Wednesday, April 30, 2008

In India, Even Gods Are Going Hungry

By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 30, 2008; Page A10

Poor Struggle to Donate to Temples as Food Prices Skyrocket....

NEW DELHI -- Every morning, Hindu devotees haul buckets of fresh, creamy milk into this neighborhood temple, then close their eyes and bow in prayer as the milk is used to bathe a Hindu deity. At the foot of the statue, they leave small baskets of bananas, coconuts, incense sticks and marigolds.
But recently, Ram Gopal Atrey, the head priest at Prachin Hanuman Mandir, noticed donations thinning for the morning prayers. He knew exactly why: inflation.

With prices soaring for staples such as cooking oils, wheat, lentils, milk and rice across the globe, priests like Atrey say they are seeing the consequences in their neighborhood temples, where even the poorest of the poor have long made donations to honor their faith.

"But today the common man is tortured by the increases in prices," Atrey lamented during one early morning prayer, or puja, adding that donations of milk were down by as much as 50 percent. He had recently met with colleagues from other temples, along with imams from local mosques, who reported similar experiences. "If poor people don't even have enough for bread, how will they donate milk to the gods?" he said. "This is very serious."

From Haiti to Senegal to Thailand, prices for basic food supplies have skyrocketed in recent months. The increases have been attributed to a confluence of factors including sharply rising fuel prices, droughts in food-producing countries and the diversion of some crops to produce biofuels. In India, milk prices rose because of increases in gasoline prices, which made it more expensive to transport the product from dairy farms to cities.

The U.N. World Food Program has said that more than 100 million people are being driven deeper into poverty by sharply rising food prices, which have sparked riots and protests from Bangladesh to Egypt. The crisis is serious in India, where nearly half the children younger than 3 are undernourished, a higher rate than in sub-Saharan Africa, according to UNICEF, the U.N. agency for children.

Read full story here:

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Food Shortage and Rationing- The World In Crisis

Have you watched the news lately? Or are you so preoccupied with the oohs and aahs of scrouging for living....or existing, shall we say....that you've scarcely noticed the groaning of the sons of men...

Well I have been...somewhat...

What you see here is the search results I got when I "googled".....I love that name google....the word "food crisis"...
I got over 3 million hits..........................................................3 MILLION!!!!................

You may want to click....and then read.....the horror stories........

Tick, tock, tick, tock.....!!!!! Beloved it is countdown to His 2ND coming.....

Results 1 - 10 of about 3,080,000 for food crisis. (0.05 seconds)
Global Food Crisis
www.ProjectConcern.org Rising food prices are causing widespread hunger. Take action now!

News results for food crisis
PRESS TV
Ban Ki-Moon to Chair UN Task Force on Food Crisis (Update2) - 1 hour ago
The food crisis is an ``unprecedented challenge'' that has ``multiple effects on the most vulnerable,'' Ban told a press conference in the Swiss capital ...
Bloomberg - 416 related articles »Region's aid groups grappling with global food crisis - Seattle Times - 26 related articles »Fidel Castro warned of food crisis a year ago - Reuters South Africa - 19 related articles »

Food Crisis - washingtonpost.com
THE SKYROCKETING commodity prices that have made the Farm Belt one of the most prosperous regions of the United States have had a rather different impact on ...www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031303347.html - Similar pages

Jpepa ratification to worsen food crisis
The current rice crisis facing the country should convince the Senate not to ratify the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement because the deal ...www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=11675 - 50k - Cached - Similar pages

The World's Growing Food-Price Crisis - TIME
Feb 27, 2008 ... Rising demand, soaring oil prices and the ravages of climate change are putting food beyond the reach of the planet's
poor.www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1717572,00.html - 40k - Cached - Similar pages

Global Food Crisis Expected to Produce Social Unrest -- 04/03/2008
Apr 3, 2008 ... (CNSNews.com) - World Bank President Robert Zoellick says a global food crisis demands the immediate attention of world leaders. ...www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200804/NAT20080403c.html - 24k - Cached - Similar pages

Grains Gone Wild - New York Times
Apr 7, 2008 ... How did the food crisis happen? The answer is a combination of long-term trends, bad luck — and bad policy.www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/opinion/07krugman.html - Similar pages

BBC NEWS South Asia Is India facing a food crisis?
Apr 7, 2008 ... Paranjoy Guha Thakurta explains why food prices are rising in India.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7327858.stm - 56k - Cached - Similar pages

Food crisis grows - Paul Krugman - Op-Ed Columnist - New York ...
Apr 8, 2008 ... So, it the food crisis is at least entering the agenda of the G7, ... How about, all the above are contributory to the food price crisis? ...krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/food-crisis-grows/ - 62k - Cached - Similar pages

Townhall.com::A Government Engineered Food Crisis::By Linda Chavez
Ethanol won't solve the energy crisis, but it may well lead to a food crisis in the U.S. and elsewhere. The U.S. Agency for International Development ...www.townhall.com/columnists/LindaChavez/2008/03/28/a_government_engineered_food_crisis - 177k - Cached - Similar pages

Global response needed on food crisis - Zoellick Reuters
Apr 2, 2008 ... (Updates with comments on WTO, details) By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) - World Bank President Robert Zoellick on ...www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN02390609 - 71k - Cached - Similar pages
Food Crisis Feared as Fertile Land Runs Out

Dec 6, 2005 ... Food Crisis Feared as Fertile Land Runs Out Maps show 40% of Earth's land is used for agriculture Growing human 'footprint' a risk to the ...www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1206-01.htm - 16k - Cached - Similar pages

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Shout to the Lord on American Idol


Last night was "Idol gives back" night on American Idol.....yes, some of us watch American Idol religiously week after week....anyhow, as many of you might be, I was pleasantly surprised that the show closed with a rendition of Darlene Zschech's "Shout to the Lord"...all the idol contestants were dressed in white, and together with the choir did a beautiful performance of the song....however, I noticed the name of Jesus was carefully removed from the song....but still, it was nice to see that a gospel song was sung boldly with millions of people watching all over the world....it brought tears to my eyes I tell you....
There is a fellow blogger who has uploaded a video of the performance on his/her blog, and I'm putting the link to it below for those who missed the show last night....Mariah Carey also did a beautiful rendition of "Fly Like a Bird"...

http://blog.hem-of-his-garment-bible-study.org/2008/04/10/american-idol-finalists-sing-shout-to-the-lord/

Enjoy!