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<p>In one of the worst chapters of their casualty-marred deployment in Afghanistan, Canadian forces earlier this year lost 10 soldiers in 90 days to improvised bombs on one stretch of highway in Kandahar province. Then a US Army helicopter crew stalking Taliban insurgents who plant bombs at night spotted a five-man team, watched the insurgents through sophisticated optical gear until it was certain that's what the men were doing and got permission to kill them.</p>

Kellogg is rationing its Eggo products due to flooding and equipment problems at two bakeries. The shortfall could last through mid-2010. Better hoard your Eggos! Grocery stores will be experiencing a shortage of the waffles until mid-2010 due to problems at two bakeries, a Kellogg's spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Flooding at an Atlanta bakery during heavy rains in October forced Kellogg, which makes Eggo products, to shut down production temporarily, said company spokesman Kris Charles. Plus, equipment at Kellogg's largest waffle facility, based in Rossville, Tenn., needs extensive repairs.

When word began to leak in grocery stores of the canned pumpkin shortage plaguing this holiday season, baking enthusiasts hoped the chatter was a joke. And others, like Mike Sherrod, owner of the Pink Elephant Cafe, 301 E. Main St., couldn't stifle their amusement, exploding into full-throttle laughter when approached with the news. Reality check: Those empty shelves aren't a mean trick or a byproduct of haphazard stocking. This year, America is rationing its canned pumpkin. "It's the Great Pumpkin Pie Shortage of 2009," Sherrod said between laughs. "Maybe I should have invested in pumpkin futures." The culprit: Mother Nature....

I am just checking to see how the vaccines have been made available throughout the country. I have seen posts on the site saying that they are in short supply in some areas and other posters are saying there are no problems getting them. I would like it if you could tell us your state and what is the status of the vaccine availablilty in the area. I want to make sure that the vaccines have not been made a political football. That we havent yet turned into an African kleptocratcy.

How can the government pretend that it can manage, overhaul, streamline and reform the health care system in the United States when it can't even deliver enough flu shots to prevent a pandemic? We have seen the H1N1 virus coming for over a year. It is no surprise that much of America needs vaccination. It was no secret that the flu season was approaching. But, now that it is upon us, we find ourselves pathetically short of shots. One year ago, the government told us that we would have hundreds of millions of vaccinations available. Then, over the summer, the...

The top public health official in Los Angeles County stood at a swine flu vaccination site in Compton, Calif., on Tuesday and gently told elderly residents that they really ought to go home. “I explained to people 65 or older, ‘The reason we are doing this is for children,’ ” said the official, Jonathan E. Fielding, the director of the county’s Department of Public Health. “I told them: ‘They are at very high risk for this flu, and you’re at low risk. I am sure you wouldn’t want to get a shot that left a kid who is at risk...

I am a pregnant woman in Salt Lake City, Utah. This weekend our health department had a mass H1N1 flu shot clinic, with 7,000 shots to give out, in 4 clinics. It started at 7am. I knew my chances were pretty small when I saw the night before people were already lined up. When I got there at 7am, I wasn’t hopeful, seeing what looked like 4,000 people lined up. I went and stood at the back of the line and started to wait. After about twenty minutes one of the Health department people came up to our group and...

Obama's late-night declaration of a nationwide public health emergency last night shouldn't be allowed to obscure the most important lesson of the developing swine flu crisis - The same government that only weeks ago promised abundant supplies of swine flu vaccine by mid-October will be running your health care system under Obamacare. On Sept. 13, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, told ABC's This Week program that the government was on schedule to deliver an "ample supply" of swine flu vaccine by mid-October: "We're on track to have an ample supply rolling by the middle of October. But...

H1N1 flu is running rampant throughout the U.S., and the country will have received only 25 percent of the vaccine that was expected by the end of October, Sen. Joe Lieberman told a Senate committee hearing Wednesday. The grim news was the focus of a special hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, at which three Cabinet secretaries were called to address the panel: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Education Secretary Arne Duncan. As of last week, there were more than 5,000 cases of flu reported, compared to 7...

Health officials on Friday predicted a shortfall in the supply of swine flu vaccine, as the numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths grow to levels unprecedented for this time of year. Flu caused by the H1N1 virus is now widespread in 41 states, and flulike illnesses account for 6.1 percent of all doctor visits. “That’s high for any time, particularly for October,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Forty-three children have died from swine flu since Aug. 30 — about the same number...

