The March of Progress--Phipps Declares Non-GM Corn Over

John Phipps says genetically modified corn has now swept the field, at least in the U.S., because there's no longer a premium to corn growers for growing non-GMO corn.  He's got a pdf essay which he links to from a blog post. 

Frailty, Thy Name Is Beginning Gardener

From a NY Times article on the fad for company gardens:

Still, what seems like a good idea in the conference room doesn’t always translate to the field. People don’t always follow through. It’s the same dynamic that fills the office refrigerator with old yogurt containers and moldy lunches.
At PepsiCo, most of the plots are still weedy and empty. The weather has been cool and so, gardeners say, has enthusiasm. Last year when the company first turned over a plot the size of two tennis courts to peppers and tomatoes, 200 of the 1,450 employees here signed up, mailroom workers and midlevel administrators alike. This year, the volunteers dwindled to about 75, and many of them have yet to ready their plots.

A Blast from the Past--PIK Certificates and a Wrong Prediction

John Phipps must have been having a nostalgic moment because he threw in a mention of PIK in a recent post
with a link to an explanation  of "PIK and roll" from the 1987 Washington Monthly.

I remember the start of the PIK program, or at least the 1983 incarnation. I suspect there are many FSA employees who were hired back then and remember it with some mixed feelings.

At the end of the article, two long retired Senators, Boschwitz and Boren, discuss their proposal for "decoupling", for removing the link between the crop produced and what the program pays.  We moved towards that in the next two farm bills, with the 1996 Freedom to Farm incorporating it.  Here's what was said:

"A system of direct income support would make government dependency less easy for farmers to swallow. They could no longer kid themselves that the farm program merely provided them with a "fair price.' Many farm groups oppose the plan on the grounds that it would turn the farm program into welfare, to which Boschwitz replies: "Farmers are getting benefits now and they would get benefits under my plan. What's the difference? If they call my plan "welfare,' what do they call the current programs?'"

The prediction was wrong--farmers have had no problem at all of arguing to keep the DCP payments long after they were supposed to be phased out. The "fair price" argument may have faded into the pages of history but the argument for preserving farms remains.

The Final Word on Vertical Farms

One of my hobbyhorses is vertical farms, or rather the unfeasibility of vertical farms.  This post should put the final nail in this idea:

Although the concept has provided opportunities for architecture students and others to create innovative, sometimes beautiful building designs, it holds little practical potential for providing food. Even if vertical farming were feasible on a large scale, it would not solve the most pressing agricultural problems; rather, it would push the dependence of food production on industrial inputs to even greater heights. It would ensure that dependence by depriving crops not only of soil but also of the most plentiful and ecologically benign energy source of all: sunlight.

Deficit Commission Predictions

Obama's deficit commission has been holding hearings, as has the House Agriculture Committee on the 2012 farm bill. The deficit report is due after the fall elections.

I now take up my crystal ball.  I predict the commission will include in its recommendations an across-the-board cut on much discretionary spending.  My logic is: it is very difficult to end programs; usually there are good arguments, or at least reasonable ones, for the existence and the value of the program, particularly if you ignore the costs. So it's going to be very difficult for 14 of the 18 commissioners to agree on a hit list.  Politically it's much easier to impose a flat percentage cut.  That way everyone (at least everyone in the affected programs) shares the pain and the cuts seem more equitable.

For those with short memories, or short lives, there was much concern about deficits back in the Reagan administration; that was one reason Reagan ended up signing some tax raises. Back then Congress and the administration could reach agreement on an approach to cutting deficits; it was called the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act.  In 1986 it kicked in and we ended cutting deficiency payments (and other payments) by something like 4.6 percent. 

So my prediction is history will repeat itself--the commission will propose a percentage cut like we had in 1986.

Why the US Is Losing Its Preeminence

The Chicken Little position is well stated in this NYTimes article on a Chinese woman teaching Chinese to teens in Lawton, OK.   Interesting contrasts in culture:

“They party, they drink, they date,” [the teacher] added. “In China, we study and study and study.”

Note: I'm not much bothered by the prospect.  The only thing I can be sure of is the contrast will be different in 30 years.

