Scouring the "internets" for water news I came across this dire warning:

Water: the Incoming Apocalypse.

Oil, of course, still dominates world economics and politics. But some day in the not so distant future, with peak oil, alternative fuels and other clean technologies, combined with the rising costs of extracting oil, will diminish petroleum's influence once and for all. Water will be the next oil. One hundred years ago, if someone had told you that water will be sold in stores, under "premium" brand names for as much as $3 for a liter, you would have said that this person is insane.

Well, insanity has caught up to reality. Water privatization is upon us, and unless we act, fast, you will be paying through the nose for every liter of water.

Cruising "the Internets" today for the latest food news and trends, I have found these tasty morsels for you. Some good news and some not so good.

The last two items will bring a smile to your face: perhaps almost as big as the news from the Obama camp!

Researchers at the University of California Davis, have identified the genes responsible for providing frost tolerance for wheat, giving plant breeders hope that damage resulting from wheat frost could soon become a thing of the past. That, in my book, is good news!

The team of US and European scientists aimed to identify genetic factors associated with cold tolerance in wheat. The study results, reported in the March issue of the journal Plant Molecular Biology, suggest that the genes that regulate frost-tolerance are activated at milder temperatures (12 to 15 Celsius, 53 to 59 Fahrenheit) in frost-tolerant wheat varieties than in frost-susceptible varieties.

Have wok, will travel! Who doesn't love a good, healthy stir-fry on a summer night? Or a winter night for that matter? It can be as elaborate as you wish or just a quick fix. Stir frying is an umbrella term used to describe two fast Chinese cooking techniques: chǎo (炒) and bào (爆). The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chao, in her book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, to describe the chǎo technique.

There are countless options & combinations at your fingertips, with meat or poultry or without, fish or vegetables or both, with rice, or noodles, using any kind of pulse, beans, fungi, grains, fresh or dried...and it's a great way to clear what's in your refrigerator: put the wok on, pour a little oil of your choice, and begin stirring in whatever takes your fancy or the leftovers from the the previous day.

Sad, far-fetched title? It's the European view. We're lucky that our press does report news as it come, unvarnished and far less biased than the US MSM. And the prevailing view here is that the US army has reached an unsustainable point of attrition. Which to me could be the main reason why it's best to get the hell outta there, and pronto.

As the Congress prepares to vote more money for war next week, it is expected to take up legislation to provide at least another $100 billion for GWB's failed war strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the November elections approaching, this vote could be the last binding vote on the war in 2008.

Well, allow me to throw in a few unsavory nuggets from our side of the pond, gleaned from various publications, and please feel free to correct me if you have better data and/or add to this: at the end of the day, we ALL want a competent Democrat in charge at the White House.

A recent Gallup Poll showed that Americans perceived polluted drinking water as more of a threat than climate change, with 53% saying that they worried "a great deal" about it and 37% expressing the same level of concern over global warming. Gallup noted that pollution of drinking water has been a major concern since 1990.

"These poll results demonstrate that the public is out in front of policymakers,"

commented CEO Stephen E. Sandherr of the Associated General Contractors of America.

"They recognize that our deteriorating water delivery systems are in need of repair."

WATER is among the five primordial elements considered to be vital for any type of life or vegetation on this planet. Great civilizations of the world grew and developed on the banks of big watercourses. May it be the grand Nile or the majestic Indus or other lakes and springs, water has been so important that ancient inhabitants choose it as their first preference to settle nearby. Therapeutic value of both food and water mattered to mankind right from the early days.

Another diary penned by Ms AAF, who's toiling away on her psychology master. I did a little edit, not much.

The causes of environmental degradation in the South are manifold, and poverty is a symptom of a global economical and social system which drives this environmental degradation, both in North and South, in pursuit of short-term financial gain and greed, without consideration for future generations and sustainable development.

Citing poverty as the single cause for environmental degradation would be simplistic and plain false as both phenomena must be seen in their local, national and international context.

The extreme affluence of the North (or formerly 'First world') with their associated hunger for resources , drives environmental degradation in the South (formerly Third World) as much as the extreme poverty found there. Both conditions (extreme wealth and poverty) are unsustainable, but to achieve change the balance of economic, social and political powers would have to undergo radical change.

Panic over commodity shortages continues to emerge as the dominant factor in the global markets, with both end user and speculative buyers of corn, soybean, cotton, rice and a host of other commodities taking note of what’s happening with the wheat shortcomings. Commodity markets are now seen as the main factor behind price rises. But rising fuel prices, Chinese demands and a lack of infrastructure to deal with extreme weather in countries such as Bangladesh and Australia have also played their part.

