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The world food crisis has two faces. Here in the United States, shoppers stare in disbelief at the rising price of milk, meat, and eggs. But elsewhere on the globe, anguish spills into the streets, as in Somalia last week when tens of thousands of rioters converged on the capital to protest for food.

The strain on U.S. consumers, grappling with the sharpest increase in grocery prices in years, is small compared with the starvation that toppled Haiti's government, ignited riots around the world, and is deepening the tragedy of Myanmar's cyclone survivors. And yet the connection between the developed and developing worlds will be crucial to solving what one United Nations official has called a "silent tsunami" of food prices that has plunged 100 million people deeper into poverty. To stem the misery, relief officials are calling both for emergency aid and for changes in policy worldwide.

...Among the proposed solutions:  read more »

• Take a Pause on Biofuels
• Improve Food Aid
• Produce Higher Yields
• Grow Better Crops
• Curb the Speculators
• Break Down Trade Barriers
• Eat Less Meat
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Original Source: The Standard

"The death toll from the massive earthquake that struck central China yesterday killing at least 8,533 people in Sichuan alone is likely to rise sharply as rescuers face a desperate race against time to save victims, including nearly 900 students buried under the rubble of their school. In Beichuan county, just east of the epicenter, 80 percent of the buildings had collapsed and some 10,000 people were injured on top of the 3,000 to 5,000 killed in the district, Xinhua News said. The situation in at least two other counties remains unclear.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake, the most devastating in three decades, struck in the middle of the afternoon when classrooms and office towers were full 92 kilometers northwest of Sichuans capital Chengdu. Eight schools in the region completely or partially collapsed. The quake emptied office buildings more than 1,500 kilometers away in Beijing; could be felt as far away as Vietnam; crashed telephone networks; and hours later, left parts of Chengdu, a city of 10 million, in darkness. Beijing mobilized more than 5,000 soldiers and police to help rescue efforts in Sichuan and put the province on the second-highest level of emergency footing.

The earthquake rattled buildings in Beijing 1,500 kilometers to the north. People ran screaming into the streets in other cities, where many residents said they had never felt an earthquake. In Shanghai, skyscrapers swayed and office occupants went rushing into the streets. In Beijing, where hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected for the Olympics, which start on August 8, venues for the Games were undamaged.

The quake appears to be the deadliest since the most devastating in modern history, which killed 240,000 people in the city of Tangshan in 1976."

Photos courtesy of Reuters and AFP

Original Source: Star Bulletin

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"As I was revolving these matters in my mind, while the war was still in progress, I was visited by a sudden feeling of the cruel and unnecessary character of the contest. It seemed to me a return to barbarism, the issue being one which might easily been settled without bloodshed."

This quote from Julia Ward Howe is cited as the background for the initial Mother's Day Proclamation in 1870, born of her call to women to "take counsel with each other (so that) the great human family can live in peace."

Over the decades, the initial focus morphed through pacifism, workers' rights and finally fused itself on the role of the mother as the nurturer of new life, the bond of solidarity in the family and the one whose voice should always cry for peace and justice.

In 1908, Anna Jarvis took up the cause of her mother, Ann, who had organized women to campaign for sanitation and medical care for both sides during the Civil War. The daughter publicized Mother's Day with a celebration in Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, Grafton, W.Va., attended by more than 400 children with their mothers.

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Mostly Mother's Day celebrates the gift of life and its continuity, making it the annual event of reflection. We are born, we grow, we appreciate and we reflect. Most of all we harbor that spark of life which the next generation carry, torchlike, into a still troubled world where no mother wants her child to be fodder for war.

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Photos courtesy of AP

Original Source: Associated Press

"MOSCOW (AP) — Missiles, tanks and other heavy weaponry rolled through Moscow's Red Square in the Victory Day parade Friday, the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union that they have appeared in the annual event.

Victory Day, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, is Russia's most important secular holiday, both honoring the enormous sacrifices of World War II, in which nearly 9 million Red Army soldiers are estimated to have died, and asserting the country's military strength.

Russia has nearly quadrupled its defense spending in recent years, aiming to resuscitate the military forces that deteriorated in the post-Soviet period.

Topol missiles, which have the capacity to carry nuclear warheads, were part of the display of more than 100 tanks, mobile missile units and armored vehicles that was aimed at underlining the military revival. But many of the heavy weapons shown were only slightly modernized versions of equipment developed decades ago.

Although the display was significantly smaller than in Soviet-era parades, the return of the tradition has raised concerns that Russia harbors aggressive ambitions."

Photos courtesy of AP

"Q: What is the difference between the Debt and the Deficit?

A: The National Debt is the total amount of money owed by the government; the federal budget deficit is the yearly amount by which spending exceeds revenue. Add up all the deficits (and subtract those few budget surpluses we've had) for the past 200+ years and you'll get the current National Debt.

Q: How has the National Debt grown over time?

A: The National Debt on January 1st 1791 was just $75 million dollars. Today, it rises by that amount every hour or so. "

Original Source