tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85843937064911309692024-03-12T20:33:25.871-04:00Letters from a Farmer in OhioA Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.comBlogger7270125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-58672593086473266212019-02-19T21:02:00.000-05:002019-02-19T21:02:14.299-05:00Full Snow Moon LinksI'm not going to use the title supermoon, because that is a bunch of media hype, but here are some super links:<br />
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<a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/02/15/indiana-high-school-basketball-coaching-wins-record-change-hands-jack-butcher-jr-holmes/2884403002/">What happens to Loogootee water tower when Jack Butcher's wins record falls?</a> and <a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/columnists/gregg-doyel/2015/12/22/doyel-states-winningest-coach-had-no-intentions-leaving-home/77677322/">Doyel: State's winningest coach had no intentions of leaving home</a> and <a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/01/17/j-r-holmes-soon-coach-his-800th-win-indiana-boys-basketball/2569569002/">J.R. Holmes will soon become second boys basketball coach in state to reach 800 wins</a> – Indy Star. 80% of the decent stories I get from the Star are about high school basketball. The rest are about stupid Indiana laws.<br />
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<a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/02/18/should-catholic-priest-be-fighting-boxing-tournament">Should a Catholic priest be fighting in a boxing tournament?</a> – <i>America</i>. As a Bengal Bouts alum, I say hell yes. (Career record 0-4. 0-5 counting the novice matches in the fall of freshman year)<br />
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<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/it-will-cause-a-scandal-the-pope-and-a-trusted-u-s-cardinal-clash-over-sex-abuse-crisis-11550156764">‘It Will Cause a Scandal.’ The Pope and a Trusted U.S. Cardinal Clash Over Sex-Abuse Crisis</a> – Wall Street Journal <br />
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<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/02/18/694301239/massive-loss-of-thousands-of-hives-afflicts-orchard-growers-and-beekeepers">Massive Loss Of Thousands Of Hives Afflicts Orchard Growers And Beekeepers</a> - The Salt<br /><br />
<a href="https://badgerherald.com/news/2019/02/13/food-and-the-wisconsin-idea-talk-discusses-wisconsin-farming-solutions-to-dairy-crisis/">‘Food and the Wisconsin Idea’ talk discusses Wisconsin farming, solutions to dairy crisis</a> – The Badger Herald and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/02/17/695536823/food-banks-are-overflowing-with-milk">Food Banks Are Overflowing With Milk</a> - Weekend Edition Sunday<br />
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<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/02/18/private-mossad-for-hire">Private Mossad for Hire</a> – <i>The New Yorker</i> <br />
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<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-need-of-workers-the-midwest-recruits-from-puerto-rico-11550140201">In Need of Workers, the Midwest Recruits From Puerto Rico</a> - Wall Street Journal (h/t cmoore)<br />
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<a href="https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2019/02/18/alabama-newspaper-ku-klux-klan-to-night-ride-again-linden-democrat-reporter-goodloe-sutton/2910436002/">Alabama newspaper editor calls for Klan return to 'clean out D.C.'</a> - Montgomery Advertiser<br />
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<a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/v41/n03/perry-anderson/bolsonaros-brazil">Bolsonaro’s Brazil</a> - London Review of Books<br />
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<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/feb/15/the-us-hidden-empire-overseas-territories-united-states-guam-puerto-rico-american-samoa">How the US has hidden its empire</a> - The Guardian <br />
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<a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/agriculture-improvement-act-of-2018-highlights-and-implications/research-extension-and-related-matters/">Research, Extension, and Related Matters: Title VII</a> - USDA ERS<br />
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<br />A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-63117486112194074292019-02-15T06:27:00.000-05:002019-02-15T06:27:02.939-05:00Chart of the Day: Manufacturing Employment EditionFrom <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-01-22/u-s-economy-big-cities-no-longer-deliver-for-low-skill-workers">Bloomberg</a>:<br />
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While the number of manufacturing jobs is up from the low set during the Great Recession, the total is still lower than any other time since 1950. Unfortunately, I believe it will plumb new lows in the next recession, and will almost certainly never get back to pre-2008 levels. A few of the reasons for that are that manufacturing is hard, it is extremely capital-intensive, and new technology is eliminating the need for some employees. It is a lot easier to make money in advertising or mergers and acquisitions or technology. A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-5526937114960945902019-02-11T21:04:00.001-05:002019-02-11T21:04:41.065-05:00Early February LinksSome of my favorite stories from the previous week:<br />
<br /><a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/ct-spt-frank-robinson-jackie-robinson-commentary-20190208-story.html">After the abuse Jackie Robinson endured, Frank Robinson refused to take it</a> - Chicago Tribune<br />
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<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/06/farm-crisis-trump-trade-policies-1147987">Farmers nearing crisis push back on Trump trade policies</a> – Politico and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/this-one-here-is-gonna-kick-my-buttfarm-belt-bankruptcies-are-soaring-11549468759">‘This One Here Is Gonna Kick My Butt’—Farm Belt Bankruptcies Are Soaring</a> – Wall Street Journal<br />
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<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/02/07/691979417/is-fear-driving-sales-of-dicamba-proof-soybeans">Is Fear Driving Sales Of Monsanto's Dicamba-Proof Soybeans?</a> - The Salt<br />
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<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-ethanol-insight/long-strange-trip-how-u-s-ethanol-reaches-china-tariff-free-idUSKCN1PW0BR">Long, strange trip: How U.S. ethanol reaches China tariff-free</a> - Reuters<br />
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<a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/02/08/691409795/a-water-crisis-is-growing-in-a-place-youd-least-expect-it">A Water Crisis Is Growing In A Place You'd Least Expect It</a> - NPR<br /><br /><a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-phoenix-is-preparing-for-a-future-without-colorado-river-water#">In Era of Drought, Phoenix Prepares for a Future Without Colorado River Water</a> - Yale Environment 360. Part 4 in a <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/series/crisis-on-the-colorado">series</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/business/powersource/2019/02/09/CNX-suspected-cause-Utica-Shale-natural-gas-well-Beaver-Run-Reservoir/stories/201902090029">CNX reports suspected cause of Utica Shale well problem near Beaver Run Reservoir</a> - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette <br />
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<a href="https://www.theamericanconservative.com/urbs/how-interior-landmarks-redeemed-new-york/">How ‘Interior Landmarks’ Redeemed New York</a> – <i>The American Conservative</i> and <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/john-gallagher/2019/02/10/detroit-buildings-architecture-renovations-ceilings/2792581002/">Architectural history hidden by Detroit ceilings for years</a> - Detroit Free Press<br />
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<a href="https://features.propublica.org/navy-accidents/uss-fitzgerald-destroyer-crash-crystal/">Fight the Ship - Death and valor on a warship doomed by its own Navy.</a> – ProPublica<br />
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<a href="http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/02/charles-howard-porta-potty-king-of-nyc.html">The Five Families of Feces</a> – <i>New York Magazine</i> <br />
<br /><a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/Southern-Baptist-sexual-abuse-spreads-as-leaders-13588038.php">Abuse of Faith</a> - Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. This is Spotlight-level investigative reporting.<br />
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<a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/investigations/2019/02/08/tennessee-doctors-marines-pain-cream-scam-tricare-choice-md/640537002/">A Tennessee clinic swindled the military out of $65M. This is how it got caught</a> – The Tennessean<br />
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<a href="https://news.siu.edu/2018/08/081018-research-shows-state-funding-disparities-benefit-downstate.php">Simon Institute research shows state funding disparities benefit downstate</a> - SIU News. According to this, the suburbs, and to some extent Chicago, get hammered to benefit rural areas.<br /><br />
