Obama: "We can't...eat as much as we want"

[warriorprincess 0]

It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst slums, and Charlene Dumas was eating mud.

With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some must take desperate measures to fill their bellies.

The mud has long been prized by pregnant women and children here as an antacid and source of calcium. But in places such as Cité Soleil, the oceanside slum where Charlene shares a two-room house with her baby, five siblings, and two unemployed parents, cookies made of dirt, salt, and vegetable shortening have become a regular meal.

"When my mother does not cook anything, I have to eat them three times a day," Charlene said. Her baby, named Woodson, lay still across her lap, looking even thinner than the slim 6 pounds, 3 ounces (2.7 kilograms, 85 grams) he weighed at birth.

Though she likes their buttery, salty taste, Charlene said the cookies also give her stomach pains. "When I nurse, the baby sometimes seems colicky too," she said.

Food Prices Up

Food prices around the world have spiked because of higher oil prices, needed for fertilizer, irrigation, and transportation. Prices for basic ingredients such as corn and wheat are also up sharply, and the increasing global demand for biofuels is pressuring food markets as well.

The problem is particularly dire in the Caribbean, where island nations depend on imports and food prices are up 40 percent in places.

The global price hikes, together with floods and crop damage from the 2007 hurricane season, prompted the UN Food and Agriculture Agency to declare states of emergency in Haiti and several other Caribbean countries.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...aiti-eatin.html

Better get to drillin or its gonna get worse!

This is a serious problem. Every week food prices are going up and salaries are remaining the same. Rice is hard to get and the alternatives are becoming more and more expensive. Even vegetables prices are rising. It's really tough.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst slums, and Charlene Dumas was eating mud.

With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some must take desperate measures to fill their bellies.

The mud has long been prized by pregnant women and children here as an antacid and source of calcium. But in places such as Cité Soleil, the oceanside slum where Charlene shares a two-room house with her baby, five siblings, and two unemployed parents, cookies made of dirt, salt, and vegetable shortening have become a regular meal.

"When my mother does not cook anything, I have to eat them three times a day," Charlene said. Her baby, named Woodson, lay still across her lap, looking even thinner than the slim 6 pounds, 3 ounces (2.7 kilograms, 85 grams) he weighed at birth.

Though she likes their buttery, salty taste, Charlene said the cookies also give her stomach pains. "When I nurse, the baby sometimes seems colicky too," she said.

Food Prices Up

Food prices around the world have spiked because of higher oil prices, needed for fertilizer, irrigation, and transportation. Prices for basic ingredients such as corn and wheat are also up sharply, and the increasing global demand for biofuels is pressuring food markets as well.

The problem is particularly dire in the Caribbean, where island nations depend on imports and food prices are up 40 percent in places.

The global price hikes, together with floods and crop damage from the 2007 hurricane season, prompted the UN Food and Agriculture Agency to declare states of emergency in Haiti and several other Caribbean countries.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...aiti-eatin.html

Better get to drillin or its gonna get worse!

This is a serious problem. Every week food prices are going up and salaries are remaining the same. Rice is hard to get and the alternatives are becoming more and more expensive. Even vegetables prices are rising. It's really tough.

I say get some new oil wells going, while simultaneously look for other oppurtunities. A few refineries would help in the short run. All the while the blood of starvation lays at the hands of the big green monster.

[sj5 4]

he maybe sorrounded with skinny people he should donate some not asking others to do it.

Edited May 20, 2008 by SJ

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Its all about doing what I say and not what I do!

[Marilyn. 340]

how do we know what he does at home?

he is running for an election he needs to get out to the people..

[Nagishkaw 510]

Well, he ain't eating mud cookies . Imagine all those fund raising extravaganzas....roast pheasant, the finest champagne....0k, he needs to get out to the people.

[britty 1]

Obama can kiss my a$$ if he thinks he can dictate what I eat, what I drive, and what temperature my home is. If he is so eager to implement these changes, then stop driving around in gas guzzlers, stop staying in air conditioned hotels, and stop attending the various soirees and dinners that keep his belly full. Frankly, if you are not prepared to live by the standards you wish to impose on others, then your word is cr*p and I refuse to listen to your drivel.

[Marilyn. 340]

I don't think Obama is saying he wants to regulate how much we eat and what we drive etc..

he is just saying that we can't do all that and expect other countries to just sit back and not complain....

or am I reading it wrong?

[nana_356 0]

Obama can kiss my a$$ if he thinks he can dictate what I eat, what I drive, and what temperature my home is. If he is so eager to implement these changes, then stop driving around in gas guzzlers, stop staying in air conditioned hotels, and stop attending the various soirees and dinners that keep his belly full. Frankly, if you are not prepared to live by the standards you wish to impose on others, then your word is cr*p and I refuse to listen to your drivel.

[Jenn! 918]

I don't think Obama is saying he wants to regulate how much we eat and what we drive etc..

he is just saying that we can't do all that and expect other countries to just sit back and not complain....

or am I reading it wrong?

I think you are reading it correctly.

People are just flipping out because they think that Obama's gonna come and rip their filet mignon out of their mouth and slash the tires on their hummer.

[nana_356 0]

I don't think Obama is saying he wants to regulate how much we eat and what we drive etc..

he is just saying that we can't do all that and expect other countries to just sit back and not complain....

or am I reading it wrong?

you are reading right, its exactly what he said. It seems people that are aginst him are really digging to find something to hold against him!

[Nagishkaw 510]

I don't think Obama is saying he wants to regulate how much we eat and what we drive etc..

he is just saying that we can't do all that and expect other countries to just sit back and not complain....

or am I reading it wrong?

you are reading right, its exactly what he said. It seems people that are aginst him are really digging to find something to hold against him!

[Ban Hammer 13,342]

Your at a restaurant eating, the person sitting next to you says "your eating to much" I'm sure your response would be "thanks for telling me that,Please take from my plate what you see fit"

that's a bad idea when i have a fork and knife in my hands

I totally agree with you charlesandnessa. Touch my plate and die

and it's a good way to be nicknamed "nubs"

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK," Obama said.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2017697/posts

He's a socialist. He wants world misery spread 'fairly'.

[LaL 418]

I don't think Obama is saying he wants to regulate how much we eat and what we drive etc..

he is just saying that we can't do all that and expect other countries to just sit back and not complain....

or am I reading it wrong?

I think you are reading it correctly.

People are just flipping out because they think that Obama's gonna come and rip their filet mignon out of their mouth and slash the tires on their hummer.