Notes from the Nation's Heartland

Kansas is not really flat. Granted, it does not have the heart-stopping steepness of the Appalachians. Neither does it have the awe-inspiring vistas of the Rockies or the breath-taking views of the Alaskan mountain range, but Kansas's rolling meadows and softly-capped hills provide variation to the landscape and a vista that stretches out for miles.

There is good reason for Kansas, and its neighbors Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, to be called the nation's "breadbasket." One home-made Kansas sign informs passers-by that one Kansas farmer feeds 127 people, or as the sign puts it, "126 people + you."

Fields of corn and soybean stretch along these miles of unimpeded vista, and they are just as breathtaking as the higher elevations of mountains that challenged the earlier settlers who braved the journey and lived through blistering hot summers and bitterly cold winters to transform the land into productive agriculture.

This year's corn crop will be down a little bit - Kansas, especially, has been hit by early flooding followed by miserable drought. The thermometer passed the 100 degree mark while we were there. Yet, even with the weather challenges that this year's farmers, and every year's farmers, face, we will have a phenomenal crop - thanks to the biotechnology that goes into seed production and today's agricultural practices.

Corn and soybeans are staples of the American diet. Hybrid corn finally became acceptable to farmers in the late 1950s. Soybeans are an even newer addition to American agriculture. We transform our diets as we find newer ways to produce abundant crops more economically.

In urban areas, well-fed people disparage corn-based products and the widespread use of soybean products in processed foods. In an age of plenty, it is easy to forget that 80 years ago, our national "breadbasket" experienced a horrific, long-term drought that could have easily brought our government to its knees. People are more tolerant of joblessness than they are of hunger, and it is noteworthy that our government was not overthrown during the Dust Bowl years.

Farming has always been a risky business. It is still one of the most dangerous occupations around, and the demands on farmers to use more expensive inputs and larger machinery force them to look for ways to increase yields and productivity. Much of this economic pressure comes from the government's cheap food policy - the same policy that prevented the overthrow of the government in the 1930s when food and money were scarce. Recent testimony before the Senate Ag Committee, holding field hearings in Wichita, KS, underscores the importance of a crop insurance program that reduces farmers' exposure to the very weather events that will reduce this year's corn yields.

On the East Coast, where I live, the politics of food has intensified. Discussions center around pushing for more locally-produced foods in school cafeterias, hospitals, and restaurants. Arguments abound regarding the dangers of high-fructose corn syrup over the use of cane sugar as a sweetener. Even the root causes of obesity generate heated discussions, although to me the answer to that one is fairly simple: eat less and move more.

In the meantime, Kansas farmers, and those in the neighboring states, faithfully plow and plant year after year. It is they who keep us sufficiently sated that we can argue the fine points over a meal, but maybe it's time we remember who brought the food in the first place.

An Open Letter to President Obama: To Create Jobs, Make the Federal Application Easier

Dear President Obama:

On Monday, August 15, when you were on the hustings in Iowa claiming that we needed to fix government, my husband and I found out just how "fixed" government is.

My husband had applied for three open federal positions, and was interviewed for none of them. For two of those positions, he was told that while he was rated as "qualified," others were rated as "well qualified," and these individuals were therefore the ones being considered.

Now, I will admit to a certain bias where my husband is concerned, (although I am sure that both he and our children will tell you that I mince no words when I think he could do something my way, er, uh, better than the way he is doing it), but I saw the job description and I know what he can do. When it comes to technical skills, he was more than qualified. What had to have made the difference between "qualified" and "well qualified"? I strongly suspect those who were given this latter designation were already employed in the federal government, knew the federal reporting systems, and could check off those skills on their applications. In other words, a "well qualified" person is an experienced federal paper pusher.

With regard to the last of the three applications, he was told that his application was kicked out because he had failed to attach his transcript, and had, instead, attached his resume twice. Now, I quote from a post on GovernmentExecutive.com about a memo former OMB Director Peter Orszag sent out regarding streamlining the federal hiring process: Agencies also are required to revise the job descriptions for the 10 most common positions they hire for and rewrite them in plain language; put in place plans to inform candidates through USAJobs about the status of their applications throughout the entire hiring process; and demonstrate that they have involved hiring managers in every step of the process. (Bold & italics mine.)

At no time was my husband informed through this so-called "hiring process" that his transcript was not attached - his application was simply thrown out as "incomplete." So much for communication during the hiring process.

That process, rather than being less opaque and more transparent has become more impossible to navigate than ever. Between the two of us, we put in 40 hours (the equivalent of a standard government-employee work week) and $21+ on a book to try to twist, turn, manipulate, and force a square peg into a government round hole (seems like it's a rabbit hole) of an application process. There were a whole lot more productive things I could have done with the time I wasted.

A brief scan of the usajobs.com web page suggests that there are over 10,000 federal jobs open. Now, this may only represent less than 1/10 of 1% of the 13.9 million unemployed Americans, but unemployment stats are like the difference between a recession and a depression - if it's happening to someone else, it's a recession; if it's happening to you, it's a depression. We're depressed.

President Obama, you announced that you will make a major speech in September to lay out a major jobs programs. Here's a thought: start by cleaning up your own house to make federal jobs more accessible to qualified, non-federal applicants - strip out the specifics in the application that are related to federal reporting systems and paperwork, concentrate on the skills that an applicant brings to the job, and put real people instead of a computer back into the selection and review process. Oh, and by the way, jobs in rural areas? Government employment has historically been a door opener for careers for people from low population sections of the country (the ones, by the way, that did not turn out for you in large numbers in 2008).

Better yet, maybe you need first-hand experience in what it takes to fill out a federal job application. If things continue the way they are with others as in this household, you'll get your chance in November, 2012.

On the Eve of My 31st Wedding Anniversary

On the eve of my 31st wedding anniversary, I offer the following thoughts regarding marriage and the potential for marital longevity:

1. Marriage doesn't get any easier. If you are still in the first decade of marriage (or the 2nd decade, for that matter), and keep waiting for marriage to get easier, forget it. You and your spouse will continue to change; you will each age; you may have health or physical problems develop that were not there in the early years; family members will die; family members will aggravate you; children will get older. With every new day there is another adjustment to make.

2. Find something you like to do together. Shared time is what creates a sense of bonding. Even if the "thing you do together" is eat dinner while watching "Jeopardy," it's the time you spend with each other, shutting everything else out that is important.

3. Create space for separateness. A good marriage should celebrate the phrase, "Vive la difference!" Being with your clone is no fun, and it's no challenge.

4. Don't expect the arguments to stop - just expect the topics to be different. There is absolutely no way that two people are always going to agree on everything, and sometimes one of you feels more passionately about something than the other and insists on getting his/her way. There are also the sore, unresolved issues from years and years that resurface - and when they do, they are crying for a resolution. Look for resolve, and then resolve to move on.

5. Compromise can be overrated. Sometimes compromise is damaging rather than conciliatory. On certain matters - where you live, how money is spent, the size house you have, whether or not you take a vacation - someone may have to give in. But the one who gained the concession(s) needs to acknowledge the yielding made by the other.

6. Stay physical. It's one of the primary perks of putting up with the foibles of another human being in the same bed/bedroom/house.

7. And remember, love is not a feeling, it's a decision. Ditto for forgiveness. No comment necessary.