Mother's Day URL's

Steve Hendrix in the Post magazine interviews people his mother taught in a gifted class many years ago, and finds it was a big influence in their lives.

Roger Rosenblatt in "Making Toast" paints a picture of a mother, his daughter, now dead and the family she left behind. Emotional because underwritten.

The Answer to Some Mysteries?

According to this post passing on a study, the more intelligent and dependable a child, the more likely she is to live longer.   

No mention of whether it applies to both sexes, or whether the result only explains why females live longer than males.  Assuming this has cross-cultural validity, it might answer why the average IQ rises each generation.

Funniest Sentence Today

Kevin Drum in a post on Prof. Kagan's qualifications to be a Justice (the argument being she can persuade Justice Kennedy):

Anyway, Diane Wood has six kids and plays the oboe. I'll bet she can convince just about anybody of just about anything.

Economists Don't Know What They're Talking About--DeLong

Brad proves it by this statement (from his intro to an upcoming course):

Doesn't that mean that we [the students] are guinea pigs--experimental animals? A: Yes, but the life of an experimental animal can be a very interesting and fulfilling one.

The Weak US Government

One of my hobbyhorses--how really weak the Federal government is. I get support, albeit unknowingly, from a surprising source--a libertarian. Ilya Somin at Volokh Conspiracy writes:

My parents and I were green card holders from 1979 to 1986. As far as I know, they rarely if ever carried proof of legal residency with them except when entering and leaving the country. I suspect that most other legal immigrants behave the same way. Why? Because the chance of running into a federal law enforcement officer in everyday life is infinitesmally [sic] small.

This is in the context of a discussion of the Arizona immigration law.  Somin is worried because people have or could have dealings with local and state law enforcement officials almost every day.  (In fact, I've had very few interactions with such officials in the course of a rather long life.  Maybe I drive slower than Somin.) 

McCain Flip Flops on Farm Programs

From Chris Clayton:

One senator to spotlight in the letter is Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has opposed farm programs his entire career, but in the past two weeks has signed onto two letters defending traditional farm programs.

Brooks and Ricks on the US Army

David Brooks is laudatory today.  He believes the Army has been converted to a counterinsurgency doctrine through the leadership of Gen. Petraeus.  Tom Ricks likes the Brooks narrative,

I must say I'm more skeptical.  There was an earlier post on The Best Defense in which a guest poster ended by saying:

 I would argue, though, that the truth is closer to this being a business as usual concept regarding something perceived as a fad: General Petraeus and COIN are the flavor of the month now, but once Iraq winds down for us and explodes for the Iraqis after our drawdown and Afghanistan drags on and gets more of a mess, will it still be an appetizing taste? Past history shows that it won't be. That leaves the real question as: how much can GEN Petraeus' influence change the dynamic?

There are a  bunch of comments on that post, most of which I've not read.  Personally I'm a bit cynical about the Army, the whole military actually. Supposedly after Vietnam they changed their culture. But either they forgot the change, and the lessons of the war, or the change was oversold.  Or maybe the sheer inertia of the Army is underestimated.  After all, you've got people who've invested their lives in armor or artillery who have every incentive to look for flaws in a COIN Army.  They're backed up by the military-industrial-Congressional complex.  Drinking tea with tribal leaders may be effective, but it doesn't create jobs in a Congressional district.

So my bottom line is Mr. Brooks may be over impressed. Petraeus may have done everything right, and everything it could, but it doesn't mean COIN is embedded in the Army's DNA yet.

No One Trusts Their Bureaucrats

This Politico article argues that the publics in all industrial democracies have lost their trust in bureaucrats and hierarchical organizations. Why? Because people are richer and more educated.

I'm not sure of the argument, but it is a useful reminder that America is not as unique as we'd like to think.

The Layers and Layers of Duplicity in the New Yorker

Malcolm Gladwell has a piece in the New Yorker elaborating on the layers of duplicity in intelligence, and counter-intelligence, and counter-counter-intelligence, and....   Matt Yglesias links to it.

Meanwhile, via Best Defense, Steve Coll comments on the possible attitude of Pakistani terrorists to the NY car bomber.

