Milk At $3 A Gallon - Limit Two With Additional $10 Purchase

If that title makes you cringe, come sit over here by me.

My scenery is all snow. It fell from around noon yesterday until the middle of the night, and it's beautiful. West Texas would be so happy to have it, and I'm sure that the offices in the area where employees will be arriving late if at all would be delighted to make the switch. I already offered it to several commenters at Eschaton, and no takers.


Now for snow, early morning N. Texas -


It's covering over my little garden and adding to the ground water. It takes a farmer to know how beautiful that is, and since I can't give the snow, let me give you some idea what that kind of beauty is. It may mean the difference between having food to put on your family and the desperation that you know when you can't.

I learned a lot from doing a post not long ago on Darfur, which led me to the statement made by U.N. Secretary General Ban ki Moon, to the effect that there is a direct correlation between the effects of climate change and the racial/ethnic conflict that has led to that tragedy.

Those of us who grew up familiar with water needs have a consciousness that the rest of the world is just beginning to find, an eye to natural resources. Global warming may just be making that important. I always planned to grow veggies, and you may have read a few days ago about my garden reflections. Have you checked prices in the grocery stores recently? I may be looking next for my own cow or goats. I would hate to do without cheese.

Yesterday the U.N. World Food Program issued a report on the declining availability of foodstuffs worldwide that made my eyes open wider to the growing problem of hunger for the poor nations of the world. With the financial situation in this country lowering so many into poverty, it's time to take a close look at the emergent problems of hunger for so many.

The head of the UN World Food Programme has warned that the rise in basic food costs could continue until 2010.

Josette Sheeran blamed soaring energy and grain prices, the effects of climate change and demand for biofuels.
(snip)
Areas where the WFP is already seeing an impact include:

# Afghanistan: 2.5 million people in Afghanistan cannot afford the price of wheat, which rose more than 60% in 2007

# Bangladesh: The price of rice has risen 25% to 30% over the last three months. In 2007, the price rose about 70%.

# El Salvador: Rural communities are buying 50% less food than they did 18 months ago with the same amount of money. This means their nutritional intake, on an already poor diet, is cut by half.

# Anger over rising food prices have already led to riots in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal and Morocco.

If your concern about carbon emissions, and fossil fuels, didn't just grow, you're a step behind the times.

For those of you who haven't thought about it I suggest you look around. What you are used to having for the amount you have to spend is shrinking, and that's happening to all of us. Resources are not growing to match that plight. My title is about a sale price, something that makes me sad for those of you with young families. It would have made me quite desperate.

Your budget will have to change. It's changing already for the most needy, and we used to just drop more nickles into our charities. For those of us who aren't in that .01% that has 90% of the wealth in this country, we're getting there.

We might not have gotten to this predicament if the rest of this country hadn't let itself be lulled into equanimity - or alienated so badly - that it voted in some one who doesn't like us. Working against reduction of carbon emissions hurts everyone except the producers of those emissions, and is vicious. Working against the ability of working people to support their families hurts even the producers of work, since there is less to buy whatever they are selling.

Since we're at the mercy of the voters, we need to be very concerned about the atmosphere that put us in this situation.