Here are a few items I have wanted to post on, but haven’t had time to write my normal length post on each. I hope to make more of these types of posts. So as a reader advised (thanks Jayne), I am going to, “…go where my instinct takes me.” Here are some thoughts to discuss with your friends.
1) Iran. Much has been made about the new intelligence that Iran may have stopped its nuclear program a few years ago. I certainly hope this is true. Few things scare me as much as a fanatic who believes he can bring about a divine apocalypse and who might have a nuclear weapon. That is a very bad combination. While I hope the National Intelligence Estimate is correct, I have a few concerns. Many people on both sides of the aisle have questioned our intelligence capability in the Middle East. This is a valid question. The NIE says Iran may not have a nuclear warhead for a few years. Ahmadinejad has said he is willing to use a nuclear weapon against Israel. I say, “When in doubt, take the mad man at his word.” We should continue to act as if Ahmadinejad is pursuing a nuclear weapon. Until the people of Iran force a regime change or Ahmadinejad truly stops pursuing nuclear weapons that is the only safe course for our country.
2) Mike Huckabee. If you are following the 2008 election news at all, by now you know that Huckabee has had a surge in the polling. Many people are trying to figure out why. Some have suggested it is because he is running as a conservative. Some have suggested it is a media conspiracy to get the easiest Republican candidate to beat. Others have suggested that these supporters were always there, just waiting until the right moment to strike. I have a different take. While I disagree with Huckabee on a few key points (such as illegal immigration), he is running on a pro Fair Tax platform. I am a huge supporter of the Fair Tax. There are a lot of Republicans and Libertarians who are as well. I think his surge in numbers is coming from that. Time will tell, but the next time you hear Huckabee or see him at a campaign stop, look for a Fair Tax reference.
3) “Global Warming Kooks”. Last week, Drudge had a link to a British paper that ran an article about women in the UK who were getting sterilized to stop global warming. These women thought having children was the worst thing anyone could do to the environment. If I remember correctly, one was 29 years old and the other was 32. If you follow the global warming argument to its conclusion, this is where you end up. Time will tell how many people are willing to subscribe to this idea. There are a lot of groups who have been preaching this openly for some time. There are other groups who believe it, but are concealing that fact. Just a point to keep in mind the next time someone screams about global warming and starts talking about “solutions”.
I hope you enjoyed this column. Look for more of this type of post in the weeks to come. As always, I welcome civil comments and discussion on these topics, or any others.
8 comments:
I like this column and you're welcome! That's nut about the sterilization. I just don't know what to say. Although, I was 35 when I got "sterilized" maybe I subconsciously did it to thwart global warming.... not!
Those global warming nuts are SCARY! It's obvious to anyone with half a brain that what the world needs now is more people! I encourage everybody I know, from every country I visit, to have as many kids as possible. How could ANYBODY ever be against that?!
I like this new format Andy.
The global warming story doesn't surprise me. In fact I've long said that's where the logical conclusion of the global warming theory goes.
We're told C02 is bad. People blame industry and fossil fuels. Yet the population has more than tripled since the Industrial Revolution.
The "solution" to global warming is most increase the plant life on the planet to compensate for our C02.
Far be it for people to suggest "sensible" solutions like that though. No no, cut emissions! Industry = evil.
I wonder if we'll start seeing Global Warming meets abortion? "Save the planet: Have an abortion" The lunatics are running the asylum.
Anyone advocating birth control doesn't understand basic economic theory. More people = more consumers = more economic growth.
Obviously, there is no limit to the amount of food, oil, forest, coal, air, fish, land, and water available for us to consume. We simply need more people to consume it faster. A simple example: wild salmon is scarce now because there are only 6.5 billion people on the planet and demand is relatively low. With 30 billion people on the planet, demand will go up significantly and the supply will go up along with it. More fishing boats = more salmon.
With 30 billion people on the planet, we would have so many salmon we'd probably need to start sterilizing fish!
Thanks for the comments so far. I enjoyed writing this post. I still plan on writing posts under the "old" format, but I am going to do this format at least once a week. I think it allows more topics to get put out for discussion.
About Iran: The fact that we're just now finding out that Iran shut down their nuclear weapons program actually makes me more confident that it's true. As you said yourself, our Middle Eastern intelligence sources aren't where they should be, I could easily see that it would take this long before a source would find out this information.
About Mike Huckabee: If the media wanted to ensure an unelectable Republican be nominated, they would've played up the candidacy of Sam Brownback.
About the two British ladies: They're the first that I've heard of that went to that extreme, but their argument is fundamentally sound. I believe that the Earth can only support so many people before it runs out of the water resources needed to feed them and quench their thirst.
Personally, I'd rather see the population flatten out and then start a slow decline then finding out what the exact limit is by seeing a few million people starve to death or die of thirst.
Re #3 on the list, perhaps it's better that these individuals decided to remove themselves from the gene pool... ?
Bun-girl...I didn't want to point that out, but, you might be onto something...
Post a Comment