Haiti Riots - StateDept trapped!

My friend is a diplomat in Haiti and has been emailing about riots for 2 days. .... Has anyone heard any news on this? I would write more, but am wondering if anyone on Kos has any news?

It is not covered on CNN.  (Censored News Network?)

•  Yes, I heard this tonght on ABC-

  Briefly, at the end of the broadcast, but I heard about it.  

  by ohmyheck on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 05:32:27 PM PDT

  •  Rec'd

    by mayan on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 05:54:08 PM PDT

    •  I just shot a letter to my sister

      who has done aid work in Haiti. She knows some folks there--hopefully they're okay...

      These are the benefits of 'free trade' in a nutshell:
      Money uber alles--let them eat rice they can no longer afford...

      "What we see in Haiti is what we're seeing in many of our operations around the world -- rising prices that mean less food for the hungry," said WFP's Sheeran. "A new face of hunger is emerging: even where food is available on the shelves, there are now more and more people who simply cannot afford it."

      by DelicateMonster on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:06:35 PM PDT

      •  Starving on a dollar a day or less

        The price of rice, corn and basic stables has gone way up globally. Haitians are paid so poorly they can't afford food.

        by FishOutofWater on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:22:19 PM PDT

        •  The sad, beautiful canaries

          of the corporate coal mine. Those passageways are deep and hidden, though... who notices?

          There, but for the grace of Monsanto, go we.

          by vox humana on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:35:53 PM PDT

          •  Monsanto takes nations "There" where we

            don't want to go. Pretending to be part of the solution they are part of the problem.

            by joynow on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 10:22:53 PM PDT

            •  This is happening globally...

              There are food and heating fuel riots going on in virtually every continent now.

              The UN has posted that 33 nations are in critical shape and the main rice exporters, the staple of 2/3 of the world, are now putting export limits on it to keep it for their own people. China, Vietnam, and Egypt have put tight controls on its export and they found retailers in Manila hoarding rice and repackaging UN aide rice to be resold as high quality rice for export.

              The Middle East countries have been particularly hard hit and riots over food and heating oil have been going on in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, U.A.E., and even in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The big oil kingdoms have been actually increasing rates of pay to their citizens, but merchants have simply raised the prices and the end result has been an increase in inflation.

              It is almost as if the American press until just recently hasn't even begun to notice this. Paul Krugman mentioned in the NYT this weekend, Bloomberg .com has has been reporting it, but until the ABC mention tonight... Nada!

              The MSM has been busy serving up the latest faux controversy about Hillary's lack of credibility or Obama's minister, or McCain could find his foot in a senior moment.

              The thing about this story is that this is reaching critical mass in countries and when people can't feed their families, put a roof over their heads or get them needed medical care... that is a formula for the deep seated anger that brings down governments.

              The AP wire service report said

              We are hungry! He must go!" protesters shouted as they tried to break into the presidential palace by charging its chained gates with a rolling dumpster. Moments later, Brazilian soldiers in blue U.N. helmets arrived on jeeps and assault vehicles, firing rubber bullets and tear gas canisters and forcing protesters away from the gates.

              Food prices, which have risen 40 percent on average since mid-2007, are causing unrest around the world. But nowhere do they pose a greater threat to democracy than in Haiti, one of the world's poorest countries where in the best of times most people struggle to fill their bellies.

              "I think we have made progress in stabilizing the country, but that progress is extremely fragile, highly reversible, and made even more fragile by the current socio-economic environment," U.N. envoy Hedi Annabi said Tuesday after briefing the Security Council.

              For months, Haitians have compared their hunger pains to "eating Clorox" because of the burning feeling in their stomachs. The most desperate have come to depend on a traditional hunger palliative of cookies made of dirt, vegetable oil and salt.
              
              Riots broke out in the normally placid southern port of Les Cayes last week, quickly escalating as protesters tried to burn down a U.N. compound and leaving five people dead. The protests spread to other cities, and on Monday tens of thousands took to the streets of Port-au-Prince.

              The U.S. Embassy in Haiti warned American citizens in the chaotic capital to avoid crowds and roadblocks and to remain vigilant. Embassy buildings were pelted with rocks on Tuesday but there have been no reports of injuries to U.S. citizens.

              Preval, a soft-spoken leader backed by Washington, was at work in the palace during the protests, aides said. He has made no public statements since the riots began.

