The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

How to destroy a country in a few easy lessons!

Shrink the manufacturing base so there are fewer jobs available that can support a family without a second income. Infantilize young adults so that when they finally have children it is much later in life. Minimize the successes of the country and maximize the perceived failures, so there is less desire among the young to participate in traditional roles, like raising families. Make abortion ubiquitous. Blur the lines between men and women so the traditional roles of mother and father are less attractive compared to the hedonism presented by popular culture.

It worked in Europe, and it seems to be working here!

CDC birth data for 2020 show that fewer babies were born, the birth rate has dropped to less than half what it was in the 1960s, and the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman is far behind us, with the current rate of 1.6 children per woman not even close to the replacement rate.

And that is the plan. What a perfect argument for opening the gates on our southern border! If Americans aren't having enough babies to maintain our current standard of living then we must bring in new and vibrant people who are more than willing to pump out four or five or six kids and ~~overwhelm the welfare system~~ revitalize our labor force.

And -- of course -- vote Democrat forever.

Observe the leftist policy wish-list from the perspective of promoting stable families, and it is horrendous...an insidious attack on Judaeo-Christian teaching and the traditional values that created America and its exceptionalism.

Capital gains? Tax the hell out of them so people won't build businesses. Estate taxes? Raise them to the skies, so families are unable to give the fruits of their labors to their heirs.

It goes on and on; the goal is the creation of an underclass that dominates the electorate but is dependent on government largess...exactly the antithesis of American Exceptionalism, self-sufficiency and independence.

We will end up with a sclerotic society devoid of the entrepreneurial spirit, empty of a positive vision of the future, and one that will spiral into something like Italy if we are lucky, and Venezuela if we aren't!

Posted by: CBD at 11:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 I got nothin

Posted by: Swingin' for the downs at May 06, 2021 10:01 AM (Pxs3T)

2 I'll fetch the otters

Posted by: Swingin' for the downs at May 06, 2021 10:01 AM (Pxs3T)

3 What the monkey said

Posted by: Scuba_Dude at May 06, 2021 10:02 AM (WsJuq)

4 Welp. It was nice while it lasted. So long and thanks for all the fish!

Posted by: Lord Squirrel at May 06, 2021 10:02 AM (ZIoLS)

5 I was assured last night on the science channel that a super nova will wipe us all out.

Posted by: BignJames at May 06, 2021 10:02 AM (AwYPR)

6 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:02 AM (Zz0t1)

7 How to destroy a country in a few easy lessons!

=========

Does this star Matthew McConaughey?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 10:02 AM (LvTSG)

8 I hate democrats.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:03 AM (ONvIw)

9 Top 10?

Posted by: River Commander at May 06, 2021 10:03 AM (mlhJ+)

10 I was assured last night on the science channel that a super nova will wipe us all out.
Posted by: BignJames at May 06, 2021 10:02 AM (AwYPR)

Well?

*taps foot*

We're WAITING!!??!

Posted by: Judge Smails at May 06, 2021 10:03 AM (Zz0t1)

11 Thanks, CBD -- end of the last thread was getting overrun with talk of gnarly vajayjay stuff

Posted by: Doof at May 06, 2021 10:03 AM (mZUr4)

12 Nailed it!

Posted by: River Commander at May 06, 2021 10:03 AM (mlhJ+)

13 In for another day of fun and frivolity!

Posted by: Norman Spiny at May 06, 2021 10:03 AM (ux7Tl)

14 2 I'll fetch the otters
Posted by: Swingin' for the downs at May 06, 2021 10:01 AM (Pxs3T)

It's Anal Thursday already?

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is Already Dead at May 06, 2021 10:03 AM (z5Vrg)

15 We could have done so much to advance the human race, reaching out to the stars, spreading across the galaxy and the universe. Unfortunately, within just a few generations (unless we get lucky), we will revert to the tribalistic societies of the past and will most likely never progress any further. We are the end culmination of the human race. Think on that.

