If it's a critical enough piece of the infrastructure, it is owned at the pleasure of the state - no matter who owns it.
On the same note - hurricane Katrina did a pretty good number on the grain markets this fall becuase there was a great deal grain that couldn't be shipped out of the country (or at least the interior of the country) when the ports of New Orleans were closed.
farming is simply not profitable without subsidies
That is most definitely true.
A while back, I had the chance to go to an "ag night" meeting and listened to a couple of speakers - one was the "heir apparent" to Neil Harl (ISU Ag Economist) and the other was Mark Pearson (host of Market to Market). One of them (and I can't remember which) did talk of that - basically the problem is that farmers don't idle land in the face of low prices. Part of that is that subsidies are tied to production (things like the LDP) and thus encourage production in instances where other industries go through shut down or slow down phases.
As a side note, if you ever are in a place where either of those guys is scheduled to speak, make it a point to hear them - very interesting (and in the case of Mark Pearson, very entertaining) info.
The difference between the cost to produce a bushel of soybeans between Brazil, Argentina, and the United States is the cost of land and the (lack of in south america) the "technology surcharges" the companies put on seed.
It would take an army of $1/day farmhands to do what I can with a big tractor.
When I was in high school, I rode the "beanbar" as a short term summer job. Basically sat on a deal mounted on the front of a tractor and sprayed weeds in bean fields. Not exciting but it paid ok for a high school kid. Those jobs aren't around anymore for high school kids because it's less expensive for farmers to automate the job and use roundup ready hybrids versus paying for bean-riders or bean-walkers.
you look at the list of richest Americans, most are not rags-to-riches (nor even upper-middle-class-to-riches like Gates). Quite a few of the top-ten wealthiest are Wal-Mart heirs who were simply born (or married) into Sam's wealth.
In a little bit of fairness, was Sam a top-ten wealthy man when he started wal-mart?
I'm not a fan of the company or their business practices, but his wealth would be (at worst) the same kind of ascendency as Bill Gates's.
People run tractors (and other big things) with farm fuel on the road quite frequently. But the primary purpose of those implements is not over the road travel - I think that incidental usage on the road (hauling grain to market, moving between fields) is acceptable - throwing some of the same fuel into your pickup to drive to Capital City is probably not acceptable.
That doesn't mean that it's not done or that collecting taxes on home made fuel is easy.
I was just sort of pointing out that a large chunk of the savings that anyone is claiming has to do with not paying the fuel taxes, and (in the case of using waste cooking oil) not paying for the inputs to make the fuel.
Fuel taxes are (supposedly) for the roads and any road vehicle should be paying them.
I do believe that it is illegal to put farm diesel into a road car or truck. The only difference between "farm" diesel and "road" diesel is the lack of fuel taxes on the former.
I'd buy that. I was sort of saying that he was mixing apples and oranges with his statement.
I'd also say that it doesn't take much to go from an easy return one year to a difficult one the next. Divorce, buying a house, selling some stock, having a kid - all of those things add to the complexity of the return.
And if you do a little side business for yourself after hours, watch out:)
while yes, I know that a deal of/.ers would need to fill out 1099-DIV, B, R, INTs, etc., though the majority of the population would not need to
Unless you are paying diviends or interest, you don't need to fill out a 1099-DIV or 1099-INT - you get those from someone paying you - and they need to go on the 1040 schedule B (if you've got enough of them). 1099-R's come when you are taking a distribution from your retirement fund - and that's a bad idea if you're younger than 60 (unless you like giving the government 10% of that distribution right off the top)
It doesn't take much to get to the point where the complexity of doing your own taxes is more than one should tackle on one's own.
If you could write an AI that would do a good job of model real markets, would you waste you time releasing it as part of a game, or would you go after the big bucks and sell it on Wall Street or in Chicago?
I agree that playing a market game against other people (where everyone is trying to do well) is a good way to teach about markets and how they really work.
The civil war was about more than slavery - it was also about state's rights. Slavery was the excuse to take that disagreement and turn it into an armed conflict.
Most corn based ethanol produced now is produced from corn, and not field trash. The corn is reduced to a "distillers grain" in the process which is a higher protein animal feed than the corn from which it is derived.
