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Category: Politics Page 20 of 73

The (Geo)Politics of Food

A very interesting (and hopefully alarmist) overview of the state of food production across the world, from Der Spiegel:

[Environmental] trends are taking a significant toll on food production: In six of the last eight years world grain production has fallen short of consumption, forcing a steady drawdown in stocks. World carryover stocks of grain (the amount remaining from the previous harvest when the new harvest begins) have dropped to only 60 days of consumption, a near record low. Meanwhile, in 2008 world grain prices have climbed to the highest level ever.

[ . . . ]

Today we are witnessing the emergence of a dangerous politics of food scarcity, one in which individual countries act in their narrowly defined self-interest and subsequently accelerate the deterioration of global equilibrium. This began in 2007 when leading wheat-exporting countries such as Russia and Argentina limited or banned exports in an attempt to counter domestic food price rises. Vietnam, the world’s second-largest rice exporter after Thailand, banned exports for several months for the same reason. While these moves may reassure those living in exporting countries, they create panic in the scores of countries that import grain.

[ . . . ]

The current surge in world grain prices is trend-driven; some of these trends expand demand and others restrict growth in supply. On the demand side, these trends include world population growth of 70 million people a year, a growing number of people consuming more grain-intensive products, and the massive diversion of US grain to ethanol-fuel distilleries. During the last few years, the United States’s use of grain for ethanol has nearly doubled the annual growth in world grain consumption from 19 million metric tons to more than 36 million metric tons.

This isn’t theoretical.

Pardon Me, Stewardess, I Speak Jive

As TPM notes, this is *not* from The Onion:

And check out this latest development in Steele’s campaign to create a hip-hop image for the GOP. Michele Bachmann praised Steele’s speech: “Michael Steele! You be da man! You be da man.”

Next up – some of the GOP’s best chairs are black people!

(I wish I could claim credit for the title.  Alas, I stole it from comments elsewhere.)

The Irony of the GOP

As noted in many other places this morning, Gail Collins describes things perfectly:

Louisiana has gotten $130 billion in post-Katrina aid. How is it that the stars of the Republican austerity movement come from the states that suck up the most federal money? Taxpayers in New York send way more to Washington than they get back so more can go to places like Alaska and Louisiana. Which is fine, as long as we don’t have to hear their governors bragging about how the folks who elected them want to keep their tax money to themselves. Of course they do! That’s because they’re living off ours.

Think That New Car Is Yours? Not Quite.

I’m coming late to this, but Vivian Paige brings our attention to a bill that I couldn’t quite believe, the first time I read it.  As Vivian describes it:

Very simply, the change [to the law] would make it easier for the seller of the vehicle to take possession of [a vehicle which you have contracted to purchase, made a downpayment/trade-in on, and have taken possession of, but for which the dealer has not yet made an application for title on your behalf]. Where’s the problem? Well, what about returning the trade in and the downpayment of the purchaser? Shouldn’t those things occur at the same time? This bill doesn’t take that into consideration.

Another concern of consumer protection activists is that it will open the door for the filing of criminal charges – as opposed to civil charges – against buyers who don’t, for whatever reason, turn over the vehicles immediately.This is despite the fact that Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code says that these are civil cases.

It’s a ridiculously bad change to the law (something that Del. John Cosgrove, sponsor of the bill, seems to be fond of attempting), and is up for hearing today.  Follow the link from Vivian’s place for information on

Related: Mark Brooks follows the money.

Stuck with the Burris Mess

You wonder if maybe the GOP paid Blagojevich to name Burris to the Senate seat, thus ensuring at least one massive Democratic failure and ongoing embarrassment:

Yesterday was not a good day for Roland Burris.

First, he admitted that, contradicting the impression he had left over the weekend, he had tried to raise money for Rod Blagojevich after a conversation with the then-governor’s brother. (That acknowledgement came on the heels of an affidavit Burris filed earlier this month which itself contradicted his sworn testimony to the legislature about conversations with Blagojevich’s circle.)

Then, we learned that two investigations have been launched into the new senator’s shifting explanations. One is described by the Chicago Tribune as “a perjury review,” being conducted by John Schmidt, the local prosecutor in Springfield, and a Republican. Schmidt said he was acting on a request from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

It seems almost certain that the man committed perjury, and will be prosecuted for it.  A reasonable person might think that he’d prefer to handle that out of the public light.  But as we saw with his appointment battle, the man is almost entire incapable of self awareness or shame.  We’re going to be stuck with him for a while, I fear, and it’s going to be ugly.

West Virginia: Seceded Where Others Failed

kanawhamap

Here’s another map from Strange Maps (one of my favorite places on the internet). It shows:

the seceding part of Virginia as Kanawha (as yet still without its eastern panhandle and some of its southeastern territory). It is a Map of the States of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, as Proposed To Be Re-Organised by the Secretary of War. In this proposal, Delaware expands to include all of the Delmarva peninsula, including its Virginian part in the south, but more importantly, Maryland annexes all of Virginia between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the sea. As a consolation prize, Virginia gets Maryland’s western protrusion, making Hagerstown a Virginian city. But then there’s Kanawha seceding, leaving what remains of Virginia proper to look like an unseemly leftover.

Follow the link for more of the historical context.

Rep. Eric Cantor’s (R-Va) Office Has a Little Problem With Context

From Greg Sargent:

This isn’t going to make the big unions very happy. GOP House leader Eric Cantor’s office has come up with an intriguing response to the AFSCME ad bllitz targeting GOP leaders: Sending over a video that portrays AFSCME union members as 1970s-era goons.

Cantor spokesperson Brad Dayspring emails me the vid, stressing that it’s meant as a joke:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3mw49mk_x0[/youtube]

Now, I think that’s a pretty funny parody.  I saw it sometime last year, and might have even passed it along.  But you know who I’m not and what I wasn’t doing?  I’m not the spokesman for a member of the GOP leadership, and I wasn’t sending to the press as a response to a legitimate issue ad.   Cue Republican whining in 3, 2, 1 . . .

Senators and Taxes

Politico has an interesting survey of US Senators and their problems (or not) with getting their own taxes right.  Nothing particularly shocking, other than clearly illustrating that the Senate is something of a glass house.  There are also some nifty details.  Whereas most Senators appear to have a local CPA/accountant prepare their taxes, moneybags Herb Kohl has Deloitte & Touche do his.  My favorite answer explaining problems with taxes came from Tom Coburn’s office:

After Dr. Coburn left the House, the House continued to pay him for three months. Apparently, they were very pleased with his service. However, because the payments were made in error Dr. Coburn returned all of the checks to Treasury. Yet, the House sent a W-2 to the IRS, but not to Coburn, reporting income that had been returned. After a long fight, the House and the IRS admitted their error and the IRS sent Coburn a corrected W-2. This is the government in charge of “stimulating” our economy.

The Best Write Up of the State of Virginia’s Democratic Prospects

If you care a whit about Virginia Democratic politics, you should read Hank Bostwick’s What we learned about the VDP at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner right now. I’ve not seen – anywhere – a better write up of what Democrats are facing in this year’s gubernatorial primary and general elections.

So Ralph Northam, Jeff Frederick, and Tim Kaine . . .

walk into a bar.

Anyone want to tell us more about the rest of this joke?

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