Posted by: Lord Squirrel at May 06, 2021 10:04 AM (ZIoLS)

16 Comrade citizen, the birth rate will simply be augmented with millions of refugees and illegals. You worry too much.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:04 AM (wLuYo)

17 =========

Does this star Matthew McConaughey?
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 10:02 AM (LvTSG)

He's seriously contemplating running for governor of Texas.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:04 AM (Zz0t1)

18 Whew, we dodged a bullet!

Posted by: family courts at May 06, 2021 10:04 AM (DTX3h)

19 I was assured last night on the science channel that a super nova will wipe us all out.

Posted by: BignJames at May 06, 2021 10:02 AM (AwYPR)

The champagne kind?

Posted by: Oasis at May 06, 2021 10:04 AM (mZUr4)

20 Don't be so provincial.

This isn't about destroying a country. It's about destroying an entire civilization.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:04 AM (Jsjd7)

21 The champagne kind?
Posted by: Oasis at May 06, 2021 10:04 AM (mZUr4)

I hate you.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:05 AM (Zz0t1)

22 Does this star Matthew McConaughey?
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 10:02 AM (LvTSG)

He's seriously contemplating running for governor of Texas.
Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:04 AM (Zz0t1)

Better than Ann Richards again

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:05 AM (ifmtJ)

23 The interesting questions for me are "was it accidental or on purpose? Did it shift from accidental to deliberate progression after its discovery? If the latter, when did it occur?"

I won't live long enough to learn the answers to those questions. I suspect it was "accidental, then intentional" and the pivot happened in the 80s. But I don't know.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:05 AM (Jsjd7)

24 He's seriously contemplating running for governor of Texas.
Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:04 AM (Zz0t1)

I only recognize him as that insufferably smug prick in the Lincoln ads.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 06, 2021 10:05 AM (kQcVW)

25 We will end up with a sclerotic society devoid of the entrepreneurial spirit, empty of a positive vision of the future, and one that will spiral into something like Italy if we are lucky, and Venezuela if we aren't!

Well, yeah.

But, what's the bad news?

Posted by: naturalfake at May 06, 2021 10:05 AM (dWwl8)

26 The recent developments at Basecamp are very disheartening. You are now forced to have an opinion and penalized if it's the wrong one.

Posted by: pawn at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (Cfk8j)

27
Better than Ann Richards again
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:05 AM (ifmtJ)

So's the shit I took a few minutes ago......

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (Zz0t1)

28 Well this is just depressing.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (Ez6QX)

29 I had a dream that I was in a timeline where the birth control pill hadn't been invented.

Didn't get to explore more as I got hung up in a bar, talking about where to go dancing.

I have weird dreams.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (ifmtJ)

30 BTW, Biden effed up again speaking yesterday. Called the CDC the "CCD". Unless he was actually thinking CCP??

Posted by: andycanuck at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (UHVv4)

31 The champagne kind?

Posted by: Oasis at May 06, 2021 10:04 AM (mZUr4)

Here's to champagne wishes and super nova dreams!

Posted by: Robin Leach at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (7bRMQ)

32 Frankly, the US was dead as of the 1960s. We've just been fighting over the corpse. The 1965 immigration act that opens the borders wide for mass third world often communist sympathetic immigration combined with the birth control pill sealed our fate.

Demography is destiny. I often find myself looking at childless 30, 40, and 50 somethings thinking I don't really think your opinion matters on anything as you have no skin in the game. I won't vote for any childless politician because what do they care about the future?

Posted by: Lulu at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (Ve//x)

33 'sup, ya'll?

Posted by: Jane D'Oh #Impeach Foady Six! at May 06, 2021 10:07 AM (ptqGC)

34 We will end up with a sclerotic society devoid of the entrepreneurial
spirit, empty of a positive vision of the future, and one that will
spiral into something like Italy if we are lucky, and Venezuela if we
aren't!

But no mean tweets!

Posted by: IP at May 06, 2021 10:07 AM (pWrfh)

35 I hate you.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:05 AM (Zz0t1)

Kinda hate myself for that one.