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<br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/my-whole-town-practically-lived-there-from-costa-rica-to-new-jersey-a-pipeline-of-illegal-workers-for-trump-goes-back-years/2019/02/08/8cdbc1dc-2971-11e9-97b3-ae59fbae7960_story.html">‘My whole town practically lived there’: From Costa Rica to New Jersey, a pipeline of illegal workers for Trump goes back years</a> - Washington Post<br />
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<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/30/18203611/trump-jobs-numbers-obama-economy-state-of-the-union">The hypocrisy of Trump’s jobs claims, in one chart</a> - Vox (chart from <a href="https://twitter.com/aaronsojourner/status/1089880090949898243/photo/1">Aaron Sojourner</a>)<br />
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<br />A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-43327756208741646022019-02-06T22:05:00.001-05:002019-02-06T22:05:17.825-05:00South Pole - Night In Antarctica Aurora Borealis? Yes, please.<br />
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<br /><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/315269363" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/315269363">SOUTH POLE | NIGHT IN ANTARCTICA</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/timestormfilms">Martin Heck | Timestorm Films</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-79820509138360150952019-02-03T20:08:00.000-05:002019-02-03T20:08:17.897-05:00Super Bowl Sunday LinksStories from the last week for your reading pleasure:<br />
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<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/02/rural-high-school-football/581782/">Rural Communities Struggle to Adapt to Life Without Football</a> - <i>The Atlantic</i> <br />
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<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2017/03/04/tom-brady-roots-run-deep-into-century-boston/fnXhdw7Sxj1JKTMknQgVfK/story.html">Tom Brady's roots run deep into 19th century Boston</a> - Boston Globe<br />
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<a href="http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/February-2019/Bicycle-Bank-Robber-Tom-Justice/">How an Olympic Hopeful Robbed 26 Banks on His Bike</a> - <i>Chicago Magazine</i> (h/t my former boss). For what it is worth, a guy robbed a bank in Piqua, Ohio and rode away on a bike, and I don't think he was ever caught.<br />
<br /><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/31/us-academics-feel-the-invisible-hand-of-politicians-and-big-agriculture">US academics feel the invisible hand of politicians and big agriculture</a> - The Guardian<br />
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<a href="http://www.righto.com/2019/01/inside-apollo-guidance-computers-core.html">Inside the Apollo Guidance Computer's core memory</a> - Ken Shirriff's blog<br />
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<a href="https://www.rte.ie/culture/2019/0131/1026673-st-brigid-and-the-coming-of-spring/">St. Brigid and the Coming of Spring</a> - RTE <br />
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<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/sears-roebuck-bayer-heroin/580441/">Sears Once Sold Heroin</a> - <i>The Atlantic</i> <br />
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<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/01/29/magazine/china-globalization-kazakhstan.html">Can China Turn the Middle of Nowhere Into the Center of the World Economy?</a> – New York Times (also from my boss)<br />
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<a href="https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/01/29/coal-country-is-dying-all-trump-has-are-lies/">Coal Country Is Dying. All Trump Has Are Lies.</a> – Washington Monthly<br />
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<a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mankiw/files/snake-oil_economics.pdf">Snake-Oil Economics</a> – Greg Mankiw<br />
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<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/29/epa-chemical-decision-republicans-1129824">EPA’s chemical decision worries Republicans</a> – Politico and <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/01/republican-governors-focus-water-not-climate-change/581617/">Republicans Are Loud on Water, Silent on Climate</a> – <i>The Atlantic</i> <br />
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<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/gone-in-a-generation/forest-climate-change.html">Gone in a generation</a> - Washington Post<br />
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<br />A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-18916449261209288052019-01-31T22:00:00.000-05:002019-01-31T22:00:28.380-05:00SOUTH AMERICA - A Time-Lapse Adventure<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/305431535" width="560" height="238" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/305431535">SOUTH AMERICA - A Time-Lapse Adventure</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/rustadmedia">Morten Rustad</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-90629187169746526192019-01-27T20:17:00.000-05:002019-01-27T20:17:01.679-05:00End of January LinksMore interesting stories from the previous week or so:<br />
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<a href="https://www.theringer.com/features/2019/1/22/18192071/california-high-school-football-future-politics">The Fight Over the Future of Football Has Become a Battle for California’s Soul</a> - The Ringer<br />
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<a href="https://www.cleveland.com/expo/life-and-culture/g66l-2019/01/188caf98da7965/20-old-cleveland-rams-photos-to-remind-you-the-super-bowlbound-franchise-began-here.html">20 old Cleveland Rams photos to remind you L.A.'s Super Bowl-bound franchise began here</a> - The Plain Dealer<br />
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<a href="https://deadspin.com/brianna-decker-will-get-her-prize-money-after-all-just-1832088185">Brianna Decker Will Get Her Prize Money After All, Just Not From The NHL [Update]</a> - Deadspin<br />
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<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/an-overanalysis-of-james-hardens-step-back">James Harden’s Transcendent Step-Back</a> - <i>The New Yorker</i> <br />
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<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2019/01/25/colorado-yak-ranching-national-western/">Colorado a hotbed for North American yak ranching</a> – Denver Post <br />
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<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/500-year-long-science-experiment/581155/">The 500-Year-Long Science Experiment</a> - <i>The Atlantic</i> <br /><br />
<a href="https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2019/01/particle-physics-may-have-reached-end.html">Particle physics may have reached the end of the line</a> - Backreaction <br />
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<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/hagfish-slime/581002/">No One Is Prepared for Hagfish Slime</a> - <i>The Atlantic</i> <br />
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<a href="https://www.recode.net/2019/1/23/18193685/venture-capital-money-kills-business-basecamp-ceo-jason-fried">“Venture capital money kills more businesses than it helps,” says Basecamp CEO Jason Fried</a> - Recode<br />
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<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jerry-and-marge-selbee-how-a-retired-couple-won-millions-using-a-lottery-loophole-60-minutes/">How a retired couple found lottery odds in their favor</a> - 60 Minutes. Also featured <a href="https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/lotto-winners/">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/elitestreet/ct-re-elite-street-ken-griffin-nyc-penthouse-most-expensive-home-sale-20190123-story.html">Chicago billionaire Ken Griffin just bought the most expensive U.S. home ever: A $238 million New York penthouse</a> - Chicago Tribune and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/01/23/dan-snyders-new-million-purchase-is-first-superyacht-with-certified-imax-movie-theater/">Daniel Snyder’s new $100 million purchase is the first superyacht with a certified Imax movie theater</a> - Washington Post. I don't think a higher top tax bracket would hurt anything. It beats the guillotine.<br />
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<a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6425/342">Advances in weather prediction</a> - <i>Science</i>. "But, as the American Meteorological Society celebrates its 100th
anniversary, the improvement in forecasting stands out. Modern 72-hour
predictions of hurricane tracks are more accurate than 24-hour forecasts
were 40 years ago (see the figure), giving sufficient time for
evacuations and other preparations that save lives and property." It amazes me how accurate rainfall forecasts can be, with the timing of the beginning of the storm down to the hour.<br />
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<br />A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-53394139007400731012019-01-25T14:26:00.000-05:002019-01-25T14:27:10.144-05:00Digging Up a Nuclear Bomb<iframe src="https://storycorps.org/embed/91940/" width="560" height="332" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
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<br/>More about the Goldsboro Incident <a href="https://afarmerinohio.blogspot.com/2012/01/another-h-bomb-lost.html">here</a>. A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-55448045451354099622019-01-21T19:57:00.000-05:002019-01-21T19:57:35.603-05:00MLK Day LinksInteresting stories from the last week:<br />
