Earth population 'exceeds limits'

eat drink and be merry my friends
for tomorrow
( we could run out of beer )

 

Oh well, make some more toddy from the nectar of the coconut inflorescence then distil it MMmmmMmMmMmmm smoothe... 8 oz glass, and rapid onset of the comatose state - well not quite but with a good kick and easy to swallow...

 

hi
i took this from an article sent around
'GM and medicinal laws: how long will we be free?

Watch out for the pro-GM spin
Just when we think democracy in Europe has been more or less extinguished by the centralised government of the European Union in Brussels, we see some flickers of light in the seeming darkness. One such flicker occurred on March 2nd when the environment ministers of all but 4 of Europe’s 27 Member States voted to support the rights of Austria and Hungary to maintain their ban on the planting of Monsanto and Bayer’s GM maize crops. They did this in full contravention of the desires of the European Commission and the World Trade Organization—the policeman of the Codex Alimentarius Commission which develops global guidelines that by and large are built around the interests of the world’s largest food producers.
The environment ministers did the decent thing because they have seen the data and know just how risky GM can be. They chose to ignore the spin coming from the biotech companies that incessantly try to tell us—with little or no supporting evidence—that GM is required to meet world food needs in the coming years. The ministers responded to democracy by expressing the view of the majority of the European public as well as the small band of international, independent scientists who have managed to continue studying the adverse effects of genetically modified (GM) foods on laboratory animals, farm animals and humans.
On 5th April, Dr Robert Verkerk from the ANH gave a keynote address at Natural Products Europe on the subject of GM crops and foods and the influence of Codex in trying to globalise GM. The presentation specifically addressed the European natural products sector, but it has much wider applicability. Rob Verkerk stressed the fact that the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barrosso and a small band of Prime Minister’s of EU Member States, hand in hand with the biotech corporations like Monsanto and Bayer, were really putting the pressurise not only their environment ministers but also the public. Rob Verkerk's talk can be heard by anyone with internet access — see the links below. It is broken down into 5 roughly 10 minute, youtube-friendly segments.
It is critical now that the people of Europe appreciate just how much pro-GM spin they will face in the coming weeks and months. Because of this, it is more important than ever that they stay up to speed on the known and unpredictable risks associated with GM crops which were planted on 125 million hectares worldwide in 2008.
There’s even more work to be done in the USA, the country which has given itself over to GM to a larger extent than any other. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China and India are also significant players, although their usage is still dwarfed by the USA which is presently responsible for cultivating around half of the world’s GM crops.'

argue against that.
Aztek

 

what most people seem to forget
or maybe never heard about
is that most of these genetically modified foods are designed to produce there own pesticides
which means its in the cell structures of the plant and
you cant wash it off

IE

you are eating genetically engineered pesticides that at least in the case of corn was never intended for human consumption

look up star link
and the fiasco that followed its introduction

people just dont get how hazardous these practices are

used to be able to wash your food and be at least somewhat assured that you have cleaned the crap off of it

not any more

 

The TimesApril 14, 2009

David Attenborough to be patron of Optimum Population Trust

Sir David Attenborough said yesterday that the growth in global population was frightening, as he became a patron of an organisation that campaigns to limit the number of people in the world.

The television presenter and naturalist said that the increase in population was having devastating effects on ecology, pollution and food production.

“There are three times as many people in the world as when I started making television programmes only a mere 56 years ago,” he said, after becoming a patron of the Optimum Population Trust (OPT) think-tank.

“It is frightening. We can’t go on as we have been. We are seeing the consequences in terms of ecology, atmospheric pollution and in terms of the space and food production.

“I’ve never seen a problem that wouldn’t be easier to solve with fewer people, or harder, and ultimately impossible, with more. Population is reaching its optimum and the world cannot hold an infinite number of people,” Sir David, who has two children, said.

The OPT counts among its patrons the environmentalist Jonathon Porritt and the academic Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta. However, Sir David’s appointment has already been criticised. Austin Williams, author of The Enemies of Progress, said: “Experts can still be stupid when they speak on subjects of which they know little. Sir David may know a sight more than I do about remote species but that does not give him the intelligence to speak on global politics.