Posted by: Doof at May 06, 2021 10:07 AM (mZUr4)

36 >>I have weird dreams.

The sandwich was eating me!

Posted by: Jerry at May 06, 2021 10:07 AM (Vblwd)

37 BTW, Biden effed up again speaking yesterday. Called the CDC the "CCD". Unless he was actually thinking CCP??
Posted by: andycanuck at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (UHVv4)
++++
It was a random regurgitated memory of his prior life. His first camcorder - which he bought to tape his intra-familial sexual exploits - had a CCD sensor.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:07 AM (Jsjd7)

38 BTW, Biden effed up again speaking yesterday. Called the CDC the "CCD". Unless he was actually thinking CCP??
Posted by: andycanuck at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (UHVv4)

CCD? Corruption-Coupled Democrats? Works for me.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 06, 2021 10:07 AM (kQcVW)

39 No idea what His politics are but I would vote for him. Any guy who resists arrest while naked and playing the bongos at 3am is ok in my book.

And he would have to promise to open every press conference with all right all right allll right.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:07 AM (wLuYo)

40 I had a dream once,
there was a wall
inside my head

Posted by: fISHBONE at May 06, 2021 10:08 AM (Vblwd)

41 BTW, Biden effed up again speaking yesterday. Called the CDC the "CCD". Unless he was actually thinking CCP??
Posted by: andycanuck at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (UHVv4)

Biden is living that part of The Wolf of Wall Street where you see how things ACTUALLY went, but he BELIEVES it went completely different.

And your hash looks like a new TV broadcast band.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:08 AM (Zz0t1)

42 I am, by nature, optimistic... but the reality of current events cannot be denied. Unless something dramatic happens, the best days of this country are in the past. While I was busy building a career and raising a family over the last 20-30 years, the long march through the institutions was completed by the radicals who are now in charge. I didn't even notice it was happening! But they're in charge now; and they're fanatics; and they're insane (in the sense that they cannot think rationally); and they're not giving up their power easily...

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at May 06, 2021 10:08 AM (pcsoT)

43 Because of low birth rates and the "disappearing middle class" the Ryan-esque GOPe types like to whisper that immigration is the only way to keep Social Security and Medicare from going spectacularly bust.

Of course, there is one other way. Encourage a healthy middle class and American families. Those policy changes might help.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 06, 2021 10:08 AM (uiux8)

44 What a shocker the birth rates are down. Democraps running the country is not exactly a boner enducement.

Posted by: Norman Spiny at May 06, 2021 10:09 AM (ux7Tl)

45 Plenty of younger women bought the lie that having kids was an attack on the planet, especially first world kids.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:09 AM (ONvIw)

46 'sup, ya'll?
Posted by: Jane D'Oh #Impeach Foady Six! at May 06, 2021 10:07 AM (ptqGC)

There was a Dave in Fla sighting in the last thread!

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:09 AM (Zz0t1)

47 Why the fuck is the Nasdaq down 120 today after being killed by Yellen's mis statements? This market seems to be controlled by some retard with a joy stick.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 06, 2021 10:09 AM (/MaDp)

48

Kinda hate myself for that one.
Posted by: Doof at May 06, 2021 10:07 AM (mZUr4)

Don't force me to side with TJM.......

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:09 AM (Zz0t1)

49 37 It was a random regurgitated memory of his prior life. His first
camcorder - which he bought to tape his intra-familial sexual exploits -
had a CCD sensor.
huh. he's old enough that i'd've thought his first camcorder was a super 8.

Posted by: Comrade Anachronda, behind the Newsom curtain at May 06, 2021 10:09 AM (sGtp+)

50 What the hell, might as well post in three threads. A 2021 record.

One of the liberal wishlist items that I doubt will happen is the increase on capital gains. My logic is that one thing we know now is that government is controlled by a cabal. They can talk a big game to get leftists, socialists, minorities, and immigrants to vote Dem. But their side has no more control over the cabal than our side does.