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<a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/dont-worry-mlb-hitters-are-killing-the-shift-on-their-own/">Don’t Worry, MLB — Hitters Are Killing The Shift On Their Own</a> – FiveThirtyEight<br />
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<a href="https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/government-shutdown-puts-ranchers-in-a-bind/article_e0b5792f-43ac-5576-af55-ff527606be61.html">Government shutdown puts ranchers in a bind</a> – Rapid City Journal<br />
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<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/what-its-like-be-allergic-corn/580594/">What Life Is Like When Corn Is Off the Table</a> – <i>The Atlantic</i> (h/t Kaye)<br />
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<a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-trump-trying-to-politicize-agricultural-data-some-former-usda-officials-suspect-yes/">Is Trump Trying To Politicize Agricultural Data? Some Former USDA Officials Suspect Yes.</a> – FiveThirtyEight<br />
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<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/01/14/681668665/quinoa-whiskey-modified-crop-list-spurs-distilleries-to-try-alternative-grains">Quinoa Whiskey? Modified Crop List Spurs Distilleries To Try Alternative Grains</a> - The Salt<br />
<br /><a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/16/prohibition-100-supreme-court-wrestles-consequences/2594770002/">On Prohibition's 100th anniversary, Supreme Court tackles state liquor laws</a> - USA Today<br />
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/opinion/prohibition-immigration-klan.html">How the Klan Fueled Prohibition</a> – New York Times<br />
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<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/in-rural-america-there-are-few-people-left-to-drive-the-ambulances">In Rural America, There Are Few People Left to Drive the Ambulances</a> - The New Yorker<br /><br />
<a href="https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1cqjvxkr0h6zm/A-Farmer-Found-a-Trojan-Horse-Inside-an-Insurance-Contract-Now-He-Might-Bring-Down-the-Canadian-Insurance-Industry">A Farmer Found a Trojan Horse Inside an Insurance Contract. Now He Might Bring Down the Canadian Insurance Industry.</a> - Institutional Investor. Bwahahahahaha<br /><br />
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-portland-opportunity-zones/">Welcome to Tax Breaklandia</a> - Bloomberg. This is going to blow a large hole in the U.S. Treasury.<br />
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<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-18/europe-s-most-important-river-is-running-dry">Europe’s Most Important River Is Running Dry</a> – Bloomberg<br />
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<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/farms-more-productive-than-ever-are-poisoning-drinking-water-in-rural-america-11547826031">Farms, More Productive Than Ever, Are Poisoning Drinking Water in Rural America</a> – Wall Street Journal<br />
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<br />A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-5091059012431619062019-01-21T06:28:00.000-05:002019-01-21T06:28:33.839-05:00CovCath, Twitter, the Trump Presidency and a Nation UnhingedSaturday afternoon and evening, I got sucked into the apparently fake controversy in which a kid in a MAGA hat appears to be standing in the path of a Native American protester from the Indigenous Peoples march, while his classmates surround them laughing and jeering. I watched the video, and my initial reaction was, "man, these MAGA folks are assholes." Then I saw this video from another angle.<br />
<br />
My reaction to the second video perspective was a little different. It hit a little closer to home. First off, seeing the guy in the Covington Catholic sweatshirt made me realize these kids were from the local area, and also Catholic. Secondly, I saw a kid in the background wearing a Notre Dame cap. That is my alma mater. Finally, assuming these kids were ultra-conservative Trump supporters spouting racist crap about foreigners (build that Wall), I felt like I was looking at myself in high school.<br />
<br />
I tried to write a post late Saturday night entitled, "In Partial Defense of the Worst Kid In America." The gist of it was going to be that, I, like that kid, was once a super-conservative supporter of the GOP who held some pretty racist beliefs, so there is the real possibility that the kid will grow up to hold totally different views as an adult. That pretty well describes my arc from high school kid who listened to WLW around the clock and believed the United States was being taken over by the Japanese, to an adult who finds conservative politics to be generally racist arguments that Democrats and minorities are moochers, and that social welfare programs should be slashed so that tax cuts can be given to the wealthy. I gave up on it because it was late, I was tired and half-drunk, and I wasn't sure how in-depth I wanted to be about a few of the things I'm most ashamed of from my youth.<br />
<br />
Come Sunday, when additional video came out, and it now appears that the supposed showdown was staged by the handful of Native American protesters, I ended up feeling bad that I was quick to assume the kids were being assholes, and that the furor raised by the Twitter mob could end up benefiting Trump's bid for re-election. It is a pretty good example of how easily we can be swayed to believe the worst in our fellow citizens who happen to be in the opposite political camp, and how we can dramatically overreact. Even on Saturday afternoon and evening, when I assumed the kids were being assholes, I felt bad for the school administrators who were caught up in this political firestorm. They were suddenly being overwhelmed with terrible publicity and national media attention because a group of kids were involved in a public incident, and the school was being overwhelmed with vitriol. The administrators had to try to get out in front of the news even though they didn't really have any idea what had happened. After the additional footage came out, the case for feeling bad for the administrators and students is overwhelming. <br />
<br />
I am absolutely no fan of President Trump, and I hope he suffers a landslide defeat in two years. I equate MAGA hats with racism. When I saw stories that the additional video showed the kids to be innocent and the Native American protester sparked the incident, I didn't want to believe it. And yet, at the height of the Twitter freakout, when I thought the kids were the assholes in the situation, I was feeling badly for the school administrators and could look at the kid in the center of the incident and empathize with him. If I was feeling that then, you can imagine how Trump supporters will see all of this. It is a massive own-goal for everyone who wants to see Trump defeated. <br />
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Yesterday was the second anniversary of Trump's inauguration. We have two more years of this pressure-cooker political environment which will be played out in a brutal election campaign. The events of this weekend will most likely not be the most divisive we'll see. It is going to be miserable, and I'm afraid the wounds to our civil society are going to be even deeper than I believed before. Everyone, myself included, needs to take a deep breath and try to back down the rhetoric. <br />
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<br />A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-4195180171250371042019-01-17T21:51:00.002-05:002019-01-17T21:52:04.212-05:00VAST: ICELAND<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/310155374" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/310155374">VAST: ICELAND</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/sstieg">Sean Stiegemeier</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
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The latest in a series I call, "places I've seen videos of, and my sister has visited." Averaged together, we travel quite a lot compared to the average person.<br/>
<br/>A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-43962209987004527692019-01-13T19:36:00.000-05:002019-01-13T19:36:22.478-05:00Mid-January LinksInteresting stories from the last week or two:<br />
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<a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/mike-trout-is-the-god-of-war/">Mike Trout is the God of WAR</a> - FiveThirtyEight. Video. <br />
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<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/business/women-ranchers-american-west-photo-essay.html">Female Ranchers Are Reclaiming the American West</a> – New York Times <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/01/10/683847157/court-strikes-down-iowas-ag-gag-law-that-blocked-undercover-investigations">Court Strikes Down Iowa's 'Ag-Gag' Law That Blocked Undercover Investigations</a> - NPR<br />
<br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/01/08/677763131/meet-the-granary-weevil-the-pantry-monster-of-our-own-creation">Meet The Granary Weevil, The Pantry Monster Of Our Own Creation</a> - The Salt (via my old boss)<br />
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<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/pessimists-guide-to-2019/">Fire, Floods and Famine: The Pessimist's Guide to 2019</a> - Bloomberg. Even I hope this is too far-fetched.<br />