Is there a shortage of seasonal flu vaccination? The Swine flu (H1N1) vaccine is slow getting to many parts of the US (the first doses of swine flu vaccine in the U.S. were given to health-care workers and children this week) and seasonal flu vaccine is also running short in some parts of the country.

In the next 20 years, it's estimated that 30 million Chinese men won't be able to find wives. For mothers and fathers who visit the "People's Park" every weekend there's a lot more to it than just finding love for their kids. There's a tradition in China of the young looking after the old. The government hasn't paid pensions and provided health care for most Chinese. So many parents' social security is on the line.

As the state’s shortage of primary care doctors grows, people are waiting longer for medical care, according to a new survey by the Massachusetts Medical Society. “The shortage is getting more severe,” said Dr. Mario Motta, the medical society’s president. The state’s health care dilemma can serve as a valuable lesson for a nation whose residents are locked in a frenzied debate about health care reform, he added.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Prius hybrid automobile is popular for its fuel efficiency, but its electric motor and battery guzzle rare earth metals, a little-known class of elements found in a wide range of gadgets and consumer goods. That makes Toyota's market-leading gasoline-electric hybrid car and other similar vehicles vulnerable to a supply crunch predicted by experts as China, the world's dominant rare earths producer, limits exports while global demand swells.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Prius hybrid automobile is popular for its fuel efficiency, but its electric motor and battery guzzle rare earth metals, a little-known class of elements found in a wide range of gadgets and consumer goods. That makes Toyota's market-leading gasoline-electric hybrid car and other similar vehicles vulnerable to a supply crunch predicted by experts as China, the world's dominant rare earths producer, limits exports while global demand swells. Worldwide demand for rare earths, covering 15 entries on the periodic table of elements, is expected to exceed supply by some 40,000 tonnes annually in several years unless...

For more than a decade, the U.S. has faced a shortage of nurses to staff hospitals and nursing homes. While the current recession has encouraged some who had left the profession to return, about 100,000 positions remain unfilled. Experts say that if more is not done to entice people to enter the field—and to expand the U.S.'s nurse-training capacity—that number could triple or quadruple by 2025. President Barack Obama's goal of expanding health coverage to millions of the uninsured could also face additional hurdles if the supply of nurses can't meet the demand. Some lawmakers are looking to the immigration...

Shortage of primary-care physicians leaves clinics short-handed Christ Community Health Services struggles By Lindsay Melvin (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal Sunday, July 26, 2009 By midafternoon, nearly every seat is full in the waiting room at Christ Community Health Services in Binghamton. Babies gurgle congested cries as people wait to see some of the only family-care doctors in their neighborhood. Dr. Rick Donlon, one of the founders of Christ Community Health Services, has been trying to convince medical students to think about becoming primary-care physicians and giving care to underserved people instead of going for highly paid specialties. Dr. Rick Donlon,...

President Obama's ambitious plan for radically increasing the government's role in the nation's health care system misses one critical detail: There aren't enough primary care physicians in America now and their numbers are declining. That means government won't be able to deliver the expanded health care Obama is promising to millions of uninsured people. With access to primary care already deteriorating in many parts of the country, Obamacare will make it even harder to get a doctor's appointment without a lengthy wait. "The politicians don't talk about who's going to do this extra work," Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of...

If Plastic Surgery Won’t Convince You, What Will? By DAN BILEFSKY PRAGUE — When Petra Kalivodova, a 31-year-old nurse, was considering whether to renew her contract at a private health clinic here, special perks helped clinch the deal: free German lessons, five weeks of vacation, and a range of plastic-surgery options, including complimentary silicone-enhanced breasts. “I would rather have plastic surgery than a free car,” said Ms. Kalivodova, who opted for cosmetic breast surgery that would normally cost €2,600, or about $3,500, as well as liposuction on her thighs and stomach. These were physical enhancements, she said, that she could...

There are plenty of surgeons and other medical specialists in America - more than enough, perhaps. And specialized institutionalized care of high quality is available for people who are seriously ill. But primary care - the continuing personal supervision of a family's overall health, with emphasis on prevention and early treatment of illness - is sadly lacking for the urban poor, for most rural residents and for millions of middle-class people, too. President-elect Barack Obama has promised to expand health insurance coverage for everybody. But fulfilling this promise will require enough doctors on the firing line - internists, family doctors,...

When he opens boxes sent to the Winchester Gallery gun store in east Fort Worth, he finds out what ammunition he'll have to stock his shelves with that day as demand for weapons and ammo soars. Reports of heavy sales at gun stores began around the time of Barack Obama's election as president, and months later, dealers are facing ammo shortages nationwide. "People are panicking and buying," said Furtardo, assistant manager. "The crime rate is high, and they are flat scared of what is going to happen in the next few years with the economy and the country. Manufacturers weren't...

