Inquisition Update: Catholic Church Issues Guide on How to Convert Witches

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Catholic Church Issues Guide on How to Convert Witches

Theunis Bates Contributor

LONDON -- Five hundred years ago, the Catholic Church had a simple way of dealing with witches: It burned them alive. The Vatican still views these broom botherers as a danger, but is now calling on Catholics to eliminate the neo-pagan problem in a more moderate manner. According to a new booklet from the Catholic Truth Society -- the U.K. publishers for the Holy See -- the faithful can convert Wiccans by following a few simple steps. The pamphlet, titled "Wicca and Witchcraft: Understanding the Dangers," suggests that Catholics spark up conversations with these unbelievers about shared concerns such as the environment, The Telegraph reports. And if you bump into a witch in a bar or coffee shop, the book adds, it's important to recognize that "Wiccans are on a genuine spiritual quest," providing "the starting point for dialog that may lead to their conversion." The booklet's author, former Wiccan Elizabeth Dodd, states that nearly 70 percent of people indulging in witchcraft are young women seeking some kind of spirituality, according to the Daily Mail. The source of that statistic isn't clear, but some 7,000 Brits identified themselves as Wiccans in the 2001 census. So why does the Vatican once again feel that it needs to confront pagan practitioners? The Daily Mail says that the church is afraid the dark arts are becoming ever more tempting thanks to the success of Harry Potter. Dodd says that any youngster who dabbles in magic risks long-term problems.

"Whether spellwork is effective or not," writes Dodd, according to The Telegraph, "has no bearing on the psychological damage that can be done to a young person who is convinced that they have summoned the dead, or have performed a spell that has hurt or injured another." More important, Dodd adds that the simple act of experimenting with spellcraft is an insult to the Almighty. "The use of magic, the practice of witchcraft, offends God because it is rooted in our sinful and fallen nature," she writes. "It attempts to usurp God." While many religious and nonreligious folk might regard Dodd's message as extreme, her point has clearly been heeded by some Catholics. As of this morning, the pamphlet was listed as sold-out on Amazon.co.uk. Read more at www.aolnews.com

 

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Roman Catholic diocese to pay sex abuse victims $1.5 million

By Linda Nguyen, Postmedia News

Pope Benedict delivers his Christmas Day message at the Vatican. A Roman Catholic diocese in Ontario has quietly settled 10 sexual abuse lawsuits in the past month, paying out more than $1.5 million.

Photograph by: Osservatore Romano, Reuters, Agence France-Presse

A Roman Catholic diocese in Ontario has quietly settled 10 sexual abuse lawsuits in the past month, paying out more than $1.5 million in connection to allegations dating back more than 50 years.

All of the settlements involve male victims who allege they were repeatedly molested by two priests from the Diocese of London at parishes across southwestern Ontario.

The victims, who are now in their 60s and 70s, launched individual lawsuits last year, said London, Ont.-based lawyer Robert Talach on Friday.

"The book never really truly closes, but this is definitely a big step toward closure for some of them," he said. "Some of the gentlemen I dealt with waited half a century before they really spoke this aloud to anyone else. Coming out after all those years, it just goes to the fact to show how traumatic it is, that you wouldn't breathe a word of it for five decades."

The settlements were quickly reached between Talach and diocese officials following two days of negotiations. They range from around $100,000 to $315,000.

The diocese said it was "pleased" to have reached the settlements, and urged others who are victims of historical sexual abuse to continue to come forward.

"We are committed to living up to our responsibilities and obligations to victims of sexual misconduct in the search for justice and truth," said Mark Adkinson, a spokesman with the Diocese of London in an email. "We are sorry for all of the hurt these and other victims have experienced. We continue to offer counselling to all victims of sexual misconduct by clergy."

Most of the cases involve Father Lawrence (Laurent) Paquette, a priest who died in 1986 before any of these allegations were officially brought forward.

The sexual abuse occurred at various parishes Paquette worked at since he was ordained in 1943, with the majority in Grande Pointe, a small francophone community near Windsor, Ont.

The victims allege the sexual abuse was repeated over a period as long as two years while some of the boys were as young as 11.