              "I compare this situation to having a bucket full of gasoline and having some people around with a box of matches," said Preval adviser Patrick Elie. "As long as the two have a possibility to meet, you're going to have trouble."

              Snip!

              "We voted Preval for a change. Nothing happened," said Joel Elie, 31, who like many Haitians is unemployed. "We're tired of it and we can't wait anymore."

              While the peacekeepers spend more than US$500 million (euro320 million) a year in Haiti, the World Food Program has collected less than 15 percent of the US$96 million (euro61 million) it says Haiti needs in donations this year. The WFP issued an emergency appeal Monday for more.

              Meanwhile, new customs procedures aimed at collecting revenues and stopping the flow of drugs has left tons of food rotting in ports, especially in the country's north. In a country where almost all food is imported, cargo traffic from Miami ground nearly to a halt, though shippers say intervention by Preval last month has improved the situation somewhat.

              Government officials say the riots are being manipulated by outside forces, specifically drug smugglers who can operate more easily amid chaos and supporters of Guy Philippe, a fugitive rebel leader wanted in U.S. federal court in connection with a drug indictment.

              http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080409/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/haiti_food_protests

              Lots of finger pointing is going on, but to people who have been hungry enough to eat dirt for months... they have reached the point where they don't care.

              by Flint on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 11:05:07 PM PDT

              •  Could you please provide a working link

                to this AP story you've quoted? Thanks very much.

                by Night Train on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 11:12:06 PM PDT

                •  I did...

                  Here it is again:

                  http://news.yahoo.com/...

                  by Flint on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 11:26:31 PM PDT

                  •  Very curious...

                    I haven't a clue why the link in the article wasn't active. If you drop that one into a browser it will take you to the article.

                    Hmmmmmm... odd!

                    by Flint on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 11:29:02 PM PDT

                    •  I tried dropping it into my browser

                      Didn't work. But thanks for the repost.

                      by Night Train on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 12:01:03 AM PDT

              •  ^^^ this is how chaos becomes the norm

                Looks like James Howard Kunstler's Long Emergency is starting to roll on a global scale.

                by Stranded Wind on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 11:19:37 PM PDT

          •  It's amazing what first world ag subsidies do.

            Haiti, like a lot of island nations, lost its ag sector long ago in the face of cheap foreign competition.  Now, prices rise, and is there any alternative but to pay them?  

            by Historicus on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 10:55:31 PM PDT

            •  Who is that Democratic midwestern Senator....

              The farmer who was really popular on Kos in 2006?  Check out his subsidies and the subsidies he's voted for...amazing stuff.

              by i8pikachu on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 11:47:22 PM PDT

              •  Tom Harkin? n/t

                by goshzilla on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 03:44:44 AM PDT

                •  I'm pretty sure

                  i8pikachu means Jon Tester.

                  by nilocjin on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 03:58:50 AM PDT

                •  Tom Harkin is pro Ag-Business

                  He is not an ally when it comes to local food issues.

                  by horsepatsy on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 06:15:04 AM PDT

                  •  Good Luck

                    finding a midwestern Senator who is "an ally when it comes to local food issues."

                    These people have to get elected. Harkin is a good guy... get on his case too much and you might have Sen. Steve King R-Ia in the senate.

                    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

                    by RyanW on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 08:42:24 AM PDT

      •  cell phone service seems to be out

        in Port au Prince. will keep trying.

        by Avila on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 01:35:36 AM PDT

        •  It's been spotty

          for days in my experience. You do know about the added  new number? 2 for land lines and 3 for cell?

          by parryander on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 06:05:22 AM PDT

          •  bonswa, parryander

            yes, I knew, but thank you all the same.

            by Avila on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:54:16 AM PDT

            •  and bonswa to you

              I am hearing that the crowds are smaller today and that Preval will be speaking soon.

              by parryander on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 12:06:39 PM PDT

      •  This is what happens when you go

        from a barter economy to one that's mediated by money.
        What's almost ironic is that so-called "developing economies" are referred to as such for the simple reason that their exchange and trade is not completely monetized.  Unless money mediates transactions, the activity is hard to keep track of and, from the perspective of some economists, who like to deal in numbers, if there's no money, there's no economy.
        So a lot of the pressure to introduce money into transactions comes from economists to satisfy their own needs as 'scientists.'

        by hannah on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:26:01 AM PDT

  •  BBC News has it covered, here is the link

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/...

    by ourhispanicvoices on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 06:18:46 PM PDT

    •  food riots

      won't be the last.... sh*t...

      by Buffalo Girl on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 06:25:56 PM PDT

      •  Why isn't the MSM covering this?

