Comments for What'sTheDealWith...

Comment on What’s the Deal With a Change in Food Aid? by Seth Morgan

Seth Morgan — Sun, 19 May 2013 06:41:50 +0000

Thanks for this post. Very comprehensive. My understanding is that the bill is currently being held up by the members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture (see this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/03/us/food-aid-proposal-sets-off-infighting-in-congress.html?_r=2&amp . The members of this subcommittee are listed here: http://appropriations.house.gov/about/members/agricultureruralfda.htm. My congressman (Rep. Tom Rooney of Florida) happens to be on that subcommittee so I wrote him, encouraging him to support that portion of the budget. I don’t know how much good it did, but I figured it was worth a shot!

Comment on What’s the Deal With Crop Subsidies and the Bio-fuels Dilemma? by Susan Barsy

Susan Barsy — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 19:56:29 +0000

Thanks to you, from all of us in the Corn Belt.
(We constitute a large market for corny jokes.)
Seriously, though: if there were no price supports for corn, perhaps Illinois farmers would think of switching to other more profitable crops. Back in the day, that was part of the fun of farming: gambling each year on what you could grow in abundance that others couldn’t. You would think from looking at the landscape around Chicago that corn and beans were the only things this great soil could produce, whereas they are only (because of these absurd policies) the most convenient. In the absence of government incentives, the prices for globally-grown commodities would gradually assume an equilibrium because of growing demand for them around the world. In the meantime, we might see a return to a more diversified and sustainable sort of agriculture in the Midwest, which would be quite welcome! The farmers here don’t even keep kitchen gardens anymore. . . . Modern futures markets have also helped ease the problem of price unpredictability.
SB

Comment on What’s the Deal With Crop Subsidies and the Bio-fuels Dilemma? by Myles

Myles — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 04:40:17 +0000

This blog is full of corny jokes.

Comment on What’s the Deal With America’s Decision on Syria? by What's the Deal With America's Decision on… — World News,South Asian News,Breaking News

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:15:36 +0000

[...] Read More: What's the Deal With America's Decision on… [...]

Comment on About by eprileson

eprileson — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 20:24:26 +0000

Hi Natalie,

I currently work as a researcher in public policy, but have done part time research for a historian and biographer as well. I have a bachelor’s degree in history from Northeastern University in Boston, where I currently reside.

Now, regarding your effort of using my posts as a source. I would recommend that you not use my posts as any sort of source for historical information. I use historical research from others, both in academics, private efforts, and government. The point of my blog is to analyze a current event using well documented historical research from others, (not to use any of my own historical research) and give readers a better understanding of the issue.

So, if you are keen on reading my blog as a primer or perspective for the current event for your own background knowledge, then that is fine for you to do. But, if you want to copy directly from the historical section, I would recommend against that and instead suggest going to the secondary sources that I use for the posts. I list all my sources (with links) at the end of each of my posts.

Hope this helps and thanks for reading!

Comment on About by Natalie

Natalie — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:38:41 +0000

What do you do for a living? It would be helpful to know a little bit more about you (i.e.; educational background, where you are based, what international experience you have) before I go taking these posts word for word. Where do you get your information?

Comment on What’s the Deal With “Going Postal” on the Post Office? by lattn

lattn — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 04:37:12 +0000

HR2309 and S1789 attack on Postal Emploees
I understand that HR2309 will be on the House Floor sometime this August
.Just because Issa made considerable profits as a business owner doesn’t qualify him to dictate how the Post Office should be run particularly when his solutions promoted as saving the Post Office, if enacted, would do the exact opposite.
If Issa wants to save the USPS he should look at what expenses can be deleted without disrupting the service.
#1. The Postal Accountable and Enhancement Act needs to be rescinded. In 2006 the PAEA ,signed by Bush, mandated that the USPS fund 75 years of retiree health benefits in 10. As the USPS was solvent before the PAEA (HR6407) was passed it stands to reason that the USPS would once again become solvent if this law was rescinded.
#2. Overpayments the USPS has made to the Civil Service Retirement Service should be returned.
#3. Overpayments the USPS made to FERS need to be retrieved.
#4. Charge more for delivering UPS parcels that UPS has the Post Office deliver to places they don’t.
#5. Adjust the ratio of managers to workers .
But Issa, in HR2309 hasn’t proposed that any of these things .
Issa’s solution is to cut the workforce by at least 100,000. Issa’s solution is to weaken the unions, so that Postal Workers’ wages and benefits would depend on a separate board when a contract wasn’t agreed upon by the USPS and a union.
This is a case where Issa’s cure would cause the death of the USPS as a public service and have it revived as a business with lower paid workers, higher rates and less service.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am4wez1ShPY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-chx0j3_8IU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mF_P0c1eNo

Comment on What’s the Deal With the Squabble in the South China Sea? by eprileson

eprileson — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 13:16:19 +0000

You are correct, Jacob. I mistakenly put China as part of ASEAN when the agreement that I cited was an agreement between China and ASEAN. thank you for pointing this out, it is being corrected.

Comment on What’s the Deal With the Squabble in the South China Sea? by Jacob Wong

Jacob Wong — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 08:55:50 +0000

I believe there’s an error in number 4, “On the fourth bullet of geopolitical history, I refer to a 2002 agreement by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN is: China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia).”
China is not a member of ASEAN: http://www.aseansec.org/18619.htm

Comment on What’s the Deal With the Squabble in the South China Sea? by eprileson

eprileson — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 14:22:02 +0000

it’s from the Economist http://www.economist.com/node/21553474?zid=306&ah=1b164dbd43b0cb27ba0d4c3b12a5e227