From Korea to Egypt, High Food Prices Are Driving Policies

[Geee]

Big Peace:

For the last two months, North Korea has been frantically begging for food around the world, according to South Korea’s JoongAng Daily. The request has extended to dozens of countries, including China, the U.S., EU, and countries in southeast Asia.

The North Koreans desperate need for food is apparently responsible for initiating the silly charade that went on the last few days. The North Koreans have a history of wanting to “talk” only when they can use the talks to extort aid, especially food aid. Still, the Norks have been so insistent for the last few weeks, that finally the South agreed to “talk.” For the last few days, we’ve had bubbly stories on the BBC and elsewhere about how things have finally turned around, and a new era of sunshine was opening on the Korean Peninsula.

The talks collapsed in two days, when the Norks stormed out of the meeting, after the South wanted to discuss last year’s sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, killing about 50 South Koreans, according to the Korea Times. The South’s demands for an apology reflects a significant hardening of policy since previous talks.

Nor are the North Koreans likely to get much food aid from China, which is deep into its own problems, according to Xinhua. China is suffering the worst drought in 60 years, crippling the country’s major agricultural regions, leaving many of them parched.

China is the world’s largest wheat producer, according to the NY Times, and if they’re forced to import large amounts of wheat, it could send shock waves through the world’s grain markets. “They can buy whatever they need to buy, and they can outbid anyone,” according to one expert, which means that they can bid prices up as high as they want.

Wheat prices are also playing a role in the Egyptian revolution, as wildcat strikes are spreading around the country, and are threatening closure of the Suez Canal. Closure of the canal would be a crisis for Europe, according to EurActive, because Europe depends on oil supplies shipped through the canal. It would also be a crisis for Egypt, not only because of the loss of canal revenue, but also because Egypt depends on wheat imports from other countries.

[Evad]

Step 1--AlGore creates Globull Warming Hoax

Step 2--Enviro wackos finally conjure up a potion called ethanol

Step 3--Corn reserves are used up making potion

Step 4--World wide famine ensues due to price of corn

Step 5--Governments topple like dominoes

 

AlQaeda couldn't have dreamed up a better scenario for Islamic takeover

[Pepper]

Ethanol pumping up food prices

 

 

Well, duh.

 

 

A combination of natural calamities and congressional mandates has come together to drive world food prices to levels that make some governments in developing nations nervous,

 

 

24% of the U.S. corn crop is now mandated to go to ethanol, taking slack out of the world food market and making price shocks more likely, agricultural economists say.

 

Corn prices have almost doubled, from $3.49 a bushel in July to $6.10 in January. Corn futures, contracts to buy corn at a given price in the future, as of Wednesday were $6.90 a bushel.

 

 

 

 

 

The Greens get a pass on this. They are partially responsible for starving people. Plus the corn lobbyists. It is their pressure on Congress to enact these idiotic mandates.