Wheat, Common Sense Shortage

Mom mentioned reading something in the newspaper about a wheat shortage in 2008. I have been thinking about and looked it up on the internet today. And then my search led me to Zimbabwe's wheat shortage which I have been listening to NPR for days now. Worldnews network links to several stories about the U.S. shortage, the price of wheat (should concern us) for the next year's food prices. ie Are WE headed for a food shortage as well?

But back to that Zimbabwe matter. We knew this was a train wreck waiting to happen in Zimbabwe with Mugabe destroying, pilfering and giving his supporters and fellow government officials property which was not his to give away. I hate to say this, but I would not support Zimbabwe in their hour of need until Mugabe was ousted. D and I were talking about a better way this could have happened. For instance. The white farmers could have sold off portions of their land, leaving enough farms to produce while the new farms learned the trade and settled in. Makes too much sense? You can read year by year accounts of the destruction here. It is simply a country out of control and ruled by greed.

Then there is Jocelyn Chiwenga, the wife of an army General, poised the be next first lady who is has opened her country to American game hunters for the money. This makes me sick! Who would do such a thing? And how ex-army general, Solomon Mujuru could afford a 4 trillion dollar land purchase? The country and the story mystifies me!

So before I fall into the depths of despair about this world we live in and the mess we are making of it, I did find this amusing entry on Zim Daily entitled: "Global Economic De-Mystified".

1. SOCIALISM: You have 2 cows and you give one to your neighbor.

2. COMMUNISM: You have 2 cows, the Government takes both and gives you some milk.

3. FASCISM: You have 2 cows; the Government takes both and sells you some milk.

4. NAZISM: You have 2 cows. The Government takes both and shoots you.

5. BUREAUCRATISM: You have 2 cows; the Government takes both, shoots one, milks the other and throws the milk away...

6. TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

7. AN AMERICAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow dropped dead.

8. A FRENCH CORPORATION: You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.

9. A JAPANESE CORPORATION: You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called Cowkimon and market them World-Wide.

10. A GERMAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

11. AN ITALIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You break for lunch.

12. A RUSSIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

13. A SWISS CORPORATION: You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge others for storing them.

14. A CHINESE CORPORATION: You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim full employment, high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported the numbers.

15. AN INDIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You worship them.

16. A BRITISH CORPORATION: You have two cows. Both are mad.

18. A ZAMBIAN CORPORATION:You have two cows. You call in investors to look after them for you and wonder why they are not sharing the milk with you

17. A ZIMBABWEAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You eat both.

Some blogs:
This is Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe | When Destinies Collide

Life inside Zimbabwe exposed by BBC News, this is so very painful to watch ... but you should.

I keep finding more things I want to post about Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Situation and Zimbabwe: Peace, Justice, Freedom and Democracy, flickr pool. Shirley Nicklin, a Zimbabwean living in the UK and her blog.