Comments for Food price "catastrophe" feared on eve of summit »
Posted By DiffeeOnline 1 year, 6 months ago in StyleSoaring food prices could trigger a global catastrophe and the world's poor need action, not words, from this week's U.N. food security summit, human rights activists and the World Bank said on Monday.
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BB641 year, 6 months ago
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So what you're saying is we need population controls. Say we stop sending food to the poor. Let African, Asian and Central American nations die off. Wow once again we have the libs acting like the Nazis.
You want to lower food prices, stop pouring corn into your gas tanks. Besides the environmental disasters, which ethanol waste really is, it's a hugely inefficient fuel. To get one gallon of ethanol requires at least 5 gallons of fossil fuel. No mater how liberal you are, even you can understand that doesn't make sense. That plus when you burn ethanol it actually reduces you standard mileage by the same percentage as the amount of ethanol. 10% ethanol means you lose 10% in mileage. It's a terrible scam the left pushed.
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BB641 year, 6 months ago
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So in order to reduce the population you're in favor of mass genocide through starvation. Then again the Nazis favored murder too.
You want farmland used less, stop trying to jam corn into my gas tank. It's a terrible product that requires much more energy than it will ever produce. It reduces your mileage and is very damaging to your car. That plus it takes around 5 gallons of fossil fuel to make and ship 1 gallon of ethanol. Even for liberals can figure out this isn't a good deal. Then again we're talking about liberals.
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gamahuche1 year, 6 months ago
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FTA
Hunger campaigners have targeted the recent rise in bio-fuels -- usually the conversion of food crops into energy -- as one of the main culprits for the price rise and say the summit should declare a ban on arable land being switched to biofuel production.
"To continue the pursuit of biofuels in the face of the credible, impartial and growing opinion that this is exacerbating the food crisis is morally outrageous and utterly indefensible," said Rob Bailey, of hunger campaigners Oxfam.
Under U.S. plans, about a quarter of the U.S. corn crop will be channeled into ethanol production by 2022 as an alternative to crude oil.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer played down the impact of biofuels on food pricing, saying they only contributed 2-3 percent of overall price rise. Oxfam says the real figure is closer to 30 percent.
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BB641 year, 6 months ago
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Oxfam is full of it but so are the ethanol morons. It's a terrible product. Taking out just how much fuel it takes to make it. Or the fact that it is very polluting to make in the first place or burns less cleanly than gasoline alone. Or that it's taking food producing land off the market. It can't be shipped via pipeline. Every ounce has to be shipped via truck or train. Terrible solution for a problem that doesn't exist.
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BB641 year, 6 months ago
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Gama, Ethanol is a huge problem. There is so much money available to farmers so they grow corn, it's reduced other crops. The US plan you're showing is after all the plants and productions are in place. They're not and thats where the problem is. In fact, you're seeing rain forests in Malaysia being clear cut to plant corn for the US markets. Doesn't sound like a good idea to me. But then again, Global Warming is the new religion so it doesn't have to make sense.
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gamahuche1 year, 6 months ago
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I've been watching for the last 10 years more and more hillsides in my homeland turning a very ugly shade of yellow. For a long time I didn't know what it was but of course its that very appropriately named rape - destined for fuel production.
What is really egregious about this story is that there is nothing that couldn't be - and wasn't - predicted a long time ago.
But as usual money talks and landowners are willing to sell to the highest bidder without even worrying about what a diet of rapeseed will be like when that's all that's left to eat.
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Norma1561 year, 6 months ago
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Although there is disagreement about the real size of the ethanol mandate's contribution to increased food prices, there's no doubt it's a significant contributor. Also, increased energy prices play a significant role.
Let's get real about the "energy crisis." Fully eighty five percent of reserves in this country are off limits to the oil companies. Are we nuts?
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LeftTurn1 year, 6 months ago
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No, we know full well, and we even made them "Land Conservation" and National Parks spots so they'd never be touched for a long time, so why do we do that?
My take are these simple facts...
1) Look around you, everything you touch, use, drive or drive on, talk on, ect, is made of vinyl or some kind of petroleum.
2) Look around other third world countries with a leading number of reserves, everything they see is made of wood, concrete and burnt metal and that's the way the US wants it. Because if they are selling mostly all their oil, they have less to manufacture into common items, and more over, less for high tech weaponry, computers, which slows advancement of these countries to a standstill.
This is total victory for the US, because we'll use all their oil until it's gone and then horde ours back home, these third world countries will be complete wastelands by that time with no resources.
Hey, and if we try to starve half the earth before hand, all the better right?
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LeftTurn1 year, 6 months ago
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I might also mention that the US is not, I repeat NOT, synonymous with America, the US is simply a corporation running America, that's why they say "US OF America", and "President OF the US"
One big difference is that America is passionate about our constitution, and preserving it.
