your meat is the backyard rabbit hutch. You too can eat Flopsy, Mopsy, and save Peter Rabbit for Sunday dinner. In doing so, you'll be following in the footsteps of those in the home of great cuisine and terroir--France. See this piece on "Alice and Marcel", Mr. Beauregard's neighbors.

"Marcel lives for, and almost in his garden. From May to October he is out tending his veg at 6.30, just before he cycles to work. At 12, he comes home for lunch and does a quick bit of weeding before heading back for his afternoon stint at the arms factory. At 6pm, he is home again, and back in the garden until nightfall.

It would actually be wrong to call Marcel’s garden a garden. It is a veritable little biosphere. Aprt from fish on Fridays, pretty much everything that the family eat is from the garden. Fresh fruit and veg in summer and bottled, pickled preserved produce in winter."

It's a way of life for many in France, but fading.

U.S. and Foreign Courts--Their Interaction

Justices Stephen Breyer and Antonin Scalia have debated whether U.S. jurisprudence should be cognizant of developments in other countries, as in defining "cruel and unusual". That's a hot issue among some attorneys and even more so on cable news--the conservative types tend to say "no way", while the liberals say: "of course". (Actually, that's way over-simplified and, to a cynical old man, often depends on whose ox is gored. The usual context seems to be social issues: death penalty, etc.)

Now comes a review on H-Net of a book on the Warren Court and its influence on foreign law. (Of course, conservatives might view U.S. law, at least pre-Warren, as a model to be followed, a "city on a hill"; while liberals might be skeptical. Seems that maybe the court's example had an effect, but different in different regions.

Update on "King Corn"

An interesting discussion of Iowa ag vis a vis the documentary "King Corn". Iowa Public TV interviews two farmers/ag leaders on the subject. A couple excerpts:

"We've heard different times over the last 20 years how everything had changed. 1996 we had higher prices for corn. We had prices change in 1988 and in the early 90s as well. And each time seemed like it was forever, it wasn't....

"Yeager: But if I was to go into a banker tomorrow and try to get money to go farm, I want to take my father's 160 and farm it, I want to turn it from corn into rutabagas or rhubarb or something like that. The banker is probably going to laugh me out of the room.

Kirschenmann: Sure, and there's no way that you could do it because even -- some of the research that we have done at Iowa State University makes it very clear now that if farmers added a third crop to that corn and soybean rotation they would get a lot of benefits from that. It would reduce their disease pressure, the weed pressure.

So, there would be a lot of things that would reduce their costs. But you talk to a farmer and say, well, why don't you raise this third crop? The first question is, which one, what do I add to it? And, of course, we know that we can raise wheat in Iowa but some of the farmers that I talk to, at least in Central Iowa say, if they were to raise wheat they'd have to haul it 200 miles to find a place even that will buy it. So, that adds to the cost.

Yeager: Because their structure is set up -- we have a grain co-op in basically every town and every county across the state -- the infrastructure is there.

Why I'm Optimistic on Global Warming

It's because of articles like this one from Technology Review, indicating we're starting up the learning curve on silicon solar panels.

Changing Payment Limitation Rules in Midstream

One thing I haven't posted on, nor have I seen much discussion on is "status date". (I think that's the term.) Anyhow, for payment limitation purposes under current law, FSA offices have to determine the way a farming operation is set up as of a certain date, which may be May 1. At least, that's the way it used to be.

So, if Congress changes the rules relating to limitations, the only way they can be fair about it is to extend current rules for 2008 and make the new ones effective for 2009.

Making Acreage Report Data Public

I commented on this decision back in February, but this article gives a bit more detail from the FSA side. I remain confused over the lines being drawn between releasing FSA data on farmers and prohibiting the release of other data. As usual, our political/legal system doesn't produce the sort of logical results which would comfort a rigid personality like me.

Farm Bill Status

Lots of links available on the farm bill, particularly through EWG, who also released 2007 payments, but this from Politico is interesting. I'm still hoping someone will pick up my idea about graduated payment reductions. Seems as if by switching the terms of debate they could confuse everyone so everyone could claim a victory, then see what happens in the administration of it. Oh well--doomed to be ignored, I guess, alas.

Former ASCSer Bjorlie

Interesting obit for Arnold Bjorlie, whom I knew as an area director in DC, focusing on his involvement in Non-Partisan League politics in ND

Loo Paper for the Bog

That's one of the hurdles in setting up a new English-language paper in Abu Dhabi--providing the infrastructure people are used to. ("Bog" being British slang for toilet") See the NYTimes article.

Interesting when the newspapers are reporting declines in circulation, someone thinks it wise to set up a new one in the Middle East and make it English.

I love the phrase, and I think it provides an insight on crossing cultural boundaries.

Slowly Up the Learning Curve--Video Seminars

Here's a discussion by John Quiggin at Crooked Timber of his experience holding a video-seminar.

On the one hand, that's the way to go. (John notes the traveling he would have to do to do the seminar in person, but not the energy involved. If "slow food" is good, so is "e-learning").

On the other hand, there have been many video-conferencing trials over the years. I remember doing video conferences between DC and Kansas City several times--it had too much overhead costs for the advantages. I remember trying a version of a video-phone in the late 80's--wasn't really useful. A few more years of Moore's law and maybe technology will be able to fulfill this particular promise. But still, , people are animals, and being there is part of our thing.