Does Al Gore Have the Last Laugh?

Turns out he's a member of the inaugural class of members of the Internet Hall of Fame.  I expect all Republicans who laughed at him to humbly apologize to the winner of the 2000 election (popular vote division).

Kevin Drum Goes Gentle on Financiers

In a post about why the financial community is opposed to Obama (a meme from Brad Delong), Kevin opines there are two reasons:

My guess is two things. First — and there's no point in pulling punches here — they're a bunch of spoiled brats.

 Read the whole thing.

Politico on Farm Bill Budget and Politics

Politico has a nice piece on the farm bill.

Within the commodity title itself, about $50.2 billion would be saved by repealing current subsidies, chiefly the cash payments. From these savings, $28.8 billion would be re-invested in a new revenue insurance program that would give farmers added protection against “shallow losses” —not covered now by traditional crop insurance.

The new approach is most popular in the Midwest Corn Belt, and Southern cotton and peanuts have been promised concessions in the process. But there is still Southern regional sympathy with rice growers, who are put at a decided disadvantage and who had been banking on some relief through a more traditional system of target prices and supports.

Because of its high capital costs, rice has relied most heavily of the direct cash subsidies and will lose as much as $3 billion from the proposed change in commodity payments. At the same time, rice has been reluctant to jump into crop insurance, since the crop is grown in flooded paddies not vulnerable to drought.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75515.html#ixzz1syaYNKd4

Of course the rice growers have big bucks to throw around.  (I'm reading David Corn's latest book with a reminder of an estate tax modification pushed by Sen. Lincoln which got included in the deal between Obama and the Reps after the 2010 election.  Wonder who was pushing it?)

Food Trouble in India

When I was young, my title would have meant famines or food shortages.  This year, it turns out, the food trouble is too much grain for India to transport and store.

Is Canada Tightening Border Security With US?

Apparently the answer is "yes".

Senate Farm Bill--Committee

Via a number of sources (Des Moines Register, DTN, Farm Policy) here's the Chairman's summary of the draft farm bill which will be considered next week in committee.

I found this interesting:
SEC. 1613. IMPLEMENTATION.
6 (a) STREAMLINING.—In implementing this title, the
7 Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable—
8 (1) seek to reduce administrative burdens and
9 costs to producers by streamlining and reducing pa-
perwork, forms, and other administrative require-
ments;
12 (2) improve coordination, information sharing,
13 and administrative work with the Risk Management
14 Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation
15 Service; and
16 (3) take advantage of new technologies to en-
hance efficiency and effectiveness of program deliv-
ery to producers.
19 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall make
20 available to the Farm Service Agency to carry out this
21 title $100,000,000.

Of course, the Appropriations committee would have to give the money.

Texas Values: Football

From a Post article on the new quarterback who's going to take the team to the Super Bowl, Robert Griffin III:

" There’s just one high school, and football is king. Case in point: the team’s weight room is 10,000-square feet, at least three times the size of the Redskins’ in Northern Virginia."

Sentence of the Day: Friedersdorf

Writing at the Atlantic, Conan Friedersdorf does a good sentence:

"There is a glaring problem with that characterization: using sex and silly Web based games to get the attention of male Internet users isn't unorthodox at all. It's pretty much the default method!

 (The context is some on the right attacking an NIH funded effort to reach homosexual men with health information.)

Most Valuable Possession in 1775? Beds

The Boston 1775 blog quotes a letter from Paul Revere to his wife in besieged Boston:

"I receivd your favor [letter] yesterday. I am glad you have got yourself ready [to leave Boston and join him]. If you find that you cannot easily get a pass for the Boat, I would have you get a pass for yourself and children and effects. Send the most valuable first. I mean that you should send Beds enough for yourself and Children, my chest, your trunk, with Books Cloaths &c to the ferry tell the ferryman they are mine."

Aerial Photography/Satellites: Commercial and Government

I posted the other day about NRCS using aerial observation to check compliance with sod/swampbuster provisions.

There was a NY Times article today about conflict between the military and the National Reconnaissance Office.  It seems commercial satellites today are almost as good as the governments, particularly for the sort of imagery the military needs, and they're a lot cheaper.  So the issue is where to spend scarce dollars: on commercial contracts or developing the government's.

Along the same lines, I wonder if NRCS has looked at using Google Earth for a first crack at spotchecking practices.  Granted their imagery isn't updated often, certainly wouldn't be timely for FSA purposes, but it might work for some NRCS purposes.  Matter of fact, if the district conservationist "flew" the county through Google Earth once a year, couldn't she/he learn something?

Down the line, maybe APFO should tap into the commercial satellite facilities?

[Updated: added title]