Top Taliban Commander Killed

Good news out of Afghanistan: top Taliban military commander Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani was killed in an airstrike earlier this week, along with two companions:

A top Taliban military commander described as a close associate of Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar was killed in an airstrike this week close to the border with Pakistan, the U.S. military said Saturday. A Taliban spokesman denied the claim.

Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani was killed Tuesday by a U.S. airstrike while traveling by vehicle in a deserted area in the southern province of Helmand, the U.S. military said. Two associates also were killed, it said.

Stewardship

I note with interest Jason's reference to the "Land Owner Privacy Act."  In my experience, responsible hunters have no problem getting checked by game wardens and recognize the importance of the game warden's job.  I was checked this past fall (on walk-in land, which is private land open to public hunting), and was glad comply.  The warden had just busted a bunch of guys who were over limit on mallard ducks.  As a duck hunter I am glad he did so.  Our wild game are a public resource that need public protection.  Instead of getting angry about wardens entering private land (and I note that by definition this is not trespassing, since it is legal entry by a public official), why not thank the warden for protecting our resources so we can continue our enjoyment of hunting for years to come. 

SD Students Outperform Peers

The Rapid City Journal reports some good education news for South Dakota:

Students at South Dakota’s public universities outperformed their counterparts nationwide in two tests of academic progress, the South Dakota Board of Regents reported.
...
On average, South Dakota public university students who took the proficiency exam in the 2005-06 school year exceeded national averages in all four areas of the test: writing skills, math, reading and science reasoning.

For the first time since the proficiency exams were required in 1998, all six public universities had scores above the national average in each of the subject areas.

Pine Ridge

The political strife on Pine Ridge continues:

Controversy that has surrounded tribal elections since October continues to swirl here as the Oglala Sioux Tribe attempts to seat a new government.

Supporters of former tribal President Alex White Plume are calling on the Bureau of Indian Affairs to set aside the results of Nov. 7 balloting and a Dec. 5 swearing in of a new administration and council. That would force the tribe to hold a new election.

The tribal election board and election court of appeals throughout the fall exchanged conflicting opinions on whether White Plume's name should have been on the ballot since there was a question whether he had been convicted of a felony, and tribal law prohibits convicted felons from holding tribal office.

White Plume insists he does not have a felony on his record.

The controversy appeared to be resolved when White Plume called for himself, other tribal officers and the existing council to remain in office until March while new primary and general elections were conducted - presumably after White Plume was able to clear his name.

William Birdnecklace, a tribal member who is petitioning the BIA to hold new elections, said the council concurred with White Plume's call for extended terms and new elections.

Thune Committee Appointments

Argus Leader:

Some of the Senate's biggest battles next year will be over the new multiyear farm bill and the size of the U.S. military. South Dakota Sen. John Thune expects to be in the middle of both of them, by virtue of his new committee assignments.

Next year, when Thune takes his seat on the Armed Services Committee, he'll probably be considering a plan to temporarily increase the number of troops in Iraq to try to quell sectarian violence.

The committee also might consider a plan to increase the size of the nation's permanent active-duty military in the coming years by as many as 70,000 new troops. The military is under strain due to multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

...

Also on the horizon for Thune are critical decisions on agriculture policy. At his request, he will join the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee for the first time in January, just months before the committee is expected to kick its farm bill hearings into high gear.

Agriculture is South Dakota's biggest economic engine, and despite being in the minority party, Thune, a Republican, still will have plenty of influence on the Democrat-controlled committee. He helped craft the 2002 farm bill when he was a member of the House Agriculture Committee.

The farm bill is a blueprint for defining the federal government's role in agriculture, ranging from crop subsidies and trade to conservation and nutrition programs.

"It's always a big fight, but it tends not to be as much a fight between Republicans and Democrats as it is between regions," Thune said. "It tends to be Midwesterners versus Southerners and Easterners."

It's good to hear Senator Thune is receiving these committee positions.  Congratulations, Senator!

SDDP Shake-Up

Our blogosphere colleague Todd Epp is reporting news about changes in the South Dakota Democratic Party:

The following comes from a very good local Democratic source who has provided accurate information in the past.

Kristen Peterson and Rick Hauffe, late of the Billion for Governor campaign, have apparently been tapped for staff positions in the S.D. State Democratic Party.  Deb Elofson, legislative director, has resigned.

My source also tells me that April Ries will be kept on in the Pierre office, which will be downsized.   New, local party offices will be opened in Sioux Falls, Aberdeen, and Rapid City.  I also understand that Don Carr will also stay on as press secretary.

If you have additional or contradictory information, please email me at epplaw(at)gmail(dot)com.

My own view having worked with both Rick and Kristen is that they are both very capable and hard working people.  I’m also glad to see April staying on board, as she is always  helpful.  I’ve had my issues with Don this past year, but he works hard and has done an excellent job with the SDDP website.  I also think the field offices are also a great idea.

In all, these are good moves (and non-moves) that start to put in place an excellent team for the 2007 Legislative session and towards the 2008 election.

"Nuts!"

Scott Johnson of Power Line remembers the sixty-second anniversary of the Nazi Germany surrender at Battle of the Bulge.