The abuse with the early victims started with fondling and escalated over the years to "everything but sodomy," said Talach. All of the abuse occurred inside a confessional booth, which Paquette would attend with each boy once a month.

"This was a staunch Catholic French community. These boys knew they couldn't call in sick for a confession," he said. "They were in these private booths, which were a perfect context for the abuse to be perpetuated for years."

Meanwhile, one of the other lawsuits involves Father Barry Glendinning and a sexual abuse claim on a boy who was then 15, in the mid-1960s in Windsor, Ont.

This isn't the first molestation claim brought forward against the priest.

In 1974, Glendinning was convicted in relation to six counts of sexual abuse but continued to work across southwestern Ontario.

In 2004, a lawsuit naming him and the diocese resulted in a $1.4-million judgment for three brothers who were victimized by the priest as boys.

Glendinning was defrocked in 2006 or 2007 and is believed to be living in Toronto.

Talach said the effects of the abuse still linger for many of his clients, many whom have kept the abuse and the litigation a secret, even to their own spouses.

"Many dealt with drug, alcohol abuse, attempted suicides, educational and vocational failings," he said. "A lot of them stood out like a sore thumb from the accomplishments of their siblings, so clearly they had been struggling lifelong from the effects of the abuse.

"The bottom line is that it's too little, too late, but it's better than nothing."

Talach is still dealing with at least 200 more lawsuits involving sexual abuse claims against Roman Catholic clergy from Nova Scotia to Saskatchewan. More than a dozen of them involve the Diocese of London.

Last month, Eric Dejaeger, 63, returned to Canada to face six abuse charges allegedly committed on boys at least 30 years ago while he was a Roman Catholic priest in what is now known as Nunavut. He had been living in Belgium for the last 15 years.

In May 2009, the church paid a $1.745-million settlement to a victim of former Windsor, Ont., priest Charles Sylvestre. He died in January 2007 while serving a sentence for sexual assault after 47 women came forward with allegations of sexual abuse.

It was believed to be largest payout in Canada by the Roman Catholic Church to a victim of clergy abuse.

linnguyen@postmedia.com

twitter.com/lindathu_nguyen

More on This Story   U.S. Catholic diocese agrees to $77m settlement of 142 sex abuse claims Abuse victims to get restitution Read more at www.montrealgazette.com

 

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Bulgaria dismisses government minister who spied on Vatican

Sofia - The Bulgarian parliament on Friday accepted the resignation of a government minister who had spied on the Vatican for his country during the Communist era. The diaspora minister, Bozhidar Dimitrov, resigned in December following disclosure that he was among many officials who had worked for the country's feared Communist-era secret service. Dimitrov spied against Vatican while he was studying in Italy. Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who said that all serving diplomats who worked for the secret service during Communist times should be sacked, decided to dissolve the diapora ministry, which was in charge of expatriate Bulgarians. A report in December revealed that half of Bulgaria's currently employed ambassadors and ranking diplomats spied for the Communists before the Iron Curtain fell in 1989. Read more at www.monstersandcritics.com

 

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Pope tells top Vatican court: the People of God need justice

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Pope tells top Vatican court: the People of God need justice

Pope Benedict XVI met on February 4 with the officials of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican’s highest court.

The Apostolic Signatura, led by Cardinal Raymond Burke, is meeting this week in a plenary session to discuss the needs of canonical courts throughout the universal Church. In his remarks to the group, Pope Benedict said: “The function of this tribunal is not, in fact limited to exercising supreme judicial authority", Benedict XVI added, "but it also has an executive role” in supervising other Church tribunals. The Pope explained:

The activities of the Apostolic Signatura aim to ensure that ecclesiastical tribunals are present on the ground and that their ministry is adapted to the just requirements of speed and simplicity, which the faithful have a right to expect in the handling of their cases.

The Apostolic Signatura also hears appeals of cases in which different Church bodies reach different conclusions. In such cases, the Pope remarked, the desired outcome of a trial is “the restoration of ecclesial communion; that is, the restoration of an objective order in conformity with the good of the Church.”

The virtue of justice does not rank as high as the virtue of love, the Pope said, yet justice is necessary to the health of the Church. The Pope said: “The Pilgrim People of God on Earth will not ever be able to realize its identity as a community of love, if it does not have regard within itself for the exigencies of justice.”

