Unpopular Non-Musical Opinions

TheCunningStunt · 07-07-2010, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

My cat is exactly the same as Janszoon's.

Waits for me to get home, follows me around everywhere, always rubbing against me.

You have a strangely close relationship with your cat.

Astronomer · 07-07-2010, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

My cat is exactly the same as Janszoon's.

Waits for me to get home, follows me around everywhere, always rubbing against me.

My boyfriend is a bit like that. Maybe I should replace him with a cat, less work.

Freebase Dali · 07-07-2010, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

It's not. Every cat I've ever had has been more or less like that.

My sister's cat as well. That thing is affection-crazy.
If you walk up to him, he literally goes limp and plops onto his back and plays dead because he knows it's so cute you can't help but pet him.

And it loves to chase feet, but only if they're facing away from him. It's a pretty fun cat. Nothing about it is cold or uneventful.

**Janszoon** · 07-07-2010, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

And it loves to chase feet, but only if they're facing away from him. It's a pretty fun cat. Nothing about it is cold or uneventful.

Haha! My cat does that too. She'll sneak up behind me and bat at my ankles when I'm walking away from her.

Freebase Dali · 07-07-2010, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Haha! My cat does that too. She'll sneak up behind me and bat at my ankles when I'm walking away from her.

Hehe my sister's cat plans its attack. It has specific ambush points where it will hide and when you pass the ambush point, it will run out full speed and bat your legs, then advance to the next ambush point.
The only way to foil his plan is to turn towards him. He won't attack unless you're walking parallel to his location and away from it. But he has the patience of a sniper, so unless you walk sideways and backwards to your destination, he will get you.

VEGANGELICA · 07-07-2010, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

Hehe my sister's cat plans its attack. It has specific ambush points where it will hide and when you pass the ambush point, it will run out full speed and bat your legs, then advance to the next ambush point.

Heh heh...that's exactly what my cat did, too, when she was young (and alive). She'd hide behind bushes so when I walked home from school up the path to the house she'd LEAP out, grab my ankles with her front paws, and scrabble at my feet with her back legs. It made me very nervous walking up that path when I knew she lurked around, ready to ambush me.

She was also a friendly cat, but not cloyingly friendly. She loved to curl up under the covers at my feet in bed. She walked out to greet me if I was in the garden. We also had some fun games we played: when I was in the tub, she'd hide under the shower curtain...and as I peeked over the tub rim she'd hunker down, her pupils dilating, and then POUNCE up with one paw to try to tap my hand. Then we'd do that again and again. I gave her rides in the clothes basket, which she liked to be in.

Sigh. I still miss her. She was the first anyone I loved who died.

DoctorSoft · 07-07-2010, 09:39 PM

You guys are lucky. My cat sucks. At night he comes into my room and tries to hump my blankets. Then when I kick him out he goes and pees on my backpack. What an *******.

Freebase Dali · 07-07-2010, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theuglyorgan

You guys are lucky. My cat sucks. At night he comes into my room and tries to hump my blankets. Then when I kick him out he goes and pees on my backpack. What an *******.

Get him fixed.

VEGANGELICA · 07-08-2010, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glastonelle

If my parents had decided to only have two children, I wouldnt even exist right now. I see where your coming from Vegangelica, with the resources barely enough for us now, let alone in the future when the human population will have increased significantly. But seriously, how can you make an argument like this? It is not selfish to have more than two children, parents have all rights to have as many children as they like. The diminishing resources arent the 3rd childs fault, and its not as if todays population isnt searching for new recyclable resources.

Glastonelle, I agree with you completely that diminishing resources aren't the 3rd child's fault. I would never want to poof you or any other 3rd (or 4th or 5th etc.) child out of existence. Also, I agree that people have the right to decide how many children they want. However, I want couples to be educated and concerned about the ramifications of having more than 2 children, so that they can make informed choices.

