The United Nations conducted a worldwide survey with one single question:"Would you please give your opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?" The survey was a huge failure.* In Latin America, they didn't know what "please" meant ...* In China, they didn't know what "opinion" meant ...* In the Middle East, they didn't know what "solution" meant ...* In Europe, they didn't know what "shortage" meant ...* In Africa, they didn't know what "food" meant ...* In the United States, they didn't know what "the rest of the world" meant ...
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Food for thought.
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Wha, wha, wha, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
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There's a food shortage?!
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I wouldn't say shortage exactly but a higher demand and much higher prices. Are you serious that you haven't heard about this?
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there isn't a shortage. Go to dennys and watch the fat people sending back half a platter of food becuase they serve so much.there is no shortage, the problem is in distribution
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Lol, I was just joking guys. Sorry for that, but I can't help but amuse myself.
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Wait was that supposed to be a joke? Because I think I get it lol.That sucks... boo China. I have a grudge against them so don't mind me.
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There is no food shortage in the sense that the total amount produced in the world is enough to feed everyone adequately; but there is a shortage in the sense that supply could not meet demand as it was, and therefore prices have risen. This will scarcely be felt in the US, where the cost of basic foodstuffs is a very small fraction of the average person's expenditure; but in the Third World, where up to 80% of a family's income may be required for food, it has a far bigger impact. There have already been riots over the cost of food - this is no media beat-up. The gloom is already there.
The cause is a combination of the first effects of climate change, and farmers growing cash crops instead of food crops. It's already clear that biofuels are just not going to work on a large scale with the present population of the world.
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no, actually I meant I dislike China in the way that they don't allow baby girls to be born without their being a son first and that they generally seem to have a problem with people of color.
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In many stores, they've already limited the amount of rice you can buy.
Not only is there a shortage of rice in the world, but also wheat.
Like Pete said, this is because people are growing more cash crops rather than food crops, which they will hopefully change soon.
And it's pretty naive to say that once we get a new president, this issue will be fixed. This is not a US-only issue, it's a world shortage, and I doubt the new president of the United States is going to magically fix that issue.
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Originally Posted By: A.W.Does China even know what opinion is? I don't think so since they are against human rights. And that's because they don't give a you know what about people's opinion. I personally boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics. There's no reason to boycott the Olympics. The Olympics have nothing to do with politics, and there hasn't been a successful political boycott of the Olympics, ever. Keep politics out of the Olympics. It's about the games, not the politics. It's about getting people from different nations together. Originally Posted By: A.W.Yes, food prices have risen here in the U.S. in the last few months. No doubt about that! But I'm very confident as we get a new President, and Bush finally leaves, that things will get better on that noteThat is mainly due to gas prices, and a change of President is unlikely to have a large effect on it. Originally Posted By: A.W.Hi Abi...yea China is weird and they got issues, very bad issues. I remember in junior high school, a classmate of mine who happened to be Chinese didn't want to be friends with me, because he said that they do not like people of mixed races. That bothered me as a person of mixed race.For one, this is very anecdotal. I have many Chinese friends who are not like that in any way. China is not weird, either. Every country has issues, and the "very bad issues" that you refer to aren't devastating. Originally Posted By: A.W.Also, I remembered seeing the tragedy of Tianamen Square and how the Chinese army crushed those innocent young people for wanting to have only freedom. Now they've done the same thing to Tibet. So that's why I don't care about the coming 2008 Summer Olympics this time around.The Tiananmen Square protest is completely different in comparison to the current situation in Tibet. In reality, Tibet has been a part of China for a long enough time that it is quite integrated into China with many Chinese people from the mainland living there. From what I've read, Tibet does not want complete independence. They want to be similar to Hong Kong in the way that it is run. It is also strategically advantageous for China to have Tibet, and no amount of boycotting is going to make them give it up. In my eyes, you'd have a better case denouncing China because of the Taiwanese situation. I don't see anyone protesting against Israel because of it's possession of territories that shouldn't be theirs. In truth, they shouldn't have been given Israel in the first place for many reasons.