Pope receives participants in Signatura Plenary (Vatican Radio)

Plenary of Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura (VIS) Read more at www.catholicculture.org

 

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Vatican: Popes can't be organ donors: Needed for relics (idols)

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Vatican: Popes can't be organ donors

Francis X. Rocca Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI was once a card-carrying organ donor, but the offer expired when he assumed the papal throne, according to the Vatican.

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By Pier Paolo Cito, AP Pope Benedict XVI, shown here at St. Peter's Basilica Tuesday, flanked by bishops Franco Camaldo, right, and Guido Marini, can no longer be an organ donor. He supports donation but had to relinquish his donor card when he was elected pope.

A donor card acquired by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in the 1970s "became ipso facto obsolete" with his election as pope, according to Monsignor Georg Ganswein, Benedict's private secretary, as reported by the German website of Vatican Radio on Wednesday.

Ganswein recently wrote to Dr. Gero Winkelmann, a German physician, to refute frequent references to Benedict's donor card in lectures and articles promoting organ donation.

In a 2008 speech, Benedict praised organ donation as an "act of love," provided that extraction of the organs is done with "informed consent" of the donor, and not as part of a business transaction.

The Rev. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, said that Ganswein's statement did not reflect any change of heart by the pope on the value of organ donation.

"But the idea that a man of his age, when he dies, that somebody might present himself seeking his organs, makes no sense," Lombardi said. "It's surreal."

According to the Associated Press, Polish Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, head of the Vatican's health office, told La Repubblica newspaper that it was understandable that a pope's body remains intact because it belongs to the entire church. "It is also understandable in view of possible future veneration," he said, referring to future sainthood. "This doesn't take anything away from the validity and the beauty of the gift of organ donation."

Until the last century papal organs were removed to make embalming more durable. The organs of 22 popes are preserved as relics in the church of Saints Anastasio and Vincent near the Trevi Fountain in Rome. The custom of removing the organs was abolished in the early 1900s. Read more at www.usatoday.com

 

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Possessor of Child Pornography Sentenced to Federal Prison

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Possessor of Child Pornography Sentenced to Federal Prison

TIMOTHY J. FREELAND, age 23, of Fairview Heights, Illinois, was sentenced today to 97 months in the Bureau of Prisons, 10 years of supervised release, a $750 fine, and a $100 special assessment for possession of child pornography, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today.

According to information revealed at FREELAND's change of plea hearing, FREELAND possessed over 550 still images and 22 videos containing or depicting child pornography.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations Cybercrimes Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicole E. Gorovsky. Read more at springfield.fbi.gov

 

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South Carolina Sheriff’s Department Officer Found Guilty of Using Excessive Force on Detainee

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Former Kershaw County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Department Officer Found Guilty of Using Excessive Force on Detainee

A federal jury in Columbia, South Carolina convicted Oddie Tribble, 51, a former police officer with the Kershaw County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Office, of a civil rights violation for his use of excessive force on a man in his custody on Aug. 5, 2010.

According to evidence presented in court, Tribble struck Charles Shelley, 38, a handcuffed arrestee, more than 25 times with a metal baton, lacerating his skin and fracturing his leg. The assault was captured by video cameras at the Kershaw County Detention Center. Eyewitnesses to the beating, including law enforcement officers, testified that they were shocked to see the unjustified attack by a police officer.

“The jury’s verdict demonstrates that no one is above the law, and that those who are sworn to protect our citizens will be held accountable when they violate the public trust and abuse the rights of individuals in their custody,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

“This is the first time in decades that a law enforcement officer in the state of South Carolina has been convicted by a federal jury at trial of using excessive force,” said U.S Attorney Bill Nettles. “We appreciate the work the FBI and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division put into this case so that the jury had a solid case to consider. Let's be clear, the reason the jury found Oddie Tribble guilty is that he used a metal baton to beat a handcuffed man who posed no threat. The jury's verdict shows that South Carolina will not tolerate misconduct by our law enforcement officers.”