More Criticism of Carter

Two weeks after Emory professor Kenneth Stein resigned from the Cater Center and criticized Jimmy Carter's latest polemic Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, another Emory professor has come out against Carter's book:  "Carter's bizarre book is a poisoned holiday gift for Jews and Christians, and a danger to Jews throughout the world."

Christmas Traditions

From the Associated Press:

Tradition often trumps the trendy during the Christmas season. People send traditional Christmas cards through the mail far more than they send greeting cards by e-mail. Most people think it's OK to have Christmas decorations at public buildings, even though it occasionally draws protests and lawsuits.

And many people long for the days when businesses routinely told customers "Merry Christmas" rather than the more politically correct, "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings." But nearly half are not bothered by the broader greeting.

...

The poll found:

_People were four times as likely to send traditional Christmas cards, 64 percent, as opposed to send greeting cards by e-mail, 16 percent.

_They were twice as likely to call someone on the phone with holiday greetings, 64 percent, as to send an e-mail, 33 percent.

_People are divided on whether it's a good thing or bad thing that businesses often greet their customers by saying "Happy Holidays" instead of Merry Christmas. About half, 48 percent, said it is good and almost that many, 42 percent, said it is bad.

_Seven in 10 say they will use the Internet for Christmas shopping as much or more as in past years, while 25 percent will rely on it less.

_Nine in 10 people say it's appropriate for public buildings to have Christmas decorations.

Read the whole thing.

Sowell on the Courts

Thomas Sowell: "Impeach!  No, not him. . ."

GI Joe and JHorror for Christmas

I have been paying a lot of attention to Todd Epp's SDWatch Blog recently.  This is mostly due to the importance of the Tim Johnson story, about which he has been frequently and informatively commenting.  To be fair, it is also due to the fact that he has been very gracious in his comments about our blog.  It is nice to be "preened" by someone besides myself for a change. 

But Todd and I turn out to have a lot in common.  I mentioned yesterday our common interest in the Buddhadharma.  Today I see he has a post about GI Joe, and some pictures of the GI Joe space capsule. 

This not so accurate replica of a Mercury space ship was probably my very favorite Christmas present ever.  I loved GI Joe, and I loved space travel.  I would add that there was a low budget version of Joe made for a while called Captain Action.  Those dolls fell apart after a few weeks, but they came with an assortment of Superhero costumes, all of which would fit GI Joe.  I was eleven, and my ship had come in. 

If you want to cut all the Christmas sweetness with something bitter and disturbing, try a little Japanese horror film (JHorror) called Pulse (or Kairo).  An American made version, also called Pulse, is now available on DVD.  Like almost all Jhorror, Pulse is a story of an invasion of the waking world by malevolent and predatory ghosts.  The films are not bloody, but they are deeply disturbing.  The Japanese original, written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation, I gather, to the more famous director) is by far the better film.  But the latter is interesting, if only for the comparisons.

In the J version, the invading ghosts are very explicitly the spirits of the dead.  They are incredibly lonely, but seem to be invading more out of envy of the living than out of any hope. That is a grim picture of the afterlife.   Meanwhile, the struggling protagonists are so dispirited to begin with, so depressed and hopeless before the first ghost shows up, that there is not much fight in them.  The A version is almost cheery by comparison.  The ghost elements are de-emphasized in favor of an invasion motif.  The characters want to live.  In both versions the malevolent spirits get at us through the Internet, but in the A version this comes as a surprise: an unexpected horror inherent in a new technology.  In the J version, no one is surprised.  The other side is always leaking into our world through dreams, writing, art, etc. 

Both versions are apocalyptic.  The ghosts gobble up nearly everyone, and both movies contain a scene of an airliner burning and crashing so as to emphasize the extent of the disaster.  But in the American version it is reasonably clear that some folks will survive and find a way to escape the ghosts.  In the J version the last remaining character fades into a black stain at the end.  If you know someone who is suffering from depression, and you want to push him the rest of the way over the edge, either film will do the trick.

It occurs to me that the J version of Pulse, unlike the A version, probably tells you something important about the society that produced it.  I have posted below about the coming demographic crash in Japan.  The eeriest effect in J Pulse is achieved simply by removing more people from each scene (libraries and classrooms and restaurants) until the last survivors are wandering about in empty buildings and subway terminals.  Sometimes, as Aristotle observed, poetry is truer than history. 

Landowner Privacy Act

State representative-elect Betty Olson of Rapid City has announced her intent to propose a bill requiring permission for game wardens to walk on to private property.  As the law stands now, wardens of the Game, Fish, and Parks have the right to enter anyone's land and check for illegal activity (i.e., poaching) without the consent of the land owner. Rapid City Journal excerpt:

A newly elected lawmaker said she will offer a bill in the 2007 South Dakota Legislature that would require game wardens to ask for permission before going on private land. Rep.-elect Betty Olson, R-Prairie City, said officers could still enter private property if they have a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing or get a tip about it.

But she says game wardens should not be allowed to simply drive onto someone’s land to look for hunters who may or may not be doing something illegal.

The right of game wardens to go onto private land comes from a policy called the open-fields doctrine. Legislators have tried to repeal it twice in recent years.

“I’m hoping that ... both houses will decide that Game, Fish & Parks (should) show the common courtesy of asking before they trespass,” Olson said.