My argument is that the people living now who have more than 2 children in the developed world, where we use huge quantities of energy and raw materials per person, are contributing unfairly to the problems of the future by causing population growth or maintaining large populations.

Furthermore, having more than 2 kids now puts the burden of population reduction on the people of the future...the children and grandchildren of those alive today. The human population is going to have to stop growing at some point, so I feel it is selfish and self-centered and/or thoughtless for people NOW to decide they want to have many kids because they want large families, without considering the long-term repercussions on their own and others' descendents.

Here are some quotes about the problem of population size and resource depletion in the developed world:

Quote:

John Donnelly, (August 31, 2006) “Alarm sounds on US population boom: report says growth threatens resources,” The Boston Globe.
Alarm sounds on US population boom - The Boston Globe

The United States, now at nearly 300 million people, is the only industrialized country that has experienced strong population growth in the last decade, creating concerns that the boom and Americans' huge appetites for food, water, and land will sharply erode the nation's natural resources in coming years, according to a report released yesterday.

Americans consume like no other nation -- using three times the amount of water per capita than the world average and nearly 25 percent of the world's energy, despite having 5 percent of the global population; and producing five times more daily waste than the average in poor countries.

"Most Americans say that most of the population [increases] are happening in other parts of the world, but if you look at this report, the trends that stand out are what's happening here" in the United States, said Victoria Markham, the center's executive director and author of the report.

Quote:

Leake and Montague (March 22, 2009) “UK population must fall to 30m, says Porritt,” The Sunday Times.
UK population must fall to 30m, says Porritt - Times Online

JONATHON PORRITT, one of Gordon Brown’s leading green advisers, is to warn that Britain must drastically reduce its population if it is to build a sustainable society. Porritt said: “Population growth, plus economic growth, is putting the world under terrible pressure."

Population growth is one of the most politically sensitive environmental problems. The issues it raises, including religion, culture and immigration policy, have proved too toxic for most green groups.

Many experts believe that, since Europeans and Americans have such a lopsided impact on the environment, the world would benefit more from reducing their populations than by making cuts in developing countries.

Now, on to boo boo...

Quote:

Originally Posted by boo boo

How to really piss off Vegangelica.

Start a big family, eat a lot of meat, shave your legs and listen to a lot of gangster rap music that objectifies women. And don't forget that it's the fourth of july so start polluting the atmosphere with fireworks.

Arrgggh! Don't even get me started on fireworks!!! I was watching some of the July 4th New York City fireworks on TV, and every five minutes, as they shot off not ONE, not TWO, but FIVE (!!!!!!!) identical blasts of fireworks, I said out loud, "There goes the monetary equivalent of the GNP of a small developing nation, exploding in the air!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

Anyway, regarding this whole argument, what resources are we talking about "consuming"? I'm a little confused...
It better not be oil, because I'm pretty sure we're capable of surviving as a species without that. Is it food? If so, that's laughable. We perpetuate our own food.

I don't get what we're talking about with "resources". Water? (Don't even go there)Someone help me out here. As it stands, the only thing overpopulation is going to do is bring shit to a point where you'll (unselfishly) have to give up the kind of lifestyles you're currently living. If you'd prefer population control over that, I'd say THAT'S pretty damned selfish.

Early humans lived just fine the way they did. If you really want to make a change, give up all your possessions and all your comforts and all your wants and go live in the woods. If you can do that, then you're entitled to lecture about using up "resources".

Is it possible that you and I are not living on the same planet, Freebase?

Because on the planet on which *I* live, resource depletion (oil, topsoil, food, fresh water, etc.) is ALREADY a problem, as is the pollution caused by our consumption patterns. Note that to compensate for our current breeding choices, one of the "lifestyles" people in the future will need to give up is the lifestyle of having more than 2 kids!

One article about this is the following: Pimentel et al. (1999) “Will Limits of the Earth’s Resources Control Human Numbers” Environment, Development and Sustainability, 19-39. SpringerLink - Journal Article

My desire for people to stop population growth, for the sake of the future, does not mean the government telling people how many children they may have. Instead, I want people to control themselves and consider what is best for the future of the whole planet instead of just what they feel is best for their immediate family now.