Sentencing before Federal District Court Judge Cameron McGowan Currie is scheduled for May 12, 2011. Tribble faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

This case was investigated by the Columbia Division of the FBI with assistance from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and was prosecuted by Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Christopher Lomax, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Beth Drake, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara McGregor. Read more at columbia.fbi.gov

 

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Democratic Delusions and the New Confederacy

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Democratic Delusions and the New Confederacy

Keith Burton

As I write this column, all eyes are focused on Ham’s progeny as multitudes in the north of the African continent rise up against repressive systems of government. Changes have already been initiated in Algeria and Jordan (yes, Jordan is located in Hamitic territory), and pundits and politicians in the West are predicting and prodding regime change in the world’s oldest civilization. While the decades old regimes do have a faithful cadre of supporters, it is those who have been denied a voice that have dared to overpower the powerful with their demands for democracy.

An American Revolution

In the very week that President Mubarak caved in to democratic pressure with a promise to retire, Roger Vinson, Federal District Court Judge and unabashed Tea Party activist, made a dictatorial decision that disrespectfully slapped American democracy in the face. Through the authority of a law that allows a demagogical partisan judge to veto the voice of over fifty percent of eligible voters and hundreds of members of Congress, Roger Vinson has declared the Affordable Health Care Act null and void. Totally insulated from the reality of most Americans burdened with health care debt, this judge is content to have our taxes pay for his health insurance but does not want his taxes to pay for ours. Intoxicated by his loyalty to party he has betrayed his pledge of impartiality and has shown the world why the democratic ideal has still not been achieved in Reagan’s “shining city.”

Even as we look across the oceans at obvious signs of revolution in the land of Ham, the majority are oblivious to the implications of the revolution that is taking place under our very noses. Whether we want to admit it or not, another Civil War is brewing in this great nation, and the identity of the Confederacy is clear. One and a half centuries ago, the Confederates announced their independence as they sought to maintain a capitalist system that was built and based on the inhumane system of chattel slavery. The new Confederates have a similar agenda–protecting the privileges of the “haves” by sowing seeds of division and swinging hatchets of destruction. In the spirit of its predecessor, this Confederacy is also fueled by racist ideologies of Black subordination. Their separatist agenda is made even more urgent by the presence of a person with immediate African roots in the White House.

Bi-Partisan Prejudice

Similar to the first Civil War, supporters of the new Confederacy can be found in both political parties–Democrat and Republican. However, an influential sector of the Republican Party has made it clear that their’s is the base for those supporting these twenty-first century confederate ideals. (1) It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realize that the massive hemorrhaging currently being experienced by the Democratic Party is driven by White prejudice, as mostly Southern politicians in State and local governments desert with impunity. When asked to explain why nine elected officers in Covington County, Alabama, switched parties, local Republican leader Bill Blocker boldly declared “Some of them were looking at the Democratic party with Barrack Obama as head of that party and saying, ‘That’s not me. That’s not what I signed up for.’”(2)

Undoubtedly, those using the absurd reverse racism “victim” strategy are already trying to spin Blocker’s explanation to make it seem as if the defections are strictly ideological. However, I would love to see them defend the Southern defectors who did not dilute their motivations for joining the Republicans, as they expressed their dismay that the Democrats had become the party of Blacks. Their anger is so ingrained that their contempt for the President governs every public remark. Recently elected Alabama Governor Robert Bentley all but declared Alabama independent in a speech last month; and his Attorney General exemplified the kind of idiotic vitriol driving the high profile lynching of our Commander in Chief when in his remarks about the Health Care Act, he fed the fickle fears of his frenzied throng: First he controls your healthcare, then he tells you what car to drive, then what coffee to drink. It amazes me that so many gullible citizens are buying this. Many of the people who voted for the heartless Confederates don’t even have adequate health insurance, but would rather die than see a plan succeed if it has anything to do with Mr. Obama.

