Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Early last year stories hit the news about the potential for food prices to rise throughout 2011.    PLT photo Commodities prices for wheat, corn, sugar, and others were all on the rise which ultimately resulted in a 4.4% rise in the cost of food to December 2011. Full story here

                                                  CBC  Courtesy of SteinbachOnline.com People in Manitoba's hog industry are shocked a farm in the western part of the province is under investigation for animal cruelty. Full story here.

Sooo.....Hurricane Isaac has forced the Republican National Convention to take a recess.....couldn't happen to a nicer group of climate-deniers.  PLT

  Canadian Authorities Refuse to Protect Precious Pollinators From Known Toxins. Is Something Crooked Going on Here?        by Larry Powell Bumblebees forage on organic chives. A  PinP  photo For way too many years now, they and their political masters have been stubbornly refusing to protect our precious plant pollinators such as bees from known toxins.  Isn’t it high time we found out why? It’s gotten to the point where, to me, the failure of these individuals to lift a finger to save collapsing world populations of these creatures, borders on the criminal. It even smacks of collusion between them and the agro-chemical industry. For years, scientific research teams both far and near, have been documenting dwindling numbers, even extinctions, of several populations of honey bees and bumble bees. Scores of reputable groups, including The Canadian Pollination Institute (CANPOLIN), the Xerces Society and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in the ‘States, are all sound

Vancouver Sun Only two per cent of Canadians who responded to a new opinion poll believed climate change is not occurring. Full story here.

Avaaz.org Australia could let mining magnates build one of the world's largest coal ports on top of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem -- opening access to 8 billion extra tonnes of planet-killing coal and risking the survival of this entire amazing world heritage site. Details here.

By: Jenny Ford - Winnipeg Free Press Manitoba lakes have some of the highest concentrations of a potent toxin produced by blue-green algae, a study published today found. Details here.

Laura Rance - Winnipeg Free Press   Harper's act of clemency hits at CWB   PLT photo As the new marketing era dawned Aug. 1, Canada's prime minister took his revisionist view of history and his ideological vendetta against the Canadian Wheat Board to a new level. Full story here.

IPS - Interpress Service BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Aug 8 2012 (IPS) - Humanity is living beyond its means with the growing demand for food, medicines and other nature-based products, making sustainable consumption and conservation a matter of life and death. This is according to the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network, the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Details here.

Reuters Irrigation pivots sit idle in winter, in the US midwest. PLT photo. LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The world is depleting underground water reserves faster than they can be replenished due to over-exploitation, according to scientists in Canada and the Netherlands. Details here.

Dear Reader, By way of explaining why my blog has been so dormant, I suffered a heart attack about a month ago. They rushed me by ambulance from Roblin (MB) to the cardiac wing in the Regina General hospital. There, they installed a "stent" in a blocked artery, then did open hearts surgery during which they bypassed six other arteries. Lucky for me, the cardiac ward in Regina and the people who work there, are world-class. I'm home now, recovering. But I'll now have to visit a sleep clinic in order to deal with my Sleep Apnea which appears to have returned. I may have to start using (for lack of the correct, technical term) a "sleep machine" to help me at night. Should be able to get back to posting regularly, in short order. Thinking of you all. Larry