        The only place I've seen this covered with more than a cursory mention is The Economist (a British magazine). I know our primary race is exciting, but come on, worldwide food riots are pretty damn important!

        by dawnt on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 07:13:39 PM PDT

        •  Who cares about Haiti?

          The less Haitians the better...

          ...at least, I'm sure that's how the corporate owners of the MSM reason it.

          by MNPundit on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:10:26 PM PDT

          •  Bush got rid of Aristide to make the

            tiny minority of wealthy Haitians happy.  Who cares about the rest of them.  If they are hungry, let them eat cake!

            by sweeper on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:28:36 PM PDT

            •  they're eating cookies....

              ...made of dirt, vegetable oil, and salt (read it on cnn.com)

              so tragic...

              by DawnG on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:48:00 PM PDT

              •  I know your sympathies are in the

                right place - but Haitians have been doing this for years. It doesn't make it right, but extreme poverty there is a constant. And it's not dirt- it's clay.

                by parryander on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:54:32 PM PDT

                •  oh that makes a world of difference.

                  Because clay is so much more digestable.

                  It's still tragic, whether it's been happening for weeks, years, or generations.

                  Why is it happening at all? It's not that hard to grow something for food.  Why is almost all of the food in Hati imported? You can raise goats and rabbits on little more than grass.  

                  Why is an entire nation dependant on outside sources?

                  by DawnG on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:02:31 PM PDT

                  •  clay is digestible

                    and oddly clay eating is rather common. It is a sign of poor nutrition, but really doesn't have any seriously negative effects.
                    As to Haiti's food/poverty problems - yes. It's bad.
                    But it's complicated. You can't just export your way of thinking on another culture and expect it to work - but many have tried. I know folks raising rabbits there, and many folks have chickens, goats, some pigs. In the cities it's hard to have livestock - but people do it. In the countryside, there are other issues at play - deforestation and a lack of education opportunities, for starters. Deforestation leads to the loss (erosion and degradation) of the already thin top soil, water quality decreases, desertification sets in changing age-old weather patterns, growing formerly traditional foods becomes impossible. Rice is a crop that requires irrigation - not possible in some areas any longer. Cash is need to afford schooling for kids - money crops are grown instead of food crops. and on and on.
                    The entire nation isn't entirely dependent on outside sources, but a lot is.
                    I should add -the US marines killed off their native swine years ago...

                    by parryander on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:36:32 PM PDT

                    •  I think you put it it best a lot of people just

                      assume something is bad because it's not part of their culture. As you said, eating clay is very common in Haiti even middle class folks do it in Haiti. My mom and my aunts are middle class and they used to do it especially when they are pregnant. Usually, they crave this thing when pregnant. When the Nytimes sensationalize this in one article with no background, it's no wonder people think it's such a bad thing when in fact it's a pretty normal practice in Haiti.  

                      by Jr1886 on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 10:00:13 PM PDT

                    •  Eating clay leads to parasites

                      I'm no expert, but I did hear about clay-eating once before, fairly recently.  Far from being harmless, the practice carries a high risk of intestinal infestation from worms, bacteria, and so forth.

                      by Quicklund on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 09:14:49 AM PDT

                      •  yes it can

                        but the people who tend to eat clay are already suffering from malnutrition. I'm not advocating the practice, but it is common throughout the world, and the minerals are important to the diet of those eating it.

                        by parryander on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 09:37:42 AM PDT

                        •  Just taking issue

                          oddly clay eating is rather common. It is a sign of poor nutrition, but really doesn't have any seriously negative effects.

                          IMO you went a step too far in the emphasized portion.  That's all.

                          by Quicklund on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 09:55:06 AM PDT

                          •  I understand your

                            point, but please understand that if you or I ate the clay, we would very possibly get ill. But the folks who are eating this are (sadly) already likely infected with those parasites and bacteria. If they can get clean water to drink they are lucky, but in Cite Soleil, Haiti - where the clay cakes are sold, there is no clean water, and fuel to boil water is expensive. Sadly, again, given the problems these people face, the health risks from eating the clay I believe to be minor, when it can off-set nutritional deficiencies.

