Drought and Rising Food Prices
We are all so interconnected. I knew rice prices here in Kuwait had gone sky high, so high that imported American rice is now a relative bargain. I always bought Indian rice, in an effort to buy more (relatively) locally, and I knew India had restricted rice exports, but I didn’t know that the long drought in Australia was also contributing to the short supply.
You can read the entire article at this New York Times link.
THE FOOD CHAIN
A Drought in Australia, a Global Shortage of Rice
By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: April 17, 2008
. . . . . .
The collapse of Australia’s rice production is one of several factors contributing to a doubling of rice prices in the last three months — increases that have led the world’s largest exporters to restrict exports severely, spurred panicked hoarding in Hong Kong and the Philippines, and set off violent protests in countries including Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, the Philippines, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
Drought affects every agricultural industry based here, not just rice — from sheepherding, the other mainstay in this dusty land, to the cultivation of wine grapes, the fastest-growing crop here, with that expansion often coming at the expense of rice.
The drought’s effect on rice has produced the greatest impact on the rest of the world, so far. It is one factor contributing to skyrocketing prices, and many scientists believe it is among the earliest signs that a warming planet is starting to affect food production.
It is difficult to definitely link short-term changes in weather to long-term climate change, but the unusually severe drought is consistent with what climatologists predict will be a problem of increasing frequency.
Read the rest of this article, and related articles, by clicking HERE.
Traffic Watch
Never fear, the Qatteri Cat is on traffic watch today. All is well, you can tell by his relaxed stance. Every now and then, he will utter an alarm – birds come by and taunt him because they are flying freely and he is trapped inside. He’s not smart enough to say “yeh, but I get free food, water and medical care in this gilded cage.” All he knows is that he would love to be free to show those birds a thing or two.
Once, in our Qatar villa, a great big pigeon hit a window and then THUNKED to the ground, not 10 feet from QC, who was allowed in the garden as long as someone was with him. The bird was so big and QC was so astounded, that by the time he decided to go investigate, the bird had recovered consciousness, stood up and shook his wings. He was bigger than QC! As QC thought twice about approaching, the pigeon flew off. I am betting that is about the closest QC has been to a real live bird.
One time (one of many) the Qatteri Cat escaped the yard. This time I knew where he was within the first half hour, because I could hear him crying pitifully. I had to ask a neighbor if I could go into her back yard, and there was QC, high up in a tree, scared and unsure how to get down. There was a wind blowing, and the only thing QC could think of, every time the boughs swayed to a strong gust of wind, was to go higher. He had reached the spot where every gust made him sway like a pendulum. He was terrified.
It took me about an hour to talk him down. First, he had to get over his panic, because his terror was paralyzing him. Second, he didn’t know how to climb down, so he had to turn around, to kind of walk down the tree, which, with gravity, was a very scary thing. He kept turning and then turning back.
(How do you teach a cat to back down a tree?)
Finally, I just kept talking. I locked eyes with him, and every time he would look away, I would say his name, get him focused on me again. Slowly, slowly, he worked his way down (he was up very very high, higher than a ladder could reach). He ended up falling the last 20 feet, but I could catch him. His little heart was beating like thunder, his adrenelin was pumping and I had to hold on to him to get him home. He didn’t want to be held, and I have the scars to prove it.
The neighbor thought I was a nut case, I am sure, but I don’t care. A cat can be so paralyzed by fear that they cling to the tree until they are exhausted and drop to their death. Some cats will figure out how to get down, but not all, and not while a wind is blowing and swaying them back and forth.
As much as I love fresh air, we have to keep the windows closed. He’s a sweet cat. His little brain just goes on hold sometimes. If a bird taunted him, he would be out that window in a heartbeat, no second thoughts, just instinct.
Not New News
Just as the Qatteri Cat monitors traffic in front of our place, I monitor my blog traffic – a lot like Qatteri Cat, sort of lazily, desultory.
Yesterday, I got the most hits – a lot – on MOC bans Porno Film Sites, a post I wrote almost a year ago.
80 hits. That’s a lot for a post almost a year old. Why so much interest? Are there new movements afoot in the Ministry of Communication to ban undesirable content? Are there new technologies available that make that possible?
I knew exactly the kind of photo I wanted to include here, so I googled “saudi censorship image” and found this wonderful blog: Your World Today. I really like his blog.