“I have a problem with the line that people are a problem. More people are a good thing. People are the source of creativity, intelligence, analysis and problem-solving. If we see people as just simple things that consume and excrete carbon, then the OPT may have a point, but people are more than this and they will be the ones to find the solutions.” Sir David said that the OPT was drawing attention to the issue of population and being a patron seemed a worthwhile thing to do.

Roger Martin, the chairman of the trust, said that the appointment would put pressure on organisations to face up to the issue of population: “The environmental movement will not confront the fact that there is not a single problem that they deal with which would not be easier with fewer people.”

The trust campaigns for global access to family planning and for couples to be encouraged to stop having more than two children. In Britain it wants to stabilise the population by bringing immigration into balance with emigration and making greater efforts to reduce teenage pregnancies.

Mr Martin said that the UK population must be reduced to a sustainable level because Britain was already the most overcrowded country in Europe.He said the world could not increase production to meet the needs of a growing population: “We can’t feed ourselves with some of the most intensive agriculture in the world — we’re only 70 per cent self-sufficient.”

Mr Martin said that Britain could not rely on the world food market because, when food runs short, exporters do not export it: “Last year, we saw India and China banning exports of rice when there was a shortage.”

The first scholar to bring overpopulation to the fore was the Rev Thomas Malthus. His academic work in the late 18th and early 19th centuries outraged and inspired succeeding generations (Tim Glanfield writes).

Malthus grew up in Guildford, Surrey, the youngest of eight siblings, and during his childhood encountered some of the great minds of his age. His father was a friend of the philosophers David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and the young Malthus needed little encouragement to study mathematics at Cambridge.

He made his name with a landmark text, An Essay on the Principle of Population, published in six editions between 1798 and 1826 and underlined by strong scepticism for future human generations.

Malthus believed that all previous generations had included a “poor” underclass created by an inherent lack of resources in the world that would continue if population growth were not addressed. His theory is summarised by his assertion that “the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in Earth to produce subsidence for Man”.

He saw two significant variables in the world, those that are positive and raise the death rate — famine, disease and war — and those that are preventive and lower the birthrate — birth control, abortion, celibacy and postponement of marriage.

In practising the preventive measures and gradually reducing poor laws, Malthus argued, society would no longer “create the poor which they maintain”.

The expectations of population growth outlined in his essay had a significant influence on Darwin’s evolutionary theories and many modern political theses, but Malthus remains a controversial and much vilified scholar. Shelley branded him “a eunuch and a tyrant”, Marx as “the principal enemy of the people” and Lenin called his work a “reactionary doctrine”.

 

What country will ever cut down its population when others will not.

 

One that suffers the consequences of a pandemic.../???

 

good answer

 

In todays world of travel no one can escape a pandemic. You could try climbing a tree ---and die there!! still consiquences of a pandemic.

 

Frosty, I hope you are OK? - things in Thailand do not look pretty....

 

Im not in Thailand im on the boat in Malaysia.

Not a prob Ive seen this before. Ive lived through 2 coups I think and if I didnt have a Tv I wouldnt have known about it.

Its all over now anyway. Its just the silly red shirts that are wanting Taksin back as prime minister . Taksin was convicted of tax evasion amongst misuse of power as prime minister. There is an impressive list of things he did on his own arrogance. He ran away to escape imprisonment and now is a man without a country. He does not care that this is hurting Thailand he just want to come back as Pm. he spoke on the BBc las night and did'nt do himself much good to be honest.

Thai politics is in a world of its own.

 

well stay safe anyway

 

Thailand had 4 different prime ministers during 2008. Frosty´s turn next.....

 

No--it was 2 actually. Unless you are including the Army government after the coup of Taksin in 2007, whom incidentaly has had his travel documment revoked today. A prick of a man, I think the term is meglomaniac.

Im gonna have to google that myself.

 

I got the comment from our local Thai agent yesterday when discussing the general economic situation:

On Thai economy, the local economy already was weighed under before
this, and with tourism one of Thailand's main earners these emergency
situations will force a deeper negative GDP growth than initially
expected. Also, investment into Thailand both from foreign and local
parties will be delayed even further from already bad investing
climate. An interesting statistic is that from Jan'08 to Dec'08, Thailand
had 4 prime ministers!