Chronic hunger: The defining human tragedy of this century

Oxfam said it prepared a study for the Institute of Development Studies by surveying farmers around the world, who report that changing seasonal patterns were already affecting their ability to plan the sowing and harvesting of crops. The results, it said, were "strikingly consistent across entire geographies."

SHOOT: I was having dinner in 2008 with a group of journalists from around the world. I began to ask them how they were perceiving the weather in their corner of the planet in order to establish a trend.
One of them, Sarah McDonald, a young woman from New Zealand, suddenly launched a storm of vitriol. How could I be so stupid to suspect that climate change was real? How could I be so susceptible to the propaganda? Of course, I wasn't allowed to conduct my poll to satisfy my curiosity any further because she evidently had already decided I was mistaken. This dogmatic and frankly arrogant confidence in intangibles is how a problem got so out of hand despite it being in the public eye. Create enough doubt and you create, also, lazy entropy.

Farmers have begun changing their crops in the tropics, where a 1 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) temperature shift can make traditional crops unsustainable. Unpredictable rainfall makes their choices of new crops a gamble, the report said.

Among the worst hit are nations that grow rice, the world's most common food. Yields are predicted to drop an average 10 percent for every 1 degree C rise in temperature in countries like the Philippines, where production could fall 50-70 percent as early as 2020. At the same time, China will grow more rice as the area of warm temperatures spreads, it said.

Corn is another staple that will be widely affected by climate change since it is particularly vulnerable to water stress, it said. Corn is the main source of food for 250 million people in east Africa and is used as animal feed around the world.

SHOOT: Been saying this for a few years now.

clipped from news.yahoo.com AMSTERDAM – Chronic hunger may be "the defining human tragedy of this century," as climate change causes growing seasons to shift, crops to fail, and storms and droughts to ravage fields, an advocacy group said. Oxfam International released a report Monday as leaders of the Group of Eight wealthiest nations prepare to meet in Italy this week, with an agenda to include both food security and climate change. It says that as the weather changes, millions of people in areas suffering food scarcity will have to give up traditional crops, possibly leading to social upheavals such as mass migrations and possible conflict over water resources. The report, "What Happened to the Seasons?" was meant to add urgency to the G-8 meeting and to a broader group of 17 countries, the Major Economies Forum, which convenes later in the week to try to unblock negotiations on a new climate change agreement due to be completed in December.

Let's Recap

Information overload...let's slow down for a second. There was collusion with bread prices right? And with milk? And with medicine now? Clothing from China is also being shown to the door so that local industries can make extra bucks. Guys, all of this adds to less money in our pockets. I'm not saying more money = good, I am simply saying it's getting harder to make ends meet if you're not really really rich.

So if you're a streetsweeper your lot is or has been artificially expensive bread and milk, and thanks to the government's tax on fuel, food and everything else - including electricity - is becoming less and less affordable. The water in the Vaal is supposed to have an E.Coli count of 113 parts per 100ml. That's a UN standard. We're told it's now over a million. And our water supply is facing radioactive and effluent contamination on a big scale.

Now I don't know if you know, or care about these details, but if you're poor (and something like 40% of South Africa's population is unemployed (the government fudges these figures, including people selling things on pavements, car-guards etc)you're in trouble. Water is poisoned and you can't afford to buy bottled. You are in a desperate situation. In the last decade the number of people living on less than a dollar a day in SA has doubled.

Is it any wonder that crime is as violent as it is? It is a reflection of a cold, heartless, money-grubbing soviety that lives behind tall walls and is in too many instances corrupt to the bone. From your politician in his sports blazer to the mafioso in his sparkling BMW flashing his lights at you on the M1 - these people are only in it for themselves.

If you were hungry, and your small change was no longer good enough for a Disprin, a half loaf of bread, and a small carton of milk for your coffee - wouldn't you become restless, and then - seeing a pretty blonde cruise by, a perpetrator, in airconditioned comfort, chatting on their cellphone, sipping a latte - wouldn't you be enraged? You would be if you felt people could'nt care less. Well, do we?

Failure to take care of the poor is a dereliction of our duty, and in the end, our sins as South Africans - black and white - will come back to haunt us en masse.

Global Warming = World War

Global warming and climate change effectively herald the limiting of worldwide resources. Food, land, fresh water. Even without these limits, we are rapidly coming approaching the moment when limited fuel supplies become too expensive for certain elements of a country's economy, who then become sidelined, become economic losers and then the mob, or criminals.

In South Africa the majority of crimes are perpetrated by The Unemployed Youth, who roam around in small groups or bigger gangs.

Climate Change basically places an even greater demand on energy requirements, to cool us down, to repair storm ravaged settelements etc. The future is looking less and less pretty. A good way to help out is perhaps to decide to not have children. This planet is about to do some human load shedding.

Report warns of global threat (From The Times.co.za)

Global warming could trigger wars, economic upheaval and population shifts, scientists in Hong Kong said yesterday.
University researchers have found that “extreme” cold weather in past centuries has coincided with wars, population collapse and economic crises.

While extreme cold could lead to wars, continued global warming could result in a shortage of fresh water, land and food — and subsequent conflicts and population shifts, the university report said.

Oil Prices Steady Above $97 a Barrel

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said late Wednesday that the record high oil prices are a burden on Asian nations.
"For those of us who are not oil exporters, and we import all our oil, this is a burden which is growing," he said. "It is particularly a burden on the low-income groups, and it's also a factor in increasing the inflation rate and the cost of living for consumers in their countries."

Watch Until The Train Leaves (Video)

Watch Until The Train Leaves - Funny blooper videos are here