Israel traded very little with Syria as far as i know, certainly not at all prior to their last official war. Certainly Germany had some significant trade with Europe, though we're going an awful long way outside of the 50 year window then. Modern Industry, trade and economics were still in their infancy at the onset of WWII.
How many democracies in South America or elsewhere has the US officially declared war on in the past 50 years? I'm familiar with American history to a degree but I'm Canadian educated so I may have missed some wars.
Mike, it's not like China can pack our soil, climate and aquifers up into container ships and tote them over to to Fujian province. You can't just outsource agriculture the way you can outsource manufacturing. Agriculture takes land and water and the US has enormous amounts of it that other countries simply do not. Where are these vast tracts of arable land sitting waiting for our subsidies to end so they can swing into action to take all er' farming jobs?
As for manufacturing; it's a dreadful inconvenient thing the facts but the facts are that the US is still the #1 manufacturing country in the world. It out-produces No. 2 China by more than 40 percent; all without the kinds of subsidies and trade barriers that agriculture enjoys. Detroit and Cleveland and the rust belt still suffer I agree but let’s not pretend like the end of subsidies meant the end of American manufacturing. To be blunt the idea that the end of agricultural subsidies seems down right fantastical to me. What country out there has the capacity to not only produce as much food as the US does but produce it cheaply enough to ship it over here and have it outcompete every single American agricultural good?
As is no surprise to you at all, no doubt, I disagree.
I feel that the food security line of argument is somewhat of a non-starter. The US outsourced manufacturing because other countries had a natural advantage that allowed them to do (some kinds) of manufacturing more cheaply than the US could. Those natural advantages were numerous desperate impoverished people.
Agriculture, on the other hand, is an area where the US has almost insurmountable natural advantages over other countries. The US has massive expanses of quality crop land and reasonably abundant supplies of agricultural water. These are not things that would go away with the end of subsidies. Even in a US without subsidies an enormous amount of agricultural production would take place here. I am deeply skeptical that the US agricultural sector could ever diminish enough that other countries could threaten to cut off the US’s food lines. Add Canada into that equation and my skepticism becomes an absolute certainty; only the Russians have comparable land for growing grain.
To my eyes ending subsidies would instead lead, most likely, to a diversification and increasing dynamism for American agriculture. Farmers would have to grow a greater variety of crops and likely that mix would change. I am no expert on agriculture but I suspect we’d see certain crops migrate out of the US. Not staples like beef or grain but exotics like strawberries, lettuce and perhaps tomatoes (and other desert crops, oh the madness of desert crops). Economic development in third world countries from specialized crops would offer foreign farmers alternatives to abandoning their farms (or growing cash crops like opium poppies). Also keep in mind that much of the world subsists on a paltry amount of food. One of the first things people do when their economic circumstances improve is they start eating more. And end to US farm subsidies would likely lead, in the long run, to global greater demand for all kinds of foods.
This, of course, is without going into the negative aspects of the subsidies. The US agricultural subsidies are used as a fig leaf excuse for innumerable trade barriers that are maintained against all kinds of American goods. Financial services for instance face barriers that are explicitly maintained as a penalty against US farm protectionism. Domestically the subsidies on water in the American southwest lead to urban dwellers paying a fortune in water bills while farmers spray the water about willy-nilly to grow strawberries in the desert when they could be grown and imported from South America and Africa without any such imports.
To my eyes the balance is so badly and obviously skewed against subsidies that their endurance is a significant example of how the political system in this country is currently heavily tilted in favor of rural empowering structures.
If it follows the comic at all this arrival represents the end of the farms sanctuary status. They'll probably have to decamp for a more defensible location.
Definitly a concern but I'd think you could custom it up to get the protection without much loss of mobility. Riot gear's heavier elements are designed to protect against improvised weapons, blows and the like. All of those are non-concerns versus zombies. A layer of simple kevlar that's impossible to bite through connected together seamlessly, some extra padding on the shoulders and about the neck (the sweet spot for zombie chomping) and a helmet and the walkers would have to dog pile you to have any shot of getting at you. None of that'd require much loss of mobility.
Mike, yes it was a comic book thing and I always thought a clever one. Essentially they discover that the living will rise if they die in a manner that allows them to do so (intact brain in essence). The main character, shaken, exclaims "We are the walking dead."
Don't forget riot gear. If you could get your whole body covered in Kevlar and have a faceplate helmet on the zombies would have a miserable hard time biting you.
