Carbon Tax or Cap-and-Trade or Both?

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, everybody's talkin' about Stephane Dion's tax shift plan. Right? No, they ain't. They're talkin' about Dion's carbon tax. Dumbass Dion shoulda come out and leaked the idea of a bigass change in the way the gummint collects taxes. First thing he shoulda leaked was a massive reduction in income and business taxes. Then, when everybody asks where the money's gonna come from, he comes clean an' tells 'em it's gonna come from a carbon tax.

But the absent-minded perfesser didn't think about politics and how the adoption of Green Party policy was gonna get spun an' twisted an' misrepresented. He shoulda thought o' that and the fact that he's bein' so dang clumsy in how this is comin'out might make some people question his political acumen.

Now everybody's talkin' carbon tax and the Con's an' Dippers is goin' all out with the attacks on carbon taxes. Nobody, so far that I seen, has gone on the attack against tax-shifting.

The Con's is playin' up the fact that Dion went flippety-flop on carbon taxin'. They're usin' a lotta scare tactics an' tellin' everybody that the carbon tax is gonna mean poor, old seniors are gonna freeze in the dark, starvin' on account they can't afford gas fer the chugmobile. I reckon they never heard-tell of rebate programs to create a safety net for the weakest or least financially secure in society. Social safety net stuff ain't something the Con's is familiar with -- except when it comes to dismantlin'.

The Dippers is at least talkin' an alternative to carbon taxes. They're sayin' we gotta tax the crap out the big polluter corporations and create a cap-and-trade system to reduce GHG's. Now, taxin' the crap out polluters ain't a bad idea. The carbon tax, as I understand it, is designed to do exactly that. Yeah, it's also gonna tax Joe SUV Driver and Ma & Pa TurnUpTheThermostat. If they're hurtin' they can apply for a rebate. Almost every single one of us can reduce our CO2 output. That means we can all reduce our taxes, if we have a carbon tax.

The Dippers say they don't want a revenue neutral tax shift. Instead they want to increase taxes. Now, who doesn't think increased corporate taxes are gonna trickle down and make increased prices? In a revenue-neutral scheme, there's a corresponding reduction to help the conscientious consumer offset the increase in fuel costs. In a non revenue neutral set-up, like the NDP proposes, costs are passed on to the consumer without any corresponding reduction in taxes.

The Dip's also say they want a marketplace solution. The marketplace has been such a successful vehicle for social change, after all. The marketplace created the dotcom boom and bust bubble that saw thousands of Canadians lose millions on Nortel and other tech stocks. The marketplace was instrumental in creating the US housing boom bust bubble that has thousands of working class Merkins gettin' foreclosed on. The marketplace is dictating the price of oil and we all know how that's helpin' regular folks. The marketplace has pushed the price of basic food stocks so high that 25,000 people are starvin' to death each and every day.

Here's a bit from a Wired article on cap-and-trade and carbon offsets:

Nationally managed emissions-trading schemes could do a better job than Kyoto's we-are-the-world approach by adding legal enforcement and serious oversight. But many economists favor a simpler way: a tax on fossil fuels. A carbon tax would eliminate three classes of parasites that have evolved to fill niches created by the global climate protocol: cynical marketers intent on greenwashing, blinkered bureaucrats shoveling indulgences to powerful incumbents, and deal-happy Wall Streeters looking for a shiny new billion-dollar trading toy. Back to the drawing board, please.

While I was diggin' around this mornin' for info about carbon taxes, I come across a year-old Washington Post article that I found interesting.

Tax on Carbon Emissions Gains Support
Industry and Experts Promote It as Alternative to Help Curb Greenhouse Gases

By Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, April 1, 2007; A05

As lawmakers on Capitol Hill push for a cap-and-trade system to rein in the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, an unlikely alternative has emerged from an ideologically diverse group of economists and industry leaders: a carbon tax.

Most legislators view advocating any tax increase as tantamount to political suicide. But a coalition of academics and polluters now argues that a simple tax on each ton of emissions would offer a more efficient and less bureaucratic way of curbing carbon dioxide buildup, which scientists have linked to climate change.

"We want to do the least damage to the growth of GDP," said Michael Canes, a private consultant and former chief economist for the American Petroleum Institute, who led a Capitol Hill briefing on the subject in late February sponsored by the conservative George C. Marshall Institute. Between a cap system and a carbon tax, "a carbon tax will be the much more cost-effective way to go," he said, though he added that there are other ways to reduce emissions.

Robert J. Shapiro, a private consultant who was a Commerce Department official in the Clinton administration, agrees. A cap-and-trade system -- involving plant-by plant-measurements -- would be difficult to administer, he said, and would provide "incentives for cheating and evasion." And the revenue from a carbon tax could be used to reduce the deficit or finance offsetting cuts in payroll taxes or the alternative minimum tax.

A carbon tax offers certainty about the price of polluting, which appeals to many economists and businesses. William A. Pizer, a senior fellow at the centrist think tank Resources for the Future and a former senior economist for President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, estimates that the benefit-to-cost ratio of a tax-based system would be five times that of a cap-and-trade system.

"You're going to pay one way or another, whether it's a tax or a permit program," Pizer said, adding that while a cap would provide more certainty on how much emissions would be cut, "the consequences of being uncertain about emissions over any short period of time just aren't that serious."

Under a cap-and-trade system, the government would set an overall limit on emissions and allocate permits to emitters. If one plant reduces its emissions more quickly than another, it can sell its credits to the other emitter. A carbon tax would simply increase the cost of emitting each ton of carbon, which could then be passed on to consumers.

While Democrats have vowed to push through some sort of carbon dioxide control in this Congress, Bush has consistently opposed mandatory limits, so it remains unclear whether the United States will adopt any system before the next election.

Moreover, the fact that many economists back the tax approach is no guarantee that it will prevail over the five cap-and-trade plans already proposed in the Senate.

The complexity of the cap-and-trade system is part of its virtue for some politicians, since it may mask the system's impact on prices. Such a system also appeals to conservative lawmakers who like the idea of letting the market determine the price of carbon, while keeping revenue out of the hands of government. Some economists say it would channel capital to the most economically worthwhile projects first.

Environmentalists are split on a carbon tax. Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense, which is handing out baseball caps emblazoned with the slogan "Just Cap It" on Capitol Hill, called such a tax "an interesting distraction."

"It doesn't give us the guarantee the emissions will go down," he said.

But Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, said: "It will be more effective if people know that in year 'X' they will pay this much. Companies are highly motivated by costs." Moreover, he worries that rationing carbon allowances based on historical emissions would reward companies that spew out the most greenhouse gases now and did the least to limit them in the past.

Dan Becker, director of the Sierra Club's program on global warming, said the nation may need to adopt a carbon tax in several years but "we're not there yet."

Some industries that have historically opposed carbon limits embrace the idea of a tax because their sectors would not be singled out for regulation. "A poorly constructed cap-and-trade system can be as punitive as a regressive tax," said Scott Segal, an electric utilities lobbyist.

Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, told a National Press Club audience in February that his industry prefers that lawmakers explore a range of policy options before imposing a cap.

"A cap-and-trade system isn't necessarily the be-all and end-all," he said. "A carbon tax, everything, should be on the table from the beginning."

Few lawmakers, Democrat or Republican, have the stomach for a carbon tax, however. Some are still smarting from a vote in the early 1990s when President Bill Clinton persuaded the House to adopt a BTU tax -- a tax on the heat content of fuels -- only to abandon the effort in the Senate.