Update from Herndon

Back before the failed attempt at immigration reform before the last election, Herndon, VA gained some fame.  The town board had approved the establishment of a labor center, rather than having day laborers stand around a 7/11 waiting for employers.  The town board and mayor were then ousted from office (must have been in 2006) by opponents who said the center was encouraging illegal immigration and wanted the town to crack down.

Well, time passes and there was another election in Herndon yesterday. The Restonian blog picks up the story:

Mayor Steve DeBenedittis survived a last-minute write-in campaign, but the four challengers more or less ran on what we'll politely call an "anti-Arizona" platform and will have a majority on the council, which suggests that we'll have to go back to poking fun at the town's recreational activities instead of its AZ on the W&OD policies.

Because of the housing crash, and resulting recession, immigration has been less of a hot issue in the area. I suspect this result will not receive the attention that the 2006 election had, however.

No More "Leatherstocking Region"

Margaret Soltan reports the decision to rename the region formerly know as "Leatherstocking Region".  Seems the name, which honors James Fenimore Cooper's hero of 5 novels, doesn't do anything for tourists. 

Professor Soltan doesn't mourn the name change; indeed she adds insult to injury by quoting Mark Twain on the excellence of Cooper's literary talents. Twain was obviously jealous of Cooper.  After all, has Daniel Day Lewis ever played one of Twain's heroes?

Glenn Beck More Enlightened Than Lindsay Graham!

Politico reports Sen. Graham wants to bypass Miranda rights for American citizens suspected of terrorist acts.

Meanwhile, with my very ears, I heard Glenn Beck last night we shouldn't Mirandize aliens, but we should protect the rights of American citizens.

I guess I need to get my hearing checked, and if that's okay, head for the head doctors.

The Proposal and Chris Blattman

We recently watched The Proposal from Netflix.  For those who don't recall, it is a romantic comedy where the Sandy Bullock character needs to marry to stay in country and the INS heavy is going to question them both (forget the male lead's name) to see if the marriage is real.  The movie was good.

Now comes real life.  Chris Blattman is a Harvard prof from Canada who's going for his green card interview with his wife.  He's getting nervous:

"Now, normally you’d think a Canadian professor with a job and a work visa wouldn’t be a big worry to the INS. Plus I’m interviewing in Connecticut and not Arizona. But Jeannie quizzed me the other day, and it turns out (1) I have no idea what color her toothbrush is, (2) I overestimated how long we have been married, and (3) we live in different cities and  have different last names
Also, if you squint, you could mistake us for Gérard Depardieu and Andie MacDowell. This bodes ill. I could be blogging from Canada on Wednesday.

Blattman's international development blog is good.

The Fascinating World of Politics

Today is a red-letter day for those who enjoy the twists and turns of politics.

Ruth Marcus in the Post describes the background to the passage of the Arizona immigration law.  Seems they went to a "clean election" concept, which enabled people with no deep-pockets backers to win elections to the state legislature.  Without the vetting of the establishment, the legislators became more populist.

The Times describes a surge of African-American candidates encouraged by Obama's success, except these are Republican candidates. The idea black candidates can be elected in majority-white constituencies is empowering.


And the Times describes Britain's own shut-the-door politics, people who fear the impact of allowing all those Polish immigrants into the country, destroying Britain's way of life.  The O Henry twist here is the writer finds some of these fearful people at a mosque in Luton.

Don't you love human beings?

Followup to Lazy Students

From an interesting article on a Duke professor who tried having her students do a crowd-source assessment of their work:

She said that the students each ended up writing about 1,000 words a week, much more than is required for a course to be considered "writing intensive" at Duke (even though her course didn't have that designation). She also said that the writing (she read every word, even while not assigning grades) was better than the norm.

 This is incidental information, but 1,000 words is about 4 pages, which doesn't sound like all that much for a writing intensive course.  Of course, my memory is raising the bar, but seems to me that was roughly the standard for my freshman English class many years ago.

As for the main subject, the professor and students claim is the process worked very well.