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2009 – The Army, Navy and Air Force nurse corps are highly trained, capable and critical to the wartime mission of each service, the corps’ leaders told a congressional committee this week. The Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee heard testimony March 18 from the services’ nursing chiefs. Each reported a healthy force that plays a vital role in maintaining the health of America’s servicemembers and saving lives on the battlefield. Despite a nationwide nursing shortage, all three services have had success in recruiting and retaining nurses, the leaders said. New incentive and training programs will help boost...

Paper shortage cripples Ohio courtMarch 16, 2009 An Ohio court says it won't accept new civil, small claims, criminal and traffic cases because it has run out of money for paper. Judge Lee McClelland said the Morrow County Municipal Court that handles the cases has only enough paper left to print hearing notices and other documents for cases already pending, The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch reported Monday. Basically, unless they want to provide paper, we can't process anything, McClelland said. A memo written by the judge was sent to officials with law enforcement and the local government explaining that the county...

Selling bullets may be the most secure job in Florida as long as supplies last. After months of heavy buying, gun dealers across the state are experiencing shortages. Some say it began with the election of President Barack Obama. Others say it's about the economic downturn or fear of crime. Whatever the reasons, ammunition has been selling like plywood and bottled water in the days before a hurricane.

Ford sues dealer Denny Hecker for $3.1 million Kathy Jackson Automotive News January 15, 2009 - 10:42 am ET DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. has filed a federal lawsuit against embattled car dealer Denny Hecker, alleging Hecker's now-closed Ford-Lincoln-Mercury store in Stillwater, Minn., owes the car company more than $3.1 million. The Ford lawsuit, filed Monday, Jan. 12, is the latest bomb to drop on the megadealer's crumbling empire. The first dropped in October when Chrysler Financial Services cut off floorplanning for nine of the 16 dealerships Hecker owned at the time. The Ford lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District...

JAKARTA (AFP) – Drinkers in Indonesia are facing the daunting possibility of a dry festive season, with hotels, restaurants, bars and clubs across the Muslim-majority nation hit by an extreme shortage of alcohol. Many top brands have disappeared from shelves while prices for lesser known and even poor quality labels have skyrocketed after a government crackdown on a flourishing black market in booze. The measures are the latest in Indonesia's anti-corruption fight, with the finance ministry moving against alleged collusion between customs agents and illegal importers trying to bypass stiff import duties as high as several hundred percent. With the...

George Monbiot puts the question to Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency - and is both astonished and alarmed by the answer ___ _video_

US farmers face tighter credit conditions as they approach the next crop season, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said on Tuesday, in the first concrete sign that the financial crisis was affecting agricultural markets. In its quarterly survey of farming credit conditions, the Kansas City Fed said agricultural lenders were reporting tighter credit standards and warned of a further reduction in the availability of funding. However, demand for loans remains strong as farmers require credit to pay for fertilisers and seeds. “Almost 20 per cent of respondents raised collateral requirements,” the bank said, referring to the guarantees that...

(IsraelNN.com) The bankruptcy of the kosher meatpacking plant Agriprocessors, the largest American kosher meat operation, has forced many Jews to go vegetarian amid kosher-food shortages and soaring prices. The Postville, Iowa plant had supplied more than half of the kosher meat for millions of Jews as well as non-Jews who prefer buying meat processed according to Jewish law. Federal investigators raided the plant in May and charged officials with violating immigration laws and hiring 389 illegal workers. Agriprocessors filed for bankruptcy this week after the resulting labor shortage left it unable to meet customer demand and forced a shutdown of...

Across a section of the South, a hurricane-induced gasoline shortage that was expected to last only a few days is dragging into its third week, and experts say it could persist into mid-October. The Atlanta area has been hit particularly hard, along with Nashville and western North Carolina

Hundreds of cars lined streets this morning as motorists in the Charlotte metro region tried to cope with an ever-worsening gasoline shortage situation. Some motorists waited up to five hours, and fights were reported as people accused other customers of cutting in line. Some gas stations that opened this morning with what they thought were ample supplies ran out within a few hours. Police were called out several times to break up fights among angry customers. North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley announced late Wednesday night that he had ordered tanker trucks from Tennessee, Wilmington and South Carolina to deliver gas...