Democrats such as House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall II (W.Va.) say they have no desire to revisit the issue. "I'm not an advocate of a carbon tax," Rahall said. "That's going to be passed on; the consumer would end up paying for that."

Some analysts said former vice president Al Gore's endorsement of both alternatives in testimony before Congress last week was so politically unpalatable that it was a sign that he is not seriously thinking of running for president.

Only one House Democrat, Rep. Pete Stark (Calif.), has drafted a carbon tax proposal. Stark, who first proposed such a tax 16 years ago as a way to ease the nation's energy crunch, plans to introduce a bill in April that would levy a tax of $25 per ton of carbon released for five years.

"It's more efficient, more equitable, and it's less subject to gaming, I might add," Stark said, estimating that it would raise the cost of gasoline by 10 cents a gallon.

As Congress debates how to regulate greenhouse gases, however, several European officials have said it would be a mistake to choose anything but a market-based trading system that could be linked to the emerging carbon market in Europe.

"Political leaders in the United States need to make a decision, and make it quickly, whether they want to be left behind in a market that is going to evolve, or whether they want to get involved quickly," said Stephen Byers, a member of Britain's Parliament who helped establish the European Union's trading system. "Wall Street could become the world center of carbon trading."

And Stavros Dimas, the E.U. environment commissioner, speaking at a recent lunch hosted by the D.C.-based European Institute, called it ironic that the United States would question the cap-and-trade system, because U.S. negotiators essentially forced Europe to agree to such a system in the Kyoto Protocol negotiations in 1997.

"There was suspicion about market-based instruments," Dimas said. "In a way you did us a favor, because now we also are familiar with these market-based activities. It's functioning very well, actually."

"If we would go together into a world tax regime, that would be preferable," Jos Delbeke, the top E.U. official on climate change, said after a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing Monday. "But practically speaking, it is not a likely way to go. Emissions trading is a very solid second best."

Now, as suspect as I am about marketplace solutions, I ain't completely unsold on cap-and-trade. I think that it could be a valuable addition to a carbon tax policy. I don't think it's an entirely either/or proposition and there's some consensus that both systems have value, even if each claims to have better value.

If the NDP wants to help ol' Mother Earth, they'll join forces with the Libs and Greens on the tax-shiftin' carbon tax. If they make their support conditional on the establishment of a cap-and-trade system, I think the Greens and Grits'll be willing to play ball.

JimBobby

Cons and Dippers: Suzuki Tells 'em

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, it's drippin' down rain an' I just had a lazy Sunday hour of watchin' TV. I was watchin' ol Craig Oliver an' JaneyGal Taber on CTV Question Period. They was mostly talkin' about Dion's carbon tax policy.

Baird came on and cheerled for the HarpoonTossers' enviro non-plan. He yammered on about forcin' polluters to reduce but he was blowin' hot air like usual. He trotted out a buncha cliches and called Dion's idea "Plan Number Nine." Kinda funny, like "Plan 9 from Outer Space". He said Canada's gonna study and study and study polar bears. Studies and commissions = stall tactics. "We're waiting for the full science."

There was a commercial break where Gary Lunn popped up an' told us how it was a great "business decision" to throw in the towel on the Maple reactors we spent $680 million bucks on. He made a sales pitch fer AECL. I ain't sure any prospective buyers was watchin'. AECL CANDU = AVRO ARROW.

Dalton Ginty's brother was on, too, tryin' to sell what he don't understand. The dumbass Liberals sure went at this whole carbon tax thing in a ass-backwards way. Since they just lifted the idea from us treehuggin' Greens, they may as well steal all our well-thought-out details, too. They shoulda boned up on it before they went shootin' their mouths off. They got everybody definin' for 'em an' they're caught tryin' to counterspin.

Best part of the show was when ol' David Suzuki told Janey what's what. (you can watch it) He ain't runnin' fer office an' he ain't lookin' fer votes like most o' Janey's victims. He lets loose with both barrels. One barrel is pointed at the HarpoonTossers and the other barrel's pointed at the Dippers.

Seems the Dippers got a different plan that they don't got any details on, neither. Peggy Nash was on yammerin' about how the Dips is against the idea of a "revenue neutral" tax. She sez they want to tax the bigass polluters with a tax that ain't revenue neutral. The Dips want to raise taxes. Peggy was ever-so-vaguely alluding to a cap and trade system. She said "cap" but wouldn't actually usin' the word "trade". The Dips want a marketplace solution.

I can't blame ol' Suzuki fer blastin' the Dippers. I think he nailed it by suggestin' it was politics over good policy. The Dips oppose this idea because the Grits proposed it, pure an' simple. If the Grits is gonna carry the Green Party's carbon tax, the Dips are against. Doin' the right thing fer Ol' Mother Earth be damned, I reckon. Yeow!The Dips wantin' higher taxes and a Bay Street cap&trade marketplace. Extremists, sez I.

Now that the Grits are spoutin' GPC policy, some Greens might be all worried about losin' votes to Dion. That could happen but I ain't losin' any sleep over it. The Cons'll do a good job of tellin' everybody how the Grits don't walk the walk. Nobody doubts the Greens when it comes to stickin' with what we believe in. We been talkin' carbon tax fer years. A few months ago, Dion said he'd never bring in a carbon tax. The Cons'll make sure you see a lot of video clips of Dion sayin' that.

Dion's gettin' some good press on sheer ballsiness. They're sayin' he's bold by talkin' carbon tax. Well, the gal I adore, Earth Mother Lizzie May's been talkin' carbon tax since the day she started leadin' our merry band of treehuggin' Greenies. I leave it my thousands of readers to decide who's the ballsier.

CTV's got a write-up on Suzuki's slap down.

JimBobby

AECL Throws in the Towel - Medical Reactors Scrapped

Whooee! Well, friends an' foes, the chickens is comin' home to roost. Everybody remembers the big Isotope Crisis where the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission blew the whistle on AECL's mismanagement of the reactor at Chalk River and that led to a shut down and that led to Harper callin' all MP's to override the safety folks and start up the nuke plant despite non-compliance with safety orders. We all remember how Linda Keen was fired in the middle of the night a coupla months later.

Underneath all that was the assurance that Chalk River's aging NRU reactor was to be replaced by two shiny, new specially-designed medical isotope reactors: Maple 1 and Maple 2. Back in February, those reactors were 8 years behind schedule and $400 million over budget. But, don't worry, AECL assured us.

Experts and informed observers were saying that the Maples had a serious design flaw and would likely never come online. Hogwash, said AECL. The new reactors would be churning out isotopes by late 2008. There were just a couple of minor problems, they said.

Greg Weston wrote about it for the Sun.

The old Chalk River reactor has been patched and repaired since it was first tagged for the scrap heap almost two decades ago -- after a serious accident in 1991 when a broken weld spilled 18,000 litres of contaminated heavy water into the reactor building.

The reactor was formally scheduled to be taken out of service the minute the new Maple reactors were in service which, 17 years later, still has not happened.

The federal agency that owns and operates all three reactors, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., still claims the first of the new atomic marvels will be ready for service by the end of this year.

But government sources told Sun Media both of the new reactors -- called Maple 1 and 2 -- have a serious design flaw, and would cost taxpayers a fortune.

A source close to the issue says flatly: "You can bet you will never see those in service. Ever."

The growing consensus that the new reactors are duds is the latest chapter in what may be one of the longest-running government boondoggles in history.