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<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/09/Weasel-like-fishers-prey-on-Canada-Lynx-in-Maine-news/">Small Weasel-Like Animals Are Taking Down Big Cats</a> – <i>National Geographic</i> <br />
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<a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/01/08/682222168/norway-embarks-on-its-most-ambitious-transport-project-yet">Norway Embarks On Its Most Ambitious Transport Project Yet</a> – NPR. Floating bridges and tunnels? I'll let somebody else design those.<br />
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<a href="https://grist.org/article/this-gif-shows-how-far-the-100th-meridian-has-shifted-since-1980/">This GIF shows how far the 100th Meridian has shifted since 1980</a> – Grist<br />
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<a href="https://www.macleans.ca/economy/realestateeconomy/this-is-how-canadas-housing-correction-begins/">This is how Canada’s housing correction begins</a> – <i>McLean’s</i> <br />
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<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/erinspencer1/2019/01/11/meet-the-woman-turning-the-payday-loan-industry-on-its-head/#39482ad3f033">Meet The Woman Turning The Payday Loan Industry On Its Head</a> – <i>Forbes</i>. Trying to work up a low-interest payday loan replacement was one of my not-for-profit goals.<br />
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<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/14/the-french-burglar-who-pulled-off-his-generations-biggest-art-heist">The French Burglar Who Pulled Off His Generation’s Biggest Art Heist</a> – <i>The New Yorker</i> <br />
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<a href="https://www.firstthings.com/article/2019/02/taleb-the-philosopher">Taleb the Philosopher</a> – First Things<br />
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<a href="https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/time/grand-illusion">The Grand Illusion</a> – <i>Lapham’s Quarterly</i><br />
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<a href="https://thebaffler.com/salvos/after-the-storm-ehrenreich">After the Storm</a> – The Baffler<br />
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<a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/11/01/iowa-steve-king-results-district-re-election-wins-republican-registration-scholten-vote/1845327002/">Learn about the Iowa district that re-elects Steve King year after year</a> - Des Moines Register<br /><br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Here's an update of what was called last year as "One of the most important charts about the economy this century.” Price Changes of selected consumer goods and services over the last ~20 years. It made the rounds at the Fed last year. <a href="https://twitter.com/ritholtz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ritholtz</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/slangwise?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@slangwise</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AEI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AEI</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelRStrain?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MichaelRStrain</a> <a href="https://t.co/pt8UEJSIL5">pic.twitter.com/pt8UEJSIL5</a></div>
— Mark J. Perry (@Mark_J_Perry) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mark_J_Perry/status/1083779435076042752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-82600804346002175432019-01-07T21:12:00.000-05:002019-01-07T21:12:35.144-05:00Early January LinksIt looks like the National Championship game might end up 54-52 or something. Here are a few links for your reading pleasure:<br />
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<a href="https://deadspin.com/the-ball-family-circus-comes-to-ohio-1831152119">The Ball Family Circus Comes To Ohio</a> - Deadspin<br />
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<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-chicago-catholic-church-20181228-story.html">Chicago Catholics struggle to build future with fewer priests as parishes shrink, cash dwindles</a> – Chicago Tribune. Not surprising, but kind of sad anyway.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/st-louis-city-and-county-divorced-in-remarried-in/article_ed58b9a8-1ea6-5bf8-b36a-75d6d92e9032.html">St. Louis city and county: Divorced in 1876. Remarried in 2020?</a> – St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The massive number of municipalities in St. Louis County is crazy. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champ,_Missouri">One</a> only has 13 residents.<br />
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<a href="https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Wettest-Year-Records-2018-Take-Two">Wettest-Year Records for 2018, Take Two</a> – Weather Underground. So much rain.<br />
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<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/01/03/681941779/scientists-have-hacked-photosynthesis-in-search-of-more-productive-crops">Scientists Have 'Hacked Photosynthesis' In Search Of More Productive Crops</a> - The Salt<br /><br />
<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-meat-china-putin/putin-says-russia-will-supply-soy-beans-poultry-meat-to-china-idUSKCN1NX1C4">Putin says Russia will supply soy beans, poultry meat to China</a> – Reuters. Probably just bullshit to rock the boat politically, but we really are shooting ourselves in the foot. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20122018/american-farm-bureau-fossil-fuel-nexus-climate-change-denial-science-agriculture-carbon-policy-opposition">The Farm Bureau: Big Oil’s Unnoticed Ally Fighting Climate Science and Policy</a> – Inside Climate News<br />
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<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/frackings-secret-problemoil-wells-arent-producing-as-much-as-forecast-11546450162">Fracking’s Secret Problem—Oil Wells Aren’t Producing as Much as Forecast</a> – Wall Street Journal<br />
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<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/business/trump-tariffs-trade-war.html">Trump Has Promised to Bring Jobs Back. His Tariffs Threaten to Send Them Away.</a> - New York Times. The steel and aluminum tariffs just punish metal consuming manufacturers. More foot-shooting.<br />
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<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/07/how-mark-burnett-resurrected-donald-trump-as-an-icon-of-american-success">How Mark Burnett Resurrected Donald Trump as an Icon of American Success</a> – <i>The New Yorker</i> <br />
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<a href="http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/01/donald-trump-never-vetted-investigation-mueller.html">Donald Trump Was Never Vetted</a> - <i>New York Magazine</i>. When people are voting for him because The Apprentice convinced them that Trump is a genius businessman, I'm not sure more vetting was going to convince them he's a fuckup.<br />
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<a href="http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/01/american-exceptionalism-is-a-dangerous-myth.html">American Exceptionalism Is a Dangerous Myth</a> – New York Magazine. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://iowainformer.com/politics/2019/01/steve-king-brownells-blue-bunny-caseys-wild-rose-elwell/">The Businesspeople Who Have Helped Enable Steve King’s Rise</a> - Iowa Informer. Looks like a who's who of Iowa business.<br />
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<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/map-shows-places-world-where-us-military-operates-180970997/">This Map Shows Where in the World the U.S. Military Is Combatting Terrorism</a> – <i>Smithsonian</i>. It would almost be easier to show where the U.S. military isn't.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg9qDRtN3eHW8zuMd4apEEX4Qy_Wl9ZzzBbXUjv9nUdg5E35MG-YRfGqeZXzI-Xk3IrGpmyRgTzU0qwpAMSB4IDDtz0WqTW0q4UQNh-sOaKS8R9syRhyphenhyphenlAkgZv7VfC1SPWKn2UourE-a4/s1600/counterterrorismmapweb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1072" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg9qDRtN3eHW8zuMd4apEEX4Qy_Wl9ZzzBbXUjv9nUdg5E35MG-YRfGqeZXzI-Xk3IrGpmyRgTzU0qwpAMSB4IDDtz0WqTW0q4UQNh-sOaKS8R9syRhyphenhyphenlAkgZv7VfC1SPWKn2UourE-a4/s400/counterterrorismmapweb.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-2167763529233526002019-01-06T20:01:00.002-05:002019-01-06T21:10:25.749-05:00Cellulosic Ethanol Holy Grail?<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marshall-medoff-the-unlikely-eccentric-inventor-turning-inedible-plant-life-into-fuel-60-minutes/">60 Minutes</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
Perhaps Medoff's most consequential discovery is how to extract the plant sugars and convert them into to environmentally-friendly biofuels: ethanol, gasoline and jet fuel.
Lesley Stahl: And I'm told that you call this thing a still.
Marshall Medoff: It is a still.
Lesley Stahl: It is a still?
Marshall Medoff: It's actually making alcohol right now. Alcohol that you can drink, or you can put in your car, or you can do both.
Marshall Medoff: Here we are, on the road again.
Lesley Stahl: So Marshall, I am driving a huge truck on biomass fuel. It doesn't feel any different than normal gas to me.
Marshall Medoff: No. It wouldn't. No.