Very obviously time to get out. I'm uncertain as to what kinds of downsides could possibly outweigh the upsides of closing up this festering sore of a policy.
The hubby and I had been discussing, for several weeks now, the farms odd sort of refuge status vis a vis the country full of zombies. Our theory had been that the forest, the ridge, the swamp, the lake and the creek formed a natural barrier between the farm and the zombie epicenter (Atlanta). Hershel mentioned the swamp and creek were drying up this episode and with zombies diffusing out more evenly it looks like the refuge is at an end.
That said I found the way they portrayed the farm for much of series down right eden like. Drenched in golden sunlight, the bugs whirring, the wind blowing. It was really a beautiful reprieve from the first seasons' grim quarry and nightmarish Atlanta.
Uh, just a note: no one was banned. One commentor was put on probation for consistant bad faith arguementing and trolling and then chose to no longer comment. Or am I missing some other banning?
Just a note about the organ thing, sorry it's a pet peeve of mine, it should be noted that as a general rule we condem people to spend absolute fortunes on unnecessary stop gap treatment and sentence even more to painful deaths due to our squeemishness about the purchasing and sale of organs when all indications are that a (strictly regulated) system of organ markets would eliminate this particular problem entirely.
Speaking of automated voices a question: What the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks is this fetish that Americans have with automated and recorded voices having a British accent? Every ATM, tram recording and bloody movie ticket place in Minnesota and Chicago I've encountered talks like the words are being phoned in from South London.
On “The Importance of Farm Subsidies”
Yeah one of my own main points summed up in one elegant little paragraph.
"
Israel traded very little with Syria as far as i know, certainly not at all prior to their last official war. Certainly Germany had some significant trade with Europe, though we're going an awful long way outside of the 50 year window then. Modern Industry, trade and economics were still in their infancy at the onset of WWII.
"
How many democracies in South America or elsewhere has the US officially declared war on in the past 50 years? I'm familiar with American history to a degree but I'm Canadian educated so I may have missed some wars.
"
Mike, it's not like China can pack our soil, climate and aquifers up into container ships and tote them over to to Fujian province. You can't just outsource agriculture the way you can outsource manufacturing. Agriculture takes land and water and the US has enormous amounts of it that other countries simply do not. Where are these vast tracts of arable land sitting waiting for our subsidies to end so they can swing into action to take all er' farming jobs?
As for manufacturing; it's a dreadful inconvenient thing the facts but the facts are that the US is still the #1 manufacturing country in the world. It out-produces No. 2 China by more than 40 percent; all without the kinds of subsidies and trade barriers that agriculture enjoys. Detroit and Cleveland and the rust belt still suffer I agree but let’s not pretend like the end of subsidies meant the end of American manufacturing. To be blunt the idea that the end of agricultural subsidies seems down right fantastical to me. What country out there has the capacity to not only produce as much food as the US does but produce it cheaply enough to ship it over here and have it outcompete every single American agricultural good?
"
Question: How many ‘trade partners’ have gone to war with one another in the last 50 years?
Off the top of my head, very few? Do you have some pairings of countries with close trade links in mind that went to blows with each other?
"
Errr South America and africa without any such imputs. Stupid typos.
"
And because they get it their domestic agricultural products are near valueless.
"
Hi Mike,
As is no surprise to you at all, no doubt, I disagree.
I feel that the food security line of argument is somewhat of a non-starter. The US outsourced manufacturing because other countries had a natural advantage that allowed them to do (some kinds) of manufacturing more cheaply than the US could. Those natural advantages were numerous desperate impoverished people.
Agriculture, on the other hand, is an area where the US has almost insurmountable natural advantages over other countries. The US has massive expanses of quality crop land and reasonably abundant supplies of agricultural water. These are not things that would go away with the end of subsidies. Even in a US without subsidies an enormous amount of agricultural production would take place here. I am deeply skeptical that the US agricultural sector could ever diminish enough that other countries could threaten to cut off the US’s food lines. Add Canada into that equation and my skepticism becomes an absolute certainty; only the Russians have comparable land for growing grain.
