This seems like the best place to put this - despite the "no energy" rule.

There are two interesting articles:
1. US is ending corn ethanol subsidies
2. Brazil needs ethanol so badly that its importing it from the US

Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/busine....

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/3....

I can only conclude that the prices for foodstuffs will rise even more as we turn glucose into ethanol for the internal combustion engines in the US and Brazil.

We have had food riots in Mexico, Tunisia, and the rest of the Arab spring nations.

I guess we will have more riots as food is priced out of the reach of more third world people. Not good.