Medoff's ethanol is much better than regular corn ethanol in terms of greenhouse gas emissions - 77 percent better, according to a study that was independently reviewed.</blockquote>
This is definitely worth watching. I have no idea if this can be scaled
up, but it would seem to be more promising than previous efforts. Of
course, there was no information about how much biomass would have to be
harvested in order to produce 30% of petroleum used in the country, but
it takes 30 to 40 million acres of corn to produce 10% of the gasoline
we consume. I'd probably still take the side saying this won't work
out.<br />
<br />
Video after the jump.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.cbsnews.com/video/marshall-medoff-the-unlikely-eccentric-inventor-turning-inedible-plant-life-into-fuel-60-minutes/" width="560"></iframe>
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<br />A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-8361100895359800042019-01-03T22:32:00.000-05:002019-01-03T22:32:27.188-05:00Deep Tunnel, Deep Trouble?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnpaLYtydpDNYthp8It3yTJUhHAX5mRkGwkaNbCmrSFjhV51rSYC3LdMI30VJVijkztfnKNER1VKU-JH4QGIGN7jbwBTANoLPsapZ6VIooEmSAuAnpzWeiu_0PhZclxuFyPhG0yjuce1E/s1600/tarp.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnpaLYtydpDNYthp8It3yTJUhHAX5mRkGwkaNbCmrSFjhV51rSYC3LdMI30VJVijkztfnKNER1VKU-JH4QGIGN7jbwBTANoLPsapZ6VIooEmSAuAnpzWeiu_0PhZclxuFyPhG0yjuce1E/s400/tarp.gif" width="400" />+</a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">credit: Lisa Larson-Walker</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Slate has a nice piece which <a href="https://slate.com/business/2019/01/chicagos-deep-tunnel-is-it-the-solution-to-urban-flooding-or-a-cautionary-tale.html">takes a look</a> at the Chicago Deep Tunnel sewer project (formerly the TARP), and the challenges it faces keeping up with the greater intensity rains which appear to be a part of climate change. The project scale is massive:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Altogether, 109 miles of subway-size tunnel lie beneath Chicago and its
suburbs, covering more miles than the L, culminating in three suburban
reservoirs (not the kind you drink from)...<br />
<div class="slate-paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="slate.com/_components/slate-paragraph/instances/cjq8iqae4001o3g5v1nwm97cg@published" data-word-count="138">
Fitzpatrick drives me to McCook Reservoir, the mammoth holding
pen, opened in late 2017, for the tunnels that run beneath the Chicago
and Des Plaines rivers. We stand on the edge of a pit that can hold 3.5
billion gallons of wastewater, enough to fill the Empire State Building
and then some. It doesn’t smell terrible, thanks to floating aerators
and because the pool has dwindled to 30 feet deep—Friday’s leftovers
from a half-inch of rain on Tuesday. At the far end we can see the
circular tunnel mouth leading downtown. The city’s wastewater
netherworld has its own Chicago-centric measurement system. Lake
Michigan is elevation 0. The pumping-station control room, on a little
hillock, is +25, or 25 feet above the lake. The roaring motors that
empty McCook after the rain sit at -297, 30 stories below ground.
</div>
Behind us, the second section of McCook—which will more than
double the holding capacity of the Mainstream Tunnel—is being excavated
by gigantic mining trucks. Vulcan Materials, the country’s largest
vendor of crushed rock, is digging millions of cubic yards of limestone
out of the ground. </blockquote>
The gist of the project is that many of Chicago's sewers handle both sewage and stormwater. When the city would get almost any rain, the sewers would be overwhelmed, basements would be flooded with sewage, and untreated waste would be dumped in the rivers. So the city came up with this crazy project to build giant tunnels a couple hundred feet underground to divert the excess flow to giant reservoirs to hold it until it could be pumped through the treatment plant, where it would be treated and released. Obviously, the cost of such a program is astronomical. On top of the cost, the changing climate has been a game-changer:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1936-704X.2010.00396.x">The large and costly deep tunnel-reservoir system in Chicago is not adequate</a>”
to handle 50-year storms, Changnon wrote of the impacts from a
September 2008 storm that caused the evacuation of more than 10,000
homes in the region. The Chicago Tribune <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/living/ct-xpm-2011-03-19-ct-met-0320-deep-tunnel-problems-20110319-story.html">reported</a>
that in the four years after the tunnels were completed in 2006, the
MWRD released nearly 19 billion gallons of stormwater into Lake Michigan
compared to 12 billion gallons in the preceding 22 years. Similarly,
there have been 24 incidents of sewer overflow in the lake since the
first tunnel came online in 1985, compared to about 21 in the previous
40 years.
Then, in February 2018, after McCook had opened, tripling the capacity
of the main tunnel, a big rainstorm filled the new 3.5 billion-gallon
reservoir and sent another 3.8 billion gallons of sewage into local
waterways....By the time I visited in November, McCook Reservoir had filled to
capacity five separate times. Chicago’s multibillion-dollar
anti-flooding system is already struggling to keep up with the region’s
larger and more frequent storms. </blockquote>
As the article notes, the change in storm intensity over the 50-year construction timeframe exceeded the designers' imaginations. The scary part is that the combined sewers were also a result of lack of foresight by their designers. They were glad at that time to get the sewage out of the gutters and away from the city. Later, they had to re-engineer the Chicago River so that the sewage wouldn't foul the water intakes and cause disease outbreaks. Then, development caused massive flooding because the sewers weren't able to handle the increases in runoff from all of the pavement laid over the formerly pervious soil. Now that they have designed a system to handle the overflows, climate change is causing more intense rainstorms with longer durations. None of our storm infrastructure is built for it. I've been out of the civil field for almost 10 years, so I'm not even sure if the powers-that-be have even tried to grapple with what our design standards should be under the new climate regime. That should terrify people. It sure does me.A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-54119422668954812552018-12-31T15:47:00.000-05:002018-12-31T15:47:21.985-05:00End of Year Links and New Year's Resolutions2018 was a pretty bad year, both for this blog and for the world. 2019 might be better, but I have my doubts. Here are a bunch of links I've saved from the last part of the year:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2018/12/14/lin-wang-charles-barkley">My Dad's Friendship With Charles Barkley</a> – NPR Only A Game. This is a great read.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://baseballhall.org/discover/card-corner/1958-topps-wally-post">#CardCorner: 1958 Topps Wally Post</a> - National Baseball Hall of Fame. Local legend from St. Henry, Ohio.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.omaha.com/huskers/mens-basketball/nebraska-vs-oklahoma-state-in-an-old-school-battle-in/article_faae0cfd-f477-51b8-a02b-3363c6d65d69.html">Nebraska vs. Oklahoma State in an old-school battle in South Dakota? How did that happen?</a> - Omaha World-Herald. Here because of the gym.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/the-game-of-their-lives-was-25-years-ago-theyre-still-replaying-it-in-their-minds/2018/12/20/92a95044-ff22-11e8-83c0-b06139e540e5_story.html">The game of their lives was 25 years ago. They’re still replaying it in their minds.</a> - Washington Post<br />
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<a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2017/12/22/how-christmas-evolved-from-raucous-carnival-to-domestic-holiday">How Christmas evolved from raucous carnival to domestic holiday</a> - The Economist <br />
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<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-14/a-storm-and-a-strike-hit-blueberry-giant-s-global-supply-plans">A Storm and a Strike Hit Blueberry Giant's Global Supply Plans</a> – Bloomberg<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government-treading-water-dead-zone-hypoxia-agricultural-runoff-fish-kill-nonpoint-source-pollution-surface-runoff-iowa-farmers-dnr-cover-crops-improve-water-quality-12022018">TREADING WATER | Unfocused and underfunded, goal of cleaner water falters </a>– Cedar Rapids Gazette<br />
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<a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/12/08/uncertain-fate-awaits-quirky-rochester-landmark-corn-tower">Uncertain fate awaits quirky Rochester landmark</a> – Minnesota Public Radio <br />
<br />
<a href="https://grist.org/article/40-million-americans-depend-on-the-colorado-river-its-drying-up/">40 million Americans depend on the Colorado River. It’s drying up.</a> - Grist<br />
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<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2018/10/11/west-texas-becomes-worlds-extraction-colony-oil-gas-exports-surge/">As oil and gas exports surge, West Texas becomes the world’s “extraction colony”</a> - Texas Tribune<br />
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<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-08/oklahoma-s-future-rests-in-the-hands-of-two-very-different-oil-billionaires">Oklahoma’s Future Rests in the Hands of Two Very Different Oil Billionaires</a> - Bloomberg<br />
