1 My cat doesn't like wine, but will only eat the most expensive Lox.

2 Not to worry Monty, the IMF is demanding billions from guess who.

3 Oops, I see you had it at the end.

4 Obama is a stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure.

5 one cat loves to eat milk bones, both cats love asparagus and lettuce..........

6 Fiscal policy can't help either. The only thing that can help is either paying off or defaulting on debt.

7 Per the headline, when does the JEF start quoting John Lee Hooker as part of his traveling menstrual show to boost his street cred?

8 Stay thirsty my friends!

9 How does "population growth" come from people over 60? They may be a greater percentage of the population but they're not really a "growth" sector; that can only be from births.

10 Per the headline, when does the JEF start quoting John Lee Hooker as part of his traveling menstrual show to boost his street cred? Posted by: Captain Hate at September 26, 2011 08:55 AM (OGZqf) he might have to ask hillary how to speak negro, since she does it so much better than him

11

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Monty, are you getting paid in Euros to use one of their languages?

12 Please put warnings when linking to Washington Post. Due to past stimuli, I react to the masthead by screaming in rage, throwing the paper, leaping up and stomping on it while screaming "fucking communist assholes" over and over. I hit the Euro link and barely salvaged my computer monitor. Remember, if you read it in the Post, it's probably a lie. Double check the date, even.

13 "The Germans call the greeks lazy and stupid and the Greeks play the NAZI card and want more war reparations" Hmm, that sounds familiar. I can't quite place it.

14 Uhm I've never been very smart about math, being a moron and all, but can someone explain how "half the world's popolation growth will come from people over 60?

15 Crawling King Snake. I have that on a Doors album. (LA Woman).

It is said to be the last song they performed together with Morrison before he went to Paris and died.

16 With so much DOOM on tap, I don't doubt for a second that the stock market will zoom upward today, thus spawning a horde of "hey, it's getting better!" stories from the media, and joyful trumpetings from pathetic market-whores like Larry Kudlow.

17 14, Stop being all educated and shit, you know what it means. Read minds like the rest of us. Play the game, enjoy the puzzle.

18 Klamato Barabbas Nicotine

19 Put on your marching shoes. You whiners.

20 that's one good lookong puss.

21 Put on your marching shoes. You whiners.

F&F had some black TV actor on this morning whining about that from Obama. Said he was insulted (but would still vote for him because they had nowhere else to go).

His gripe, Obama has not waived a magic wand and make black poverty and unemployment go away. Cities like Detroit were still bad off.

I wanted to throw shit at the TV. The damn liberal idiots simply can not see that shit like he wants is what CAUSED Detroit to collapse in the first place.

22 Just spoke ( on FB ) with one of my corpsmen in afganistan. AinÂ’t technology grand

23 he might have to ask hillary how to speak negro, since she does it so much better than him

Posted by: nevergiveup at September 26, 2011 08:56 AM (i6RpT)

Even Maxine Waters said she was insulted by his language.  When you lose Maxine, well, you pretty much lose shit on a shingle; but that's about all he's got at this stage.

24 well, when my son was born he DID look like a really wizened tiny old man. maybe he was born 70?

25 Nope, gotta disagree about the Greeks.  They are so used to living on Uncle Euro's teat that the concept of self-sufficiency has been lost.  Now, their "human rights" are being threatened when any sort of fiscal discipline is discussed.   See this article.

26 Uhm I've never been very smart about math, being a moron and all, but can someone explain how "half the world's popolation growth will come from people over 60?

I think what they mean is that the increase in population is actually because of a decrease in the rate of death.  Of course, death is a constant, but I think fewer people over 60 die per year than used to, so in a roundabout sense there's an 'increase' in population.

I dunno.  I could be wrong.

27 22 Just spoke ( on FB ) with one of my corpsmen in afganistan. AinÂ’t technology grand

Posted by: nevergiveup at September 26, 2011 09:11 AM (i6RpT)

That's how I communicate with my son all the time.  I can't even imagine the days where you had to wait a month for a letter to get through.

Mornin' reprobates....what's new, besides DOOM!?

28 26, Or BL, there is less youngins being born and the oldins are not being replaced.

