Eight Feet Deep

Farm living might not be the life for you but farm subsidies are appreciated, especially by the more than 2,700 millionaires receiving them.

A Government Accountability Office study — with the catchy but not-so-succinct title of “FEDERAL FARM PROGRAMS: USDA Needs to Strengthen Controls to Prevent Payments to Individuals Who Exceed Income Eligibility Limits” — reported that more than $49 million was paid between 2003 and 2006 to those exceeding a $2.5 million gross income limit for the programs. Examples of those receiving farm subsidies, according to the report:

• An individual with ownership interest in a professional sports franchise received a total of more than $200,000 in farm program payments for 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 that were subject to the AGI (adjusted gross income) provisions.
• A top executive of a major financial services firm received more than $60,000 in farm program payments in 2003. The individual received these payments directly, not through an entity.
• A former executive of a technology company received about $20,000 in total farm program payments in years 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 that were subject to the AGI provisions. This individual also received more than $900,000 in farm program payments that were not subject to the AGI provisions.

Unfortunately, the report didn’t name names. However, Environmental Working Group has a nifty little database that lets you pull up names in a farm subsidy database. Just spending a few minutes I found a company receiving a total of $397,973 in USDA subsidies between 1995-2006. The company is called BP America Production. BP. Hmm. Where have I heard that name before? The database says ownership of the entity are the “Members of Amoco Corporation.” Apparently, this company with some very heavy names in the “earl bidness” has farms or, at least land in Texas and southern Louisiana, where it gets money for not growing something or other. Dang. Why didn’t I get in that bidness? I sure would like to get $400,000 for not growing something. And you know, I bet I would be good at not growing things.

Today I have spent some time checking out Websites of the European Defence Agency — the combined armed forces of the European Union. I suppose the most interesting discovery found is that so many of the EU armed forces have practically the same military ranks as those of the U.S. military. I’m not just talking privates, sergeants, lieutenants and generals, but 1st Lt., 2nd Lt., Major, Captain, Major Gen., Lt. Gen., Rear Adm., Vice Adm., etc.

By far the coolest Web site I’ve found is that of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy, that of the United Kingdom. They have a great interactive site showing the operation of their HMS Invincible class aircraft carrier and another interactive site concerning their Type 23 Frigate. If you are interested in the military of our allies, these are some very spellbinding sites.

The Royal Navy also has an interesting blog with posts relating to some of their current missions such as combating maritime piracy, which I have mentioned here before.

The old “Speculation” game is alive and well as the media tries to guess who will be the new top members of the Obama administration. At one minute it looks like Hillary will be Secretary of State, the next minute, who knows?

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is in strong contention for Commerce but he too might get State if the other Bill (Clinton) proves to be carrying too much baggage.

Also, one must wonder whether N.Y. Fed head Timothy Geithner’s name is being floated as the likely pick for Treasury Secretary for real or just a trial balloon who is being tested on the whims of Wall Street? If it’s the latter, then maybe the right balloon has been released. But then I don’t know if I would put the nation’s financial health for the next four years all upon a one-day run on the Dow.

Have a nice weekend or else.

The guided missile destroyer USS Stout prepares to tow a Tanzanian ferry which ran out of fuel in the piracy-infested waters off Somalia.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets automatic weapons and perhaps some rocket-propelled grenades and hijack ships out on the ocean.

At least that seems to be what has been going on lately. It seems like on the world’s seas — especially in the Indian Ocean off the African coast — maritime piracy appears to be the crime du jour. The recent seizure by pirates of a Saudi supertanker that is being held hostage by pirates along with its crew and more than $100 million in crude oil has heightened worldwide concern over the spate of ship hijackings. In addition to “World 911” a.k.a. the United States, other nations including India, United Kingdom and Russia have taken tough stances on piracy.

Poor global economic conditions, especially those in Western Africa, along with pirates learning they can get huge ransoms for relatively little work have made life on the high seas a bit dicey these days.

Much of the activity involving attacks or attempted attacks on ships at sea by pirates goes unnoticed in the global news. This eight-page assessment of current maritime threats worldwide published by the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence explains such activity can be found practically all over the world. A few examples:

–The British Royal Navy killed two pirates following a chase in the Gulf of Yemen on Nov. 11. The Brits discovered the pirates attempting to seize a Danish cargo ship.

