OFF SHORE DRILLING NOT A DROP IN THEIR BUCKET!

Our Drop, Their Bucket [1]

McCain is confused again...

*****
GOOD MORNING FLINT ,
by Terry Bankert 08/14/2008 ,
http://attorneybankert.com/ ,
full article with citations posted,
http://goodmorningflint.blogspot.com/ ,
Summary,REFLECTIONS for discussion at Flint Talk thread Good Morning Flint: http://www.flinttalk.com/viewforum.php?f=2
* * * * *
REFLECTIONS:

Your elected will not make alternative fuel a priority unless you force them through political pressure. Democrats in Congress are offering a compromise to break the congressional grid lock and cause some positive action. You need to keep your eyes on them. Scream at your congressman or woman when you see them, anywhere any time any place until they make alternative energy a priority. Most in Congress do not know or cannot act on the fact that this country needs alternative fuel as a policy priority.For congress to act compromise is necessary, it’s a fact of life. Watch closely to see what is traded off. We must force a shift to alternative fuel. The price of gas must go higher to cause an energy supply shift. Off shore drilling is insignificant unless its in your back yard. The wind, sun and nukes belong to us, why not use them.Denmark gets 20% of its energy from the wind. I would not have expected that from a bunch of dumb blondes. I am starting to think Pickens is on to something.All our country needs....is the political will.....[Terry Bankert 8/14/08]
*****

All of us have felt the sting of high fuel costs over the last year. But what are our politicians doing to fix the problem ...?[3]

Your elected will not make alternative fuel a priority unless you force them through political pressure. Call me I will tell you how.[trb]

Ever since McCain switched—dare I say flip-flopped?—from being one of the loudest opponents of Bush’s demand for more oil platforms off America’s most beautiful coastlines to being its loudest advocate, Democrats have been slamming him for it. That’s good.[1]

Democrats are offering a compromise to break the congressional grid lock and cause some positive action.Keep your eyes on them also.[trb]

Democratic leaders in the House discussed the possibility on Wednesday of offering a comprehensive energy package when Congress returns in the fall, according to leadership aides.[2] Scream at your congressman or woman when you see them, anywhere any time any place until they make alternative energy a priority.[trb]

SOME DEMOCRATS JUST DO NOT GET IT AND ARE USING THE WRONG ARGUMENTS
What’s not so good is some of the arguments they’re...Democrats are .... using.[1]
It’s a gimmick, the Dems keep saying. But who cares if it’s a gimmick if it brings down energy prices? [1]

It won’t produce results for twenty years, they keep saying. But since when are Democrats opposed to long-term solutions?[1]

It’s a hoax, because we can’t drill our way out of our energy problems, they say.
But why shouldn’t we drill part of our way out?[1]

MCCAIN HAS NO VISION AND NO PLAN HE IS JUST BEING "POLITICAL".

Politicians such as Sen. John McCain have promoted lifting the prohibition on offshore drilling in some areas as a way to alleviate our energy crisis. Mr. McCain has even linked Se. Barack Obamac's earlier opposition to expanding offshore drilling to our high oil prices. [3]

AMERICANS WANT ACTION ANY ACTION, LEADERS GIVE ACTION THAT’S MEANINGFUL NOT JUST EXPEDIENT.Distressingly, such ideas have gained traction. According a recent poll, 69 percent of Americans now support increased offshore drilling and 51 percent believe doing so will reduce the cost of gasoline within a year.[3]

TO GET CONGRESS ACTING WE MUST COMPROMISE
But it seems clear party leaders are crafting a comprehensive energy package that would combine a Republican priority to open new offshore sites for oil and gas exploration with Democratic priorities, like tax subsidies for renewable sources of energy or new requirements for energy producers to generate more power from renewables, like wind and solar power.[2]

WITH POPULATIONS EXPLODING INTO THE MIDDLE CLASS OUR GOVERNMENT MUST FORCE A CONSUMER SHIFT TO ALTERNATIVE FUELS TO PROTECT AMERICA
While world oil production has never been higher, vastly increased demand for oil from nations such as China has driven up prices. Unless this demand slows (which is unlikely), we won't see major adjustments in oil costs.[3]

THERE ARE COUNTRIES WITH BETTER ARGUMENTS AND SOLUTIONS
A better argument may be found in the same issue of the New York Times Magazine that I rushed to harsh on a few weeks ago. It’s from Deborah Solomon’s crisp mini-interview with Robert Reich. The relevant Q.’s and A.’s:[1]

What do you make of the argument that the only way to lessen our dependence on foreign oil is to tap more oil wells here—in Alaska and off the coasts of Florida and California? When you consider that the oil we pump goes into a global oil market, offshore drilling makes no sense. We take the environmental risk, but we’d have to share the negligible price gains with Chinese consumers and every other user around the world.[1]

