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Wangari Maathai makes the relationship between needs and wars so clear that even the Nobel committee (which awarded her the peace prize in '04) got it. Violent disparities in access to resources, lead to violence. The wars right now destroying people and the planet are wars over the stuff of life: land and water and fuel.
If we can see the link between conflict and resource strain in Kenya and Congo and Brazil, why are we surprised that here at home, anger and tension-in-the-air is rising?
Extreme poverty, bankruptcies, defaults, debt--they're all on the rise for the majority of Americans, even as a tiny minority grow their share of all wealth, and grab more than their fair share of the scarce resource that is the government's care and attention.
The system is stressed and so are the people. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey found the average family premium for health insurance rose to $13,375 last year, a jump of 5% even as inflation fell. That makes for an obscene rise of 131% over the past ten years. No wonder, that at the same time the number of Americans without any health coverage rose to 46.3 million.
Healthcare is a scarce resource, and people's fears for themselves and their kids are very real.
The Census Bureau shows that the child poverty rate rose to 19.0% last year. That translates to 14.1 million children living in poverty in the richest nation in the world. By some estimates, that could be 26.6% by the end of 2009.
Income inequality is at an all time high. Resources are strapped. Are we really surprised that fear -- and gun-sales -- are rising?
Maathai's Green Belt movement believes in better environmental stewardship and better sharing will reduce war. She talks about it on GRITtv this week: "There is no way to have peace without equity."
Her Green Belt movement has planted 40 billion trees since its founding and aims to plant another nine billion trees this year.
What would be the US equivalent of all that tree-planting?
The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Follow GRITtv or GritLaura on Twitter.com.
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i'm not optimistic about the prospects of the developing world in the future.
population growth needs to be curved and the only proven way to achieve low or zero population growth is economic development and increased opportunities for women.
but the developed world (and especially our mean spirited satano-aynrando elites of the last 2-3 decades) is simply unwilling and unable to devote the resources to develop the third world - if such massive investment would even work, in that dysfunctional societies will always be suspect in hw they spend their money.
i'm not saying don't try...jeez, when you get those stupid christo-fascists banning assistance to family planning in places drowning in unwanted babies...and advocating civilized nations to join the baby bustin' boom and compete with the most backward peoples and nations of the world in bustin' out all the shaved apes we can eat...
anyway - all for assistance to the third world, but i'm afraid a critical mass has been reached in disparity, that global environmental collapse will work with disease, famine, and war to bring death in an unprecedented manner to the poorest tropical regions of the world...
and we fortunate few will have t step up and help at the same time we seal our borders and invest in scary high tech "skynet" style REAPERs and EATRs to defend low to zero population growth islands of civilizations from the roiling, rising sea of baby spurting, desperate, barbarism...
Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 09:46am
when we identify a substance we need for development that can only be acquired in acceptable quantities from sketchy barbarians, we have two basic choices - conquer, pacify, and occupy OR devote research and development to finding safely obtainable substitutes, or implementation of alternate technologies which no longer require such resources...
and how unfortunate that the first among equals leader of the world, US, for the last two or so decades, has been "leading" the world by espousing a stupid, irresponsible, irresponsibility encouraging, luddite, supersticious, mumbo jumbo ideology that has encouraged ignorance, irresponsibility, bassackwardness.
Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 09:59am
FLANDERS: "Healthcare is a scarce resource....."
I beg to differ!
It is abundant......as each and every one of us NOT born with some congenital problem(s), has been taught, or should have been taught by truly caring parents, is our very own health provider.
This isn't 1909 where knowledge was scant! For any of us half-educated and have gone through child-rearing, each of us can be doctors 100 years ago (with a well-stocked bag of aspirins, anti-biotics, thermometer, bandages,....everything that Johnson & Johnson makes).
Being free (relatively) means taking responsibility for one self.....that includes or perhaps, there is nothing more important than, ones' health, DUH!!
Posted by Happy at 09/24/2009 @ 10:03am
Posted by Happy at 09/24/2009 @ 10:03am | ignore this person | warn this person
health care in the poorest regions of the world generally IS a rare and precious commodity.
especially birth control, and a level of health care that would reassure the average third worlder that it is unnecessary to spurt out twice as many saved apes as one expects to survive to adulthood...
Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 10:21am
Considering that the people with the least natural resources, like the Japanese, the Swedes, even the Costa Ricans, seem to live better thqn the people with piles of riches, like the Nigerians, the Russians and Argentines, maybe we should try to avoid "winning" resource wars?