The people who are making the decisions are people like Bezos (discussed in last thread). And they don't want to be less rich. Less rich means you aren't in power, since buying privilege is the name of the game.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at May 06, 2021 10:09 AM (5p7BC)

51 Pat Buchanan wrote a book about demographics in the 90s. He predicted exactly what happened over the next 25 years.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:10 AM (wLuYo)

52 Demography is destiny. I often find myself looking at childless 30, 40, and 50 somethings thinking I don't really think your opinion matters on anything as you have no skin in the game. I won't vote for any childless politician because what do they care about the future?
Posted by: Lulu

I have more skin in the game than you think. I've paid for your crotch fruit's schooling for thirty years with ZERO fucking input because "I don't have kids". Just shut up and pay your taxes serf.

Yeah. Fuck that shit.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:10 AM (OCTRt)

53 I was assured last night on the science channel that a super nova will wipe us all out.
Posted by: BignJames at May 06, 2021 10:02 AM (AwYPR)
++++
Sure. Or the Yellowstone Caldera. Or newly-active tectonic faults. Or an asteroid strike. Or the end-of-life expansion of our sun. Or the heat death of the universe. Something inevitable will destroy this rock and everything on it. If we escape that, something inevitable will destroy the whole party across the whole universe. Eventually.

I think a lot of people are fixated on things like that because it absolves them of trying to fix anything. "There's no point because apocalypse X will get us anyway." It's the old-fashioned fatalism cop out with a pseudoscientific bent.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:11 AM (Jsjd7)

54 Kinda hate myself for that one.
Posted by: Doof at May 06, 2021 10:07 AM (mZUr4)

Don't force me to side with TJM.......
Posted by: Sponge

Prometheus! Prometheus! Prometheus!

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:11 AM (OCTRt)

55 >>Demography is destiny. I often find myself looking at childless 30, 40, and 50 somethings thinking I don't really think your opinion matters on anything as you have no skin in the game.

Yet we are forced to pay for your children.

Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:11 AM (Vblwd)

56 BTW, Biden effed up again speaking yesterday. Called the CDC the "CCD". Unless he was actually thinking CCP??
Posted by: andycanuck at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (UHVv4)

Well he sure as hell didn't mean Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Or maybe he did. Who knows with him?

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:11 AM (Ez6QX)

57 Birth rates have fallen because:

17th wave feminism
Liberals think kids are a burden
Liberals thing kids hurt the planet
Liberals are kids themselves.
Liberals are self-centered assholes

Conservatives are scared to death at what the future holds and don't want to put kids through it.

Posted by: AlaBAMA at May 06, 2021 10:11 AM (4fSQf)

58 Sclerotic

A perfectly cromulent word.

Dictionary.com
...of or pertaining to sclerosis, a hardening or induration of a tissue or part, or an increase of connective tissue or the like at the expense of more active tissue.

See also hidebound, inflexible

Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:11 AM (Fc5rx)

59 I have more skin in the game than you think. I've paid for your crotch fruit's schooling for thirty years with ZERO fucking input because "I don't have kids". Just shut up and pay your taxes serf.
-------------------
You mean you paid for a union full of Democrat morons to teach other people's kids.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 06, 2021 10:11 AM (/MaDp)

60 Odd but nowhere does the cdc say that while the birth rate is dropping the number of abortions performed in the Country have skyrocketed.

Gee, it seems like they are ignoring that on purpose.

Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at May 06, 2021 10:11 AM (JUOKG)

61 On the bright side, the weather today is perfect for fishing.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at May 06, 2021 10:12 AM (2goRJ)

62 47

First time UI claims fell under 500k. That means rates will rise. Rates rising is bad for growth stocks on the nas. Good economic news is often bad news for stocks.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:12 AM (wLuYo)

63
Well he sure as hell didn't mean Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Or maybe he did. Who knows with him?
Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:11 AM (Ez6QX)

I got hairy legs.

Posted by: Joey Fingerstick McShitpants at May 06, 2021 10:12 AM (Zz0t1)

64 >The recent developments at Basecamp are very disheartening. You are now forced to have an opinion and penalized if it's the wrong one.
Posted by: pawn at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (Cfk8j)

What are the most recent developments? Did they reverse course because of the crying titty baby communists?