This gullibility scares me. It lets me know that there are people in this nation who will do anything to defend a system of prejudiced preference. They manipulate the minds of the multitudes who are so blinded by hatred that they are oblivious to the woolen hats that obscure their vision. Think about it, most who fought in the Civil War to maintain the slavery system could not even afford slaves themselves, but somehow they liked the status attached to “White privilege.” The neo-Confederates are gearing up for their last stand as they cling tenaciously to xenophobic superstitions that hinder them from experiencing the American ideal. And as they do everything in their power to hold on to power, the Republican party has laid out a welcome mat for their racist platform. Does this make every Republican a racist? Absolutely not. Nonetheless, thanks to the Party that has betrayed the ideals of Abraham Lincoln, the Southern Strategy has found it’s second wind and is succeeding in its effort to cover the Democratic racists under it’s exclusive umbrella.(3)

How Shall We Stand?

As I observe events from the belly of the new Confederacy, I am anxious to see how the Seventh-day Adventist church will respond to these obvious expressions of racist and classist incivility. I know that a number of our Adventist leaders are aligned to the Republican Party, but I wonder if any are ready to elevate Kingdom ideals over Party loyalty? I wonder how many are willing to champion the cause of the downtrodden and underprivileged? I wonder how many are bold enough to promote universal healthcare? I wonder how many are ready to remind their party that God will hold politicians accountable for their decisions–whether they are Democrat or Republican?

Before I conclude, I feel a need to declare to readers that I do not champion any political party–my ultimate allegiance is to the Kingdom of God. However, since it is the Republican Party that has provided a home for the neo-Confedaracy, this admonition is directed to those who feel a need to defend the objects of their loyalty–even when they are wrong. Nevertheless, in the same way that Adventist Christians aligned with the Democratic Party have a godly responsibility to promote the sanctity of life and biblical ideal for marriage, members in the Republican Party must shout loudly against those who have no concern for the least of these, and must decry the cutthroat model of capitalism that continues to drive a wedge between the haves and the have nots. Just as Adventist liberals guided by the Spirit of God need to understand that not every liberal cause has divine endorsement, truth driven Adventist conservatives should acknowledge that there are some demonic economic and social practices that do not need to be conserved.

If these words are offensive to you, ask yourself why. If you really don’t care about the wealth disparity and inequity in this nation, I beseech you to seek assistance from the One who came to liberate the underclass. If you really believe that race based power structures should be maintained by any means necessary, I plead with you to talk to the One who has united all nations by His blood. If you are among those egging the administration to throw down the gauntlet with China, Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and any other media bolstered bogeyman, I invite you to make an appointment with the Prince of Peace. If you wish to maintain a system where more health care dollars are placed in bonus packages and corporate perks than in making people whole, I counsel you to seek therapy with the Great Physician. If you wish to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the racist rhetoric that has already fractured our society, I implore you to open your heart to the love of the One who has included members of every nation, tribe, language and ethnicity in his beloved family.

The one who has an ear, let him or her hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. Maranatha.

Keith Augustus Burton teaches at Oakwood University and Florida Hospital of Health Sciences.  He has addressed issues of racial disparity and ethnic unity for most of his years in ministry. Some of his solutions can be found in his book, The Faith Factor: The Key to Black Empowerment (Harvest, AL: lifeHERITAGE Publications, 2005).

(1)        Aaron Blake, “Southern Democrats in dire straits; 2011 looms large,” Washington Post . Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/democratic-party/southern-democrats.html.

(2)        Anon, “9 county officials switch parties,” Andalusia Star News. Retrieved February 4, 2011 from http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/2011/02/01/9-county-officials-switch-parties/

(3)        Steve Kornacki, “The Southern Strategy Fulfilled,” Salon. Retrieved February 4, 2011 from http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/02/03/reagan_southern_strategy Read more at www.spectrummagazine.org

 

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America in Prophecy by Ashley Cunningham

URL:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/48149754/America-in-Prophecy-...

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Food costs at records as U.N. warns of volatile era

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Food costs at records as U.N. warns of volatile era

By Svetlana Kovalyova and Christopher Doering MILAN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Global food prices tracked by a U.N.

By Svetlana Kovalyova and Christopher Doering

MILAN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Global food prices tracked by a U.N. agency hit their highest level on record in January, a problem set to worsen after a massive snowstorm in the United States and floods in Australia.

The United Nations said on Thursday its Food and Agriculture Organization Food Price Index rose for the seventh month in a row to reach 231 in January, topping the peak of 224.1 last seen in June 2008. It is the highest level the index has reached since records began in 1990.