Posted by Mistral at 09/24/2009 @ 11:06am
Posted by Mistral at 09/24/2009 @ 11:06am | ignore this person | warn this person
How long would those three societies present level of economics last without imports? Maybe a month or a little more?
Posted by BigPasture at 09/24/2009 @ 11:20am
It goes without saying that the filthy right wing read with split second empathy of any third world disaster involving massive loss of human life due to disease, natural disaster, or warfare.
After that they give thanks to a "creator" that we are not they.
Then its back to complaining that tens of millions of our population should take second & third jobs to enable the for- profit medical system here in the US.
There is no empathy for those here who are ruined in this process.
Posted by Sorelish at 09/24/2009 @ 11:22am
Posted by Mistral at 09/24/2009 @ 11:06am
Posted by BigPasture at 09/24/2009 @ 11:20am
Interestingly, Mistral has fallen backward (and naturally RIO completely missed) a relevant truth...
Heard an interview with Peter Maass on his book "Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil" and he made Mistral's point (contradicted Rio's)...
actually Nigeria was doing BETTER before they discovered oil. Mostly agricultural with some small industries starting...but generally peaceful and NOT corrupt.
It WAS the oil that "screwed them up".
Posted by Mask at 09/24/2009 @ 11:29am
i'm also firmly in favor of adaopting third world success stories and encouraging, assisting them in every way possible.
each and every hellish third world region has within it some who seem to have their shit more together than most of their neighbors and those valiant struggling societies need to be protected and encouraged, so as to serve as positive examples to their neighbors.
ghana, for example, is a much more hopeful example of development in sub-saharan africa than say, nigeria, as mentioned by MASK. rich in natural resources, democratic system, investment in education and health care...not a tropical paradise yet, but a proud nation on the right track in so many ways...
mexico - our neighbor - develop mexico and the rio grande sinks a couple thousand kilometers south...
unfortunately for all the potential successes the reality of out of control population growth (all the more incubators for the next horrible disease), resource ravaging, dirty industrial development, and global warming...
i'm afraid the dystopic future is now, and will get worse long before it gets better. many will suffer and die before old age takes them in less developed areas of the world and we FORTUNATE in the developed world need to be realistic about our options - at the very least cease making things worse...
Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 12:06pm
It WAS the oil that "screwed them up".
Posted by Mask at 09/24/2009 @ 11:29am | ignore this person | warn this person
--welcome to the world of convenience...enjoy your stay
Posted by urmygyro at 09/24/2009 @ 12:06pm
Posted by dexter666.
Your contempt for human life is remarkable.
Your detached embrace of evil via your glib view of forced population control affirm for me the truth that God exists. And that there is a battle being waged for our souls.
Does your pitchfork give you blisters? Just curious. ;-)
Posted by freiheit1 at 09/24/2009 @ 12:26pm
Posted by dexter666.
Your contempt for human life is remarkable.
Your detached embrace of evil via your glib view of forced population control affirm for me the truth that God exists. And that there is a battle being waged for our souls.
Does your pitchfork give you blisters? Just curious. ;-)
Posted by freiheit1 at 09/24/2009 @ 12:26pm
His post has nothing to do with population control. Can you read?
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/24/2009 @ 12:36pm
Posted by freiheit1 at 09/24/2009 @ 12:26pm | ignore this person | warn this person
i love arguing with you. you DO have a brain.
so use it and think outside the box a little. what is more cruel? encouraging people to reproduce until we reach "soylent green" levels, or encourage people to limit their death and misery dealing fecundity so that we can live happier, more productive, sustainable existence?
sure, in ancient times "be fruitful and multiply" was great common sense. but times and the world have changed...open your eyes and see, uncover your ears and hear - unshakle your mind and think...stop holding your breath and take a deep whiff until you vomit. its purging...
but i value civilization and real progress and for all our human moral failures, the developed world holds the best hope for survival of the species, and must be preserved.
sometimes cruelty is kindness, kindness cruelty - sometime bad people do good things and vice versa...
but as far as i'm concerned life ceases to be precious when its unmitigated spread threatens malthusian death.
i have plenty of compassion for all, but suffer no delusions about the horrid results of wisdomless compassion.
Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 12:42pm
"population growth needs to be curved and the only proven way to achieve low or zero population growth is economic development and increased opportunities for women."
"jeez, when you get those stupid christo-fascists banning assistance to family planning in places drowning in unwanted babies...and advocating civilized nations to join the baby bustin' boom and compete with the most backward peoples and nations of the world in bustin' out all the shaved apes we can eat"
"and we fortunate few will have t step up and help at the same time we seal our borders and invest in scary high tech "skynet" style REAPERs and EATRs to defend low to zero population growth islands of civilizations from the roiling, rising sea of baby spurting, desperate, barbarism..."
