The Top 1%

[Spiderman]

So, you can live indefinitely without drinking water? You must be a god.

We're running out of drinking water?

I doubt it.

That's because you don't know anything about it. I do. Drinking water in many parts of Africa, Asia, and most of Australia and many other regions is a VERY scarce resource. Irrigation water in the American prairies is drying up due to over-pumping of the finite groundwater resources. That puts all of us at jeopardy because our agriculture utterly depends on it. The situation is even worse I the central valley of California where much of our produce is grown. 50% of the American population depends for drinking water on ground water supplies that are being withdrawn far faster than they are being replenished. The Aral Sea, once the fourth largest body of fresh water, is nearly empty.

1989 - 2008

This is a critical global issue that is only going to get much worse.

In case you haven't noticed 3/4 of the planet is covered in water and it is a simple matter to make potable water from sea water.

We will never run out of fresh water.

 

[mudwhistle]

So, you can live indefinitely without drinking water? You must be a god.

We're running out of drinking water?

I doubt it.

That's because you don't know anything about it. I do. Drinking water in many parts of Africa, Asia, and most of Australia and many other regions is a VERY scarce resource. Irrigation water in the American prairies is drying up due to over-pumping of the finite groundwater resources. That puts all of us at jeopardy because our agriculture utterly depends on it. The situation is even worse I the central valley of California where much of our produce is grown. 50% of the American population depends for drinking water on ground water supplies that are being withdrawn far faster than they are being replenished. The Aral Sea, once the fourth largest body of fresh water, is nearly empty.

1989 - 2008

This is a critical global issue that is only going to get much worse.

The Aral Sea, is shrinking because the Soviets diverted the rivers that fed it. Locals have started reversing the damage that was done:

Formerly one of the four largest lakes in the world with an area of 68,000 square kilometres (26,300 sq mi), the Aral Sea has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects. By 2007, it had declined to 10% of its original size, splitting into four lakes – the North Aral Sea, the eastern and western basins of the once far larger South Aral Sea, and one smaller lake between the North and South Aral Seas.[4] By 2009, the southeastern lake had disappeared and the southwestern lake had retreated to a thin strip at the extreme west of the former southern sea.[5] The maximum depth of the North Aral Sea is 42 m (138 ft) (as of 2008).[1] The shrinking of the Aral Sea has been called "one of the planet's worst environmental disasters."[6] The region's once prosperous fishing industry has been essentially destroyed, bringing unemployment and economic hardship. The Aral Sea region is also heavily polluted, with consequent serious public health problems. The retreat of the sea has reportedly also caused local climate change, with summers becoming hotter and drier, and winters colder and longer.[7] In an ongoing effort in Kazakhstan to save and replenish the North Aral Sea, a dam project was completed in 2005; in 2008, the water level in this lake had risen by 24 m (79 ft) from its lowest level in 2007.[8] Salinity has dropped, and fish are again found in sufficient numbers for some fishing to be viable.[9]​

The disappearance of the lake was no surprise to the Soviets; they expected it to happen long before. As early as in 1964, Aleksandr Asarin at the Hydroproject Institute pointed out that the lake was doomed, explaining "It was part of the five-year plans, approved by the council of ministers and the Politburo. Nobody on a lower level would dare to say a word contradicting those plans, even if it was the fate of the Aral Sea."[17]

So communists did it, not man in general......


Just sayin.....

Aral Sea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[expat_panama]

...Over 2 billion people do not have access to fresh, clean potable water...

That's a lot of crap. Literally. The U.N. website says:

783 million people do not have access to clean water and almost 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation.

--so the 'over 2 billion people' refers to those with crap disposal problems and the thirsty ones are the 0.783 billion group.

Think. Right now there are over six billion people on the the earth with all the potable water they need --that number's a record high and it's continuing to soar. Not surprising considering that there's 50 billion gallons of water on the planet for every man, woman, and child alive.

 

[orogenicman]

We're running out of drinking water?

I doubt it.

That's because you don't know anything about it. I do. Drinking water in many parts of Africa, Asia, and most of Australia and many other regions is a VERY scarce resource. Irrigation water in the American prairies is drying up due to over-pumping of the finite groundwater resources. That puts all of us at jeopardy because our agriculture utterly depends on it. The situation is even worse I the central valley of California where much of our produce is grown. 50% of the American population depends for drinking water on ground water supplies that are being withdrawn far faster than they are being replenished. The Aral Sea, once the fourth largest body of fresh water, is nearly empty.

1989 - 2008

This is a critical global issue that is only going to get much worse.