29 Chuckit at September 26, 2011 09:18 AM Great article, tells the truth without being mean.

30 Semi-OT - Boeing finally delivers first 787 to ANA.

31 I think that the growth over 60 is that more people will be entering that age group. For example, in a population perhaps 30% are people over 60 but at a future date  50% will be over 60 therefore the population of those over 60 has grown.

32 Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to be banksters.
 
I'm just enjoying my coffee with extra DOOM.

33 Anyone notice that in that UN pic of Obama with his hand up that he looks exactly like Alfred E. Newman?

34 I had an interesting chat with an older Irish couple last night. Basically it was the wife grilling me about my personal life actually! Anyway after it hit me - I would have had more children AND gotten married earlier if I'd had a dad who was around and hadn't abandoned my mom and my brother (for me to take care of them). I think this is an undercounted demo change, not to be all mean. But I never felt "feet on the ground" after he left us. I had to start working right away to keep my brother in college and pay my mother's legal bills and fight for him to give her any alimony at all. Regardless of this, just knowing that he was "gone" unmoored me and made me always feel a little bit less confident in the future. Yes the welfare/SS state costs cause people to have fewer kids, but I also think the social changes of high divorce and unmarried rates are hurting. It's hard to think you're ready for a family when you know you are really on your own (and might even have siblings or other relatives already dependent on you).

35

villains earn their wealth; heroes inherit it.

Hmm, I never thought about that.  I think you could semi-argue that Tony Stark is a bit of an exception because while he did inherit, he was also working to maintain and expand upon what he inherited.  Then again there's a bit of an argument by stupid people that Tony's not a hero so there's that.

I agree with Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Ph.D.:  given sufficient start up capital, I could be Batman.  I mean, I'd rather be Catwoman, but I would accept Batman. 

"The Germans call the greeks lazy and stupid and the Greeks play the NAZI card and want more war reparations"

Hmm, that sounds familiar. I can't quite place it.

Yeah, my whole reaction to the Eurozone collapse apocathingy is "oh hey let's put Germany in charge, that never ends badly or anything."

 

36 hope this formats in a nonsucky way but it's how i would understand the primary population growth coming in the 60+. Just more people in that age group even if the others remain static means there is population growth, and it's driven by more old people hanging around 2010 --------------- 0-30 2 billion 30-60 3 billion 60+ 1 billion 2050 -------------- 0-30 1 billion 30-60 3 billion 60+ 3 billion

37 Semi-OT - Boeing finally delivers first 787 to ANA. Posted by: Waterhouse at September 26, 2011 09:26 AM (16lYZ) Now THAT is how you create jobs! Of course unless your gonna start breaking Boeings balls?

38 And as if on cue... "Dow set to skyrocket to record highs!!eleventy"

http://tinyurl.com/3gzeyvk

39 Fewer children? Simple, because the mother has been taken from the home.  guy can't or can barely support a family. Each additional child then costs huge amounts of money in day-care, extended day, nannies, etc. With a mother at home an additional baby cost food money. The left's move to destroy the family as it was has been highly effective. Even if a family plans in such a way that the mother can be at home, she is shamed by being there.

40 How does "population growth" come from people over 60?

Hi there!

41 .....take off your slippers and put on your marching shoes...... that "order" really bothered me.......and talk about class warfare....how about race warfare....that was racist.....

42

I especially liked this line from the Global Warming article from yesterday's sidebar - the irony just burns:

>>>Al Gore, for one, remains upbeat. The former vice president and Nobel Prize-winning climate campaigner says "ferocity" in defense of false beliefs often increases "as the evidence proving them false builds."<<<

I LOL'ed.......

 

43 Good morning, morons and moronettes. 

'Hoping that this week is better than last week.  For all of us (but especially for me and Rick Perry!). 

44 I have a permanent solution for Euro woes...

45 .take off your slippers and put on your marching shoes...... that "order" really bothered me.......and talk about class warfare....how about race warfare....that was racist..... Posted by: phoenixgirl at September 26, 2011 09:39 AM (eOXTH) His whole persona is about race and the democrats are about class warfare.

