My Comments: OK, this is probably not something you are looking for and may be wondering what the hell I have in mind. But I read this guy’s blog almost daily as there are gems buried here that are worth sharing.

One of Tom Barnetts’ themes that he uses to define how our future may play out is called the Flow of Food. Some countries have more than enough resources to feed themselves and others don’t. Among those that don’t are China, which is one reason China is hell bent on building a presence in Africa. If you have economic control of the people there, your chances of using their land as a food resource in future years is much better.

And while Barnett argues that Obama probably doesn’t deserve a second chance, he has very little good to say about the GOP. This is short and to the point. From the Economist.

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin) reports that a record six fed fisheries are re-certified as healthy last year.

After a decade of similar progress, 86% of America’s roughly 250 federally monitored commercial fish stocks were not subject to overfishing; 79% were considered healthy.

The lesson: don’t let fishermen run things and – even more importantly – keep the idiot politicians out of the mix. Instead, the ones who do the best management are . . . the scientists.

More evidence of the sheer stupidity of US politics – and the GOP in particular:

And the politicians are still interfering. On May 9th the House passed legislation forbidding NOAA from developing an innovative means of apportioning fishing quotas, known as catch shares. These are long-term, aiming to give fishermen a stake in the future of their fisheries; market-based, since they can be traded; and, in practice, good for fish. Sadly, the two Republican congressmen behind the ban consider they have been designed “to destroy every aspect of American freedom under the guise of conservation”.

This borders on Know-Nothing stupid, which tells you that history can roughly repeat itself under similar circumstances. But it’s dumb stuff like this that has kept us from ratifying the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which is really starting to hurt us as the Antarctic opens up.

Really stupid. It’s like banging your head against a brick wall with these people.