UN says Reduced Population Peak is a ‘Hopeful Sign’ Despite Looming Collapse
(LifeSiteNews) — The United Nations has claimed that predictions of population reduction offer a “hopeful sign” for the planet, without addressing the expected full-blown population collapse from which some demographers say the world will not recover.
According to The Guardian, new U.N. projections estimate that the world’s population will peak earlier and at a lower number than expected — 10.2 billion, which is 6 percent less than that expected a decade ago — giving U.N. officials “hope of reduced pressure on the environment.”
More than half of the world’s countries now have fertility rates at below replacement level, including the U.S., the U.K., and Australia, with “nearly a fifth” of countries at an “ultra-low” fertility rate of under 1.4 births a woman, according to the U.N. The current world fertility rate is 2.27 births per woman, fast approaching below-replacement fertility .
Li Junhua, the U.N. undersecretary general for economic and social affairs, said that the lower, earlier population speak “could mean reduced environmental pressures from human impacts due to lower aggregate consumption,” and yet still called for a reduced environmental impact of the “activities of each individual person.”
The idea that the world’s population must be restrained in order to sustain its existing people is hotly contested, and studies on the earth’s carrying capacity vary widely in their estimates. While 20 studies say it is 8 billion people or less (the current world population is about 8 billion), 14 studies peg the world’s carrying capacity at twice that amount, 16 billion, and 18 other studies notch that number way up, with seven studies estimating the earth can sustain as many as 64 billion people, and one study estimating it at 1,024 billion people.
Moreover, the recent UN report entirely fails to address the coming population collapse that demographers anticipate after 2100, which will have a devastating effect on economies and likely on quality of life. It also fails to address the morality of desiring a world with less people.
Dean Spears, an economist at the Population Research Center of the University of Texas, has noted that “if the world’s fertility rate were the same as in the United States today,” which is about 1.66 births per woman, “then the global population would fall from a peak of around 10 billion to less than two billion about 300 years later, over perhaps 10 generations. And if family sizes remained small, we would continue declining.”
Spears co-authored a paper rare for its estimation of world population projections beyond 2100, showing that in any of 3 scenarios in which the world population remains below replacement rate, the number of the world’s inhabitants would rapidly plummet to a “very small” number. Darrel Bricker and John Ibbitson, authors of the book Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline, have asserted that once global population decline begins, which they say will occur in three decades, “it will never end.”
“Even if below-replacement fertility is sustained only for a few centuries, the size of the global population could become very small,” Spears and his fellow authors maintain. This means that a whole slew of harmful effects to society will follow population decline, likely including a decline in basic services and infrastructure; unemployment; a decline in innovation; insufficient end-of-life care for the elderly; and a decline in mental health.
Even the World Economic Forum (WEF) has admitted that the effects of population collapse will be “severe.”
Jordan Peterson has noted in an interview with podcaster Chris Williamson that “dire predictions” about the state of the world by the year 2000 made by the globalist Club of Rome based on ideas of overpopulation have not only been way off the mark, but are the inverse of what actually happened. Peterson explained that the Club of Rome predicted “riots and mass starvation… and all the things you hear about climate change, because there’s too many people on the planet.”
Peterson continued, “That just didn’t happen at all… it wasn’t just wrong, it was anti-true. It was absolutely wrong. What happened instead was that everyone got way richer and the [poorest] section of the population… got lifted out of poverty.”
Eric Metaxas has noted that such false predictions were built on Thomas Malthus’s “iron law of population,” an idea cited by Charles Darwin, which states that population increases must of necessity outstrip food production.
According to environmental scientist Erle C. Ellis, history shows that populations have always been sustained that were “well in excess of what a strictly Malthusian calculation would have predicted,” due to technology. Ellis maintains that “there is no need to use any more land to sustain humanity” due to existing technologies, and that there “really is no such thing as a human carrying capacity.”