Robot Bureaucrats

Thanks a bunch, Ann Althouse:

Also, for some reason, I don't find robotic voices intimidating. If I'm interacting with a bureaucrat, I prefer a robot.

Spreading Innovations II

Posted earlier on the problem of spreading innovations in the US Army.  Another example, which may be familiar: anyone who has a reputation for knowing technology, for being able to program VCR's or whatever the current standard is, perhaps has had this experience.  You show someone who is less knowledgeable, perhaps an older relative, a neat way to accomplish something they'd like to do: find out the weather in Dublin by doing a Google search for "dublin weather".  They're duly impressed and seem to comprehend what you've demonstrated.  But, next week or next month, a similar situation occurs and the person doesn't use the knowledge you've passed on.

Obama Defends Government, Not Bureaucrats

Obama spoke at the University of Michigan, asking for civility and defending the necessary role of government.  That's all fine, just as motherhood and apple pie are fine (though rhubarb pie is better), and honoring "Older Americans" as you all are supposed to do this month is fine.

But when is someone going to speak out in praise of the poor "faceless bureaucrat"? You can't have government without faceless bureaucrats.

[Updated--this is Public Service Recognition week.  Though how one recognizes the faceless I'm not sure.]

My Suspicions Confirmed, College Students Are Slackers

Tyler Cowen passes on a report which claims to show students in my day worked 40 hours a week on their studies (plus another 20 working their way through school, at least for some like me), whereas now they work 27 hours a week.  Of course, it could be that the use of Powerpoint has improved the transmission of knowledge so much that less studying is needed because more is accomplished in class.  Or it could be youth are going to pot.

$500 an Hour for Law School Graduates?

Piece in the NYTimes on the people handling the bankruptcies in the financial sector, particularly Lehman Brothers.  Apparently the time of associates in law firms (the worker bees familiar from John Grisham's novels who are 1, or 2, or 3 years removed from law school) can be billed at $500 an hour.  If they worked 2,000 hours in a year, that's a cool mill. And associates, if Grisham is right, are expected to bill 60 or 70 hours a week.

Remember that when right wingers talk about government bureaucrats being paid more than private--I double damn guarantee no Federal lawyer is in the same ballpark as these people.

The piece offers some justifications for the charges, and there is some oversight.  But my bottom line is: pigs at the trough, making hay while the sun shines (to mix farm metaphors). The creditors of the bankrupt institution don't have the ability effectively to monitor the firms and serve as a countervailing interest to abuses.

What Does a Crofter Do? [Updated}

A nice post at Musings from a Stonehead describing what a crofter (small farmer) does: walk and carry. He's not walking behind horses, but the farm is small enough not to need a riding tractor.  That's one reason old time farmers had no problems with their weight.

Meanwhile, just to prove small farms are the same on both sides of the Atlantic, StonyBrookFarm has a post about the concept of "cool boredom", which he sees as part of doing chores on a farm:

Lugging around water buckets, wheeling out bales of hay, standing still and running the hose for ten minutes to fill a fifty gallon water trough, walking from pasture to pasture, paddock to paddock, barnyard to barnyard, following a rote routine multiple times a day, day after day, are the stuff for me of cool boredom on the farm.

Both posts are worth reading in their entirety.

How Much Has Politics Changed?

Mr. Brookheiser, in his memoir of Bill Buckley, recalls that 2 weeks after LBJ became President, the National Review declared his honeymoon was over.  (How'd I like the book--it was a quick read with a number of good lines in it.  I don't think much of his politics, but the guy writes well.)

Spreading Innovations

I'm always fascinated by the processes by which new ideas spread, or don't spread, through society.  One reason is purely egoistic--over my working career I had some new ideas, some of which spread, some didn't.  Some survived my departure, most didn't. The flip side is why are bureaucracies and societies resistant to change.

Today the US Army presents an example.  Tom Ricks at the Best Defense presents a post in which the writer argues that even though General Petraeus ushered through a new Field Manual on Counter Insurgency, and there are high-ranking officers who've bought into the ideas, COIN isn't safely embedded in the Army's culture. New bureaucrats, whether they be Presidents or political appointees, often believe if they can just get something done on paper, whether it be a law or a directive, the job is done.  Wrong--it's just starting.