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:12 AM (DXFDM)

65 >>> The recent developments at Basecamp are very disheartening. You are now forced to have an opinion and penalized if it's the wrong one.
Posted by: pawn at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (Cfk8j)

The development that the 1/3 parasites that were feeding on the company and actively trying to destroy it are now fleeing is disheartening? As long as the executives don't chicken out this is a great move. No news you read will paint this in a good light. Because all news is propaganda. Executives apologized for saving the company but said the policy will not change. If you stand firm against the woke soy-based invasion you will win.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 06, 2021 10:12 AM (DoV/l)

66 >>You mean you paid for a union full of Democrat morons to teach other people's kids.

At the barrel of a gun.

Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:12 AM (Vblwd)

67 There are also family "one and done" groups. When kid 1 had a second child, these local groups were appalled.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:12 AM (ONvIw)

68 "[a US future] that will spiral into something like Italy if we are lucky, and Venezuela if we aren't!"

Italy is wildly optimistic. I'd replace it with "the broken remnants of Yugoslavia" as the optimistic outlook. If the US fractures, at least some of the resulting pieces might be sane...right?

Posted by: Grimmy at May 06, 2021 10:12 AM (GJ+dD)

69
55 >>Demography is destiny. I often find myself looking at childless 30, 40, and 50 somethings thinking I don't really think your opinion matters on anything as you have no skin in the game.

Yet we are forced to pay for your children.
Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:11 AM (Vblwd

Honestly, this. Don't care for that blanket bulllshit. Everyone has a story and kids aren't always in it for many reasons.

Posted by: AlaBAMA at May 06, 2021 10:12 AM (4fSQf)

70 The people who are making the decisions are people like Bezos (discussed in last thread). And they don't want to be less rich. Less rich means you aren't in power, since buying privilege is the name of the game.
Posted by: Dave in Fla at May 06, 2021 10:09 AM (5p7BC)

Ah, but like AOP said, certain people will be exempt for some made up reason.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:13 AM (Ez6QX)

71 A perfectly cromulent word.

Dictionary.com
...of or pertaining to sclerosis, a hardening or induration of a tissue or part, or an increase of connective tissue or the like at the expense of more active tissue.

See also hidebound, inflexible
Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:11 AM (Fc5rx)

Tell me about it......

Posted by: Liver of The Horde at May 06, 2021 10:13 AM (Zz0t1)

72 Conservatives are scared to death at what the future holds and don't want to put kids through it.
Posted by: AlaBAMA

*fistbump.

I fear for my nephew and "step" grandchildren.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:13 AM (OCTRt)

73 Cheap imports are what America needs!

Posted by: Joe Isuzu at May 06, 2021 10:13 AM (WmGrA)

74 If I was a yuute today I would have serious doubts about having kids.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:13 AM (wLuYo)

75 I got hairy legs.
Posted by: Joey Fingerstick McShitpants at May 06, 2021 10:12 AM (Zz0t1)

Whatever dude, I'm not touching them.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:14 AM (Ez6QX)

76 >>a hardening or induration of a tissue or part

It is the Morning Thread.

Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:14 AM (Vblwd)

77 >Demography is destiny. I often find myself looking at childless 30, 40, and 50 somethings thinking I don't really think your opinion matters on anything as you have no skin in the game. I won't vote for any childless politician because what do they care about the future?
Posted by: Lulu at May 06, 2021 10:06 AM (Ve//x)

You're not wrong, but then again, the pols who do have kids don't seem to worry about the country they are leaving the rest of us either. Our offspring might be reduced to paupers, but Muffy, Buffy, and Biff will still be oligarchs, so all is well!

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:14 AM (DXFDM)

78 Ah, but like AOP said, certain people will be exempt for some made up reason.
Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:13 AM (Ez6QX)

They will call it "ideological purity" and say they cannot be corrupted so they can enjoy things lesser moral beings cannot.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:14 AM (ONvIw)

79 If we escape that, something inevitable will destroy the whole party across the whole universe. Eventually.Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:11 AM (Jsjd7)

Eventually. Yes.

