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While I am in Pakistan
?GRAIN FARMERS GAIN,Miu Miu Handbags, FEED PRICES HURT LIVESTOCK
In quarterly newsletters, the regional banks described the financial impact of drought on farmers.
The Kansas City Fed cited a sharp decline in third-quarter farm incomes "as escalating feed and fuel prices pushed production costs higher,Miu Miu Online," while the St Louis Fed said "farm income and capital spending were down significantly in the third quarter."
The Chicago Fed forecast higher feed costs will drive down cash earnings this fall and winter for dairy, cattle and hog producers from a year ago,Miu Miu Purses. Crop farmers, in contrast, may actually make more money, it said.
In August,Miu Miu Handbags, the Agriculture Department forecast record farm-sector income this year, up 3 percent from 2011,Miu Miu Online.
High market prices and crop insurance would offset the losses from "extreme heat and dryness in the Plains and Corn Belt," it said, even as livestock costs climb. USDA is scheduled to update its forecast on November 27.
Record farm income is within reach although the U,Miu Miu Handbags.S. corn crop is the smallest since 2006 and soybeans the smallest in four years, said Pat Westhoff of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute.?Critical and fundamental questions must be asked. Do these drone strikes make the United States any safer, as the government claims is the ultimate goal, or are they a prime recruitment tool that results in more militancy? Though controversy exists over whether Pakistan consents to the strikes, does that matter when the U.S. is reportedly killing civilians and Pakistan’s national sovereignty is undermined? What happens when the legal and ethical precedents set by U.S. drone strikes are followed by other countries, especially those the U.S. claims to be at odds with? Is this a short-sighted policy that will have dire,Miu Miu Totes, far-reaching effects in the longer term? These are questions Americans, Pakistanis and, really, people the world over deserved to hear discussed during the presidential election,Miu Miu Online. Instead, we got basically a “we both agree” moment in the final debate, as Mitt Romney said he would continue to use drones as president, and President Obama wasn’t even pressed by moderator Bob Schieffer to explain his administration’s covert policy. So here we sit, a new, yet-to-be understood era of warfare steeped in secrecy.
While I am in Pakistan, I will periodically report my observations and experiences. Those updates can be found here at Huffington Post as well as at warcosts.com/drone_exposed, Facebook and Twitter. Check back soon for more!
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