"We're dry. We've got no gas here," Hussain, the station's manager, said Monday morning. He said he has "no idea" when the next shipment will come, even though he's been in constant contact with the local terminal. "It could be days," he said. "Obviously, we're disappointed. We're being patient. That's all we can do."

Russia plans to form a state grain trading company to control up to half of the country’s cereal exports, intensifying fears that Moscow wants to use food exports as a diplomatic weapon in the same way as Gazprom has manipulated natural gas sales. The move by Moscow, the world’s fifth-biggest exporter of cereals, has been sharply criticised by US agriculture diplomats as a “giant step back” to the Soviet era. The decision to control food exports is the latest sign of how soaring food prices are reshaping the agriculture industry. The recreation of Soviet-style state trading will aggravate anxieties of...

Petrol shortage fears as garage queues build By David Millward, Transport Editor Last Updated: 5:19PM BST 11/06/2008 Concerns over petrol shortages are leading to queues of motorists at the country's forecourts. Lengthening queues at a petrol station in Mersyside. There were reports of lines of cars outside garages on Merseyside and in Stoke. It led to fears that Gordon Brown's plea to motorists not to panic ahead of a four day walk out by Shell's delivery drivers over the weekend could have backfired. His appeal came as drivers were bracing them for even more bad news with the head of...

Mexico's Poor Seek Relief From Tortilla ShortageLorne Matalon in Reynosa, Mexico for National Geographic NewsJune 4, 2008 During a protest in México City in January 2008, 28-year-old secretary Anibel Ordonez was one of many chanting "Tortillas si, Pan no!" while waving some of the flat corn disks in the air. The chant was a play on the initials of Mexican President Felipe Calderón's National Action Party, the PAN, which also means "bread" in Spanish. It was also a potent reminder of the effects of skyrocketing food prices on Mexico's poorest citizens. Tortillas are filling—Mexicans eat up to ten every day—but...

World food supply must rise 50%, Ban Ki Moon tells Rome summit Richard Owen in Rome A United Nations summit on resolving the world's food crisis opened this morning with a call from Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, for world farm production to rise by 50 per cent by 2030 to meet growing demand. He called on leaders to lower export restrictions and import tariffs on food with immediate effect to avoid further hunger and malnutrition, which have caused riots in several Third World countries. The three day summit, organised by the Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organization, follows...

Rice shortage threatens Asia By HARI SUD April 22, 2008A child plants rice in south Luzon, Philippines. The country is one of many in Asia that fears a rice shortage if current trends continue. (UPI/SNP Photo/Junichi Fukushima) TORONTO, Ontario, Canada, Three billion people in Asia are the rice guzzlers of the world and they are facing a supply shortage. Production at about 420 million tons a year has been static for the past four years. In this period about 100 million additional mouths have been added, which are putting a dent in the supply-demand chain. Prices of rice have shot...

The willingness to try, fail and try again is the essence of scientific progress. The same sometimes holds true for public policy. It is in this spirit that today, Earth Day, we call upon Congress to revisit recently enacted federal mandates requiring the diversion of foodstuffs for production of biofuels. These "food-to-fuel" mandates were meant to move America toward energy independence and mitigate global climate change. But the evidence irrefutably demonstrates that this policy is not delivering on either goal. In fact, it is causing environmental harm and contributing to a growing global food crisis. Food-to-fuel mandates were created for...

First the good news: Automotive expert Ed Wallace says there's no gasoline or oil shortage in the U.S. today and near-record reserves are on hand. Now the bad news: Not only has the congressional mandate for ethanol jacked up the price of food, but Washington, Wall Street and fuel producers all want you to think the gas and oil shortage they keep talking about is real. Washington, Wallace says, appears to be protecting oil speculators and ethanol producers rather than the interests of U.S. citizens who will ultimately pay higher prices for food and U.S. farmers, who are already staggering...

April 4, 2008, 11:08PM Dueling demands for corn Cattle feeders say the growing need for it in ethanol is driving up the price and threatening their livelihood By BRETT CLANTON Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle TULIA — Ask John Van Pelt his thoughts on ethanol, and he's likely to pull out his adding machine and let the numbers speak for themselves. Van Pelt, the manager of a cattle feedlot in this town 50 miles south of Amarillo, is now paying $215 a ton for cattle feed — double what he spent just three years ago. With 20,000 cattle in his yard,...

The exponential growth in global food production has not only sent the price of fertilisers skyrocketing, but could lead to a world shortage of phosphate within decades. Beyond a temporary market spike driven by richer developing countries and increased supply of biofuels, researchers are warning that the world could face dwindling supplies of phosphate by 2040 unless steps are taken to use it more efficiently and recover it from human waste. But unlike oil, which can be managed by substituting other sources of energy, there is no substitute for the critical role of phosphate in plant development and production. Mineral...

