TROUBLING TIMES
In lean times, biotech grains are less taboo
By Andrew Pollack (The New York Times) MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2008
Soaring food prices and global grain shortages are bringing new pressures on governments, food companies and consumers to relax their longstanding resistance to genetically engineered crops.
Resistance relaxes to modified wheat
By Andrew Pollack (The New York Times) MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2008
Some companies buy genetically engineered products for the first time as grain shortages bring new pressure on governments and consumers who say they no longer can afford to say no to GMO.
Aid arrives in Haiti, but many are left out and country remains unstable
(The Associated Press) SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2008
Hundreds of Haitians stood in long lines Saturday, just as others had walked for hours throughout the week to receive the U.N. and regional food aid pouring into the country after a spate of deadly riots.
Rats feasting on rice cause famine scare in northeastern Indian state
(The Associated Press) SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 2008
A food shortage has hit a remote Indian state after an army of ...
UN food aid agency's gap grows
By Missy Ryan (Reuters) FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2008
Surging crop prices have helped widen the World Food Program's funding gap to around $750 million this year, and the U.N. food aid agency warned it may have to cut rations for hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren if new donations don't materialize soon.
Leaders warn on biofuels and food
(BBC) TUESDAY APRIL 22, 2008Two Latin leaders have issued warnings about biofuel
production on food supplies
Fun With Bill Collectors
Not many people know what their life is worth. Those that do often find out through unusual channels.
My significant other, through a few youthful indiscretions, has found herself with a first hand perspective on the debt crisis that’s coming to a head. As credit card companies are finding out, eighteen year olds with no steady income spend far above their means, and tend not to be able to pay back those exorbitant bills when they finally pile up. Six years later, and my partner is still dodging bill collectors, though not through the usual means. She has, fortunately, several natural talents that make the jousting match with her creditors more than a far fight.
First, she was informed enough to find a lawyer. In this case, it was a hot shot lawyer who did pro bono work with people under piles and piles of debt. He told her, simply, don’t pay them. Not one red cent. There’s no more debtors prison, and he advised her simply to finish school and then declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Chapter 7 strips you of all your possessions, but voids all debts, as opposed to Chapter 13, which forces you to pay back your creditors for five years before you can void those debts. The slate wiped clean, it would take her a few years to rebuild her credit, but provided she learned from her mistakes, all would be well.
So two years later, they’re still calling her, and she’s still not paying. The power of a ‘no’ should never be underestimated.
Second, she’s got moxy. Bored with simply ignoring the calls of creditors, she decided to turn the tables on the hounds. I present to you a fictitious (though true in spirit) conversation between my partner and an unwitting creditor.
‘Hello?’While this is, obviously, a bit of a joke, it’s not. Collectors are really calling her from a hospital, claiming she’s a bad person for not paying this bill. And yes, a bill collector has told her she should have thought about whether she could afford to go to the hospital as she was puking her guts out. To say this is out of control is the tiniest of understatements.
‘Is this [name redacted]?’
‘Yes, this is she.’
‘You owe us money!’
‘Who is this?’
‘You owe us money! Pay us back now!’
‘Justin, is this you? Is this a joke?’
‘This is no joke. I’m calling on behalf of [hospital name redacted]. We know you have money, give it to us.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘We know you’re still employed at [company redacted]. Why isn’t paying back your hospital bill a priority?’
‘Because I’m broke.’
‘You have money, give it to us.’
‘I can’t, I told you I’m broke.’
‘Well you seem to be earning more than enough money at [company redacted]. Pay us that money.’
‘I need that money to pay for rent and food. I really am broke.’
‘Well you should have thought of that before you agreed to receive our services.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘You have a moral obligation to pay us back for the medical treatment you chose to avail yourself of when you came to [hospital name redacted].’
‘I was puking my guts out and would have died of dehydration without that treatment. You’re saying that, as I was lying on the floor of my bathroom, I should have checked my back account before calling 911?’
‘Yes. You are a bad person for not paying this bill.’
‘Are you high? You’re the one telling me if I can’t pay you a pound of flesh I should have stayed home and died in a pool of my own vomit!’
‘Ma’am, we live in a society of laws, and those laws say you owe us money and you’re a bad person if you don’t pay your debts. Booga booga booga, feel bad for not paying us!’
‘Oh my god, you’re completely insane, not to mention morally bankrupt.’
‘You’re the one who is morally bankrupt! We saved your life, that means we own your life! Pay us our money!’
‘Don’t I have a right to live? Don’t I have a basic human right to the things I need to stay alive?’
‘Yes, as long as you pay us for it.’
‘That’s not what rights mean. A right is something you get by virtue of being alive. We would never tolerate someone making us pay for the right to speak freely, or make the press pay a fee to be free from censorship. We don’t pay the police not to illegally search us, why should I pay you to stay alive?’
‘Because we own the hospital, and we run it to make money. Pay us our money or you’re an evil communist infiltrator that hates America and eats babies.’
[Laughter]
‘This is no laughing matter. We’re going to take you to court, and they’re going to tell you what a bad person you are, and then it will be in the papers, and your family will know you don’t pay your debts, and they’ll all be so ashamed of you, so so so ashamed. Be afraid! Pay us or we’ll ruin your good name!’
‘I have no problem getting up in front of a judge and telling him just what I told you. Are you willing to do the same, and tell the whole world that only rich people should get treatment when they are sick? That the poor should die at home, where no one can see them, that the poor should neither be seen nor heard?’
‘Er …’
‘I’m done with you.’
[click]
I share this story for two reasons.
First, I love that my partner has chosen to turn the tables on the people who act as enforcers of a compassionless machine created to press out every penny out of our pockets. How much blood that takes, well who cares. I hope anyone who reads this, who has creditors harassing them, follows her example and gives the hounds a taste of their own medicine.
Second, if I could distill everything that’s wrong with our for profit society, it would look a lot like being told you’re a bad person for going to the hospital when you couldn’t ‘afford it.’ As if we can afford to die, and by going for life saving medical treatment she couldn’t afford she was just trying to be selfish and lazy.
Not many people know what their life is worth. Apparently my partner’s life is worth about fifteen hundred dollars. I suppose if the creditors ever call again I’ll have to tell them what I think of their accounting.