"especially birth control, and a level of health care that would reassure the average third worlder that it is unnecessary to spurt out twice as many saved apes as one expects to survive to adulthood..."
"unfortunately for all the potential successes the reality of out of control population growth (all the more incubators for the next horrible disease), resource ravaging, dirty industrial development, and global warming... i'm afraid the dystopic future is now, and will get worse long before it gets better. many will suffer and die before old age takes them in less developed areas of the world and we FORTUNATE in the developed world need to be realistic about our options - at the very least cease making things worse..."
There's more, but I assume you can read CC.
Posted by freiheit1 at 09/24/2009 @ 12:44pm
dexter666, your comment, "but as far as i'm concerned life ceases to be precious when its unmitigated spread threatens malthusian death" illustrates the difference between us. You believe you are god.
You are indeed not alone. The banning of DDT for instance, is the sneaky, purposeful termination of millions of lives. Tell me, is that maybe just an example of your presumption that "sometimes cruelty is kindness?"
Sorry pal, no sale. You contend your eugenics is compassion and wisdom. I contend it is evil.
Posted by freiheit1 at 09/24/2009 @ 12:58pm
Posted by freiheit1 at 09/24/2009 @ 12:44pm | ignore this person | warn this person
the compassionate fool sees the big fish fall off the fish cart ton the way to market, notices it still lives, and flings it into a small nearby fish pool.
it lives long enough to eat all the smaller fish, dies of starvation, and some peasants no longer have a fishing hole...
i love little babies! they are so cute! precious little plump, juicy bundles of joy and potential - every one of them a possible brain surgeon or rocket scientist who holds the potential to save the world and solve allthe problems!!!!
unfortunately what i have seen with my own eyes are so many of these wondrous miracles, often burped out into this world by the stupidest, most irresponsible breeding morons one can imagine. they often end up consuming more resources than they create, and consume precious resources that could bet better allocated to fewer who stand a better chance to contribute as a result of the greater resources available to them...
i'm so bad!!!!
Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 1:03pm
"and how unfortunate that the first among equals leader of the world, US, for the last two or so decades, has been "leading" the world by espousing a stupid, irresponsible, irresponsibility encouraging, luddite, supersticious, mumbo jumbo ideology that has encouraged ignorance, irresponsibility, bassackwardness."
as exemplified by our last president, as his merry band of republicans followers.
Posted by darladoon at 09/24/2009 @ 1:10pm
sometimes cruelty is kindness, kindness cruelty - sometime bad people do good things and vice versa... Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 12:42pm | ignore this person | warn this person
So many to kill and so little time to save the world.... the Obamanations new Reich certainly has a place just right for you!
Posted by BigPasture at 09/24/2009 @ 1:12pm
like it or not life is triage.
we have a limited supply of resources and an unlimited appetite. we do not have enough resources for every shaved ape to live like a gluttonous suv driving american moron.
the more the population of the world balloons, the greater the misery that will result from all these hungry little bundles of joy.
control population pro-actively or wait until nature steps in and does her damndest...
irresponsible, selfish, willful, ignorance is the most evil enabling phenomenon in the world. the way of the grasshopper...
fiddle away and breed like idiots, grasshoppers - your slothful ignorance is a menace, but eventually i see the very real possibility of a division between homo-superior who accepts science, rationality, and wants our species to survive on the one habd...
and homo inferior, the luddite, rapture fantasizing idiots (by both choice and circumstance) who serve the demiurge and mindlessly scheme to assure all swirl down the toilet of evolutionary failure along with every other stupid beast who has proven incapable of adjusting to change and surviving...
Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 1:17pm
"unfortunately what i have seen with my own eyes are so many of these wondrous miracles, often burped out into this world by the stupidest, most irresponsible breeding morons one can imagine. they often end up consuming more resources than they create, and consume precious resources that could bet better allocated to fewer who stand a better chance to contribute as a result of the greater resources available to them..."
Wow, what a great quote!
Again, your contempt for human beings is just remarkable. and yes, in my humble opinion you are bad. But Margaret Sanger would dig you. Well, if you are just referring to negros that is.
And I suspect you are. Except for the "good" ones, right?
Posted by freiheit1 at 09/24/2009 @ 1:20pm
So many to kill and so little time to save the world.... the Obamanations new Reich certainly has a place just right for you!
Posted by BigPasture at 09/24/2009 @ 1:12pm | ignore this person | warn this person
oh nice try, RIO...
i'm sure that plays well to the teabagger bumper sticker slogan spewing p-nut gallery...but come off it.
Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 1:22pm
they often end up consuming more resources than they create, and consume precious resources that could bet better allocated to fewer who stand a better chance to contribute as a result of the greater resources available to them...
Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 1:03pm
If we had more people like you...
We'd have less people like you.
Posted by Mistral at 09/24/2009 @ 1:26pm
This just in!...
To: Dexter666, The Nation's Blogs From: Adolf Eichmann, Hell
Keep up the good work!
Posted by freiheit1 at 09/24/2009 @ 1:30pm
"population growth needs to be curved and the only proven way to achieve low or zero population growth is economic development and increased opportunities for women."
"jeez, when you get those stupid christo-fascists banning assistance to family planning in places drowning in unwanted babies...and advocating civilized nations to join the baby bustin' boom and compete with the most backward peoples and nations of the world in bustin' out all the shaved apes we can eat"
"and we fortunate few will have t step up and help at the same time we seal our borders and invest in scary high tech "skynet" style REAPERs and EATRs to defend low to zero population growth islands of civilizations from the roiling, rising sea of baby spurting, desperate, barbarism..."
"especially birth control, and a level of health care that would reassure the average third worlder that it is unnecessary to spurt out twice as many saved apes as one expects to survive to adulthood..."
"unfortunately for all the potential successes the reality of out of control population growth (all the more incubators for the next horrible disease), resource ravaging, dirty industrial development, and global warming... i'm afraid the dystopic future is now, and will get worse long before it gets better. many will suffer and die before old age takes them in less developed areas of the world and we FORTUNATE in the developed world need to be realistic about our options - at the very least cease making things worse..."
There's more, but I assume you can read CC.
Posted by freiheit1 at 09/24/2009 @ 12:44pm |
That doesn't require killing people as you asserted.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/24/2009 @ 1:33pm
If we had more people like you...
We'd have less people like you.
Posted by Mistral at 09/24/2009 @ 1:26pm | ignore this person | warn this person
and the world would stagger forth without me.
no problem here - i'm not so important and that comforts me no end.
------------------------------------------------------------
Again, your contempt for human beings is just remarkable. and yes, in my humble opinion you are bad. But Margaret Sanger would dig you. Well, if you are just referring to negros that is.
And I suspect you are. Except for the "good" ones, right?
Posted by freiheit1 at 09/24/2009 @ 1:20pm | ignore this person | warn this person
oh i knew you would be going there! it is unfortunate that many african americans are indeed trapped in hells partly of their own making and partly the result of evil history. those who identify with their own ethnicity more than the human species are contemptible maggots and prime examples of homo inferior regardless of their skin color in my forcefully expressed if humble opinion. my advice is to identify with others based more on what is in the heart and mind than what one looks like, what language one speaks, or one's genetic origin.
sanger was a product of her time, but sure - i agree with a LOT of what she advocated. no problem in separating that which was a product of her time with that which she got right.
lincoln was a racist too, you know, according to modern standards - should i eschew admiration for all the good he did, for the gettysburg address, for ending slavery and preserving the union because he would likely be considered a "racist" now?
Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 1:39pm
The superintendent of a New Jersey school where students were videotaped being taught to sing the praises of President Obama issued a statement Thursday saying the taping was unauthorized, but failed to address whether the the lesson -- taught durnig Black History Month -- was approved.
A YouTube video shows nearly 20 young children being led in a song overflowing with campaign slogans and praise for "Barack Hussein Obama," repeatedly chanting the president's name and celebrating his accomplishments, including his "great plans" to "make this country's economy No. 1 again."
Students at B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington, N.J., were "singing a song about President Obama" in February "to honor the contributions of African Americans to our country," said Burlington Township Superintendent Christopher M. Manno. "The recording and distribution of the class activity were unauthorized."
One song quotes directly from the spiritual "Jesus Loves the Little Children," though Jesus' name is replaced with Obama's: "He said red, yellow, black or white/All are equal in his sight. Barack Hussein Obama."
Another lyric touts a fair-pay bill Obama signed in January: "He said we must be clear today/Equal work means equal pay."
The author of the songs is unknown, but a woman -- possibly a teacher -- can be heard in the beginning of the video correcting and helping a student who has forgotten the words. Another woman, the person holding the camera, cheers the students on: "All right," she says. "I like that."
Posted by BigPasture at 09/24/2009 @ 1:43pm
"Alteredbeat" originally posted the video Sept. 6, two days before Obama made an address to the nation's schoolchildren in which he praised the American education system as the best in the world and urged students to stay in school.