Gov. Mike Rounds and administrators with GF&P strongly opposed limiting access to private property for law officers, which probably played a large role in the bill’s past failures, according to state House Majority Leader Larry Rhoden.

I believe in protecting private property and privacy, but the wardens have a job to do.  I have a feeling that Rep. Olson's bill won't gain any traction in the legislature.

Year in Review

Mudville Gazette provides a war retrospective for the end of the year.

London Braced for Terrorist Attack

According to ABC News, British law enforcement is saying it will be a "miracle" if the holidays pass without an al Qaeda attack:

British police have been quietly carrying out a series of key arrests as they continue to track at least six active "plots" tied to what they call "al Qaeda of England."

"It is not a matter of if there will be an attack, but how bad the attack will be," an intelligence official told ABCNews.com.

Authorities say they are seeking at least 18 suspected suicide bombers.

Subsidies and the Demise of the Small Farmer

From the Washington Post:

Today, most of the nation's food is produced by modern family farms that are large operations using state-of-the-art computers, marketing consultants and technologies that cut labor, time and costs. The owners are frequently college graduates who are as comfortable with a spreadsheet as with a tractor. They cover more acres and produce more crops with fewer workers than ever before.

The very policies touted by Congress as a way to save small family farms are instead helping to accelerate their demise, economists, analysts and farmers say. That's because owners of large farms receive the largest share of government subsidies. They often use the money to acquire more land, pushing aside small and medium-size farms as well as young farmers starting out.

"Historically, when you think of family farms, you think of mom and dad and three generations working a small or mid-sized farm. It gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling," said Alex White, a professor of agricultural economics at Virginia Tech. "In the real world, it might be a mid-sized farm. But it also might be a huge farm. It might be a corporation."

Large family farms, defined as those with revenue of more than $250,000, account for nearly 60 percent of all agricultural production but just 7 percent of all farms. They receive more than 54 percent of government subsidies. And their share of federal payments is growing -- more than doubling over the past decade for the biggest farms.

Oddly enough, the government seems to reward large farms rather than struggling farmers.  The Post tells a story of an Illinois farmer who grossed $500,000 in soybean production and received $120,000 in subsidy checks from the government, which he called "embarrassing."  A small farmer in Iowa with one-third the land received a far lower subsidy check.  The decline in the number of family farms, when weighed against subsidy payments, is a result of large farms purchasing larger tracts of land as subsidies are reinvested.  Small farms simply cannot compete in the market because of government subsidies.

The farm subsidy programs have seriously hurt the agricultural and land markets and ends up undermining the very people it claims to help.  Perhaps we should reconsider the government's involvement in agriculture and allow the market to work on its own.

UPDATE:  South Dakota Magazine has more.

The Abolition of Nativity in Japan

The BBC has some dark news about the most productive nation in Asia. 

A dwindling birth rate is expected to cut Japan's population by 30% over the next 50 years, a survey by the government has said.  The report says the current population of about 127m is projected to sink below 90m by 2055.  By that date the proportion of the population aged above 65 is set to double to 40.5%

One thing that Japan is not producing is children.  What it is producing are retirees.  This has ominous implications for the future.  But never worry!

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said: "It's impossible for the pension system to collapse due to the declining birth rate because we will adjust the amount of money put into it."

Mr. Shiozaki is confused.  Money is merely a title to wealth; it is not wealth itself.  Wealth is produced by people, and people are produced only when people have babies. 

My Favorite Political Scientist in the American News

Todd Epp and Professor David Newquist both profess to have been part of the mainstream media at one time or another.  I can claim membership in that club only by virtue of my essays in the American News.  One appeared today on the topic of the minimum wage. 

Newquist and Epp; Bloggers and Buddhas

Professor David Newquist has attacked portions of regional blogosphere including, I think, this blog, and Todd Epp's S.D. Watch.  The issue is our reporting on Tim Johnson.  Todd vigorously responds.  I will do likewise, as I think some interesting issues are involved.  Here is Professor Newquist's charge:

The Three-Ds have infested South Dakota. They are Denial, Denigration, and Delusion. Along with flouride, the Three-Ds are additives to water, and the political portion of the South Dakota blogosphere, as they like to call themselves, are imbibing mightily.

They keep recycling news stories from the media about Sen. Johnson's health, and then crow and chortle over how superior they are performing compared with the media. I have checked the major news organizations for updates and found them timely, accurate, and, of course, free of the self-preening posturing. But the blogosquare keeps insisting that it is doing something the media is not.

Now for the life of me I cannot see what is being denied or who is being denigrated by SDP or by SDWatch.  Indeed, I have spent much of my blogging time defending the mainstream media and even the folks at the Daily KOS.  As for delusions, I suppose that has something to do with the "self-preening" charge. 

I do not think that blogs are superior to, or can be a replacement for, traditional journalism.  I do think that the better blogs add something to the MSM.  Good traditional journalism has far more resources than bloggers have, and it is kept honest in certain respects by valuable institutional restraints.  Bloggers are mostly on their own, and have almost no restraints other than self-imposed ones.  That is both their weakness and their strength.  Bloggers can freely speculate, and report any information from any source.  A blogger who tries to be responsible will caution his readers whenever he cannot be confident about a source; but unlike many a paid reporter, he can go ahead and report what the source is saying.  There is a demand for such reporting, and I see no reason why the demand should not be supplied.   

