is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

[thesightless]

i think so. yes, he is a TERRIBLE politician who put his foot in his mouth more often than not.

but throw that away.

is it me, or is he the only guy thinking in the right way? i.e. global cooperation and actually worrying about the one thing that everyone needs ... the planet.

while the rest of the assholes around the globe debate the threat of islam, territorial wars, economic sacntions and nuke programmes, i ask why? why are we pissing about over stupid shit, when we continue to watch the planet die away. and dont be stupid and say it isnt real, it is, open your eyes. every gov't is bascially ignoring the largest problem to ever hit the planet, saying that thier auto manufacturers are reducing emissions, we are "looking into" alt power, etc etc bullshit. do we really wanna have children who have to wear masks to go out and play outside? we already do in at least 3 spots on earth (los angeles, hong kong, bombay). its gonna be like a little league football game and saying " wow, that kid made an unbeleivebale catch, is that my tommy?> i cant see his face"

i honestly think that that line from the matrix is spot on. humans are a virus, nothing more than a large intelligent virus. think. we survive as sperm for years and once we find a host (egg) we grow and destroy. all consuming, destroying everything in our path, and factor in that no one will keep it in check because of human and civil rights.... its only gonna get worse.

but i also think of the question.
where does our responsibility ti future generations draw the line? i.e. if we really think about it, human population is exploding, and we will eventually kill the place if we dont institute things like China has, whereas we control population and implement direct controls over what agriculture is grown. ie. balancing human rights with human responsibility to our habitat,.

[RiseandShine]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race


ok, ok, sorry I'm out

[KinKyJ]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

+10 Sean!

Last week we've had a smog alert for a few days in Belgium too because of too high concentrations of fine dust (lit trans, don't know the correct word for it in English) for the first time. Ergo, it's not only the megacities anymore, it's starting to affect us all in our daily lives.

Don't know much about Gore as a politician, but I have great respect for the guy for raising awareness. The sad thing however, is that the homo consumens is too stupid to realise that we're well on our way to anihilate the only thing that keeps us alive. For those who think that's bs: we're already at 110% of the ecocapacity of the planet.

As for population control like in China, that's only part of the solution imo. If you look at Europe for instance, the birth rate has gone down dramatically over the past few decades. Most families now have an average of two children now instead of 10+. So population control as such won't help very much.

The factor which puts the most stress on the ecocapacity (as well as the social security system) here is the fact that people live longer. Finding a cure for cancer and aids, improving treatments so people don't die anymore from the flu at age 70 and what not is very noble, but it's also pervers in a way. So yes, it's probably not a very popular thing to say, but I think we should limit the progress of medicine at a certain point.

[thesightless]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

that is the weird line.

do we right now extend every human right for us at the expense of both future generations and our source of food,water and...well..... everything really, or do we extend BASIC rights to life, air, food, water to people beyond us, by limiting our not so basic freedoms.

its scary, cuz the more i see gore NOW, as opposed to when i depsised his hack of a boss in bill clinton, i actually feel like this is the one guy who the world should be electing to president of earth. and to stretch it, let him forcefully take over places not buying in.
im the furthest thing from a tree hugging hippie, frankly im more conservative when it comes to a lot, but this shit, wow, its just scary. we need to rip every human life outta africa, and make the whole continent a giant forest.
look around, do we really want to be watching baseball games in july in this shit.

[subterFUSE]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4520665474899458831

[thesightless]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

those people are the donald rumsfeld of science.

"i can run a war"

[floridaorange]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

i think so. yes, he is a TERRIBLE politician who put his foot in his mouth more often than not.

but throw that away.

is it me, or is he the only guy thinking in the right way? i.e. global cooperation and actually worrying about the one thing that everyone needs ... the planet.

while the rest of the assholes around the globe debate the threat of islam, territorial wars, economic sacntions and nuke programmes, i ask why? why are we pissing about over stupid shit, when we continue to watch the planet die away. and dont be stupid and say it isnt real, it is, open your eyes. every gov't is bascially ignoring the largest problem to ever hit the planet, saying that thier auto manufacturers are reducing emissions, we are "looking into" alt power, etc etc bullshit. do we really wanna have children who have to wear masks to go out and play outside? we already do in at least 3 spots on earth (los angeles, hong kong, bombay). its gonna be like a little league football game and saying " wow, that kid made an unbeleivebale catch, is that my tommy?> i cant see his face"

i honestly think that that line from the matrix is spot on. humans are a virus, nothing more than a large intelligent virus. think. we survive as sperm for years and once we find a host (egg) we grow and destroy. all consuming, destroying everything in our path, and factor in that no one will keep it in check because of human and civil rights.... its only gonna get worse.

but i also think of the question.
where does our responsibility ti future generations draw the line? i.e. if we really think about it, human population is exploding, and we will eventually kill the place if we dont institute things like China has, whereas we control population and implement direct controls over what agriculture is grown. ie. balancing human rights with human responsibility to our habitat,.

