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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 6-Aug-2010
6-Aug-10 News -- Wheat prices climb after Russia announces export ban

Web Log - August, 2010

6-Aug-10 News -- Wheat prices climb after Russia announces export ban

Many Americans in the UK are renouncing US citizenship

Wheat prices climb as Russian wild fires become a national disaster

Wheat prices on the Chicago board of Trade rose the maximum amount permitted in a single day on Thursday to $7.85 per bushel, according to Reuters. Prices have risen 82% since June 9, when a bushel of wheat was priced at $4.25.

Thursday's price surge was sparked by Russia's decision to freeze all wheat exports at least until the end of the year. In addition, Moscow has requested that former Soviet states Kazakhstan and Belarus also freeze their wheat exports, according to Ria Novosti. Russia is the world's third largest exporter of wheat.

These decisions were made as Russia is suffering the worst heat wave and drought since records began 130 years go. The result of the drought is that the 2010 grain forecast has been cut to 70 million tons from 90 million tons.

A grain field burns in Russia <font size=-2>(Source: Moscow Times)</font>

A grain field burns in Russia (Source: Moscow Times)

The drought has destroyed one-fifth of Russia's wheat crop, and now wildfires are finishing off some of the fields that remained.

Moscow is engulfed in smog, thanks to hundreds of wild fires that are out of control, burning villages to the ground. Like the floods in Pakistan that we described yesterday, Russia's fires are achieving geopolitical significance, as can be seen from the freezing of exports.

In 2008, wheat prices rose to $13 per bushel, causing enormous hardship in poor regions. Wheat prices are lower than that amount today, but they're still rising.

The juiciest story of the day -- Naomi Campbell testifies

Naomi Campbell in court <font size=-2>(Source: Telegraph)</font>

Naomi Campbell in court (Source: Telegraph)

The juiciest international news on Thursday is that supermodel Naomi Campbell testified at the war crimes trial of former president of Liberia Charles Taylor, who is accused of supporting the Sierra Leone crisis civil war in the late 1990s, despite the fact that Taylor wasn't even in Sierra Leone. He's accused of purchasing "blood diamonds" from the Sierra Leone rebel force, who had perpetrated widespread atrocities, in order to give them money to buy weapons.

Naomi Campbell was subpoenaed to testify because she had attended a dinner for Nelson Mandela at which Taylor was present. According to the charges, she flirted and exchanged phone numbers with Taylor, who reciprocated by having two men knock on her door in the middle of the night and give her a pouch of "dirty diamonds" (meaning that the diamonds were covered with actual dirt, as if they had just come out of a mine).

Campbell denied that she had flirted with Taylor, and she stated further that she hadn't known that the diamonds were from Taylor, until another guest, Mia Farrow, told her that they might be from him.

According to her testimony, quoted by the Independent, she has never heard of Liberia, and: "It is not abnormal for me to get gifts," she told the court. When she was asked why she didn't the two men where the diamonds came from, she said, "I get gifts all the time: sometimes in the middle of the night without knowing who they are from. It is quite normal for me."

This drama hasn't ended, since Mia Farrow will be testifying next week, and she's expected to contradict Campbell's testimony, according to the Independent.

From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, the Sierra Leone civil war was obviously a generational crisis war of the most genocidal kind, and it's highly doubtful that Charles Taylor could have had any substantial influence on the progress of the war. A generational crisis war, especially one this vicious, is a force of nature, and politicians have little or any control over it.

Additional links

Many Americans living in the UK are turning in their passports and renouncing US citizenship, in order to avoid paying US taxes. Financial Times (Access)

Here's an oddball story. Apparently, financial firms using programmed (computerized) trading programs are sending thousands of orders a second through electronic stock exchanges, with no intent to actually complete trades. The orders have no apparent purpose. Speaking as a software developer myself, I would guess that they're test patterns being used to stress test computers programs, in preparation for the day when they have to get orders through during a panic or crash. Atlantic

The Library of Congress is setting up a national organization for the preservation of digital objects, the National Digital Stewardship Alliance. Fierce Government IT

Iran claims to have tricked Russia by obtaining Russian-made long-range S-300 surface-to-air missiles from Belarus and other sources, after Russia had indefinitely delayed filling a 2007 contract for them. The U.S. had objected to the contract because of the missiles' long-range capabilities. Associated Press

Many Arabs supported Adolf Hitler during WW II, since at that time they were living under British or French occupation. A Saudi columnist is condemning the sympathy that Arabs feel today for Hitler. Memri

Yesterday we reported an item that Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was denying an early report that an assassination attempt had been made on him, using an explosive device that was hurled at him. It now appears that an assassination attempt did take place, and at the same time, a huge explosion occurred at a large petrochemicals complex, destroying large sections of the complex. Iran is playing down the simultaneous attacks. Debka

More than a million BlackBerry users in Saudi Arabia will lose messaging services on Saturday, when the Saudis cut off the service. The Saudis have demanded that Research in Motion, the BlackBerry vendor, give them the codes so that they can monitor encrypted messages. The UAE has already announced a similar ban to begin October 11. The question that's going through my mind is this: Does all this mean that users of iPhone and other hand-held devices DO have their messages monitored? The National (UAE)

In an interview with Palestinian Authority president Maymoud Abbas, he revealed that a recent Arab summit discussed plans for war with Israel. Memri

China's government is taking step to stop people from speaking in the Cantonese dialog of Mandarin, the Chinese language. There are some 50 million Cantonese speakers. Asia Times

In Greece, the rate of suicides has doubled or tripled in the last year, as one of the effects of the financial crisis. Kathimerini

Drug cartels are so powerful in Mexco's Nuevo Laredo that they completely control al the news coverage. Washington Post

A very interesting history of U.S. - Mexican relations, dating back before the Mexican-American war, and how they influence today's immigration issues. Stratfor

Japan is commemorating the 65th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima that brought about the end of World War II. VOA

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 6-Aug-10 News -- Wheat prices climb after Russia announces export ban thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (6-Aug-2010) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 6-Aug-2010 6-Aug-10 News -- Wheat prices climb after Russia announces export ban

Wheat prices climb as Russian wild fires become a national disaster

The juiciest story of the day -- Naomi Campbell testifies

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 6-Aug-2010
6-Aug-10 News -- Wheat prices climb after Russia announces export ban