Several items from my reading list for you to ponder:

– Can farms be “too big to fail?” Signs point to yes, at least in the case of one farm in Hawaii. Given my newfound love for the Aloha state following this year’s inaugural ABN Island AgVenture, I found this a particularly interesting story. Beyond that and ignoring the specifics of this case relative to human trafficking issues, this situation highlights concerns many of us share regarding food security in an age of prolific regulation and burden on the farmer. If we can’t produce it ourselves, someone else will, right?

– Why Didn’t Farmers Sign Up for ACRE?” That’s the question posed by the University of Illinois today on its FarmGate blog. Some insightful analysis into the lack of enthusiasm for a program so enthusiastically promoted during the Farm Bill debate.

– Is Islam compatible with America? A curious question in light of the recent Ground Zero mosque debacle.  My favorite political cartoonist makes a reasonable case…

– Even Castro Admits It… That Communism just doesn’t pan out. As the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher wisely noted, the problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money… The former dictator of Cuba acknowledges that the Cuban style of government is a flop. So why do American liberals still hold Cuba as an example of social utopia?

– JFK vs. BHO: President Kennedy was no tax and spend liberal, at least according to this clever YouTube clip. I recall conservative talkshow host Bill Bennett noting the differences between classical liberalism and the modern political version, and the dichotomy on tax policy between Presidents Kennedy and Obama is illustrative of that notion, I think.

– Interesting Polling Analysis: Gallup exhibiting its traditional bounciness in the generic ballot is dissected at the Weekly Standard, along with some interesting commentary on the GOP’s potential 2012 contenders and “wasted votes” in 2010…

And finally:

– Happy Days Never Really “Jumped the Shark…” My good friend Scott McKain has an interesting commentary on the dubious origins of the pop-culture phrase “Jumped the Shark.” While Fonzi may have literally jumped the shark, the show never really did… at least in terms of the phrase’s modern connotation. Things you knew, but probably forgot.