Again, thanks to chatnoir

http://www.organicconsumers.org/arti...icle_23829.cfm

headline:

Approaching the Collapse: Don't Panic, Go Organic
By Ronnie Cummins
Organic Consumers Association, August 24, 2011


So-called "business as usual" is neither sustainable, nor even
possible, for much longer. Out-of-control energy corporations, Wall
Street, the Pentagon, agribusiness/biotech corporations, and
indentured politicians have driven us to the brink. They tell us:
don't worry; trust the experts, things will soon return to "normal."
But reality and common sense tell a different story.

Extreme weather, crop failures, commodities speculation, land grabs,
escalating prices, soil degradation, depleted aquifers, routine
contamination, food-related disease, and mass hunger represent the
"new norm" for food and farming. The global agricultural system, with
the exception of the rapidly growing organic sector, rests upon a
shaky foundation. Patented seeds, genetically engineered crops,
expensive and destructive chemical and energy-intensive inputs,
factory farms, monoculture production, eroding soils, unsustainable
water use, taxpayer subsidies, and long-distance hauling and
distribution, including massive imports that amount to 15% of the U.S.
food supply amount to a recipe for disaster.

A "perfect storm" or "ultimate recession" as described by Lester Brown
in his new book, World on the Edge, could develop at any time,
precipitated by extreme weather and crop failures on a massive scale.
A growing number of nations, including the oil giants and China, are
now scrambling to secure overseas farmland to feed their domestic
populations. World grocers and supermarkets, including the U.S., have,
on the average, only a four-day supply of food on hand. An oil shock,
global disease pandemic, prolonged drought in the American heartland,
or nuclear meltdown could set off a global food panic. Supermarket
shelves and grain silos would be stripped bare within a short period
of time. Have you thought about this? Are you and those in your local
community ready for this?

Peak Food, Peak Oil, Peak Water, Peak Soil ... (cont)
--
- Billy
Both the House and Senate budget plan would have cut Social Security and Medicare, while cutting taxes on the wealthy.

Kucinich noted that none of the government programs targeted for
elimination or severe cutback in House Republican spending plans
"appeared on the GAO's list of government programs at high risk of
waste, fraud and abuse."
http://www.politifact.com/ohio/state...is-kucinich/re
p-dennis-kucinich-says-gop-budget-cuts-dont-targ/

[W]e have the situation with the deficit and the debt and spending and jobs. And it¹s not that difficult to get out of it. The first thing you do is you get rid of corporate welfare. That¹s hundreds of billions of dollars a year. The second is you tax corporations so that they don¹t get away with no taxation.
- Ralph Nader
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/7/19/ralph_naders_solution_to_debt_crisis

On Sep 3, 3:50*pm, Billy wrote:

Yet more doom and gloom billy? Fifth time this week isn't it old
man! Are you really that much of an ignorant ass to believe your
googly book writers pseudo science BS?

"Billy" wrote in message
http://www.organicconsumers.org/arti...icle_23829.cfm
headline:

Approaching the Collapse: Don't Panic, Go Organic
By Ronnie Cummins
Organic Consumers Association, August 24, 2011


So-called "business as usual" is neither sustainable, nor even
possible, for much longer. Out-of-control energy corporations, Wall
Street, the Pentagon, agribusiness/biotech corporations, and
indentured politicians have driven us to the brink. They tell us:
don't worry; trust the experts, things will soon return to "normal."
But reality and common sense tell a different story.

Extreme weather, crop failures, commodities speculation, land grabs,
escalating prices, soil degradation, depleted aquifers, routine
contamination, food-related disease, and mass hunger represent the
"new norm" for food and farming. The global agricultural system, with
the exception of the rapidly growing organic sector, rests upon a
shaky foundation. Patented seeds, genetically engineered crops,
expensive and destructive chemical and energy-intensive inputs,
factory farms, monoculture production, eroding soils, unsustainable
water use, taxpayer subsidies, and long-distance hauling and
distribution, including massive imports that amount to 15% of the U.S.
food supply amount to a recipe for disaster.

A "perfect storm" or "ultimate recession" as described by Lester Brown
in his new book, World on the Edge, could develop at any time,
precipitated by extreme weather and crop failures on a massive scale.
A growing number of nations, including the oil giants and China, are
now scrambling to secure overseas farmland to feed their domestic
populations. World grocers and supermarkets, including the U.S., have,
on the average, only a four-day supply of food on hand. An oil shock,
global disease pandemic, prolonged drought in the American heartland,
or nuclear meltdown could set off a global food panic.

Billy I'm sure you know that USians have long had a reputation for not
knowing what's going on in the rest of the world. The information in that
article is very dated and there is nothing new in it.

I'm sure you'd be interested in the BBC programs called "The Future of
Food" - they discussed what was happening to food worldwide and began doing
so (IIRC) with the release of the first of these TV shows in 2009. The
Chinese have long been buying up land in other countries as are oil rich
places like Qatar which is trying to get its hands on the Tana River Delta
in Kenya.

Mind you, all horror stories pale beside the activities of Chiquita bananas.