"These high prices are likely to persist in the months to come," FAO economist and grains expert Abdolreza Abbassian said in a statement.

Wheat underscored the problem affecting commodity prices around the world, settling on Thursday slightly lower after hitting a 2- year high earlier in the day. Corn and soybeans, which also have been hovering near long-term highs, also declined.

Global food inflation is a mounting worry for world leaders. It has contributed to political unrest in countries with high poverty rates and unemployment, as evidenced in the toppling of Tunisia's president in January. That unrest has spilled into Egypt, Yemen and Jordan.

In response, some countries are increasing food imports and have built stockpiles to meet their domestic needs. Among them is Algeria, wary after food riots in early January. It has made huge wheat purchases to avoid shortages, and on Thursday it announced plans to lift a 19-year-old state of emergency in a bid to avert spreading protests.

In Central America, Honduras has frozen prices on many basic foodstuffs despite complaints from farmers. El Salvador is increasing anti-poverty programs by 30 percent, and Guatemala is considering slashing import tariffs on wheat and is handing out food and cash vouchers to landless peasants.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick in a Reuters interview urged world leaders to "wake up" to the dangers of rising food inflation, a problem said he sees no relief from.

"We are going to be facing a broader trend of increasing commodity prices, including food commodity prices," he said.

SUPPLY THE KEY

Catastrophic storms and droughts have slammed the world's leading agriculture countries in recent months, including flooding and a massive cyclone in Australia and a powerful winter storm that swept across the United States.

Dubbed "Stormageddon," one of the biggest snowstorm in decades dumped up to 20 inches of snow in some parts of the U.S. grain belt this week, paralyzing the shipment of grain and livestock.

A deep-freeze forecast for the Midwest, the bread basket of the United States, threatens the region's winter wheat because it may lack sufficient insulating moisture to withstand the cold.

Sugar prices also have surged to three-decade highs on fears of damage Cyclone Yasi would bring to the Australian cane crop. Prices for Malaysian palm oil, a cooking staple in the developing world, hit 3-year highs on flooding.

Big companies have had to adjust to higher raw material costs. Kellogg Co, the world's largest breakfast cereal company, said on Thursday it has boosted prices on many of its products to offset rising costs for ingredients such as grains and sugar.

"Today's announcement by the Food and Agriculture Organization should ring alarm bells in capitals around the world," said Gawain Kripke, a policy and research director for Oxfam America, an international development group.

"Governments must avoid repeating the mistakes of the past when countries reacted to spiraling prices by banning exports and hoarding food. This will only make the situation worse and it is the world's poorest people who will pay the price," he said.

Janis Huebner, economist at Germany's DekaBank said inflation partly fueled by increasing food prices could in turn trigger interest rate rises in several countries this year.

"This could mean a slowing down of growth in the countries which raise their interest rates," he said. "This could involve Asian countries and other regions, this would somewhat brake growth but I do not expect a hard landing."

STOCK BUILDING

Some countries, particularly where food prices loom large in household budgets, have been building up food stocks to contain prices -- and to limit the political and social fallout.

During the last food price crisis, the World Bank estimated that some 870 million people in developing countries were hungry or malnourished. The FAO estimates that number has increased to 925 million.

"2008 should have been a wake-up call, but I'm not yet sure all the countries in the world that we need to support this have woken up to it," the World Bank's Zoellick said.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, last week bought 820,000 tons of rice, lifting rice prices, while suspending import duties on rice, soybeans and wheat.

Algeria last week bought almost 1 million tons of wheat, bringing its purchases to at least 1.75 million since the start of January, and ordered a speeding up of grain imports.

On a day of bloody confrontation in Egypt, where protesters are demanding an end to the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak, the U.N. World Food Programme's Executive Director Josette Sheeran said the world was now in an era where it had to be very serious about food supply.

"If people don't have enough to eat they only have three options: they can revolt, they can migrate or they can die. We need a better action plan," she said.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Saul in London, Martinne Geller in New York, Lesley Wroughton and Christopher Doering in Washington and Michael Hogan in Hamburg; editing by Jonathan Thatcher, Keiron Henderson, Russell Blinch and Xavier Briand) Read more at www.scientificamerican.com

 

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