46 37 hope this formats in a nonsucky way
but it's how i would understand the primary population growth coming in the 60+. Just more people in that age group even if the others remain static means there is population growth, and it's driven by more old people hanging around

2010
---------------
0-30 2 billion
30-60 3 billion
60+ 1 billion

2050
--------------
0-30 1 billion
30-60 3 billion
60+ 3 billion

Posted by: err head at September 26, 2011 09:35 AM (VlSqZ)

In those 40 years all the people in the 2010 60+ are dead. All 3 billion from the 2010 60+ have moved into the 2050 60+. The 2050 has the 2 billion from the 2010 demographic plus an additional 1 million from the 10 years not shown in the 40 year time lapse?

47 'Hoping that this week is better than last week. For all of us (but especially for me and Rick Perry!). Posted by: Y-not at September 26, 2011 09:42 AM Oh, I bet you will be great, The rickster? who knows.

48

President Barack Obama's deficit reduction plan would be positive for U.S. ratings but chances of its implementation are "extremely low," Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.

Moreover, the ratings agency warned in a report, deficit reduction in the United States is being made more difficult by the threat of lower economic growth.

Moody's noted Obama's plan is the latest in a series of proposals that, together, demonstrate that substantial deficit reduction is the goal of the administration and the leadership of both political parties.

breitbart

49 Y'know what else has contributed to the demographic shift that has left the future (perhaps very near future) of the welfare state in tatters?

Abortion.

Yup.  If it wasn't so grim a matter, I'd be pleased with the irony, but in truth, it was all to be expected.  Leftist desires always lead to self-destruction.

50 blink.

51 @48
Well, my week would go a little bit better if Rick's did... but I guess that would just be gravy in the grand scheme of things. 

I think Rick needs to get some Tiger Blood and go on the attack against Romney.  Too much defense. 

52 Fewer children? Simple, because the mother has been taken from the home.  guy can't or can barely support a family. Each additional child then costs huge amounts of money in day-care, extended day, nannies, etc. With a mother at home an additional baby cost food money. The left's move to destroy the family as it was has been highly effective. Even if a family plans in such a way that the mother can be at home, she is shamed by being there.

Dagny, you've hit the nail on the head.  Mrs. Marauder had to go on bed rest when we were expecting our first child, and she just never went back once we learned to live off just my income for 6 months.  Now that she's been a stay-at-home mom for 12+ years now (gees, just realized I'M OLD!!) she constantly has to put up with the implication that she's less of a woman because she elects to stay home and homeschool the kids rather than turn them over to strangers to raise.

53 7 Per the headline, when does the JEF start quoting John Lee Hooker as part of his traveling menstrual show to boost his street cred?

Posted by: Captain Hate at September 26, 2011 08:55 AM (OGZqf)

I'm trying to decide if the "menstural" is deliberate in this post (and oh so apropos), or if it was intended to be "minstrel" (equally apropos and RAAAACISSSSST, as the lefties would shriek). 

Either way, it fits.

54 Ardel, isn't that the reason they keep trying to pass the dream act so they can get the immigrants to pay the taxes americans just won't do?

55 47, yeah,i was rounding to the nearest billion for a quick and dirty illustration of the concept. Of course, if the longevity research guys manage a breakthrough in the meantime, the 60+ will be an evergrowing percentage of the population unless we start enforcing carousel

56 Lone Marauder at September 26, 2011 09:47 I'll bet much of that is Jealousy.

57

Posted by: willow at September 26, 2011 09:49 AM (h+qn

Probably is, which is why the DREAM act won't be an end of it.  They'd need another one another twenty, thirty years down the road, so they can never allow the border to be secured.  They need that influx of hapless low-income payees to help keep their impossible dream afloat.

58

Posted by: Y-not at September 26, 2011 09:47 AM (5H6zj)

I hope this week turns out great for you, Y-not.

As for Perry, the President's inaccurate and grossly insensitive and inappropriate linkage of "climate change" to the horrific Texan wildfires presents an opportunity for Perry to go on attack against Obama. 

As per Jake Tapper - Perry spox: "It's outrageous President Obama would use the burning of 1500 homes, the worst fires in state history as a political attack". 

59 Lone Marauder
  both your and Dagny's points are true, there was a certain element that would think less of a mother that chose to stay home, and also be astounded if you had more than 1 or 2 children. as if that was irresponsible.

seemed more so through the 90s not so much now.

60 More Euro Political news:

French left captures Senate in setback for Sarkozy

61 57 Lone Marauder at September 26, 2011 09:47

I'll bet much of that is Jealousy.