A Global Need for Grain That Farms Can’t Fill By DAVID STREITFELD LAWTON, N.D. — Whatever Dennis Miller decides to plant this year on his 2,760-acre farm, the world needs. Wheat prices have doubled in the last six months. Corn is on a tear. Barley, sunflower seeds, canola and soybeans are all up sharply. “For once, there’s great reason to be optimistic,” Mr. Miller said. But the prices that have renewed Mr. Miller’s faith in farming are causing pain far and wide. A tailor in Lagos, Nigeria, named Abel Ojuku said recently that he had been forced to cut back...

Twenty-year high in rice prices sparks fears By Javier Blas in Vienna and Raphael Minder in Hong Kong Published: March 4 2008 00:19 | Last updated: March 4 2008 02:41 Rice prices have surged to a 20-year high in the latest sign of global food inflation, creating policy headaches in Asia, where more than 2.5bn people depend on cheap and abundant supplies of the grain. Thai rice prices, a global benchmark, surged last week above the level of $500 a tonne for the first time since at least 1989, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, prompting importing...

Taiwan bans certain steel exports for first time By Kathrin Hille in Taipei Published: February 21 2008 03:53 | Last updated: February 21 2008 03:53 Taiwan has banned exports of certain steel products for the first time, in a move that could further contribute to the squeeze in global steel supply. From March 5, exports of small billets and rebars will be banned for three months, and exports of H beams and scrap steel will be subject to government approval on a case-by-case basis, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Thursday. The measure is an attempt to protect the...

Tajikistan 'facing catastrophe' by Natalia Antelava BBC News, Dushanbe Tens of thousands in Tajikistan are already malnourished Tajikistan is in the grip of emergency food shortages, the UN's World Food Programme is warning. The deteriorating food situation is part of the energy crisis which hit the mountainous nation in the middle of its coldest winter for five decades. The cost of food has tripled in recent months, partially because of rising world prices. Some humanitarian agencies claim Central Asia's poorest nation is heading towards catastrophe. It's well below zero in Tajikistan, but most people have no electricity, no heating and...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2008 – A shortage of resources for the NATO effort in Afghanistan has necessitated a risk-management approach to operations there, the commander of the alliance’s International Security Assistance Force said at a Pentagon news conference today. U.S. Army Gen. Dan K. McNeill said NATO nations have not filled the force specified in the alliance’s combined joint statement of requirements. “Even if NATO filled the requirement, it would still provide the minimal force,” McNeill said. Afghanistan is half again as big as Iraq and has a population of roughly 28 million. The general said that if NATO followed...

This Little Piggy Shortage By Melinda Liu and Sam Siebert NEWSWEEK Updated: 12:33 PM ET Feb 2, 2008 A new breed of criminal has emerged in China: "pigjackers." Soaring pork prices in the People's Republic have sent thieves roaring off with truckloads of hogs—and sometimes with smaller hauls, as was the case with the gang that was busted last year in Shenzhen trying to make off with 275 pounds of pork on a motorbike. A local newspaper valued the meat at upwards of $420, or roughly three times what a stolen motorbike might fetch in the city. Police easily caught...

China in power shortage warning China generates more than half its electricity from coal China says it is facing serious power shortages as severe winter weather continues to cause unusually high demand for electricity. Thirteen regions have already started to ration power supplies, the official Xinhua news agency reported. It said coal reserves were down to emergency levels and stockpiles were only high enough to generate power for the whole country for eight days. China's economic boom has led to surging demand for electricity. The coal industry has struggled to keep up, partly because of the government's campaign to close...

Soaring soyabean price stirs anger among poor By Raphael Minder in Hong Kong, John Aglionby in Jakarta and Jung-a Song in Seoul Published: January 18 2008 02:29 | Last updated: January 18 2008 02:29 During the ancient Zhou dynasty, soyabeans were among China’s five sacred grains. Thousands of years later soyabeans maintain their importance to the Chinese and most other Asians, but they have recently triggered much more down-to-earth preoccupations. On Monday, 10,000 Indonesians demonstrated outside the presidential palace in Jakarta after soyabean prices soared more than 50 per cent in the past month and 125 per cent over the...

Small brewers from Australia to Oregon face the daunting prospect of tweaking their recipes or experimenting less with new brews thanks to a worldwide shortage of one key beer ingredient and rising prices for others.