Monday, March 26, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Depopulation Not Overpopulation
Fear depopulation, not overpopulation
Posted: December 11, 2009, 8:48 PM by NP Editor
Canada and most European countries now have birth rates below the 2.1 replacement rate
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2009/12/11/fear-depopulation-not-overpopulation.aspx
By Maurice Vellacott
Diane Francis authored a very disturbing and 40-years-outdated column on Tuesday (“The real inconvenient truth: The whole world needs to adopt China’s one-child policy,” Dec.
. Such rhetoric about overpopulation flies in the face of the depopulation dynamics that are striking fear into many politicians and economists around the world.
But just as disturbing is Ms. Francis’ sanitized view of China’s one-child policy, which she recommends. This policy has been thoroughly documented as being a forced abortion policy, with all the outrageous abuses against women that one might expect from such a policy. China is facing a serious gender imbalance because of its massive slaughter of unborn girls, due to parents’ preference for boys.
If the Chinese hadn’t been limited to only one child, they wouldn’t have felt the need to make this deadly choice. This one-child policy also led to a number of high-profile refugee situations as a few brave women, threatened with the killing of their children, sought to flee China. And some are trying to fight the brutality from within the country. Ms. Francis should do more research before she conjures the image of China’s one-child policy as a worthwhile depopulation strategy.
Furthermore, depopulation — not overpopulation — has already been thoroughly exposed as today’s problem, not a solution. A cross-section of professionals, including economists, demographers and social scientists, have recently produced two documentaries on this problem: Demographic Winter and Demographic Bomb.
Canada and most, if not all, European countries now have birth rates below the replacement rate of 2.1. The documentaries are must-viewing for anyone serious about addressing the challenges of population today. As the producers of Demographic Winter note: “Worldwide, birthrates have declined by more than 50% in the past 30 years (since 1979). There are now 59 nations, with 44% of the world’s population, with below-replacement fertility. Sometime in this century, the world’s population will begin to decline. (The United Nations Population Division says that, worldwide, we could achieve below-replacement fertility by 2030.) At a certain point, the decline will become rapid. We may even reach what demographers call population free fall in our lifetimes. Russia is losing 750,000 people a year. Its population (currently 145 million) is expected to fall by one-third by 2050.”
By 2015, the number of deaths in Europe will have outstripped the number of births. By 2060, the ratio of people of working age to those over age 65 will be two to one. The growth momentum of Europe’s 27 member states will continue to carry it until 2035; after this the population will begin to decline drastically from a predicted 521 million to 506 million by 2060. These conclusions come from a report released last summer by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical service.
Economists have been lamenting for years a looming crisis with social welfare programs as the proportion of elderly people to workers in many Western countries declines. Nations with social welfare systems also need children to survive. A burgeoning elderly population combined with a shrinking work force will lead to a train wreck for state pension systems.
Ms. Francis pretends that economies can flourish with depopulation. On the contrary, the past century has seen the largest population growth in global history, yet simultaneously, the standard of living has risen and life expectancies have increased across the globe. People typically reduce spending as they age and children move away from home, so as the older age cohort increases relative to a nation’s population, the country’s economic health can be expected to decline.
An article published in The Globe and Mail in January of this year (Baby Boom best bet to cure China’s ills, Jan. 28), presented evidence that even China was in urgent need of population growth: “Population is at the heart of long-term economic expansion,” writes China scholar Derek Scissors in a paper for the Heritage Foundation, a U.S. think tank. “China is soon to leave what has been an extended demographic pattern supporting economic growth and enter a very different pattern entailing difficult policy choices.”
In summary, I was shocked to read Ms. Francis’ advocacy for depopulation, especially drawing on the imagery of China’s ruthless one-child forced abortion policy. Hopefully Ms. Francis will have further opportunity to examine this significant topic and explore the current relevant studies.
Maurice Vellacott is a Conservative Member of Parliament for Saskatoon-Wanuskewin.
Posted: December 11, 2009, 8:48 PM by NP Editor
Canada and most European countries now have birth rates below the 2.1 replacement rate
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2009/12/11/fear-depopulation-not-overpopulation.aspx
By Maurice Vellacott
Diane Francis authored a very disturbing and 40-years-outdated column on Tuesday (“The real inconvenient truth: The whole world needs to adopt China’s one-child policy,” Dec.
. Such rhetoric about overpopulation flies in the face of the depopulation dynamics that are striking fear into many politicians and economists around the world.But just as disturbing is Ms. Francis’ sanitized view of China’s one-child policy, which she recommends. This policy has been thoroughly documented as being a forced abortion policy, with all the outrageous abuses against women that one might expect from such a policy. China is facing a serious gender imbalance because of its massive slaughter of unborn girls, due to parents’ preference for boys.
