Entries from April 20, 2008 - April 26, 2008
Food it's not just for eating, it's for Rationing now, just practice for gasoline
http://www2.nysun.com/article/74994
Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World
By JOSH GERSTEIN
Staff Reporter of the Sun
April 21, 2008
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Many parts of America, long considered the
breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable
phenomenon: food rationing. Major retailers in New York, in areas of New
England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and
cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports
that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.
At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers grew
frustrated and occasionally uttered expletives as they searched in vain
for the large sacks of rice they usually buy.
"Where's the rice?" an engineer from Palo Alto, Calif., Yajun Liu, said.
"You should be able to buy something like rice. This is ridiculous."
The bustling store in the heart of Silicon Valley usually sells four or
five varieties of rice to a clientele largely of Asian immigrants, but
only about half a pallet of Indian-grown Basmati rice was left in stock. A
20-pound bag was selling for $15.99.
"You can't eat this every day. It's too heavy," a health care executive
from Palo Alto, Sharad Patel, grumbled as his son loaded two sacks of the
Basmati into a shopping cart. "We only need one bag but I'm getting two in
case a neighbor or a friend needs it," the elder man said.
The Patels seemed headed for disappointment, as most Costco members were
being allowed to buy only one bag. Moments earlier, a clerk dropped two
sacks back on the stack after taking them from another customer who tried
to exceed the one-bag cap.
"Due to the limited availability of rice, we are limiting rice purchases
based on your prior purchasing history," a sign above the dwindling supply
said.
Shoppers said the limits had been in place for a few days, and that rice
supplies had been spotty for a few weeks. A store manager referred
questions to officials at Costco headquarters near Seattle, who did not
return calls or e-mail messages yesterday.
An employee at the Costco store in Queens said there were no restrictions
on rice buying, but limits were being imposed on purchases of oil and
flour. Internet postings attributed some of the shortage at the retail
level to bakery owners who flocked to warehouse stores when the price of
flour from commercial suppliers doubled.
The curbs and shortages are being tracked with concern by survivalists who
view the phenomenon as a harbinger of more serious trouble to come.
"It's sporadic. It's not every store, but it's becoming more commonplace,"
the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, James Rawles, said. "The number of reports
I've been getting from readers who have seen signs posted with limits has
increased almost exponentially, I'd say in the last three to five weeks."
Spiking food prices have led to riots in recent weeks in Haiti, Indonesia,
and several African nations. India recently banned export of all but the
highest quality rice, and Vietnam blocked the signing of a new contract
for foreign rice sales.
"I'm surprised the Bush administration hasn't slapped export controls on
wheat," Mr. Rawles said. "The Asian countries are here buying every kind
of wheat." Mr. Rawles said it is hard to know how much of the shortages
are due to lagging supply and how much is caused by consumers hedging
against future price hikes or a total lack of product.
"There have been so many stories about worldwide shortages that it
encourages people to stock up. What most people don't realize is that
supply chains have changed, so inventories are very short," Mr. Rawles, a
former Army intelligence officer, said. "Even if people increased their
purchasing by 20%, all the store shelves would be wiped out."
At the moment, large chain retailers seem more prone to shortages and
limits than do smaller chains and mom-and-pop stores, perhaps because
store managers at the larger companies have less discretion to increase
prices locally. Mr. Rawles said the spot shortages seemed to be most
frequent in the Northeast and all the way along the West Coast. He said he
had heard reports of buying limits at Sam's Club warehouses, which are
owned by Wal-Mart Stores, but a spokesman for the company, Kory Lundberg,
said he was not aware of any shortages or limits.
An anonymous high-tech professional writing on an investment Web site,
Seeking Alpha, said he recently bought 10 50-pound bags of rice at Costco.
"I am concerned that when the news of rice shortage spreads, there will be
panic buying and the shelves will be empty in no time. I do not intend to
cause a panic, and I am not speculating on rice to make profit. I am just
hoarding some for my own consumption," he wrote.
For now, rice is available at Asian markets in California, though
consumers have fewer choices when buying the largest bags. "At our
neighborhood store, it's very expensive, more than $30" for a 25-pound
bag, a housewife from Mountain View, Theresa Esquerra, said. "I'm not
going to pay $30. Maybe we'll just eat bread."
Gregor Gable
in Important with No Category but Info you need !
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Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early
Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early
Gregor Gable
in Important with No Category but Info you need !
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Stop the Slaughter
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Gregor Gable
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There's only toxic waste at the end of the Yucca Mtn. rainbow
For the Appeal
April 20, 2008, 4:01 AM
The recent op-ed (by Chuck Muth, April 11) calling on Nevadans to embrace nuclear waste was a little like listening to someone talk about living on Mars with no mention of how you get there from planet Earth (Nevada should profit from Yucca gold mine, April 11).
