Published: May 10, 2008 11:02 pm            

CUMMINS: See how many crises you can name

The world has never been up to its Adam’s apple in alligators, but they’re above the armpits. There have always been periods of war, famine and isolated disastrous events such as the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, which covered Pompeii and the eruption staining the White House during Monicagate.

War happens and England and France once fought a Hundred Year’s War. The current war in Iraq might last about as long, but we’re not sure what it’s about, because the reasons keep changing. President Bush now thinks it’s about good versus evil, and the best way to overcome evil is to kill it, which may take a hundred years. Patience can be a virtue.

Although the world is currently in a food crisis, another major concern is that Exxon’s last quarter’s profit was a disappointing $10.89 billion. As the Wall Street Journal reported, this meager profit was very disappointing to investors and is fueling a “gathering storm in Washington.” Washington doesn’t need another gathering storm, because it has practically been blown away already. Although President Bush is doing what he can during these gathering storms, he’d probably be as effective standing out on the White House lawn holding up an umbrella.

Cheer up! You’ll be getting an economic stimulus package real soon after we borrow the money from China. It’s predicted China will overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest economy in 10 years. How could that ever happen? They only make 70 percent of our umbrellas, 80 percent of our toys and 85 percent of our artificial Christmas trees, all of which are wrapped in plastic made from oil. The diesel motors take over from there and the trees are shipped from Shanghai to California and then trucked across our fruited plains to Bangor where real Christmas trees grow. But the plastic ones made partially from oil and transported by oil are not as messy. The cycle is not only vicious — it’s insane.

As the food-crisis storm gathers, you better stock up on rice, but there are a few places in our country where there is a limit to the number of bags you can buy. There is an increasingly number of places in the world where rice, the staple keeping a large portion of the world’s population alive, is unavailable or unaffordable. The U.N. states that hunger has reached crisis proportions in 121 developing countries. It’s estimated one billion people now require food aid. The scarcity of rice and other grains has caused food prices to increase. In the U.S. during the past six months, grain prices have nearly doubled.

One major contributing factor to the food crisis is the scarcity of rain clouds. Many parts of the food-growing world are in a severe drought, which is having devastating effects particularly in food production. Some experts believe the global water shortage will become the severest crisis.

About the only people making money these days are the oil people and corn farmers. Many food products derive from corn, and corn feeds bacon-making and milk-producing animals. With 20 percent of our corn crop being used to refine ethanol, food prices are rising proportionately. If Joe Blue Collar didn’t burn some ethanol, he couldn’t afford driving to work and the grocery store, could he? With gasoline approaching $4 and maybe $5, can a loaf of bread be far behind? Oil is used to make fertilizer, which grows corn. When oil goes up, fertilizer goes up and then corn goes up resulting in a bowl of corn flakes rising like the numbers on a gas pump. War, food, water, air, climate, energy, healthcare, education; name another area also in crisis. I’ll name one—politics. The world might be better off if we paid as much attention to the real problems as we do the presidential election. God bless the world.

Terry Cummins hopes alligators become endangered. Contact at TLCTLC@AOL.com.

        

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