                            by parryander on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 10:27:11 AM PDT

                  •  Dawn

                    what I am trying to say is this - Haiti is in a terrible situation. I know. I've been there (just returned), I've been involved in Haiti for several years, and have many Haitian friends, my heart is touched deeply by the people. But - there is no need to sensationalize what is going on there. It doesn't help. I can tell you real horror stories, but what I feel is important is for people to understand Haiti - not to know a few sensationalized stories. There is a reporter from the NYT who is (or was) recently stationed there who has written a few 'shocking' stories - with little background, it helps no one.
                    I'm glad you care.

                    by parryander on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:43:50 PM PDT

                    •  If the haitians are happy to eat mud

                      cookies why are the rioting?

                      by bucadibeppo on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 11:37:19 PM PDT

                      •  Poor government and poor culture

                        The Haitians have a poor government and poor culture that continues to elect corrupt governments.  Their policies do not favor growth in any way and the corruption keeps businesses from bringing jobs and investment there.

                        by i8pikachu on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 11:51:41 PM PDT

                        •  bull

                          we remember the overthrow of aristide.  It isn't the Haitians fault.  To blame the haitians for the history ignores real history.

                          by bucadibeppo on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 12:09:33 AM PDT

                          •  Aristide was great?

                            He rigged the election.  Most people here agree with that.  He wasn't elected.

                            by i8pikachu on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 12:26:23 AM PDT

                            •  most repukes

                              agree with that.

                              by bucadibeppo on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 05:30:00 AM PDT

                            •  Have a link?

                              RE Aristide election being rigged? thx

                              by Soma on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 05:46:07 PM PDT

                        •  Haiti, the first black democracy

                          And Europe and the U.S. have never forgotten the insult.

                          by jakbeau on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:39:13 AM PDT

                          •  First black indepent country in the Americas, BUT

                            ... when was it ever a democracy? EVER?

                            by Woody on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 05:59:02 AM PDT

                            •  You'd have to read Haitian history

                              to determine how close Haiti has ever come to a democracy for yourself, remembering of course, how many times it's been invaded and destablized by the U.S.

                              by jakbeau on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 06:35:32 PM PDT

                      •  I never said they are happy to eat the clay

                        I was responding to the sensationalism of the commenter.

                        by parryander on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 06:00:04 AM PDT

                  •  DG, check this link for an interesting

                    thread...

                    http://www.marginalrevolution.com/...

                    by Clive all hat no horse Rodeo on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:50:17 PM PDT

              •  Yes, but...

                Those cookies are an ancient delicacy in their culture so don't think that these are a new invention.  The article came out at the wrong time.

                by i8pikachu on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 11:49:55 PM PDT

                •  i8pikachu

                  the mud and clay cookies are not a "delicacy." please educate yourself.

                  by Avila on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 01:40:20 AM PDT

                  •  Already did...

                    That's why I know the cookies are a delicacy but for many have become the only thing they eat.  The cookies have been around for ages during feast or famine.

                    by i8pikachu on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 01:47:17 AM PDT

                    •  link, please

                      for dirt cookies being a delicacy.

                      by Avila on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 02:04:43 AM PDT

                      •  Long been prized...

                        The mud has long been prized by pregnant women and children here as an antacid and source of calcium.

                        Assessments of the health effects are mixed. Dirt can contain deadly parasites or toxins, but can also strengthen the immunity of fetuses in the womb to certain diseases, said Gerald N. Callahan, an immunology professor at Colorado State University who has studied geophagy, the scientific name for dirt-eating.

                        Haitian doctors say depending on the cookies for sustenance risks malnutrition.

                        CBS News

                        Here's another Haitian point of view:

                        ...this so called "mud" is just something that mostly pregnant women and children crave for and eat as an antacid and source of calcium, even though they know it can harm them. This "mud" is not something they just take from anywhere to eat. It is done and prepared in a particular and specific part of the country, which is Central part called Plateau Central, Mirebalais or Hinche. I have friends who used to eat it just because they liked it, not because they were hungry.

                        Do Haitians really eat mud?

                        by i8pikachu on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 02:29:30 AM PDT

                        •  here is what you selectively omitted

                          from the same link, which I posted and you quoted to try to support a false claim.

