Showing posts with label food security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food security. Show all posts

Monday, July 26, 2010

A Plan for the Global Economic Recovery


The US Role in Haiti Food Riots Image licensed under Creative Commons by barrybar

Updated Again Wednesday, September 1, 2010:   ***
Updated Friday, July 30, 2010: With the economic report just received from the BBC today **, this blog posting seems worthy of a second review and a follow-up.  Check this site later for more updates if possible.

We have been gone for a little while and we hadn't posted anything! ~
Sorry if you have missed us, but we haven't heard much from you either.  Apart from having one of our 'tweets' read on the MSNBC Countdown Twitter Report of Friday, May 14, 2010 - we just haven't accomplished much.  We're not even certain if they still do the Twitter Report - anyway we have deleted our twitter account - it was @georgek1029.  Apologies if you were one of the 1500 or so that were following us.

Anyway!  Our Senior Editor had a bit of a vision the other night - he usually does when we conspire to hit him over the head with a blunt instrument.  It was like he could see this big fresh new book coming out.  He could even see the title and the cover; "A Plan for the Global Economic Recovery".  He could even see some very odd diagrams outlining steps and phases (not phrases) meant to outline just that.

The sad thing, we suppose, is that there appears to be no book nor plan with that title.  Sure, a lot of excellent books* have been recently written and published about the Global Economic Crisis of 2007 - 2010.  But nothing about a plan or a coordinated series of steps towards the Recovery.  (What's also "refreshing" to hear is that the Wikipedia has laid the blame on the US Financial Markets for the liquidity crisis which created the global collapse of the markets - scandalous but guilty!).

Notably, the Obama-Dodd Finanical Reform Act 2010 should/will address some of those shortcomings.  But, will it guide the  overall economy back to the boisterous health that some many of us need and want?  Yes, we're talking about you too, dedanna1029.  We know, we know, there are some problems with the bill ~ isn't that right Lawrence?

Thankfully, the 111th Congress of the US has finally agreed to extend long-term UE benefits - again.  Which seemed to be their bugbear - at least for most of the GOP - with whom some of us still have problems!  Sorry to say!  It's been said before, you don't turn off the fire hydrant when the house is burning down!  Of course, you may as well turn off the hydrant when the house has burnt down...sorry to say...

But that's not enough ~ we need real prosperity and soon.  It's probably one of the real true solutions to the current problems of unemployment.  Yes, plural, problems.  UE is not a problem in and of itself.  We need to become educated as to how it is a problem, how it got to be that way and to get us poor and medium-income folks back to making money again!  Forget rich!  People are too busy just scraping by to survive.  People don't want to be rich, they just need enough funds to pay the rent, utilities, finance the car, get medical treatment, pay their union dues, give gifts, buy postage...oh, and don't forget the grocery bill.

That is a BIG problem.  We haven't seen food riots here in the USA.  But, we have seen food security issues.  Our senior editor's sick elderly father recently experienced a food security issue - this is not a nice issue for our sick and elderly to have to deal with.  Even worse is the thought of having to go to their local market - and encountering a food riot in the process.  Shades of Glenn Beck - we must be starting to sound like that mad *******.  (Our google account provisions forbid us from expressing certain opinions here - and they are correct about that!  We must agree!).  By the way, you have got to see the latest "joke" Glenn Beck account on twitter at http://twitter.com/Glenn_Beck.

Hmmm, we seem to have wandered a bit from our original point.  Our senior editor has had some further "revelations" about "A Plan for the Global Economic Recovery".  These are some of his bullet points;

1) All systems are inequitable.

2) All economies are based on a "bubble market".

3) The inherent inequities of (1) help contribute to that bubble market of (2).

4) The crash of  (2) and the time to the next crash is inversely proportional to the inequities of (1).

To further highlight the "inequities of the system", see the LiveScience article "World Markets Mostly Controlled by Select Companies".  And the BookTV Program "Color Blind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politicis and the Retreat from Racial Inequity".  Both of these should shock you to your senses.