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<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-tesla-life-inside-gigafactory">Dr. Elon & Mr. Musk: Life Inside Tesla's Production Hell</a> – Wired <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/karl-friston-free-energy-principle-artificial-intelligence/">The Genius Neuroscientist Who Might Hold the Key to True AI</a> – Wired<br />
<br />
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bizarre-dark-fluid-with-negative-mass-could-dominate-the-universe-what-my-research-suggests-107922">Bizarre ‘dark fluid’ with negative mass could dominate the universe – what my research suggests</a> – The Conversation
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/2018/12/13/indianas-broken-arrow-time-5-nuclear-bombs-caught-fire/1831690002/">Indiana's 'broken arrow' — that time 5 nuclear bombs got caught fire</a> – Indianapolis Star. How we survived the Cold War I will never know. <br />
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<a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/pages/interactives/austin-rising/">Austin Rising</a> - Louisville Courier-Journal. A series on Austin, Indiana, where an HIV outbreak in 2015 linked to IV drug use shocked the Midwest.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://beltmag.com/losing-the-farm/">Losing the Farm</a> - Belt Magazine <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/how-did-republican-party-get-so-corrupt/578095/">The Corruption of the Republican Party</a> – George Packer<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/03/paul-manafort-american-hustler/550925/">The Plot Against America</a> – The Atlantic. Paul Manafort<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-met-chicago-13th-ward-alderman-race-kass-20181206-story.html">A college kid running for 13th Ward alderman gets a lesson in the Chicago Way</a> – Chicago Tribune<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/the_godfather_of_fake_news">The godfather of fake news</a> – BBC<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.weeklystandard.com/adam-rubenstein/iowas-steve-king-takes-the-low-road-to-re-election">King of the Low Road</a> – The Weekly Standard<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/15/charts-democrats-represent-modern-economy-republicans-left-behind.html">These charts show how Democrats represent the growing modern economy – and how Republicans are left behind</a> - CNBC <br />
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<br />
Finally, for the resolutions. One, I'm going to have to start exercising. I am not looking forward to that. Two, I'm going to have to take on a lot of maintenance projects this year. Finally, I'm going to try to get back into regular blogging, with at least two posts a week. We'll see how that goes.A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-56052176165788367642018-11-22T09:14:00.002-05:002018-11-22T09:17:11.274-05:00Thanksgiving Mini-Links: Sports Traditions EditionHere are a couple sports stories for your Turkey Day, and an Onion sweetener:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www2.philly.com/philly/sports/high_school/st-dots-st-bernies-football-thanksgiving-game-drexel-hill-philadelphia-20181121.html">St. Dot’s vs. St. Bernie’s: A Drexel Hill football tradition spanning six decades</a> - Philadelphia Inquirer<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/columnists/gregg-doyel/2018/11/21/connersville-vs-union-county-indiana-high-school-hoops-original/2012610002/">Doyel: Students will run for miles to maintain this Indiana basketball tradition</a> - Indianapolis Star<br />
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<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/21/us/thanksgiving-turkey-trots.html">How Turkey Trots Became a Thanksgiving Tradition</a> - New York Times<br />
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<a href="https://sports.theonion.com/does-thanksgiving-glorify-the-historical-slaughter-of-t-1830589913">Does Thanksgiving Glorify The Historical Slaughter Of The Detroit Lions</a> - The Onion - I'm pretty sure grandpa will mention at some time <a href="https://afarmerinohio.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-did-detroit-lions-start-playing-on.html">during the day</a> that the Lions used to play the Bears every year on Thanksgiving Day (not true-the Packers have a better claim for that).<br />
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<br />A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-86738059447879184072018-11-07T16:14:00.000-05:002018-11-07T16:14:32.555-05:00The Day AfterWow. I had gone into the election thinking that voters nationwide would have seen through Trump's lies and bigotry. People in cities and suburbs did, but folks in rural areas just want to drink from the fire hose (with Steve King, how bigoted does one have to be to lose?). In that respect, Trump was vindicated, so we can expect more of the same in the next two years. In Ohio, Republicans cruised. No incumbents in the state legislature lost. Based on the Kansas and Wisconsin examples, the Republican party has to completely drive the state into the ground before they lose a statewide election. I personally was hoping to avoid that, but I think that is what will happen. For example, our next State Representative, like much of the rest of the legislature, wants to roll back Medicaid expansion. The only reason the state expanded Medicaid was because John Kasich did it by executive action. Now we have to depend on Mike DeWine and the health care lobby to keep it in place. If it were to be rolled back, rural areas and the people who live there will suffer, and some places may lose hospitals. I am sure we will get more useless tax cuts which strip resources from rural areas and put greater burdens on local populations, and more talk about rolling back regulations. I doubt that much on the regulatory front will actually happen, but I expect you won't see DeWine pushing to deal with algae blooms in Grand Lake St. Mary's or Lake Erie, either. Overall, rural areas will continue to decline, and they will continue to work to drag the rest of the country down with them. A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-23819098410954448402018-11-06T06:04:00.002-05:002018-11-07T00:29:54.824-05:00Election Day Live Blog6:03 AM: Off to the polling place. I'm making sure my ballot gets cast. Don't worry, I won't be casting a single one for the Republican Party cult.<br />
<br />
5:33 PM: Just got home from work and feeding the cows. Cracked a Troegs Scratch Series #342 Fest Lager. It is pretty damn good. I've got some work to do yet starting the grill and wood stove and feeding the calves. I should be settled in around 6. That's when the polls close in parts of Kentucky and Indiana (which are practically the same state).<br />
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6:01 PM: Fire is taking off and the grill is warming up. Polls are closed in most of Indiana. As is always the case, I don't expect anything good to come out of Indiana. Hopefully Joe Donnelly can eke out a win, but I am personally chalking the seat up as a loss to the GOP. Maybe I will be surprised.<br />
<br />
6:18 PM: Just heard an interview on NPR with a FreeDumb caucus member who was repeating Jim Jordan's talking points about doing what they promise, even if it is miserably stupid. About the time I was wondering who it was, they said it was my useless Congressman, Warren Davidson. Fuck me.<br />
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6:44 PM: The first two stories on Marketplace tonight were about Foxconn and Amazon HQ2. One thing I would like to see come to an end are subsidy giveaways to multinational corporations. Maybe a Scott Walker loss will make politicians think twice about making outrageously foolish deals. Then again, lots of suckers think Donald Trump is some kind of expert negotiator. Maybe they ought to read about his <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/06/01/donald-trump-deals-negotiation-art-of-deal-218584">negotiating prowess</a> for <i>The Art of the Deal</i>.<br />
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6:53 PM: I wonder what the race will be the first one that news organizations call? Maybe Vermont governor (a Republican)?<br />
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6:59 PM: Just started on a Sam '76 out of the Sam Adams Winter Classics variety pack.<br />
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7:00 PM: CNN called Bernie and Tim Kaine as winners. How many times will we be told we are waiting on results from Lake County, Indiana (home of Gary)? Interesting side note, Crown Point is the county seat of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_County,_Indiana">Lake County</a>.<br />
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7:05 PM: While we wait for results to come in, I emphasize enough how important it is that we see some results that indicate Trump's ridiculous minority and refugee scapegoating doesn't work. I'm afraid we'll see a Senate result which will cause him to double down on the crazy for the next two years. I'm not sure I could get through that with my sanity.<br />
<br />
7:09 PM: Polls in Ohio close in about 20 minutes. Because of radical gerrymandering, we only have one (OH-12) or two (OH-1, which is doubtful) potential seat changes, barring a serious wave. The statewide races should be very interesting, though. I'm almost optimistic there.<br />
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7:15 PM: Election night distraction. Wes Goubeaux, I know you are looking forward to picking up some Reds 1939 merchandise:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