In 1996, MDS Nordion, a Canadian company that markets medical isotopes, agreed to pay Atomic Energy $140 million to build two Maple reactors that were to be in commercial service no later than 2000.

MDS would own the reactors, and Atomic Energy would get a share of the proceeds from the sale of medical isotopes across Canada and around the world.

But by 2005, costs had spiralled out of control, and still the Maple reactors were plagued with technical and other problems.

In 2006, after a lengthy legal fight with Atomic Energy, MDS Nordion did something that should have sounded alarm bells about the reactors.

The company simply wrote off the staggering $345 million it had invested in the Maple reactors, and handed Atomic Energy the keys -- and all future financial responsibility for the project.

In return, MDS got a guaranteed 40-year supply of isotopes.

MDS Nordion's share price went up on the announcement.

At that time, Canadian taxpayers had at least $150 million in the Maple project, bringing the total project cost to just over $500 million.

In 2007, officials at the federal agency predicted it would cost the public purse another $130 million to get the new reactors in service.

But senior government sources say the figure is closer to another $400 million, bringing the total cost to around $900 million -- an overrun of about 650% from the original contract price.

"There is no way those (reactors) make any economic sense for commercial isotope production," says one federal official close to the situation.

"Taxpayers would be subsidizing them forever."

Sources also warn that even investing $400 million more would not guarantee the reactors would actually work.

The biggest technical problem, in simple terms, causes the nuclear reaction to speed up as the reactor speeds up, creating a cycle of ever increasing power that may not have a happy ending.

Atomic Energy officials argue that the problem is only slight, and can be rectified.

But one federal official points out the world has already seen the phenomenon in action once, albeit on a far larger scale than anything that could occur at Chalk River.

"It was called Chernobyl."

Well, folks, AECL has finally thrown in the towel. They are scrapping the $600 Million white elephants. They're gonna walk away from the Maples just like MDS Nordion did in 2006, after MDS had invested $345 million.

AECL is a crown corporation and all the losses associated with this colossal screw-up have been at the expense of the Canadian taxpayer. They've spent 12 years collecting hundreds of millions in welfare while building a coupla pieces of junk. We can't sue them because we ARE them.

AECL aborts reactor development

The Canadian Press

May 16, 2008 at 11:34 AM EDT

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. is scrapping development of its two new MAPLE medical-isotope reactors at its Chalk River, Ont., laboratories.

The decision “is based on a series of reviews that considered, among other things, the costs of further development, as well as the time frame and risks involved with continuing the project,” the federal Crown corporation said Friday.

The MAPLE reactors, described as the first in the world dedicated entirely to medical isotope production, were intended to be capable of supplying the entire global demand for molybdenum-99, iodine-131, iodine-125 and xenon-133.

AECL said the decision to abort them “will not impact the current supply of medical isotopes.”

It said contracts with MDS Nordion provide for production to continue at AECL's existing National Research Universal reactor in Chalk River.

So, we're not only tossing out the two flawed Maples, we're planning to honour the 40 year supply contract with MDS. I guess we're planning on keeping NRU Chalk River running for another 38 years. The reactor was built in the 50's and was scheduled for decommissioning in 2000, when the Maples were to have replaced it. Now, they'll never replace it.

Let's all remember that Dalton Ginty has AECL on the short list, along with General Electric and Areva, to bid on $40 billion dollars worth of new nuclear power generation in Ontario. They are said to be the hometown favourite with their newly-designed, never-built ACR-1000 CANDU.

Harper wants to sell all the crown corps. AECL's been on the block for a couple years. Looks like somebody'll be able to snap up a bargain. Confidence in and value of AECL must be at an all time low.

Disgustin', sez I.

JimBobby

JimBobby & Keith Richards: Separated at Birth?

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, when Ma seen my pitcher that I use on this boog and on my Facebook page, she sez, "It makes you look like Keith Richards." The other day I seen this here pitcher o' the ol' Rollin' Stone an' I couldn't help but agree. Dang!

Food Crisis: Praise for George W. Bush

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, I like to give credit where credit's due an' right now, I'm gonna tip my tuque in the unlikely direction of Merkan President George W. Bush. Now, I'm gonna set aside all the dumbass stuff Dubya's done like waste a half a trillion dollars on a fiasco in EyeRack or oversee the collapse of the Merkan banking and housing sectors or suspend human rights in a trumped up War on Terror. Fer just a few minutes, I'm gonna look the other way and pat ol' Dubya on the back.

Yesterday, Bush asked Congress to dole out another $770 million in food aid. The Merkans already pumped an extra $200 million into food for the hungry a coupla weeks ago. Before that, they added an additional $350 million to the $1.6 billion the Merkans put into food aid every year.

The World Food Program has been asking for $755 million to get it over the hump in this food crisis. A coupla days ago, Canada stepped up with an additional $50 million on top of the $185 million we'd already pledged.

So, I say good on you, Georgie W, fer diggin' in and findin' that extra $770 million. It oughta go a long way in stavin' off a few million deaths by starvation.

Okay, now I'm gonna quit lookin' the other way.

When we talk about $770 million bucks, it sure sounds like a whole lotta dough. You might ask yerself what George Dubya coulda bought with that money if he hadn't decided to feed a few million hungry people. Well, here's one thing he coulda bought. He coulda bought one more day of war fightin' in EyeRack.

That's right, boys'n'girls, the Merkans spend over $700 million bucks in EyeRack every single day, 365 days a year.

Golly-gosh gee whiz, do you figger the war in EyeRack might be somehow connected to the food crisis?

Hmmm... could be... All that war spendin' without any ROI is one of the biggest reasons the US dollar's in the pooper. The low US dollar is what's drivin' up the price of oil. The high fuel costs affect transportation and grocery prices that are a part of the reason so many Merkans can't keep up with their mortgage payments. And, the collapse of the US mortgage market has driven speculators into commodities. And, along with high oil prices, commodities speculation has been another big factor in the food crisis. High oil prices have created a demand for biofuels. Biofuels are competing with traditional grains and are driving up the cost of food.

Now, everybuddy knows that hungry people are angry people. Even George W. Bush knows that. The Merkans got their CIA intelligence fellers an' gals stalkin' 'round every hellhole on the planet. I reckon main CIA headquarters' phones been ringin' off the hook the past few months. There's been food riots and violence in countries all over the world. Anybuddy don't think the CIA had somebuddy in most of those countries reportin' back to Washington?

The food crisis threatens to unleash a wave of violence that would multiply the EyeRack and Afghanistan and African and South American conflicts to worldwide chaos. The Merkans don't have enough riot police in their mighty military to quell that sorta new world disorder. The smartest strategy would be to make sure the poor bastards don't get so hungry that they storm the Bastille.

So, I'm givin' praise to George W. Bush for strategy. I can't say fer sure whether it's strategy dressed up like charity or charity with a strategic motive. It's a welcome additional $770 million whyever it got there.

JimBobby

Food Crisis: More on Ethanol, GM Crops, Commodities Speculation

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, I'm recyclin' a bigass comment I made over to BigCityLiberal where MJ's pointin' the finger at ol' Lyin' Brian Mulroney. Seems Brine is on the board at ADM, the bigass commodities guys whose lobbyin' efforts have been payin' off nicely in the government-mandated ethanol department.

I pointed fingers at ethanol before and I still got a finger pointed at the dumbass food-for-fuel idiocy. Ethanol is one of many factors in the current food crisis. From what I can gather, ethanol is estimated to be causing somewhere between 5% and 15% of the increased costs.