Then why do you think President Bush asked Congress last month to lift the longtime ban on offshore oil drilling? If I had to guess, I would say that President Bush is very close to the oil companies and wants whatever they want.[1]

OFF SHORE DRILLING ....INSIGNIFICANT
The point is easy to understand. We take all the risks. We pay all the costs. But we don’t get all the benefits, such as they are. Once the oil comes out, some time in the far future, it gets sold to whoever’s buying at that day’s price. The impact on price will be spread across the globe—which is why, as even the Bush Administration’s Department of Energy admits, that impact will be "insignificant."[1]

PELOSI WILL BACK THE NONSENSE OF OFF SHORE DRILLING JUST TO NOT LET THE REPUBLICAN TAKE CREDIT

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is considering legislation that would permit new offshore drilling as part of a broad energy bill, a response to growing anxiety within her party that Republicans are gaining traction with election-year attacks that Democrats aren't doing enough to address high gasoline prices.[4]

THERE ARE MANY VIABLE OPTIONS, INCREMENTS OF POLICY BEING DEBATED, WHAT WE NEED IS A COMPREHENSIVE PACKAGE. WHERE IS AL GORE WHEN YOU NEED HIM

There was also some discussion on the call about including a repeal of tax subsidies for some of the biggest oil companies, one aide said. Democrats kicked off 2007 by passing a measure that would rescind nearly $14 billion in tax subsidies from the biggest oil companies in order to pay for alternative energy projects. Thirty-six Republicans backed that measure, despite strong opposition from the White House and members of the oil industry. It remains stuck in the Senate.[2]

IT IS NOT OUR BUCKET TO DROP INTO

It’s a drop in the bucket, and it’s not even our bucket. It’s China’s, India’s, Europe’s—everybody’s. We get a thimbleful.[1]

OFF SHORE GIVES NO IMPACT FOR 9 YEARS

However, experts at the Department of Energy have found that it would take about nine years for offshore drilling to increase our oil supply at all and that even then the price cut would be "insignificant."[3]

DRILL IN YOUR BACK YARD NOT MINE. HOW DOES GREAT LAKE OFF SHORE DRILLING SOUND ?

Pelosi has long opposed lifting the drilling ban but has come under pressure from members of her own party -- including freshmen in tough reelection campaigns -- to allow a vote on offshore drilling. Adding to that, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama recently said that he would be open to limited offshore drilling if it was part of a broader energy compromise.[4]We need to realize that oil will never be cheap again and other solutions are needed[3]

THE WIND THE SUN THE NUKES ARE OURS

But our wind and our sunlight aren’t going anywhere. Aren’t we better off putting our efforts into encouraging and harnessing them? When we’re thinking long term, when we’re planning for twenty years from now, shouldn’t we be looking to get away from carbon-belching, icecap-melting, coast-destroying oil?[1]

The idea of letting states decide whether to permit drilling has gained support in the Senate too. A bipartisan group of senators recently unveiled a compromise that would let Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia decide whether to allow drilling 50 miles off their shorelines.[4]Drilling opponents are stepping up their efforts to preserve the ban.[4]

MoveOn.org Political Action, which supports the election of candidates favoring the MoveOn.org agenda, has run radio ads in some GOP-held districts attacking the incumbents for accepting oil industry campaign contributions and calling new offshore drilling a gimmick that wouldn't produce oil for years.[4]

HEY...YOU SUPPLY AND DEMAND NUTS ...INCREASE THE COST OF THE SUPPLY EVEN MORE AND SHIFT THE DEMAND TO ALTERNATIVE ENERGY...WHY NOT

The underlying truth, though it may be a little too raw for campaign purposes, is that the price at the pump should be higher, not lower. As Elizabeth Kolbert notes in our current issue, a few months of sharply rising fuel costs have done more to cut our oil profligacy than all the preceding years of high-minded exhortations.[1]

WE SHOULD NATIONALIZE THE OIL PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION ARREST THE OIL EXECUTIVES AND HAVE A YEAR OF SHOW TRIALS..IT’S A THOUGHT...A BAD ONE BUT A THOUGHT

Unfortunately, all that extra cost is simply a transfer of wealth to the coffers of oil "producers" like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela, with a few tens of billions skimmed off the top by ExxonMobil and the like.[1]

DENMARK GETS 20 % OF ITS ENERGY FROM THE WIND

Tom Friedman pointed out the other day that the Danes are paying ten dollars a gallon for gasoline. It’s not a problem for them. That’s because most of what they pay goes for taxes that have financed an energy policy so effective that Denmark now gets 20 per cent of its electricity from wind (we get one per cent) and zero per cent of its fuel from the Middle East (down from 99 per cent twenty-five years ago). Now the Danes are getting ready to jack up gasoline taxes even more and use the proceeds to cut personal income taxes. They have this crazy idea that they should tax things they want to discourage, like gas guzzling, and ease up on taxing things they want to encourage, like people working. [1]