Yes, reducing our personal resource use now *is* an important way to help people in the future have better lives, but ignoring the contribution of population to the problem of resource depletion will only exacerbate it. Look at water shortage problems currently in the U.S. alone, and then consider what will happen in the future, given that the U.S. population is predicted to increase from 300 million to around 450 million by 2050:

Quote:

“Crisis feared as U.S. water supplies dry up: Government projects at least 36 states will face shortages within five years.”
U.S. water supplies drying up - U.S. news - Environment - msnbc.com

An epic drought in Georgia threatens the water supply for millions. Florida doesn’t have nearly enough water for its expected population boom. The Great Lakes are shrinking. Upstate New York’s reservoirs have dropped to record lows. And in the West, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is melting faster each year.

Across America, the picture is critically clear — the nation’s freshwater supplies can no longer quench its thirst. The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess.

Quote:

“Study Shows Water Shortages in Southeast United States Are Due to Overpopulation, Likely to Be Repeated”
Study Shows Water Shortages in Southeast United States Are Due to Overpopulation, Likely to Be Repeated

A new study by Columbia University climate experts has determined that the drought that caused water shortages in the southeastern United States in 2007 and 2008 was not unprecedented in severity, but in fact a “typical event.” The researchers concluded that the resulting water shortages were actually due to explosive population growth in the region.

Finally, about Laurent's proposal that I kill myself and my family to reduce resource consumption:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurent Quinn Proper

I'll probably get another infraction or be suspended but how many children couples choose to have is none of your business, Vegangelica. If someone chooses to have a large family that doesn't necessarily make them selfish. That has to be one of the stupid-er things I have ever heard. If you are so self-righteous about economical supplies being depleted why don't you just kill yourself and your family and save some "supplies" for other humans? I guess you're just too selfish to save economical supplies for some stranger.

If I have only one child, and that child has only one child, the net effect on the population size is the same as me killing myself now, yet won't deprive me of life and the chance to enjoy the biological process of procreating. If people simply choose to have 1 or 2 kids, then the population will shrink over time without using lethal methods. The number of children people choose to have affects ALL of us.

Freebase Dali · 07-08-2010, 05:18 AM

Thanks for the info, Vegangelica.
I do live on planet earth, which is kinda why I've already accepted that nobody gives a shit and humanity is going to end regardless, even if it isn't our fault.
If you want to make a difference, go out and do something about it. Letting your heart bleed all over MB isn't going to change anything.
Are you in any activist groups? Actively campaigning? Lobbying?
Or just sitting around idly having an opinion?

Personally, I don't give a shit what happens to us. And whatever does happen to us is going to be deserved anyway. The only life I'm worried about is my own. But you'll be happy to know, I don't have any kids... I guess that will buy you a cup of sugar or something, over the course of your lifetime. Enjoy it!

07-07-2010, 09:39 PM	#167 (permalink)
DoctorSoft Rocket Appliances Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 1,335	You guys are lucky. My cat sucks. At night he comes into my room and tries to hump my blankets. Then when I kick him out he goes and pees on my backpack. What an *******.

07-08-2010, 05:18 AM	#170 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	Thanks for the info, Vegangelica. I do live on planet earth, which is kinda why I've already accepted that nobody gives a shit and humanity is going to end regardless, even if it isn't our fault. If you want to make a difference, go out and do something about it. Letting your heart bleed all over MB isn't going to change anything. Are you in any activist groups? Actively campaigning? Lobbying? Or just sitting around idly having an opinion? Personally, I don't give a shit what happens to us. And whatever does happen to us is going to be deserved anyway. The only life I'm worried about is my own. But you'll be happy to know, I don't have any kids... I guess that will buy you a cup of sugar or something, over the course of your lifetime. Enjoy it!