One-third Lose Jobs in SEC Porn Scandal

Somehow that seems a fairer title for this story than saying "No one fired"

Those Speedsters at FSA

From the FSA press release on new software supporting the direct loan program:

Development of the new software began in 2004, Coppess said, and the first phase, to improve the loan making process was launched in 2007. Since then, more than $3 billion in new loans have been obligated through the system, including many made as a result of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

It's not real clear what's going on--the release talks of a major upgrade, and the first release must have been out for a while, if $3 billion has been made through the system.  So I guess it's not right to mock this as a 6 year development project.  No mention of the cost of the software project, but at least it turned out to be usable.

Why I Love Congress--Improper Payments

Government Executive reports on a bill which passed the House requiring government agencies to recover payments they make improperly.  Why the title of this post?  Because a number of years ago Congress passed a law requiring FSA to let farmers keep payments which were made improperly.  Talk about double-faced!

To be fair, I should add this is all based on my memory, which is fallible; the law permits FSA to recover payments if the recovery can be made within a period (90 days maybe?); and the reason for the law was that farmers claimed they didn't realize they had been overpaid, so they used the money in their operations and felt it was unfair to be required to repay when it was FSA which made the mistake. Regardless, my Calvinistic heritage rebels at that.

Sows

The summary of an extension post on farrowing and nursing facilities:

The decision regarding space allocation pits the biology of the pig against the economics of production systems. Since each 3% reduction in space allocation for pigs in fully slatted facilities results in only a 1% reduction in daily gain and daily feed intake, producers have historically accepted a reduction in individual pig performance in order to maximize economic returns from investments in facilities. Based on the recommended codes of practice from the European Economic Community and Canada, there is no agreed upon standard for space allocation in the world community. In the future, considerations such as welfare codes and response of the market chain may change the space allocation decision.

If I recall, Florida put some sort of restriction on farrowing pens. I'm rather of two minds on this, and similar animal welfare issue. On the one hand there's a power imbalance between the animal grower and the animals.  One of my rules is based on Lord Acton: power corrupts.  Granted over the long haul it's in the interest of the grower to treat her animals humanely, but so is it in the interest of employers to treat employees well.  We know neither happens in every case.  On the other hand, there's definite economic tradeoffs, as shown by this study.  The bottom line, as society gets wealthier we can afford to put some of the wealth to better treatment of animals as opposed, say, to more square footage for the home.

An Inventor All Bureaucrats Should Honor: Edwin G. Seibels

Via Matt Yglesias, here's the inventor of the filing cabinet.  You laugh, but being able to store and retrieve accurately the desired information is important.  Just ask anyone with Alzheimers.

White House Garden Update--Artichokes?

Obamafoodorama has two posts tied to tours of the White House Garden and stories resulting from it. Judging by the photo, the garden's doing well, although I can't say the same for the grass bordering it.  One hazard of showing it off to lots of people I guess. It confirms that while they're using "raised" beds, meaning the dirt is hilled up, they aren't enclosing them with boards, which provides deeper beds.

I was surprised by the mention of artichokes, which I don't think of as growing in the area.  Turns out an annual variety can be grown in zone 7, which the White House is in. Since I've never grown them, I shouldn't second guess, but they don't seem like a vegetable that maximizes productivity per square foot.

Since the President likes pie, it looks as if he'll get some rhubarb pie.  Though again I'm a little surprised if they get significant production the first year out.  But even one pie is worth it

Nationalizing Ratings Agencies

Ezra Klein posts on whether we should nationalize the ratings agencies.  My comment--USDA inspects and rates grains and cotton, why shouldn't the government rate bonds and derivatives.

Recruiting Employees

Ezra Klein has an interview with a Harvard grad who went into investment banking, which includes some discussion of why students with humanities and social science majors go to Wall Street.The interesting suggestion is that investment banks steal a march on other employers by offering summer internships to rising seniors.  Do well then, and you've got a job offer, thereby alleviating all the stress and anxiety of job searching during the senior year.  Instead you can relax and drink enjoy the college life.  Immediate gratification is perhaps more important than the lure of high incomes down the road.