I WOULD NEVER EXPECT THAT FROM A BUNCH OF BLONDS

But what do they know. They’re just a bunch of foreigners. European socialists, too, probably.[1]
Last month, former Vice President Al Gore called for 100 percent of our energy to be generated by clean, renewable sources within 10 years. A witness before Congress recently testified that there are no significant technological or engineering hurdles to making this happen.[3]All our country needs to do so is GET the political will.[3]

—END
Posted here by Terry Bankert 8/14/08
* * * * * For more on alternative Energy:
http://energyalternativesadvisor.blogspot.com/Also see Blogging for Michigan: http://bloggingformichigan.com/ *****

—SOURCES
[1]
The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/hendrikhertzberg/2008/08/our-drop-their.html

[2]
CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/13/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4349413.shtml

[3]
Baltimore Sun
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/letters/bal-ed.le.letters140aug14,0,4517662.story

[4]
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-drilling14-2008aug14,0,4495703.story

[trb]
Comments of Terry Bankert to include unattributed CAP headlines
http://attorneybankert.com/


73490/16983

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You have to break a couple of eggs to make an Omelet!

YOU HAVE TO BREAK A COUPLE EGGS BEFORE YOU CAN MAKE AN OMELET

*****
GOOD MORNING FLINT , by Terry Bankert 08/13/2008 ,
http://attorneybankert.com/ ,
full article with citations posted,
http://goodmorningflint.blogspot.com/ ,
Summary for discussion at Flint Talk thread Good Morning Flint: http://www.flinttalk.com/viewforum.php?f=2
* * * * *

I attended the The Genesee County Progresive Democrats meeting 8/12/08. The groups guest was Mark Brewer, Democratric State Party Chairperson.

HE SPOKE STRONGLY AND WITH CONVICTION.

It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. Albert Einstein 1879-1955 from" Treasury for the Free World" 1946

This is the man who derailed Michigans Delegate selections Election and to some disenfranchising 500,000 Michigan voters. He appeared pitching the Reform Michigan Now Ballot initiative in which he said. "We" have enough signatures unless the courts stop us , which they are trying .[WE] will be on the ballot. This ballot question will split the democrats , unless we act, and cause the Republicans to go to the polls who may not have because McCain Is such a piece of crap.. Brewer will survive...Mark must have played baseball and longed to be a coach.

"The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided. " Casey Stengle 1890-1975


I predict Mark will survive this too. Why becaue the oppisite of action is no action. As Democrats we can no longer decide no action because the game is too rough. This ballot initiative is rough action. This initative is intended to break the final seawall of the 30 plus years of Republication dominations of the state that has nearly ended life as we want it. Broken will be the Republican domination of th Supreme Court and the Michgian State Legislature. Broken will be the self protective domination of the political professionals and reduce the elected payrolls and the number of them. Broken will be the eyepoppoing strangle hold that the Michigan Supreme Court, dominated by the backward thinking Justice Taylor, has on the voters of Michigan. This ballot proposal has something in it that will draw the opposition of anybody in power in Michigan. This initative has something in it that will draw the intense support of the rank and file voter in Michigan. Mark Brewer must also have longed to be a chief. This initative demonstrated the old saying: YOU HAVE TO BREAK A FEW EGGS TO MAKE AN OMELET.[trb]

Present were 100 people. Several County Democratic Party Officials were present. Also
State Representative Hammel, Judge Herman Marable, The presumptive State Representative Thorp, Mott College Andy Averman? And a bunch of really good Democrats.[trb]

My only concern which I expressed was the length of the ballot question, the inadequacy of the 100 word summary and the near imposibility of the election workes to be able to explain it to the voters. I did say the seniors will not be able to read it or under statnd it. Brilliant move on my part. A dozen seniors immediatley stated much to the contray they can read and probably understand much more than I....[trb]

Here is what I said as covered by the Flint Journal. But some audience members felt the proposal was too complicated to pack into a single 100-word ballot proposal. The full plan is written in seven pages of fine print on the Reform Michigan Government Now Web site. "To expect voters to understand this proposal at an election is irresponsible," said Flint attorney Terry Bankert, a former city clerk. "It's a travesty to seniors in this state."
See:
http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/08/michigan_democratic_party_chai.html


I support the proposal. Iread the 23 summary point and thought I supported each one of these individually. It will be confusing but so have been other ballot question s as Brewer pointed out.[trb]

Michigan's Government is Broken! [1]

"It's clear that business as usual is not working in Michigan. Michigan’s government is broken, and we need to fix it. We need real change to move our state forward.[1]

Reform Michigan Government Now! is a non-partisan proposal that will streamline our government so people can work together on our state’s priorities and solve Michigan’s problems.
It will bring real change and will hold elected officials accountable to the people who elected them.[1]

The Reform Michigan Government Now! proposal will:

*Reduce the salaries of executive branch officials, legislators and judges

*End free lifetime health care for lawmakers and bring their retirement benefits in line with other state workers

*Increase transparency by requiring elected officials to disclose their income and assets every year

*Reform Michigan Government Now! will ensure that lawmakers are working for the best interests of the people they were elected to represent — not the special interests.
Michigan is at a crossroads. We've seen that Michigan's problems are very real and very serious.
Under this proposal, our government will be fairer for Republicans, Democrats and independents. [1]

We need real reform in Michigan, and we need it now."[1]

REAL REFORM TO HELP MAKE MICHIGAN GOVERNMENT MORE TRANSPARENT AND ACCOUNTABLE

Reform Michigan Government Now! will bring real reforms to government and make it more accountable, more open and more transparent to citizens. That’s something Los and the political insiders fear. RMGN will throw more sunshine on our elected government — and Los, speaking for the status quo, doesn’t like that. The political elites want to cling onto their power by silencing the people, and the people will not stand for that.[2]

As stated above there is something in this ballot initiative that will piss off every one in government.Good job.[trb]

It is no secret that Michigan’s government is broken.[2] Thats a bite of an overstatement. It is our national economy that is broken.[trb]

Politicians in Lansing are more interested in putting partisanship before people.[2]
The politicans are good people looking for solutions, we just have a grid lock of doubt and self interest. We need to help them see the value of supporting Michigan Now. Scaring them and threatening their political existence is a tried and true method of catching a legislators attention.[trb]

The courts need to be streamlined to make it more responsive to the needs of the people. The undue influence of outside interests must be reduced. Everyday families have been shut out for too long, and they deserve to be heard.[2]

Reform Michigan Government Now! offers proposals that can help bring much-needed reforms to government. RMGN is a true grassroots effort that involves citizens from all political backgrounds — Republican, Democratic and independent. [2]

Screw the Republicans and Independants. Now is the time for Michgian Democrats to come to the aid of their Party.[trb]

For several years, our group has been working hard to bring together the best ideas to fix our broken government. Leaders from all political backgrounds have espoused these ideas for many years. Chief Justice Clifford Taylor has publicly called for the courts to be streamlined. Republican state Rep. Glenn Steil has publicly called for a smaller, less wasteful Legislature. Legislatures under the control of both Republicans and Democrats have weighed proposals to reform government, including steps to shut the revolving door between government and lobbying.[2]

The status quo and power elites... want things to stay the same because the status quo has benefited them, at the expense of everyday families and local family-owned businesses. RMGN will help fix government and make it more accountable through important measures, such as:[2] I have heard that before, Follow me every thing will be okay. Well it will not if we follow blindly.[trb]

• Banning elected leaders and top government officials from lobbying for the special interests for two years after leaving office.[2] We should have ended term limits. Without expierenced electd leader just how can we kep a knowledge base to lead us.[trb]

• Reducing officeholders’ excessive salaries and benefits to bring them in line with state employees and requires legislators and the state’s top elected officials to disclose their incomes and assets.[2]SO NO ELECTED OFFICAL CAN RETIRE AT A LEVEL HIGHER THAT THE CLASSIFIED SERVICE. Just what is the highest level in the classified service. Is the CEO of a State Run Medical facility in the classified service and will this kind of salary be the cap?[trb]

• Entrusting the drawing of legislative districts in the hands of a nonpartisan panel instead of whichever party is in power.[2]Brewer explaint that the political parties will select equal number of people and the tie vote breaker will be a neutral person. Now in this partisan political group the mythical truely neutral person will be found who will consistanly maintain this neutrality. Who picks this person and what desert island have they lived on?[trb]

• Adding judges to the local courts — where they’re needed most — and streamlining the bloated higher courts, where caseloads are down.[2] Oh..the judges are gonna burn you in hell for this one.[trb]
These reforms will benefit all citizens, not just a privileged few... These changes will level the political playing field by ensuring that any candidate — Republican, Democratic or independent — with the best campaigns and the best platform can win on any given election, not an anointed well-financed political insider from the party in power, which unfortunately is all too often the case today.[2] We do need change, and change never comes without a price and conflict. You are simple if you believe otherwise.[trb]

The citizens of Michigan support these reforms. Nearly a half-million voters signed a petition calling for RMGN to be put on the ballot in November. A recent survey showed that 70 percent of Michigan voters — that’s 3.5 million voters — support RMGN, according to a Greenburg Quinlan Rosner poll done in mid-July. That same poll showed overwhelming support for reforms among voters of all political stripes: 73 percent of Republicans support RMGN; 71 percent of independents; and 67 percent of Democrats.[2] I just dare an elected offical to publicly oppose this![trb]

The people want change. They should be given the opportunity to vote on this important proposal in November, without interference from the political elites and the courts, whose judges all have a conflict of interest should they be allowed to sit in judgment over RMGN.[2]yes[trb]
RMGN can change Michigan for the better and fix our broken government. Lansing insiders and the political elite should listen to the taxpayers and allow Michigan voters to decide.[2] YAWN[trb]

Citizens interested in learning more about these important reforms should visit http://www.reformmichigangovernmentnow.com.[2]/] Sign me up.[trb]

Reform Michigan Government Now! can give us a smaller, more efficient, less wasteful, less partisan and more responsive government. All citizens interested in good government should support this important proposal and help bring about positive change.[2] What can we do to help?[trb]
.
THERE ARE TIMES THAT THE END DOES JUSTIFY THE MEANS
Good job Mark Brewer on your trip to Flint.

