Free Republic

The head of the world's largest food producer believes high prices are due to the growing of crops for biofuels."The time of cheap food prices is over," says Nestle chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe. He is highly critical of the rise in the production of bio-diesel, saying this puts pressure on food supplies by using land and water that would otherwise be used to grow crops for human or animal consumption."If no food was used for fuel, the prices would come down again - that is very clear," he says. "We are now in a new world with a completely different level...

The Largest Natural Disaster In U.S. History: The Endless Drought Of 2012 Will Bake America Well Into AugustRobert WenzelJuly 16, 2012 Why is the heartland of the United States experiencing such a horrific drought right now? At the moment, approximately 61 percent of the entire nation is experiencing drought conditions, and this is absolutely devastating farmers and ranchers all over the country. Less than two weeks ago I wrote an article asking what would happen if these drought conditions persisted, and now we are finding out. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has created the largest natural disaster area in U.S....

I worry too much. You do, too. And no wonder: you can’t watch the news or read a newspaper or click on a website without seeing or reading a report about something horrifying. Often, the risk as reported in the media is grossly out of proportion with the actual risk you face. Given that we have limited time and energy, there are some things people worry about that get far too much attention relative to the risks they pose. It seems like there are terrifying possibilities around every corner, and unfortunately there is an entire “industry”—government—that feeds on and fuels...

Several Western states, fed up with a federal government some claim is locking down public land against oil drilling, are demanding Washington return millions of acres to state control. The pleas mark a new front in the battle over states' rights, and one state has already codified its demand into law. Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert, a Republican, signed a law several days ago that asks the federal government to return 20 million acres, which could be used to develop oil and other natural resources to bolster the state economy. Republican state Rep. Ken Ivory said Tuesday the land is...

A few days ago I realized that we who are participating on the Agenda 21 thread have amassed an impressive amount of data and links which are quite important for the educating of anyone who is wondering what “Agenda 21” is all about. There is absolutely no question in the minds of any of our participants at this stage that “Agenda 21” is real, and is NOT a tin-foil hat conspiracy. There are quite a number of people on this forum who were way ahead of us, and have been quite patient with us while some (like myself) have played...

I’m getting really, really sick of these pundits and talking heads on the so-called “right” clucking their tongues at the unwashed masses and telling us that we’re crazy and paranoid to be the least bit concerned each and every time the Obama regime takes another stride toward totalitarianism. And it is EACH AND EVERY TIME. Let me break it down for Ed Morrissey, and all of the other pundits in that social circle so that you can get your heads around this. We are concerned and even, dare I say it, panicked, because we can see the big picture of...

On March 16th, President Obama signed a new Executive Order which expands upon a prior order issued in 1950 for Disaster Preparedness, and gives the office of the President complete control over all the resources in the United States in times of war or emergency. The National Defense Resources Preparedness order gives the Executive Branch the power to control and allocate energy, production, transportation, food, and even water resources by decree under the auspices of national defense and national security. The order is not limited to wartime implementation, as one of the order's functions includes the command and control of...

Expert unease over deadly flu virus 'created' in Dutch laboratory Friday 25 November 2011 Dutch scientists have created a flu virus which is so deadly there is doubt about whether the research should be published, the Volkskrant reports on Friday. The paper says American experts are worried detailed information could fall into the wrong hands and that terrorists could recreate the virus as a weapon. The fears are notable because the work was carried out on behalf of the National Institutes of Health in the US. The research team, led by Ron Fouchier, professor of virology at Erasmus teaching hospital,...

Are You Prepared For What’s Coming? Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2011 Nov 16, 2011 - 05:35 AM Michael A Burnham writes: The US$ is the world reserve currency and a huge amount of it is used in international commerce and held in foreign banks. What is the real value of the US$ or any currency for that matter? Money is no longer backed by gold or anything other than “good faith”, thus coined “fiat currency". Whenever the US Treasury runs short of money, it auctions Treasury notes…IOUs. But since there are fewer interested buyers in the world today, it then...

DAVID ROSENBERG: We Are In Year 4 Of A 7-10 Year Depression Cullen Roche, Pragmatic Capitalism Nov. 13, 2011, 6:56 AM David Rosenberg of Gluskin Sheff joined Consuelo Mack on Wealth Track this weekend to discuss his outlook for the economy. Rosenberg isn’t just bearish. He say the US economy is in a modern day depression similar to what Japan has suffered from for the last 20 years. He bases this view on the idea that de-leveraging tends to coincide during a prolonged period of economic weakness that is not merely consistent with recession. Rosenberg says we’re just 4 years...