Dalton Ginty weaseled out of any rethinking on biofuels by declaring that ethanol is not a "dominant" factor in the high cost of food. His brother, MP David Ginty sez the selfsame thing and is still pushin' fer Canada to double it's targets for ethanol-to-gas blends over the next two years.

The problem is that there is a combination of factors and it may be quite likely that no single factor is dominant. The high cost of fossil fuels is probably the biggest factor and it is a factor that exacerbates and compounds other factors.

Biofuel subsidization must cease. Even if it is only responsible for 5% of the cost increase, that means millions more people who are 5% short of having enough to eat.

The role of agri-corporations like ADM and Monsanto is more than just the ethanol angle. Over the past few years, money has flowed into commodities speculation. There's about 20x the traditional capital at play in commodities right now. That's because speculators are making huge profits on commodities. ADM, DeKalb. Monsanto, etc are commodities businesses that are reaping the rewards of that speculation.

Monsanto et al stand to win in their fight to get genetically modified foods accepted worldwide. GM seeds are being sold as a sure way to increase agricultural productivity in the third world. Except that increase is temporary and ensures continued reliance on already high-priced seeds.

All the parties were wrong on biofuels. Even the Greens. We can point fingers and there's plenty of blame to go around.

Eat meat every day? You're part of the problem.
Got a diversified RSP with exposure to commodities? You're part of the problem.
Waste energy and drive up fuel costs by driving when you could walk? You're part of the problem.
Support a party that endorses ethanol subsidies? You're part of the problem.

But, so what if we're all part of the problem? We're just a small part. right? Right. But the problem is hunger and starvation for 1 billion people who live on less than $2 a day. A small part of the problem may represent many, many hungry people.

Again, every party got this wrong. In politics, the toughest thing to do seems to be to admit a mistake. The ethanol mistake is a factor in the starvation and deaths of millions. Politicians and party policy wonks need to step up, admit error and change policy.

We, who are active in our parties, should be agitating within our own ranks for a rethink on biofuels. I am doing so in the GPC. I encourage LPC members to write to the McGuinty Bros. The Dippers are startin' to make some intelligent noises on this issue but, like every other party, official NDP policy is still calling for strong support for biofuels.

JB

Food Crisis Finally Frontpage News

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, if you been payin' much attention to what's been happenin' around the world, the food crisis won't be much of a surprise. But, dangitall, I ain't seein' hardly squat in the Pergressive Boogeysphere about the food crisis. Now, I try to be a paragon of netiquette and I don't go all caps shoutin' very often. In fact, I never went all caps before but I am now.

24,000 PEOPLE STARVE TO DEATH EVERY DAY. ONE PERSON STARVES TO DEATH EVERY 5 SECONDS. THE CURRENT FOOD CRISIS MEANS THIS IS GOING TO GET A LOT WORSE VERY SOON.

Maybe your mind's been occupied with other stuff. The in-and-out scheme's been gettin' a lotta pixelplay in the boogs. Diane Finley's trouble with bikers an' tobacco farmers an' the Russian mob and immigrant advocacy groups an' Mohawk warriors is stirrin' up some interest. A lotta Canajun boogers got their eyeballs peeled on the bigass Merkin election and ol' Hillary an' Barack Obama. The TTC and Tyendinaga been gettin' some ink, too.

It ain't just the boogers who ain't been payin' attention. The North American main street media (MSM) been givin' the food crisis issue short shrift. Today, I was a little bit heartened to see that the Globe online edition is playin' a food crisis story as it's top item.

Maybe we ain't seein' much about it on accounta we'd all be feelin' a little guilty when we're crammin' a Tmmy's Venetian Creme into our gapin' gobs. It'd be tough enjoyin' a juicy steak if the dang blogs an' TV an' newspapers an' magazines was all tellin' how every 5 seconds some poor bastard keels over dead on accounta they ain't got enough food in their belly. It'd tough to enjoy the most basic of human need: food. So, we look the other way.

I reckon most of us don't wannna know about starvation because we'd quit enjoyin' our dinner. Too bad. Pretty soon, we ain't gonna have any choice. The food crisis is destabilizing governments. Desperately hungry people are bein' recruited to armed militias, gangs and terrorist cells with the lure of a daily meal.

One of the dumbest things about the food crisis is the fact that it would be so cheap to offset the current catastrophe. The UN World Food Program sez it needs a paltry $755 million bucks to stave off the immediate hunger of about 100 million people. That's about the same amount the Merkins spend each and every day over in EyeRack.

$755 million also about what Canada spends every 8 months, or so, in Afghanistan. Thing is, Afghanistan's one of the places where the food crisis is hittin' hardest. Since the warlords got all the farmland tied up growin' opium poppies, they ain't able to scratch out a meager subsistence like they was before we liberated 'em.

Today, I'm callin' on the fellers an' gals in the Canajun boogeysphere to start payin' attention to the food crisis. There's plenty o' stuff we can do the help the pore dirt-eatin' hordes but this boog story's long enough and I'm plannin' to keep the story alive by frequent boogin'. I gotta save some stuff fer tomorrow. I ain't worried that the issue will fade away by then.

Would you like fries with that?

JimBobby

Fun, Games and Free Rice for the Hungry

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, we got us a bigass disaster loomin'. The food crisis looks like it's gonna be long term and millions of people may die a slow, painful death by starvation. Countless others will be caught up in the civil strife that will shatter much of the developing world. The food crisis can be blamed on the confluence of a number of factors:

• Rising oil prices
• Unrestricted commodities market speculation
  
• The rise of the middle class in China and India
• Biofuel production and subsidization
• Extreme weather conditions
• Rapid population growth

Got money in mutual funds? You're probably invested in commodities and your portfolio is doing well thanks to record high profit taking on grains, oilseeds, rice and other food staples. Hedge fund traders are making out quite well these days and financial gurus are advising "investors" to go long on commodities.

Got 15 or 20 minutes? Play a fun vocabulary quiz and send a few grains of rice to some poor starving bastard in some hellhole where they might otherwise be eatin' dirt.


I played fer about 20 minutes an' managed to earn 3000 grains of rice. I ain't sure if that's enough fer more than one helpin'. Sounds like a lot but I figger maybe it's a cereal bowl full. Better than dirt, I reckon.

Itchin' to do more than play games? Wanna invest a few bucks into global security and feel good about feedin' hungry kids? Send some dough to World Vision. The food crisis is hittin' 'em hard. The high cost of food and fuel means the good fellers an' gals at World Vision are cutting back the number of people they can feed by 1,500,000. That's a million an' a half hungry folks who ain't gonna get any supper.

Wanna know my prediction? Over the next few weeks and months, we will see unprecedented violence and suffering all due to high food prices. Governments will fall. All other world issues will pale by comparison. Millions will be affected. Fingers of blame will be accurately pointed at commodities speculators, government-subsidized ethanol programs, meat-eaters, big oil, failure to act on climate change, failure to implement fair trade and failure to eliminate poverty.

JimBobby

CPoC Spokesman Paid With Taxpayer Dollars

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, the Trawna Star is reportin' that CPoC mouthpiece Ryan Sparrow is featherin' his nest with taxpayer money. Turns out he's gettin' half of his income from the party and half from you an' me.

Front-and-centre Tory partly paid by taxpayers

Apr 23, 2008 04:30 AM

Richard Brennan
Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA–The chief spokesperson for the Conservative Party of Canada in the Elections Canada controversy has half his salary paid by the taxpayer, the Toronto Star has learned.