In article ,
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

"Billy" wrote in message
http://www.organicconsumers.org/arti...icle_23829.cfm
headline:

Approaching the Collapse: Don't Panic, Go Organic
By Ronnie Cummins
Organic Consumers Association, August 24, 2011


So-called "business as usual" is neither sustainable, nor even
possible, for much longer. Out-of-control energy corporations, Wall
Street, the Pentagon, agribusiness/biotech corporations, and
indentured politicians have driven us to the brink. They tell us:
don't worry; trust the experts, things will soon return to "normal."
But reality and common sense tell a different story.

Extreme weather, crop failures, commodities speculation, land grabs,
escalating prices, soil degradation, depleted aquifers, routine
contamination, food-related disease, and mass hunger represent the
"new norm" for food and farming. The global agricultural system, with
the exception of the rapidly growing organic sector, rests upon a
shaky foundation. Patented seeds, genetically engineered crops,
expensive and destructive chemical and energy-intensive inputs,
factory farms, monoculture production, eroding soils, unsustainable
water use, taxpayer subsidies, and long-distance hauling and
distribution, including massive imports that amount to 15% of the U.S.
food supply amount to a recipe for disaster.

A "perfect storm" or "ultimate recession" as described by Lester Brown
in his new book, World on the Edge, could develop at any time,
precipitated by extreme weather and crop failures on a massive scale.
A growing number of nations, including the oil giants and China, are
now scrambling to secure overseas farmland to feed their domestic
populations. World grocers and supermarkets, including the U.S., have,
on the average, only a four-day supply of food on hand. An oil shock,
global disease pandemic, prolonged drought in the American heartland,
or nuclear meltdown could set off a global food panic.

Billy I'm sure you know that USians have long had a reputation for not
knowing what's going on in the rest of the world. The information in that
article is very dated and there is nothing new in it.

I'm sure you'd be interested in the BBC programs called "The Future of
Food" - they discussed what was happening to food worldwide and began doing
so (IIRC) with the release of the first of these TV shows in 2009. The
Chinese have long been buying up land in other countries as are oil rich
places like Qatar which is trying to get its hands on the Tana River Delta
in Kenya.

Mind you, all horror stories pale beside the activities of Chiquita bananas.

Yeah, mostly in Africa. People are chased off the land as they were in
the Americas, when the land is sold to a foreign national.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1717572,00.html
The World's Growing Food-Price Crisis
Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008

lowering food prices could be far tougher and will likely take years,
according to analysts who track global food consumption. The
Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute, or IFPRI,
said last December that high prices are unlikely to fall soon, partly
because world food stocks are being squeezed by soaring demand. The wild
ride in agricultural markets has attracted intense speculation among
investors, with billions of dollars being poured into commodities
markets. On Monday, the price of wheat shot up about 25% on the Chicago
Board of Trade, after officials in Khazakstan announced plans to
restrict exports of their giant wheat crop in order to ensure the food
supply to their own citizens. Russian officials have also said they are
planning to restrict grain exports.

For the world's poorest people, the price rises are already proving
devastating, since the speed at which prices have risen has wrought
havoc on government relief programs. Earlier this month, a top official
at the U.S. Agency for International Development admitted that in order
to meet current targets, it had been forced to skim off funds from
future food-aid programs, worth about $120 million.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that millions more people who
were previously earning enough to feed their families can now no longer
afford the food in their local stores, and are now swelling the ranks of
those expecting relief from aid organizations. "We are seeing a new face
of hunger," the executive director of U.N.'s World Food Program, Josette
Sheeran, told TIME on Tuesday. "People who were not in the urgent
category are now moving into that category." The organization currently
feeds about 73 million people, including millions who get by on just 50
cents a day. After hosting a series of emergency meetings with
international organizations and food experts this month at WFP's Rome
headquarters, Sheeran said the organization has concluded that food
prices will remain high for years. She announced on Monday that the
organization might have to cut its relief programs unless it raises an
extra $500 million this year. "There is no way we can absorb a 25% price
rise in one day and the volatility of the markets," Sheeran said.

One factor driving up the cost of food is the rocketing price of oil,
which raises agricultural costs of everything from fertilizer to
transport and shipping. Like the oil price, the cost of food is
responding, in part, to the burgeoning demand in China and India, where
rising incomes allow people to eat bigger meals, and to buy meat far
more frequently.
------

United Fruit is an old horror story that Americans don't want to hear,
nor our intervention in Guatemala, El Salvador, or Panama (Hell, all of
Central or South America).
--
- Billy
Both the House and Senate budget plan would have cut Social Security and Medicare, while cutting taxes on the wealthy.

Kucinich noted that none of the government programs targeted for
elimination or severe cutback in House Republican spending plans
"appeared on the GAO's list of government programs at high risk of
waste, fraud and abuse."
http://www.politifact.com/ohio/state...is-kucinich/re
p-dennis-kucinich-says-gop-budget-cuts-dont-targ/

[W]e have the situation with the deficit and the debt and spending and jobs. And it¹s not that difficult to get out of it. The first thing you do is you get rid of corporate welfare. That¹s hundreds of billions of dollars a year. The second is you tax corporations so that they don¹t get away with no taxation.
- Ralph Nader
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/7/19/ralph_naders_solution_to_debt_crisis