The Russia World Trade Organization (WTO) accession just took a big step forward on Nov. 10, 2011. The WTO Working Party on Russia’s accession approved the package detailing Russia’s entry into the international organization. This package will then be forwarded to the WTO at a meeting in December for adoption. Russia itself will have until June 2012 to ratify the package. After that, it will soon become a full-fledged member. Emerging market countries like China have proven that WTO accession, combined with credible global integration reforms, could pay huge dividends. Russia fits the bill of such a country. Since the...

"These thieves are grasping for any metal they can get their hands on," said Fort Lauderdale Detective Travis Mandell, adding that manhole covers have also been taken. "At this point they are probably looking for any scrap they can sell and have realized sewer grates are a viable option." He said his department has assigned a detective to investigate scrap yards and try to locate the stolen property. "It really disgusts me that these criminals can live with themselves after they place the safety of the public in jeopardy, all for pennies on the dollar," said Mandell. "There seems to...

Copper Tumbles 6% Eric Platt Oct. 20, 2011, 2:07 PM Copper, after tumbling 4% yesterday, plummeted again on the COMEX today. It's down 6% to $3.07 per pound. Take a look: Image: FinViz Precious metals are also taking a beating: * December gold contracts: Down 2.0% to $1,614 an ounce * December silver contracts: Down 2.8% to $30.36 an ounce * January platinum contracts: Down 2.1% to $1,491 an ounce * Southern Copper Corp. is trading 1.5% lower today. (snip)

....Not all economists would put domestic energy production among their top five priorities for job growth. But many do see significant potential in this field, as the Perry campaign does. For example, economist Peter Morici at the University of Maryland, in a recent analysis of the nation's employment crisis, wrote that "shutting down US oil and gas development is costing the US economy millions of jobs." His view: An emphasis on domestic production could create jobs by dramatically reducing America's trade deficit, thus recycling more consumer dollars in the domestic economy. Promotion of energy production would also spill over into...

Economic Growth According to the World’s Leading Economists By Bill Bonner 10/05/11 Paris, France – We were on the edge of our chairs yesterday. We wanted to see if the Dow would crash through the 10,000 barrier. A break below 10,000 would probably hit the markets like a drone attack on a birthday party… …perhaps causing investors to panic…and the feds to do something really stupid. The feds are getting ready. They’re being egged-on by some of the world’s leading economists. Nobel prize winner, Peter Diamond, for example, urges the feds to spend more money on infrastructure projects. Richard Koo,...

Energy: Environmentalists are making a last stand against the Keystone XL pipeline with a scare campaign about groundwater. Time to review the facts and let the project proceed. The Obama administration gets a lot wrong, but it does seem to be getting more clear-headed about oil. This week, it announced it was moving ahead with oil leases that open a sizable swath of the Arctic Ocean to drilling. And it may soon give the green light to TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL, a 1,700-mile, $7 billion pipeline that would bring oil from the tar sands of Alberta to refineries in Texas....

Prophets Of Doom: 12 Shocking Quotes From Insiders About The Horrific Economic Crisis That Is Almost HereOctober 1, 2011 We are getting so close to a financial collapse in Europe that you can almost hear the debt bubbles popping. All across the western world, governments and major banks are rapidly becoming insolvent. So far, the powers that be are keeping all of the balls in the air by throwing around lots of bailout money. But now the political will for more bailouts is drying up and the number of troubled entities seems to grow by the day. Right now the...

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will arrive in Israel on Monday and meet with Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The two are due to discuss several issues including security ties between the U.S. and Israel, the Palestinian drive for independence, the "Arab Spring" and the Iranian nuclear program. This will be the second meeting between Barak and Panetta within two weeks. The last meeting took place when Barak visited Washington just before the opening session of the United Nations' General Assembly that dealt with the Palestinian application. Barak also held meetings with General David Petraeus, who replaced Panetta as director...

Copper Telling You China Much Worse Off Than You Think? Published: Wednesday, 28 Sep 2011 By: Lee Brodie In a volatile market like this one, you can’t afford not to examine every development. And this one isn’t good. In fact, if you’re bullish it’s kind of a one – two punch to the gut. On Wednesday, materials [XLB 30.451 -1.409 (-4.42%) ] led the market lower as investors worried the crisis in Europe could catapult the world into global recession. Considering materials propelled the market to bull market highs earlier in the year, the poor action in this sector is...

Germany and America were on a collision course on Tuesday night over the handling of Europe's debt crisis after Berlin savaged plans to boost the EU rescue fund as a "stupid idea" and told the White House to sort out its own mess before giving gratuitous advice to others. German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble said it would be a folly to boost the EU's bail-out machinery (EFSF) beyond its €440bn lending limit by deploying leverage to up to €2 trillion, perhaps by raising funds from the European Central Bank. "I don't understand how anyone in the European Commission can have...