–end
Posted here by Terry Bankert
--
[1]
Reform Michigan Now Committee
http://www.reformmichigangovernmentnow.com/
[2]
Holland Sentinel
http://www.hollandsentinel.com/opinions/x1665951914/My-Take-Fix-state-s-broken-government
By Joe Lukasiewicz
Reform Michigan Government Now!
[trb]
Comments of Terry Bankert
to include the CAP headlines
http://attorneybankert.com/
* * * * *
For more on alternative Energy:
http://energyalternativesadvisor.blogspot.com/
Also see Blogging for Michigan: http://bloggingformichigan.com/
*****
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Will your grandchildrens children face starvation?

WHAT IF THIS IS TRUE? THE WORLD CANNOT FEED ITS POPULATION!
*****
GOOD MORNING FLINT ,
by Terry Bankert 08/10/2008 ,
http://attorneybankert.com/ ,
full article with citations posted, http://goodmorningflint.blogspot.com/ ,
Summary for discussion at Flint Talk thread Good Morning Flint: http://www.flinttalk.com/viewforum.php?f=2

* * * * *
REFLECTIONS:

What if it were true that the world cannot feed its population? History shows this is not a problem unique to today. But if true and its world wide the stakes are much higher. What if Globalization is followed by a return to Economic Localization? What if it is true that throughout human history food collection was a primary societal organizational objective? Well, we cannot feed our world population much less the new number 10 years from now. Globalization as an organizing economic theory will collapse when populations are starving. We want to eat before we" text message". Our economic organizing principals, in emergening localization, will change but really only return that tried and true paradigm... we will to anything to survive. We must eat to survive. This paradigm shift has already begun world wide and in America. We are running out of time to avoid famine.


I looked to what is happening now in the world , The Sudan ,to understand what may happen to America in 10 years. My thoughts , observations and question, follow:

1. THE RICH WILL RAID THE LAND RESOURCES OF THE POOR, PEOPLE AND COUNTRIES.

2.WHY DO WE HAVE A CRISIS? IT BASED ON ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION OVER PEOPLE’S LIVES?

3.BIG MONEY WILL GRAVITATE TO BIG FARMING

4.BIG MONEY WILL FEED THE WORLD MARKET AND LET THE HOST COUNTRY STARVE.

5. WE MUST CAUSE A MASSIVE INCREASE IN FOOD PRODUCTION.

6.LIKE THE INHABITANTS OF A RESORT ISLAND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ALL THE FOOD HAS TO BE IMPORTED?WE BECOME ECONOMICLY VULNERABLE.

7.THERE IS A FUTURE IN AGRIBUSINESS FOR THE NEW GRADUATES

8.WE FEED THEIR POOR ,THERE RICH FEED THE WORLD.

9.CORPORATIONS BECOME IMMORAL... HEARD THAT BEFORE REGIMES BECOME PARASITIC AGAINST THEIR OWN PEOPLE.

10.STARVATION BECOMES PART OF PLANNED GENOCIDE, JUST TOO MANY OF ....THEM.

11.HOW MANY CHILDREN WILL DIE, GREAT NATIONS STAY SILENT BREADBASKET OR PROFIT CENTERS...

12.WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF FARMING?

13.THE HUNGRY AT ONE TIME ATE THEIR BELTS AND SHOES NOW THEY EAT MUD IN HAITI.

14.GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS WILL DENY THEIR PLUNDERING.

15.THE GOOD, ( AMERICANS STAND SILENT), THE BAD (SUDANES CREATE A NEW FOOD HOLOCAUST),THE UGLY WORLD ( CHILDREN STARVE AS THE WORLD WRENCHES ITS HANDS).

16.THE SUDANESE ARE NOT THE ONLY POOR BEING PLUNDERED.

17.TIME OUTS, ALLOWANCE TAKEN AWAY OR WILL THEY BE GROUNDED, JUST WHAT WILL THESE SANCTIONS BE?

18.BAD POLICY, BAD RESULTS

19.WE WANT TO SELL THEM OUR STUFF RATHER THAN GIVEN THEM AN EQUIVALENT AMOUNT OF MONEY TO BUY FROM THEIR OWN FARMERS AND GROW THEIR OWN PRODUCTION CAPABILITIES.