"At the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world," Obama said.
Lenin and Marx are busting with pride in hell!
Posted by BigPasture at 09/24/2009 @ 1:44pm
Dexter/Ibb,
Scary words from you. Especially since they are not true.
This planet can easily accomodate with a healthy standard of life, at least 3 times the current population.
We have the capabilities but most aren't interested. for instance they have projects now to construct 30 story or more buildings that would be primarily for agriculture.
I've posted on this before. This is an idea that both left and right can and should support.
<as Dr. Dickson Despommier, a professor of environmental sciences and microbiology at Columbia University, who believes that "vertical farm" skyscrapers could help fight global warming.
Imagine a cluster of 30-story towers on Governors Island or in Hudson Yards producing fruit, vegetables, and grains while also generating clean energy and purifying wastewater. Roughly 150 such buildings, Despommier estimates, could feed the entire city of New York for a year. Using current green building systems, a vertical farm could be self-sustaining and even produce a net output of clean water and energy.
Despommier began developing the vertical-farming concept six years ago (his research can be found at verticalfarm .com)
Depending on the crops being grown, a single vertical farm could allow thousands of farmland acres to be permanently reforested
Why build vertical farms in cities? Growing crops in a controlled environment has benefits: no animals to transfer disease through untreated waste; no massive crop failures as a result of weather-related disasters; less likelihood of genetically modified "rogue" strains entering the "natural" plant world. All food could be grown organically, without herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers, eliminating agricultural runoff>
http://nymag.com/news/features/30020/
Posted by antisocialist at 09/24/2009 @ 1:44pm
Sorry should have been more specific.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/24/2009 @ 1:45pm
Song 1: Mm, mmm, mm! Barack Hussein Obama
He said that all must lend a hand To make this country strong again Mmm, mmm, mm! Barack Hussein Obama
He said we must be fair today Equal work means equal pay Mmm, mmm, mm! Barack Hussein Obama
He said that we must take a stand To make sure everyone gets a chance Mmm, mmm, mm! Barack Hussein Obama
He said red, yellow, black or white All are equal in his sight Mmm, mmm, mm! Barack Hussein Obama
Yes! Mmm, mmm, mm Barack Hussein Obama
Song 2: Hello, Mr. President we honor you today! For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say "hooray!"
Hooray, Mr. President! You're number one! The first black American to lead this great nation!
Hooray, Mr. President we honor your great plans To make this country's economy number one again!
Hooray Mr. President, we're really proud of you! And we stand for all Americans under the great Red, White, and Blue!
So continue ---- Mr. President we know you'll do the trick So here's a hearty hip-hooray ----
Hip, hip hooray! Hip, hip hooray! Hip, hip hooray!
--------
I am really worried about the national anthem's replacement coming to a school near you soon and very soon!!! Iguess the new Obamantion and Demoncrat Reich is getting to oreal for me!
Posted by BigPasture at 09/24/2009 @ 1:50pm
http://nymag.com/news/features/30020/
Posted by antisocialist at 09/24/2009 @ 1:44pm | ignore this person | warn this person
oh, you know me, shepherd...i'm in a full blown dexter phase right now and my satanic babblings are far more in the vein of the old testement version of old scratch as the left hand of god, his prosecutor and the tester of men's character - the tool that separates the wheat from the chaff, that posits the questions that define free will, not some boogeyman excuse for personal moral failure and the triumph of the wickedness that lurks in all of us all by itself.
but truth lurks in even the coldest, most wicked of ideologies and theologies - should not be confused with the wicked lies that lace it...
but i love the vertical agriculture ideas - if my business thrives and i make a buzillion i dream of making things like that reality...as well as a bunch of other realizable pipe dreams that will make the world a better place.
but IF the world is capable of supporting 3 times the number of shaved apes currently (not very well supported) i still think such will require mindsets and attitudes that lead to much more responsible breeding...
and i fear that such will not be possible before the furious breedingof the desperate forces us to rely on big fences and a few good video gamers controlling hordes of REAPERS and EATRS togive us the time window to ultimately "save the world" if such is possible...
otherwise give homo superior eniugh resources and opportunity to colonize space and leave earth to homo inferior to trash and overpopulate to death.
Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 2:01pm
Oh yeah, the First song is sung to the tune of "Jesus Loves the Little Children" very appropriate for the Magic Negro Messiah of the Left!
Posted by BigPasture at 09/24/2009 @ 2:30pm
dextibble.....quick, get your HAPPY pills before you end up dangling with a sign on you that says "Doomer"....LOL!
