I'm not worried about it either, as a baby boomer I'll be floating about Pat's space time continuum.
"If we don't halt population growth with justice and compassion, it will be done for us by nature, brutally and without pity and will leave a ravaged world." Nobel Laureate Dr. Henry W. Kendall http://www.overpopulation.org/ I'm not the only one looking at it as a potential for disaster. Arab World in Water Crisis, Reports Jordanian Journalist. January 5, 2010 Green Prophet 75% of the surface water in the Arab world originates from outside its borders, and many people there live well below the water poverty line of 500 cubic metres annually. At a conference in Jordan, this was discussed in a conference on water insecurity. FAO Says Food Production Must Rise by 70%. December 2009 Population Instittute If global population reaches 9.1 billion by 2050, world food production will need to rise by 70%, and in the developing world by 100%, predicts the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations Change Beckons for Billionth African. December 28, 2009 Guardian (London) Some time this year the billionth person will be born in Africa, the fastest growing continent in the world. In 1850, the population of Africa was only 110 million. And by 2050, it is expected to nearly double, to 1.9 billion. Read on Lee http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/overpopulation/overpopulation.html On Jan 20, 6:52 am, Lee <[email protected]> wrote: > Heh and that's the thing huh Slip. What you or I or indeed anybody > else may think is self explanatory, others may not see things that-a- > way. > > I asked because although I though that is indeed what you meant, I > simply cannot see the connection with all that you have named and > overpopulation. I mean industry causeing things like acid rain need > not be about overpopulation, it can of course be (and to my mind most > likely is) about advancements in technolgy and greater understanding > of how thngs work. > > Overpopulation. Do you know that in this country at least during the > period between 1971 and around 1984 population actualy decreased? You > realise of course that when measured against just two generations ago > peopel are having markedly less children than they used to? That, the > birth vs death rate (again here in the UK) is almost level? One day > and not too far away we shall have great sweaths of those 'Baby > Boomer' generation die? > > We still have world wide famine and war, natural disaters, disease, > civil unrest. There is an every growing clamour for laws that allow > euthenasia. > > Nope I am not worried about global overpopulation at all. > > On 20 Jan, 12:27, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I would think the entire paragraph is self explanatory as relates to > > population growth. As far as the plan I have difficulty in buying > > into Deity plans that include horrendous acts of cruelty and > > destruction. > > > If population continues to grow at the current rate we will be hard > > pressed to sustain the quality of life we are experiencing, aside from > > soylent green that is. There is mass starvation as it is and the > > water pollution problems are growing. Toxins in fish are at allowable > > levels for human consumption. > > > On Jan 20, 4:08 am, Lee <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > How could I not what Slippy? > > > > The Gods plan bit, or the over population bit? > > > > On 20 Jan, 01:41, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > How could you not, we are already viewing problems with fresh water > > > > supply, unpolluted water that is. Acid rain has taken a toll on > > > > vegetation and water reserves while pollutants are continually spewing > > > > out into the atmosphere at higher rates than ever before, especially > > > > with China entering a new level of manufacturing and auto use. > > > > > On Jan 19, 10:18 am, Lee <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Could be although I don't subscribe to that one myself. > > > > > > As to the whole overpopulation thing, I don't really subscribe to that > > > > > one either. > > > > > > On 19 Jan, 15:13, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > That may happen but the predictability is sketchy, tectonic activity > > > > > > is fickle. I'm also wondering, and you might speculate on this, if > > > > > > in > > > > > > fact disasters are a way to cull the population of human habitation > > > > > > on > > > > > > planet Earth. I mean there are other forms of natural culling such > > > > > > as > > > > > > predator and prey and disease. So could these disasters be a Divine > > > > > > plan to maintain population levels. Basically what I'm seeing here > > > > > > is > > > > > > thousands of years for the population to reach half of what it is > > > > > > today and the short period of time in which it has doubled. The > > > > > > ramifications are serious famines in a broader sense, ie; once > > > > > > prosperous regions will fail to accommodate the needs of the > > > > > > population. As it stands today we are not feeding the world; where > > > > > > are we going to be in another 50 years?. > > > > > > So next time you talk to your God ask if this is part of the plan. > > > > > > > On Jan 19, 7:16 am, Pat <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > On 19 Jan, 12:45, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Some Food for Thought > > > > > > > > > Editor's note: Elizabeth McAlister is a professor of religion at > > > > > > > > Wesleyan University. > > > > > > > > > (CNN) -- We are all sick at heart to witness the unfathomable > > > > > > > > suffering in Haiti. Why do bad things happen to innocent > > > > > > > > people? Why > > > > > > > > Haiti, again? Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said > > > > > > > > recently, > > > > > > > > "It is biblical, the tragedy that continues to stalk Haiti and > > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > Haitian people." > > > > > > > > > How we make meaning of this suffering will be crucial to how we > > > > > > > > respond, in the long term, as a global community. > > > > > > > > > My Haitian in-laws, visiting from Boston, Massachusetts, to > > > > > > > > take some > > > > > > > > comfort with us, announced that the verse of the day on their > > > > > > > > favorite > > > > > > > > Bible Web site is from Revelation 16:18. "And there were voices > > > > > > > > and > > > > > > > > thunders and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such > > > > > > > > as has > > > > > > > > not been since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake > > > > > > > > and so > > > > > > > > great." > > > > > > > > > The word "earthquake" appears sixteen times in the Bible. It > > > > > > > > was clear > > > > > > > > to them -- and many other Christians -- that the earthquake was > > > > > > > > part > > > > > > > > of God's plan. Why God ordains such disasters is a mystery that > > > > > > > > is not > > > > > > > > ours to question. It is only our job to have faith. > > > > > > > > > A friend who barely escaped the collapse of her house in the > > > > > > > > quake > > > > > > > > writes that people in her Port-au-Prince neighborhood are > > > > > > > > living this > > > > > > > > time as the apocalypse. They are gathering en masse, singing > > > > > > > > hymns and > > > > > > > > praying nonstop as they wait for disaster aid -- and Jesus. > > > > > > > > > For them, the meaning of their suffering is clear. How else to > > > > > > > > interpret the collapse of their entire world, earthquake, > > > > > > > > famine, > > > > > > > > death, disease and drought? They are God's children living out > > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > last chapter of the Bible. > > > > > > > > > Fundamentalist Pat Robertson says that the earthquake is the > > > > > > > > devil's > > > > > > > > work. Haitians are cursed by a pact with Satan that their > > > > > > > > ancestors > > > > > > > > made, he says. Distorting a Haitian national myth, he is > > > > > > > > referring to > > > > > > > > a famous Afro-Creole religious service said to have sparked and > > > > > > > > launched the Haitian War of Independence in 1791. Ironically, > > > > > > > > historians tell us that such a single ceremony never happened -- > > > > > > > > although surely there were many slave gatherings, and many > > > > > > > > Afro-Creole > > > > > > > > religious rituals in the region. > > > > > > > > > Haitians do not mistake African religiosity for Satanism as > > > > > > > > Robertson > > > > > > > > does, so for them the ceremony was a spiritually charged > > > > > > > > political > > > > > > > > rally. Slaves gathered to plan and inspire themselves for the > > > > > > > > outrageous feat they would succeed in performing: a slave > > > > > > > > revolution, > > > > > > > > the abolition of slavery, and by 1804, national independence. > > > > > > > > > Afro-Creole religion, known as Vodou, still underpins the > > > > > > > > philosophy > > > > > > > > of many Haitians, though by no means everyone. A spirit-priest > > > > > > > > I know > > > > > > > > reads the earthquake as an allegorical message from the spirits > > > > > > > > who > > > > > > > > infuse the land. "The land is our mother," he said. When you > > > > > > > > abuse the > > > > > > > > land -- deforest her, plant only one crop, overpopulate her, > > > > > > > > erode her > > > > > > > > soil -- she explodes, searching for a way to rebalance. > > > > > > > > > The spirit of the land had become sick with abuse. Her children > > > > > > > > -- the > > > > > > > > eldest ones, the ones in charge, the Haitian government -- had > > > > > > > > no > > > > > > > > policies, no laws to protect the land or use it wisely. The > > > > > > > > spirit- > > > > > > > > mother exploded with fever. "We know this has a scientific > > > > > > > > cause," > > > > > > > > said the spirit-priest. "But look how the government buildings > > > > > > > > caved > > > > > > > > in. This tells us something." > > > > > > > > > In the last several years there has been a saying among > > > > > > > > Haitians that > > > > > > > > "the country is finished." "Peyi-a fini," they say in Creole. > > > > > > > > It has > > > > > > > > been called a dying land, a failed state, a product of > > > > > > > > irreversible > > > > > > > > environmental degradation. > > > > > > > > > For social scientists, there is nothing metaphysical about the > > > > > > > > question "Why Haiti?" Longstanding structural reasons have > > > > > > > > produced a > > > > > > > > dysfunctional system long in crisis. Beginning as a French slave > > > > > > > > society, the nation was founded at a severe disadvantage. France > > > > > > > > demanded enormous payment for abandoned property after the > > > > > > > > revolution, > > > > > > > > starting a cycle of debt that was never broken. > > > > > > > > > Deep and abiding racism prevented the U.S. and Europe from > > > > > > > > recognizing > > > > > > > > Haiti for 60 years. Trade was never established on even terms. > > > > > > > > The > > > > > > > > military ruled the state, culminating in the brutal Duvalier > > > > > > > > dictatorship, which the U.S. supported. > > > > > > > > > No robust civil society developed -- there's no vigorous > > > > > > > > tradition of > > > > > > > > PTAs and town planning boards. A brain drain evacuated top > > > > > > > > talent from > > > > > > > > the country, while the U.S.-subsidized farm industry sent > > > > > > > > surplus > > > > > > > > crops to Haiti, undercutting local prices there. Farmers > > > > > > > > abandoned > > > > > > > > their lands, flocked to the capital, and built the shanty towns > > > > > > > > that > > > > > > > > have now collapsed into rubble, burying the innocent and > > > > > > > > vulnerable, > > > > > > > > strong and powerful alike. > > > > > > > > > The suffering Haitians are enduring is a natural disaster > > > > > > > > worsened by > > > > > > > > human-made conditions. It is a spiritual crucible. But it is > > > > > > > > also a > > > > > > > > crisis of meaning. For Christians it is to have faith, hope, and > > > > > > > > charity. For fundamentalist Protestants, it is to convert all > > > > > > > > souls, > > > > > > > > give aid, and wait for Jesus' return. For Vodouists, it is to > > > > > > > > regain > > > > > > > > balance with the land and the unseen spiritual world. > > > > > > > > > For many social scientists, it is to strengthen Haitians' > > > > > > > > capacity for > > > > > > > > self-government, to relieve the debt Haiti owes, to > > ... > > read more »
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