20.SUDANESE OFFICIALS GET MONEY ,ARABS GET FOOD, OIL MONEY AT WORK.

21.WE ARE MANY AND THEY ARE FEW, BUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN WE ARE FEW AND THEY ARE MANY?

******

In 2006, before the food crisis hit, there were 850million people who were hungry at some point during the year. Of those, seven out of ten were women. Today, the number of hungry people is closer to a billion[4]When will you care? What if it were an undisputed fact that your grandchildren will face starvation in America unless you act today, would you act?[trb]

THIS IS NOT A NEW PROBLEM, JUST A NEW ERA WITH HIGHER STAKES.
Hanging in the Newseum in Washington, DC, is a photo that is about as heart-rending an image as you’re likely to find anywhere. Taken by Kevin Carter for The New York Times in 1993, the photo depicts a starving Sudanese toddler crumpled on the ground, as if her stick-like legs could no longer bear the weight of her large head and swollen stomach, bloated from the malnourishment disease called kwashiorkor. While that alone is disturbing, what makes the tableau truly haunting is the vulture patiently waiting just a few feet behind the emaciated child. This photograph earned Carter a Pulitzer Prize and epitomized the toll famine is taking on developing countries around the world.[5]

GLOBALIZATION REPLACED BY LOCALIZATION.
" Our American economy will become intensely local and smaller in scale. It will do so steadily and by degrees as the amount of cheap energy decreases and the global contest for it becomes more intense. The scale of all human enterprise will contract with the supply of energy......The downscaling of America is the single most important task facing the American people....Producing food will become a problem of supreme urgency."[1 at 239]

IN MOST OF THE HUMAN HISTORY CULTURES WERE ORGANIZED AROUND FOOD PRODUCTION, THIS WILL RETURN.
"The U.S. economy of the decade to come will center on Farming, not High-Tech, or " information" or service or space travel or tourism or finance. All other activities will secondary to food production which will require much more human labor....Americans will be compelled to radically reorganize the way food is produce or starve.[1 at 239]

ITS ALREADY STARTING IN AMERICA
Even in America, there are reports of middle-class women skipping meals so their children can eat. The food crisis is hitting everywhere. [4]

WE ARE SIMPLE CHILDREN NOT DEALING WITH ADULT REALITIES
Perhaps the Great political question of the years ahead is how do we become a reality- based nation." [1at 324]

WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME
SO what if it is true, we are running out of oil out populations are increasing middle class consumer consumption demands take resources from food production. Seen the price of rice lately and did you pay attention to the news items about Africa starving. So then what if it is true that in the life times of our children American will struggle to feed itself? WHAT DO WE DO TODAY?[trb]
Darfur Withers as Sudan Sells Food [2]

TO DEFINE OUR FUTURE PROBLEM I PROPOSE WE LOOK TO THE CHAOS AROUND US AND SAY "What if we are next what can we learn, plan for and act on? [trb]

THE RICH WILL RAID THE LAND RESOURCE OF THE POOR
Even as it receives a billion pounds of free food from international donors, Sudan is growing and selling vast quantities of its own crops to other countries, capitalizing on high global food prices at a time when millions of people in its war-riddled region of Darfur barely have enough to eat. [2]
And, on top of this, price speculation and collusion within the food industry have added another layer to the cost of food. In Britain, Spain and South Africa, price-fixing enquiries are under way to see whether supermarkets have used the crisis to overcharge consumers. [4]
Perhaps, we might think, there just isn't enough food. But the world's food production has been growing faster than the population every year since the Sixties. [4] Has it gone to applications that do not feed people?[trb]

WHY DO WE HAVE A CRISIS? IS IT BASED ON ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION OVER PEOPLE’S LIVES?
So, a quarter of the world food-price crisis is because we think it's a better idea to burn food than eat it. [4]
There's a fistful of reasons why prices are so high. [4]
First, the price of oil is connected to our food. It's not just through the energy used to bring food to our door. On the average American farm, the greatest use of energy is on fertilizers, which require tremendous amounts of fossil fuels to manufacture. More expensive oil means pricier fertilizer which, in turn, means dearer food. [4]
Another reason prices are high is because of the boom in 'biofuels'. In 2006, the American government spent $12billion (£6billion) to turn maize into ethanol, which was mixed with petrol and sold as 'flexible fuel'. [4]
This made farmers think they'd be better off growing maize rather than wheat. So the supply of wheat was cut and the price rose. Speculators saw the boom in the maize market and bet the price of white maize, grown in Mexico, would go up. The price soared. With it, so did the price of the Mexican staple, tortillas. That's why there were 'tortilla riots' in Mexico City last year. [4]

BIG MONEY WILL GRAVITATE TO BIG FARMING
Here in the bone-dry desert, where desiccated donkey carcasses line the road, huge green fields suddenly materialize. Beans. Wheat. Sorghum. Melons. Peanuts. Pumpkins. Eggplant. It is all grown here, part of an ambitious government plan for Sudanese self-sufficiency, creating giant mechanized farms that rise out of the sand like mirages.[2]