Storm Threat
Yesterday, late in the afternoon, the office sent out warnings that another storm is highly possible in near future, yesterday or today, and to be aware. As far as I know (and all I saw of the last one was a lot of cloud-to-cloud lightning) if one is coming, it hasn’t struck yet.
But as the sun rises, I am looking at that dark spot out on the horizon, and looking at the thickening clouds and wondering if there is some instability we can’t see . . .
Qatteri Cat Celebrates Spring
A picture worth a thousand words, hmmm? He is so happy the warm sunny days are back. . . his needs are so few, and he revels in the sweetness of a puddle of warm sunshine.
Un Joyeux Anniversaire
Today is one of those happy-sad days for AdventureMan and I, happy because our son found a sweet, beautiful, smart woman with whom to share his life and with whom he was married two years ago today, and sad, because we can’t be there to take them out to celebrate.
It was a beautiful day, we all had so much fun!
The Event Planner at the Panama City Beach Marriott, when she learned we were coming in from Kuwait, told us she has many Moslem wedding parties at that hotel, and that her biggest problem is finding enough female servers to take care of the bridal parties. Who knew? There is a huge Moslem population in PCB, enough to support private a private, segregated school.
We are missing you too much, and we wish you the happiest celebration!
Hit the Road Running
Both AdventureMan and I have a lot on our plates today, so we hit the road running a little early. I was actually up when the sun rose – 5:25 a.m. and bring you this morning’s sunrise:
I am afraid to say ‘it looks like a glorious day.’ Friday also dawned a glorious day, and ended in wreckage, lives lost and enormous property damage as a fifteen minute wind, sand, hail, thunder and lightning storm struck Kuwait. One forecaster said more is on the way – and I wonder, still? Can we still expect the possibility of another freak storm?
It’s 64°F / 18°C at 0600 with a forecast of 100°F / 38°C forecast for today.
Cynthia’s Praline Cake
My friend Cynthia, who knows I love mysteries, confessed to me that it was HER praline cake featured in JA Jance’s Joanna Brady series, and that she was the Cynthia who, in the book, brings it to the community potluck supper. And . . . she shared the recipe with me!
My friends, it is an easy recipe if you have the ingredients on hand (oats, brown sugar, butter) but I warn you – no substitutions! Yes, it is full of sugars and fats – why do you think it tastes so good??
Cynthia’s Praline Cake
(This is another one you can make in two 8″ round pans, and freeze one for later.)
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup cold water
1 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Icing
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
2 Tablespoons milk
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/4 cut chopped pecans
In a small bowl combine the oats and water, set aside. In another small bowl, combine and mix the dry ingredients – the flour, soda, cinnamon and salt.
In a larger mixing bowl, cream together the sugars, oil and eggs. Beat, add the oat mixture alternately with the mixed dry ingredients. Mix well.
Pour into greased and floured 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 – 40 minutes.
For the icing: Just before the cake is done, combine butter, milk, and brown sugar in a saucepan, bring it to a boil and boil for one minute. Add the pecans and mix. Spread over cake.
For Jewaira, who always asks for pictures, this is what the finished cake looks like:
Running Red Lights
I was out on seventh circle this morning, that annoying stretch where there sets of stoplights, one after another. Oone of the annoyances is the guys who are behind you honking the hell out of their horn because you STOPPED for the red lights, while others whiz right through. I am praying Kuwait has hidden cameras at all these lights and all those red-light-runners will have huge fines to pay when they go to register their cars.
Then I get to this red light:
I am only taking this photo because most of the lights along seventh ring were missing at least one light. This one – the set of lights on the right actually has a very dim light behind the red, you can see it a little if you are really looking. When the light changes, there is one green light – on the bottom of the other set of lights. I will admit this was the worst set of lights, but every single stoplight had missing traffic lights.
My friends, this is just not acceptable. There is so much labor around doing all kinds of stuff, but traffic lights – putting in fresh bulbs just isn’t that hard. There should be someone every single day of the year making sure traffic lights are ALL in working order. To allow it to go a day or two is truly criminal negligence, and some of these lights go for WEEKS.
More Severe Weather Coming?
In todays Kuwait Times, Kuwaiti meteorologist, Dr. Saleh Al-Ojairi is quoted as saying that “the storm occurred because of the formation of a severe depression locally known as ‘Al Sarrayat.'” The Times goes on to say the “He also predicted severe weather conditions to reoccur in the near future.”
What does ‘Al Sarrayat’ mean?
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