en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/732377 Comments by twr http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/gender_beyond_the_binary_implications_for_marriage/#IDComment836985651 David, I don't see that he's assuming any moral ground at all. What he says may well provoke us to moralise - according to our own moral views - but that's different, surely? Fri, 30 May 2014 14:03:21 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/gender_beyond_the_binary_implications_for_marriage/#IDComment836985651 http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/explainer_do_97_of_scientists_fear_global_warming/#IDComment835715709 "..All these have never yet been seen - But Scientists, who ought to know, Assure us that they must be so... Oh! Let us never, never doubt What nobody is sure about!" 'The Microbe', Hilaire Belloc, 1897 Tue, 27 May 2014 14:33:06 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/explainer_do_97_of_scientists_fear_global_warming/#IDComment835715709 http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/is_it_ok_to_be_a_bigot/#IDComment828652832 Happy to agree with you about this.... Sat, 10 May 2014 20:28:42 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/is_it_ok_to_be_a_bigot/#IDComment828652832 http://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/10959#IDComment828650520 So a 'pre-birth' order deprives the woman of her 'rights over her own body'? Sat, 10 May 2014 20:21:42 +0000 http://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/10959#IDComment828650520 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment825135392 "sustainable" - is just a buzzword. Sounds good - you can't be against sustainability. But what is 'sustainable' and what isn't, is easy to say, but difficult to verify. Fri, 2 May 2014 10:47:39 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment825135392 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment817977168 Thanks for the correction - as you say, 800,000 is a gross underestimate. I meant to say 800 million (the figure given on the site you quote). However, that's still less than a billion. Nevertheless, things are improving - even if not fast enough. The Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of hungry people by 2015 may well be achieved (see FAO website, report for 2013). The fad for biofuels doesn't help, by using land that could be used for growing food. Tue, 15 Apr 2014 17:13:03 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment817977168 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment816784514 Actually, it's not billions but about 800,000. Still 800,000 too many. What is most likely to help them is economic growth - as in China. Decarbonising the economy is a luxury that only rich countries can afford. Sat, 12 Apr 2014 15:22:02 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment816784514 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment816510898 Is this a helpful diagnosis or just name-calling? You're entitled to call for evidence - proof of this kind of assertion is often hard to come by. Fri, 11 Apr 2014 20:31:44 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment816510898 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment816509122 I fully agree with your last paragraph. The rest of it is only half true. The earth's resources are finite, but then we only need them for a finite length of time, to provide finite needs for a finite number of people. How all these finite quantities balance out is not necessarily easy to predict in advance. I wouldn't bet against our being able to sustain 20 billion people (100 years ago it would have been brave to predict that we could sustain 7 million) but I very much doubt we will have to try. Global warming is a reality (as global cooling has been in the past) but not necessarily a catastrophic one (at least until the sun becomes a red giant in around 5 billion years). 'Someday' (probably) is a long way off. Probably we shall populate planets and moons before then. Fri, 11 Apr 2014 20:25:00 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment816509122 http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/a_deal_with_the_devil/#IDComment816504674 Because he ought to have known about this?. Fri, 11 Apr 2014 20:07:50 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/a_deal_with_the_devil/#IDComment816504674 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment815366303 People living longer is a problem? There are technical solutions to that - but most of us will regard it as an opportunity. By what statistics do you show that poverty is increasing in most countries? - or that crime is increasing, for that matter? Tue, 8 Apr 2014 18:58:28 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment815366303 http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/is_it_ok_to_be_a_bigot/#IDComment815360099 With difficulty. That's not to say it can't be done. Generally I'm with you, David, that free speech is very important, but even in USA there are libel laws. Tue, 8 Apr 2014 18:33:50 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/is_it_ok_to_be_a_bigot/#IDComment815360099 http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/is_it_ok_to_be_a_bigot/#IDComment815359141 Is it OK to call someone a bigot? Tue, 8 Apr 2014 18:30:04 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/is_it_ok_to_be_a_bigot/#IDComment815359141 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment814890882 All this I steadfastly believe (and for the avoidance of doubt, this comment is not ironical). Mon, 7 Apr 2014 10:29:42 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13856/#IDComment814890882 http://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/10900/#IDComment808783814 Obviously what Dinkel did is abhorrent (whether legal or not). Everyone will agree with that. Not everyone will agree that Final Exit's actions are abhorrent. But if laws are changed, the boundaries of what is acceptable change with them. Once it becomes legal to have yourself killed, it will become (not merely legal, as it appears it already is in USA) but socially acceptable for others to persuade you to kill yourself. That is incredibly dangerous. Sat, 22 Mar 2014 14:48:38 +0000 http://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/10900/#IDComment808783814 http://www.mercatornet.com/bookreviews/view/13687/#IDComment807088646 ..."between we.."? (I know, I know, pointless pedantry!) Tue, 18 Mar 2014 14:28:55 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/bookreviews/view/13687/#IDComment807088646 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13750/#IDComment807085751 Good news - always welcome! Tue, 18 Mar 2014 14:19:10 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/13750/#IDComment807085751 http://www.mercatornet.com/careful/view/13676/#IDComment802452918 No. Your life is not anyone's property (including yours). You don't have the right to kill yourself, because of the damage that right would do to others. Still less do you have the right to demand someone else kills you. Fri, 7 Mar 2014 19:00:28 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/careful/view/13676/#IDComment802452918 http://www.mercatornet.com/bookreviews/view/13687/#IDComment802445991 I agree with David that Kindles are a great invention. They fit in a pocket. You can take them on the train. You have access to an enormous range of stuff, including lots that is free - a great advantage if you're as mean as I am. The whole of Shakespeare! Jane Austen! I've been rereading Kipling and John Buchan (some of it wears well, some not so). Chesterton! And you can download personal documents, papers you need to read, the Daily Office, no end to it. The current Kindle has an 'Experimental Browser' but it doesn't work very reliably, so the temptation to use it is reduced. Maybe there is something to be said for withholding Kindles from children until they're really hooked on paper books, but I'm not necessarily convinced.... Fri, 7 Mar 2014 18:39:54 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/bookreviews/view/13687/#IDComment802445991 http://www.mercatornet.com/bookreviews/view/13687/#IDComment802440378 Those copies were 'stolen property' - the purchase price was refunded. Another advantage of electronic distribution! Fri, 7 Mar 2014 18:23:17 +0000 http://www.mercatornet.com/bookreviews/view/13687/#IDComment802440378