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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (136396)	6/11/2008 9:09:13 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361700

James Jones Obama VP possibility heads establishment energy advocacy group Posted by David Roberts at 12:20 AM on 11 Jun 2008 Apparently a new name has popped up on the Obama VP short list: Ret. Gen. James Jones, highly regarded and highly decorated Marine from Missouri. He was NATO Supreme Allied Commander from 2003-2006, when Wiki says he "declined an opportunity to succeed General John P. Abizaid as Commander of U.S. Central Command, and stepped down as SACEUR on December 4, 2006 and retired from the U.S. Marine Corps on February 1, 2007." These days he runs the Institute for 21st Century Energy, an arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce dedicated to "educating the public" about energy -- at least as the Chamber sees it. (To get a sense of what that looks like, see his introductory remarks here, particularly at the bottom under "underlying principles.") He's also on the board of Chevron. Intriguing that Obama is looking at someone who combines military cred and a focus on energy. On the other hand, a Chamber of Commerce energy policy is not exactly what the nation needs at this particular juncture. gristmill.grist.org

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (136396)	6/11/2008 9:47:21 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361700

Hurt by rain, U.S. corn crop to fall short of demand Updated 13h 20m ago By Sue Kirchhoff and Doyle Rice, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — Torrential rains and flooding in the Midwest could soon mean consumers face even higher prices for meat, eggs, dairy and other foods. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday slashed its estimate for the volume of this year's corn crop because of wet and flooded fields, prompting corn prices to surge to new records on Chicago futures exchanges. Contracts for July delivery hit $6.73 a bushel, with prices for later months soaring above $7.25 per bushel, more than double 2006 levels. Cattle futures prices also rose as traders bet producers would reduce herds — and future meat supply — in the face of mounting feed prices. "There are some low-lying fields that will take some time to dry out," says Ron Litterer, an Iowa farmer who is president of the National Corn Growers Association. "If we get some decent weather, we can still get a decent crop, though it's appearing we're not going to have a bumper crop." Decent weather isn't on the horizon. Heavy rain is forecast for the Midwest later this week. Already, parts of southern Indiana, Illinois and Missouri have endured the wettest spring on record, according to data from the National Climatic Data Center. Records date back to 1894. FIND MORE STORIES IN: United States \| Congress \| Illinois \| Indiana \| Iowa \| Missouri \| Midwest \| National Weather Service \| Agriculture Department \| Global Insight \| Chicago \| Waterloo \| National Climatic Data Center \| Tom Jackson \| National Corn Growers Association \| Allendale \| Joe Victor \| Ron Litterer In Waterloo, Iowa, for example, rainfall from March 1 through June 10 has been 24.5 inches, vs. an average for the period of 10.9, inches, according to the National Weather Service. The Agriculture Department said sodden conditions have hurt planting and potential crop yields. It now expects U.S. farmers to harvest 10% less corn this year than in 2007. Growers are expected to produce an 11.7 billion-bushel crop. Carryover stocks could be the lowest since 1996. "It's bad," says Joe Victor of commodities firm Allendale, who said about 20% of the Midwest corn crop was underwater after last weekend's storms. By historical standards, the 2008 corn crop would still be large. The problem, says Tom Jackson, senior economist at Global Insight, is that the nation now needs nearly perfect harvests to meet export demand, domestic livestock and food use and surging ethanol production. The ethanol industry will use 4 billion bushels of corn this year, up from 3 billion last year. Consumers, already facing the highest food inflation since 1990, will feel an impact. Corn is not only a main livestock feed but is used in a huge array of processed foods from corn syrup in soft drinks to filler in chicken nuggets. Consumer food inflation has run at a 6.9% annual rate this year, after jumping 4.9% in 2007. Earlier in the decade, food inflation averaged 2.5%. "It's (corn) the major cash crop in the United States … it has a big impact on food inflation," says Michael Swanson of Wells Fargo Economics. Livestock producers and food processors want Congress to cut ethanol mandates to ease corn prices. usatoday.com