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View Full Version : Lets take a vote: If we could safley wipe out Mosquitoes should we?



donttread
11-19-2014, 08:42 AM
If a way was devised to extinct Mosquitoes from the planet without poisoning the planet should we? What's your vote?

I vote hell yes! Think of the human , and other higher animals , that would be spared suffering and death. I am willing to sacrifice a few species of birds and bats in the process

nic34
11-19-2014, 08:50 AM
Even though mosquitoes don't seem to have a purpose, other than to cause us annoyance and misery, we can't just get rid of them right now, without doing more harm to other species that are more useful.

http://www.mosquitoreviews.com/mosquitoes-purpose.html

Captain Obvious
11-19-2014, 08:52 AM
Hell no. The misunderstood, unintentional consequences could be disastrous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign


The campaign against the 'Four Pests' was initiated in 1958 as a hygiene campaign by Mao Zedong (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong), who identified the need to exterminate mosquitoes, flies, rats, and sparrows. Sparrows – mainly the Eurasian tree sparrow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_tree_sparrow)[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign#cite_note-Summers-1)[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign#cite_note-McCarthy-2) – were included on the list because they ate grain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain) seeds, robbing the people of the fruits of their labour. The masses of China were mobilized to eradicate the birds, and citizens took to banging pots and pans or beating drums to scare the birds from landing, forcing them to fly until they fell from the sky in exhaustion. Sparrow nests were torn down, eggs were broken, and nestlings were killed.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign#cite_note-Summers-1)[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign#cite_note-Shapiro-3) Sparrows and other birds were shot down from the sky, resulting in the near-extinction of the birds in China.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign#cite_note-4) Non-material rewards and recognition were offered to schools, work units and government agencies in accordance with the volume of pests they had killed.

By April 1960, Chinese leaders realized that sparrows ate a large amount of insects, as well as grains.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign#cite_note-Shapiro-3)[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign#cite_note-McCarthy-2) Rather than being increased, rice yields after the campaign were substantially decreased.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign#cite_note-Summers-1)[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign#cite_note-McCarthy-2) Mao ordered the end of the campaign against sparrows, replacing them with bed bugs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_bugs) in the ongoing campaign against the Four Pests.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign#cite_note-Shapiro-3) By this time, however, it was too late. With no sparrows to eat them, locust (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locust) populations ballooned, swarming the country and compounding the ecological problems already caused by the Great Leap Forward (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward), including widespread deforestation and misuse of poisons and pesticides.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign#cite_note-Summers-1) Ecological imbalance is credited with exacerbating the Great Chinese Famine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chinese_Famine), in which at least 20 million people died of starvation.[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign#cite_note-5)[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign#cite_note-6)

Matty
11-19-2014, 08:52 AM
Mosquitoes have caused the highest amount of deaths in human beings. I vote yes!

Captain Obvious
11-19-2014, 08:53 AM
Mosquitoes have caused the highest amount of deaths in human beings. I vote yes!

I had little doubt you would.

Voting in ignorance is your thang.

PolWatch
11-19-2014, 08:55 AM
at one time people thought kudzu was a good idea...note to self: don't mess with Mother Nature

https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608021688477879555&pid=15.1&P=0

Common Sense
11-19-2014, 08:58 AM
Just look at what China did when they tried to wipe out "The Four Pests".

I vote no.

Matty
11-19-2014, 08:59 AM
I had little doubt you would.

Voting in ignorance is your thang.
Oh stfu, I am so sick of your insults. This is the very last time I ever speak to you.

Common Sense
11-19-2014, 09:00 AM
Lucky bastard.

Matty
11-19-2014, 09:03 AM
Lucky $#@!.
Do you want to be included? Just say the word!

Captain Obvious
11-19-2014, 09:04 AM
Oh stfu, I am so sick of your insults. This is the very last time I ever speak to you.

That's cool, ignore is your friend.

You're a cool person to chat with but on the political side you're abrasive, insulting, highly opinionated but you're not very smart. This really isn't a good combination and why so many people react to you negatively.

I wish you would take that with a grain of salt and consider it.

Safety
11-19-2014, 09:05 AM
I had little doubt you would.

Voting in ignorance is your thang.

haha, had to remove my thanks to give you rep.

Safety
11-19-2014, 09:06 AM
Do you want to be included? Just say the word!

word.

Matty
11-19-2014, 09:07 AM
That's cool, ignore is your friend.

You're a cool person to chat with but on the political side you're abrasive, insulting, highly opinionated but you're not very smart. This really isn't a good combination and why so many people react to you negatively.

I wish you would take that with a grain of salt and consider it.
Tough shit. I am me and your opinion of me counts for nothing. I think you are a crude gross individual devoid of all class. So, now we will not talk! Happy trails!

decedent
11-19-2014, 11:12 AM
I vote yes because mosquitoes are awfully inconvenient -- like when I spent half an hour running from one this summer. Dragonflies will have to learn to eat grass.

Max Rockatansky
11-19-2014, 11:36 AM
Even though mosquitoes don't seem to have a purpose, other than to cause us annoyance and misery, we can't just get rid of them right now, without doing more harm to other species that are more useful.

http://www.mosquitoreviews.com/mosquitoes-purpose.html
Hell no. The misunderstood, unintentional consequences could be disastrous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_CampaignAgreed. When God created the Earth, obviously there was a reason for creating what we consider to be pests. Destroying them would be going against God's Will.

Polecat
11-19-2014, 11:54 AM
Makes you wonder how many people would be piled up on this planet were it not for disease, famine and war.