The US on the other hand cares little about it's minions and is probably controlled by English Royalty still. Absurd you say?
Well, why do you think they are our strongest war time ally? What were all past English Kings famous for that we see in movies constantly? Imposing their will on people to pledge loyalty to the King or parish, right? So what does the US do today? Same thing in my eyes, America hates what the US does for the most part.
That's why they call it the "US Military" and "US Government", they all work for the corporation of the US, which is really supposed to be "US OF AMERICA", but it might as well read "US of Corporations"
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thoughtforsale1 year, 6 months ago
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The problem of growing food prices can only be solved together. Those who suffer most from it, should be heard, too.
We must achieve to end up with this paradoxal situation that those who earn the most, spent the smallest amount of their income for food, while the poorest cannot even fullfill their basic needs with everything they earn and own. Will the summit of Rome, once again, only be a comfortable round-table-debate, where everyone tries to look the most touched and engaged? How often will we hear the most popular phrase of politicians talk: "Something would have to be done."? Let us see, if deeds will follow!
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joeblowe1 year, 6 months ago
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As for the higher food prices, the obvious answer to that problem is: higher wages. Then we can afford the food. And maybe some gas. The enormous drain of money going to pay for oil imports (and that's true of EVERY oil importing country, not just the U.S.) is what's driving this situation. Is black, yucky, liquid hydrocarbon REALLY worth $135/bbl? Apparently the commodities traders think it WILL be soon enough. Why? Because there hasn't been enough money put into alternate energy sources quickly enough. We should have several dozen more nuclear plants MORE than we have now. My God, even the FRENCH generate 80% of their electricity with nuclear plants. Are we more afraid of atomic energy than the FRENCH? I mean seriously!
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hyperbola1 year, 6 months ago
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I suspect considerably better than the US. The French have not turned their economy over to corporate welfare queens as we have. They are better integrated into the global economy than the US. Their industry is much more efficient than America's. They and Germany both have a higher trade surplus (as a percent of GNP) in high tech goods than we do.
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crghss1 year, 6 months ago
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"best health care in the world"
I don't think so. National health but not the best. Not to long ago the French release HIV tainted blood to be used for the public. Why? Because it was to expensive to test all the blood. Socialism, sacrifice a few for the many.
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nostalgia1 year, 6 months ago
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What went on in Zimbabwe destroyed a large pert of the food supply Africa had:
ZIMBABWE'S LAND REFORM PROGRAM DESTROYED "BREADBASKET OF AFRICA"
Six years after President Mugabe sanctioned violent invasions of Zimbabwe's commercial farmland -- mostly but not entirely white owned -- by landless peasants, the facts show that the so-called new farmers have failed dramatically to produce crops to feed their countrymen.
The poor peasants who led the invasions, at the behest of Mugabe, have since been driven off the best farms. The prime properties have been reallocated to the president and his close relatives, ministers, top judges, armed forces, police officers, and pliant journalists. These farms are mainly used as weekend retreats and, for the most part, have ceased to be productive.
http://www.albionmonitor.com/0612a/zimbabwefarm...
The last farm bill did nothing to help either
Aside from subsidizing ethanol from corn, we are still paying farmers NOT to plant crops
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saintetienne1 year, 6 months ago
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Thanks nostalgia, good article.
What I find amazing is that these backward countries with their idiot leaders continue to NOT follow the example of the U.S. with regards to democracy, freedom, commerce, business sense, trade practices and agricultural know-how. Their governments destroy their own people, squash out any commerce they have, and grab everything for themselves. Then when everyone starts dying due to starvation, civil strife, violence or some such sh*t, they come crying to the U.S. for aid, food, money, you name it.
The U.S. feeds itself, plus one-third of the planet, i.e., 2 BILLION people. I say we stop providing them with food, grind up the corn to make our own fuel and let everyone else starve. Let's see how long the rest of the world can get along without the United States. They all hate us anyway.... "America - ptooey!" They hate us, that is, until it comes time to eat, then they DEMAND that we give them food. Crazy.
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saintetienne1 year, 6 months ago
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"Preposterous."
I agree. It boggles the mind what the United States puts up with year after year from these infantile "leaders" and regimes. It's one thing to get no thanks for all the aid we give to some of these countries, but for them to thumb their noses at us and try to tell us what to do, it's just.... well it's just preposterous, that's what it is.
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simonsez1 year, 6 months ago
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Taking acreage out of food to grow fuel is the absurdity of the planet at the moment.
The planet prepared our fuel over billions of years. All organisms contributed to it in a manner that allows the modern acreage to be used for vegetation and food production. It even stores it deep in the ground for us.
An unbelievable gift to mankind.
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Cityslicker1 year, 6 months ago
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Here is a thought , lower the price of Oil and Food prices might just go down as well , all except Corn , Environmentalist need Corn as a hedge against Oil .
