Bay 12 Games Forum

Quote from: Kagus on May 25, 2018, 05:09:29 pm

It was my understanding that a lot of commercial farmers really just don't own their own crops. Strict contract laws stating how you can or can't plant them, when and how to harvest, what to do with seeds etc., as well as end clauses that effectively entrap them into renewing the same seed contracts.

Quote from: redwallzyl on May 25, 2018, 05:23:27 pm

Unsurprisingly the farmers get the short end of that stick as they have no power over there own livelihood and no stability, as a side not the suicide rate for farmers is shockingly high. Add that to the awful nature of US agriculture focused on factory farms and that advantages large companies and farmers get shafted even more.

Whoa there, WTF are you talking about? I live in a major farming region (and work for several farmers), and I do not recognize anything either of you are talking about.

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/16/611727777/suicide-is-rising-among-american-farmers-as-they-struggle-to-keep-afloat

Aren't companies like Monsanto doing that with non-GMO seeds already? I remember watching a documentary about that, but I may have goofed and mixed it together with the GMO practices.

It was my understanding that a lot of commercial farmers really just don't own their own crops. Strict contract laws stating how you can or can't plant them, when and how to harvest, what to do with seeds etc., as well as end clauses that effectively entrap them into renewing the same seed contracts.

Basically large companies like Monsanto are shitty (surprising absolutely no one) and will create the situation which creates the most profit for them. In this case that is a monopoly on agricultural supplies. Unsurprisingly the farmers get the short end of that stick as they have no power over there own livelihood and no stability, as a side not the suicide rate for farmers is shockingly high. Add that to the awful nature of US agriculture focused on factory farms and that advantages large companies and farmers get shafted even more.

Also from talking to on of my friends who knows something about some of the issues with US agriculture GMO crops have been horribly abused to over cultivate in unstable ways for short term profit. Stuff like the over use of weedkillers and weedkiller resistant crops that is handled properly would last forever but are overused for short term profit leading to the creation of resistant weeds. Also an over reliance on artificial fertilizers creating the dual problems of runoff and depleted soils due to farming practices. Also we are apparently going to run out of some of the nessisary ingredients for artificial fertilizers due to over use so fun times ahead. Long story short US farming is totally captured by big agribusiness and is unsustainable. This leads to heavy misuse of GMOs and other bad farming practices that are going to come back and bite us later. The farmers caught in the middle are just sort of fucked. Have I mentioned by searing hatred for large and overly powerful companies?

Oh, and I haven't even mentioned how massive corn subsidies lead to super bugs and many other issues.

GMOs. Good or bad? Personally I think ALL food is GMO because of selective breeding and such so it doesn't matter to me.

GMOs are neither good nor bad any more then any tool is good or bad. The issue is the misuse of them by some groups that have detrimental effects on the society.

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/05/23/613335232/divorce-is-prohibited-in-the-philippines-but-moves-are-underway-to-legalize-it

They are seriously the only country? Vatican doesn't really count. They are not supposed to be married in the first place.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/23/613662601/rohingya-militants-massacred-hindus-amnesty-says-they-were-all-slaughtered

War makes monsters out of men. God damn it humanity. Stop being shitty to each other.

And our energy sources need only get us to the year we're finally able to put bigass solar panels up in space and beam it down to earth in super-tight laserbeams, or some equally sci-fi bit of imagery. Some of which are surprisingly close to being viable, if not in use.

Giant, Space, Lasers.

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Nevertheless, holothurians species of the genus Actinopyga have anal teeth that prevent visitors from penetrating their anus.

Sea cucumber?

A thing to take into account when discussing population and such is that stuff like increased access to things like proper access to birth control can operate to not decreases births but instead be used to help space them out and thereby increase the health of the mother by avoiding pregnancy when they are not physically ready. This is an unintended but I would say good use. As such it can not be assumed that things like increased birth control will decrease births when other factors are at play but can increase health.