It is true, as Professor Newquist notes, that blog reporting is almost entirely the "recycling" of news stories available from traditional sources.  But the same thing is true of the traditional media outlets.  An original story gathered from witnesses and other sources will be picked up by other outlets and republished.  Readers will pick up what they are interested in, and sometimes talk about it over coffee or beer.  Blogging is really just another medium for that conversation, with some elements of publishing thrown in.  I think that conversation in a free and information rich republic is altogether a good thing, whatever excesses and errors it may involve.  Unlike the New York Times, bloggers have no institutional authority at all; the blogosphere is a very democratic business.

Professor Newquist had another complaint.

One blog [SDWatch] posted a speculation by a man on one of the national dingbat blogs who claimed to be a neurologist or something of the kind. He suggested that the positive prognoses about Sen. Johnson may be wishful thinking and he provided a more dire prognosis. In the name of truth and accuracy. And in violation of the ethical rule adhered to by most physicians that it is okay to provide general background information on a medical condition, but one never speculates and never provides an expert diagnosis without having seen the patient, seen the patient's charts, examined the imaging of the portion of the body in question, and without obtaining the family's permission. But some blogs, as they are wont to do, circulated the dire prognosis with the usual self-acclaim for outperforming the press.

I think this is flat wrong.  Jack Billion freely speculated about Senator Johnson's condition, optimistically, as did a specialist on brain injuries, both on NPR.  Many other experts have done the same on TV and online.  Most of us don't know very much about such things and are happy to learn more about the left-brain, right-side medical issues.  That is what we have experts for.

I also think that SDWatch did a valuable service by reporting the online comments of Doctor Yubero, the source Dr. Newquist refers to.  Most of the MSM reporting on Senator Johnson's condition has been very optimistic, and let us hope they are right.  But it might be a good idea to consider the harder part of this news, and the MSM is not giving us that.  I have a great deal of sympathy for the privacy issues involved, but Tim Johnson is a very public man and the public has a right to inquire into his health outlook.    I note also that Todd Epp went the extra mile in checking out this source, and bent over backwards to caution his readers regarding the source's authenticity.  That is what responsible blogging looks like.

Ps.  Todd has another blog devoted to Buddhism.  This is an interest he and I share, as I have been a practioner of zazen (seated meditation) for several years.  The Dharma of impermanance regarding Senator Johnson's condition, and mine, and yours, and every existing thing, is worth considering 

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Patrick Garrity has been blogging about sports over at No Left Tuns (for example, see his take on the recent brawling in the NBA).  The discussion of sports represents a nice break from the constant discussion of things political.  In that spirit, let me note that one of the highlights of this time of year is the college football bowl season.  Last night I watched a game between TCU and Northern Illinois.  The winner: boredom.  Over half of all Division I-A schools make it to bowl games, so there are bound to be some stinkers. 

The other perennial of this time of year is arguments over whether Division I-A should have a playoff for football, just like all the other divisions do.  I have long been opposed to a playoff.  Part of the fun of college football is arguing over who could beat whom and who got robbed by the system each year.  I fail to see why everything in life must be decided with scientific certainty.  I long for the days when bowl games had conference tie-ins and had names like Liberty Bowl, and Cotton Bowl, and Blue Bonnet Bowl.  Now it is "Harry's Tire and Lube Bowl."  And all the big games were on New Year's Day, adding to the specialness of that day.  Now the big games are stretched out over the week after New Years and the championship game is one week after January 1st.  Why?  Ratings and advertising revenue.  Don't get me wrong, maybe corporate sponsorship is what keeps these games profitable and on the air, but I still get wistful about Pittsburgh playing Georgia on New Year's night in the Sugar Bowl (not the Nokia Sugar Bowl).   

But the ship has sailed.  Anything is preferable to the silly BCS where computers decide who plays for the national championship.  Let's go back to the old way when no one knew who was best, or, since that is never going to happen, let's just get it over with and have a playoff, with the championship game on January 1st. 

Senator Johnson Health Watch

Todd Epp continues to do the best reporting on Senator Johnson's condition.  In a current post he shows the advantage that bloggers have over the traditional media, while being very careful about the shortcomings of the new media.  Todd rounds up some comments from a "Francis X. Yubero, MD."  He reproduces these comments because they are more informative than what we are getting from the Argus Leader or Keloland, but he is very careful about the question of authentication.  Here is a sample of Doctor Yubero's comments, in Epptype:

In my 25 years of experience of treating Brain Injury dealing, the the ~120+ hours since surgery and the clues about the severity of Senator Johnson’s neurological deficits including lethargy, lead me to think that the Prognosis is poor for complete recovery.  One very good sign is the report that he has had the normal Intracranial Pressure which is a big positive as high Pressure can cause Brain damage. 

However, the weakness on the right side and lethargy are not good signs of a full recovery. Right sided weakness is indicative of a left side brain injury. Usually the left of the brain is responsible for language expression and reception(in ~ one-third of left handed people the speech center in located on the right side of the brain). Thus Senator Johnson may suffer from Aphasia or the inability to express himself.

This seems to dampen the cheery news that keeps coming out of the local media.  To be sure, Doctor Yubero, regardless of the authenticity of his qualifications, is not an attending physician, and so can only speculate. 