The Aral Sea, is shrinking because the Soviets diverted the rivers that fed it. Locals have started reversing the damage that was done:

Formerly one of the four largest lakes in the world with an area of 68,000 square kilometres (26,300 sq mi), the Aral Sea has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects. By 2007, it had declined to 10% of its original size, splitting into four lakes – the North Aral Sea, the eastern and western basins of the once far larger South Aral Sea, and one smaller lake between the North and South Aral Seas.[4] By 2009, the southeastern lake had disappeared and the southwestern lake had retreated to a thin strip at the extreme west of the former southern sea.[5] The maximum depth of the North Aral Sea is 42 m (138 ft) (as of 2008).[1] The shrinking of the Aral Sea has been called "one of the planet's worst environmental disasters."[6] The region's once prosperous fishing industry has been essentially destroyed, bringing unemployment and economic hardship. The Aral Sea region is also heavily polluted, with consequent serious public health problems. The retreat of the sea has reportedly also caused local climate change, with summers becoming hotter and drier, and winters colder and longer.[7] In an ongoing effort in Kazakhstan to save and replenish the North Aral Sea, a dam project was completed in 2005; in 2008, the water level in this lake had risen by 24 m (79 ft) from its lowest level in 2007.[8] Salinity has dropped, and fish are again found in sufficient numbers for some fishing to be viable.[9]
​

The disappearance of the lake was no surprise to the Soviets; they expected it to happen long before. As early as in 1964, Aleksandr Asarin at the Hydroproject Institute pointed out that the lake was doomed, explaining "It was part of the five-year plans, approved by the council of ministers and the Politburo. Nobody on a lower level would dare to say a word contradicting those plans, even if it was the fate of the Aral Sea."[17]

So communists did it, not man in general......


Just sayin.....

Aral Sea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I point that out because that is an example of how fresh water supplies are being taken advantage of all over the world. Water availability has emerged as an important issue for the 21st century, and will likely be a primary source of conflict for years to come.

 

[orogenicman]

...Over 2 billion people do not have access to fresh, clean potable water...

That's a lot of crap. Literally. The U.N. website says:

783 million people do not have access to clean water and almost 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation.

--so the 'over 2 billion people' refers to those with crap disposal problems and the thirsty ones are the 0.783 billion group.

Think. Right now there are over six billion people on the the earth with all the potable water they need --that number's a record high and it's continuing to soar. Not surprising considering that there's 50 billion gallons of water on the planet for every man, woman, and child alive.

I got my figures backwards. But oh well, it's only 783 million people at risk. No big deal.

Only 2.5% of the world's water is fresh water, and 90% of it is locked up as ice at the poles.

 

[mudwhistle]

That's because you don't know anything about it. I do. Drinking water in many parts of Africa, Asia, and most of Australia and many other regions is a VERY scarce resource. Irrigation water in the American prairies is drying up due to over-pumping of the finite groundwater resources. That puts all of us at jeopardy because our agriculture utterly depends on it. The situation is even worse I the central valley of California where much of our produce is grown. 50% of the American population depends for drinking water on ground water supplies that are being withdrawn far faster than they are being replenished. The Aral Sea, once the fourth largest body of fresh water, is nearly empty.

1989 - 2008

This is a critical global issue that is only going to get much worse.

The Aral Sea, is shrinking because the Soviets diverted the rivers that fed it. Locals have started reversing the damage that was done:

Formerly one of the four largest lakes in the world with an area of 68,000 square kilometres (26,300 sq mi), the Aral Sea has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects. By 2007, it had declined to 10% of its original size, splitting into four lakes – the North Aral Sea, the eastern and western basins of the once far larger South Aral Sea, and one smaller lake between the North and South Aral Seas.[4] By 2009, the southeastern lake had disappeared and the southwestern lake had retreated to a thin strip at the extreme west of the former southern sea.[5] The maximum depth of the North Aral Sea is 42 m (138 ft) (as of 2008).[1] The shrinking of the Aral Sea has been called "one of the planet's worst environmental disasters."[6] The region's once prosperous fishing industry has been essentially destroyed, bringing unemployment and economic hardship. The Aral Sea region is also heavily polluted, with consequent serious public health problems. The retreat of the sea has reportedly also caused local climate change, with summers becoming hotter and drier, and winters colder and longer.[7] In an ongoing effort in Kazakhstan to save and replenish the North Aral Sea, a dam project was completed in 2005; in 2008, the water level in this lake had risen by 24 m (79 ft) from its lowest level in 2007.[8] Salinity has dropped, and fish are again found in sufficient numbers for some fishing to be viable.[9]
​

The disappearance of the lake was no surprise to the Soviets; they expected it to happen long before. As early as in 1964, Aleksandr Asarin at the Hydroproject Institute pointed out that the lake was doomed, explaining "It was part of the five-year plans, approved by the council of ministers and the Politburo. Nobody on a lower level would dare to say a word contradicting those plans, even if it was the fate of the Aral Sea."[17]

So communists did it, not man in general......