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EU Parliament Refuses to Condemn Trump Assassination Attempt, Majority of Parties Reject Orbán-Backed Patriots for Europe Group’s Resolution Against Political Violence
On Wednesday, the Patriots for Europe Group in the European Parliament initiated a plenary debate and a resolution condemning political violence, including the attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump, the current presidential candidate, but the majority of MEPs voted against it, Kinga Gál, the group’s first vice-president, said in Strasbourg.
At her press conference, Kinga Gál criticized the EU parliament for doing virtually nothing to combat the political violence that has already been rife in Europe. She cited as examples the attack on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and the case of Antifa activist Ilaria Salis, who was arrested in Budapest and “despite almost killing an innocent man, is now sitting in the EU parliament benches, and despite all the procedures, is lecturing us on how to behave.”
NEW: ??? Chilling footage of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico predicting his own assassination just a month before yesterday’s shooting.
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Kinga Gál said that in her speech before the agenda, she also referred to Tuesday’s EU parliament vote on the vice-presidencies, calling it disrespectful to the 18 million or so voters behind the Patriots for Europe group and to the basic rules of democracy and the rule of law that neither of the two candidates — Klara Dostalova and Fabrice Leggeri — from the parliament’s third-largest group received enough votes.
“The fact that practically an extreme communist was voted into the positions belonging to the Patriot MEPs with the help of the European People’s Party is unacceptable,” she said, adding that she did not rule out legal action.
“We must fight for what we deserve for parliamentary rules,” she said.
She said that Patriots for Europe had issued a political declaration on the issue, in which it said it strongly condemned all forms of violence in political life, in the light of recent manifestations of political violence in Europe and the U.S.
“The assassination attempts on U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico must not go unpunished,” the statement said.
“We find unacceptable the conniving silence of the left-wing political forces and the legitimization of violent acts against patriotic politicians. We demand respect for political opponents in the left discourse and expect fair and balanced treatment from the media,” Kinga Gál wrote in a Facebook post.
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Apple Warns of Cyberattack Targeting 1.46 Billion Apple Devices
Apple has sent a warning to all 1.46 billion users of Apple devices worldwide after tech experts spotted a cyberattack targeting Apple IDs.
Experts explained that hackers are using SMS phishing campaigns that send messages claiming to be from Apple. The messages then encourage users to visit a link to an “important request” about iCloud.
Symantec, a California-based security firm, uncovered the attack in July. The firm explained that the links lead to fake websites that tell users to input their Apple ID information.
Apple has established guidelines for similar attacks, urging iPhone owners to activate two-factor authentication (2FA) that requires a password and a six-digit verification code to access their account from an outside device.
On its website, Symantec advised that Apple credentials are “highly valued” among hackers because they prove “control over devices, access to personal and financial information, and potential revenue through unauthorized purchases.”
Symantec explained that Apple’s strong brand reputation makes users more prone to trusting deceptive communications pretending to be from Apple. It also makes Apple customers attractive targets to cyber criminals.
The warning was released on July 2, and it said that a malicious SMS being sent contained the following text:
“Apple important request iCloud: Visit signin[.]authen-connexion[.]info/icloud to continue using your services.”
Symantec added that the hackers added a CAPTCHA to the fake website to make it seem more legitimate to their targets. Once completed, the website will redirect users to an outdated iCloud login template.
On its support page, Apple cautioned that scammers may ask iPhone users to disable features like 2FA or Stolen Device Protection because it can help “stop an attack or to allow you to regain control of your account.” In reality, disabling these features will instead lower your security so they can carry out their own attack.
The company warned that Apple will never ask users to disable security features on their devices or their accounts.
(Related: Cyberattack disrupts operations in hospitals and clinics operated by Prospect Medical Holdings.)
If you’re not sure what to look for, there are some effective ways to identify fraud, such as checking the link in the text. Even if the message seems legitimate, the URL will not match Apple’s website.
The company also cautioned users that hackers will often send texts that look significantly different from the company’s standard text messages.
Scam also targets customers from other companies like Amazon and Netflix
Apple isn’t the only company being targeted by cybercriminals. Other scams where hackers impersonate companies have many users reporting text messages claiming to be from Amazon, Netflix and other well-known companies.