I can make no claims to any medical expertise beyond band-aids and tweezers, but I can listen to what the experts say and put two and two together.  I heard Jack Billion, doctor and recent candidate for governor, comment on Senator Johnson's illness.  Later on the same NPR station I heard another expert say much the same thing.  As I understand their comments, the consequences of AVM (Senator Johnson's original problem) are least severe when it occurs in a "quiet part of the brain."  What worries me is that the first sign of the problem came when Senator Johnson lost the ability to speak coherently.  Now I don't know if that necessarily indicates that the location of the tangled blood vessels was near the speech center of the brain, but if it was, that can't be good.  The comments above about "right side weakness" support this view of the matter. 

I know more than enough about the brain to get dangerously confused, so readers should take anything I say with a grain of salt.  We human beings suppose we have one mind, but in fact we have at least two: the left and right hemispheres, connected by a thick neural cable called the corpus callosum.  The left hemisphere receives information from the right eye and controls the right side of the body.  It also controls speech and reason.  Damage to the left brain will therefore show on the right side of the body.  All this suggests that it may be a very long time before Senator Johnson can return to work.

I hope I am wrong.  God bless Senator Johnson and his family. 

Bigotry on the Left.

My old friend Chad at CCK has attacked Professor Schaff in language that is rather notable. 

Am I the only one who thinks it's kind of funny that a guy who remains single and hangs out with conservative Catholic priests, believes that "family structure" (of course, only in the way that he defines it) is the solution to all of our problems?

Wow.  A single man who "hangs out" with conservative Catholics.  Come to think of it, that does make him seem a bit odd, doesn't it?  People like that, well, they have a lot of nerve expressing opinions on certain subjects. 

Since I am an enrolled Methodist, and married with children, I suppose there is nothing funny in the fact that I largely agree with Professor Schaff's post.  Having taught logic, I would note that Chad's polemic is a classic case of an ad hominem argument.  There is something funny about Professor Schaff's propositions, but not because of the arguments or evidence he presents.  His propositions are funny because of the kind of person he is, and the religious views of the folks he hangs out with.  Any student can see that this amounts to a fallacy, and involves both religious and personal bigotry.

And consider the logical implications of this: is there something "funny" going on when a gay person, without children, expresses opinions about marriage and child-rearing?  I don't think so.  But that is because I don't think about these things the way Chad apparently does. 

Ad hominem arguments are nothing new at CCK.  Consider this polemic:

If you're thinking about supporting 75-year-old John McCain for President of the United States, I think it's pretty important to realize what an idiot he is when it comes to the situation in Iraq.

Now a reasonable person might well believe that John McCain is too old to be president.  But such a person would make that argument explicitly and carefully.  He or she would acknowledge the risks involved if old age is to be a disqualifying factor in seeking office.  Simply attaching McCain's age to his name is just another noxious ad hominem, more left-wing Archie Bunkerism from the website that specializes in it.  Let us fondly hope and fervently pray that Chad is indeed the only one who thinks this way.   

Top SD Political Stories of 2006

SDWC has come up with the Top South Dakota Political Stories of 2006.  Stop by and give it a read, it's an excellent recap.  Plus, you have to love this honorable mention:

The Argus still hates Governor Rounds.
Never in state history has a newspaper carried out such a sustained vindictive agenda against an elected official, and continued to pat themselves on the back for it. It was one of my top stories in 2005, and in 2006 it’s notable because it continues.

Hardly a month went by without Randall Beck taking some sort of swipe at the head of South Dakota’s executive branch, and it has no signs of letting up, as they pat themselves on the back for supposedly losing revenue because of it. (or maybe it was because they're losing value as an advertising venue).

Indeed.

Corporate Farming

Last week a federal appeals court lifted the voter-approved corporate farming ban in Nebraska on the grounds that it interfered with interstate commerce.  Nebraska has decided to challenge the ruling at take its case to the Supreme Court.  From the Sioux City Journal:

he state will take its chances with the U.S. Supreme Court in its effort to keep a voter-approved ban on corporate farming alive.

Last week a panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the nearly 25-year-old ban on corporate farms, upholding an earlier federal district court decision. The appeals court said the ban violates the federal commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution and unfairly burdens out-of-state economic interests.

Attorney General Jon Bruning had considered asking the entire 8th Circuit Court to rehear the case, but instead chose to appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, which he described as "our best option at this point."

"Nebraskans voted to add Initiative 300 to our state constitution because family farms are an important part of our heritage," Bruning said Monday in a news release. "It's our job to defend the amendment, and that's what we'll do."

The case stems from a lawsuit filed by ranchers who argued that the ban prevented them from setting up corporations to keep their operations within their family or from combining resources with neighbors to control costs, among other things.

Passed by voters in 1982, the constitutional amendment generally prohibits corporations and certain other business entities from owning farmland or engaging in agricultural activity, although there are numerous exceptions.

Previous appeals have faced difficulties. In 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a decision declaring South Dakota's ban on corporate farming unconstitutional. That ruling, also from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said South Dakota's Amendment E was unconstitutional because it interfered with interstate commerce.

Kloucek Voted Off Farmers Union Board

Due to recent remarks in an email by state Senator Frank Kloucek, the Farmers Union has kicked him off the board of directors:

State Sen. Frank Kloucek has been voted off the South Dakota Farmers Union Board of Directors for remarks he made in two e-mails last week, one of which was meant to be private but was inadvertently sent to the media.