Just sayin.....

Aral Sea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I point that out because that is an example of how fresh water supplies are being taken advantage of all over the world. Water availability has emerged as an important issue for the 21st century, and will likely be a primary source of conflict for years to come.

Maybe you could have mentioned that.

This picture is being sold as an example of Global Warming, falsely.

 

[expat_panama]

...there are over six billion people on the the earth with all the potable water they need --that number's a record high and it's continuing to soar. Not surprising considering that there's 50 billion gallons of water on the planet for every man, woman, and child alive.

...Only 2.5% of the world's water is fresh water, and 90% of it is locked up as ice at the poles.

Ah, that means we got 125,000,000 gallons of readily available fresh water for every man woman and child in the world.

That's good!

 

[Zander]

Inequality of outcome will always exist. Get over it.

Want true equality? Kill yourself. You'll be equal to the shit I just flushed down the toilet.

 

[Toro]

Without them, what have you got? Nothing. Without them, civilization collapses.

That is incorrect. Natural resources unto themselves are useless. It is the conversion of natural resources to useful products that makes them valuable. It is the technological application to the resources that creates wealth.

All wealth is created through technological progress. The only thing that limits the growth in aggregate wealth is the limits of the human mind.

So, you can live indefinitely without drinking water? You must be a god. I don't know if you are aware of it, but man drank water (the most precious natural resource there is) for hundreds of thousands of years with no more technology than a cupped hand. By the way, it is not the conversion of a natural resource that makes it valuable. It is the demand for the resource that determines its value.

You missed the point. I said all wealth is created through technological process, not subsistence living.

If you want to live in a world where you drink water with your hands, wear a sack cloth, and chase bears around with spears, you have a point. But if you're talking about being able to talk for free across the ocean, be on the other side of the continent in 5 hours, or put a life-saving stent in your heart, then you are way off base.

 

[Toro]

Also, demand is always and everywhere. That demand exists does not create wealth per se. The demand to live longer and healthier has been with us since the dawn of time. But we didn't have life saving drugs 1,000 years ago simply because we demanded it. The demand is ALWAYS there for such products. But it is only through innovation and technological progress that these drugs exist.

 

[Ernie S.]

I think the poster's referring to the inequality of wealth we have. We have people in this country worth over ten billion or more. They work very hard influencing public opinion and funding congressmen to vote for lower taxes. If you have say 10 billion you couldn't spend that money in a lifetime if you spent a million dollars a day. And you still want your taxes lower. When is enough enough? And this is a zero sum game we're talking about. A cut in food stamps would save a very wealthy person how much in taxes? But it would make the difference in a child having enough to eat versus not enough to eat, forgetting who the child's parent is for a bit. Maybe the parent is a worthless bum, maybe a working mom with doctor bills and the Toyota needs a transmission overhaul or she can't get to work.

Quite frankly. Let's suppose your billionaire Has a $1,000,000,000/year salary. Of course he can afford to pay for food stamps for those less fortunate, but he is already paying enough in taxes to pay for the food stamps of about 3,000 people. He is paying to rebuild a quarter million Toyota transmissions or the salaries of the entire Congress for 3 years.... In return for what? What services worth a quarter billion dollars does he receive?

Does Chevrolet charge you more for a minivan than they do your neighbor who makes 10% less/year?

In return for what? For the roads that keep his business thriving. For all the other infrastructure. For the safety that our military, police and firefighters give him. For the cures for disease that our tax dollars make possible, and much more. For the joy in knowing that he helped 3,000 people who needed it. He isn't paying to rebuild a quarter of a million transmissions. That claim is clearly ludicrous.

Of course he isn't paying to rebuild transmissions, but you think he should pay for services that would allow others to.

Sure he enjoys the benefit of infrastructure. We all do, and in large part, we all benefit equally. Roads benefit everyone as in "provide for the common welfare"
Foodstamps, do not provide for the common welfare. They provide a service for a specific subset that our rich guy is excluded from.

 

[Zander]

Most of the "evil" Billionaires in the USA have agreed to give away half of their wealth or more. I trust individuals more than the government....they are doing a lot of good. It's a golden age of Philanthropy.