                          you say . . .

                          The mud has long been prized by pregnant women and children here as an antacid and source of calcium.

                          and omitted the rest, here:

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

                          who do you think you're kidding?

                          you: health effects mixed . . . .

                          and the remainder that you snipped:

                          "I'm hoping one day I'll have enough food to eat, so I can stop eating these," she said. "I know it's not good for me."

                          "Trust me, if I see someone eating those cookies, I will discourage it," said Dr. Gabriel Thimothee, executive director of Haiti's health ministry.

                          yeah, mud is a gourmet delicacy! more:

                          Rising prices and food shortages threaten the nation's fragile stability, and the mud cookies are one of very few options the poorest people have to stave off hunger.

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

                          hide-rated. please don't try to sell me shit and tell me it's sugar sgsin. Haiti is the most desperately impoverished country I've ever visited and you should be ashamed for trying to minimize the mass starvation there.

                          by Avila on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 02:43:43 AM PDT

                          •  Never said gourmet delicacy...

                            You wanted evidence to show that this was a delicacy.  I never said it was good for you.  In fact, some doctors do say it has benefits for pregnant women and their babies.

                            I've been to Haiti.  Mass starvation hasn't happened yet.

                            by i8pikachu on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 02:45:33 AM PDT

                            •  hide rated

                              how dare you lie about a country that has in fact been pushed into starvation more every minute from globalization? nevermind. your ignorance is truly appalling. did YOU eat mud today? don't defend it. don't tell me it has health benefits. it keeps pregnant women and babies from starving to death that day and that, my slow-witted friend, is not an advantage that's defensible. ever.

                              by Avila on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 02:53:55 AM PDT

                              •  Thanks, but I don't need

                                your censorship.  Posts rec'd.

                                by bandersnatch on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 08:36:03 AM PDT

                                •  censorship, my ass

                                  people in Haiti are starving.

                                  please tell me how "santizing" the situation and making dirt cookies a "healthy nutritional delicacy" is helping anyone. good grief. do you know how many people read this blog. do you know how hard it is to get people to care enough to go donate a few bucks?

                                  forgive me -- or don't, but I have no tolerance for apologists spreading misinformation about Haiti. until y'all are ready to eat dirt cookies for a steady diet, don't talk to me about censorship.

                                  by Avila on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:40:48 PM PDT

                              •  And I agree

                                It is not nutritious. There is a medical malnourishment syndrome having to do with eating unhealthful or toxic elements, called

                                   
                                Pica is an appetite for non-nutritive substances (e.g., coal, soil, feces, chalk, paper etc.) or an abnormal appetite for some things that may be considered foods, such as food ingredients (e.g., flour, raw potato, starch).[1] In order for these actions to be considered pica, they must persist for more than one month, at an age where eating such objects is considered developmentally inappropriate. The condition's name comes from the Latin word for the magpie, a bird which is reputed to eat almost anything. Pica is seen in all ages, particularly in pregnant women and small children, especially among children who are developmentally disabled, where it is the most common eating disorder.

                                Pica- a medical disorder

                                by vcmvo2 on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:26:46 PM PDT

                                •  thank you VERY much, vcmvo2

                                  if this is the primary source of nutrition for Haitian children, small wonder they "seem retarded" as someone downthread so kindly noted.

                                  by Avila on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:42:16 PM PDT

                                  •  retarded is as retarded does I'm afraid

                                    Addressing the root causes of this nutritutional disaster is something everyone can do rather easily.

                                    the hunger site. Education and information can battle this kind of indifference. Feed the children, it's easy!

                                    by vcmvo2 on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 05:49:06 PM PDT

                            •  Rec'd for improper use

                              of Hide Ratings, IMO.

                              by goshzilla on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 03:57:38 AM PDT

                              •  report me, please <nt>

                                by Avila on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:43:30 PM PDT

                            •  No benefits for pregnant women

                              That is just wrong...

                              Pica in children, while common, can be dangerous. Children eating painted plaster containing lead may suffer brain damage from lead poisoning.There is a similar risk from eating dirt near roads that existed prior to the phaseout of tetra-ethyl lead in gasoline or prior to the cessation of the use of contaminated oil (either used, or containing toxic PCBs or dioxin) to settle dust. In addition to poisoning, there is also a much greater risk of gastro-intestinal obstruction or tearing in the stomach. This is also true in animals. Another risk of dirt eating is the possible ingestion of animal feces and the accompanying parasites.