Wednesday, Kloucek sent an e-mail to incoming Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem, D-Sioux Falls, to tell Heidepriem about an upcoming event Kloucek would like to see promoted. But along with the plug about Czech Days, Kloucek also discussed his seating preferences in the upcoming session, made unflattering comments about several members of the Legislature and discussed the Farmers Union’s role in an attempt to bring an ag-related project to eastern South Dakota.

The message was meant for Heidepriem only, but was sent to dozens of other people, including many members of the media.

On Human Life

Upon Prof. Blanchard's recommendation I watched the Patrick Stewart version of "A Christmas Carol" last night.  It is indeed a fine version.  I was struck by one particular scene that is straight from the book.  It involves one of my favorite Christmas Carol moments.  You might recall towards the beginning of the story two men ask Scrooge to contribute to a charitable organization.  He turns them down with disdain.  Can the poor not go to prisons or work houses?  One of the man answers that some would rather die then go there.  Scrooge says, "If they are going to die then they'd better do it, and decrease the surplus population."  Later on, the Ghost of Christmas Present throws these words back in Scrooge's face:

     "Spirit," said Scrooge, with an interest he had never felt before,"tell me if Tiny Tim will live."

     "I see a vacant seat," replied the Ghost, "in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die."

     "No, no," said Scrooge. "Oh, no, kind Spirit. Say he will be spared."

     "If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race," returned the Ghost, "will find him here. What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

     Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief.

     "Man," said the Ghost, "if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child. Oh God! To hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust."

Another Unsolvable Problem?

Speaking of problems that defy solution, consider this report from the Heritage Foundation (HT Julie Ponzi).  Proving the obvious once again, Heritage reports that on ten indicies of social well-being children from intact religious families are better off.  Of course Barbara Defoe Whitehead  reported the same thing (leaving out the religious angle) over a decade ago in the Atlantic in her famous piece, "Dan Quayle Was Right."  Add to that the argument of Kay Hymowitz that the difference between children raised by married parents and those who aren't will create a new caste system in America.  If libertarians and liberals wonder why conservatives fret so much over family structure, this is why.  We all know people who defy the odds in either direction, but the general truth still holds: it is better for children, and better for society, for children to grow up with two biological parents. 

One wonders, then, what Mark Gerson is thinking chiding his fellow conservatives for their doctrinaire anti-government stance, to the detriment of the social fabric in Mr. Gerson's opinion.  It just so happens that I share Mr. Gerson's uneasiness with mindless anti-government rhetoric, but on the national level, what is the government not doing that it should be doing, from a conservative perspective?  I know liberals have an answer to that question (and one foolishly dismisses their arguments), but if one is a conservative it is hard to see our government as too parsimonious.  And one wonders, given the effect of family structure on social well-being, what public policy will encourage people to get married and/or not have kids when they are not? 

I have argued on this page that the State of South Dakota (as opposed to the United States) is too parsimonious.  Recently we have been arguing in our state whether we should spend out of our reserves to increase funding for education.  I oppose this.  If we want more money for education, and I do, let's do it honestly and raise our taxes.  But let's not be fooled.  The quality of education of South Dakota's young people is only marginally effected by spending.  And certainly the relatively small sums being argued over will have no discernible impact.  South Dakota kids actually do pretty well on national tests.  Why is that?  Why is it that South Dakota does better than, say, Washington, DC, even though DC spends more per pupil than any "state" in the nation, about 2.5x what South Dakota spends?  And DC perennially ranks 51st in educational attainment?  Answer: South Dakota has intact families, Washington DC does not.  The recent New Republic contains a cover article (subscription only) on Sam Brownback, conservative Senator from Kansas considering a presidential run.  Brownback had a conversion from abortion moderate to pro-life activist (mirrored by a religious awakening).  The article notes that Brownback's attention to abortion was piqued when he found out that in DC the number of abortions and the number of live births are roughly equal and that "only one in every six pregnancies ended with a married woman bringing a child to term."  I recall coaching baseball for three years in Chicago, and maybe five out of about thirty players (one in six) over those years actually lived with two married parents.  A culture in which abortion is normal, marriage is rare, and marriage with children is even rarer presents a cultural obstacle that perhaps no public policy can overcome.

Headlines Worth Noting

Wow.  She must be really old.

Aberdeen woman remembers first deer. 

What office is the lawsuit running for?

Beef Plant Lawsuit Seeks Public Vote

Now, can they clone mittens?

World's first cloned cat has kittens.

Exactly what time of the year do you plant your pigs?

Major swine operation seeking fertile ground. 

It almost kilt me to report this one:

Scottish troops must share scarce kilts. 

Another battlefield report from the War Against Christmas

Swedish Christmas Goat Survives Attack.

And they didn't just walk.  They ran, ran, ran, as fast as they can.

Nazi gingerbread men moved to new town. 

Global Warming and Reality

With all the love sloshing around the regional blogosphere of late (see this, and this), I am grateful to my friend Chad at CCK for continuing to supply a little of the righteous indignation and false attribution that is his stock-in-trade.  Recently Chad quoted a Times of London article warning that the Arctic would be ice-free by 2030.  I earned honorable mention at the end of his post.