Captain Obvious
11-19-2014, 12:04 PM
Makes you wonder how many people would be piled up on this planet were it not for disease, famine and war.

And McDonalds.

They're wholly responsible for us not falling into the ocean.

Polecat
11-19-2014, 12:13 PM
And McDonalds.

They're wholly responsible for us not falling into the ocean.
Link please. I frequent the Big M steak house and need to know if I should buy a Prius to offset my global impact.

Max Rockatansky
11-19-2014, 12:23 PM
Makes you wonder how many people would be piled up on this planet were it not for disease, famine and war.A lot. Kinda like rabbits in Australia.

donttread
11-19-2014, 02:54 PM
Even though mosquitoes don't seem to have a purpose, other than to cause us annoyance and misery, we can't just get rid of them right now, without doing more harm to other species that are more useful.

http://www.mosquitoreviews.com/mosquitoes-purpose.html

So your reason not to wipe them out is a few sub species of spiders?

Common Sense
11-19-2014, 03:16 PM
So your reason not to wipe them out is a few sub species of spiders?

That's what you took away from the article?

Max Rockatansky
11-19-2014, 04:53 PM
So your reason not to wipe them out is a few sub species of spiders?

So your reason to wipe them out is to ignore all science on the issue and just whine about a few bites? Have you ever heard of taking a shower and using something like "Off"?

nathanbforrest45
11-20-2014, 10:39 AM
at one time people thought kudzu was a good idea...note to self: don't mess with Mother Nature

https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608021688477879555&pid=15.1&P=0

This must have been taken with an ultra high speed camera or else the photographer would have been eaten by the kudzu!!!

I have an embankment at my house that had started growing kudzu (the 2000 ft rule has been broken). I started pulling a vine down, it was almost 200 feet long by the time I got to the end of it. I swear it was growing while I was pulling it out.

nathanbforrest45
11-20-2014, 10:40 AM
Just look at what China did when they tried to wipe out "The Four Pests".

I vote no.


We need to get rid of our Four Pest, Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Clinton.

Max Rockatansky
11-20-2014, 11:18 AM
at one time people thought kudzu was a good idea...note to self: don't mess with Mother Nature

https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608021688477879555&pid=15.1&P=0

Let's not forget Starlings, Rock Pigeons and English Sparrows.

Redrose
11-20-2014, 11:22 AM
I would love to see mosquitos eliminated because of the diseases they carry, and sharks too, because of the senseless injury and death they cause, but that would be unwise and dangerous for the ecosystem.
As much as we dislike these creatures, they do serve a purpose. Mosquitos are a food source for birds and bats, some fish and amphibians. Sharks clean up the oceans of dead fish and other debris and keep the plankton under control.

PolWatch
11-20-2014, 11:32 AM
who knows, someday we might discover the true purpose of humans on the planet...:rollseyes:

Redrose
11-20-2014, 11:46 AM
who knows, someday we might discover the true purpose of humans on the planet...:rollseyes:


How profound PolWatch. What purpose do we serve? The Bible states in Genesis we were "created in their image". Who are "they"? Why were we created?

PolWatch
11-20-2014, 11:53 AM
I dunno...still trying to figure it out (like most of us). I think our Bible lacks in one area that I believe is important and would help explain things. Other belief systems (pagan, Native American, etc) acknowledge the Creator has a sense of humor. My belief probably 'cause I think we just have to laugh at ourselves if we are gonna stay sane (or nearly sane).

Max Rockatansky
11-20-2014, 02:46 PM
I dunno...still trying to figure it out (like most of us). I think our Bible lacks in one area that I believe is important and would help explain things. Other belief systems (pagan, Native American, etc) acknowledge the Creator has a sense of humor. My belief probably 'cause I think we just have to laugh at ourselves if we are gonna stay sane (or nearly sane).

Agreed we should laugh, but I also think God has a sense of humor. Obviously the God depicted in the Bible does not, but that version was cherry-picked by a bunch of sexually-repressed old men in 325AD.

sachem
11-20-2014, 02:56 PM
No. Annoying as they may be.

Redrose
11-20-2014, 03:27 PM
God must have a sense of humor, just look at Nancy Pelosi.

Max Rockatansky
11-20-2014, 03:45 PM
God must have a sense of humor, just look at Nancy Pelosi.

I'd rather look at a Platypus.

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/cf/cfe8ef322e67d4fee1a4875a8850d4b10f990d7b07c37dd2ab 9f732ba26d6702.jpg

donttread
11-20-2014, 05:44 PM
To you environmentalist who voted no: Why don't you start a campaign to stop mosquitoe control ( kill) programs in..... your neighborhood?

sachem
11-20-2014, 05:51 PM
To you environmentalist who voted no: Why don't you start a campaign to stop mosquitoe control ( kill) programs in..... your neighborhood?Never said the herd didn't need culling.

sachem
11-20-2014, 05:53 PM
God must have a sense of humor, just look at Nancy Pelosi.Look at this place. Must have a weird sense of humor. :D

donttread
11-21-2014, 02:29 PM
Never said the herd didn't need culling.

That's what I thought. Don't mess with the mosquito unless its in my back yard. Urban environmentalist is an oxymoron

Max Rockatansky
11-21-2014, 03:12 PM
To you environmentalist who voted no: Why don't you start a campaign to stop mosquitoe control ( kill) programs in..... your neighborhood?
Are you able to grasp the concept about the difference between control and wiping out of existence?

Cattle ranchers don't like the idea of wolves killing their cattle and have no problem killing wolves who develop a taste for beef, but how many of them support the idea of eradicating all wolves on the planet?