While many know Ryan Sparrow as a highly partisan spokesperson, he acknowledged yesterday he splits his time between speaking on behalf of the party and working in government caucus research.

"I do work for caucus and I do work for (the) party and that's why I am paid by both," he said, adding that it would work out to "approximately" 50-50.

Asked what he specifically does for caucus, he refused to say. "We don't comment on staffing, I'm sorry."

Sparrow has been front and centre in defending the Conservative party regarding allegations by Elections Canada that it deliberately exceeded election spending limits during the 2006 campaign by more than $1 million.

Armed with a search warrant, the RCMP last week raided the party's national headquarters looking for documents related to the allegations.

The 26-year-old Sparrow also played a role in a botched scheme by the party to release the search warrant details to selective members of the media on Sunday. When other reporters got wind of the briefing, they showed up at the Ottawa hotel, sending party officials scrambling to escape the TV cameras and reporters' questions.

Speakin' of taxpayer dollars gettin' wasted, Finance Minister Flaherty broke the rules when he paid one of his buddyboys $122,000 to write a single speech that was delivered a single time. It's bad enough he broke the rules and is shameless about it. What's worse is that a finance minister would throw away $122K so frivolously.

JimBobby

UPDATE: It always does my heart good to see that the House of Comments is payin' attention to the Canajun Boogeysphere.

What can you get for $300 or $400 Million these days?

Whooee! Well friends an’ foes, suppose you had an extra $300 or $400 million bucks burnin’ a hole in yer pants pocket. Whaddya reckon you could get fer that sorta dough?

• $300 million will keep Canada’s war machine running in Afghanistan for about 4 months.
  
  
• $250 million will buy one year of Canadian aid and reconstruction in Afghanistan.
  
  
• $300 million will pay for the Ontario taxpayers’ share of cost overruns for the refurbishment of nuclear reactors by Bruce Power. The estimated $2.75 billion project is now expected to cost $3.1 to $3.4 billion.
  
  
• $326 million will buy twice the $163 million investment Ontario put into alternative energy programs in 2007.
  
  
• $300 million will provide 60% of the $500 million the UN’s World Food Program says it desperately needs to prevent 89 million people from starving.
  
  
• $300 million will fund the American war effort in Iraq for about 13 hours.
  
  
• $330 million will address clean water issues on every First Nations reserve in Canada.
  
  
• $300 million will buy TV ads for Al Gore’s 3 year climate change initiative.
  
  
• $400 million will clean up the Sydney Tar Ponds.
  
  
• $277 million will fund the taxpayers’ cost of a federal general election in Canada.

I’m sure itchin’ to spend $300 mil. I wonder what else I could get fer a big wad o’ cash like that.

JimBobby

Make Lunch, Not War

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, the new UN chief Ban-Ki Moon, is up on his hindlegs warnin' the world what's gonna happen if we don't get busy and feed the hungry folks who's sufferin' on accounta the high price of food. People will die. Governments will fall. Commodities speculators will get rich. That ain't so much a prediction as it is an assessment of what's already happening.

The UN World Food Program has said it needs an additional $500 million right now to avert catastrophe. The US came through with $200 million. Maybe that sounds like a lot of money. It ain't.

Every single day, 365 days a year, the US spends over $380 million on the war in Iraq. $200 million is what the US spends on the Iraq fiasco in about 13 or 14 hours. Every 13 or 14 hours.

If the US Iraq military spending was cut by less than 1% and the money was diverted to food aid, the threat to global security would be reduced considerably. Not only that, thousands and thousands of starving people would be able to eat enough to live. And, not least of all, the US would be hailed as saviours and heroes, instead of being damned as killers, occupiers and exploiters.

Us Canajuns ain't spending ourselves into bankruptcy quite as fast as our Merkin neighbours. We're spending $1 billion a year in Afghanistan. That's about $2.7 million per day. On war. Meanwhile, First Nations folks in Canada are rejoicing over a recent announcement of $330 million to provide clean drinking water on reserves. That's about the same amount of money that Bruce Power is over budget on refurbishing a couple of nuclear reactors; about the same amount we spend in the failed Afghan mission every 4 months.

I saw a bigass report on one of the big Merkin TV network news shows last night where they was all in a flap about the price of pizza goin' up. It's kinda tough to sympathize when we know that the poor bastards in Haiti are eatin' dirt just to get something into their aching bellies.

A couplafew days ago, I posted up a boog story entitled, McGuinty: "Let them eat dirt." In today's Trawna Star, I see my title is bein' reduced, re-used and recycled: Let them eat dirt?

I don't mind 'em usin' my paraphrase from Marie Antoinette's famous quip. Today's title, "Make Lunch, Not War", comes from an old hippie anti-Vietnam War slogan: "Make Love, Not War". The MSM is welcome to adopt it.

JimBobby

Attention MSM. Story of the Century. Where's the Media?

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, looks like we gotta harness the networkin' power of the innernet if we're gonna get the Main Street Media(MSM) payin' any attention to the story of the century. The locations of 28 mass graves of First nations children have been identified. I wrote about it yesterday but I only linked to Stageleft's post. This time, I'm postin' up the press releases from Friends of the Disappeared Children.

Location of Mass Graves of Residential School Children Revealed for the First Time; Independent Tribunal Established

Squamish Nation Territory ("Vancouver, Canada")
Thursday, April 10, 2008 11:00 am PST

At a public ceremony and press conference held today outside the colonial "Indian Affairs" building in downtown Vancouver, the Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) released a list of twenty eight mass graves across Canada holding the remains of untold numbers of aboriginal children who died in Indian Residential Schools.

The list was distributed today to the world media and to United Nations agencies, as the first act of the newly-formed International Human Rights Tribunal into Genocide in Canada (IHRTGC), a non-governmental body established by indigenous elders.

In a statement read by FRD spokesperson Eagle Strong Voice, it was declared that the IHRTGC would commence its investigations on April 15, 2008, the fourth Annual Aboriginal Holocaust Memorial Day. This inquiry will involve international human rights observers from Guatemala and Cyprus , and will convene aboriginal courts of justice where those persons and institutions responsible for the death and suffering of residential school children will be tried and sentenced. (The complete Statement and List of Mass Graves is reproduced below).

Eagle Strong Voice and IHRTGC elders will present the Mass Graves List at the United Nations on April 19, and will ask United Nations agencies to protect and monitor the mass graves as part of a genuine inquiry and judicial prosecution of those responsible for this Canadian Genocide.

Eyewitness Sylvester Greene spoke to the media at today's event, and described how he helped bury a young Inuit boy at the United Church's Edmonton residential school in 1953.

"We were told never to tell anyone by Jim Ludford, the Principal, who got me and three other boys to bury him. But a lot more kids got buried all the time in that big grave next to the school."

For more information: www.hiddenfromhistory.org, or write to the IHRTGC at: genocidetribunal@yahoo.ca

Issued on Squamish Territory , 10 April, 2008, under the authority of Hereditary Chief Kiapilano.

And the locations:

Press Statement: April 10, 2008

Mass Graves of Residential School Children Identified – Independent Inquiry Launched

We are gathered today to publicly disclose the location of twenty eight mass graves of children who died in Indian Residential Schools across Canada , and to announce the formation of an independent, non-governmental inquiry into the death and disappearance of children in these schools.

We estimate that there are hundreds, and possibly thousands, of children buried in these grave sites alone.

