The most important man of the 20th century that you probably havent heard of

All this recent hysteria about cloned cows and stuff in the news got me to thinking about the greatest man who ever lived. You have probably never heard of him but Norman Borlaug has done more for science and technology than anyone ever alive. His thinking and achievements make other advances like the "theory of relativity" look like cheap parlour games. He helped make former starving 3rd world countrys like Mexico, China and India into major players on the world stage. He won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 and worked in the former USSR bringing them up to speed and helped out Africa a lot before he was prevented from doing so.
This man should be a house hold name like Bill Gates but he is not  and often his work is questioned and banned outright with no scientific merit - have you guessed why?

(From Wikipedia)
Norman Ernest Borlaug (March 25, 1914 – September 12, 2009)[1] was an American agronomist, humanitarian, and Nobel laureate who has been called "the father of the Green Revolution".[2] Borlaug was one of only six people to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.[3] He was also a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honor.

Borlaug received his Ph.D. in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota in 1942. He took up an agricultural research position in Mexico, where he developed semi-dwarf, high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties.

During the mid-20th century, Borlaug led the introduction of these high-yielding varieties combined with modern agricultural production techniques to Mexico, Pakistan, and India. As a result, Mexico became a net exporter of wheat by 1963. Between 1965 and 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in Pakistan and India, greatly improving the food security in those nations. These collective increases in yield have been labeled the Green Revolution, and Borlaug is often credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 in recognition of his contributions to world peace through increasing food supply.

Later in his life, he helped apply these methods of increasing food production to Asia and Africa. (end quote)

No Lightweight by any stretch!

The Truth is Norman Borlaug has saved at least 1 BILLION lives with genetically modified foods and his advanced faming techniques. He knew that with classical organic farming techniques the world can only support 4 Billion people. So he worked his ass off developing stuff so me and You can say we don't want to eat it! We are at population almost 7 billion and if Norman's work is completed theres food for 10 billion. Fuck me if it wasn't for this guys vision the world we live in today would be a very different place with a lot more hunger and sufferring. The stupid thing is that before his death in 2009 he was often stopped from doing his good work by enviromental agencies. In 2002 one african country refused Aid (condemming millions to death) just because it was from GM crop's - thats pretty fucked by any standards and the pressure groups involved should hang their heads in shame.

Of his critics the great man said: "some of the environmental lobbyists of the Western nations are the salt of the earth, but many of them are elitists. They've never experienced the physical sensation of hunger. They do their lobbying from comfortable office suites in Washington or Brussels. If they lived just one month amid the misery of the developing world, as I have for fifty years, they'd be crying out for tractors and fertilizer and irrigation canals and be outraged that fashionable elitists back home were trying to deny them these things"

At the end of the day i think that feeding people (everybody in the world that is) is more improtant than being faddy about where it came from. I cannot see with my rudimentry understanding of genetics that eating a clone, whether from Wheat or Bovine is going to cause problems for the eater. I sometimes wonder if all this extensive testing by scientists is just to appease the animal rights activists and conservationists. Scientists never get full black and white answers to these problems they normally just have more questions at the end so fuck all these pointless testing for a start.

Instead of blocking cloning and GM foods we should be spreading that technology to the parts of the world that still need it. When every poor mofo in the world has enough in their bowl maybe we can start the debate but until then organic enthusiasts and greenpeace need to get the fuck out of it and do something usefull. Also for that Matter we should use the anniversary of the Late Dr Borlaug's to remember the greatest man who ever lived not condemn his work with Bullshit pesudo-science promotion.

On the 12th of September Raise a Glass and Toast the Man who fed the world and brought technology and freedom to the starving.

The Borlaug (my cocktail recipe)

1 part Wheat vodka
1 part RICE WINE (Sake)
1 part Tequila
2 Parts Ginger Beer (get spicy jamacian ginger beer if you can)

Shake well serve over crushed ice with Lime wedges

Del Boy Umbrella is optional!

http://www.worldfoodprize.org/about/borlaug.htm