1939 Home. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RedsThreads?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RedsThreads</a> <a href="https://t.co/MZfaV1Ou7F">pic.twitter.com/MZfaV1Ou7F</a></div>
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) <a href="https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1059577184094969860?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<br />
7:21 PM: Also, this:
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<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
The Reds proudly commemorate the 150th anniversary of professional baseball in Cincinnati during the 2019 season. <a href="https://t.co/PO2JX4NU7G">pic.twitter.com/PO2JX4NU7G</a></div>
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) <a href="https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1059569283351658498?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
Good video
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7:26 PM: No matter who wins, it may be a tough slog economically between today and the 2020 election
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<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Word to the wise. We have endured two 10% corrections in the same year for all three major averages. This has only happened in 1973, 1974, 1987, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2008. All but 1987 signalled recession, but that wasn't a pretty picture either.</div>
— David Rosenberg (@EconguyRosie) <a href="https://twitter.com/EconguyRosie/status/1059787319098650624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<br />
7:30 PM: Polls are closed in Ohio.<br />
<br />
7:33 PM: I would expect the race is called for the Ohio 80th House district. Even though she really didn't campaign after the primary, I'm sure Jena Powell will win. That is unfortunate, because she is a truly useless right-wing nut. Her opponent, DJ Byrnes put together a couple of nice ads, but this district is ridiculously skewed to right-wing nutters.<br />
<br />
7:39 PM: Kent State vs. Buffalo is on ESPNU.<br />
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7:44 PM: I can't believe college basketball is already here.<br />
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7:52 PM: My county's <a href="https://miami.ohioboe.com/u/results.pdf">results</a> came in. Powell beat Byrnes 68%-32%, while only repeating tripe about lowering taxes and cutting regulations that strangle business. I hate how big of suckers rural voters are.<br />
<br />
7:57 PM: My county is so right-wing. Jim Renacci won 57% of the vote even though his campaign was a joke. <br />
<br />
8:00 PM: Luckily, the rest of the state appears to have elected Sherrod Brown. Overall, Democrats seem to be doing well so far, nationally.<br />
<br />
8:10 PM: I still can't believe how big the rural/urban divide is. Why do rural voters buy into the Republican bullshit about taxes when wealthier folks in cities and suburbs don't?<br />
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8:14 PM: I would like to see a Democratic sweep of Governors' races in the Midwest. It might be doable.<br />
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8:18 PM: When I was signing the election register, I saw my sister's name listed as an active voter, even though she's been out of the state for almost 20 years. She hadn't voted today. I tried checking the Ohio Secretary of State's listing of registered voters. I was there, but she wasn't. All I could figure was that she was one of the voters who got purged in recent years for not voting, but maybe her name was restored because the ACLU won a suit against the Secretary of State for removing voters from the rolls. Either that or my county is just incompetent, which is also likely.<br />
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8:24 PM: Indiana is looking bad for Donnelly, and thus, for the United States. Geez, I can't stand Hoosiers or Donald Trump.<br />
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8:34 PM: Why do rural voters, who claim they don't like how their local economies are going, keep voting for Republicans who never, ever give them any help? I just don't get it.<br />
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8:35 PM: Well, I don't get it if I don't take into account bigotry.<br />
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8:36 PM: I see the billionaire challenger in Illinois beat the nearly billionaire incumbent. Unfortunately, Illinois residents will get four more years of dysfunction. On the plus side, Rahner will probably be one of the few recent former governors of Illinois not to go to prison.<br />
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8:40 PM: Goddamn Florida.<br />
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8:42 PM: If Democrats aren't working tomorrow to register voters for 2020, they are insane. Donald Trump and his idiot base must lose.<br />
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8:44 PM: In good news, felons may have voting rights restored in Florida.<br />
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8:48 PM: Indiana is a shithole. Braun and Pence win.<br />
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8:52 PM: Things are not looking good for Democrats right now.<br />
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8:57 PM: Going to have to speed up the beer consumption.<br />
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9:03 PM: I still struggle so much with the idea that rural areas keep electing politicians who have no interest in helping out their constituents. It is just like the Brexit abortion. Rural voters are committing economic suicide electing conservatives.<br />
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9:11 PM: Trump is going to be off the hook for the foreseeable future. The United States is going to be screwed.<br />
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9:13 PM: This is insane. Who are all of these GOP voters, and why do they hate rationality?<br />
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9:17 PM: County-by-county results do not show Ohio suburbs breaking for Democrats.<br />
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9:23 PM: Donald Trump campaigned with an insane freakout about the caravan, and mountains of lies. Why on earth do people support him? Are they as big of assholes as he is?<br />
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9:29 PM: CNN is currently building up Beto O'Rourke. I dread watching his lead slip away, too, as it is one of the few bright spots on the map right now.<br />
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9:36 PM: So far it looks like Republican voters in Ohio didn't find out who the GOP was pushing for state Supreme Court. One bright spot for Democrats so far.<br />
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9:43 PM: If Democrats don't find those 1.6 million felons in Florida and get them registered to vote, they do not deserve to be called a political party.<br />
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9:52 PM: I understand why Ted Cruz is so unpopular, but how in the fuck can anybody like Donald Trump?<br />
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10:00 PM: It looks like urban and suburban voters are going to carry Democrats across the line to gain control of the House, which is a very good thing. However, rural results are so depressing that I'm chalking 2018 up as a loss. Rural areas are going to suffer miserably in the future.<br />
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10:02 PM: I see Kris Kobach is projected to lose. Thank God.<br />
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10:04 PM: Dem candidate wins Michigan, but Scott Walker is leading. WTF is wrong with Wisconsin?<br />
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10:09 PM: Warning to Ohio: Kansas has discovered how fucked up Republican governance is. Are we going to have to follow them clear to the bottom before we get some goddamn sense?<br />
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10:18 PM: Ted Cruz wins. Today sucks.<br />
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10:31 PM: How in the fuck is Mike DeWine winning? His campaign was godawful.<br />
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10:40 PM: The rural/urban split keeps getting worse, and rural voters keep getting more and more wrong. Brexit 2.0.<br />
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10:41 PM: Republican plus third party vote is 55-45 in Ohio. What the hell is going on?<br />
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10:59 PM:<br />
Truth, and dominating in rural areas, but getting crushed outside of them.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Republicans aren’t running on taxes anymore. They’re running on bigotry. <a href="https://t.co/vXLXhm8ZOq">https://t.co/vXLXhm8ZOq</a> <a href="https://t.co/QmvC7hhLSC">pic.twitter.com/QmvC7hhLSC</a></div>
— Slate (@Slate) <a href="https://twitter.com/Slate/status/1060017464052981760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2018 </a></blockquote>
11:02 PM: Ohio really feels like Indiana tonight.<br />
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11:26 PM: Right now, all I've got is the hope that Scott Walker loses.<br />
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11:29 PM: <br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
That's what he says about all of his bankrupt enterprises <a href="https://t.co/BS7FzikZkl">https://t.co/BS7FzikZkl</a></div>
— Daniel Larison (@DanielLarison) <a href="https://twitter.com/DanielLarison/status/1060025697446625283?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2018 </a></blockquote>