Posted by: That Guy Upstairs at May 06, 2021 10:14 AM (7bRMQ)

80
Whatever dude, I'm not touching them.
Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:14 AM (Ez6QX)

Sit on my lap for a sniff?

Posted by: Joey Fingerstick McShitpants at May 06, 2021 10:14 AM (Zz0t1)

81 77 You're not wrong, but then again, the pols who do have kids don't seem to worry about the country they are leaving the rest of us either. Our offspring might be reduced to paupers, but Muffy, Buffy, and Biff will still be oligarchs, so all is well!
Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:14 AM (DXFDM)

=======

Nancy Pelosi is a grandmother.

This seems like a not great barometer for measuring the worth of a politician.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 10:14 AM (LvTSG)

82 "[a US future] that will spiral into something like Italy if we are lucky, and Venezuela if we aren't!"

Italy is wildly optimistic. I'd replace it with "the broken remnants of Yugoslavia" as the optimistic outlook. If the US fractures, at least some of the resulting pieces might be sane...right?
Posted by: Grimmy

Bosnia & Croatia.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:15 AM (OCTRt)

83 Plenty of younger women bought the lie that having kids was an attack on the planet, especially first world kids.
Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:09 AM (ONvIw)
++++
I dunno about that. That one didn't have a lot of legs in the real world. I do think, however, that there was another lie that a lot of women bought hook, line and sinker. It was a two-part lie:
1. You should prioritize your career over family. You'll be happier and more fulfilled.
2. You should wait until you're financially stable and in your mid to late thirties to start a family. Have fun first, don't get tied down, and wait instead.

The first might be true. People are different. It will be true for some. It does not appear to have been true for most. The second is not true. Biology makes that a very high-risk proposition, and psychology - male or female - amplifies the problems and makes the final probability of pulling it off increasingly unlikely.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:15 AM (Jsjd7)

84 62 47

First time UI claims fell under 500k. That means rates will rise. Rates rising is bad for growth stocks on the nas. Good economic news is often bad news for stocks.
----------------
Joe, you can't raise rates while printing shit tons of money. If you want higher interest rates then shrink the float of availabe dollars. Supply and Demand. The only thing I think is happening is that the Suits realize the Dems can't pull off their new Ponzi - Infrastructure scheme and that gives them the Sadz.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 06, 2021 10:15 AM (/MaDp)

85 Joe Biden has kids. To the detriment of us all.

Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:15 AM (Vblwd)

86 Nancy Pelosi is a grandmother.

This seems like a not great barometer for measuring the worth of a politician.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison

So is Bia Den.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:15 AM (OCTRt)

87 A couple of flaws:
1) immigrants don't necessarily represent a Dem voting bloc, especially with their policies that are anathema to Catholics, which is what most South Americans are; and not all of them are willing to remain serfs forever.
2) the natural animosity between POC variations will not bring them together, in fact it will keep them separate at best, at each others' throats at worst.
3) at some point, after bleeding the squillionaires dry, the pot is empty and there is no one left to fill it. Probably more people than you think will see this train wreck coming and make adjustments.

Posted by: here in Italy at May 06, 2021 10:15 AM (fGjtJ)

88 Progressivism exists to make normal American's lives a living hell. And just to prove that pretty much everything is backwards, consider that the countries who want to destroy us precisely because we're the best in the world strangely refuse to copy our success to lift their own peoples up.

They'd rather bring us down to their pathetic level. WASTF

Posted by: BackwardsBoy - Psychos Rule! No, really. They're in charge now. at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (HaL55)

89 Croatia is a pretty good ex-pat place to go.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (5p7BC)

90 The Basecamp leader that was trying to flush all the political BS out of the workplace was forced out after a confrontation.