The fake messages will claim that an account is frozen or credit cards have expired. The texts will then prompt account holders to click a link that asks for personal or bank account information.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned that if you receive a text message that you weren’t expecting and it asks you to give out your personal or financial information, don’t click on suspicious links.
“Legitimate companies won’t ask for information about your account by text,” warned the agency. The FTC also said that if you think the message might be real, you can confirm by contacting the company “using a phone number or website that you know is real.”
Visit Deception.news to read more stories about other cyberattacks in the United States.
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Globalized ‘Honey’: Polish Beekeepers in Crisis as Cheap ‘Technical Honey’ from the East Floods Market
Globalism strikes again, with Polish beekeepers facing crisis as an increasing amount of cheap, so-called “technical honey” from Eastern Europe and Asia flooding the markets. In combination with the high costs of maintaining traditional apiaries, many Polish beekeepers are being forced to cease operations.
Representatives from beekeeping associations are raising alarms that apiaries are being shut down at an alarming rate, with a potential year-over-year loss of up to 30 percent of all bee colonies.
If this trend continues, Polish honey, renowned for its health benefits and delicious taste, will become both rare and expensive.
Previously, terms like “bakery honey” or “industrial honey,” also known as “artificial honey,” were used. Now, the term “technical honey” refers to very low-quality products that do not meet standards but are swiftly imported and sold to consumers at a fraction of the cost, often using fraudulent labeling.
“Ukraine is just a middleman; these honeys often come from China and Turkey and are of poor quality,” says Przemysław Maciąg, a board member of the Beekeeping Association. He notes that these honeys also negatively impact the Polish market, as many dishonest traders purchase them and sell them as Polish products, misleading consumers.
Trade in cheap honey is having severe consequences. Many beekeepers will give up their business as the market for Polish, high-quality honey is shrinking — partly due to inflation pressures. Polish beekeepers are losing out to “technical honey.” As a result, the costs of maintaining apiaries are becoming unsustainable.
“It’s mainly small apiaries, and the scale of the problem will truly be assessable in a few months when we receive full information on how many bee families have been prepared for wintering,” Maciąg explains. He confirms the issues based on his own circle of beekeepers.
“Just a year ago, there were about 1,500 bee families; now, there are only about 1,000. So, we are talking about a third less in a short time,” he said.
Maciąg, who runs an apiary with his wife Sylwia in the village of Ryszewo in northwestern Poland, does not want to shut down but points out another looming issue: “We might soon be dealing with an ecological time bomb.”
The difficulties in selling honey directly translate into a lack of investment in apiaries, as well as a lack of funds for fuel costs, purchasing new frames, increasing the number of bee families, and most importantly, paying for medications.
“Bees are getting sick, and medications are often required, such as vaccines. The costs of these medications have skyrocketed, and not every beekeeper can afford them today,” Maciąg explained.
For those who still want to work with bees, the fear is real. Untreated insects in small apiaries could lead to the spread of various diseases and infect more bee families, including those in other colonies. “It’s a ticking ecological bomb; if this happens, we will face a mass extinction of bees. I hope it will not come to this, but we must expect the worst,” says Maciąg.
Beekeepers say that those who do not want to give up their operations are making tough decisions and reducing the number of families in their apiaries due to huge problems with selling honey.
It is hard to predict how much Poles will be willing to pay for honey at the end of the year. All signs indicate that Eastern honey will continue to flood the Polish market.
In this manner, it is clear that the war in Ukraine is also partly responsible for the crisis in beekeeping, with fuel and other input costs higher, while unrestricted market access has already slammed Polish farmers selling sunflower oil, wheat, and other products.
Polish beekeeping dates back to pre-Christian times and the country features famous regional varieties many of which have Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status in the EU. For many years, Poles have been consuming more honey, with the 15 years preceding 2021 seeing Polish honey consumption double. However, inflation has taken its toll, and changing consumer tastes are seeing many Poles eye cheaper honey from countries like China, which is produced with the cheapest production methods possible — sweet but lacking key nutrients, anti-oxidants, and antimicrobial elements found in honey made using traditional production methods.