The Catholic, Anglican and United Church , and the government of Canada, operated the schools and hospitals where these mass graves are located. We therefore hold these institutions and their officers legally responsible and liable for the deaths of these children.

We have no confidence that the very institutions of church and state that are responsible for these deaths can conduct any kind of impartial or real inquiry into them. Accordingly, as of April 15, 2008, we are establishing an independent, non-governmental inquiry into the death and disappearance of Indian residential school children across Canada.

This inquiry shall be known as The International Human Rights Tribunal into Genocide in Canada (IHRTGC), and is established under the authority of the following hereditary chiefs, who shall serve as presiding judges of the Tribunal:


Hereditary Chief Kiapilano of the Squamish Nation

Chief Louis Daniels (Whispers Wind), Anishinabe Nation Chief Svnoyi Wohali (Night Eagle), Cherokee Nation

Lillian Shirt, Clan Mother, Cree Nation

Elder Ernie Sandy, Anishinabe (Ojibway) Nation

Hereditary Chief Steve Sampson, Chemainus Nation
Ambassador Chief Red Jacket of Turtle Island


Today, we are releasing to this Tribunal and to the people of the world the enclosed information on the location of mass graves connected to Indian residential schools and hospitals in order to prevent the destruction of this crucial evidence by the Canadian government, the RCMP and the Anglican, Catholic and United Church of Canada.

We call upon indigenous people on the land where these graves are located to monitor and protect these sites vigilantly, and prevent their destruction by occupational forces such as the RCMP and other government agencies.

Our Tribunal will commence on April 15 by gathering all of the evidence, including forensic remains, that is necessary to charge and indict those responsible for the deaths of the children buried therein.

Once these persons have been identified and detained, they will be tried and sentenced in indigenous courts of justice established by our Tribunal and under the authority of hereditary chiefs.

As a first step in this process, the IHRTGC will present this list of mass graves along with a statement to the United Nations in New York City on April 19, 2008. The IHRTGC will be asking the United Nations to declare these mass graves to be protected heritage sites, and will invite international human rights observers to monitor and assist its work.

Issued by the Elders and Judges of the IHRTGC

Interim Spokesperson: Eagle Strong Voice

Email: genocidetribunal@yahoo.ca pager: 1-888-265-1007

IHRTGC Sponsors include The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared, The Truth Commission into Genocide in Canada, the Defensoria Indigenia of Guatemala, Canadians for the Separation of Church and State, and a confederation of indigenous elders across Canada and Turtle Island.
...................................................................................................

Mass Graves at former Indian Residential Schools and Hospitals across Canada

A. British Columbia

1. Port Alberni: Presbyterian-United Church school (1895-1973), now occupied by the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council (NTC) office, Kitskuksis Road . Grave site is a series of sinkhole rows in hills 100 metres due west of the NTC building, in thick foliage, past an unused water pipeline. Children also interred at Tseshaht reserve cemetery, and in wooded gully east of Catholic cemetery on River Road .

2. Alert Bay : St. Michael’s Anglican school (1878-1975), situated on Cormorant Island offshore from Port McNeill. Presently building is used by Namgis First Nation. Site is an overgrown field adjacent to the building, and also under the foundations of the present new building, constructed during the 1960’s. Skeletons seen “between the walls”.

3. Kuper Island: Catholic school (1890-1975), offshore from Chemainus. Land occupied by Penelakut Band. Former building is destroyed except for a staircase. Two grave sites: one immediately south of the former building, in a field containing a conventional cemetery; another at the west shoreline in a lagoon near the main dock.

4. Nanaimo Indian Hospital: Indian Affairs and United Church experimental facility (1942-1970) on Department of National Defense land. Buildings now destroyed. Grave sites are immediately east of former buildings on Fifth avenue , adjacent to and south of Malaspina College .

5. Mission: St. Mary’s Catholic school (1861-1984), adjacent to and north of Lougheed Highway and Fraser River Heritage Park . Original school buildings are destroyed, but many foundations are visible on the grounds of the Park.

In this area there are two grave sites: a) immediately adjacent to former girls’ dormitory and present cemetery for priests, and a larger mass grave in an artificial earthen mound, north of the cemetery among overgrown foliage and blackberry bushes, and b) east of the old school grounds, on the hilly slopes next to the field leading to the newer school building which is presently used by the Sto:lo First Nation. Hill site is 150 metres west of building.

6. North Vancouver: Squamish (1898-1959) and Sechelt (1912-1975) Catholic schools, buildings destroyed. Graves of children who died in these schools interred in the Squamish Band Cemetery , North Vancouver .

7. Sardis: Coqualeetza Methodist-United Church school (1889-1940), then experimental hospital run by federal government (1940-1969). Native burial site next to Sto:lo reserve and Little Mountain school, also possibly adjacent to former school-hospital building.

8. Cranbrook: St. Eugene Catholic school (1898-1970), recently converted into a tourist “resort” with federal funding, resulting in the covering-over of a mass burial site by a golf course in front of the building. Numerous grave sites are around and under this golf course.

9. Williams Lake : Catholic school (1890-1981), buildings destroyed but foundations intact, five miles south of city. Grave sites reported north of school grounds and under foundations of tunnel-like structure.

10. Meares Island (Tofino): Kakawis-Christie Catholic school (1898-1974). Buildings incorporated into Kakawis Healing Centre. Body storage room reported in basement, adjacent to burial grounds south of school.

11. Kamloops : Catholic school (1890-1978). Buildings intact. Mass grave south of school, adjacent to and amidst orchard. Numerous burials witnessed there.

12. Lytton: St. George’s Anglican school (1901-1979). Graves of students flogged to death, and others, reported under floorboards and next to playground.

13. Fraser Lake : Lejac Catholic school (1910-1976), buildings destroyed. Graves reported under old foundations and between the walls.


Alberta:

1. Edmonton : United Church school (1919-1960), presently site of the Poundmaker Lodge in St. Albert . Graves of children reported south of former school site, under thick hedge that runs north-south, adjacent to memorial marker.

2. Edmonton : Charles Camsell Hospital (1945-1967), building intact, experimental hospital run by Indian Affairs and United Church . Mass graves of children from hospital reported south of building, near staff garden.

3. Saddle Lake : Bluequills Catholic school (1898-1970), building intact, skeletons and skulls observed in basement furnace. Mass grave reported adjacent to school.

4. Hobbema: Ermineskin Catholic school (1916-1973), five intact skeletons observed in school furnace. Graves under former building foundations.


Manitoba:

1. Brandon : Methodist-United Church school (1895-1972). Building intact. Burials reported west of school building.

2. Portage La Prairie: Presbyterian-United Church school (1895-1950). Children buried at nearby Hillside Cemetery .

3. Norway House: Methodist-United Church school (1900-1974). “Very old” grave site next to former school building, demolished by United Church in 2004.


Ontario:

1. Thunder Bay : Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital , still in operation. Experimental centre. Women and children reported buried adjacent to hospital grounds.

2. Sioux Lookout: Pelican Lake Catholic school (1911-1973). Burials of children in mound near to school.

3. Kenora: Cecilia Jeffrey school, Presbyterian-United Church (1900-1966). Large burial mound east of former school.

4. Fort Albany : St. Anne’s Catholic school (1936-1964). Children killed in electric chair buried next to school.

5. Spanish: Catholic school (1883-1965). Numerous graves.

6. Brantford : Mohawk Institute, Anglican church (1850-1969), building intact. Series of graves in orchard behind school building, under rows of trees.