I wonder how well the government does in offering internships--I know there are a few around, but I doubt OPM views itself as in a hot competition with Goldman Sachs.

Being on the Receiving End of Voice of America

Or, information dissemination activities like VOA. John Pomfret at the Post has an article on China's attempts to spread its influence by a Voice of America style effort.

The stations don't broadcast outright propaganda, but rather programming with a Chinese focus and flavor, tailored for local audiences. In Galveston, the format mixes China-centric international news, talk shows about the status of China's women and a healthy dose of gangsta rap -- all in English.
In New York, China's official Xinhua News Agency is moving its North American headquarters from a small building in Queens to a sprawling office complex in Times Square. It will soon have more than twice as many bureaus in the United States as any Western news agency has in China.

What I found interesting were the cultural misunderstandings which the Chinese have to overcome in order to communicate with us.  Reminds me of past discussions of the problems the US government, and large corporations, have had in operating abroad.  (Supposedly Chevrolet's Novas were a flop in Mexico because the name meant "no go", etc. etc.

Best Sentence of April 26

From Dan Drezner, discussing Stephen Hawking and dealing with aliens (or not):

If aliens crave either sea water or bulls**t, then the human race as we know it is seriously screwed. 

Clayton on Small Rural Towns

A couple paragraphs from Chris Clayton's blog:

I found the Vilsack-Lucas exchange interesting considering I spent the better part of Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning in Southeastern Arkansas. On Tuesday night, in Monticello, Ark., at a political candidate forum, one older man complained about the lack of jobs for people in small towns. All of the manufacturing jobs were gone. A spec building built by the town a decade earlier was never used. The man said, "We got fast-food jobs, though. We have a every kind of burger in this town you want it, but people can't live off those jobs."

(I thought that also dovetailed nicely into the obesity debate.)

On Wednesday, I traveled a little way farther southeast. The blight really was surprising. There were a couple of towns with almost completely boarded former business districts. Any kind store other than liquor or convenience was gone. There was just nothing there in terms of work or economic development. It was depressing and made me wonder just how in the world you return jobs back to these small towns.

My answer is: you can't return jobs and people to small towns. At least you can't consistently and on a national basis.  Small towns have been declining for over a century and there's nothing on the horizon which would change the process.

Speculation on Safety: Companies Safer Than Family Farms?

That's John Phipps:

"It may take a legion of lawyers and hard-nosed insurance companies to make this happen, but as the number of family-only operations slides and those with employees (and their concomitant legal exposure) increase, I suspect these numbers [fatal accidents] will begin to drop rapidly."

Farming is one of the most dangerous occupations. I think I agree with John, by the same logic as believing "commercial agriculture" produces safer food on the whole than smaller operations.  Commercial aviation is safer than private aviation. 

Driving While Burqaed (in France)

Dirk Beauregarde has a long post on the arrest of a woman for wearing a burqa while driving.  Seems the French have a law saying the driver's ability to drive must be unimpeded.  But was that really the issue?

Master Gardeners in Fairfax

I blogged recently about the Extension Service's Master Gardener program (its blog) and noted its absence from the Reston library.  In fairness I should note other branches of the Fairfax library do have Master Gardeners in attendance.

Convergence of Capitalism and Communism, Circa 1931

From the News from 1930 blog:

Editorial by T. Woodlock: Sen. Nye intends to modify antitrust laws to “protect the small manufacturer ... and merchant.” This is a misunderstanding of the laws, whose purpose is to preserve competition and competitive prices, not guarantee success; competition “means ... a winner and a loser.” Our attitude toward antitrust law comes from the dominant theory early in the industrial revolution that “free and unlimited competition of individuals” assures “the greatest good of all”; this contrasts with the Socialist principle of complete cooperation. However, our much more complex modern economy requires cooperation to a large degree; “so far as the visible structure ... it is well on the way to the structure contemplated by orthodox Socialists. ... The modern problem is to reconcile” these principles; “somehow, the necessary planning must presrve the largest freedom possible for individual action ... so as to bring into play the largest possible percentage of the existing individual ability-potential.”...

