The Perverse Effects of Emigration to America

As seen from the House of Commons in the 1870's:

There is another point to be considered. Lately, the emigration from Ireland has very considerably diminished in comparison with former years, and in place of that we have returning to Ireland people of whom I fear it must be said that during their residence in America they have acquired a good many Western vices and forgotten a good many Irish virtues.

The context is a debate over the need for continuance of special laws (curfew, control over arms, etc.) with regards to parts of Ireland, given the agrarian "outrages".

Slick Misinformation on Agriculture

Cato has a site (hattip Federal Eye) on where government could be cut.  (No surprise, they'd cut USDA by 90 percent or so.) But there's an interesting presentation with a timeline which is a format I haven't seen before on the Net.  Unfortunately the material on the evolution of USDA and farm programs is both biased and wrong.  But as a failed historian, I appreciate the timeline.

Organic REport

This is from the summary of an ERS report on organic farming:

The number and variety of consumers of organic products has increased, but those consumers are not easily categorized. The one factor that consistently influences the likelihood of a consumer’s buying organic products is education. Consumers of all ages, races, and ethic groups who have higher levels of education are more likely to buy organic products than less-educated consumers. Other factors, such as race, presence of children in the household, and income do not have a consistent effect on the likelihood of buying organic products.

Retailing of organic products has evolved since 1997, when natural foods stores were the main outlet. By the late 2000s, nearly half of all organic foods were purchased in conventional supermarkets, club stores, and big-box stores. Although produce remained the top-selling organic category, sales of dairy products, beverages, packaged and prepared foods, and breads and grains had reached significant levels.

On the wholesale level, by 2007, the share of organic handlers’ sales to conventional retailers and club stores increased, while the share of sales to wholesalers and other distributors declined. Organic handlers are firms that buy organic products from farmers and other suppliers, process or repack the goods, and then sell the value-added resulting products to retailers, institutions, and other handlers, or directly to consumers or restaurants. Because of the competition for organic ingredients, handlers in recent years have relied on contracts versus spot-market sales to procure needed inputs.

While organic farmland acreage increased from 1997 to 2005, growth was not swift enough to prevent periodic shortages of some organic products. Certified organic farmland designated for raising grains and soybeans grew slowly, placing pressure on sectors such as dairy and meat sectors that depend on these inputs. The 2002 USDA National Organic Standards regulation in most cases requires farmland to be dedicated to organic farming for 3 years before that
farm’s products can be labeled as organic. This creates a lag between increases in retail demand and supply from farms.

Reagan's Role of a Lifetime: Guileless Innocent?

James Mann writes "The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan". It's an interesting and reasonably convincing narrative, which is saying something because, back in the day, I used to call Reagan the "senior idiot". Mann argues while others, both the Nixonian realists and the conservatives, were locked into their old perceptions Reagan was able to recognize an opportunity when Gorbachev came to power. Reagan's negotiations with Gorbachev meant Gorbachev got enough support and credibility to maintain his power and take the actions which led to the end of the Iron Curtain.

Reagan often evaded conflict or other unpleasantness by telling stories, essentially filibustering the time away.  Mann notes this pattern, and suggests it may have been a conscious strategy, not just the deep reflex of a child of an alcoholic father.

Mann's thesis is easier for liberals to accept than the conventional triumphalism of the conservatives, particularly because Mann notes the extent to which conservatives other than Reagan and Schultz were wrong.

On Not Knowing Your Farmer

James McWilliams writes at the Times of the pros and cons of farmers markets. There are some extroverts who want a social interaction with their vendors; others of us want an arms-length transaction.

The Sudan Contributes

This is the best slogan for my blog.

Affirmative Action Works?

It does, at least for women judges, and under one theory. See this Slate article reporting on academic paper.

While women selected to be federal judges generally had lesser qualifications (based on some metrics), once selected they performed as well or better than male judges (based on some metrics).

And We Return to Where It All Began, Oilwise

"Pennsylvania is at the forefront of the nation’s gas drilling boom, with at least 4,000 new oil and gas wells drilled here last year alone, more than in any other state except Texas."  From Propublica article on the problems caused.

Another EEO Review at USDA

According to this announcement (they're hiring a firm to do a review).

Meanwhile the Hispanic farmers lawsuit is raised again:

There is still a law suit that dates back years ago with thousands of claims from Hispanic farmers saying they were discriminated against. A similar case was settled for African American farmers, resulting in $2.5 billion. Hispanic farmers want to know where's their money and what's wrong with their case. However, because of logistics and the fact that the case was not certified as a class-action lawsuit there are too many separate claims and Vilsack said it's not so easy.
“If it were up to me, I could,” said Vilsack. “But I need direction from congress, either to set the process up or give me money and say go figure the process out. I don't have either one of these right now.”

 

The Image of China

The Times and the Post both feature the same picture on their front page, above the fold: an image of Chinese sailors marching in the parades commemorating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese People's Republic.(Here's the slide show, I think the photo was different than slide 3, but same subject.  See this video of other images via The Best Defense.)  It's striking partially because it's overexposed, so the white trousers of the sailors blend together.

It's also striking to me as a former civilian in the military by how well dressed the lines are.  For those who never had the duty of serving, "dress right, dress" is the command sergeants use to tell their troops to align on the person to the right.  If everyone aligns well, you get a straight line of troops.  The military components of the ceremony must have spent days and months of dressing right.

The other striking thing also plays off the symmetry and geometry on display: the uniformity of the troops.  Not just the spotless uniforms, but everyone is the same height and weight, give or take a couple pounds and an inch.  That's what 5,000 years of history as a relatively common culture will do.  Supposed 9 of 10 Chinese citizens are of Han descent.  Even in the other photos in the Times slide show there's great uniformity: the leaders are male and roughly the same height and weight.  Even when I reflect back, remembering a photo from early in the Bush II years, of a signing ceremony (maybe tax cuts) where it was striking the uniformity of white male faces, you'd never get that uniformity in the U.S.

While I'm sure the commanders of the ceremonial troops look for uniformity--if I recall, the members of the ceremonial Old Guard at Arlington cemetery have height and weight restrictions--the difference between the two societies is still notable.  But there is one photo in the slide show showing Chinese civilians watching the ceremonies.  In my youth, even my middle age, they would have been dressed the same.  But no more.  There's still an impression of physical sameness, but dress and grooming are now individual.