I thought he was a dumb liberal bastard?

[subterFUSE]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

I thought he was a dumb liberal bastard?

No.... He's a fat, liberal bastard.

[Lorn]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

^^haha!

[thesightless]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

first line....terriblepolitician.

but where he stands on this ... in the lead.

im an insane accountant and consultant. but i am not a surgeon at all.

[Localizer]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

As for population control like in China, that's only part of the solution imo. If you look at Europe for instance, the birth rate has gone down dramatically over the past few decades. Most families now have an average of two children now instead of 10+. So population control as such won't help very much.

The factor which puts the most stress on the ecocapacity (as well as the social security system) here is the fact that people live longer. Finding a cure for cancer and aids, improving treatments so people don't die anymore from the flu at age 70 and what not is very noble, but it's also pervers in a way. So yes, it's probably not a very popular thing to say, but I think we should limit the progress of medicine at a certain point.

I couldn't agree more. Big pharmies are concerned only with treatments and not preventive care. It's just about the $$.

As for the birth rates decreasing, 1 theory that I've learned about in my Sociology of Health and Illness class (zomg yes, sociology is actually worth something!) is that the birth rates decreased because people started becoming more wealthy. It's pretty much natural selection at it's best. If you're poor, you'll have 10 kids because there's a chance that a couple will actually make it out, whereas if you have only 2, chances are both might not make it out. As people started becoming more wealthy, more notably Europeans, the need to have so many children decreased because life was more affordable. I don't know how it is in Europe but the general rule of thumb in the states is that if you got the money, you're going to be among the most healthy individuals in the states.

[subterFUSE]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

I couldn't agree more. Big pharmies are concerned only with treatments and not preventive care. It's just about the $$.

As for the birth rates decreasing, 1 theory that I've learned about in my Sociology of Health and Illness class (zomg yes, sociology is actually worth something!) is that the birth rates decreased because people started becoming more wealthy. It's pretty much natural selection at it's best. If you're poor, you'll have 10 kids because there's a chance that a couple will actually make it out, whereas if you have only 2, chances are both might not make it out. As people started becoming more wealthy, more notably Europeans, the need to have so many children decreased because life was more affordable. I don't know how it is in Europe but the general rule of thumb in the states is that if you got the money, you're going to be among the most healthy individuals in the states.

Of course.... what is that supposed to be some kind of huge revelation?

It's no secret that wealth and life expectancy are linked. And the birth rate issue makes sense too. In nature, when a species has a low survival rate... then they reproduce in large numbers in order to increase the chances of survival. Insects repoduce in large numbers. Mammals in far lower numbers.

When you extend this within a single species, like humans.... then social and environmental factors will influcence reproduction. If a family is wealthy, then they can afford to take better care of a few offspring and ensure their survival. With a family in a more harsh and unforgiving environment, it makes sense that more offspring might perish... so a higher birth rate helps sustain the population.

But that's only part of the story. Another reason for decreasing birth rates in wealthy areas has to do with advanced in contraception. Wealthy areas have access to birth control which might be unavailable in 3rd world countries.

[Localizer]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

Of course.... what is that supposed to be some kind of huge revelation?

It's no secret that wealth and life expectancy are linked. And the birth rate issue makes sense too. In nature, when a species has a low survival rate... then they reproduce in large numbers in order to increase the chances of survival. Insects repoduce in large numbers. Mammals in far lower numbers.

When you extend this within a single species, like humans.... then social and environmental factors will influcence reproduction. If a family is wealthy, then they can afford to take better care of a few offspring and ensure their survival. With a family in a more harsh and unforgiving environment, it makes sense that more offspring might perish... so a higher birth rate helps sustain the population.

But that's only part of the story. Another reason for decreasing birth rates in wealthy areas has to do with advanced in contraception. Wealthy areas have access to birth control which might be unavailable in 3rd world countries.

I think I heard an echo.

[subterFUSE]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

I only hear crickets.

[floridaorange]

Re: is al gore the smartest guy in the room today?

I only hear crickets.

Thats because your bored off your ass living in winter park... no offense of course duder.