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Originally Posted By: A.W.There was a successful boycott of the 1980 Olympics when the U.S. refused to go to Russia. I wasn't trying to play politics against the Olympics. Yeah, but why have the Olympics in certain countries where they don't observe human rights? That's what you need to think about.There was a boycott. It did nothing to improve the political situation. It was not successful. You said you are boycotting the Olympics because of Tibet. That is a political reason, thereby meaning you dragged politics into the Olympics. It has no place in the Olympics. China does observe human rights but not to the extent that you are used to. You don't see China constantly oppressing the Tibetans year-round. 1989 China is a lot different from current China. Originally Posted By: A.W.What I meant when I said China is "weird", to clarify to you, I was replying from what Abi said on how they don't allow a baby to be born if only it's a boy first. Also, on how they discriminate against people of mixed races. I did not say that China is a weird country.First off, that is not true. There are plenty of families who have a girl first. You don't seem to understand the situation. Because of the way Chinese culture is/was, men were expected to take care of their family once they became adults. Woman were not. When the one-child laws were more strict, parents would want a boy because their future would be in far better hands than if they had a girl simply because of social standards. This has changed since then. That is not and never was a law. And please stop saying they discriminate against people of mixed races. Asians have experienced most of the recent Western racial discrimination, so why would they discriminate against others? You're bringing up completely anecdotal evidence to use as a basis for defining all Chinese, which is what causes stereotypes. The Chinese do not racially discriminate in the way that you described. If they did, I doubt that there would be so many Chinese fans of U.S. basketball stars who are black, Russian, etc. Originally Posted By: A.W.The Chinese army was cruel to the protesters who was fighting to get democracy for their country. The protesters wanted to break away from Communism, and did not do any harm. The people in Tibet are people of peace and have not done anything offensive.As I said previously, 1989 China is way different than current China. The amount of free speech has drastically increased since then. And the people in Tibet have participated in violent riots, something that a people of peace would not do. Originally Posted By: A.W.So Cider, if I have offended you in anyway, it's my opinion and I call on how I see things. I don't back down on how I feel nor on how I see what's happening in the world. Another thing, what do you have against Israel. Don't hate on Israel. When people hate on Israel, that offends me. I'm not hating on Israel. It's pure and simple fact that giving Israel to the Jewish was as a consolation for the concentration camps. It had no regard for the people already living in that region (Palestinians). Israel happens to also have attacked its neighboring countries. People tend to be too biased towards Israel, when atrocities happen on both sides.
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Quote:And please stop saying they discriminate against people of mixed races. Asians have experienced most of the recent Western racial discrimination, so why would they discriminate against others?oh buddy buddy buddy. You need to come down to New Ro, MV, the Bronx, Queens, and Harlem. and that answers your question. The most? I doubt. I'm sure they do but not the most. And I'm not speaking of Asians in general. I have no problem with Koreans or the Japanese or the Middle Eastern Asians. None at all. But for some reason the Chinese people that I've encountered in my area just don't like ethnic people at all. I've only met one lady who was nice to me and that's because she actually acknowledges my greetings and thanks when I see her when others do not. I've been called this that and the other for absolutely no reason at all whatsoever by the teens in my school. And the elders treat my friends and I so badly it's unreal. They seriously treat us like dirt and judge us before they even know us. I don't know, maybe something happened long ago before my time in that area that they feel the need to take their rudeness and anger out on us. Still doesn't make it right. I think it may just be the people in our area that have problems with us.Or maybe I'm just so used to the kindness and cordiality of the Japanese that I find anything else besides that cold. edit:Oh and I know for a fact that Asians are discriminated against because I see it all the time. But just because a group has been through that doesn't mean they don't have a reason to feel the same way.
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I'm not twisting anything you say. I take everything you say in context and show in what ways what you say isn't completely true. I'm not ignorant; I've been to China myself. Believing that they don't allow the first child to be born if it's not male is complete ignorance. If you're going to assert something as a fact, you better have done some research first.You're the one twisting my words. I never said that you don't know anything; you're the one saying that I don't know anything. I said that you were basing your argument off of anecdotal evidence, which is a flimsy stance at best. I also never said anything was wrong with liking Israel. I said that people treat the conflict with way too much bias in favor of Israel and don't look at both sides.Oh and "You need to get a life dude". Ya, that's very mature. Because you can't back up your assertions, you resort to insulting the person you are having a debate with.
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Yes, the most. The Middle East is considered part of Asia, which suffers the most currently. However, in the past 50-100 years, nearly all of the discrimination of western countries, in general, was against Asians. The strength of the Japanese was a major surprise, as was the effectiveness of the Chinese military in the Korean war. They never thought that they would be this powerful because of a feeling of racial superiority.
You are using anecdotal evidence for your argument as well. I could say come to city1, city2, city3, and city 4. And that answers your question. Since there are many cities that would demonstrate opposite situations that you are describing. It may be true that in your area, the Chinese people you have met act that way, but it still gives no base to define all Chinese that way. You are probably correct in guessing that it might be situations in the area that you live in that caused these personalities.
I've been to China, and every single person treated us with kindness and cordiality. I could use anecdotal evidence against the kindness and cordiality of the Japanese, but I won't.
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I don't seee Cider twisting any words. I see you're the one twisting the words, because Cider never said you don't know anything (and the other examples Cider mentioned).
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Asia extends right up to Egypt. So most of it, if not all depending on whether you consider Egypt part of the Middle East, is in Asia.
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It's alright. I apologize for it seeming like I was calling you ignorant. One of the hardest, if not the hardest, things about debating is keeping outside emotions outside of the debate.
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Even though the wikipedia isn't the best source available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:LocationAsia.png . Although with a google search, there seems to be different interpretations. It makes more sense to me to have the Middle East as part of Asia because it is more connected to Asia than Africa (land-wise).