                              by vcmvo2 on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:39:25 PM PDT

                            •  you said dirt cookies are a delicacy

                              right here.

                              by Avila on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:45:23 PM PDT

                            •  some doctors say

                              magnets will cure all ills, and drinking their special liquid silver will fix everything, blah blah blah.

                              when a pregnant woman wants to eat chalk or dirt, it's a sign of malnutrition.  

                              by jlms qkw on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:46:14 PM PDT

                          •  Gosh,

                            I've met a few Haitians in my lifetime who are mildly retarded. I always assumed that it had something to do with the diet. It sounds as though people eat clay because they have to, for the nutrition.

                            by resa on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 08:40:58 AM PDT

                        •  hogwash n/t

                          by vcmvo2 on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:22:23 PM PDT

                      •  with 6 and a half billion souls on earth

                        we are eating our Mother.  It didn't start with these clay cookies, but clay cookies are a glaring example of the beginnings of world wide hunger and disease.  TOO MANY F****IN' PEOPLE!

                        by libbys mom on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:54:37 PM PDT

            •  The minority Haitians?

              The ones who are stuffing his wallet?  Back up your evidence if you're going to make such a ludicrous claim.

              by i8pikachu on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 11:48:30 PM PDT

        •  Would you believe...

          The first I heard of this was the other day on Rush Limbaugh.  He spent quite a bit of time on it.  

          (People listen to talk radio in the break room at work.)

          by browneyes on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:27:49 PM PDT

    •  This is going to spread

      From the BBC report linked above

      The demonstrators outside the presidential palace said the rising cost of living in Haiti meant they were struggling to feed themselves.

      "We are hungry," they shouted before attempting to smash open the palace gates.

      In recent months, it has become common among Haiti's poor to use the expression grangou klowox, or "eating bleach", to describe the daily hunger pains people face, because of the burning feeling in their stomachs.

      I did a diary on the rising price of rice and its impact on social stability last week Rice....and you

      by taonow on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 06:32:56 PM PDT

      •  yep

        21,000 workers for that lovely company called Nike walked off the job in Hanoi, Vietnam sometime in the past week because....hmmm...they can't survive on the whopping $59 a month Nike pays them to make tennis shoes.  Nike sucks, NFL promotes it to get free freakin uniforms or whatever....we know those football players or the teams they play would have a hard time paying for those uniforms. snark Sorry, I tend to spit when I see check marks on uniforms of guys making at least $300k a year.

        by FreeTradeIsYourEpitaph on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 06:42:01 PM PDT

        •  The Great Hunger

          Anyone every hear of the Irish Potato Famine or the Great Hunger.  Million plus starved to death.    Ireland was exporting livestock to England as the people starved.  The world and England did almost nothing as people slowly starved to death.

          Or perhaps the Sudan.  Although eventually something was done.

          So we make biofuels to feed our cars while people starve.

          The more things change, the more things remain the same.  

          by Jagger on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 07:30:04 PM PDT

          •  We are doomed to repeat history

            Henry Carey, the most renowned American economist of the mid-1800s, wrote repeatedly of the disasters caused by British "free trade" and "free market" policies - in Ireland, in Wales, in India.

            From Carey's 1851 The Harmony of Interests: Agricultural, Manufacturing & Commercial

            We see thus, that the whole legislation of Great Britain, on this subject, has been directed to the one great object of preventing the people of her colonies, and those of independent nations, from obtaining the machinery necessary to enable them to combine their exertions for the purpose of obtaining cloth or iron, and thus {compelling} them to bring to her their raw materials, that she might convert them into the forms that fitted them for consumption, and then return to the producers a portion of them, burdened with great cost for transportation, and heavy charges for the work of conversion. We see, too, that notwithstanding the revocation of a part of the system, it is still discretionary with the Board of Trade, whether or not they will permit the export of machinery of any description. (pp. 52-53)

            ...The whole system [of British free trade] has for its object an increase in the number of persons that are to intervene between the producer and the consumer -- living on the product of the land and labour of others, diminishing the power of the first, and increasing the number of the last; and thus it is that Ireland is compelled to waste more labour annually than would be required to produce, thrice over, all the iron, and convert into cloth all the cotton and wool manufactured in England. The poverty of producers exists nearly in the ratio in which they are compelled to make their exchanges in the market of Great Britain....

