This'n'That; February 10th[Brazil;Farmers;Census;NE]

Sons'a'bitches, Part #1...... [General Motors gets the weekly "Testicular Fortitude" Award; They took money from the American taxpayer-money ment to stimulate the AMERICAN ECONOMY!! They are now investing part of it in their operations in Brazil.... looks to me like a private industry "NAFTA" move!!] General Motors plans to invest $1 billion in Brazil to avoid the kind of problems the U.S. automaker is facing in its home market, said the beleaguered car maker. According to the president of GM Brazil-Mercosur, Jaime Ardila, the funding will come from the package of financial aid that the manufacturer will receive from the U.S. government and will be used to "complete the renovation of the line of products up to 2012." "It wouldn't be logical to withdraw the investment from where we're growing, and our goal is to protect investments in emerging markets," he said in a statement published by the business daily Gazeta Mercantil. Is Porkulus Really Necessary? [No, it IS NOT!! It will only lead to economic collapse or near collapse, farther down the road. Then someone-probably a handler, will say "Oops, we didn't think this thing through!!" What is necessary is the somewhat foregone work ethic that made America great in the last two centuries. Here's the evidence, an edited article from the local rag:] The Rochester region's farm economy has shown a sharp increase in sales in recent years, according to a newly released national agricultural census. Sales of farm products in the six-county region grew to more than $825 million in 2007, according to the Census of Agriculture, which is taken every five years and was released last week. That marked an increase of nearly 60 percent from 2002. Dairy farmers in Ontario and Livingston counties, buoyed in part by very high milk prices in 2007, were responsible for a notable part of the increase. Farmers in those two counties alone grew their dairy-product sales by $90 million. To be sure, the market has changed since 2007. Milk prices have plummeted, and many dairy farmers are suffering today."The price of milk on the farm has been cut in half. It's below the cost of production. If it stays here very long, there's going to be some farms put out of business," said Kim Zuber, an Ogden farmer who is president of the Monroe County Farm Bureau. Such up-and-down cycles "have been part of farming for a long time," said Jim Ochterski of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County.But despite the current problems of dairy and some other farmers, his view is that the area's farm economy remains sound and vital. he also said "When companies have to lay off workers, it's the agriculture base that stabilizes our economy. What would have been a wallop ends up being a smack." The upland counties south of Rochester remain one of America's leading dairy belts. Wyoming, Genesee, Livingston, Ontario and Cayuga were among the top 100 counties in the nation in dairy-product sales in 2007. Ochterski credits high-quality soil that supports the hay, alfalfa and corn that farmers grow to feed their cows. And Wayne County remains an apple-growing powerhouse, ranking third among all counties in the nation in acres of orchards. Orleans and Niagara counties are in the top 25. The census did show that several long-term trends are continuing. The average age of farmers continues to rise, for instance. Overall, the number of farms is declining. Of the six Rochester-area counties, the trend was countered only in Orleans, where the number of farms rose 10 percent. While the acreage devoted to farming did decline statewide from 2002 to 2007, it increased in the Rochester region by 6 percent. In Livingston and Ontario counties alone, farmers added 12,000 milk cows to their herds between 2002 and 2007. More land was set aside for forage crops as well. Other land is being pressed into service for grazing livestock, which Ochterski said is also increasing in the region. In Monroe, which has by far the smallest agricultural economy in the region, land used for farming increased by 27,000 acres, or 25 percent. Ochterski noted it isn't necessarily just an increase in acreage planted, or in prices, that leads to increased farm product sales. Improved farming methods, for instance, can increase revenues. Such may be the case in Wayne County, where the acreage devoted to apple orchards increased a modest 6 percent from 2002 to 2007, and the price was roughly the same in both years — while sales of fruits and fruit products by Wayne County farmers more than doubled, rising from $40 million to $86 million. Sons'a'bitches, Part 2....... [obama wants to move control and oversight of the US Census Bureau to the White House. This has traditionally been a function of the Department of Commerce. With control resting with the White House, Rahm Emanuel, an infamous "Slick Willie slight-of-hand" artist would be in control. Emanuel has long said that he favors using an average rather than actual head-counts in cities with concentrated populations. O.K., all of you out there who think this is nothing more than a continuation of the democrat power-grab, raise your hand, either hand. If you're still unsure, consider that census figures control federal aid payments to states, educational aid payments to states, welfare payments to states, food stamp payments to states, housing aid payments to states, heating aid payments to states, just to name a few. Those calling for the switch are the various minority cauci in the House and Senate. Will the "silent [or 'quiet'] majority" earn a "Testicular Fortitude" Award by standing up to this blatantly partisan power grab? The minor cauci are upset with obama's choice of a Republican as Commerce Sec'y.... obama's "your man," whine to him-don't expect the entire Constitution to be changed jis cuz your panties are in a wad!! Hav'ya ever heard such political bullshit in all your life??] obama has decided to bring the U.S. Census Bureau under White House jurisdiction, a move that incensed House Republicans, calling it "outrageous and unprecedented" and a "blatant partisan and political maneuver." The move would shift the chain of command with the bureau and the Commerce Department, where the bureau currently resides. It comes after the Congressional Black Caucus, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and other groups expressed displeasure with obama's nominee for Commerce secretary, Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire. Gregg, the groups said this week, opposed efforts to secure emergency funding for the 2000 Census, which they asserted exposes a potential lack of commitment to ensuring that hard-to-reach minority populations are properly accounted for in the 2010 census. A White House spokesman confirmed Thursday that obama plans to work closely with the bureau, which will remain within the Commerce Department. "From the first days of the transition the census has been a priority for the president, and a process he wanted to re-evaluate," the spokesman said in a prepared statement. "There is historic precedent for the director of the census, who works for the Commerce secretary and the president, to work closely with White House senior management -- given the number of decisions that will have to be put before the president," he said. "We plan to return to that model in this administration." House Republicans reacted quickly. House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Oversight and Government Reform Census Subcommittee ranking member Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., seized on speculation that the move would place the yet-unnamed Census Bureau director under the watchful eye of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, instead of leaving Gregg in charge. Who Represents Us? That's a dam' good question!! Far as I can tell, there's very little respresentation for the little guy or gal; the guy or gal who goes to work every day; the guy or gal who "sucks it up" and starts his or her own business and hires a coupla folks; the guy or gal who pays his or her taxes-in full, on time.... those folks!! We are governed by crooked representatives in the House, crooked senators in the Senate; crooked leaders in some-if not all-of the various executive departments. I'm speaking primarily about the states traditionally known as the "Northeast;" New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. In New York, our only "saving grace" might be Senator Gillibrand. Ms Gillibrand has represented rural areas of New York in the past and understands the areas' wants and needs, their mindset and their conservative leanings. Then we have "Chuckie Cheese" Schumer-Nuff Said. Let us not forget "Geeze-Louise" Slaughter-who never saw a dollar she couldn't give away!! Mass has their bloated blathering Senator-Phatt Kennedy. Rounding out the miscreants are those three "democrats-in-Republican-clothing," Senators Collins, Snowe [Maine] and Spector [Pa]. Lest we forget, poor Connecticut has the crooked Chris Dodd-of "Countrywide Sweetheart Mortgage" fame!! They are so entrenched, even an honest vote can't unseat them-a majority of their constituents believe "the fluff".... which to this point... has gotten us exactly NO WHERE!! Til Nex'Time....