BIG MONEY WILL FEED THE WORLD MARKET AND LET THE HOST COUNTRY STARVE
But how much of this bonanza is getting back to the hungry Sudanese, like the 2.5 million driven into camps in Darfur? And why is a country that exports so many of its own crops receiving more free food than anywhere else in the world, especially when the Sudanese government is blamed for creating the crisis in the first place?[2]

A GOVERNOR SPEAKS OUT TO SURVIVE WE MUST CAUSE A MASSIVE INCREASE IN FOOD PRODUCTION.
Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has stressed the need to deploy the energy and creative minds of youth in the State in massive food production. Uduaghan said this on Monday while inaugurating a committee on youth agricultural programme in Asaba. According to the governor, it would help to stave off imminent starvation that stared the nation like others in every part of the world in the face. [3]

LIKE THE INHABITANTS OF A RESORT ISLAND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ALL THE FOOD HAS TO BE IMPORTED?
African countries that rely on donated food usually cannot produce enough on their own. Somalia, Ethiopia, Niger and Zimbabwe are all recent examples of how war, natural disasters or gross mismanagement can cut deep into food production, pushing millions of people to the brink of starvation. [2]

THERE IS A FUTURE IN AGRIBUSINESS FOR THE NEW GRADUATES
But here in Sudan, there seem to be plenty of calories to go around. The country is already growing wheat for Saudi Arabia, sorghum for camels in the United Arab Emirates and vine-ripened tomatoes for the Jordanian Army. Now the government is plowing $5 billion into new agribusiness projects, many of them to produce food for export.[2]

WE FEED THEIR POOR THERE RICH FEED THE WORLD
Take sorghum, a staple of the Sudanese diet, typically eaten in flat, spongy bread. Last year, the United States government, as part of its response to the emergency in Darfur, shipped in 283,000 tons of sorghum, at high cost, from as far away as Houston. Oddly enough, that is about the same amount that Sudan exported, according to United Nations officials.[2]

CORPORATIONS BECOME IMMORAL... HEARD THAT BEFORE
This year, Sudanese companies, including many that are linked to the government in Khartoum, are on track to ship out twice that amount, even as the United Nations is being forced to cut rations to Darfur. [2]

REGIMES BECOME PARASITIC AGAINST THEIR OWN PEOPLE
Eric Reeves, a professor at Smith College and an outspoken activist who has written frequently on the Darfur crisis, called this anomaly "one of the least reported and most scandalous features of the Khartoum regime’s domestic policies." It was emblematic, he said, of the Sudanese government’s strategy to manipulate "national wealth and power to further enrich itself and its cronies, while the marginalized regions of the country suffer from terrible poverty." [2]

STARVATION BECOMES PART OF PLANNED GENOCIDE, JUST TOO MANY OF ....THEM
Aid groups gave up long ago on the Sudanese government helping the people of Darfur. After all, the nation’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has been accused of masterminding genocide in Darfur. United Nations officials have said that if they do not bring food into the region, the government surely will not.[2]

HOW MANY CHILDREN WILL DIE, GREAT NATIONS STAY SILENT
That leaves the United Nations and Western aid groups feeding more than three million Darfurians. But the lifeline is fraying. Security is deteriorating. Aid trucks are getting hijacked nearly every day and deliveries are being made less and less frequently. The result: less food and soaring malnutrition rates, particularly among children.[2]

BREADBASKET OR PROFIT CENTERS...WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF FARMING?
On top of this is the broader problem of trying to find affordable grains on the world market when prices are higher than they have been in decades. United Nations officials in Sudan say that the fact that they have to import some of the same commodities that Sudan not only produces but exports is a source of constant frustration. [2]
"Sudan could be self-sufficient," said Kenro Oshidari, the director of the United Nations World Food Program in Sudan. "It does have the potential to be the breadbasket of Africa."[2]

THE HUNGRY AT ONE TIME ATE THEIR BELTS AND SHOES NOW THEY EAT MUD IN HAITI
Visitors to the shanty towns of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, will find something unusual in the markets. It's a dry, yellow, round food product, about the size of a digestive biscuit. They're mud cakes, made from clay, salt, oil and water. Eat one, and you'll keep hunger at bay for a few hours. In Haiti, the market for mud cakes is booming. With the price of food soaring, but with wages static or falling, the poor are forced into desperation. Haiti finds itself at the whip end of a food crisis that stretches around the world.[4]

GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS WILL DENY THEIR PLUNDERING
Sudanese officials say that is precisely their goal, and they deny that Sudanese agribusiness is being built at the expense of their own people. They reject accusations that they are neglecting far-flung areas like Darfur, much less waging a war of hunger and deprivation against them. [2]

