Q: HOW SERIOUS IS THE FOOD CRISIS? A: VERY; HILL READY TO BOMB IRAN

April 22nd, 2008 - by: danny

“It is not a matter of what is true that counts, but a matter of what is perceived to be true.”
Henry Kissinger (Thanks to Liz Burbank)

WILL AMERICANS FACE FOOD RATIONING?
WILL THE PA PRIMARY VOTES BE COUNTED PROPERLY?
ELECTION RESULTS IN FROM PARAGUAY: GOOD NEWS

I know that all of our media eyes are on PA, on the primary that is, as if it is the only story in the world. The Drama! The Tension! The endless opportunities for TV punditryÃ¢â‚¬Â¦.I will have some news on this great clash of civilizations in a minute, but first, some stories that might actually effect us more, if that is even possible, given the media frenzy over the Keystone battleground.

First, can we be on the verge of food rationing in the USA? How many candidates have even raised this issue?

NY SUN: ARE WE MOVING TO FOOD RATIONING?

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing. Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.

At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers grew frustrated and occasionally uttered expletives as they searched in vain for the large sacks of rice they usually buy.

“Where’s the rice?” an engineer from Palo Alto, Calif., Yajun Liu, said. “You should be able to buy something like rice. This is ridiculous.”

The bustling store in the heart of Silicon Valley usually sells four or five varieties of rice to a clientele largely of Asian immigrants, but only about half a pallet of Indian-grown Basmati rice was left in stock. A 20-pound bag was selling for $15.99.

ARE HUNGER RIOTS NEXT?

There are no hunger riots yet in the USA but, there is evidence that the USA, or at least US policies that most of us don’t even know about played a role in the riots we have been reading about in Haiti:

Bill Quigley writes on Truthout: “Riots in Haiti over explosive rises in food costs have claimed the lives of six people. There have also been food riots worldwide in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivorie, Egypt, Guinea, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

The Economist, which calls the current crisis the silent tsunami, reports that last year wheat prices rose 77 percent and rice 16 percent, but since January rice prices have risen 141 percent. The reasons include rising fuel costs, weather problems, increased demand in China and India, and the push to create biofuels from cereal crops.
Ã¢â‚¬Â¦.The New York Times lectured Haiti on April 18 that “Haiti, its agriculture industry in shambles, needs to better feed itself.” Unfortunately, the article did not talk at all about one of the main causes of the shortages – the fact that the US and other international financial bodies destroyed Haitian rice farmers to create a major market for heavily subsidized rice from US farmers. This is not the only cause of hunger in Haiti and other poor countries, but it is a major force.

Thirty years ago, Haiti raised nearly all the rice it needed. What happened?

In 1986, after the expulsion of Haitian dictator Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loaned Haiti $24.6 million in desperately needed funds (Baby Doc had raided the treasury on the way out). But, in order to get the IMF loan, Haiti was required to reduce tariff protections for Haitian rice and other agricultural products and some industries, to open up the country’s markets to competition from outside countries. The US has by far the largest voice in decisions of the IMF.

Doctor Paul Farmer was in Haiti then and saw what happened. “Within less than two years, it became impossible for Haitian farmers to compete with what they called ‘Miami rice.’ The whole local rice market in Haiti fell apart as cheap, US subsidized rice, some of it in the form of ‘food aid,’ flooded the market. There was violence … ‘rice wars,’ and lives were lost.”

“American rice invaded the country,” recalled Charles Suffrard, a leading rice grower in Haiti in an interview with the Washington Post in 2000. By 1987 and 1988, there was so much rice coming into the country that many stopped working the land.

HIGH OIL PRICES TO STAY SAYS VENEZUELA

"We believe that prices will remain around this level, at least around 90 dollars," Ramirez told reporters on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum here. "Oil prices can't fall" much further because "production costs have increased," he said.