Posted by: pawn at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (Cfk8j)

91 The interesting questions for me are "was it accidental or on purpose?

Does it really matter, though? The quickie headline on my phone this morning was that some Chinese rocket is hurtling to earth. It occurred to me that if that rocket should land right on top of Chicago or Seattle, or any big American city, the media would instantly be filled with excuses for the Chinese. We would be sternly lectured about defaming them by suggesting that they did anything wrong, let alone that they should pay for damages. And even if strong evidence turned up that the crash WAS deliberate, the Chinese would just stare us down, and the US would slink away muttering impotently.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (8akOE)

92 LORD Biff!!!

Posted by: biff romney-mccain-bush xiv at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (UHVv4)

93 Ann Althouse posted a link to the WaPo the other day:

?THE 2020 CENSUS offers a powerful argument for immigration. The United States in the past 10 years saw the slowest population growth rate in eight decades, owing both to plummeting fertility and dwindling immigration. Demographic stagnation, and the resulting possibility of anemic economic growth, threaten American vitality."

Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (4a9Vv)

94 But socialism is a wonderful system! It just hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried, because the right people - with the righteous good hearts necessary - haven't been running it.
But now with the pure-as-gold, incorruptible, hoaxy-folksy Joe Biden running the system, we'll be in the Workers' Paradise before you know it.

Posted by: One-Eyed Cat Peepin' in the Seafood Store at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (Ybhj0)

95 IPspawn 1 and 2 are in their mid 20's and on their own. House, job, car, pets, sure.

Kids? ... Nope, and no plans.

Posted by: IP at May 06, 2021 10:17 AM (pWrfh)

96 Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:15 AM (Jsjd7)

I actually know quite a few women under 45 who refused to have kids due to environmental damage. And at a few do not work. They play tennis and they are active in unpaid activism.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:17 AM (ONvIw)

97 a hardening or induration of a tissue or part

It is the Morning Thread.
Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:14 AM (Vblwd)

-----------

Pics or it didn't happen.

Posted by: Anthony Weiner at May 06, 2021 10:17 AM (RQDhf)

98 86 Nancy Pelosi is a grandmother.

This seems like a not great barometer for measuring the worth of a politician.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison

So is Bia Den.
Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:15 AM (OCTRt)

========

So, he's dedicated to that transition, huh?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 10:17 AM (LvTSG)

99 But socialism is a wonderful system! It just hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried, because the right people - with the righteous good hearts necessary - haven't been running it.
But now with the pure-as-gold, incorruptible, hoaxy-folksy Joe Biden running the system, we'll be in the Workers' Paradise before you know it.
Posted by: One-Eyed Cat Peepin' in the Seafood Store at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (Ybhj0)

I TOLD you......

Posted by: John Kerry, Reporting for Doody at May 06, 2021 10:17 AM (Zz0t1)

100 Why the fuck is the Nasdaq down 120 today after
being killed by Yellen's mis statements? This market seems to be
controlled by some retard with a joy stick.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 06, 2021 10:09 AM (/MaDp)

======================
Every biotech stock I own (along with tech stocks) has been dropping for two weeks. Higher cap gains taxes and the end of cheap money probably drives that (with the thesis being all these companies require tons of capital before producing revenue).

Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 06, 2021 10:18 AM (uiux8)

101 I actually know quite a few women under 45 who refused to have kids due to environmental damage. And at a few do not work. They play tennis and they are active in unpaid activism.
Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:17 AM (ONvIw)
++++
Crazy. I know several women - an aunt among them - who parroted that line then right on and had kids anyway. 2-4 of them, depending on the person.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:18 AM (Jsjd7)

102 >>They play tennis

Tell us about their Tennis Skirts.

Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:18 AM (Vblwd)

103 I've never really cared too much for the population growth arguments. Why not let families have as little/many kids as they want?

Posted by: Brometheus at May 06, 2021 10:18 AM (s85a/)

104 There was a Dave in Fla sighting in the last thread!

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:09 AM (Zz0t1)

Yay! I've missed him, Jackstraw, and zombie. Was just telling an 'ette that yesterday.

Speaking of 'ettes, had a very fun lunch with Ladyl on Tuesday.

