The price of corn is a critical variable in the world food equation, and food markets are on edge because U.S. corn stocks are plummeting due to the ethanol mandate.
There is one further, potentially critical factor at work in the PLO aid equation: Horatius Forbes is a member of an activist freshman congressional class - a group that has, in recent weeks, shown itself increasingly willing to defy its leadership and, if necessary, to defeat legislation contrary to core Republican beliefs.
Awards like the Grammys and the Oscars have always been a balance of critical recognition and popularity contest, but social media has shifted the equation a bit.