Posted by Happy at 09/24/2009 @ 2:33pm
Posted by BigPasture at 09/24/2009 @ 2:30pm
Uh, RIO...not supposed to use the "2nd word"...just say "Magic ___ Messiah of the Left!" like HAPP would.
Posted by Mask at 09/24/2009 @ 2:53pm
How did that go, oh yeah, the right lies about Obamanaions connection to marxist terrorists like Ayers?
"Terrorist bomber William Ayers helped Barack Obama write his 1995 book "Dreams From My Father," the best-selling author of a new book about Obama and his wife disclosed.
Christopher Andersen, author of "Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage," appeared on Sean Hannity's Fox News show on Tuesday. Hannity referred to a passage in Andersen's book and said:
"Bill Ayers helped him with his book, and you actually pick up -- you found the literary devices and themes bear a jarring similarity to Ayers' own writings."
Andersen said: "That's true. And they were good friends. And during the campaign, of course..."
Hannity: "They were good friends."
Andersen: "Yes, of course, they were."
Hannity: "So he denied it."
Andersen: "It was kind of -- yes, he did. It was like a literary cabal there that was interesting in Chicago. They were all giving each other quotes, the blurbs to promote their respective books."
Hannity later told Andersen that Obama "lied" about his relationship with Ayers. "He lied to the American people."
Andersen responded: "During that campaign I think he was doing some backpedaling, I'll be honest. And I think that Michelle probably recommended that he not emphasize their relationship with Ayers."
Andersen also writes in his book that Michelle Obama convinced her reluctant husband to adopt the "Yes We Can" slogan.
Andersen has written best-selling books about the Kennedys, the Bushes and other notables, including "Jack and Jackie: Portrait of an American Marriage" and "The Day Diana Died." "
Well.. somebody was busy LIEING named B. Hussein Obama!
Posted by BigPasture at 09/24/2009 @ 3:12pm
Posted by BigPasture at 09/24/2009 @ 1:50pm
mmm mmm mmm mmm: That's the sound of somebody wearing the new diet patch, it covers the mouth, blocking excessive eating.
Posted by Mistral at 09/24/2009 @ 3:46pm
Uh, RIO...not supposed to use the "2nd word"...just say "Magic ___ Messiah of the Left!" like HAPP would.
Posted by Mask at 09/24/2009 @ 2:53pm | ignore this person | warn this person
Is it must also now be the Nat. Assoc. for the Avancement of Chocolate People!
Posted by BigPasture at 09/24/2009 @ 3:48pm
Posted by Happy at 09/24/2009 @ 2:33pm | ignore this person | warn this person
if i did not come here and elsewhere to spew...i might...
lol
Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 5:47pm
This planet can easily accomodate with a healthy standard of life, at least 3 times the current population.
No. I'd have to disagree.
Just because someone has figured out, on paper, how to grow vertical gardens that MAY or MAY NOT produce enough food for everyone doesn't mean that people will then go on to lead happy, full lives. They need space. Jobs. Trees. Etc.
Cities, in general need to be rethought completely in order to accommodate all that you envision. Not going to happen and no one can afford it. People of lesser means are being stuffed into sardine can existences already, freeways congested, technology for advanced transportation struggling within it's own imagining cycle. This is 'popular mechanics' style utopian imaginings. Yes, I've looked at the article and about a dozen just like it over the years. They all imagine their dream while excluding the entire outside world. And if it was really possible, I might add, some HAPPY CAPITALIST would be forging ahead on this great profit driven (not) idea. It's a very (forgive me) liberal seeming idea.
No, there needs to be less people, not some technological fix up that'll deal with the problem temporarily. That's wishful thinking but not something I would wish on a gerbil.
Let's grow our food in the dirt. Not in a tank.
Posted by ficheye at 09/24/2009 @ 6:39pm
Ibb,
Here's more on vertical farming
http://www.verticalfarm.com/
And this on rooftop farming
http://www.brightfarmsystems.com/
and this remains a favorite with me, Disney's Hydroponics center video
http://tinyurl.com/63medo
Posted by antisocialist at 09/24/2009 @ 6:45pm
And then there's the ultimate problem of getting people to actually EAT the kind of food grown in these structures.
Some of the attendant articles in the updated vertical gardening website even link to other articles which suggest... you've got it... healthcare reform, since insurance companies stand to make a profit from treating disease that is brought on by people eating unhealthy.
To be fair, I like the idea on paper, but I still feel that there are too many parameters to address to make it workable. Industry likes things the way they are right now. To restructure all of that would take much longer than the 50 years that the engineer says we have before our system of doing things falls apart.