Posted by: Oldsailor's poet at September 26, 2011 09:49 AM (ZDUD4)

It is. I work off and on at my choosing (I know, how awesome is that?). Anyway, when I have little kids and don't work at all I've been demonized by the same women who, when they've had a few drinks, sob on my shoulder that they too could stay home but their husbands wouldn't allow it. My husband actually prefers my not taking jobs because his level of pampering falls through the floor.

62
French left captures Senate in setback for Sarkozy

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at September 26, 2011 09:53 AM (9hSKh)

Well, there goes the neighborhood...

63 Kratos ,
      Let me guess, the French people believe they won't have to go to austerity measures if there is a Left senate?

64 Pretty stunning that the French captured anything.

65 Two Words:

Tony Stark.

_{(You do make a good point, though.)}

66

she constantly has to put up with the implication that she's less of a woman because she elects to stay home and homeschool the kids rather than turn them over to strangers to raise.

There's a deleted scene in The Incredibles in which a woman at a party makes a snotty comment about Helen (Elastigirl) not having a real job.  Helen goes off on her about how she had a job, a very important job, but that now she's doing something far more important than that by raising her kids.  It adds a whole layer to it when you know that the other job Helen is talking about was being an actual superhero.  Brad Bird says on the commentary that this scene was inspired by an actual conversation his wife had when someone made similar comments to her.  I've always wished that scene was actually in the movie. 

I don't have kids and I'm not going to have kids.  I've never wanted children, hell, I didn't even play with dolls when I was little.  You know what?  I do think that makes me a bit less of a woman.  I can think of nothing more difficult or important than being a parent.  It really ticks me off when I hear other women being dismissive of that.

67

Another reason for the lowered birth rates is the fact that men don't have to MARRY "nice girls" to have sex with them; the thing that liberal women never took into account was that the marriage laws (both written and unwritten) were in place to PROTECT women, not to punish them.

If a man can have his pick of nice girls who are willing to put out, and they are on birth control (the guy doesn't have to worry about supporting a child), then there is absolutely no incentive for him to get married.

And then, when these men finally decide to "grow up" and start a family, they tend to look for younger women who haven't slept around as much, because deep down inside, they don't want to have to worry about their wife's "history" or whether a child is theirs or not.

The generation(s) of women born after the "sexual revolution" has been royally screwed - and not in a good way.

68 40 Fewer children? Simple, because the mother has been taken from the home.  guy can't or can barely support a family. Each additional child then costs huge amounts of money in day-care, extended day, nannies, etc. With a mother at home an additional baby cost food money. The left's move to destroy the family as it was has been highly effective. Even if a family plans in such a way that the mother can be at home, she is shamed by being there. Posted by: dagny at September 26, 2011 09:37 AM (Dv0Db) That is absolutely correct. Especially the last sentence. I stay home with my kid's and have my share of nasty comments. Surprisingly, my husband has gotten some as well. Just a few weeks ago the subject had come up with some of his co-workers and the (female) secretary made some big stink about how he's repressing me or some such nonsense. Like I didn't have a choice or something. It's offensive, but you get used to it after a while. I also think we're not helping ourselves as a society when we spend so much time telling our kid's that they're children until they're 26 and how much of a horrible burden children are. It's not exactly a surprise that younger adults are waiting until they're 30 + to grow up and putting off kid's until they're closer to 40.

69 Here's a high level siting from yesterday's NY Post: Vice President Joe Biden having breakfast with Larry Kudlow at Seagrille at the oceanfront Boca Beach Club in Florida ... (Kudlow is a despicable shill...bought off for a White House steak and a few lines of Presidential blow)

70

Posted by: Teresa Koch at September 26, 2011 09:58 AM (0xqzf)

Aye, indeed.  My mom used to say that feminism gave men everything they ever wanted, and that feminists were simply too dense to understand exactly what they were doing.

It's quite tragic, when you stop and think about it.

71       Let me guess, the French people believe they won't have to go to austerity measures if there is a Left senate?

That's my take on it.  Unfortunately, the French don't realize that they are going to get austerity whether they like it or not - fiscal reality will set in soon.

72 villains earn their wealth; heroes inherit it.

I remember this part from Megamind.

The hero is adopted by a fabulously wealthy family, and the "villain" earns his income. Well, it isn't clear if he steals it or earns it in some legitimate fashion.