I can see Blanchard with his eyes closed, hands over ears, shouting loud noises so he doesn't have to hear from those wacky environmentalist liberals at NASA.

I suppose I should consider it progress that in this case Chad did not actually fabricate quotations and attribute them to me.  But one would get the idea from that sentence that I have written or believe that global warming is a myth.  So far as one can tell, Chad retains only the vaguest impression from anything he reads, at least when filtered through the muddy lens of his righteousness, and his impressions are frequently wrong. 

I have stated my view clearly in past exchanges with Chad.  I think that global warming is happening, and that human activity is very probably accelerating it.  I also believe that, in the short run, nothing much can be done about it.  I base that opinion on the following points: one, nothing is in fact being done about it.  Greenhouse emissions are increasing globally; the nations that pretend to care are not meeting their reduction targets; and the largest developing nations do not even pretend to care.  Two, doing something about it in the short term would be enormously expensive, even to achieve the smallest of gains.  The Kyoto Protocol would cost billions just to slow down global warming by six years.  Pigs are not going to fly.  Serious reductions in greenhouse emissions in the next several decades are not going to be achieved.  I would like to believe I am wrong about those two points, but I'm not. 

For readers interested in a thoughtful and informative piece on what might be done might consult Ronald Bailey's recent article in Reason.  Here is one solution:

One "solution" might be recognizing, at least, that there is nothing to be done about it. One might argue that for the sake of lifting billions of poor people out of abject poverty humanity must continue to burn cheap oil and coal to fuel economic growth in this century. One unavoidable side effect is that this will increase the amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and thus boost global average temperatures by between 1.5 and 4.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. People three generations hence will just have to adapt to this increase. Fortunately because of the wealth produced by burning fossil fuels, average incomes will have increased about sevenfold and so they will have the resources to do so. In addition, wealth may enable them to develop new low pollution energy technologies.

Now in fact, that is the only solution to the human part of the equation that has a chance of being implemented.  Suppose the world economy continues to grow at present rates, along with a similar increase in technological power; then, in a few decades, and surely by the end of this new century, we will have the power to control the atmosphere and we will be able to afford to do so.  Unlike most conservatives, but like most libertarians, I am optimistic about this. 

Bailey considers a few other, more immediate solutions.  None of them is likely to have more than a marginal effect.  It's not that I like the conclusions I am stating here.  The disappearance of arctic ice would be a major ecological disaster.  I like polar bears, at a distance.  It is also possible that we will run out of cheap energy, and/or some other ecological disaster will wreck the train track of economic and technological progress.  But demanding that we do what we obviously are not able or willing to do doesn't help.  I am reminded of the economist stuck in a hole who begins his escape plan with the words: "let us assume a ladder." 

Fascism Watch

Joy Behar, the same one who had the audacity to claim Senator Johnson's illness could be "man-made," has now compared Donald Rumsfeld to Adolf Hitler.

Kranz on Daschle

Today, Dave Kranz says that Tom Daschle will "enjoy a lobbying career":

Former Sen. Tom Daschle's announcement that he will not run for president didn't surprise many people.

Now that the small mystery about his presidential aspirations is settled, there still is the matter of Daschle's future role in politics.

Daschle loyalists still would like to see him stay pictured in the national scene, even if it is accepting a vice presidential slot on the 2008 Democratic Party ticket.

Whether that is appealing to him is doubtful. He can enjoy a lobbying career and still keep tabs on the national political scene. Or he could assume the role of ambassador in a Democrat-run administration.

Meatpacking Raids in the Midwest

New York Times:

When federal immigration officials raided six plants owned by Swift & Company, the world’s second largest beef and pork processor, last Tuesday, they brought Spanish translators. They knew exactly what kind of worker is found in low-paying, strenuous jobs in this country: recent Latino arrivals with limited skills and, in many cases, no legal papers. Nearly 1,300 people — almost 10 percent of Swift’s work force — were taken away in what the government said was the largest but not the last assault on the underground immigrant economy.

The raids have led some people to heap scorn on Swift and, of course, on the illegal immigrants, particularly the dozens of detainees who have been charged with identity theft and other crimes. But doing so misses the bigger picture. Swift and its workers are merely Exhibit A in an immigration system that is failing in all of its parts.

It is a system that rewards illegality and pays lip service to lawfulness and order.

Read the rest.

Newquist, Lincoln, and Me 3

As another example of free love in the regional blogosphere, Professor Emeritus David Newquist has a third post on Lincoln.  Again, I recommend it to our readers.  He gives the reader the flavor of the crowds at the Lincoln-Douglas debates, one that certainly added to my appreciation of that historical event.  Consider this finely crafted passage:

The early settlers in Illinois were not a particularly savory lot. Society was held in a state of fear by a group that observers of the time called "butcher knife boys." They wore sharpened butcher knives in their belts and were quick to brandish and use them on anyone to whom they took offense. An early governor of Illinois noted that any politician who wanted to be elected had to have the endorsement of these men. They were part of the rough river men and migrants from the South who engaged in face-ripping fights for the sport.

At the time Lincoln was starting his political career, the voting was done orally in large meetings. One observer of that political climate stated that the butcher knife crowd voted loudly and "not infrequently."

