Flu season nothing to sneeze at...

[vicrider 0]

129 deaths in OK alone, mostly the young or the old and unhealthy like me. I wear a med mask when anyone comes to visit and whenever I go into town for anything. Laugh but for me with COPD and under 50% of lung function any upper respiratory disease like flu or pneumonia will put me in the hospital at minimum, ground at worst. We're in a small town and the few outbreaks we've had they isolate themselves and no pandemic yet. 'Course, now you can throw in the Noravirus, mosquitoes will start up again with Sika Virus, West Nile Virus, One of my favorite morbid subjects is TEOTFW as we know it anyway. So many cool things could happen to do it.

 

Super contagious viruses bred for warfare (yes, we do it too) will be used or released through major error. Driving civilization ever deeper into nature's strongholds brings greater chances of diseases we have no defenses for. Global warming will continue to release microbes locked into the ice for millions of years ready to devastate the life forms that came up afterward with no resistance. Continued unneeded use of anti-biotics bring about stronger resistant bugs. If you think it can't get serious I could show you the 7" high band of red, dry skin around my leg below my knee where I had a drug resistant bacteria infection that took me rapidly to a leg swollen near double size and doing things not to talk about. Three ever stronger rounds of anti-biotics and finally combined with shots and doc said it was going to do it or he had to go in there to clean up and put me on drip IV anti-biotics.

 

The next meteor hit is overdue. The "Ring of Fire" is becoming more active yet drillers are going ever deeper into fault areas to get the oil we need and pump the waste down even further under high pressure. In 20 years OK has gone from seismic tranquility to an earthquake leader, but keep drilling and pumping that waste ever deeper. The Yellowstone Caldera is right on track to surprise a bunch of tourists one of these days/years.

 

Oh yeah, I'm the pessimist, but it's fun to envision. Maybe that's why it's my genre of Hollywood cinema.

 

So, have I brought anyone down yet? I'm going fishing tomorrow.

[Fisherboy0301 0]

Glad to hear you're getting out to go fishing..

[mikechell 0]

So, have I brought anyone down yet?

Nope !!!

A "bottleneck reduction" in the human population to more than half it's current numbers would be the best thing to happen to the Earth.

 

Yeah, I'll most likely be in the percentage that doesn't live through it. But I didn't say it would be good for mankind ... just good for the Earth.

[vicrider 0]

Mike, the thing that always leaves me rather amazed is when they talk about the things that took a lot of lives in the past. They like to use these comparisons. This or that pandemic killed more people than this or that war did. Now if the Black Death, bubonic plague killed almost half of Europe in 1350, The 1918 Swine (Spanish) flu killed an estimated 50 million in 1918-19. With plagues of old and modern things like Cholera and HIV killing millions, then factoring in all the wars within a country and against other countries, then the genocide of ethnic cleansing still rampant in many parts of the world that don't have oil to want outside governments to come and help them any, how many people really have to die to keep the world's population from balooning out of control?

[Steeldrifter 0]

Getting sick when ya have COPD is not a good thing. My best friend/fishing buddy Mark whom is 70 yrs old has COPD. He got a cold a couple years ago after a fishing trip that turned into pneumonia and that put him in the hospital for a few days.

[mikechell 0]

... how many people really have to die to keep the world's population from balooning out of control?

Actually, probably more than 80%, at this point. More than 7.6 billion people inhabit this planet right now.

The population reduction events that have happened in the past were "catastrophic" for that era. Without them, though, we would likely be nearer to 10 billion.

Table 1. World population milestones. Source: United Nations Secretariat, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, The World At Six Billion (1999),

World population reached:

1 billion 1804 Time to add 1 billion ... 123 years

2 billion 1927 Time to add 1 billion ... 33 years

3 billion 1960 Time to add 1 billion ... 14 years

4 billion 1974 Time to add 1 billion ... 13 years

5 billion 1987 Time to add 1 billion ... 12 years

6 billion 1999 Time to add 1 billion ... 11 years

 

Accurately predicted, by 2010, we had almost 7 billion. Predicted 9 to 10 years from then, we'll be at 8 ... 2020/2021, although I believe we'll get there within the next year.

We are reaching a critical point ... a true pandemic is becoming more and more inevitable every year. If it knocks the number of humans down to 1 billion, then we start the above chart at 1804 levels. Gives the Earth another (roughly) 200 years before we reach this stage again.

