A few months back on my former blog, I wrote about ethanol being a bad alternative source for fuel. I didn’t think the backlash would start so soon, but have you been to the grocery store lately? I mean, seriously. Food prices are up 17% and part of the blame is ethanol based fuels. I know it’s not all because of ethanol based fuels, but a good chunk of it is. The dollar is also getting slapped around like Colt Brennan vs. Marcus Howard in the Sugar Bowl. If you were a farmer getting, say, $50 a truck for soybeans and you can grow corn and make $200, wouldn’t you get Jethro out on the tractor to plow up the soybeans while you go buy some corn seeds? Me, too. I am not a farmer, so I guarantee no accuracy on neither the price of soybeans nor the measure of purchase. I seriously doubt people are buying and selling soybeans by the truckload. Maybe they are.
The other issues that have been a little unsettling are the gas and water issues. Let me state from the get-go that I do not think we are going to run out of water. That being said, the fam is doing it’s darn well best to conserve water…wet the toothbrush quickly, turn off water…no sprinkling of the lawn…no filling up the bathtub for Q (we get one full pitcher of water at a time and take care of business)…you get the drift. Gas is getting so expensive that we are starting to alter the way we drive. People across the country and the world are doing their part to conserve gasoline (for economic AND environmental issues) and water (for fear of a limited supply). And they are being rewarded how? By having their prices raised to help cover the decline in use. In California, residents are curtailing their driving to save gas and, since it is California, probably to help the environment. And their reward? The government is hiking their gas taxes to make up for the decline in use. Aye, yi yi.
While I am at it, I have to say, I am really getting sick and tired of kids, adults, girls, etc. beating the hell out of each other and videotaping it for the world to see. The line between reality and movie/fantasy is GONE. I remember Les Beauchamp saying at camp years ago that there was a generation of kids being raised without strong parental guidance that would basically become predators. He was abso-freaking-lutely right. Violent video games, horror movies, the Internets and, in my opinion, the lack of fathers who give a damn have helped to create young people with rage in their hearts. It sickens me to no end to watch the news and the stories we see have to deal with a teenage girl getting beat down by a bunch of redneck skanks. And as I type this while watching the news, some dude videotaped himself forcing a toddler to take some bong hits. Videotaped it! We show the most shameful things to the world! Not only have people lost their minds, they are taping it for the whole world to see!
We need a revolution.
Right on, B.
I agree fully. I’m not as knowledgeable about the ethanol issue, but thanks to you in part, I’m knowing more each day. Gas prices are surely going UP!
The videotaping of things is bizarre. Les Beauchamp was right, as well as the strange man, Andy Warhol. 15 minutes of “fame” for everyone….
By: Sean Kirkland on April 17, 2008
at 8:12 am
The gas price thing is such a racket. The price of oil goes up a dollar, and the stations up the price another nickel or dime the next day. But when the price drops, they wait a full week before changing the price, and it’s never reciprocal. (But I still have some XOM in my 401(k), so take my comments with a grain of salt.)
Heard a story yesterday about the price of rice. It’s doubled to about $850 per ton since the new year. Only 3 years ago, it was around $200 per ton. The problem isn’t related to biofuels, but rather the 2.5 billion people in Asia who eat rice as a staple in their diet. Several weather-related incidents contributed to reduce the crop on top of that (some of which were contrary to the global-warming paradigm – hmmm). As the price rises, Asian farmers see opportunities to export (and make some dough) while Asian governments see the main food supply for their citizens leaving the country. So they place limits on or effectively cut off the exports to try to ensure that their citizens have food to eat (noble but Adam Smith would not be a fan). Now those who need/want to import the rice (e.g., Nigeria) have a smaller market to shop in. When the market’s supply is less than the consumers’ demand, the price goes up. Some estimate the price will hit $1000 per ton by year’s end.
By: ManUtd17 on April 17, 2008
at 3:57 pm
I watched a documentary last night on PBS/Independent Lens called, “King Corn.” It was by some late 20-something guys about where the corn produced in our country goes to. Very interesting. Loads and loads of corn going to feeding farms for meat, for the production of high fructose corn syrup, etc. Turns out, farmers don’t really make all that much for the crummy-quality corn they produce — but they get some pretty fat subsidy checks from the government. Also, the doc claimed that 70% of the nation’s antibiotics go to the cows on these feeding farms, because the corn-heavy diet they consume begins to kill them in the end (too much acid), unless they have the meds. It was very interesting and entertaining, similar to Morgan Spurlock’s “Super Size Me.”
By: Sean Kirkland on April 17, 2008
at 5:10 pm
We’re at the end of Roman’s 1, fo sho.
By: caroline on April 29, 2008
at 7:24 pm