The Giving Pledge Goes Global -- Warren Buffett Details America's Latest 'Export' - Forbes

 

[georgephillip]

"How unequal have workplaces in the United States become? Our best answer happens to come from an unlikely source: the Social Security Administration..."

"For typical Americans workers, this workplace has become steadily less rewarding. The latest Social Security figures, released last month, show annual wages for the typical American worker down $980 in 2012 from five years earlier. David Cay Johnson, the nation’s top analyst of Social Security’s wage data, last week placed that total in a paycheck perspective.

"The median American worker — an employee at the nation’s exact pay midpoint — labored 52 weeks last year, notes Johnston, 'but earned about the equivalent of working just 50 weeks at 2007 pay levels.'

"Over in America’s elite corner offices, by contrast, the pay keeps pouring in. The ranks of Americans making over $5 million a year grew 27 percent in 2012, the new Social Security figures show, to nearly 9,000 most fortunate souls. The actual compensation this cohort
collected soared 40 percent over what the $5 million-plus crowd pocketed in 2011."

Counting Dollars the Rich Want Uncounted

Unequal workplaces are the logical consequence of workers leaving their democratic rights at the workplace door; the solution is to find a form of economic democracy that a majority of Americans could endorse.

 

[orogenicman]

Most of the "evil" Billionaires in the USA have agreed to give away half of their wealth or more. I trust individuals more than the government....they are doing a lot of good. It's a golden age of Philanthropy.

The Giving Pledge Goes Global -- Warren Buffett Details America's Latest 'Export' - Forbes

Of course, it never occurred to these billionaires that a better way to solve the problem is to pay people a living wage.

 

[Widdekind]

trying to clarify a concept causing contention --

there EXISTS on earth plenty of potable water for everybody

most a billion people lack ACCESS to that resource (and 3x as many have sanitation issues)

 

[Ernie S.]

Most of the "evil" Billionaires in the USA have agreed to give away half of their wealth or more. I trust individuals more than the government....they are doing a lot of good. It's a golden age of Philanthropy.

The Giving Pledge Goes Global -- Warren Buffett Details America's Latest 'Export' - Forbes

Of course, it never occurred to these billionaires that a better way to solve the problem is to pay people a living wage.

Couldn't people just learn skills or get an education that would make them worthy of a living wage?
Money is nothing more than an approximate way of exchanging wealth. If you pay more money without receiving more goods or services, the result is inflation.

 

[Widdekind]

cp. "that which is not for us, is against us [ergo...]"

...It's about jealousy and envy, which is an inherent internment in the entitlement minded...

There's an old Russian tradition about the farmer who found out that his neighbor had a cow and he didn't, so he prayed for his neighbor's cow to die. Contrast that to the American tradition which is to buy the neighbor's first calf so we'd then have two farmers with cows.

Unfortunately America's been forgetting that envy is morally wrong (Thou shalt not covet...). Too many people are voting for taxes for the sake of vengeance, even though they know full well they reduce revenue, and they're telling Joe the Plumber that if h starts up a business then all the wealth he creates will be confiscated and 'spread around'. After all, 'he didn't build that'...

 

[orogenicman]

trying to clarify a concept causing contention --

there EXISTS on earth plenty of potable water for everybody

most a billion people lack ACCESS to that resource (and 3x as many have sanitation issues)

Right, so we can always move everyone out of the world's desert and marginal regions and take them to Antarctica where the vast bulk is located. But then, they are going to have to figure out how to melt all that ice (unless you want to wait for global warming to do it for you). I take it the Republicans are going to pay for this endeavor.

 

[orogenicman]

Most of the "evil" Billionaires in the USA have agreed to give away half of their wealth or more. I trust individuals more than the government....they are doing a lot of good. It's a golden age of Philanthropy.

The Giving Pledge Goes Global -- Warren Buffett Details America's Latest 'Export' - Forbes

Of course, it never occurred to these billionaires that a better way to solve the problem is to pay people a living wage.

Couldn't people just learn skills or get an education that would make them worthy of a living wage?

Right. And how are all these poor people going to pay for this education or these skills when they are having a hard enough time just putting food on the table, clothing on their children, and a roof over their heads? And even if they could do all that, who is going to hire them? Where are all the high paying skilled jobs they are going to need? Not here in the states, that's for sure.

 

[Uncensored2008]

9 Out Of 10 Americans Are Completely Wrong About This Mind-Blowing Fact

^^^^^^^^^^^

The Above is a malware site.