73

Like I didn't have a choice or something. It's offensive, but you get used to it after a while.

I've said to several of my lefty friends who are obnoxious about stay at home moms that, huh, I thought that they supported a woman's right to choose what she wanted to do with her life and it's no less patriarchal to demand that a woman with kids work rather than stay home.  If there's only one "correct" option, then there is no choice.

Aye, indeed.  My mom used to say that feminism gave men everything they ever wanted, and that feminists were simply too dense to understand exactly what they were doing.

There's a line in Crazy Stupid Love from one guy to another that goes something like "When women started pole dancing for exercise, we won." 

74 alex as a mother of four you are not less of a woman for not having children.....in fact you probably don't have stretch marks so i hate you....just kidding.......

75 "It is. I work off and on at my choosing (I know, how awesome is that?). Anyway, when I have little kids and don't work at all I've been demonized by the same women who, when they've had a few drinks, sob on my shoulder that they too could stay home but their husbands wouldn't allow it. My husband actually prefers my not taking jobs because his level of pampering falls through the floor." Yes! The same gals who think less of me for staying home do the exact same thing, or they cry that they feel guilty because their kids cry for the babysitter instead of them. It's sad. I don't knock women who work. I know that circumstances sometimes don't work out how we would like and we have to do things we don't necessarily want to do. Heck, I don't knock then women who WANT to work, either. I generally try to work under the assumption that people are doing what they think is best for their family and support them in those choice. I wish it were reciprocated, but whatever. Some folks are just jerks, so I try not to worry about it.

76

I'm trying to decide if the "menstural" is deliberate in this post (and oh so apropos), or if it was intended to be "minstrel" (equally apropos and RAAAACISSSSST, as the lefties would shriek). 

Either way, it fits.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Hobbit at September 26, 2011 09:48 AM (4df7R)

I was trying to smoke that asshole Jeff B out into calling me a racist, racialist, or something equally dumb....

77 My mom used to say that feminism gave men everything they ever wanted

Well...yes and no. Feminism was originally championed by bored communist housewives as just another attack on our economic and social systems.

But, they lost control early on and the movement went all over the place.

Within the same movement you still have the NOW types, but also the very different Hollywood types.

So, the Hollywood side definitely pushed the hedonistic side that I think mirrors what your mom thought, but you also have the NOWites pushing show trials for sexual harassment (though not as much since Bill Clinton) and "gender equality" . Certainly this latter group is not interested in making the lives of your average male easier.

78 I do think that makes me a bit less of a woman.

Bah. Child-rearing is, from a biological standpoint, the sole reason and purpose for existence...but that's a depressing and mechanistic way to look at life. I don't have children either, and don't plan to have any, but I don't think that makes me "less" in any higher sense. My family's genes are already well-preserved in other branches of my family tree, and I've made sure to provide well for my own retirement so strangers don't have to.

The benefits I bring to society don't have to do with the brute-force mechanisms of biology, but that doesn't mean my benefits don't matter. Nor yours. Nor anyone else's who chooses not to procreate. The burden comes in when you fail to provide for your own needs and have to fall back on the welfare-state -- then your failure to procreate means that you're lumbering strangers with your continued care, and I think that's morally wrong. Remaining childless is a choice, and it means taking the responsibility for your own care even into old age.

The problem with our demographic picture is almost solely due to the pressure of the welfare-state. Historically, populations wax and wane with circumstance, culture, and weather. In modern times, we got so used to having a constantly-increasing population that we almost-unconsciously took it for granted and factored it into our social planning. But as it turns out, populations can shrink rather abruptly -- as places as diverse as Japan, Russia, and China are going to find out in the coming decades. This causes extreme asymmetries between old and young, which has bad implications for the welfare state because an ever-shrinking population of the working young must support an ever-growing population of the non-working old. It cannot work for very long; it's just not sustainable.

"Labor immigration" is, historically speaking, not a solution either. We may implicitly encourage young Central and South American hispanics to immigrate and keep the welfare-state boat afloat, but pretty soon those hispanic youngsters are going to get pretty bitter at the high level of taxation required to keep all those elderly gringos comfy in their retirement communities.