To my eyes ending subsidies would instead lead, most likely, to a diversification and increasing dynamism for American agriculture. Farmers would have to grow a greater variety of crops and likely that mix would change. I am no expert on agriculture but I suspect we’d see certain crops migrate out of the US. Not staples like beef or grain but exotics like strawberries, lettuce and perhaps tomatoes (and other desert crops, oh the madness of desert crops). Economic development in third world countries from specialized crops would offer foreign farmers alternatives to abandoning their farms (or growing cash crops like opium poppies). Also keep in mind that much of the world subsists on a paltry amount of food. One of the first things people do when their economic circumstances improve is they start eating more. And end to US farm subsidies would likely lead, in the long run, to global greater demand for all kinds of foods.
This, of course, is without going into the negative aspects of the subsidies. The US agricultural subsidies are used as a fig leaf excuse for innumerable trade barriers that are maintained against all kinds of American goods. Financial services for instance face barriers that are explicitly maintained as a penalty against US farm protectionism. Domestically the subsidies on water in the American southwest lead to urban dwellers paying a fortune in water bills while farmers spray the water about willy-nilly to grow strawberries in the desert when they could be grown and imported from South America and Africa without any such imports.
To my eyes the balance is so badly and obviously skewed against subsidies that their endurance is a significant example of how the political system in this country is currently heavily tilted in favor of rural empowering structures.
On “The War on Justin Bieber”
Ah Bieber, yet another Canadian plot to destroy America. *tents fingers, pets Jaybirds cats*
On “Walking Dead Open Discussion Thread”
If it follows the comic at all this arrival represents the end of the farms sanctuary status. They'll probably have to decamp for a more defensible location.
"
Definitly a concern but I'd think you could custom it up to get the protection without much loss of mobility. Riot gear's heavier elements are designed to protect against improvised weapons, blows and the like. All of those are non-concerns versus zombies. A layer of simple kevlar that's impossible to bite through connected together seamlessly, some extra padding on the shoulders and about the neck (the sweet spot for zombie chomping) and a helmet and the walkers would have to dog pile you to have any shot of getting at you. None of that'd require much loss of mobility.
"
Minneapolis with it's miles and miles of skyway would dominate such a world.
"
Mike, yes it was a comic book thing and I always thought a clever one. Essentially they discover that the living will rise if they die in a manner that allows them to do so (intact brain in essence). The main character, shaken, exclaims "We are the walking dead."
"
Don't forget riot gear. If you could get your whole body covered in Kevlar and have a faceplate helmet on the zombies would have a miserable hard time biting you.
On “Shooting spree illustrates why it’s time to end the war in Afghanistan”
Very obviously time to get out. I'm uncertain as to what kinds of downsides could possibly outweigh the upsides of closing up this festering sore of a policy.
On “Walking Dead Open Discussion Thread”
The hubby and I had been discussing, for several weeks now, the farms odd sort of refuge status vis a vis the country full of zombies. Our theory had been that the forest, the ridge, the swamp, the lake and the creek formed a natural barrier between the farm and the zombie epicenter (Atlanta). Hershel mentioned the swamp and creek were drying up this episode and with zombies diffusing out more evenly it looks like the refuge is at an end.
That said I found the way they portrayed the farm for much of series down right eden like. Drenched in golden sunlight, the bugs whirring, the wind blowing. It was really a beautiful reprieve from the first seasons' grim quarry and nightmarish Atlanta.
On “Retroactive Table of Contents: March 2 to March 9”
Holy buckets! How did I miss this?? What a mess!
On ““The Space Traders””
Well you're mightily more pessimistic than I.
On “Retroactive Table of Contents: March 2 to March 9”
Uh, just a note: no one was banned. One commentor was put on probation for consistant bad faith arguementing and trolling and then chose to no longer comment. Or am I missing some other banning?
"
I'm 3 for three on the named movies so far, though I've seen chunks of ET.
On “ALL YOUR FACEBOOK ARE BELONG TO US.”
Just a note about the organ thing, sorry it's a pet peeve of mine, it should be noted that as a general rule we condem people to spend absolute fortunes on unnecessary stop gap treatment and sentence even more to painful deaths due to our squeemishness about the purchasing and sale of organs when all indications are that a (strictly regulated) system of organ markets would eliminate this particular problem entirely.
"
Speaking of automated voices a question: What the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks is this fetish that Americans have with automated and recorded voices having a British accent? Every ATM, tram recording and bloody movie ticket place in Minnesota and Chicago I've encountered talks like the words are being phoned in from South London.
"
I got it as well and favored the screen with a smirk.
On “Man’s Best Friend”
That there is one happy looking dog.
On ““The Space Traders””
Agreed.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.