Farmers and food executives have appealed fruitlessly to federal officials for regulatory steps to limit speculative buying that is helping to drive food prices higher.  "Casino capitalism has taken a seat at the table of the poor" said EU Socialist Group leader Martin Schulz yesterday, "this is immorality carried to the extreme. This is why we need international controls on financial markets."

Meanwhile, some Americans are stocking up on staples such as rice, flour and oil in anticipation of high prices and shortages spreading from overseas.

When I turned seventeen, as part of having successfully finished my end of school exam, one of my uncle took me to Tunisia for a week of R&R. That same uncle had taken me to Senegal a few years earlier, and my encounter with an elephant foot was part of a What's For Dinner diary a few weeks ago.

Tunisia made a huge impact on me with its rich history, the constant explosions of colors, the sparkling Mediterranean sea, the ruins of Carthage and beyond Tunis, its capital, the road leading to the beautiful sea-side village of Sidi Bou Said lined with olive groves, citrus orchards and endless vineyards, its remarkable architecture, beige sun baked bricks set in geometric patterns, Moorish arches and high vaulted ceilings, the throngs of shops offering locally woven carpets, Berber jewelry and ornaments...and the smells, and the food, the glorious food!

Let me tell you about my North African adventure as seen through the eyes of an excitable youth with a ravenous appetite. I hope you will enjoy this Sunday diary, a nice break from my usual grim news diaries about food & water shortages.

This ball, our ball.

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how
infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and
admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like
a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet,
to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me—
nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.

The world needs to start another revolution, IMO, to preserve, conserve and manage freshwater supplies in the face of huge growing demands from population growth, irrigated agriculture, unregulated industries (in most parts of the world) and sheer wastage: a Blue Revolution. Although this concept is not new, it should be given serious thought.

Just as the Green Revolution transformed agriculture in the 1960s, a Blue Revolution ought to galvanize this earth into action, and everyone, from those in government to the multinationals and from the self-employed to the workforce and those at home should play a role as there is no more water on earth now than there was 2,000 years ago, when the population was less than 3% of its current size. Glib? It's worse than that as per-capita water consumption is rising twice as fast as the world's population.  

I have often wondered if there could be an actual chemical causing the massive obesity epidemic we seem to be having, worldwide, and if so, could it be related to the equally massive injection of flavors into our food, particularly MSG. The answer is maybe, in fact quite possibly.

Have you noticed that pharmaceutical companies are spending millions of dollars developing glutamate blockers with which to fight neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer's disease, while the glutes are pouring (often hidden) processed glutamate (MSG) into our food? Their answer to this: the glutamate industry claims that glutamic acid and aspartic acid are natural components of protein and, therefore, cannot be harmful.  What they fail to mention is that when glutamic acid and aspartic acid are freed from protein through a manufacturing process, they will invariably be accompanied by contaminants.  If the manufacturing process used to free amino acids from protein is acid hydrolysis, carcinogenic propanols will be included as contaminants.

The problem of water scarcity is a growing worldwide phenomenon. Net renewable water resources per capita have declined dramatically over a single generation, and in little less than 20 years from now will reach dangerously low levels. Water scarcity already affects every single continent and four of every ten people in the world. The situation is getting worse due to population growth, urbanization and the increase in domestic and industrial water use. By 2025, nearly 2 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water shortage, where water resources per person fall well below the recommended level of 500 cubic meters per year (this is the amount of water a person needs for a healthy and hygienic living).

Poor water quality increases the risk of diarrhoeal diseases including cholera, typhoid fever, salmonellosis, other gastrointestinal viruses, and dysentery. Water scarcity may also lead to diseases such as trachoma, plague and typhus. Everyone needs water and everyone needs to take responsibility. Actively support governments, non-governmental organizations and private foundations which are making it a priority to deliver affordable good quality water to people. In short, do your part by conserving, recycling and protecting water more efficiently. Here are the news:

The following diary has been written by Ms AAF, who is currently going through her post-grad psychology master and has little time to squander on the tubes (though she patrols this site and mine) and having read her latest essay, which fits nicely with today's world food crisis, I have persuaded her to let me post it here, unabridged and link-less. Be gentle or I won't be allowed back into the house!