I needed that laugh.<br />
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11:35 PM: Oh, I also forgot about the possibility Steve King might lose.<br />
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12:01AM: There are a lot of things going on tonight. Somehow, Republicans swept all of the statewide executive offices. Oddly, I didn't really see any campaign ads for state Supreme Court justices, and they lost both seats (it appears). That is one tiny bright spot in a very depressing bunch of electoral result in Ohio. Regionally, Indiana is horrible as always. Michigan looks pretty good, as does Minnesota. Iowa could go either way, but it looks to remain with a Republican governor, but they lost at least one Congressional seat. If Scott Walker loses, I'll be smiling. Nationally, our Constitutional dysfunction gets worse. We have a popular vote loser sitting in the White House, while a minority of the population holds the Senate. It also appears the Democrats crushed Republicans nationally in the House. This will allow the Republicans to continue to stack the courts with lifetime appointments, giving them a generation of control of the only branch of government that can prevent Executive overreach. Additionally, the rural/urban split worsened. Nothing good will come of this. I dread our political (and economic) future.<br />
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12:08 AM: Also, racism won where it normally wins. That saddens me.<br />
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12:12 AM: Why in the fuck is that useless sack of shit Rick Santorum on CNN?<br />
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12:20 AM: Would Rick Santorum please shut the fuck up? <br />
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12:27 AM: How does a complete dumbass like Rick Santorum dominate the debate on CNN? Every other person at that table is smarter than him and has more useful stuff to say. This is a perfect example of what is wrong with our political discourse. I'm going over to Twitter and drinking until I have to go to sleep.<br />
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A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-3818844223939644162018-11-05T22:22:00.000-05:002018-11-05T22:22:44.314-05:00Election Eve LinksTomorrow is the big day. It is the chance, after two long years, to give Donald Trump, and the Republican Party which foisted him on us, a giant fuck you. I'll be going in first thing in the morning to cast my straight-ticket Democratic ballot. It might make a difference for U.S. Senator and the statewide positions, but it will be meaningless for Congress and State House and Senate. But it will be cathartic. It is already raining, so after work tomorrow, I'll get the animals fed, make supper, then crack my first beer and turn on the TV and start blogging the election results. Please tune in, and feel free to comment. In the time between now and then, here are a few stories for you to enjoy:<br />
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<a href="https://benjaminstudebaker.com/2018/11/04/the-southernization-of-the-midwest/">The Southernization of the Midwest</a> - Benjamin Studabaker. I've resisted GOP efforts to turn <a href="http://afarmerinohio.blogspot.com/2011/03/conservative-states-of-america.html">Ohio into Alabama</a> for a long time.<br />
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/29/18027032/foxconn-wisconsin-plant-jobs-deal-subsidy-governor-scott-walker">Wisconsin's $4.1 Billion Foxconn Boondoggle</a> - The Verge<br />
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<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/03/us/water-contaminated-rural-america.html">Rural America’s Own Private Flint: Polluted Water Too Dangerous to Drink</a> - New York Times<br />
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<a href="https://ritholtz.com/2018/11/trump-the-revealer/">Trump the Revealer</a> - The Big Picture. Excellent post by Ritholtz.<br />
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<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/11/presidential-lying-intensifying/574876/">The President's Lies</a> - <i>The Atlantic </i><br />
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<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/somethings-happening-in-texas/574873/">Something's Happening in Texas</a> - <i>The Atlantic</i> <br />
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<a href="http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/andrew-sullivan-can-the-republic-strike-back.html">Can the Republic Strike Back?</a> - Andrew Sullivan<br />
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<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/sick-and-tired-of-trump-heres-what-to-do/2018/10/31/72d9021e-dd26-11e8-b3f0-62607289efee_story.html?utm_term=.d9da78193757">Vote against all Republicans. Every single one.</a> - Max Boot!?<br />
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<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-what-the-midterm-campaign-looks-like-in-your-hometown/">What the 2018 Campaign Looks Like in Your Hometown</a> - Bloomberg<br />
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<br />A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-59513920355270969972018-10-31T22:07:00.001-04:002018-10-31T22:07:53.508-04:00Monsoon V, and sucking at bloggingFirst, a video:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/297875063" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="560"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/297875063">Monsoon V (4K)</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/mikeolbinski">Mike Olbinski</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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I realize I've really been sucking at the blogging. For this, I blame Trump. Sure, harvest has been taking up a decent amount of time, and we are still screwing around trying to get done. We've had some breakdowns, some elevator closings over the last couple of weekends, and a little bit of inclement weather, but we've got about 4-5 days left, and I'm not going to get too stressed out about that considering it's Halloween (this is probably a few run-on sentences, but I'd like to see it diagrammed nonetheless). Yes, the forecast does look like shit, but we are a lot better off than last fall. Mainly, it is that the dysfunction of the Trump presidency (I still cringe typing that phrase) is constantly in the news, but everywhere I turn there are people who not only don't think the Donald is a complete fuckup, they actually think he's doing a good job. While alone, I constantly think that Trump supporters are stupid or evil, and then I remember that they are my neighbors whom I otherwise respect. The festering anger is challenging to handle. Anyway, I'll give you a little warning-I'll be live/drunk blogging/tweeting the election next Tuesday if we aren't shelling corn that day. The current forecast indicates I'll be drunkenly ranting come midnight Tuesday/Wednesday.<br />
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<br />A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-38991356837086059522018-10-02T21:49:00.000-04:002018-10-02T21:49:10.247-04:00Making America Great<br />
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Awesome <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/10/color-photos-chicagos-rail-yards-1940s/571924/">photo gallery</a> at The Atlantic featuring photographs of Chicago's rail yards by Jack Delano. Bonus points for the ones of the Illinois Central yard featuring the giant neon PBR sign.A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-69322668890040849402018-09-25T22:50:00.002-04:002018-09-25T22:50:40.121-04:00Physics and Bullets<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/290053830?color=ffffff&badge=0" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/290053830">NPR - How Physics And Design Make Some Bullets More Destructive Than Others - Lets Talk</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/alessandronovelli">Alessandro Novelli - NEWGOLD</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-4912292529646814372018-09-03T10:04:00.000-04:002018-09-03T10:04:09.268-04:00Man-Killing Jobs<iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" src="https://www.theatlantic.com/video/iframe/569023/"></iframe> A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584393706491130969.post-18421689985432637832018-08-28T23:26:00.000-04:002018-08-28T23:26:42.074-04:00We're Going To Have A.......WinterThe main Farmer's Almanacs made the news in the last few days with their winter weather forecasts, and, like today's politics, they are on the far ends of the spectrum. The <i>Farmer's Almanac</i> of Lewiston, Maine grabbed a bunch of headlines with their <a href="https://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather-outlook/2019-winter-forecast">forecast</a> of a very cold, snowy winter:<br />
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Meanwhile, my personal favorite, the <i>Old Farmer's Almanac</i> of Dublin, New Hampshire <a href="https://www.almanac.com/content/2019-winter-weather-forecast">predicted</a> a wet, warm winter:<br />
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If I had to make a wager on the weather (again), I would probably go with the warmer forecast. With the climate starting to significantly warm, I think we will have a lot fewer cold winters. However, when we do have one, like in 2014, it'll be a very cold one. I'd keep my eye on the weather in California. When they get dry winters, we typically get cold, snowy ones.A Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536475234970506497noreply@blogger.com0