Production of ethanol does not take up more land. The land is already producing corn. What the production of ethanol does is to make use of the corn closer to where it is produced and to convert it into a form (a liquid) that is easier to transport and use.
Slashdot Mirror
On the same note - hurricane Katrina did a pretty good number on the grain markets this fall becuase there was a great deal grain that couldn't be shipped out of the country (or at least the interior of the country) when the ports of New Orleans were closed.
That is most definitely true.
A while back, I had the chance to go to an "ag night" meeting and listened to a couple of speakers - one was the "heir apparent" to Neil Harl (ISU Ag Economist) and the other was Mark Pearson (host of Market to Market). One of them (and I can't remember which) did talk of that - basically the problem is that farmers don't idle land in the face of low prices. Part of that is that subsidies are tied to production (things like the LDP) and thus encourage production in instances where other industries go through shut down or slow down phases.
As a side note, if you ever are in a place where either of those guys is scheduled to speak, make it a point to hear them - very interesting (and in the case of Mark Pearson, very entertaining) info.
It would take an army of $1/day farmhands to do what I can with a big tractor.
When I was in high school, I rode the "beanbar" as a short term summer job. Basically sat on a deal mounted on the front of a tractor and sprayed weeds in bean fields. Not exciting but it paid ok for a high school kid. Those jobs aren't around anymore for high school kids because it's less expensive for farmers to automate the job and use roundup ready hybrids versus paying for bean-riders or bean-walkers.
Like I said, I'm no fan of Walmart, but what he was able to make is probably more impressive that what Bill Gates has done.
In a little bit of fairness, was Sam a top-ten wealthy man when he started wal-mart?
I'm not a fan of the company or their business practices, but his wealth would be (at worst) the same kind of ascendency as Bill Gates's.
Food.
// Shh...You're not supposed to see this
If the waste products are to be manufactured anyway, shouldn't that be part of the equation?
That doesn't mean that it's not done or that collecting taxes on home made fuel is easy.
I was just sort of pointing out that a large chunk of the savings that anyone is claiming has to do with not paying the fuel taxes, and (in the case of using waste cooking oil) not paying for the inputs to make the fuel.
I do believe that it is illegal to put farm diesel into a road car or truck. The only difference between "farm" diesel and "road" diesel is the lack of fuel taxes on the former.
And do you remit fuel taxes to "the man" when you use those forms of fuel?
Nanobots!
But they're few and far between. If possible, it's best to leave any money in a retirement fund until you need it.
I'd also say that it doesn't take much to go from an easy return one year to a difficult one the next. Divorce, buying a house, selling some stock, having a kid - all of those things add to the complexity of the return.
And if you do a little side business for yourself after hours, watch out :)
Unless you are paying diviends or interest, you don't need to fill out a 1099-DIV or 1099-INT - you get those from someone paying you - and they need to go on the 1040 schedule B (if you've got enough of them). 1099-R's come when you are taking a distribution from your retirement fund - and that's a bad idea if you're younger than 60 (unless you like giving the government 10% of that distribution right off the top)
It doesn't take much to get to the point where the complexity of doing your own taxes is more than one should tackle on one's own.
Thus sayeth the lawyer
They're not a bank so they can't get FDIC insured. They probably should be regulated as one because they act like one, but they aren't one.
:) That's what happens when someone knows a bit and answers a question literally.
As did I. Diebold and NCR have nothing to do with the various ATM networks although they provide most (?) of the machines that are on those networks.
ATM's != ATM Network
I agree that playing a market game against other people (where everyone is trying to do well) is a good way to teach about markets and how they really work.
Maybe revoke the authorization for that particular RFID device?
The civil war was about more than slavery - it was also about state's rights. Slavery was the excuse to take that disagreement and turn it into an armed conflict.
Most of the ethanol plants currently in Iowa are owned by farmer-owned cooperatives.
Production of ethanol does not take up more land. The land is already producing corn. What the production of ethanol does is to make use of the corn closer to where it is produced and to convert it into a form (a liquid) that is easier to transport and use.