Well, that's about it for now.  Our "mad" senior editor is developing his new economic theories (Re; the book ~ unless somebody else is writing it) at the time being.  We will get back to you with further information.

Until then, these links may be of interest:

bit.ly link to this post: http://bit.ly/9hAgR7

**Updated Friday, July 30, 2010: US Annualized Economic Growth Rate Slows to 2.4% (BBC NEWS)

Acts of the 111th United States Congress (Wikipedia)

Public Laws for the 111th Congress (Library of Congress)

Types of Riots (Wikipedia)

Food Security (Wikipedia)

Further Reading ; External Links on Food Security (Wikipedia References ; Links)  

Let's Talk (Blog by dedanna1029)

*A Colossal Failure of Common Sense by Lawrence G. McDonald 

World Stocks Controlled by Select Companies (from LiveScience)

Color Blind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat of Racial Inequity (with author Tim Wise).

***(Updated Wednesday, September 1, 2010)  2010 Hiring Outlook from Industry Market Trends



Monday, August 10, 2009

Ferrum orum egretudo and Krugman Says Whew!!! and More for Monday, August 0, 2009

OK, let's take the "analysis" approach used by a certain late-afternoon TV political commentator (TVPC) to some recent ("incoherent") comments by a recent former governor of Alaska on the subject(s) of health care (reform), euthanasia and 'death panel(s)'.
TVPC: OK, so you're against health care reform? In a recent CNN report on PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute, the accounting firm recently found that $ 1.2 Trillion is wasted on American health care every year. Now, the current administration's health plan means to address this waste and reduce or eliminate it. Now, wouldn't you agree that that is a good thing? The Gov: What do you mean by that?
TVPC: OK, moving along, Mr. Obama has come out publicly saying that this health care reform is not about euthanasia. Euthanasia is not provided for in HR 3200, if you read every article in this thousand-plus omnibus bill. Have you read it? The Gov: Oh, you know, I've read all of them.
TVPC: OK, about the only population in the United States that is routinely and legally given euthanasia, are those persons given the death penalty for capital crimes convictions. Would you then agree that HR 3200 provides a similar penalty for our nation's uninsured? The Gov: Oh, I suppose so.
TVPC: Good. Making progress...wouldn't you then say that your extension (of this concept) of a 'death panel' will be a trial-by-jury of the terminally ill and incurable for euthanasia made legal by health care reform? And that such a change of adjudication will give judicial power over all health care decisions in the US? The Gov: Why, whatever do you mean by that?
TVPC: Oh, never mind, just read the talking points while we go to commercial...
You see, it is our position (the editors of this blog...) that this extension of the concept of living will to euthanasia to 'death panels' is just silly and absurd and can be destroyed by philosophical and legal analysis via Reduction ad absurdum. People just need to use logic when provoked by these and other vacuous assumptions by their Right Wing leadership and lobbyists. That the idea that our entire judicial framework can be usurped by health care regulations does not work. The Gov may be suffering a kind of disease that cannot be cured by health care reform, however: Ferrum orum egretudo.
We'll return to a more detailed examination and analysis of this/these arguments as time permits...
'Radical rethink' needed on food

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8189549.stm

Food security

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_security

Nobel Economist: The Worst is Over

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/10/business/main5229830.shtml

Paul Krugman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Krugman

India inspects North Korea ship for nuclear material

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre5791hf-us-india-korea-ship/

Obama says no to euthanasia

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/vp/32357699#32357699

Palin: Obama’s health plan is ‘downright evil’

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32340009/ns/politics-white_house/

Ferrum orum egretudo (High-heel shoe in mouth disease)

http://antizendictionary.blogspot.com/2009/08/ferrum-orum-egretudo-or-high-heel-shoe.html

Pelosi and Hoyer Speak Out Against Town Hall Disruptions

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/08/10/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5229738.shtml

Senator: Protests 'clearly being orchestrated'

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/09/health.care/index.html

Health care's big money wasters

http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/10/news/economy/healthcare_money_wasters/index.htm?cnn=yes

