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from AccuWeather.com
Mountain of spuds discarded by Idaho farmers saved in 'potato rescue'
Amid lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, businesses and industries are suffering from COVID-19 -- and potato farmers are no exception. Despite a growing demand in grocery stores, potato prices have plummeted in the last few weeks due to social distancing guidelines and a lack of demand in restaurants and the food industry. Just weeks prior, the industry was looking at the best prices in recent memory and even projections for a summer shortage, The Associated Press reported. The cost for a 50-pound carton of restaurant-grade potatoes in the Twin Falls and Burley district hovered between $22 and $23 on March 13 but had dropped to somewhere between $10 and $12 by April 16. Some farmers in Idaho have such extreme surpluses that they are dumping potato crops, and dairy farms have begun feeding the potatoes to their cattle. Enter potato rescue and Farms to Food Banks.
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Mountain of spuds discarded by Idaho farmers saved in 'potato rescue'
Amid lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, businesses and industries are suffering from COVID-19 -- and potato farmers are no exception. Despite a growing demand in grocery stores, potato prices have plummeted in the last few weeks due to social distancing guidelines and a lack of demand in restaurants and the food industry. Just weeks prior, the industry was looking at the best prices in recent memory and even projections for a summer shortage, The Associated Press reported. The cost for a 50-pound carton of restaurant-grade potatoes in the Twin Falls and Burley district hovered between $22 and $23 on March 13 but had dropped to somewhere between $10 and $12 by April 16. Some farmers in Idaho have such extreme surpluses that they are dumping potato crops, and dairy farms have begun feeding the potatoes to their cattle. Enter potato rescue and Farms to Food Banks.
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from Asia Times
LEAST BIASED, HIGH; News & Media Website based in Hong Kong
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly praised his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for his role in providing medical and other Covid-19 assistance to the virus-hit nation. It’s not clear, however, that’s how his own armed forces or countrymen view the situation. But Duterte’s blandishments stand in stark contrast to charges made by his top brass, witnessed in a new flare up over an until now unreported incident in February in the South China Sea involving a Philippine warship on a routine surveillance and resupply operation in the Spratly islands. ... A Philippine official, speaking on condition of anonymity with The Associated Press, accused the Chinese warship of pointing “fire control radar” at the Philippine vessel, an aggressive maneuver which locks weapons on a target prior to firing shots.
Two reports from the Seoul-based news organization Daily NK on Thursday suggest that earlier claims that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was dead, close to death or in critical condition may have validity. The guessing game may be coming down to the end game. One Daily NK article says that instructions from Kim Jong Un with his signature have been sent to subordinates – but composed in a style so unlike his normal memo style as to make officials suspect that he is unable to fulfill his duties, and that someone else is acting for him. Another Daily NK article reports that North Korean authorities, normally zealous to crack down on the spreading inside the country of rumors about the semi-deified ruler, are not doing so now that rumors of his demise or grave condition are rampant.
China faces a triple whammy as it cranks up the economy amid the Covid-19 crisis. Factory activity is proving sluggish, international trade is facing “greater challenges” and consumer spending is shrinking because of unemployment fears. With vast regions of the planet still in lockdown, the omens are ominous.
Outsourcing manufacturing in foreign countries has been a common business practice in the US since the 1980s. US corporations located plants internationally or sourced products from overseas suppliers that offered the best price and quality. People have become very comfortable with global supply chains. Everybody benefited: emerging economies got new jobs, US customers got lower product prices, and corporations managed their capital needs to become “asset light.” The result is that major manufacturing industries migrated, leaving stores like Walmart with practically all imported products and pharmacies stocked with imported pharmaceuticals.
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from HumanProgress.org
Education Website
This week, our hero is Desiderius Erasmus, a 16th century philosopher who is widely considered to be one of the greatest scholars of the Northern Renaissance. During the Protestant Reformation, when religious persecution was common across Europe, Erasmus was the first modern champion of religious toleration and peace. According to historian James Powell, throughout the philosopher's life, Erasmus “championed reason over superstition, tolerance over persecution and peace over war… [and helped to establish the] intellectual foundations for liberty in the modern world.”
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from Plough
Living in the Already, Longing for the Not Yet
The body, which shows itself to be so vulnerable to this disease, an unaware vehicle for the rapid spread. The body, created good and redeemed by a God who thought it worthwhile to dwell among us in body.
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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
Sue Lani Madsen: We’ve weathered the storm, now it’s time to move forward – thoughtfully
The questions have changed, and so must our decision-making process. We’re past the crisis stage of COVID-19. Novel news stories are creeping above the fold on the front page. Like a summer wildfire, the controlled chaos of the initial response is ending. The emergency declaration expires Monday, with public attention turning to containment and recovery. Decision-making during an emergency is focused on survival. And we did it. Gov. Jay Inslee rightly called for an emergency shutdown when the virus flared up in a nursing home in Kirkland. We flattened the curve and didn’t overwhelm our health care system. Yay for us! Now what?
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Sue Lani Madsen: We’ve weathered the storm, now it’s time to move forward – thoughtfully
The questions have changed, and so must our decision-making process. We’re past the crisis stage of COVID-19. Novel news stories are creeping above the fold on the front page. Like a summer wildfire, the controlled chaos of the initial response is ending. The emergency declaration expires Monday, with public attention turning to containment and recovery. Decision-making during an emergency is focused on survival. And we did it. Gov. Jay Inslee rightly called for an emergency shutdown when the virus flared up in a nursing home in Kirkland. We flattened the curve and didn’t overwhelm our health care system. Yay for us! Now what?
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