If the Chinese hadn’t been limited to only one child, they wouldn’t have felt the need to make this deadly choice. This one-child policy also led to a number of high-profile refugee situations as a few brave women, threatened with the killing of their children, sought to flee China. And some are trying to fight the brutality from within the country. Ms. Francis should do more research before she conjures the image of China’s one-child policy as a worthwhile depopulation strategy.
Furthermore, depopulation — not overpopulation — has already been thoroughly exposed as today’s problem, not a solution. A cross-section of professionals, including economists, demographers and social scientists, have recently produced two documentaries on this problem: Demographic Winter and Demographic Bomb.
Canada and most, if not all, European countries now have birth rates below the replacement rate of 2.1. The documentaries are must-viewing for anyone serious about addressing the challenges of population today. As the producers of Demographic Winter note: “Worldwide, birthrates have declined by more than 50% in the past 30 years (since 1979). There are now 59 nations, with 44% of the world’s population, with below-replacement fertility. Sometime in this century, the world’s population will begin to decline. (The United Nations Population Division says that, worldwide, we could achieve below-replacement fertility by 2030.) At a certain point, the decline will become rapid. We may even reach what demographers call population free fall in our lifetimes. Russia is losing 750,000 people a year. Its population (currently 145 million) is expected to fall by one-third by 2050.”
By 2015, the number of deaths in Europe will have outstripped the number of births. By 2060, the ratio of people of working age to those over age 65 will be two to one. The growth momentum of Europe’s 27 member states will continue to carry it until 2035; after this the population will begin to decline drastically from a predicted 521 million to 506 million by 2060. These conclusions come from a report released last summer by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical service.
Economists have been lamenting for years a looming crisis with social welfare programs as the proportion of elderly people to workers in many Western countries declines. Nations with social welfare systems also need children to survive. A burgeoning elderly population combined with a shrinking work force will lead to a train wreck for state pension systems.
Ms. Francis pretends that economies can flourish with depopulation. On the contrary, the past century has seen the largest population growth in global history, yet simultaneously, the standard of living has risen and life expectancies have increased across the globe. People typically reduce spending as they age and children move away from home, so as the older age cohort increases relative to a nation’s population, the country’s economic health can be expected to decline.
An article published in The Globe and Mail in January of this year (Baby Boom best bet to cure China’s ills, Jan. 28), presented evidence that even China was in urgent need of population growth: “Population is at the heart of long-term economic expansion,” writes China scholar Derek Scissors in a paper for the Heritage Foundation, a U.S. think tank. “China is soon to leave what has been an extended demographic pattern supporting economic growth and enter a very different pattern entailing difficult policy choices.”
In summary, I was shocked to read Ms. Francis’ advocacy for depopulation, especially drawing on the imagery of China’s ruthless one-child forced abortion policy. Hopefully Ms. Francis will have further opportunity to examine this significant topic and explore the current relevant studies.
Maurice Vellacott is a Conservative Member of Parliament for Saskatoon-Wanuskewin.
Global Cooling
POLAR ICE CAPS MELTING LESS THAN THOUGHT...
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/02/08/earths-polar-ice-melting-less-than-thought
STUDY: Himalayas, nearby peaks lost no ice in past 10 years...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/08/glaciers-mountains?intcmp=122
Scientists 'stunned'...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/08/glaciers-mountains?intcmp=122
Fed workers take leave -- with inch of snow expected!
http://wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2738814
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/02/08/earths-polar-ice-melting-less-than-thought
STUDY: Himalayas, nearby peaks lost no ice in past 10 years...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/08/glaciers-mountains?intcmp=122
Scientists 'stunned'...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/08/glaciers-mountains?intcmp=122
Fed workers take leave -- with inch of snow expected!
http://wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2738814
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Recent Train Crashes
A Saudi Arabian diplomat is killed in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. (Times of India)
Train Accident live Dhaka Banladesh on 17 June 2009
Train Accident live Dhaka Banladesh on 17 June 2009
Train crash in Dhaka 
Apparently 10 are injured 1 critical, location Dhaka BangladeshLocation: Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh |
-
TRAIN CRASH WAS IN ARGENTINA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdB7GNwbUCQ
Uploaded by vasconvolto111 on Feb 22, 2012
At least 40 people have been killed and hundreds more injured in a commuter train crash at a station in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.
The train failed to stop and crashed into the barrier at the end of the platform at the Once station in the west of the city.
TRAIN CRASH WAS IN TORONTO CANADA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKKHB7qsd60
on the radio they said the maximum speed for the track change was 15km/hr
and it was going 67km/hr when it crashed
Train Crash in Poland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwHHrbsS6mI
MARCH 3: Another train crash in Poland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgKIlcxXE6A
The death toll from the train crash in Poland rises to 16. (New York Times)
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