Bulgarian Bread Riots
(Updated:
Fri Nov 30 05:49:41 CST 2007)
(Conspiracy
Nation, 11/27/07) -- In Bulgaria, an
anti-monopoly commission is investigating a possible bread producers
conspiracy increasing the price of bread.
In the West African
haven of Senegal, riots have swept across Senegal's capital Dakar.
Rising prices of rice and bread, and a perception that the government
is building luxury hotels and highways while ignoring the poor, meant
the trouble quickly spread. ("Riots betray unease in W.Africa
haven Senegal," by Nick Tattersall and Diadie Ba. Reuters, Nov.
22, 2007)
In Washington, DC, at the Bread For The City
charity, a mini-riot seemed imminent when Turkeys ran low. One woman
reportedly said, "The lady says there are no turkeys left, what
are we going to do?" ("Plight of the Huddled Masses: A Hard
Time for Thanksgiving," by Leonard Doyle. Axis of Logic, Nov.
23, 2007)
Among other causes, Doyle (op. cit.) cites
"America’s obsession with energy independence from Middle
East oil... The country’s farmers have brought in the greatest
corn harvest since the Second World War, but their surpluses which
once were bought by the government and sent to food banks are no
longer available. Instead the corn is turned into heavily subsidised
ethanol and less land is available to grow food."
This
ethanol idiocy has been previously reported by Conspiracy Nation.
In "Grocery Prices Don't Count"
(http://www.shout.net/~bigred/Groceries.html),
food price rises, not counted as inflation by the "Federal"
Reserve, was examined. "Rising demand for ethanol has driven up
the price of corn. The price for a gallon of milk is up 21 percent.
Orange juice costs 31 percent more."
The cost of ethanol also involves a gouging of taxpayers, since it is government subsidized. Commenting on the corn-based ethanol industry, Congressman Henry Waxman complained the “corn lobby” is enriched. (“Ethanol a sticking point in energy bill”, by Richard Simons. L.A. Times, Nov. 28, 2007)
Doubts are mounting about the “ethanol craze”,
summarizes the Wall Street Journal. (“Ethanol Craze Cools As
Doubts Multiply,” by Lauren Etter. Nov. 28, 2007). Which is
more important? Feeding cars or feeding people?? To ethanol
aficionados, making more
bucks is the bottom line.
The energy balance for
ethanol is a pitiful 1.3 to 1, “meaning that corn-based ethanol
produces barely more energy than is consumed to make it.”
(ibid.) The Kapitalism situation in the United States, wrongly called
"Capitalism," appears complicit in corn price rises, up 58
percent this year. Congress persons from heavy corn producing states
get through special "pork" deals. The government actually
mandates that less food be produced, so that corn can be diverted
into ethanol. Archer-Daniels Midland profits soar, thanks to the
grotesque Kapitalist symbiosis between politicians and big
business.
In America, someone once said, we have socialism for
the rich and "the great free market" for the rest of us.
There is some truth to this.
"Socialism for the rich"
may be evident in an unprecedented injection of billions of dollars
into the money supply. Monetarist theory means more cash printed
causes the dollar to decline in value, in turn causing groceries to
cost more. "In a highly unusual move, the Federal Reserve Bank
of New York said yesterday that it was putting an additional $8bn
into the financial system through 43-day loans, money that won't have
to be paid back until 10 January. The duration of the loans is
substantially longer than that in normal market operations by the
Fed." ("Fed pumps $8bn into market to head off new crunch,"
by Stephen Foley. Independent (U.K.), Nov. 27, 2007). In a nutshell,
this can be seen as putting Wall Street's troubles onto the backs of
average Americans: they pay more for groceries because Wall Street
screwed up and "must be bailed out".
Besides ethanol, the stock market is being
subsidized. The “Fed” $8 billion injection buoyed
averages on Monday. Billions of dollars funneled into Citigroup by
Abu Dhabi subsidized Tuesday's rally. A perceived future rate cut by
the “Fed” sent the Dow soaring on Wednesday. All this
suggests desperation, not prosperity. Printing gobs of paper won't
make us rich. But meanwhile, watch those food prices inflate.
Jack
planted magic beans (e-z credit) and a beanstalk (stock market) grew
high into the sky. The giant ("Federal" Reserve) saw
reality endangering the beanstalk. Roared the giant, "Fee, fie,
foe, fum. I smell the blood of a working man. Be he live or be he
dead, I'll grind his bones (tax, inflate) to make my bread."
(See also, "Jack and the Beanstalk, Exposed,"
http://www.shout.net/~bigred/Beanstalk.html)
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