In his piece, Chuck Muth conveniently glosses over the reasons Yucca Mountain is bound to fail both scientifically and because of its $80 billion price tag. He seeks to paint a utopia in which nearly all of Nevada's most pressing economic needs can be met by turning our home into an epicenter for nuclear waste disposal.
Visions of nuclear power plants dotting the Nevada landscape and pipelines to the Pacific are false promises to two of our most pressing needs - clean energy and a steady water supply. And the author fails to acknowledge the myriad of dangers his plan would create, not only for Nevada and the nation, but for global efforts to limit terrorist access to dirty bombs and nuclear weapon-making materials.
The nuclear industry and others have been selling this same tale of overnight riches for decades. They peddle these claims in an attempt to chip away at intense opposition from Nevadans to the dumping of toxic radioactive waste 90 minutes from Las Vegas - our state's largest community and most powerful economic engine. We didn't believe it in the 1980s and '90s and we still aren't buying the idea that this is a new radioactive "Comstock Lode" for the 21st century.
Nevadans know a bad bet when we see one and that is the reason we remain overwhelmingly opposed to Yucca Mountain. Remember, there is no pot of gold at the end of the Yucca Mountain rainbow and no magic wand to wave over toxic radioactive waste that will simply make the dangers disappear.
The reason for Nevada's well- founded opposition to Yucca Mountain is that the proposed repository is designed to fail. Volcanoes and earthquakes have rocked the area around Yucca Mountain in the past and there is every reason to believe these threats will strike again. At the same time, canisters placed inside the mountain will rapidly corrode, allowing radioactive waste to escape and contaminate drinking water supplies for families living near the proposed dump site.
The fact also remains that you cannot reprocess much of the waste the nuclear industry and its allies like President Bush and U.S. Senator John McCain are desperate to ship our way. Defense waste from the U.S. military and the oldest spent nuclear fuel from commercial power plants cannot be reprocessed, leaving Yucca Mountain as the only place on the books slated to store these toxic remnants.
Waste buried in Yucca Mountain will not even hit peak danger levels for 300,000 years, the prime reason a federal court struck down Bush administration radiation standards for failing to protect against deadly releases far into the future.
Appeal readers should also recognize that reprocessing waste does not eliminate the need for a repository under any scenario, leaving Nevada as a prime target today and in the future for efforts to ship waste to Yucca Mountain on a "temporary" basis only to see this fool's gold stay forever.
Such a reprocessing scheme will, however, create dangerous new materials that could be used to build a nuclear weapon. This very real proliferation threat is why reprocessing regimes, such as the one promised by the author as our new road to riches, remain illegal under U.S. law.
In the aftermath of 9/11, Americans remember what this author has clearly forgotten - that terrorists are actively looking for the materials to build a dirty bomb. The thousands of waste shipments required under the Bush-McCain Yucca Mountain plan would each be a potential target for a terrorist strike or accident waiting to happen. A major incident resulting in the release of nuclear waste on our roads or railways will threaten lives and leave communities facing millions in clean-up costs and years of contamination. Decades of these "mobile Chernobyls" will endanger the lives of Nevadans and 50 million other Americans living along designated transportation routes.
Most importantly, there is simply no reason to move this nuclear waste to Nevada. Experts on all sides of the waste issue agree that we can safely store spent fuel in hardened canisters at nuclear power plant sites for the next 100 years. This solution, which is already being used at existing power plants nationwide, avoids the risk of waste shipments and buys our nation the time needed to rethink our failed strategy for dealing with this issue.
Finally, as a member of our Congressional delegation, I can assure Nevadans that we speak with one voice when it comes to expressing our continued opposition to being targeted as the nation's only high-level nuclear waste dump. This opposition also extends to the state and local level, where elected officials from Carson City to Las Vegas and across the Silver State have added their voices to this fight. These public servants continue to speak out because the families they represent have made it abundantly clear that they do not want to see Nevada buried in nuclear waste.
• Congresswoman Shelley Berkley of Las Vegas is in her fifth term as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Gregor Gable
in Yucca Mountain
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NTS named as Complex 2030 Site NTS named as Complex 2030 Site
Comments needed on U.S. plans to increase nuclear weapons on Western Shoshone Lands.
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 23:05:18 -0700
ALERT! Please submit comments on the U.S.’ plan to increase nuclear weapons on Western Shoshone Lands. Deadline is April 10, 2008.
