Malamud for GPO Head

This is in connection with making Federal court records available online.

Unfortunately, Congress controls GPO, not the President, so Mr. Malamud can't be named GPO head by Obama, as he suggests in this NYTimes article. But otherwise he has a case:

Mr. Malamud said his years of activism had led him to set a long-shot goal: serving in the Obama administration, perhaps even as head of the Government Printing Office. The thought might seem far-fetched — Mr. Malamud is, by admission, more of an at-the-barricades guy than a behind-the-desk guy. But he noted that he published more pages online last year than the printing office did.

IMO, if data generated by the government is to become public, it ought to be free and easily searchable, as through Google. I strongly dislike operations like PACER, which charges a fee to access court records. (In their defense, it appears in 1988 they asked Congress for money to provide the records free, Congress said "no", get the money by user fees. But technological innovation has outstripped the courts ability to push IT solutions.

Crop Insurance Subsidies

I knew we subsidized crop insurance, but not this much:

USDA subsidies have been changed for some crop insurance policies which may cause you to adjust your decisions on coverage. William Edwards at Iowa State says whole farm and enterprise units used to have lower premiums than basic and optional units. For 2009 they will have the same dollar value subsidy, which will be 55% for basic units, 77% for enterprise units, and 80% for whole farm units when selecting 75% coverage.

The Worth of a Male

In farming, not much. Brownfield on dumping bull calves.

If Crunchies Join the Military

Maybe we do need a draft. I don't suppose there's any other way which would lead the greens and organic food people to join the military voluntarily. The greens do have kids, so they study and criticize the school lunch program. (See here for an Asian comparison.) But our men and women in uniform are left with the Iraq 20 and comfort food such as:

Barbecue ribs, fried chicken, rib-eye steak, lobster tails, crab legs, roast turkey, stir-fry, cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, egg rolls, breaded shrimp, buffalo wings, chili, crepes, pancakes, omelets, waffles, burritos, tacos, quesadillas, quiches, bacon, polish sausages, pulled pork, corned beef hash, milk shakes and smoothies — and that’s just for starters. (From Edge of the West post quoting a Chicago Tribune article, also going back to GI's in Britain in WWII.)

Makes me hungry just to read it. If it's okay for the military to eat comfort food in a war zone, is it okay for the lower class to eat comfort food in their daily life?

Anti-Locavore Pork

Interesting post on Ethicurean justifying the importing of Midwestern pork to west coast restaurants. Arguments:

• smaller carbon footprint (more efficient to ship pork than grain to feed pigs)
• more efficient use of by-products
• superior taste and texture
• more humane (Temple Grandin has worked on Iowa slaughterhouses)

Sort of boils down to the economists "comparative advantage"--CA does grass well, not grain.

(The commenters say: well, Californians shouldn't eat pork. Or they should accept the ununiform taste and texture of pigs fed a varied diet.)

IMHO, if you accept these arguments, you accept something like a global agricultural system, because similar arguments can apply to other foodstuffs.

Immigration and Housing II

Alex Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution joins others in suggesting that encouraging immigrants who want to buy houses in the U.S. is one way out of the recession. That's the same logic as mine, in arguing that anti-immigrant agitation helped take the steam out of the bubble.

In the long run, you only get rid of surplus housing inventory by finding more buyers at the bottom of the ladder or taking the time to work off the surplus.

Your Friendly Bureaucrat Coming to on YouTube

NextGov has a piece today saying YouTube and the Feds are near an agreement to permit Feds to post videos. The next step will be requiring all Federal bureaucrats to be personable and video-ready.

Should I start a pool on how long it will take for FSA to post its first video?

Us Tightwad Seniors

Just got an email from the Cinema Arts theater in Fairfax City--the manager uses it to flog his coming attractions. Here's a line:

Our $4 ticket price for folks over 60 (which I found out today folks over 62 are seniors at the E Street Cinema in DC) has been wonderful for attendance, but nobody buys any snacks.

I feel guilty but my wife and I never buy snacks at the theater.

Labor Mobility and Immigration in a Recession

One of the arguments some economists (like Gary Becker) make against the stimulus bill is that it funds work in areas which are short-staffed, and not in areas of unemployment. (That's roughly put.) The LA Times has an article on farm labor, yesterday, which starts:

What a difference a bad economy makes. The collapse of the construction industry and a slump in the restaurant and food service sector have sent thousands of people back to looking for work on California farms, which not so long ago were hurting for workers.

Apparently there's some mobility in labor at the lower end. I don't know why this surprises me, but it did.

IT People Are Human Too

Technology Review interviews the woman touted to be Obama's Chief Technology Officer, Padmasree Warrior, currently Cisco's CTO:

"TR: But can you get rid of skips in voice calls and jitters in streaming video?

PW: Quality of service continues to be important. One of the things we believe, that we've put a lot of effort into...

TR: Hello?

PW: (a minute later) Hi, sorry, I didn't plug in my cell phone last night!"

Some nominees forget to pay all their taxes, some forget their cell phones. The problems a new President faces. As an increasingly forgetful senior, I suggest a blanket amnesty for all memory lapses.