I like an open world with fewer people and less pressure on the existing natural resources. We've already seen that you just can't recreate an ecosystem that's been systematically and violently taken apart. There's such a huge difference between a 'forest' and 'THE WOODS'. There's an aesthetic there that can't be recreated at will.. And yes, I know, I know... the author also envisions so much space being freed up, etc, etc. No. Monsanto and other corporations would get there long before the happy visions of this utopia could be realized, you can bet. Disney can grow things in a tank. You can eat them. I'll have a tomato sandwich now, hot off the vine with mayo and wasabi on sourdough.
Closed systems like the Biosphere proved that there are many, many small variables that we don't have a grip on yet when working in contained systems. 50 years to achieve that? No.
Posted by ficheye at 09/24/2009 @ 7:32pm
I've read some of the recent updates as well about vertical gardening. One thing is still being avoided a bit. Maybe I just missed it.
You need to pollinate each and every flower that turns into a fruit or vegetable. Maybe Monsanto can figure something out, but would bees be OK living in a building like those envisioned? Are they going to have hives in each level? Bee's are not going to fly up 10 or 20 floors in search of flowers. They'll get tired. Hey, that's my new job! Hand pollinating millions of flowers for the starving (seething) masses so that they may continue to procreate wildly!
This mans interviews are also an interesting exercise in subjectivity. He embraces the inevitability of overpopulation, while I do not.
Posted by ficheye at 09/24/2009 @ 8:00pm
Posted by ficheye at 09/24/2009 @ 8:00pm | ignore this person | warn this person
will have to investigate some more on the vertical farming - never heard about the bee thing...
regardless i still think its do-able.
as for me the beauty is not in enabling more and more and more shaved apes, but in the potential to enable reforestation of vast tracts of agricultural land - for aesthetic as well as environmental repair and health.
Posted by dexter666 at 09/24/2009 @ 11:08pm
actually Nigeria was doing BETTER before they discovered oil. Mostly agricultural with some small industries starting...but generally peaceful and NOT corrupt.
It WAS the oil that "screwed them up".
Posted by Mask at 09/24/2009 @ 11:29am
Blame the oil or the corporations that desire it?
It's cheaper for the oil companies to pay off a corrupt government and take what they want than it is to deal fairly with the population.
Posted by koroviev at 09/24/2009 @ 11:43pm
mexico - our neighbor - develop mexico and the rio grande sinks a couple thousand kilometers south...
let's start working towards a EU of North America, with Mexico and Canada. it's a perfect fit, Canada has the resources, Mexico the labor, and the US the capital.
Posted by emile duBois at 09/25/2009 @ 10:22am
No, there needs to be less people,
FEWER people....
Posted by emile duBois at 09/25/2009 @ 10:25am
often burped out into this world by the stupidest, most irresponsible breeding morons one can imagine
you are a great humanitarian. we are so fortunate to have you posting here.
Posted by emile duBois at 09/25/2009 @ 10:30am
actually Nigeria was doing BETTER before they discovered oil. Mostly agricultural with some small industries starting...but generally peaceful and NOT corrupt. It WAS the oil that "screwed them up". Posted by Mask at 09/24/2009 @ 11:29am
of course it's nonsense.
Oil was discovered in Nigeria in 1956 at Oloibiri in the Niger Delta after half a century of exploration.
On October 1, 1960, Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
Posted by emile duBois at 09/25/2009 @ 10:55am
you are a great humanitarian. we are so fortunate to have you posting here.
Posted by emile duBois at 09/25/2009 @ 10:30am | ignore this person | warn this person
so i'm not on ignore? lol...
i am a great humanitarian. i love the species, being a member of it, and want it to go on long after my meager time is up.
i want our species, whatever form it may take, to survive the disasters which will inevitably come to this beautiful flying object in space, natural and man made.
unfortunately uncontrolled population growth, most problematic amongst the stupid and ignorant as well as the desperate, threatens my dream, and if saving the species involves sacrificing 10, 30, 50, 90, 99% of the rest, most unfortunate but necessary.
not that i like it. not that i think such is inevitable, nor could not be avoided - if homo superior triumphs.
but homo inferior seems dominant now. whether religious fanatic, dim pop culturally lobotomized and willfully ignorant, or mildly to majorly sociopathic and more than willing to screw over others for personal gain, homo inferior angrily and antinomianly goes about the business of wasting time, energy, and money on anything but what we need...
i am a great humanitarian. you are correct.
Posted by dexter666 at 09/25/2009 @ 10:55am
you love the species, it's people you hate, and I for one am happy to return the favor.
