Rising Fuel and Food Prices….The Real Cost

In the past few months we have been hit with rising fuel and food prices in North America. We have watched the riots and revolutions break out in North Africa and the Middle East which has escalated the price of oil even more than the rate it was rising prior to that. Our generation, in North America and much of the Western World we have had probably had the highest standard of living in human history. North Americans have been blessed with relatively cheap fuel and cheap food. Are we seeing the end of that? I believe there is a storm ahead. I am not sure how bad things will be in Canada and the US, but our standard of living will be affected in a negative way in the coming years ahead.

The Middle East crisis shows the extreme fragility of the global energy system. Riots and revolutions across the Middle East and Africa are like a double edged sword. These riots are partly to blame on the rising cost of food in these nations. When people have a hard time feeding themselves or their families tensions mount. However, these riots are partly to blame for rising oil prices and commodity prices throughout the world, which of course leads to higher food prices. There are many factors that contribute to the price of oil. Speculation on world financial markets is certainly one of them. There is no doubt that the oil industry has a lot of power. They can raise prices as they see fit and also can suppress any alternative energy sources that threaten their monopoly. It is interesting how some oil companies have invested in cleaner energy sources so they can control that sector too. The most powerful people in the world have a hand in the oil companies, and therefore they will never allow free energy to cut into their profits, so they do everything they can in order to keep this type of energy suppressed. We as citizens must break the chains of the rich and powerful oil companies or else we will always be held hostage by price fluctuations of oil and having no real energy alternatives.

All humans need food to survive. That is a common necessity for every human on this planet which is approaching 7 billion. According to World Hunger statistics, every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger. 75% of them are children. 24,000 people die every day from starvation or malnutrition. That is tragic. The higher food prices rise, the higher the number of people that go hungry. Rising food prices are harder on the world’s poor than it is on the wealthier nations. A recent study showed that citizens of Canada and the US spend less than 15 percent of their income on food on average. In contrast, many citizens of third world countries spend over half their income on average on food. There are many reasons for the increase in food prices. The expanding population growth, especially in Asia, adds to the demand of food. Weather patterns affect food commodity prices, when droughts, floods and other abnormal weather patterns occur. Speculation on global stock markets can also drive prices higher. Oil is the backbone of economies, especially in the western world. When the price of oil goes up it costs us more to put gas in our cars. It also costs more to supply food to citizens. Farmers up to delivery services that supply our food have to pay more for fuel and that eventually gets passed on to consumers.

The planet is heading for difficult times if the proper decisions are not made. In 1950 the population of the planet was less than three billion. Sixty years later the population is approaching seven billion. That is a phenomenal growth and although technology has advanced in many areas including food production, of the over six billion people, about half live in poverty and at least one fifth are severely undernourished. We in the wealthy nations will be affected with food shortages if action is not taken soon! Will we allow greed and ignorance to stand in the way of securing the future of this planet?

TurmOIL Across the World

2011 has begun with massive unrest across the Middle East and especially North Africa. Revolts and revolutions have sprung up across different countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and now Libya as I write this. To a lesser extent Iran, Yemen, Bahrain and a few others have joined this bonfire of discontent. What is the cause of this? Where will this lead to? There are many theories both presented by mainstream media and other media sources. It is not simply a black and white issue in my opinion. There are many causes to the civil unrest. Many of these countries have ruthless dictators that have hung to power for decades. I believe these kinds of revolts against governments and authorities are going to spread to other countries and not just in North Africa and the Middle East. Last year we saw minor skirmishes in different areas of Europe. I believe this is going to go worldwide!

The internet has changed the way people communicate and unite. Social networks such as twitter and facebook have connected people together with certain causes and beliefs and made it easier to organize. The population is waking up to certain global issues. Corporate and government corruption has been exposed like never before. Websites like Wikileaks, Infowars and many others have informed people the real corruption of our world leaders and major corporations. Big Pharma and Big Agra are example of how greedy and corrupt some of these corporations have become. Big Corporations and Governments across the world are finding it more difficult to hide their dirty deeds with the increasing availability of the internet to the middle and lower class. What happened in Egypt this past month has also shown people that corrupt governments and dictators can be ousted out when people band together. I am not saying that the replacement leadership in Egypt will be great, but anyone around the world wanting to overthrow corrupt leaders were given some type of hope by what transpired in Egypt.

Food prices are going up worldwide. Prices are up because of a worldwide surge in commodity prices that has many causes. Speculation from Wall Street and big banks is one main reason. The current spike in food prices, which has now exceeded the price spike in 2008, has been blamed on various factors, including unusual weather events, higher demand, smaller crop yields, and the use of food crops for biofuels. The World Bank is warning that global food prices have hit dangerous levels, particularly in poor countries where the prices of many key staples have jumped by more than fifty per cent in the past six months. When the average person sees the big banks being bailed out by tax payers and austerity measures being imposed, while the lower to middle class are being forced to do more with less, there is much anger. More people are going hungry when they watch their leaders living a lifestyle of extreme luxury.This anger along with the ease of communication offered by the internet and social networks leads to revolts and revolutions.