The developed nations of the North, and especially the USA, as the biggest economy in the world, directly and through the institutions under their control, have dominated the world economy in the 20th century. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America, the poor neighbors/cousins of the USA. Latin American cities in the 20th century developed along the lines of the North American model of a high-priced downtown business district and sprawling suburbs. Due to this sprawled layout, North American cities themselves are largely car-dependent, although here the affordability of modern technology leads to the pollution being less intensely felt by the cities' inhabitants.

[Promoted by DHinMI: When the candidates aren't fending off questions of vital importance to the survival of the planet like why they don't wear a flag pin on their lapel, they've occasionally discussed huge issues such as energy and global warming.  What hasn't been discussed much is a related and often neglected question: agriculture policy.  In fact, because of the importance of Iowa, candidates have to pledge their fealty to our policy of subsidizing the production of ethanol produced with corn.  Our ethanol policies are having unintended consequences, contributing to the kinds of problems that led to the "tortilla riots" in Mexico, and the worldwide move toward biofuels is contributing to the worldwide spike in food prices.  Let's hope that when the media is done with flag pins, they try to pin down the candidates on their plans for agriculture, in the US and around the world.]

It took more than 400 scientists and three years of haggling, wrangling and heated arguments to come up with the report by the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) as dire warnings from the World Bank, the IMF and the UN's World Food Programme splashed the front pages of the world press in the last few weeks (the Executive summary, the Global summary and all its regional summaries are here in both pdf & HTML forms, a great trove of information for those who are interested). I have read all summaries and will endeavor to read the regional pieces as well in the next few weeks.

The 2,500 pages report concluded that while advances over the last fifty years had resulted in the world's food production increasing at a much faster rate than its population, the present system of production and trade meant the benefits were spread unevenly, and as we know, at intolerable price paid by the small farmers, workers and rural communities and of course, the environment.

My dear Ms AAF made the remark yesterday, after reading the last few grim diaries on food riots, that I'm writing lugubrious pieces of late and that I should occasionally show my lighter, goofier side...and that there are some good things to report about, albeit not many but some, she added. "Like what?", I asked. "I dunno, something positive, you can write just about anything...so why not a piece on your favorite person...or fruit or something."

I have been mulling over this conversation during breakfast, unable to think properly, staring into my bowl of muesli for what seemed an eternity. I began to play with the slices of banana, making a heap with the oats, and like a minor Sisyphus at work, I pushed the largest bit of banana over the mound, reflecting on the maddening nature of the peculiar punishment the Greek Gods had imposed on the king of Ephyra...when suddenly it hit me right between the eyes: write about the banana! It is a remarkable fruit, possibly the most popular of all fruits. It's a sunny fruit, one that fits with my disposition...I got up and walked to her study and told her about it. She laughed and said that I'm nuts, a diary about bananas on DKos will sink without a trace.

With food riots about to topple the Haitian government, from Mexico to Pakistan, Egypt to Cameroon, protests have turned violent. Rioters tore through three cities in the West African nation of Burkina Fasom a few weeks ago, burning government buildings and looting stores. Similar protests exploded in Senegal and Mauritania late last year. And Indian protesters burned hundreds of food-ration stores in West Bengal last October, accusing the owners of selling government-subsidized food on the lucrative black market.

Is this a sign of things to come? The answer is yes, because the world's governments have so far turned a blind eye to this crisis. Was this discussed at Davos in any length? Yes, up to a point, as Evelyn Vaughn would surmise, as Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath warned that prices of some foodstuffs had doubled in his country. So when are we going to set up a food summit, we ask? Referring to the challenge of providing food at affordable prices, he said: "Next year in Davos we'll be discussing this." Next year! Once again, the Gods of procrastination are smiling. In the meantime, let them eat grass.

You better get used to this sort of headline. It's going to get a lot tougher for most of us on this planet. You heard about poor Haitians having to eat mudcakes as "food" of the last resort. Let me give you an account of another country on the brink of disaster: Egypt's government is now struggling to contain a political crisis as violent clashes have broken out at long lines for subsidized bread, and the president, worried about unrest, has ordered the army to step in to provide more. The president himself had to intervene. You might say, that's his job. Well, yes, but he is unable to control soaring food prices, none of us can. The Egyptian authorities are fearful that this could be a prelude to a chronic shortage of wheat worldwide and a return to lawlessness.

Nearly 40 percent Egypt's 76 million people live below or near the poverty line of $2 a day and quite a few on less than a dollar a day. The prices of staples such as cooking oil and rice have nearly doubled in recent months forcing them to ban rice export for a period of six months.

Hat Tip To Bink, who does a fine job of reporting the same grim news.