7. Sault Ste. Marie: Shingwauk Anglican school (1873-1969), some intact buildings. Several graves of children reported on grounds of old school.


Quebec:

1. Montreal : Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University , still in operation since opening in 1940. MKULTRA experimental centre. Mass grave of children killed there north of building, on southern slopes of Mount Royal behind stone wall.

Sources:

- Eyewitness accounts from survivors of these institutions, catalogued in Hidden from History: The Canadian Holocaust (2nd ed., 2005) by Kevin Annett. Other accounts are from local residents. See www.hiddenfromhistory.org .

- Documents and other material from the Department of Indian Affairs RG 10 microfilm series on Indian Residential Schools in Koerner Library, University of B.C.

- Survey data and physical evidence obtained from grave sites in Port Alberni , Mission , and other locations.

This is a partial list and does not include all of the grave sites connected to Indian residential Schools and hospitals across Canada. In many cases, children who were dying of diseases were sent home to die by school and church officials, and the remains of other children who died at the school were incinerated in the residential school furnaces.

This information is submitted by The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) to the world media, the United Nations, and to the International Human Rights Tribunal into Genocide in Canada (IHRTGC). The IHRTGC will commence its investigations on April 15, 2008 on Squamish Nation territory.

For more information on the independent inquiry into genocide in Canada being conducted by the IHRTGC, write to: genocidetribunal@yahoo.ca


10 April, 2008

Squamish Nation Territory (“ Vancouver , Canada ”)
*******************************************************

Okay, bigass news media. There you go. This has been out there for 9 days and there's been barely a peep from the mainstream news outlets. I'm callin' yer sorryasses on this. If these graves was in Afghanistan or EyeRack, the media'd be all over it.

If yer a Facebookworm, there's a group for this issue. Join up and help tell the MSM we need them doin' some investigative work.

Stageleft has been all over this one and there's some good commentin' there.

JimBobby

Mass Graves Exposed in Canada

Whooee! This is the most important and also the most disturbing news in Canada today. It should be beyond belief but it ain't.

Read about it at Stageleft.

JB

Seal hunt unjustifiable, says Green Party

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, I'm posting a Green Party of Canada press release verbatim.

Seal hunt unjustifiable, says Green Party
OTTAWA – The Green Party today renewed its call for an immediate end to the commercial seal hunt, saying the hunt is impossible to justify on any basis and that successive governments have protected the hunt for far too long.

“The federal government has pulled out all the stops this year to keep the seal hunt afloat,” said Green Party leader Elizabeth May. “Taxpayers’ dollars have been wasted on a grand show for the European Union, complete with an expensive propaganda campaign and lobbying effort. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has even gone so far as to arrest and detain a foreign vessel. I can’t recall the last time the DFO bothered to arrest a foreign ship for actually overfishing on the nose and tail of the Grand Banks, which speaks to the DFO’s priorities.”

Ms. May said that the annual hunt is inherently inhumane, dangerous for workers, damaging to Canada's international reputation, produces little economic benefit to Atlantic communities and would cease to exist without massive government subsidies.

“Government propaganda and support for the seal hunt cannot be justified by economics,” said Ms. May. “The seal hunt accounts for less than one percent of Newfoundland’s economy, yet it is a huge drain on public coffers. For instance, the landed value of the 2007 seal kill was $12 million, but that year the federal government paid at least $3.4 million to rescue ice-locked sealers and more than twice that to compensate fishers affected by ice conditions, including those sealers. Taxpayers also foot the bill for aircraft used to locate seal nurseries and are led to the seals by Coast Guard icebreakers. Canadian tax dollars support this hunt, even though most Canadians favour ending it.

“This year, pelt prices are down, fuel costs are up and many sealers say it is not worthwhile to go to the ice floes. The European Union will bring down a ban on seal product imports this summer which will cripple the sealing industry. The clock is running out on this hunt, but the government can make the transition smoother by devising a strategy for those affected.

“The government should bite the bullet now, buy out sealing licenses and initiate negotiations with provincial and municipal governments in Atlantic Canada to find sustainable alternative livelihoods for sealers and their communities.”

The Green Party is proposing a generous compensation package for sealers coupled with ecotourism and seal watching tours to develop the economies of affected communities. Ms. May noted that ecotourism is more consistent with the goal of rehabilitating the ecosystem as a whole and that other measures, such as banning drag trawling, are also critical to preserving the regional ecosystem.

In the last election, the Greens lost some support in Newfoundland and Labrador for the anti-hunt stance. One GPC candidate quit to protest our party's line. Too bad. I'm proud that we are standing up for humane treatment of animals. I'm also happy that we're not afraid to take an unpopular stand when our principles are at stake.

Elizabeth did the right thing last week when she resigned her directorship of the Sea Shepherd Society. Paul Watson's callous remarks were not acceptable. The Green Party is built on Six Green Values.

The first one is Ecological Wisdom

"We acknowledge that human beings are part of the natural world and we respect the specific values of all forms of life, including non-human species."

JimBobby

McGuinty: "Let them eat dirt."

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, ol' JimBobby's blood's a-boilin' this mornin'. I just seen a second Mop & Pail article tellin' how Premier Dalton Ginty ain't gonna rethink Ontario's ethanol policy. The dumbass Ginty don't believe that food prices are risin' on accounta gummint support fer corn ethanol.

Premier defends Ontario's growing hunger for corn

MURRAY CAMPBELL

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty says he will not reconsider his government's program of helping ethanol producers despite concern that it is driving up food prices.

He said yesterday that the three-year-old program to support the production of ethanol - a corn-derived alcohol used as a gasoline additive - is not the dominant factor in increasing the price of corn and other commodities.

Mr. McGuinty said that energy prices have risen and that severe droughts in the world have limited crops. He also noted that an emerging middle class in China and India is seeking a better quality of food.

"A whole bunch of circumstances are driving up food prices," he told reporters after speaking to the fourth annual Agri-Food summit.

Ontario launched a 12-year, $520-million plan in 2005 after implementing a requirement that there be at least 5 per cent ethanol in all gasoline sold in the province. More than $26-million in capital grants to producers have been approved, with operational grants allocated for 485 million litres of ethanol in the next decade.

The incentives are luring investors into the ethanol business, and there are fears that production of the additive could eventually consume virtually all of the province's corn production of about 283 million bushels a year. The concern, which seems borne out by recent food riots in Asia, is that the scarcity of the commodity will push up prices for food processors dependent on corn for cereals and sweeteners and for farmers who use corn to feed their poultry.

Last year, about 2.1 million acres of land in Ontario were planted in corn, compared with 1.6 million acres the year earlier. Officials at the Ministry of Agriculture expect the acreage devoted to corn to increase significantly in the next few years.

The ministry estimates Ontario farms are providing about 350 million litres of the current demand for ethanol of 850 million litres. It anticipates that by 2012, Ontario will be producing 1.8 billion litres and will be an exporter, rather than an importer.

Mr. McGuinty said the government is convinced that Ontario's hunger for corn is not driving up prices.

"The big driver here in Ontario has not been ethanol," he told reporters. "All grain prices have gone up, not just corn."

Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky said the government has invested $7.5-million into research on ethanol production that leaves corn kernels for consumer use and derives ethanol from the husks and stalks left after harvesting.

Godammit, Ginty. Don't you understand anything about economics? Don't you know that when more corn is planted and used for fuel that less land is available for food grain production? Don't you care about anybody outside Ontario? Sure, food prices have risen in Ontario. Sure, corn ethanol, might not be the biggest factor. But, dammit, it is a factor and it's contributing to the global food crisis. People are hungry. People are starving. People are rioting for affordable food.