            The manufacturers of India have been ruined, and that great country is gradually and certainly deteriorating and becoming depopulated, to the surprise of those people of England who are familiar with its vast advantages, and who do not understand the destructive character of their own system. (p. 61)

            The impoverishing effects of the system were early obvious, and to the endeavour to account for the increasing difficulty of obtaining food where the whole action of the laws tended to increase the number of consumers of food and to diminish the number of producers, was due the invention of the Malthusian theory of population, now half a century old. That was followed by the Ricardo doctrine of Rent, which accounted for the scarcity of food by asserting, as a fact, that men always commenced the work of cultivation on rich soils, and that as population increased they were obliged to resort to poorer ones, yielding a constantly diminishing return to labour, and producing a constant necessity for separating from each other, if they would obtain a sufficiency of food. Upon this theory is based the whole English politico-economical system. Population is first supposed to be superabundant, when in scarcely any part of the earth could the labour of the same number of persons that now constitute the population of England obtain even one-half the same return. Next, it is supposed that men who fly from England go always to the cultivation of rich soils, and therefore everything is done to expel population. Lastly, it is held that their true policy when abroad is to devote all their labour to the cultivation of those rich soils, sending the produce to England that it may be converted into cloth and iron, and they are cautioned against any interference with perfect freedom of trade as ``a war upon labour and capital.''

            Colonization is urged on all hands, and all unite in the effort to force emigration in the direction needed to raise up ``colonies of customers.'' It is impossible to read any work on the subject without being struck by the prevalence of this ``shopkeeping'' idea. It is seen everywhere. Hungary was to be supported in her efforts for the establishment of her independence, because she was willing to have free trade, and thus make a market for British manufactures. The tendency of the Ricardo-Malthusian system to produce intensity of selfishness was never more strikingly manifested than on that occasion. (pp. 63-64)

            We thus have here, first, a system that is unsound and unnatural, and second, a theory invented for the purpose of accounting for the poverty and wretchedness which are its necessary results. The miseries of Ireland are charged to over-population, although millions of acres of the richest soils of the kingdom are waiting drainage to take their place among the most productive in the world, and although the Irish are compelled to waste more labour than would pay, many times over, for all the cloth and iron they consume. The wretchedness of Scotland is charged to over-population when a large portion of the land is so tied up by entails as to forbid improvement, and almost forbid cultivation. The difficulty of obtaining food in England is ascribed to over-population, when throughout the kingdom a large portion of the land is occupied as pleasure grounds, by men whose fortunes are due to the system which has ruined Ireland and India. Over-population is the ready excuse for all the evils of a vicious system, and so will it continue to be until that system shall see its end... (pp. 64-65)

            Men are everywhere flying from British commerce, which everywhere pursues them. Having exhausted the people of the lower lands of India, it follows them as they retreat toward the fastnesses of the Himalaya. Afghanistan is attempted, while Scinde and the Punjab are subjugated. Siamese provinces are added to the empire of free trade, and war and desolation are carried into China, in order that the Chinese may be compelled to pay for the use of ships, instead of making looms. The Irishman flies to Canada; but there the system follows him, and he feels himself insecure until within this Union. The Englishman and the Scotsman try Southern Africa, and thence they fly to the more distant New Holland, Van Dieman's Land, or New Zealand. The farther they fly, the more they must use ships and other perishable machinery, the less steadily can their efforts be applied, the less must be the power of production, and the fewer must be the equivalents to be exchanged, and yet in the growth of ships, caused by such circumstances, we are told to look for evidence of prosperous commerce!

            The British system is built upon cheap labour, by which is meant low priced and worthless labor. Its effect is to cause it to become from day to day more low priced and worthless, and thus to destroy production upon which commerce must be based. (pp. 71-72)

            Does any of this sound familiar in our day and age?