79 "I've said to several of my lefty friends who are obnoxious about stay at home moms that, huh, I thought that they supported a woman's right to choose what she wanted to do with her life and it's no less patriarchal to demand that a woman with kids work rather than stay home.  If there's only one "correct" option, then there is no choice." I've always gotten the sense that we're expected to do it all because of the feminist push to "have it all." Like if you're not actively trying to have a fantastic career and a perfect home life simultaneously you're somehow less of a woman. Which is pretty stupid. Talk about all the unnecessary pressure. Careers and families are stressful enough by themselves. Both take a ton of time and effort and none will ever be perfect.

80 Some folks are just jerks, so I try not to worry about it.

Ain't that the truth. You're taking the right approach.

A few weeks back I was at a party and spent some time talking to a friend of the family I had not seen in about three years. In that time, she had two more children. Making her grand total five. They want to keep going. Both her and her husband work. Her parents live down the street and take care of the kids during the school-year (she's a teacher).

She loves both teaching and being a Mom and she only feels comfortable working because she knows her non-school aged kids are in good hands during the day. She says she gets the most push-back on her lifestyle choices from the other teachers (shocking, I know).  These women at work make fun of her and her husband both behind her back and to her face calling her children 'spawn'. They just cannot fathom how anyone would want to have that many children. And of course they call them 'crazy Catholics'.

I've never met a happier woman more at peace with her decision to raise a large family. It's refreshing to see as it's so rare these days.

81 Teresa Koch at September 26, 2011 09:58 AM I agree with all of that. Well done.

82

You betcha', buddy! Send these foul beasts into the abyss! Rip, Snort, Root n' Ravage in 2012!

83 When our son was born, I was able to stay home with him.  Husband traveled five and sometimes six days a week, and I was determined that the boy would have one full-time parent at home full time.  Husband was happy, I was happy, boy was happy.  I was lucky to be able to stay home, but we did cut corners and sacrifice so I could do so.

The NYC s-i-l decided to call me one day when he was four weeks old and ask me when I was planning to go back to work.  I told her I wasn't.

Her response?  "Do yourself a favor and put him in daycare.  For eight hours a day you can forget you're a mother"....said the "mother" who gave up one child for adoption and raised the one she kept (after getting preggers again out of wedlock) to be an insolent hipster douchebag.

84 This is OT, but for history buffs like me who may be interested, The Israel Museum has digitized the Dead Sea Scrolls for viewing online.  I can't read a word of them, of course, but since I doubt I'll ever make my way to Jerusalem, this is the closest I'll ever get to such priceless Biblical history.

85 Downscaled Upscale at September 26, 2011 10:18 AM When I saw the first "Whose the Daddy" billboard advertising DNA matching services I laughed, then recoiled in horror.

86 "They just cannot fathom how anyone would want to have that many children. And of course they call them 'crazy Catholics'. " Yeah, I've got a cousin who gets this junk, and from family! The worst part is that she and I are the only Catholics in the family so she doesn't have much in the way of understanding. She just had her fifth baby and she'll probably have at least one more. I say good for them! She home schools her kids, they're all extensor loving and well-behaved, and she and her husband love them and can afford to take care of them all. So it's really no one's business if they have five kids or twenty-five kids. They provide a stable and loving home for all those children and they're happy and that's all that really matters. I have two and would love to have more. Unfortunately, prior to my conversion my hubby has a vasectomy, so we're done. I regret it now, though. I love my babies. They're such a joy!

87 jane she sounds like a lovely person......wow......how do you refrain from punching her?

88 My auto correct is failing me quite epically today. I hate this stupid thing.

89 90 jane

she sounds like a lovely person......wow......how do you refrain from punching her?

Posted by: phoenixgirl at September 26, 2011 10:24 AM (eOXTH)

Heh.  I only see her once a year....one day at Christmas. 

90 Jane, wow. What a goober. You obviously did a good job, though, raising a Marine. I know you're very proud and you deserve to be! Alexthechick, no, you're not less of a woman. There is nothing wrong with not having kids if that's what's right for you. Everyone's circumstances are different so we're not all going to do the same things and that's how it's supposed to be. So don't be so hard on yourself!