Posted by emile duBois at 09/25/2009 @ 11:07am
Posted by emile duBois at 09/25/2009 @ 11:07am | ignore this person | warn this person
i don't hate people. i love all living beings, including people.
ultimately i am an incurable optimist. i believe that barring the most horrific disaster we will indeed survive and thrive, but our most implacable enemy is ourselves, our regressive stubbornness and those amongst us most benighted with ignorance.
but before we thrive i also believe we will suffer greatly, because although i love people, i have little faith that a critical mass, whether by chosen or forced ignorance, will recognize what need be done. furthermore i think a large chunk of homo inferior WANTS it all to end.
Posted by dexter666 at 09/25/2009 @ 11:29am
emile...
i spit fire and call it as i see it here BECAUSE i love people.
sometimes a psychic slap is better than enabling by politeness.
those who are willfully ignorant should be shamed, should be called out, not humored. in this country there are precious few or no excuses for the level of ignorance evinced by all too many, including many supposedly educated by our silly educational system.
ignorance in this country is almost exclusively a byproduct of sloth, whether individual or parental, not inherent stupidity, though such can be a factor in that learning can be hard work and those with less efficient thinking machines (brains) are more easily frustrated and therefore prone to ignorance, i believe...
really sux when one such finds himself president...
Posted by dexter666 at 09/25/2009 @ 11:49am
Professor Rolf?
Posted by ficheye at 09/25/2009 @ 2:00pm
homo inferior
allow me to translate: Untermensch
Josef Goebbels would have been so proud.
Posted by emile duBois at 09/25/2009 @ 5:53pm
Another Nazi reference?
Posted by ficheye at 09/25/2009 @ 8:09pm
Another Nazi reference? Posted by ficheye at 09/25/2009 @ 8:09pm | ignore this person | warn this person
sure shoot the messenger, I did not make these disgusting statements. you gonna defend them?
Posted by emile duBois at 09/25/2009 @ 9:25pm
homo inferior allow me to translate: Untermensch
this is a verbatim translation.
Posted by emile duBois at 09/25/2009 @ 10:40pm
sure shoot the messenger, I did not make these disgusting statements. you gonna defend them? Posted by emile duBois at 09/25/2009 @ 9:25pm
No... not me. It was just a question, Mr. Sensitive, not an attack. I wouldn't want to get on your bad side.
I do, however, think that making a comparison to Francis Galton would have been more appropriate.
But, of course, you already know that.
Posted by ficheye at 09/25/2009 @ 11:31pm
ficheye
pardon. words are subject to interpretation, even without the need for translation.
this is a good example. with the accent on "another", the statement can be seen as exasperation. with the accent on the latter part it is clearly a question. I assumed it was obvious who Goebbels was.
you are correct however that I am sensitive to the demonizing of others. the nazis are the gold standard in that department, going from hate speech to street violence against jews, to Mauthausen in a few short decades.
I have read both the literature, as well as having visited that notorious death camp in Austria. I refuse to let this platform to be used for hateful comments against anyone, without challenge.
you flatter me by saying you wouldn't want to be on my bad side. at worst you might be consigned to the ignore list, which is no big deal.
in any case, I enjoy your posts, and appreciate any attention.
I don't know who Francis Galton is, but thanks to you I will find out.
Posted by emile duBois at 09/26/2009 @ 08:48am
Emile,
You'll already know by the time you read this, but Galton was the 'father of eugenics'. The nazis actually said that they modeled their own programs after him, a rather ignominious distinction. His other interesting skill were that he developed the foundations for both the science of meteorology and fingerprinting. He later changed his mind about his own theories on eugenics, but it was 'too late'; the 'torch' was carried on by The Eugenics Society in the United States. And finally, and weirdly enough, he was closely related to Charles Darwin. The short history. An fascinating individual nonetheless.
Posted by ficheye at 09/26/2009 @ 09:02am
Addendum: The Nazis actually said they modeled their 'programs' after eugenics studies in the United States, an embarrassing revelation at Nuremberg. For a number of years there was a published 'Journal Of eugenics' and a few 'sterilization drives'. As if Americans needed a little more evidence to support their general boorishness.
Pardon.
Posted by ficheye at 09/26/2009 @ 09:10am
haters don't need scientific theories to spread their bile, even resorting to scripture, as some notables here do.
I especially liked the range of Galton's interests. as far as his changing his mind, that was also true of many of the makers of the atomic bomb, who were horrified by the reality of what they had done.
enjoy your day, and carpe diem, whatever that means, something about a fish and the former leader of Vietnam.
Posted by emile duBois at 09/26/2009 @ 09:41am