Too Many People

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Saturday for a second "green revolution" to feed the country's burgeoning population that is forecast to overtake China in numbers by 2025.

Under India's "Green Revolution" in the 1960s and 70s -- seen as one of the world's most successful agricultural turnarounds -- planting of high-yield varieties of wheat and rice resulted in a sharp output rise.

"We all look back proudly to our green revolution which helped us overcome food shortages and banish the spectre of starvation," Singh told a conference of agricultural scientists.

But now, "we clearly need a second green revolution that is broad-based, inclusive and sustainable", he said, noting agriculture productivity has plateaued and "yields continue to be much lower than what is attainable".

Experts say India must increase yields to feed its population which already stands at 1.21 billion people. India is expected to supplant China as the world's most populous nation by 2025, according to Indian official projections.

Singh said the agriculture sector is growing at three percent annually -- one percent below target -- helping drive food inflation that has spiralled faster than in most major economies, causing huge misery for India's poor.

India is poised to introduce a food security bill aiming to guarantee cheap food grains for nearly 70 percent of the population which will impose even greater food production challenges.

Last year, India's premier economic policymaking body raised its estimate of the number of Indians living in poverty and unable to meet their nutritional needs from 28 percent to 37 percent -- representing some 440 million people.

The prime minister called for the spending outlay on agriculture research and development to double or even triple by 2020 as he projected demand for food grains will grow to 280 million tons by 2020-21.

The government on Saturday estimated the country's food grain output touched a record 241 million tonnes in the crop year that ended in June -- 23 million tonnes more than the previous crop year.

India recorded bumper food grain output during 2010-11, helped by abundant monsoon rains, and is hoping for another strong monsoon this year.

oopied from Internet July 2011

Internet Junkies

Pete Gets Angry

 

Pete is my 6 year old grandson. My son John told me this story:   John ran over Pete’s bicycle while backing out of the driveway. When Pete found out later he was upset and confronted John. He wanted John to repair the bicycle. John said he probably could not repair it. This was too much for Pete. He called John  “fat” and “ hoboish? “  (John is heavy and has a job that gets dirty). Pete then said to John “I am very disappointed in you.” John felt the outburst required  some action so he sent Pete to his room. Later John went up to Pete’s room to discuss the matter. Pete, lying on his bed, wordlessly pointed to a paper he had taped to the wall that said “sorry” in childish script. They had a discussion and peace was made.  Pete is a great kid, well mannered and very smart for his age. He reads very well and gets along well with others. I repaired his bike.

Puritanism vs NLRB

H.L. Mencken defined puritanism as the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy. The National Labor Relations Board is haunted by the fear that a company somewhere might be creating jobs with a nonunionized workforce.
Boeing has run afoul of that fear by investing more than $1 billion in a new plant in the right-to-work state of South Carolina. With only the flimsiest legal justification, the board wants to force Boeing to reverse course and locate the facility with its current operations in Washington state, where its workers are unionized.

Oaks vs Maples

A reader sent this into our local paper as a comment on a story about Union organisers. It is a poetic message that in the end is about violent Union activism and Socialism.

"There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas

The trouble with the maples
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream 'Oppression!'
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
'The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light'
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe and saw

-The Trees"

Ann Coulter...load bearing walls

Another great quote from Ann Coulter: "Liberals don't care. Their approach is to rip out society's foundations without asking if they serve any purpose. Why do we have immigration laws? What's with these borders? Why do we have the institution of marriage, anyway? What do we need standardized tests for? Hey, I like Keith Richards -- why not make heroin legal? Let's take a sledgehammer to all these load-bearing walls and just see what happens!"

Vocational vs University

U.S.G. and P.T.A. - NYTimes.com: "As Education Secretary Arne Duncan put it to me in an interview, 50 years ago if you dropped out, you could get a job in the stockyards or steel mill and still “own your own home and support your family.” Today, there are no such good jobs for high school dropouts. “They’re gone,” said Duncan. “That’s what we haven’t adjusted to.” When kids drop out today, “they’re condemned to poverty and social failure.” There are barely any jobs left for someone with only a high school diploma, and that’s only valuable today if it has truly prepared you to go on to higher education without remediation — the only ticket to a decent job."

Bill's thoughts:
I think skilled trades are being overlooked here. Installing and repairing HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems jobs can be well paid if the high school graduate has the right combination of vocational training and apprenticeship. This also holds true for auto dealer repair shops and other skilled trade work. There is a shortage of long-haul truckers and they can make good money if they are willing to put up with that life , get a CDL license, pass a background check and a drug screen. Of course, as technology changes some trades will see more demand and others less just as some University degrees are more valuable than others. Of course, the job seeker has to be willing to relocate to where his skills or degree is in demand. Those reluctant to move may be left out. The young drop-out or even the high school graduate who presents himself to the job market with no special skills will find it tough.

Texting Teens

U.S.G. and P.T.A. - NYTimes.com: "“Allison Miller, 14, sends and receives 27,000 texts in a month, her fingers clicking at a blistering pace as she carries on as many as seven text conversations at a time. She texts between classes, at the moment soccer practice ends, while being driven to and from school and, often, while studying. But this proficiency comes at a cost: She blames multitasking for the three B’s on her recent progress report. “I’ll be reading a book for homework and I’ll get a text message and pause my reading and put down the book, pick up the phone to reply to the text message, and then 20 minutes later realize, ‘Oh, I forgot to do my homework.’ ”"

Real Glamour Back in the Day

Marilyn Monroe was #1 in my book for Hollywood glamour. The crowd in this pic must have been dazzled.
A young Marilyn was a knockout in "The Asphalt Jungle" and a mature knockout in  Niagra".