–French sailors captured nine Somalis in the Gulf of Aden on Oct. 23 after the French found automatic weapons, RPGs, ladders and grappling hooks in the pirates’ two boats.

–The sailboat (CHILL) was boarded by pirates with the boat’s captain killed on Nov 9 while anchored at Isla Borracha, Venezuela. Three men on board a small fishing pier approached the sailboat asking for water. When the captain came back up from below with water, they shot him in the chest. Another couple from a sailboat anchored with the Chill was also on board and the robbers shot a second man as well. The second man reportedly shot at the robbers with a shotgun, killing one and injuring another.

It is obvious waters get a little turbulent out there these days raising an obvious question. Why don’t the ships or shipping companies do something to protect themselves?

The answer is some measures are being taken. For instance a recent television program on this subject told of how an ocean liner repelled would-be pirates deploying a directed sound weapon at the would-be boarders. The sound gun targets the bad guys with sound waves, passengers are not endangered, which cause such intense discomfort that the bandits escaped.

There are international laws and those of individual nations under which a ship is flagged regarding the arming of the maritime vessels. Obviously, it is one thing for a military ship from a sovereign nation floating around out there armed with Sidewinder missile. It’s another when a privately owned ship with a Panamanian flag, an American master and a crew from the Philippines and India.

Some shipping companies have employed private security forces who accompany the ships on another chase vessel with armed guards ready to take action. Other companies are hiring armed security personnel of the type that have been operating with U.S. forces in Iraq. Obviously, some of the shipping companies are concerned about “cowboys” who might shoot first and ask questions later, and who then might escalate the situation or may cause the ship and its crew to get shot or blown up.

No doubt something needs to be done. In a global economy such as this and with one which is in such a precarious condition, these hijacking do nothing but cause higher prices and can reduce certain supplies. In other words, the fiscal turmoil which is causing these pirates to step up their attacks could cause even worse economic conditions and shortage of goods.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

An explosion of civic or capitalistic pride seems to blow whenever a new or bigger and better big box store comes to town. At least this is the case among enthusiastic shoppers fond of one store over another or among city boosters. Sometimes this happens and one big box store will shut down to build a more grand store in the same city. This took place relatively recently where I live. Academy built a larger store just a ways up Eastex Freeway from their old store. And Circuit City — which is facing store closings nationwide due — moved into a new store inside the Parkdale Mall complex on the other side of Eastex Freeway from the old store it left empty not far from the deserted old Academy on Eastex Freeway. Whew! That made me dizzy.

It appears that the new Circuit City here will not be closed, right away at least, thus leaving us TWO deserted big boxes of the same company. But the natural selection of business, encompassing both growth and failure, has left these giant retail spaces all over the American landscape and what remains behind isn’t always so attractive. I mean, face it, a huge Wal-Mart might look grand when you are going there to buy everything under the Sun what with a parking lot full of cars and folks selling pit bull pups from the back of their pickup trucks. But a weed-covered empty big box, especially those whopped by hurricane damage, just aren’t very cool.

Luckily, some places have found ways to deal with the big boxes we leave behind. Slate’s Julia Christiansen explains in a slide show how these Pac Men of space have found new lives in everything from mega churches to public libraries to the official Spam museum in Hormel Land a.k.a. Austin, Minn.

I have seen some of the big box transformations with my own eyes which seem to work well. Here in Beaumont, for example, regional appliance giant Conn’s turned the old K-Mart store here into their company headquarters housing more than 500 people. This is just one example. There are also many large buildings which contain certain stores or another which end up holding some other large store or another. Recently I saw a former Safeway supermarket turned into a large CVS drug store.

The face of retail sales is something which constantly changes and, in my opinion, not always for the good. I’ve seen places where indoor malls have turned into wastelands for large, spread-out shopping cities which requires driving to get from one end to another. People who live in places such as I, where it gets hot, humid, rainy and hurricany (if that’s not a word, then sorry, maybe it should be) should come to appreciate indoor shopping malls. But I am glad the cast-off big boxes are finding utility. I just wish some folks had a little more foresight before they build these large monuments to the so-called “free market.”