[Kudu 0]

I had a college professor way back when ask the question what is the difference in mankind versus all other animals? No one got the answer he was looking to get. The answer: man is the only animal that is in a constant state of heat!

[mikechell 0]

I had a college professor way back when ask the question what is the difference in mankind versus all other animals? No one got the answer he was looking to get. The answer: man is the only animal that is in a constant state of heat!

LOL ... It's a byproduct of intelligence ... the ability to recognize and seek pleasure.

Humans aren't in a constant state of "heat" ... we're the only animal that gets pleasure from the act of sex.

Rant coming ... don't read if you "like" humankind.

We are, however, the only animal that kills for "sport" or "pleasure".

We are, also, the only animal that will use up it's resources. Other animals will naturally die off if resources are depleted. We just force more resources out until they're completely gone.

We are the only animal that protects and allows it's weak to breed. Other animals protect their young, but weak animals are left to die. Survival of the fittest WORKS. We allow bad genes to pass on and on. Instead of improving human gene pool, we keep insisting on weakening it.

Rant over ... stepping down.

[Fisherboy0301 0]

I have to disagree on a couple points there Mike. I am pretty sure it's been proven that both dolphins and some primates recognize and seek pleasure from sex.

 

 

And killing for sport... that depends. Otters will catch fish, chew the find off, and watch them struggle to swim away.

 

Cats will catch wildlife and play with it and toss it around, they certainly kill for sport. They actually eat about 50% or less of why they kill.

 

 

I will not get into a TNR or free roaming cat discussion here. I like everyone here and I wanna keep it that way.

[Kudu 0]

Mike

Have you ever seen a bull service a pasture full of cows and heifers; I guarantee once you see and hear it you know the bull is enjoying himself to the fullest. I disagree that animals dont find the birds and bees pleasurable! Lol!

[vicrider 0]

Mike, I tend to agree with a couple of the rebukes to what you stated. I do however agree about the gene pool. The inner city breeding rate far exceeds that of the college graduates and the only stem of that population explosion in the ghettoes is the ridiculous rate of youth on youth kill rate going on nightly and especially on a good weekend. The percentage of youths leaving a "hip-hop" concert WITHOUT a bullet wound is getting slowly smaller. Anyway, this thread is morphing more but funny as it goes along. From pandemics to who enjoys getting it on in the animal as much as humans. Friday night down at the local "Long Neck" is guaranteed to find many male animals in heat and ready females waiting for them to fight over her to see gets to take home the Queen of the Silver Dollar that night.

[mikechell 0]

I am pretty sure it's been proven that both dolphins and some primates recognize and seek pleasure from sex. (1)

 

And killing for sport... that depends. Otters will catch fish, chew the find off, and watch them struggle to swim away. (2)

 

Cats will catch wildlife and play with it and toss it around, they certainly kill for sport. They actually eat about 50% or less of why they kill. (2)

 

Mike

Have you ever seen a bull service a pasture full of cows and heifers; I guarantee once you see and hear it you know the bull is enjoying himself to the fullest. I disagree that animals dont find the birds and bees pleasurable! Lol! (1)

(1) There's nothing but anecdotal "evidence" since we can't actually speak to any of the aforementioned animals. The instinctual need to procreate is rewarded, yes, but "enjoyment" is an intellectual emotion. Research, as it is, is interpreted with anthropomorphic nuances and not based on any true "brain activity" correlation to the human act of sex for fun. It's instinct, pure and simple.

 

(2) Cats and otters (as with most predatory species) are "trained" by their parents to catch their own prey. The common method is to maim the prey and let the young catch it. "Playing" with it, learning how to kill it ... that's how the young learn. That learning curve, like kneading while nursing, is so ingrained that even adults will resort to it ... much like humans and their "comfort food".

 

Sorry, guys. I love my pets, but I have no illusions that they "think" or "reason" or "postulate" or do ANY of the things we call normal intelligent behavior. Happiness, love, hate, embarrassment, enjoying sex ... these are all constructs of our intelligence.

It's what separates us from instinctual animals.

 

But, another construct of intelligence is the ability to form opinions. Yours vary from mine, and I'm not trying to change yours. I'm just stating things as I see and believe them to be.