Press Release and What You Can Do follow:
******
Press Release
Contacts:
Larson Bill or Julie Fishel, Western Shoshone Defense Project, (775) 744-2565
Launce Rake, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, (702)791-1965 (o), (702) 917-7541 (c)
Sean Meyer, Union of Concerned Scientists, smeyer@ucsusa.org or (617) 301-8065
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
NO PEACE OUT WEST - U.S. PLANS MORE NUCLEAR WEAPONS ON SHOSHONE LAND:
INDIGENOUS LEADERS, CITIZENS AND SCIENTISITS AGREE - NO NEW NUKES
Comment Period Nearing end
April 3, 2008, 22:42 p.m. (PST) (Newe Sogobe (Lee, Nevada)): With gold prices soaring sky-high and the general public watching Presidential candidate antics, there’s more than just gold rush fever threatening the air and water out West. Under the radar screen, a public comment period closes next week, April 10th, on a proposal by the U.S. Department of Energy to increase nuclear weapons development at the Nevada Test Site. First announced in 2006 as “Complex 2030”, the new plan is called “Complex Transformation” and includes details on the proposal to upgrade the entire U.S. nuclear weapons complex and recreate the infrastructure to research, develop, and manufacture new nuclear weapons. See www.complextransformationspeis.com/ for more details. The Nevada Test Site is named as one of the plan’s key locations. The Test Site is located within the Treaty-recognized territory of Western Shoshone lands and has long been protested by Western Shoshone and their supporters.
This newest proposal by the United States’ government puts it once again in direct violation of a recently confirmed decision by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). In its decision, made public March 10, 2006, and confirmed again last month, the CERD Committee urged the United States to “freeze”, “desist” and “stop” actions being taken, or threatened to be taken, against the Western Shoshone Peoples of the Western Shoshone Nation. In its decision, CERD stressed the “nature and urgency” of the Shoshone situation informing the U.S. that it goes “well beyond” the normal reporting process and warrants immediate attention. The CERD decision explicitly cited ongoing weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site. Decision attached.
“The U.S. has never shown how it got title to our land in the first place. We have never agreed to this. To us, there is no transformation here– this is just a continued extermination of life– nothing complex about that. The land, air and water have suffered enough abuse already. We need to start cleaning things up. What is being done to our people doesn’t just affect us – it affects everyone and all life.” Stated Western Shoshone grandmother Carrie Dann as she returned from a recent indigenous convening in Chiapas, Mexico, where she and other indigenous elders and leaders met to discuss traditional teachings about climate change, environmental destruction and solutions for the future. These discussions will continue at the upcoming Protecting Mother Earth gathering July 17-20th in Lee, Nevada. See Indigenous Environmental Network site www.ienearth.org for additional information.
Western Shoshone leader and 2008 delegate to the UN CERD session in Geneva, Larson Bill commented: “By their own actions, like this new proposal, the U.S. is losing all of its credibility in the world community. Everything good that is out there they want to use for bad purposes. The materials in these proposed weapons – they came from the earth where they had a purpose. The companies and military dig them up and nothing good comes out of it. The world doesn’t need this, it’s got enough problems already.”
The Western Shoshone are not alone in opposing the government’s most recent plan. The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) issued a letter to the Department of Energy last month supporting Western Shoshone Treaty rights and raising environmental and political concerns to the DOE. Letter attached. Likewise, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is calling on the public to send in comments and has stated publicly that it believes the push for new nuclear weapons could lead to a resumption of U.S. nuclear testing, which would lead to nuclear testing by other nations. See Union of Concerned Scientist site ucswebsite for additional information.
According to one recent UCS release: “A thorough re-evaluation would conclude that it is in the interest of the United States to pursue a world free of nuclear weapons. The DOE should focus on maintaining a safe, secure, and credible nuclear deterrent while supporting efforts to eliminate these weapons globally, and on dismantling warheads and safely securing weapons-grade materials. The United States should NOT pursue new nuclear weapons.”
“The position of those seeking social and environmental justice in Nevada is perfectly clear,” agreed Launce Rake, a spokesman with the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada in Las Vegas. “International law, respect for our environment and common sense all suggest the same thing. We need to stop pouring money into the hands of the defense contractors and do what’s right for the Nevada Test Site: Shut it down and clean it up.”
****
WHAT PEOPLE CAN DO:
Individuals and organizations are strongly encouraged to submit comments on the Complex Transformation draft SPEIS proposal (by April 10, 2008) by fax, letter. or on the UCS website. You can send comments via U.S. mail to:
Mr. Theodore Wyka
Complex Transformation SPEIS Document Manager
Office of Transformation, NA-10.1
U.S. Department of Energy/NNSA
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20585
by facsimile1-703-931-9222
or ucswebsite
Please mark your letters, faxes, or emails “Complex Transformation SPEIS Comments.”
A sample letter from the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada is attached. (Sorry the email I got had no sample letter attached, I am trying to get it and will correct this posting)
Western Shoshone Defense Project
So-Ho-Bi (South Fork) office:
775-744-2565 (fax and phone)
Main office:
P.O. Box 211308
Crescent Valley, NV 89821
Newe Sogobi
775-468-0230
775-468-0237 (fax)(
Gregor Gable
in Nevada Test Site
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