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Democrats Postpone Biden Nomination Process
The US Democratic Party has significantly delayed its candidate nomination process for the 2024 presidential election.
A virtual roll call to nominate President Joe Biden as the Democrats’ 2024 candidate which was scheduled for the coming week will now happen sometime in August, the party has announced.
The Democratic National Committee was supposed to meet on Friday and finalize the rules for the procedure, first proposed in May to ensure ballot access. In recent days, however, some party members have objected to “rushing” the process before the convention.
“None of this will be rushed,” said Leah Daughtry and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, leaders of the DNC rules committee, in a letter seen by CBS News.
Sent to 186 members of the committee on Wednesday, the letter confirms that “no voting will begin before August 1,”but notes that the virtual roll call will still happen before the in-person Democratic National Convention starts on August 19.
Meeting state ballot deadlines and avoiding potential lawsuits “is the driving reason for conducting a virtual voting process,” the letter added.
Read more Group of US Democrats oppose virtual Biden nomination – media
The roll call is a traditional procedure by which state delegations deliver primary votes to the nominee at the convention. The Republicans did so on Monday, arranging for former President Donald Trump’s children to announce the Florida votes that officially made him the party’s pick in November.
Dozens of House Democrats had circulated a draft letter earlier this week opposing the virtual vote, arguing that it would stifle debate, undermine morale and party unity, and foreclose any changes to the ticket “at the worst possible time.”
At least 21 congressional Democrats have publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race, citing his abysmal performance in the June 27 debate with Trump, advanced age, and possible neurological issues.
Senior party figures like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have urged Biden to step down in private, according to the New York Times. About 70% of Democrats in a recent poll backed Biden’s exit.
After the president retreated to his Delaware home with a Covid diagnosis, Axios reported he might drop out as early as this weekend. Campaign spokesman TJ Ducklo sought to dismiss the rumors on Thursday, however.
“Joe Biden is his party’s nominee. He’s the President of the United States. He’s running for reelection. Baseless conjecture from anonymous sources isn’t a scoop,” Ducklo said on X (formerly Twitter).
Most polls currently show Trump winning the election against Biden, but also against Vice President Kamala Harris, should she get bumped to the top of the ticket.
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Journalists Fear Self-Censorship as Cyprus Debates ‘Misinformation’ Penalties
In Cyprus, a proposal to criminalize the dissemination of “misinformation” and “offensive” comments, with penalties reaching up to five years in prison, has stirred considerable controversy. This proposed amendment to the criminal code, debated earlier this month by the Cypriot Parliamentary Committee of Legal Affairs, aims to elevate certain offenses from civil to criminal status.
Deputy Attorney General Savvas Angelides, and Committee Chair Nicos Tornaritis expressed that this amendment is only a “first step” in combating the spread of harmful “misinformation.”
Angelides cleared recently of corruption allegations, emphasized the need to balance freedom of speech with the curtailment of reckless misinformation, stating, “There are defenses when there is good faith.” He assured that the amendment would not restrict professional journalists from performing their duties, as it explicitly excludes opinion and criticism.
However, this stance is met with skepticism and alarm from various press freedom groups. Eleni Mavrou, representing the Association of Newspapers and Periodicals Publishers, described the amendment as a “blow to democracy,” arguing it would lead to self-censorship among journalists wary of criminal repercussions. Similarly, George Frangos, President of the Cyprus Union of Journalists, highlighted the subjective nature of terms like “fake news,” which could be exploited to suppress dissent.
Critics also draw parallels with similar legislative trends in neighboring regions, such as the northern part of Cyprus and other EU member states, where comparable laws have been criticized for potentially stifling free speech. The Cyprus Mail voiced concerns about the ambiguity in defining what constitutes an “offensive” comment and how such a law could lead to arbitrary legal challenges against journalists.
This legislative move aligns uncomfortably with broader European trends where “disinformation” is often not considered illegal per se but is increasingly criminalized, raising fears about the infringement of free expression rights enshrined in international and EU laws.
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