91 Her response?  "Do yourself a favor and put him in daycare.  For eight hours a day you can forget you're a mother"....said the "mother" who gave up one child for adoption and raised the one she kept (after getting preggers again out of wedlock) to be an insolent hipster douchebag.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at September 26, 2011 10:19 AM (UOM4

Oh, UGH.  If my sister ever copped that attitude with me, I'd be hard-pressed to keep from driving down to PA and popping her in the mouth with a closed fist.  Luckily that won't ever happen, because my sister and her hubby are just as conservative (and far more religious) than I am.

Well, that and I don't have children, much to my mother's chagrin. 

I have to agree with everything others have said about how stay-at-home mothers are derided by the population at large, and other women in particular.  It never ceases to amaze and disgust me. 

Sometimes I wonder if I'm a misogynist because of how much I want to kick so many of my fellow women in the neck for being smarmy bitches. But then I realize that no, I'm not the misogynist.  They are.  The worst among them are misogynist, misandrist, and can't stand children; not even clean, well-behaved children.  They view them as some kind of bipedal oil slick that's destined to cause widespread destruction if not corralled safely into a small, tightly controlled area away from the latte sipping public.

92

I suppose the reason that I say I feel like a bit less of a woman is because I won't have kids because I am horribly selfish and don't want to make the sacrifices required to be a good parent.  Though I do flatter myself a bit that at least I know that about myself rather than having a kid as a fashion accessory.  There's also the fact that if I did have kids I would be That Mom and would laugh at the pathetic efforts of the helicopter parents.

The burden comes in when you fail to provide for your own needs and have to fall back on the welfare-state -- then your failure to procreate means that you're lumbering strangers with your continued care, and I think that's morally wrong. Remaining childless is a choice, and it means taking the responsibility for your own care even into old age.

Exactly.  I'm trying to be good about saving for retirement and making arrangements to care for myself.  I do have a brother but we aren't close and he has a wife and a step-daughter and step-grandson (holy shit that means I'm a step-greataunt, brb getting on the carosel) and I want him to be able to take care of them before needing to take care of me.  I don't doubt that he would, I just don't want him to have to do so.

93

I do think that makes me a bit less of a woman.

Bah. Child-rearing is, from a biological standpoint, the sole reason and purpose for existence...but that's a depressing and mechanistic way to look at life. I don't have children either, and don't plan to have any, but I don't think that makes me "less" in any higher sense.

Monty, I don't think it makes you or her less of a person, but the primary distinction in masculinity and femininity are built around child-rearing. I woman who doesn't bear and nurture children is missing a prime distinction from men, and in that sense I'd say they are less of a woman. Not that they are less worthy and important though.

These women at work make fun of her and her husband both behind her back and to her face calling her children 'spawn'.

This is the attitude of teachers? People who are supposedly called to be around children all day?

94
"Richard Freeman, an economist at Harvard University, said young people 'will be scarred and they will be called the "lost generation" - in that their careers would not be the same way if we had avoided this economic disaster.'"

Didn't most of these kids vote for The One?
Over and over again, the ones who supported him the most are the ones who get hurt the most.

95 Got out of the shower in time to see a little Democrat tree rat who had somehow got past the democrat guard on my pole and was gnawing the cord for my bird feeder. He succeeded in breaking the cord and dropping it to the ground.

Little bastard got his free lunch.

96 Yes the welfare/SS state costs cause people to have fewer kids, but I also think the social changes of high divorce and unmarried rates are hurting. It's hard to think you're ready for a family when you know you are really on your own (and might even have siblings or other relatives already dependent on you). Posted by: HeartlessBlackOrchid at September 26, 2011 09:31 AM (SB0V2) We've postponed kids until 30. Was 26, then 28, now 30. The economy is the key for those of us who have the brains to use protection and are too pro-life to go the "just abort it" route. My generation is fiscally fucked six ways from sunday.

97 People will fuck, that hasn't changed. People don't want the biological result when they can't afford it and they (at the moment) still have too much pride to ask for a handout. It isn't lower class birthrates that are dropping, shall we say...

98 I think that you're being a little unfair to the little guy.
He showed initiative and intelligence.  He didn't just wait around for a check to come in the mail.
That little squirrel is a conservative in the rough.

99
I can't help thinking that another reason for the decline in marriage is the hell-on-earth that is the legal system surrounding divorce. Specifically, the way that men are treated like criminals and the implication that their only worth comes from emptying their wallet into the ex's purse.

After reading a bunch of Dr. Helen's blog posts over the years, I'm not surprised that many men simply choose to forgo marriage.