THE GOOD, ( AMERICANS STAND SILENT), THE BAD (SUDANES CREATE A NEW FOOD HOLOCAUST),THE UGLY WORLD ( CHILDREN STARVE AS THE WORLD WRENCHES ITS HANDS)
Instead, Sudanese officials say they are simply trying to build up their economy. They say they know what it is like to be vilified, having been squeezed by American sanctions for more than a decade. And it could get worse, with Mr. Bashir facing genocide charges at the International Criminal Court in connection with the massacres in Darfur.[2]

THE SUDANESE ARE NOT THE ONLY POOR BEING PLUNDERED
Globally, food prices rose 55 per cent from June 2007 to February 2008. In March alone, the price of rice went up 87 per cent - and rice accounts for one fifth of all calories eaten on Earth. The prices of all staples have soared and are set to rise for the next decade[4]

TIME OUTS, ALLOWANCE TAKEN AWAY OR WILL THEY BE GROUNDED, JUST WHAT WILL THESE SANCTIONS BE?
"Sanctions are never far from our mind," said Al-Amin Dafa Allah, chairman of the National Assembly’s agricultural committee. "We’re trying to minimize our reliance on the outside."[2]

BAD POLICY, BAD RESULTS
In fact, part of the reason relief agencies bring their own food into Sudan stems from the American policy of giving crops, not money, as foreign aid. [2]

But there are things we can do to beat it. When it comes to food aid, the United States has one of the most destructive policies: the food has to come from American farms and be delivered by American ships. [4]
Many European countries, by contrast, just give the World Food Program cash, which can be used to buy food locally. Last year, the program bought 117,000 tons of Sudanese sorghum. United Nations officials said they would like to buy more, but they had run-ins with Sudanese suppliers who could make more money with exports.[2]

Tragically, of course, hunger has only become an even graver issue in the last 15 years -- a point made clear in a report released July 29 from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Recommending urgent action for long-term relief, the CSIS report calls for "a strategic U.S. approach to the global food crisis." [5]

WE WANT TO SELL THEM OUR STUFF RATHER THAN GIVEN THEM AN EQUIVALENT AMOUNT OF MONEY TO BUY FROM THEIR OWN FARMERS AND GROW THEIR OWN PRODUCTION CAPABILITIES
"We don’t get discounts," said Emilia Casella, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program. Sudanese officials say they want to sell more crops to the United Nations, but lost in this discussion about buying and selling food is whether the Sudanese government should be donating food to its own needy people. [2]

The answer is for donor countries to buy food as close as possible to where it's needed. [4]

SUDANESE OFFICIALS GET MONEY ARABS GET FOOD, OIL MONEY AT WORK
For now, Sudanese officials seem more interested in doing business with their new partners in the Middle East. Sudan is the largest country in Africa, nearly one million square miles. It has 208 million acres of arable land, with less than a quarter being cultivated. The Sudanese government is striking deals left and right with Arab countries just across the Red Sea: the Arab countries bring the money, the soil scientists and the $200,000 tractors. Sudan supplies the land.[2]
...
The last time the government gave the World Food Program any food for Darfur was in 2006. It was 22,000 tons of Sudanese-grown sorghum. It was a fraction of what the people needed, United Nations officials said, and some of the grain was rancid and infested with weevils.[2]

WE ARE MANY AND THEY ARE FEW, BUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN WE ARE FEW AND THEY ARE MANY?
The United Nations estimates that 854 million people -- nearly 13 percent of the world’s human population -- go hungry every day. And the problem is only getting worse. Josette Sheeran, executive director of the UN’s World Food Program, says, "The world’s misery index is rising."[5]

But certain hunger-beating policies simply don't fit the current fads in international development economics. Perhaps that's the greatest tragedy here. It's not a lack of food that is causing this crisis - it's a lack of political will. [4]

—END—
Posted here by Terry Bankert 8/8/08, full article and cites at link above For more on alternative Energy: http://energyalternativesadvisor.blogspot.com/ Also see Blogging for Michigan: http://bloggingformichigan.com/
–sources-
[1]
"The Long Emergency" by James Howard Kunstler 2005 Grove Press ISBN: 10:0-8021-4249-4
From the author " Surviving the End of Oil, climate change, and other converging catastrophes of the 21st Century.
See:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7203633/the_long_emergency


[2]
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/world/africa/10sudan.html?em
[3]
The Tide online
http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=08/08/2008&qrTitle=Food%20production:%20Uduaghan%20inaugurates%20youth%20agric%20programme&qrColumn=BUSINESS

[4]
Mail online
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1043125/Tortilla-riots-mud-cakes-food-expensive.html

[5]
OEN
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Feast-or-Famine-Meat-Prod-by-Mark-Hawthorne-080808-523.html

[TRB]
Comments of Terry Bankert to include CAP headlines
http://attorneybankert.com/
72692/16860

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