            What really scares me is that today so many so-called progressives honestly believe that over-population is a primary cause of economic misery and environmental problems. There's plenty of money in the world to solve environmental problems - in the U.S. alone, some $5 trillion is traded in the various financial markets each and every day. The real problem is that our belief in "free markets" allows all that money to be used for speculation, arbitrage, and usury, rather than for real economic development that is also green.

            by NBBooks on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 07:52:29 PM PDT

            •  yep

              this free trade thing is not a new one.  My father had a degree in Economics and worked for the department of Commerce as a trade specialist until he retired.  He was educated in economics before the Freidmanite theory was infiltrated (corrupted) throughout our economics education system and believed in the 'old school' of thought...manufacturing here and of high quality...balance of trade and the right things.
              He had also traveled all over the world, was personal friends with the king of Kuwait, south america, europe, africa, asia.  He never believed in exploitation like the freidmanites cherish as wisdom and knowledge.  He was a good man though would have been chased out of the government now as a heretic against the status quo.
              I can't prove it but I believe the escalation of commodities prices is due to investment money just looking for safe haven from the toxic derivatives mess of the federal reserves doing.  Thanks US government and federal reserve for your unregulated bullshit causing so much suffering.

              by FreeTradeIsYourEpitaph on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:19:17 PM PDT

              •  You may be right....

                The food shortages aren't going away and that means huge trouble world wide, especially the poorer nations that don't have as much to spare as we do.
                

                Rice Run Prompts Curbs to Rival Credit Market Seizure

                April 7 (Bloomberg) -- From Cairo to New Delhi to Shanghai, the run on rice is threatening to disrupt worldwide food supplies as much as the scarcity of confidence on Wall Street earlier this year roiled credit markets.

                China, Egypt, Vietnam and India, representing more than a third of global rice exports, curbed sales this year, and Indonesia says it may do the same. Investigators in the Philippines, the world's biggest importer, raided warehouses last month to crack down on hoarding. The World Bank in Washington says 33 nations from Mexico to Yemen may face ``social unrest'' after food and energy costs increased for six straight years.

                Rice, the staple food for half the world, rose 2.4 percent to a record $21 per 100 pounds in Chicago today, double the price a year ago and a fivefold increase from 2001. It may reach $22 by November, said Dennis DeLaughter, owner of Progressive Farm Marketing in Edna, Texas.

                ``Rice will gain substantially over the next two years,'' said Roland Jansen, chief executive officer of Pfaffikon, Switzerland-based Mother Earth Investments AG, which holds 4 percent of its $100 million funds in the grain. Governments will likely maintain curbs on exports ``because those countries want to be able to continue to feed their own populations,'' he said.

                The upheaval parallels turmoil in global capital markets that seized up nine months ago when subprime mortgages collapsed. The difference between what it costs the U.S. government to borrow and the rate banks charge each other for three month loans ended last week at 1.36 percentage points. A year ago the gap was 0.33 percentage point.

                Driving Up Prices

                ``Just like in the credit markets back in the first quarter of this year where people were not lending money to each other, they're not giving rice to each other,'' David Darst, chief investment strategist at Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management, said in a Bloomberg Television interview in New York.

                Rice growing nations are driving up prices for producers that want to sell abroad. The Vietnam Food Association said April 2 it asked members to stop signing export contracts through June, following China, which imposed a 5 percent tax on exports as of Jan. 1. Egypt banned rice shipments through October.

                Snip!

                Agricultural Commodities

                The increase may boost profits for suppliers. Padiberas Nasional Bhd. rose the most in seven years in Kuala Lumpur stock exchange trading last week. The company is Malaysia's only licensed rice supplier.

                Goldman Sachs Group Inc. forecasts that all agricultural commodities it covers will rise during the next six months, except for sugar. Global cereal demand will expand 2.6 percent this year, 1.6 percentage points above the 10-year average, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.

                The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index of 26 raw materials gained for six consecutive years and advanced 15 percent this year.

                ``We have some very serious problems developing globally for food and energy,'' said Greg Smith, executive director of Global Commodities Ltd. in Adelaide, Australia, which manages $350 million.

                http://www.bloomberg.com/...

                by Flint on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 11:23:57 PM PDT

            •  Overpopulation

              What really scares me is that today so many so-called progressives honestly believe that over-population is a primary cause of economic misery and environmental problems.

              Actually, overpopulation does have a significant impact on both economics and environment.

              The greater the population, the faster finite resources are depleted and prices soar.  Peak oil is an example which very well may cause significant economic misery for the masses.

              Overpopulation also results in increased use of resources which negatively impact the environment.

              Our economic system of perpetual growth certainly plays a significant role but not the only role.

              by Jagger on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:50:37 PM PDT

              •  This is the progressive movement fault line