Strange days.

[zotz]

Well, unfortunately it seems that Jonny Ramone is and always has been a staunch republican, and really wants Dubya to be re-elected. On the upside, Patti's new LP's out shortly, and according to yesterday's review it's a corker. Apparently many eons ago she was described as "Three chords merged with the power of the word", and going by last year's London gig she still is.

And for once, a piece of news which is both critically important and exceptionally positive: the world's population growth is shallowing rapidly. The prophets of doom aren't always right. And that Malthus bloke can fuck right off.

Comments

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

Maltus might fuck off, but I knew before I looked at that document that AIDs would be a major factor.

Thing is, as far as I know such a thing has never been put forward as a possible explanation of past extinctions.

[zotz]

Lack of disease resistance has certainly been advanced as an explanation of why asexually reproducing species don't seem to last very long. I don't know if it's been suggested for any particular extinction, though.

[reddragdiva]

BTW, would Malthus put forward the disease as evidence of the effects of overpopulation?

[zotz]

I think he would say that overpopulation would encourage the diseases he thought would limit, it, yes. Is that what you were asking?

[reddragdiva]

So rather than inviting him to fuck off, you acknowledge that this is in line with what he would have said?

[zotz]

No, he can still fuck off, because he preferred to dwell on disease, famine and warfare rather than think about "sinful" birth control. He was wrong, because when it comes down to it the tendency of people to plan families when they have the choice trumps his unwillingness to think about the unCatholic choices they might make.

He said that population could not be controlled in any civilised manner. The current evidence is that he was absolutely wrong, beyond any possibility of serious debate.

[reddragdiva]

Hm, fair enough.

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

AIDs in particular?

There seem to be all sorts of AIDs-like diseases around in animals - has overpopulation had anything to do with it in those populations?

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

I think it's less a case of over-population, and more a combination of overpopulation and communication. In simple terms, if your tribe grows and takes over a valley, and a fatal communicable disease gets in or develops, your tribe might die out, but the tribe over the mountain won't be affected, so in species terms, that's OK. Because we now have dense populations and good communications, transmissible diseases can reach epidemic levels much more easily.

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

True. A number of viruses have a lot to thank Frank Whittle for. But how does that work for seal populations?