Professor Newquist is also gracious in his comments about Professor Schaff's posts on Lincoln, and my own.  I have suggested that David is a bit hard on the blogosphere, to be sure a political climate where "reductive quips" are made loudly and not infrequently.  But I agree with him that the blogs can be more than that, and I think our exchanges on Jazz and Abraham Lincoln are proof.

ps.  David adds this comment:

I must say, I appreciate the exchanges on Abraham Lincoln. Just as one can't have too many trumpet players, one can't study him enough.

I would only add that one cannot have too many tenor sax players, just to get a plug in for Wayne Shorter.  I sent my children a Christmas list peppered with Wayne Shorter CDs. 

Free Love in the Regional Blogosphere

Todd Epp pays SDP a compliment.  I take the liberty of reproducing it here. 

As you know, I have at times had running battles with the folks at South Dakota Politics.  Their politics is way too far to the Right for my tastes and then there’s that whole NSU Hardy Boys thing.

But their coverage and commentary about Sen. Tim Johnson’s illness has been gracious, positive, and informative.

Jason, Jon, and Ken have shown real class these past several days with their good wishes for Sen. Johnson and his family.  They have also been complimentary of my coverage.

While I think we South Dakotans like to over blow how much better and more special we are than the rest of the USA, I think in this regard we are: when one of our own goes down like Sen. Johnson, we all care, regardless of party affiliation.

I, for one, appreciate this.  I enjoy arguing about politics, in case you hadn't noticed.  I do not enjoy being mad at people, or having them be mad at me.  I continue to believe that all of us on the regional blogosphere agree about a lot more than we disagree about, and we agree on the things that are most important.  I am grateful to Todd for pointing this out.

Media Vultures and Tim Johnson

Mr. Heppler posted Jason Folkerts's cartoon depicting the "National Media and Politics" as a couple of vultures, ready to pick at the story of Tim Johnson's illness.  I do not share this view of the reporting on this issue.  The pastor of my Church said a word for Senator Johnson during this morning's service, though he is not to my knowledge a Methodist.  My guess is that Tim got mentioned in a lot of churches in South Dakota and elsewhere, and was included in the prayers of many, both in and out of the sanctuary.   This is altogether proper, but it is more mention than the average citizen usually gets when he or she is in the hospital.  This son of South Dakota sought and occupies a position of public honor, and along with that goes public love and attention. 

For accidental reasons, Senator Johnson's life and health represent the balance of power in the United States Senate, one of the most powerful representative bodies in the history of representative bodies.  It would be unrealistic not to expect the news media to focus on that fact.  Nor would a lack of such focus be something that we should want.  Political journalists (and political scientists) are always complaining that Americans don't take enough interest in politics.  But when they do, we just as frequently complain that they are not taking interest for the right reasons. 

People have every right to want to know what is happening and how it will affect policy making in Washington.  The news media exists to service that sort of desire.  With the exception of the tin-foil hat crowd that I posted on recently, I think the public attention to Senator Johnson's hospitalization has been reasonable and civil, and no one has anything to be ashamed about. 

Some decorum is of course in order.  The New York Times reports that Governor Rounds is "mum on replacement talk." 

In the tornado of talk about Senator Tim Johnson’s political future after his surgery to stem bleeding in the brain, one man has stayed mostly out of sight and mostly silent but for conveying his prayers through spokesmen.

Gov. Mike Rounds, a Republican whose duty it would be to appoint a replacement for Mr. Johnson, a Democrat, if that becomes necessary, finds himself in his most unlikely political role yet: the single person, potentially, to decide the partisan split of the United States Senate.

Besieged with questions about whom he might select, Mr. Rounds has declined to address the topic, his aides denouncing the inquiries as premature and beyond impolite and a subject that Mr. Rounds would not have given the first thought to.

That is exactly the right thing for Governor Round's aides to say.   Anything else would be beyond the bounds of propriety.  On the other hand, giving thought to that question, right now, is exactly what Governor gets paid for.  I am sure he is giving it lots of thought. 

Vultures

From Jason Folkerts:

Yes, it was appalling that the first thing the national media worried about was the balance in Congress.  Meanwhile, Senator Johnson's health thankfully continues to improve:

Sen. Tim Johnson continues to make slow improvements as he recovers from emergency brain surgery, and staff and family remain optimistic about his recovery, his spokeswoman said minutes ago.

The senator’s condition is expected to remain classified as critical but stable throughout the weekend, said Julianne Fisher, spokesperson for Johnson.

He was able to move more limbs last night than he had previously, Fisher said.

Herseth Engaged

Rapid City Journal:

Stephanie Herseth is engaged. The Democratic U.S. Representative made the announcement at her birthday party at Prairie Edge in Rapid City on Friday, according to Herseth’s friend and former South Dakota Democratic chairwoman, Judy Olson Duhamel.

“She was real excited. It was real fun. It was an added feature to the birthday celebration,” Olson Duhamel said.

Herseth, 36, is engaged to Max Sandlin, a former congressman from Texas whom she met in July of 2002.

She became engaged last weekend and waited until Friday night to make the announcement, Olson Duhamel said. She said the couple has not set a date but will be married in South Dakota.

“It’s good news,” she said.

Congratulations!

National Brawl Association

Just in case you were wondering why I don't watch NBA basketball anymore.