NORMALLY, ONE DOESN'T CONSIDER THE WHITE RIVER BASIN OF EASTERN ARKANSAS TO BE WHEAT COUNTRY, as opposed to that streak from roughly I-20 in Texas northerly to the Canadian border, encompassing Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas traditionally associated with wheat cultivation (and the dividing line between such areas suited for winter wheat and spring wheat cultivation roughly being the South Dakota-Nebraska line, much of which is along the Missouri River) ... as well as some areas of irrigated wheat fields in Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington state.

But it turns out that the White River, just as it empties into the Mississippi River in eastern Arkansas, has seen 100-year flooding over recent days to the extent that wheat fields down that way may be out of production once the floodwaters recede--especially if winter wheat has already been planted.

Leaving some to wonder if there could be a major spike in bread prices in consequence--@ least until the main wheat-belt crops come in in the fall.

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MEANWHILE, DOWN IN THE ARGENTINE, SCENES NOT UNLIKE THE FARMERS' STRIKES IN 1930'S AMERICA have been a commonplace over recent days, particularly so in response to new taxes announced by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on beef, soybeans and wheat (in some cases, to as much as 45%) to increase government revenues and control inflation.

Particularly galling is the fact of said taxes having been imposed ahead of the harvest season in the Southern Hemisphere, meaning Argentine farmers could be hit all the more by crop prices further diluted by the new taxes--and consumers have turned to the old-reliable standby of Latin American street protest known as the cacerolazo, where aluminum pots and pans are banged rather loudly, to protest want of food on supermarket shelves and show solidarity with farmers.

The BBC elaborates further:

Protests by farmers in Argentina are nothing new. But what is new is the scale and ferocity of these latest demonstrations.

In just a few days, farmers and their supporters have brought Argentina to a near standstill and pushed the government of President Cristina Fernandez into a corner she will find difficult to escape from.

The farmers are angry at an increase in taxes imposed on beef, soya and wheat - some amounting to 45%.

The rises were imposed to boost the country's coffers and to help in the fight against inflation, which in recent months has shown signs of getting out of control.

But what pushed the farmers and their supporters out onto the streets was the timing of the increases - just a few days before the soya harvest.

Mistrust

Then, to make matters worse, President Fernandez, in a speech designed to deflate the tension, accused the farmers of being greedy and trying to rob the country.

"I won't bow to extortion," she said.

That belligerent tone brought city dwellers out onto the streets in support of the farmers, bashing pots and pans in what has become a common Argentine form of protest.

There is a long history of mistrust in Argentina between city and countryside and this show of support from urban dwellers took many, including the government by surprise.

Each day Argentina is seeing more roadblocks erected around the country. Long-distance buses are cancelling services, food is not reaching the towns and cities, and shelves are emptying.

There have been counter-demonstrations in the capital, Buenos Aires, by government supporters who have clashed with farmers. Riot police are stationed at potential flashpoints.

Malcolm Rodman, a farmer and member of the Sociedad Rural, the main agricultural organisation in Argentina, accused the government of shooting itself in the foot.

"They simply don't understand the countryside," he said. "I think things are going to get a lot worse before they get better."

Marcelo Rasetto, a farmer manning a roadblock in the northern province of Santa Fe, said: "There's no going back. What the government did was harsh - it was insolent. And this won't get them anywhere.

"This is not a countryside rebellion. This is a rebellion by the whole interior of the country. The whole interior of the country is saying 'no'."

Pampas

President Fernandez and the former president, her husband Nestor, are trying to gather their supporters for a show of force.

However, many of their ministers and regional governors are themselves landowners and farmers with loyalties split between the government in Buenos Aires and their constituents and neighbours in the countryside.

Argentina is a country built on agriculture.

Although most Argentines nowadays live in the cities, they idealise the gaucho, the Argentine cowboy, herding cattle on the flat, green plains, the Pampas.

Argentines on average eat 70kg of beef a year, far more than anywhere in the world and the dominant smell across the country at the weekends is that of meat cooking on parrillas or barbecues in back-gardens or balconies.

What happens in the countryside is felt strongly in urban areas.

The farmers also say it was their hard work and investment that helped rescue Argentina from its economic crisis of 2001 and 2002.

They were aided by the high price of soya especially on international markets. Their wheat and beef are also highly sought after.

Adding to the farmers' frustration is their claim that little of the money they pay the government is re-invested in the countryside.

Farmer Marcos Torres told a national newspaper: "The truth is, the government doesn't have a long-term plan for agriculture."

He, like many, is urging the government to admit it was wrong to raise taxes so drastically and to then sit down and negotiate.

The Argentine government says it will not negotiate until the farmers lift their roadblocks. There appears to be little room for compromise. And with both sides planning large demonstrations over the next few days, the tension is only likely to increase.

Meanwhile, the supermarket shelves are emptying and the soya is still waiting to be harvested.

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ALSO ON THE FOOD FRONT, DAME RUMOUR, PAINTED FULL OF TONGUES, HATH IT that Cosa Nostra connexions with garbage-removal companies in southern Italy may be to blame for an outbreak of dioxin contamination in Italian mozzarella cheese, traditionally made from water-buffalo milk.

Said water buffaloes usually feed on said trash transported from Sicily to the mozzarella-producing regions, illicitly dumped upon farm fields.

And dioxin is a known carcinogen.

In any case, mozzarella of the Campania region around Naples from 25 producers thereof has been ordered pulled from French and Australian supermarket shelves because of the dioxin risk; additionally, import bans on same have been announced by Japan and South Korea.

How that will affect action @ the National Cheese Exchange in Green Bay during their weekly trading session is hard to gauge, what with North American mozzarella supplies being of domestic origin (Wisconsin in particular).

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"A Great Stage Where Wings of the World Gather, Flap, and Fly Together."

SO JAPAN'S NARITA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, OUTSIDE TOKYO, DESCRIBES THEMSELVES in an English-language guide to its facilities and services.

And which BAA (the British airports operator) would like to see London Heathrow airport cast with the recent opening of Terminal 5 (for the dedicated use of British Airways, know) to ease pressure on the other four and make such more passenger-friendly.

In theory, @ least.

Now, it turns out that British Airways has had to cancel some 70 domestic flights therefrom or otherwise destined, with more cancellations expected into the weekend. (European and international flights are not afflicted otherwise.)

And plenty of finger-pointing to go around, with blame (depending on who you listen to) going to lack of proper staff training beforehand or failures in the baggage-processing system allowing checked luggage to build up to a point where staff can't get to it timely enough.

Making the embarrassment even more embarrassing is the fact of such coming on the eve (so to speak) of the Open Skies Agreement between the European Union and the United States going into effect, allowing more trans-Atlantic flights vis-a-vis the Old and New Worlds from more carriers (perhaps including cut-price carriers like Ryanair and Air-Berlin) and from more airports (more than likely out-of-the-way such not widely used for international traffic) in both EU member states and the United States.

Which, come to think of it, may actually backfire in the face of the emerging socioeconomic meltdown and increased jet fuel prices which airlines are passing through to passengers as a surcharge.

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AND STICKING WITH THE EMERGING SOCIOECONOMIC MELTDOWN FOR THE NONCE, Your Correspondent feels maybe it was time to start asking of the GOP just how exactly the Danger of Homosexuals and Homosexuality threatens socioeconomic stability and social order ... and how imposing restrictive laws against homosexuals would save the economy.