Food

It's Monday evening and I'm in Flagstaff, Arizona. We drove about eleven hours today, through two time changes (Arizona does not switch to daylight savings time, why can all the other states be so smare?) and about 500 miles. Needless to say, I'm a little tired. But this will get rid of some excess energy.

I mentioned a growing water problem last night. Tonight, my friend Marilyn Alm mentioned food. Food does not come from the grocery store; it comes from farms. And we have fewer farmers these days. Agricultural land is being turned into housing with no regard for where the water for these places will be found or how the additional people will be fed.

This year, for the first time in many years, Russia can't export wheat. They don't have enough to feed their own population. China announced that it is considering the revocation of the "one child per family" policy. But China grows enough food to feed about a third of its population. In the United States, the price of wheat shot up about 300% this year.

So, we are approaching a crisis of hunger and of energy, as well as water. What to do? Well, I think that some very hard decisions will have to be made by the governments of many countries. These decisions may lead to those making them being outsted from power. But they and we are going to have to chose between making unpopular decisions (and implementing them) and watching our grandchildren starve.

That is no exageration. Our world population is growing faster than the supply of food grows. People are moving to places like the desert for its beauty and the dry air with no thought for the water it will take to keep their lawns green. Those lawns, by the way, are humidifying that dry air.

There is no guarantee that advances in agriculture and in genetics of crops will be sufficient to keep everyone fed. There is still great resistance to genetically tailored crops. What do people think hybridization is? Did you know that the apple is a member of the rose family? How did that thorny, pretty smelling flower become a lucious fruit?

Agreed, some of the steps that are taken to increase the food supply are short sighted. We are beginning to see what dosing cattle with antibiotics does to some bacteria's resistance to them. No-one has done satisfactory, long term experiments with some of the other methods presently in use. Is our food supply a time bomb, ticking silently to zero?

In the United States and most European countries, we have become addicted to things like sugar and caffeine. They aren't particularly good for us. But we have been consuming steadily increasing amounts of both since the 17th century. There don't seem to be many undesirable side effects if we discount increasing weight and some irritation before that essential morning cup.

The addiction is passed on to our kids. Most colas have plenty of caffeine to start a day the coffee way. The new "energy" drinks have even more. These are very popular with adults and with children. I'm wondering what effect that will have and what will happen when it becomes necessary to convert lands presently under coffee and sugar cane to wheat, rice and beans.

Enough. My rant is finished for tonight. I hope, dear reader, that you will ponder the questions I have raised. If you have any answers, I would be very grateful if you would post them in the comments section.

post card Water I

Our trip continues. Today, we're in Roswell, NM (que eerie music). We drove through some pretty dry areas today. It seems that the rain has not blessed this part of the country. But here isn't the only place.

There are a number of places around the United States that are hurting for water. The middle of the country is of special concern to those of us who live there. Our aquifer is being drained about a hundred times faster than it recharges. There are already irritated noises coming from Kansas and Nebraska about a water agreement made years ago that is drying some farmers out of business.

The southeast US has had its own share of water shortages and upper Florida is worried about the Everglades drying out. One community in Arkansas, a well watered state, was down to about three weeks water supply before the last round of storms brought levels up. These are real problems. They won't just go away if we ignore them.

We are facing climate change. How serious and what effect it will have on us as individuals is an unknown. Oh yes, lots of people are willing to put their guesses up as fact. But none of us really knows how the changes will affect us.

Never-the-less, we can do something. I'm not talking about showering together or watering gardens on odd numbered days. We are going to need a national water policy and a group to oversee it. The Corps of Engineers won't do. It has its own agenda to look after. They do a fine job of flood control along rivers and building dams to make more lakes for recreation. That is their mind set and it just won't do for this problem.

I'm going to think about this and do more research. In the mean time, recommended reading is "The Cadillac Desert".

Palestine, Texas

We've started a long trip. I feared that I would have no access or ideas to post.

Today, as we were driving through east Texas, seeing the many huge Baptist churches, I considered just what is happening during this election. The incredibly long, sometimes bad tempered campaigns, I thought that this was a ploy to make Americans so sick of the candidates and their non-statements that no-one would vote. Then, as the Democratic candidacy came down to Senators Clinton and Obama, race and religion raised their ugly heads.