WHO IS BEHIND THE HOUSING CRUNCH

Dean Baker say it is “the Homeownership Ideologues”

“The economy is sinking into a recession and faces the worst financial crisis since the depression. The unemployment rate is rising, the foreclosure rate is soaring and home prices are plummeting. It’s time to settle some scores with the people who brought us to this sorry state of affairs.”

Now, on to Politrix:

LATE POLL: TIGHT BUT HILL LEADS

Gallup Daily: Clinton 46%, Obama 45%

PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup Poll Daily tracking shows that Hillary Clinton now receives 46% of the support of Democrats nationally, compared to 45% for Barack Obama, marking the first time Obama has not led in Gallup’s daily tracking since March 18-20.

AP: WHAT VOTERS CARE ABOUT

WASHINGTON (AP) – The economy has soared past Iraq as the top problem on the minds of voters.

But do the growing economic worries give a particular edge to any presidential candidate? Not so far, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll released Monday.

With growing layoffs, tight credit and an ailing housing market, 67 percent say the economy is an extremely important issue, up from 46 percent in November. Gasoline prices follow close behind at 59 percent.

The war in Iraq – the dominant issue for several years – stands at 48 percent.

CAN WE TRUST THE VOTE COUNT?

BRAD BLOG: Tuesday’s Election Will be ‘Unrecountable, Unverifiable, and Unauditable’…

On Tuesday night, you will be told who the winner of the Pennsylvania Primary is. You will accept it. You will have no choice. No matter who the winner really is. Or isn’t.

This Tuesday’s crucial contest will be primarily run on 100% faith-based, touch-screen e-voting machines across the state. There will be no way to determine after the election whether the computers have accurately recorded, or not, the intent of those voters who voted on them. As VerifiedVoting.org summarizes the crucial contest, it “will be essentially unrecountable, unverifiable, and unauditable.”

As with South Carolina’s primary, so so long ago, and other states since, whatever the officials tell you at the end of the election, is what you, and we, will have to accept. Whether votes are counted accurately is completely out of anybody’s hands at this point. It’s strictly Democracy of the Gods…

Candidates Hitting Hard in Final Push

UNDERNEWS: OBAMA 73 ELECTORAL VOTES AHEAD OF CLINTON; BOTH WOULD PROBABLY LOSE TO MCCAIN

HILL TURNS HAWK

As the election grew closer, the rhetoric grew more intense with more pandering to certain communities, and competition about who can be the toughest. When all else fails, attack Iran:

ABC: Clinton on Iran Attack: ‘Obliterate Them’

“[I]n an interview airing on Good Morning America Tuesday, ABC News’ Chris Cuomo asked Clinton what she would do if Iran attacked Israel with nuclear weapons.

“‘I want the Iranians to know that if I’m the president we will attack Iran,’ Clinton said. ‘In the next ten years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them.”

EVEN MORE MACHO? OBAMA PROCLAIMS LOYALTY TO THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS
He’s always been a fan, he says.

IRANIAN TV DEBATES THE ISSUES

As it happens, I was on Iran’s Press TV Monday in a discussion on a show about the Middle East about Iran’s policy towards its neighbors. I reported research by former Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner on an escalation of anti-Iranian polemics and militaristic action by the US. You can see the discussion on line. It wasn’t up when I was writing but it may be by the time you are readingÃ¢â‚¬Â¦.Check this link:

Here’s part of what Gardiner wrote:

“Over the past two weeks, there have been an unusual number of reports in the Iranian press about fighting in the Baluchistan area of Iran. It is fairly certain a proxy war is now being fought against Iran.

Messaging

On Sunday, the military briefer from Baghdad said Iranian “aid” for violence inside Iraq is increasing.

John McCain said in an interview with ABC on Sunday that sanctions against Iran are not working because the Russians have blocked US efforts in the UN.

Secretary Rice was in Baghdad over the weekend. She endorsed the Iraqi fight against the Sadr militia and pointed out that Moktada al Sadr was in Iran.

The News Dissector