Note that the Wall Street Journal is not voicing a full-throated defense of the free market and capitalism.  "Cooperation" was a popular concept in the 1920's with Hoover and the early 1930's.  The idea was that human intelligence, which had accomplished so much in innovations and technology, was up to the challenge of creating social arrangements which were better than those arising out of the chaos of the market. That's the sort of thought which led to the creation of the Federal Farm Board and then the Agricultural Adjustment Administration .

Will Spouses of Presidential Candidates Compete in Gardening?

That's the question raised in my mind by this piece on the different gardens of the wives of the candidates for Prime Minister in Britain. It seems it's the "in" thing to garden there.  Now in the US Michelle may have given more prominence to gardening with her White House garden.  But I don't remember in past elections there was any direct competition among the candidates wives.  There's always speculations about what they'll do in the White House, and comparisons of their lives and careers before the election, but no further. 

Why Judge Garland Shouldn't Be the Nominee

The prediction is the Dems will lose about 5 Senate seats this fall, maybe more. So what happens in 2011 and 2012 if one of the current Supreme Court Justices retires? Obama needs a strategy, and the Reps are giving him one.  The commentary on his list of possible nominees to fill the seat of Justice Stevens says Judge Garland would have no problem getting confirmed.  That means, to me, that Obama should hold the Judge in reserve for a possible future vacancy. The Reps would have trouble opposing a nominee in 2011 or 2012 if they had no problems with him in 2010.

Congress and E-Government

The Golden Mouse awards were announced, recognizing excellent Congressional websites. Unfortunately neither agriculture committee nor either of my Senators was recognized.  My representative, Joe Moran, did get a silver award.  I'd hope some people will do as I just did: write their Congresspeople commenting on how well or poorly they did.  The more feedback they get, the more likely they are to improve. However, don't do as I did--read about the methodology used before writing..  I assumed, and was wrong, that the rankings were on the usability of the sites.  Turns out there's lots more involved.  So my comments were fine, but they could have been better.

Typo of the Day

Only expose your baby to true and FDA-approved heroines.

From the Freakonomics RSS feed (not in the actual post): " Infants exposed to this heroine substitute in utero experience vision problems. "

An IPAD Plant ID App?

Back in the days of Infoshare (i.e., 1991), one application NRCS (then Soil conservation Service) was eager to share was their Plants database. Frankly, I was dubious then, although out of respect, or cowardice, I tried not to show it.  We were in a situation where each agency was pushing its own ideas, so it was the classic logrolling situation: the end project included the top priorities of each agency, not necessarily what the farmers would find most valuable.

Anyway, over the years I've occasionally looked at it on the NRCS web site.  Even tried to use it once when I was trying to identify some weeds in the lawn.That experience convinced me the database wasn't particularly intended for such uses.  But I may be wrong.

Today in the NY Times there's an article on the new IPhone and IPad apps for birders.  My aunt and uncle were avid birders, and they had their manuals to look up birds with which they weren't familiar.  Me, I wasn't familiar with much more than robin, sparrow, crow, blue jay, blackbird, wren.  To become interested in birding I needed something easier than the Roger whats-his-face books [ed. Tory Peterson], something more like these apps.  Apparently they build upon the existing databases of Audubon and Cornell, adding all sorts of bells and whistles. They sound great, even if they aren't quite ready to identify a bird from the sound of its song.

I wonder why NRCS, or more likely some private person, couldn't create similar apps for plants? I would think much of the logic and the user interface for birds could carry over to plants: species, location, looks, etc. Of course, when you google: "plant identification" you get lots of results from different enterprises with different takes on the subject.

Kevin Drum Misses the Best Info

Kevin links to a study of SAT scores.  Which major had the highest math score?  Which major had the highest reading score?  But he didn't highlight this from the conclusions:

2. Overachievers exist in most majors, with low SAT scores but very high GPAs. These
overachievers are disproportionately female.
3. Underachievers exist in all majors, with high SAT scores but very low GPAs. These
underachievers are disproportionately male.

I'm sure we're all surprised by these results, but maybe it explains why women are in a majority on college campuses these days.