Seafood Crisis

We Are Running Out of Fish

Every year more than 170 billion pounds (77.9 million metric tons) of wild fish and shellfish are caught in the oceans—roughly three times the weight of every man, woman, and child in the United States. Fisheries managers call this overwhelming quantity of mass-hunted wildlife the world catch, and many maintain that this harvest has been relatively stable over the past decade. But an ongoing study conducted by Daniel Pauly, a fisheries scientist at the University of British Columbia, in conjunction with Enric Sala, a National Geographic fellow, suggests that the world catch is neither stable nor fairly divided among the nations of the world. 

"Humanity's demand for seafood has now driven fishing fleets into every virgin fishing ground in the world. There are no new grounds left to exploit. But even this isn't enough. An unprecedented buildup of fishing capacity threatens to outstrip seafood supplies in all fishing grounds, old and new. A report by the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations recently concluded that the ocean doesn't have nearly enough fish left to support the current onslaught. Indeed, the report suggests that even if we had half as many boats, hooks, and nets as we do now, we would still end up catching too many fish."

Read the National Geographic article HERE

Here We Go Again - Meet the "end of the world virus"

 The Flu is big business for Big Pharma...

by Jeff Morrison

This week, the WHO announced that the H1N1 flu pandemic was officially over. Whew! Did you know? Do you care? I'm sure like most people, you had forgotten all about H1N1 long ago. 

Oh, we all remember the frenzied panic of last fall when the World Health Organization warned us that a global pandemic was just around the corner and governments everywhere scrambled to buy a vaccine that was hastily prepared by big pharmaceutical companies. Mandatory vaccination of tens of thousands of health care workers, school children and the elderly was ordered and enforced, to save us all from a catastrophe (so we were told) worse than the black plague itself. Was it necessary? Debatable. Was it even safe? Good question. Was it good for business? BINGO! 

"The vaccine market is booming," says Bruce Carlson, spokesperson at market research firm Kalorama,  "It's an enormous growth area for pharmaceuticals at a time when other areas are not doing so well," Indeed.. "these inoculations are part of a much wider and rapidly growing $20 billion global vaccine market".

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for example, stood to earn profits of 3 billion dollars selling their vaccine to 9 governments in the first 6 months of the "outbreak".

Did the vaccination save lives? Yes, it probably did.. but were the scare tactics and hysteria created by government agencies really necessary?

Consider this: There were 2,837 deaths attributed officially to H1N1 in the U.S. (14,337 worldwide) in 2009. By comparison, there were 32,000 deaths from prescription drugs, 7,600 from Aspirin and other anti-inflammatory drugs, and (not surprisingly) 365,000 deaths due to poor diet and inactivity in the U.S. during the same period.

Perhaps governments and health organizations should spend more time, effort, and tax dollars scaring you about the true dangers of obesity, rather then hyping a relatively ordinary flu virus as "the next black plague".

Don't count on it... The fast food industry is even larger than the pharmaceutical sector!

In the meantime, don't be surprised if you begin to hear about another pending, and undoubtedly  more potentially horrific "superbug" looming on the horizon.. One that will bring on the "end of the world", unless we all dutifully line up for our imposed vaccinations (supplied by GSK and their friends).

Have no fear however, because your government and Big Pharma are most certainly looking out for you...

Meet MDM-1

The Gulf's Other Time Bombs

Report: 27,000 Abandoned Wells Pose Threat to Gulf Coast

The Deepwater Horizon rig was just one environmental time bomb in the Gulf. There are 33,000 miles of pipeline, 50,000 wells. and thousands of abandoned rigs...

  

"Concerns are being raised about the hazards posed by thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells throughout the Gulf Coast. An Associated Press investigation found more than 27,000 abandoned sites are in danger of leaking, with about 13 percent said to be particularly worrisome. Regulations forcing companies to plug the wells have been routinely ignored with no government intervention."source: Democracy Now

WATCH HERE

 Hurricanes don't like oil rigs...

"The heavy concentration of oil infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the nation’s largest sources of oil and gas production, was dealt a one-two punch by category-5 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, causing destruction and substantial damage to offshore platforms within a four-week period in August and September of 2005. BOEMRE estimates that 3,050 of the Gulf’s 4,000 platforms and 22,000 of the 33,000 miles of Gulf pipelines were in the direct path of either Hurricane Katrina or Rita resulting in the destruction of 115 platforms, damaged to 52 others, damage of 535 pipeline segments, and near total shut-down of the Gulf's offshore oil and gas production. Fortunately for all, due to the prompt evacuation and shut-in preparations made by operating and service personnel, there was no loss of life and no major oil spills attributed to either storm." source: BOEMRE

 

The Point of No Return

“I will take no options off the table in dealing with this potential Iranian threat. And understand part of my reasoning here. A nuclear Iran would be a game-changing situation, not just in the Middle East, but around the world. Whatever remains of our nuclear nonproliferation framework, I think, would begin to disintegrate. You would have countries in the Middle East who would see the potential need to also obtain nuclear weapons.” Barack Obama 2008

For the Obama administration, the prospect of a nuclearized Iran is dismal to contemplate— it would create major new national-security challenges and crush the president’s dream of ending nuclear proliferation. But the view from Jerusalem is still more dire: a nuclearized Iran represents, among other things, a threat to Israel’s very existence. In the gap between Washington’s and Jerusalem’s views of Iran lies the question: who, if anyone, will stop Iran before it goes nuclear, and how? As Washington and Jerusalem study each other intensely, here’s an inside look at the strategic calculations on both sides—and at how, if things remain on the current course, an Israeli air strike will unfold. Article by Jeffrey Goldberg

READ HERE

A.J. Jacobs' year of living biblically

Speaking at an EG conference in 2007, author, philosopher, prankster and journalist A.J. Jacobs talks about the year he spent living biblically -- following the rules in the Bible as literally as possible.

WATCH HERE

Russia ablaze

Worst summer in Russia for 1,000 years. READ HERE

Russia, the country's top weatherman gloomily announced yesterday, is in the grip of its fiercest heatwave in a thousand years. Looking around, you can see what he means. The Kremlin is blanketed in thick smog from fires ringing the Russian capital; the sun, when visible, is a tiny orange orb; and a vast swath of central Russia, the world's largest country, is ablaze.

Welcome to my blog

Hi..

I thought I'd join the ranks of bloggers so i can post my rants, my insights, and other interesting stuff that I want to share. I'm hoping to elicit conversation and encourage discussion on various topics... I won't shy away from those taboo subjects of politics and religion, but I enjoy all sorts of relevant topics and ideas...

Jeff Morrison in his artist's studio