Healthcare in the United States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_the_United_States

PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute

http://www.pwc.com/us/en/health-research-institute/index.jhtml

Where did that bank bailout go? Watchdogs aren't entirely sure

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090809/pl_mcclatchy/3286769;_ylt=AkQTCKUvIv9RDJ3t1HtfyQCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFpdTJwaWJhBHBvcwM0MQRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX21vc3RfcG9wdWxhcgRzbGsDd2hlcmVkaWR0aGF0

Effort to curb Wall St. pay hits new hurdle

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32355776/ns/business-the_new_york_times/

China Keeps 2.75M Eyes on Public

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/10/world/main5229769.shtml

Afghan 'drug lords on US hit list'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8192671.stm

Flu drugs 'unhelpful' in children

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8193012.stm

Bonn hosts climate change talks

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8193203.stm

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Wiki Link)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Framework_Convention_on_Climate_Change

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Website)

http://unfccc.int/

Psychological Factors Help Explain Slow Reaction To Global Warming

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090807154404.htm

Israeli jets strike Gaza tunnel

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8193194.stm

Paris's Electric Car Sharing Plan

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/JustOneThing/story?id=8291655&page=1

Malaysia denies it has plan to censor Internet

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32329601/ns/technology_and_science-security/

Sugar price reaches 28-year high

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8193390.stm

When you don't trust your boss

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/08/10/cb.can.not.trust.boss/index.html



Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Rollover Authority, MRSA in Your Food and What is a Bee Worth? and More for Wednesday, July 15, 2009


http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/07/15/ont-electric-cars511.html

Mars crew return after three month mission... to Moscow

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8150385.stm

Tagging technology to track trash

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8149183.stm

Trash Track (Blog)

http://senseable.mit.edu/trashtrack/

Snooping through the power socket

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8147534.stm

Help call for vanishing honeybees

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8148999.stm

Public Accounts Committee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Accounts_Committee_(United_Kingdom)

Newsweek: Raids, rage at puppy mills across U.S.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/206163

Puppy mill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppy_mill


Brothel offers 'green' discount‘A German brothel goes green to boost its business, offering customers money off if they arrive by bicycle’.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8149334.stm

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Pandemic or Food Riots? For Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Yes, we know some of the media attention to the Pandemic is overblown, and we voted as such on CNN.com's website today. But, our senior editor did happen to lose an aunt during the 1918 flu pandemic - whom he was too young to know, and consequently never met. But the impact of the swine flu is very real, and pandemics present a very real issue of mass fatalities - sometimes in the millions. Supposedly, the 1918 pandemic took 25 million lives, maybe more, maybe less. We're hoping this flu mutates quickly into a non-lethal version (see the link below), and peters out with minimum loss of life. But, pointedly, Dr. Fukuda - in his amazingly boring public statement on the level 4 Pandemic - did not mention that possibility. Or was that simply left out?

Of course, as pointed out by
Jack Cafferty on CNN yesterday (sigh, we admit to actually watching Mr. Cafferty from time to time, out of shear boredom...) that 36,000 deaths/fatalities occur each year due to the flu out of an infection rate of some 200,000/annum. The point being, we guess, that the situation is serious, not dreadful. But then, we keep reviewing in our mind, Dr. Fukuda's utterly dreadful video presentation of yesterday regarding the level 4 alert. And we wonder, does the WHO know something we don't?

But, something else that really troubles us is the potential for food riots in the near term. Is the world actually facing a
$ 100 million (+ or -) shortfall in world food supplies? Will the pandemic balance out this problem? Or, what exactly should we be hoping for? Remember the news/media stories on food shortages before the global economy went bust? That story just didn't go away - it is still a very serious, real issue.

In light of these issues, we're ignoring the usual stuff about Madoff, Obama, the airplane buzzing the Statue of Liberty (haven't we heard enough about that one?...as a nation, are we really that fearful of another 2001-style attack).


Swine Flu: Public Health Emergency Declared
Mexico
study