[Ferretlover]

Half of humanity to be in cities soon, U.N. says 'State of the World Population' report urges seeing migrants as assets Associated Press
LONDON - Some 3.3 billion people — more than half of humanity — will be living in cities by next year, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday. By 2030, cities will be home to close to 5 billion. Without proper planning, cities across the globe face the threat of overwhelming poverty, limited opportunities for youth, and religious extremism, U.N. Population Fund Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid told The Associated Press in London, where the report was released. "In 2008, half of the world's population will be in urban areas, and we are not ready for them," said Obaid, a U.N. undersecretary-general. Her agency's "State of the World Population 2007" report outlines the rate and scale of urban growth and calls for the policy initiatives to manage it. The agency found current policy initiatives often aim to keep the poor out of cities by limiting migration and cutting lower-income housing. "Cities see poor people as a burden," Obaid said. "They should be seen as an asset." ...
Full Report

[Munqi]

link
1.) Are we able to do this even if we stop producing biofuels?

2.) How much more can we produce?

3.) Is this the end of biofuels or will we choose driving over feeding the poor?

[Cashmere]

1.no
2.without oil, not more, less
3.biofuels is dead, you're watching the funeral

[Munqi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cashmere', '1').no
2.without oil, not more, less
3.biofuels is dead, you're watching the funeral

[Homesteader]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Munqi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cashmere', '1').no
2.without oil, not more, less
3.biofuels is dead, you're watching the funeral

[MC2]

HAHA,

How about 50 per cent less people!

[Ludi]

50% more birth control.

http://www.populationconnection.org/

[Twilight]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Munqi', '2'). If we forget peak oil for a second, would we then be able to meet that demand?

[Munqi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Homesteader', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Munqi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cashmere', '1').no
2.without oil, not more, less
3.biofuels is dead, you're watching the funeral

[Ludi]

You can't win the Food Race.

[Homesteader]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Munqi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Homesteader', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Munqi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cashmere', '1').no
2.without oil, not more, less
3.biofuels is dead, you're watching the funeral

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '5')0% more birth control.

http://www.populationconnection.org/

[yeahbut]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cashmere', '3').biofuels is dead, you're watching the funeral

[NorseNomad]

Yes, because population will continue to grow and grow and grow, etc. without limits. Saying anything else is politically incorrect!

But seriously, if we can't increase food production, the growth won't be there and we won't need 50% more food in 2030. UN are basing their numbers on a steadily increasing growth rate as if food would forever be abundant. They know that the population can't grow infinitely, but they can't go public with a realistic forecast in fear of mass panic and riots.

Currently, many countries have a horribly inefficient agriculture due to corruption and bad leadership, and could produce lots more food. The oil situation in the coming decades is however making a production increase doubtful.

As for biofuel, the current technology is meaningless, but it will hopefully be used as a stepping stone onto better technologies that let you efficiently extract ethanol from plant residues, not just the edible parts. Our current, wasteful, biofuel technology would be needed to develop the more efficient methods. This is coming from some of the researchers in the field, but I won't start holding my breath just yet.

[Troyboy1208]

Oh man where is OF2 with his soothing articles.

[copious.abundance]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Troyboy1208', 'O')h man where is OF2 with his soothing articles.

[Cid_Yama]

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki raised the possibility that his country won't sign a status of forces of agreement with the United States and will ask U.S. troops to go home when their U.N. mandate to be in Iraq expires at the end of the year.

Maliki made the comment after weeks of complaints from Shiite Muslim lawmakers that U.S. proposals to govern a continued troop presence would infringe on Iraq's sovereignty.

"Iraq has another option that it may use," Maliki said during a visit to Amman, Jordan. "The Iraqi government, if it wants, has the right to demand that the U.N. terminate the presence of international forces on Iraqi sovereign soil."

link


The Bush administration's Iraq policy suffered two major setbacks Friday when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki publicly rejected key U.S. terms for an ongoing military presence and anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for a new militia offensive against U.S. forces.

During a visit to Jordan, Maliki said negotiations over initial U.S. proposals for bilateral political and military agreements had "reached a dead end." While he said talks would continue, his comments fueled doubts that the pacts could be reached this year, before the Dec. 31 expiration of a United Nations mandate sanctioning the U.S. role in Iraq.

Iraq has rejected allowing unilateral U.S. authority to conduct military operations and control nearly 60 bases, and to arrest and detain Iraqi citizens. Other provisions would have given the United States control over Iraqi airspace and borders and granted immunity to U.S. troops and civilian security contractors from Iraqi laws and prosecution.

The moves by two of Iraq's most powerful Shiite leaders underscore how the presence of U.S. troops has become a central issue for Iraqi politicians as they position themselves for provincial elections later this year. Iraqis across the political spectrum have grown intolerant of the U.S. presence, but the dominant Shiite parties -- including Maliki's Dawa party -- are especially fearful of an electoral challenge from new, grass-roots groups.

"All the politicians are trying to prove that they care more about Iraqis than they do about Americans -- otherwise they know the people and the voters will not support them," said Ala Maaki, a senior lawmaker with Iraqi's largest Sunni political party. "I think we could see al-Maliki and Moqtada Sadr trying to one-up the other today and see who can take the strongest stand against the Americans."

A text of Zebari's prepared remarks to the Security Council, provided by the Iraqi U.N. mission, included a call to "end [the U.S. presence] in our country" and a "call upon the international community to free Iraq" from U.S. control. Lines were drawn through those phrases, and they were left out of Zebari's statement as delivered. The expiration of the U.N. mandate, in force since May 2003, poses problems for Iraq beyond the security situation. U.N. resolutions -- and an executive order by President Bush -- protect Iraqi government funds from international legal claims dating from the Saddam Hussein era.

U.S. officials have denied reports that the administration has threatened to use the Iraqi money to pressure the Iraqi government. "At no time have we suggested that our interest in preserving Iraqi funds from attachment or other action within the U.S. . . . would be a lever or issue" in the negotiations, a senior U.S. official said.

link

[biofuel13]

Finally Iraqi's are showing some balls

[cipi604]

No can do!

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('biofuel13', 'F')inally Iraqi's are showing some balls