Maybe I'm Wrong, GPO and Google

I've posted, I think, in the past about my impatience with government web sites--I don't see why I can't just Google them. (Yes, I know that you can run Google on some, but I want every document to be as Googlable as any magazine or newspaper article.) But yesterday GPO released its new search site. The discussion in the comments about using meta-data is enough to raise a slight doubt in my mind. I'll have to see how this works out.

Remember Snow Fences?

The Journal-Gazette and Times-Courier have an online site which promoted a conservation meeting, but this piece caught my eye. Yes, it's mostly local news, but I too wonder whatever happened to snow fences? I guess global warming has reduced the amount of snow in the areas I live in to the point where it's not economical to put them up. (They are mentioned in Wikipedia and there seem to be a scattering of articles, mostly in the West, including this one about a Wyoming youngster testing various design.)

Cooking Versus Kids and Jobs

Two factoids I stumbled on this week, but don't have urls for: In the 1960's women spent 2 hours a day (13 a week) cooking. In the 2000's, men and women increased the time spent with their kids.

And today the NYTimes reports that men are losing their jobs in the recession while women aren't (because men and women are concentrated in different fields), meaning it's possible we'll have a higher percentage of women employed than men. (It looks as if the story is based on all jobs, not full-time jobs, but still it's a big change from my childhood, when women mostly didn't work outside the home.)

Green Faddism

The NYTimes has an article today on greens who do without a refrigerator (sometimes by using a freezer, sometimes by going to a dorm size refrigerator). At the end of the article, they quote an estimate of $6 savings per year.

There was also a piece, probably through Treehugger, that quoted a Canadian study that one day of a wood stove released more carbon than a year of driving (or some such comparison).

IMO, these examples show that sometimes greens are no more rational than Wall Street bankers have proven to be.

Pet Peeve: Elite and Pica Type

There may be someone who has noticed I have big problems with those people who still use monospaced elite or pica type these days. This dates back to the 1970's when I was diverted from researching into word-processors (to replace the IBM MT/ST's we were using) by some papers on proportional spacing and type faces. Bottom line: proportional spacing aids readability--monospacing was a limit of the typewriter's mechanism.

So I'm shocked, absolutely shocked, to find the FAA still using it, as in the transcript of the airliner ditching in the Hudson. Come on people, join the 21st century.

Brad DeLong and Turnip Townshend

Brad points to the Wikipedia article on this man here, and notes his connection to our Revolution as well.

Townshend introduced to England the four-field crop rotation pioneered by farmers in the Waasland region in the early 16th century. The system (wheat, barley, turnips and clover), opened up a fodder crop and grazing crop allowing livestock to be bred year-round, and increased productivity by avoiding leaving the soil uncultivated every third year. Previously, a three-year rotation was practiced by farmers in Europe with a rotation of rye or winter wheat, followed by spring oats or barley, then letting the soil rest (leaving it fallow) during the third stage. Crop rotation is necessary in order to avoid the build-up of crop-specific soil pests and diseases, and because different families of plant have varying nutritional requirements. The four-field crop rotation was a key development in the British Agricultural Revolution.

I should also note the Mark Overton, BBC series, who ties this into organic and industrial farming.

Obama Breaks His Promise Again

He signed the Chip bill today, without the 5 day public accessibility. See the first time.

[Updated] See this politico post.

Flexible Leases and Definition of Producer

Farmgate carries a piece lauding the change in the farm bill to permit flexible crop leases without making the landowner a "producer" for purposes of farm programs. It means the owners don't have to sign FSA contracts and related paperwork.

Given the long history of the provision, I'm wondering if there will be unanticipated effects. But, that's a question which the future will answer, I guess.

Government Web Sites--USDA Is Low

According to the detail in this report, USDA web sites don't do as well as other government sites. (See pages 15 and 19.)

ACRE Confuses Even the EU

From the DTN blog citing an EU assessment of ACRE:

"Heralded as an innovative new risk management tool, ACRE is yet another countercyclical scheme, this time for revenue," the report highlights. "So it is business as usual in that the countercyclical nature of US farm support continues, with a bewildering array of schemes all addressing the same issues. For many observers it represents a significant step backwards in terms of agricultural policy."

See also Keith Good's FarmPolicy which puts this assessment in the broader context of challenges to free trade.