Weren't for Ethanol the , "Environmentalist Cash Crop" , we would have reasonable priced Corn Products .
Thought they used GM (genetically modified) Corn for that anyways , not fit for human consumption !
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hyperbola1 year, 6 months ago
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The source of 50 % increases in food prices in the past 1-2 years has exactly the same source as skyrocketing gas prices - speculation by corrupt financial companies aided and abetted by corrupt government.
The Great Oil Swindle
How much did the Fed really know?
The Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating trading in oil futures to determine whether the surge in prices to record levels is the result of manipulation or fraud. They might want to take a look at wheat, rice and corn futures while they're at it. The whole thing is a hoax cooked up by the investment banks and hedge funds who are trying to dig their way out of the trillion dollar mortgage-backed securities (MBS) mess that they created by turning garbage loans into securities. That scam blew up in their face last August and left them scrounging for handouts from the Federal Reserve.
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hyperbola1 year, 6 months ago
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Now the billions of dollars they're getting from the Fed is being diverted into commodities which is destabilizing the world economy; driving gas prices to the moon and triggering food riots across the planet.
...There are three things that are driving up the price of oil: the falling dollar, speculation and buying on margin.
The dollar is tanking because of the Federal Reserve's low interest monetary policies have kept interest rates below the rate of inflation for most of the last decade. Add that to the $700 billion current account deficit and a National Debt that has increased from $5.8 trillion when Bush first took office to over $9 trillion today and it's a wonder the dollar hasn't gone "Poof" already....
... As far as "buying on margin" consider this summary from author William Engdahl:
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hyperbola1 year, 6 months ago
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"A conservative calculation is that at least 60% of today's $128 per barrel price of crude oil comes from unregulated futures speculation by hedge funds, banks and financial groups using the London ICE Futures and New York NYMEX futures exchanges and uncontrolled inter-bank or Over-The-Counter trading to avoid scrutiny. US margin rules of the government's Commodity Futures Trading Commission allow speculators to buy crude oil futures contract on the Nymex, by having to pay only 6% of the value of the contract. At today's price of $128 per barrel, that means a futures trader only has to put up about $8 for every barrel. He borrows the other $120. This extreme "leverage" of 16 to 1 drives prices to wildly unrealistic levels and offset bank losses in sub-prime and other disasters at the expense of the overall population."
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hyperbola1 year, 6 months ago
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So the investment banks and their trading partners at the hedge funds can game the system for a mere 8 bucks per barrel or 16 to 1 leverage. Not bad, eh?
...the investment banks are trading their worthless MBS and CDOs at the Fed's auction facilities and using the money ($400 billion) to drive up the price of raw materials like rice, corn, wheat, and oil?
Could it be? Could the Fed really be looking the other way so it can bail out its banking buddies while they drive prices skyward?
....Another $225 billion for the bankers and not a dime for the struggling homeowner! The Fed is bankrupting the country with their permanent rotating loans to keep reckless speculators from going under. So much for moral hazard. ..
..As far as speculation, there is ample evidence that the system is being manipulated. According to MarketWatch:
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hyperbola1 year, 6 months ago
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"Speculative activity in commodity markets has grown "enormously" over the past several years, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said in a news release. It pointed out that in five years, from 2003 to 2008, investment in the index funds tied to commodities has grown by 20-fold -- to $260 billion from $13 billion."
And here's a revealing clip from the testimony of Michael W. Masters of Masters Capital Management, LLC, who addressed the issue of "Commodities Speculation" before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs this week:
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hyperbola1 year, 6 months ago
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"Today, Index Speculators are pouring billions of dollars into the commodities futures
markets, speculating that commodity prices will increase. ...In the popular press the explanation given most often for rising oil prices is the increased demand for oil from China. According to the DOE, annual Chinese demand for petroleum has increased over the last five years from 1.88 billion barrels to 2.8 billion barrels, an increase of 920 million barrels.8 Over the same five-year period, Index Speculatorsʼ demand for petroleum futures has increased by 848 million barrels. THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FROM INDEX SPECULATORS IS ALMOST EQUAL TO THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FROM CHINA....
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hyperbola1 year, 6 months ago
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..Masters adds the CFTC is pressing to make "Index Speculators exempt from all position limits" so they can make "unlimited" bets on futures which are wreaking havoc on the global economy and pushing millions towards starvation. Of course, these things pale in comparison to the higher priority of fatting the bottom line of the parasitic investor class.
... The great oil crunch is another fabricated crisis; another "smoke and mirrors" fiasco; another Enron-type shell-game engineered by banksters and hedge fund managers. Once again, the bloody footprints can be traced right back to the front door of the Federal Reserve. Don't expect help from the regulators either; they've all been replaced with business reps like Harvey Pitt or Hank Paulson. The only time anyone in the Bush administration finds their conscience is when they're offered a multi-million dollar "tell all" book deal.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/articl...
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