People are eating dirt, Mr. Premier. How much worse does it need to get?

Poor Haitians Resort to Eating Dirt

Jonathan M. Katz in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Associated Press

January 30, 2008

It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst slums, and Charlene Dumas was eating mud.

With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some must take desperate measures to fill their bellies.

Charlene, 16 with a month-old son, has come to rely on a traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs: cookies made of dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau.

The mud has long been prized by pregnant women and children here as an antacid and source of calcium. But in places such as Cité Soleil, the oceanside slum where Charlene shares a two-room house with her baby, five siblings, and two unemployed parents, cookies made of dirt, salt, and vegetable shortening have become a regular meal.

"When my mother does not cook anything, I have to eat them three times a day," Charlene said. Her baby, named Woodson, lay still across her lap, looking even thinner than the slim 6 pounds, 3 ounces (2.7 kilograms, 85 grams) he weighed at birth.

Though she likes their buttery, salty taste, Charlene said the cookies also give her stomach pains. "When I nurse, the baby sometimes seems colicky too," she said.
(Source: National Geographic. Read more...)

And what does Ginty say?

"The big driver here in Ontario has not been ethanol," he told reporters. "All grain prices have gone up, not just corn."

Look, you dumbass, we all know that nobody's starvin' to death in Ontario. Nobody's rioting for food in Ontario. Nobody's eatin' dirt in Ontario. The food crisis threatens to destabilize poorer countries all over the world. Don't you even read the newspapers, Ginty? Are you just as uninformed that other ignoramus non-reader who also supports ethanol?

Canada needs to get off the ethanol bandwagon. Now. Not after food riots come to Canada. Not after tens of thousands perish from malnutrition and civil violence brought about by hunger. Now.

We don't live in a closed economy, Ginty. What we do here has effects in Haiti, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Ivory Coast and hundreds of other hellholes where people normally spend 75% of their income on food.

Here in Ontario, we spend between 10% and 20% of our income on food. If food prices double, like they have already done in many countries, we will spend between 20% and 40% of our income on food. Some Ontarians may have to forgo the Big Macs and a few Timmy's donuts. Some may need to resort to food banks. We'll need to tighten our belts and start gettin' back to basics like buyin' Ontario-grown produce and eatin' less processed crap and less fast food. For some, it'll be an adjustment. They'll live.

In places where they were already spending 75% of their income on basic foods, a doubling of food prices means they need 150% of their income for food. I ain't an economist, either, Ginty, but I know that spendin' 150% of yer income on food don't leave much for shelter or clothing or any of the other necessities of life.

When folks are starvin' to death, they got nothin' to lose. They blame their gummints and the rich assholes in the West. They are easily recruited to violent movements, jihads, revolutions and riots.

Ontario ain't the only guilty party. Ontario's support for ethanol may not be "the dominant factor" but, it's one of the factors and it's one over which the Ontario gummint has control.

Ontario cannot single-handedly eliminate world hunger. We don't need to contribute to it, though. The UN food program estimates a $500 million shortfall this year in its valiant effort to adequately feed 89 million poor bastards who can't afford basic sustenance. Instead of pumpin' our money into a scam that does nothing for the environment and is making wealthy commodities dealers salivate with glee over windfall profits, we could be helpin' the poor and hungry. We could lead the way.

Or, we can let them eat dirt.

JimBobby
pissed off

Canada's Ethanol Policy Contributing to Food Crisis

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, some dang chickens is comin' home to roost. All over the world, poor folks is strugglin' just to put one meal a day into their pitiful bodies. An' we're bitchin' about the price of gas when we hafta fgill up the chugmobile. There's close connection between the two things, too.

The bigass commodities boys sold their ethanol big lie to the top levels of government in the US, Canada, the UK and the EU. Just like the big nuke merchants, the big corn lobby didn't waste any time tryin' to figger out how they could fleece a public concerned about climate change and greenhouse gases. Ethanol and other dumbass biofuels are a big part of the reason people are riotin' an' dyin' in the Philippines, Haiti, Egypt, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal, Cameroon and Vietnam.

Food shortages ain't just a humanitarian issue. It's a security issue. Hungry folks who're starvin' to death got absolutely nuthin' to lose and they've got excellent motivation: life. The bigass G8's all over the problem at their big pow-wow down in Washington, DC.

Ministers representing 185 countries agreed on the weekend that soaring food prices threaten global calamity and pledged to co-operate on a solution to save the world's poorest people from starvation.
(Good Guardian article...)

Ethanol ain't the only reason folks is starvin' but it's one of the reasons. Nobody seems to be disputin' that except maybe the Brazilian cane growers and the big Iowa corn boys. In the 2006 budget, the Harper bunch gave away $2 billion fer ethanol and biofuel development. Most everyone knows by now that ethanol ain't a GHG reducer and ain't doin' a single thing to help ol' Mother Earth. It takes somethin' like 1 an' a third liters of petro to make one litre of ethanol and it gobbles up fresh water like nobody's business.

But it is somebody's business and that business got $2 billion from us while it contributed to the food crisis that's killin' poor folks all over the place.

Here's some numbers from the Guardian:

Food in figures

93,000,000 Acres of corn planted by US farmers last year, up 19 per cent on 2006.

76% Amount of US corn used for animal feed.

8kg Amount of grain it takes to produce 1kg of beef.

20% Portion of US corn used to produce five billion gallons of ethanol in 2006-07.

50kg Quantity of meat consumed annually by the average Chinese person, up from 20kg in 1985.

10% Anticipated share of biofuels used for transport in the EU by 2020.

$500m The UN World Food Programme's shortfall this year, in attempting to feed 89 million needy people.

9.2bn The world's predicted population by 2050. It's 6.6bn now.

130% The rise in the cost of wheat in 12 months.

16 times The overall food consumption of the world's richest 20 per cent compared with that of the poorest 20 per cent.

58% Jump in the price of pork in China in the past year.

$900 The cost of one tonne of Thai premier rice, up 30 per cent in a month.

Here's something that really gets under my skin. Little wee Canada gives away $2 billion to these ethanol guys and it would take only $500 million to top up the UN's food program so they could help 89 million hungry people survive. That's right. With just one-quarter of the money we spent on developing biofuels so we can drive the chugmobiles and tell ourselves we're saving the planet, we could feed the multitudes. And that's just Canada.

We need to get our gummint to quit subsidizin' these ethanol guys. I know it ain't gonna be too popular with the farmers. They ain't starvin' to death, though. Farmers ain't to blame. They do what they gotta do. They gotta buy seeds, fertilizers, tractors, combines, silos, and other stuff to grow that corn. The bigass seed and fertilizer outfits like Monsanto are the ones who engineered the lobbyin' to get all these gummints makin' laws sayin' we gotta have 10%-20% ethanol.

Us Canajuns gotta decide what's really important. Do we keep up with a corporate welfare feel-good program of promotin' ethanol? Or do we put a moratorium on biofuel until we quit starvin' people to death so's we can fill up the chugmobile an' drive three blocks to the Timmy's Drive-Thru window?

JimBobby

Small Town Life, Church Fire Devastates Community

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, I ain't a believer and I ain't a churchgoer. I go when there's a funeral or wedding. Once or twice a year, the little band I play in does a stint at the the United Church where we play a few ol' timey gospel songs fer their Sunday m