What difference does it make that one presidential candidate is a woman, another black and the third a Vietnam veteran. Do any of these things have any effect on their competence to manage this country? Who cares if one is Christian or another Moslem? All three have shown their dedication to America and their ability to campaign.

But that Moslem thing really sticks in my craw. I have yet to decide who I want for president. I am certain that I don't want it to be me. But this religious interference with our government bothers me.

From their letters and papers, it would appear that our founding fathers wanted no religion to tell our legislators how to run the country. They did not just speak of the various forms of Christianity. They included Islam, Judaism, Bhuddism and Hinduism in their discussions. We have falloen away from that.

The separation of church and state is an important part of our constitution. But preachers are able to use their pulpit to state their views on who should govern this country and how they should do it. The fact is that many of these religious leaders have great influence on their congregations. Another fact is that mass media have given some of them incredibly large followings... people who will do as their pastor suggests.

That is not separation of church and state. It puts the churchs squarely into the political arena. That, I beleive is wrong. We are up against the rule of separation and the guarantees of free speach and assembly. Never-the-less, it doesn't seem right to me that any religious leader can accept his tax free (separation) status, then try to put his views of government as gospel to his followers. It has been suggested that such a leader's church be stripped of its tax free status. Not a bad idea, but impractical since they already have such a firm grip on our elected leaders.

Besides, it would put the congregation in the position of having to report on their chosen faith. We don't want to put agents in every church to make certain that its leader stays away from politics. That smacks of the worst of totalitarianism. The chrch leaders are understandably unwilling to part with the power they have gained from their sermons on who is right.

But still, some of their preaching is right down the line of intollerance and hate. How to control this is not so much the problem as how did it get that way and will it ever swing in the other direction.

Notice, that I don't say anything about the "good old days." Anyone with access to newspapers of the 19th and early 20th centuries will note that name calling and obstreperousness were just as popular then as now. We certainly do not want to return to the days of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Leaving the policing up to the government puts us right into the position that we have fought so hard to leave. The answer is individual action. If your pastor starts politicking fromthe pulpit, it's time to walk out of the service. Do it publicly and answer (softly and courteously) the questions of your fellow congregants. We pay these preachers. If we leave and don't pay our dues, they are out of a job, usually.

It is our responsibility to clean up our act.

Taking a trip

I'll be leaving for Idaho on 19 March. While I haven't been keeping up with this recently. I'm hoping that I won't be too tired after a long day's drive to blog impressions of where we go. It's going to be an interesting trip, going by way of San Antonio and returning by way of Santa Fe. We shall see what happens to my creative urge when I'm moving around.

Security? For whom?

I recently bought a CD for $5. It took me about 15 minutes to work my way through the wrappings and protective tape that I suppose kept the darned thing from being taken from its jewel case and stolen in the store. That started me wondering. Does anyone trust other people? How much security must we go through before we say, "ENOUGH!"

We're kept standing in long lines at airports for security checks. These checks are spotty and usually inefficient. One airport will make me take my shoes off; another will make me step aside for wanding after I pass their magnetic detector, but say nothing about shoes. The last time I went through JFK, there was an hour wait for security. As I was being passed, I noticed the screen of one of the X-rays. It must have been an electrician's tool kit. There were screw drivers and razor knives. The man was passed and his case was not checked. We're paying for this.

Have you noticed? TSA employees don't wear name tags. That means if one does something way out of line, like a man hand searching a woman passenger, he can't be reported. The rules are inconsistent. My flight home from New York allowed me to lock my check on after it was inspected. When it arrived at home, the locks had been broken off and a TSA tag said that it had been searched. Several jewelry presents for my wife were missing. I've sent e-mails and letters, none of which have been answered. Come to think on it, why should they bother?

The inconsistency goes beyond CDs and the TSA. Just look around at the security arrangements in your nearest store. Marvelous.

For want of a better...

Calloo, Callay, oh frajous day.

Spring has taken over here in Little Rock. Daffodils and crocus are blooming. The Bradford pear buds burst into flower today. And the temperature was a delirious 77 degrees (I can't figure out how to insert special characters like accents or degrees into this thing.) F with bright sun all day. Additionally, not one bill came in the mail.

I really thought that I had an essay ready for this day. But it's gone.