100 I'm not surprised that many men simply choose to forgo marriage. Posted by: IllTemperedCur at September 26, 2011 11:03 AM (6BvaE) You are actually more likely statistically to see your children if you didn't marry than if you did. Divorce court can really fuck things up for men.

101

 

  Good morning, good people.  Nice to see the world (as we know it) is still crumbling, provides continuity, I suppose. At least us 60+ aren't likely to witness the TOTAL collapse, imho. The sheer size of our economy guarantees it.

  My only regret is that our kids will be adversely affected through no fault of theirs. They're good, sold people, raised right.And their kids are being reared in the same manner.

102 I've come to the clear realization that the massive problem in our society is the disparity between those who receive government income and those who don't. Who wants to keep their income more? So far it seems like those government income people are doing a better job of getting their income at the expense of mine. This most likely due to the fact that I can be put in jail for trying to keep more of my income.

103 The Doors - Crawling King Snake LIVE!

104

 

  Just recalled a segment of Atlas Shrugged and one particular phrase--"rational self-interest". It strikes me as an extraordinary way to live one's life. It also shouldn't be necessary to add the qualifier "practiced in a legal, moral, and ethical manner".

 

105

Posted by: irongrampa at September 26, 2011 11:17 AM (SAMxH)

I don't know. I think rational self-interest at this point would be to take from the state any freebies one could get, but I'm proud not to, even if the beast is lumbering around in death throes.

106 Wheeeeeeeeeee!

107 35 just knowing that he was "gone" unmoored me and made me always feel a little bit less confident in the future.

That's pretty much what happened to me, too.   My brother had the guts to have kids but only two...recently he said if he'd known how well they would come out, he would have had more.  But our childhood had been just hopeless chaos.  It takes a lot of hope and faith to push ahead regardless.

108 Uh, I hate to break this to the brainiac scientists, but the population cannot "grow" as a result of people turning 60. If by "grow" they mean "change in demographics", fine. But the population cannot increase because people get older.

109 I'm confused. Population "growth" is coming from geezers over 60? Are they fissioning or something? I wasn't aware that as I slide towards paramecium-like levels of intellect I would also gain the ability to independently propagate. 58% of growth is from sexagenarians? LOL.

110 The Social Security "trust fund / lockbox" farce was covered by Reagan in his 1964  "A Time for Choosing" speech that he gave on behalf of Goldwater.  So, yeah, it's been recognized as being a lie for a long time.

111 In Daniel's article: "Perhaps the problem is that banks donÂ’t want to lend money because they donÂ’t see profitable opportunities."

This may be part of it, but I can tell you from personal experience that at least in the housing market, they won't refi with current owners and write down their losses (instead of what they're doing, which is waiting months for a short sale to another borrower, meanwhile while housing prices slide further).

Why? Federal micromanagement of the banks, which has eliminated loans for people who would otherwise have qualified (closing the barn door after the horses bolted). "We don't have a program for that" was all I got from my bank. When we had to move out of state for a job, they basically insensitivized me to short-sell instead of refi-ing and letting me rent it out and keep it off the sales market.

112 Hey Monty, all that is gold doesn't always glitter.

113 Previously posted at the HotAir greenroom, but...

GDP is normally defined as C (consumption) + I (private investment) + G (government spending) + [x - i] (net exports), but there is a fundamental flaw involved.

All of these assume that the result is desired: Consumption because people want to consume; Government spending because people want bridges and roads; net exports because other nations find value in our goods.

But Consumption is Consumption, even if itÂ’s heroin; Government spending is included in GDP, even if itÂ’s useless boondoggles like trains to nowhere or Solyndra. These are included in GDP even if they adversely impact the public.

And, when it comes to government spending, a great deal of government projects can actually be worse than useless — not only do they flush money away today to no benefit, but they create continuing obligations to flush money away tomorrow. A train to nowhere today wastes ever dollar of its construction….but also creates an obligation for continuing maintenance or wind-up costs on termination.

The reason that people feel that weÂ’re still in a recession, though the GDP numbers might show otherwise, is because a large amount of the GDP is government deficit spending of zero or negative utility.

114 I feel DOOMed, and I LIKES It!

115 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

116 Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to more added agreeable from you! However, how could we communicate?