Just less than three years ago in July 2008 the price of oil peaked at $145 US a barrel. It was at time the economy started to unravel in much of the Western world. The price of oil along with other factors including banking scams almost crashed the economy and we haven’t fully recovered yet. Oil is the backbone to our economy in North America. The price of food in fact is greatly related to the price of petroleum. By the end of 2008 oil was down to just over $30 a barrel. How is that for a price adjustment! Fast forward to 2011 where we entered the year with oil in the $80 US ballpark. The economy is still fragile in many parts of the world despite what the mainstream media reports. With the revolutions in Libya the price of a barrel of oil has jumped over $10 in just a few days to $100 a barrel. If the bonfire explodes further in the Middle East we can expect $145 oil again and perhaps even higher. Add to this the depreciation of the US dollar due to its massive debt, it will add to the cost of oil and food in the United States. With an already depressed economy in many areas and rising food prices, it doesn’t take a genius to predict that the riots that are happening in the Middle East and Africa will spread to Europe and even here in North America.

Three years ago when the price of oil spiked there was much talk and debate about alternative energy. Hybrid and electric cars were discussed a lot and some companies introduced hybrid models onto the marketplace. Also in 2008, after the oil spike the economy was teetering on collapse. But oil went down to under $40 US a barrel and the government bailed out the failing banks and corporations and all was well it seemed. The general population shrugged it off and went back to the way it was in many cases before 2008. Even talk of alternative energy has subsided somewhat since 2008 in my opinion. We should have looked at 2008 as a serious warning! Did we heed that warning? I am not sure that we did. We a now facing a perfect storm with rising gas prises, rising food prices, and more economic pain. Add to that riots and revolutions in much of the world.

The Birds and the Bees……and the fish in the Sea.

Many of us learned about the birds and the bees in our younger years. But seriously, I am not going to talk about the human anatomy here (we can leave that up to the TSA at American airports since they specialize in that now). What I want to mention is the astonishing deaths of birds and honey bees in addition to other wildlife such as fish recently.

As we enter 2011, more environmental issues are being reported. One that has got attention is the thousands of dead birds falling from the sky in the southern US. In Arkansas, thousands of red-winged blackbirds fell from the sky and plummeted to the ground where they were found dead. A few days later in Louisiana 500 red-winged blackbirds fell out of the sky, most found dead. In the past week, nearly 100,000 fish washed up on the shores of the Arkansas River and in Chesapeake Bay, an estimated 2 million dead fish have washed up onto Maryland shores. Other reports of a mass of dead birds and fish being found recently have been reported around the world. Hundreds of dead turtle doves have been found in a town in northern Italy in the past few weeks, believed to have been poisoned. Different types of birds have been found dead in Canada, Sweden and other countries recently, however, being on a smaller scale.'

Much of the mainstream media have reported fireworks, localized hail, power lines, or other phenomena that caused the birds to panic and fly into one another (maybe it was Sylvester the cat!). These theories don’t explain why similar events are occurring in different areas of the United States and the world and it doesn’t explain the puzzle of mass fish deaths. I don’t buy much of those mainstream media theories. The mainstream media is a puppet for big corporations and the government, who in my opinion is hiding the real truth that caused this rare occurrence among others. Did fireworks cause the dead birds in Louisiana a few days later? No, of course not, and that is why the mainstream media is starting to downplay these incidents now. This could be result of toxins from a corporation or the actions of a government experiment. Maybe, just maybe, it could be fallout from all the oil and dispersants used on the massive BP oil spill last year. I hope people from the area don’t suffer the same fate as the birds. Maybe it is electomagnetical, biological or chemical warfare tests conducted by the US government. Another theory is HAARP, the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program being conducted by the government. Maybe it is the result of some dirty deeds from big corporate powers. I am not a bird or fish expert myself and I am in Canada and have not seen a mass of dead birds on the ground (at least not yet). I am just stating theories that are being stated by various sources online. You can bet however, the government and big corporate powers would never come clean if they were behind it!

Another worrisome trend is that honeybees are dying off at an incredibly disturbing rate. Colony collapse disorder (CCD), a condition where bees stray from the hive and never find their way back, is wiping out millions of nature's pollinators every year. Some researchers believe that bee populations may be negatively affected by the rise in electromagnetic radiation in the atmosphere due to the increasing numbers of wireless communication towers and mobile phones. Others state the growing use of chemical herbicides and pesticides could be killing the bee population. It also could be somehow related to climate change. The honeybee, which is the species of bees that is disappearing, is the insect that is the most important for the human food chain. The honeybee is the species that is the main pollinator of hundreds of types of food crops, nuts, flowers, fruits and vegetables. There may be various theories as to why the bee population is decreasing but the one fact remains the same. This will be a world catastrophe is this trend continues.'

Greedy corporations and the governments that cater to them, in my opinion, are probably the main reason for these wildlife deaths. Whoever is behind this, mother earth is giving us a warning. Could this be mass die-offs marking the beginning of a series of catastrophes? Is it signaling that the biblical last days are about to begin? There are superstitions regarding dead birds and bad omens. I don’t personally have to answer to these questions. One thing most sane people can agree on is this: We cannot keep abusing the planet the way we have been. We as the human species are poisoning our ecosystem at an alarming rate. Nature is interconnected and this issue will affect us all.