Posted by: Jane D'Oh #Impeach Foady Six! at May 06, 2021 10:18 AM (ptqGC)

105 93 Ann Althouse posted a link to the WaPo the other day:

?THE 2020 CENSUS offers a powerful argument for immigration. The United States in the past 10 years saw the slowest population growth rate in eight decades, owing both to plummeting fertility and dwindling immigration. Demographic stagnation, and the resulting possibility of anemic economic growth, threaten American vitality."
Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (4a9Vv)

There's the man behind the curtain.

Laymen's version: immigrant labor is cheaper and more profitable than your native kids are. Stop having kids and we'll go get them from South America.

An interesting aside to this that I find odd: while we are importing labor at a massive rate now, companies continue to shift production to South America and China.

Posted by: AlaBAMA at May 06, 2021 10:19 AM (4fSQf)

106 53 I think a lot of people are fixated on things like that because it
absolves them of trying to fix anything. "There's no point because
apocalypse X will get us anyway." It's the old-fashioned fatalism cop
out with a pseudoscientific bent.
i'd just like to say that "apocalypse x" would be a good name for a band.

Posted by: Comrade Anachronda, behind the Newsom curtain at May 06, 2021 10:19 AM (sGtp+)

107 IPspawn 1 and 2 are in their mid 20's and on their own. House, job, car, pets, sure.

Kids? ... Nope, and no plans.
Posted by: IP at May 06, 2021 10:17 AM (pWrfh)

Yeah, I don't think I'm ever going to be a grandmother. I'm okay with that.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:19 AM (Ez6QX)

108 I've never really cared too much for the population growth arguments. Why not let families have as little/many kids as they want?
Posted by: Brometheus at May 06, 2021 10:18 AM (s85a/)
++++
Controlling reproduction is a huge facet of totalitarianism. The "wrong people" reproducing or people reproducing too quickly or too slowly is hell on planning.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:19 AM (Jsjd7)

109 89 Croatia is a pretty good ex-pat place to go.
Posted by: Dave in Fla at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (5p7BC)

It was a nice place to visit. I loved Eastern Europe.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:19 AM (ONvIw)

110 >Croatia is a pretty good ex-pat place to go.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (5p7BC)

I rate this as True. Plus Croatia has a high concentration of hot women.

Posted by: Muad'dib at May 06, 2021 10:20 AM (sjdRT)

111
Tell us about their Tennis Skirts.
Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:18 AM (Vblwd)

https://tinyurl.com/bz3f5ys3

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:20 AM (Zz0t1)

112 Laymen's version: immigrant labor is cheaper and more profitable than your native kids are.

Have you honestly seen the quality?

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:20 AM (OCTRt)

113 It was a nice place to visit. I loved Eastern Europe.
Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:19 AM (ONvIw)
++++
I have never been treated better as a foreigner than when I was in Bulgaria.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:20 AM (Jsjd7)

114 Basecamp developments

This was posted earlier by someone else:

https://tinyurl.com/3servubd

Posted by: pawn at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (Cfk8j)

115 83

My wife and I did #2 and have no regerts. We spent the first few years of marriage living it up. We traveled a lot, went to bars, clubs etc. Among our friends it was the same. Then we all started having kids in the 32-35 years old range.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (wLuYo)

116 So if the Vid Vac patent is set aside and becomes open to the world, what's the incentive for the next one to be developed, I mean besides a quick government approval and funding payoff?

Oh.. I see it now.

Posted by: IP at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (pWrfh)

117 >THE 2020 CENSUS offers a powerful argument for immigration. The United States in the past 10 years saw the slowest population growth rate in eight decades, owing both to plummeting fertility and dwindling immigration. Demographic stagnation, and the resulting possibility of anemic economic growth, threaten American vitality."
Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (4a9Vv)

Funny how that works when you crush the conditions that lead to family formation, huh? Now you Zoomers and Millennials learn to live in a pod and eat bugs, pronto. We've got to import millions more Spherical Guatemalans!

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (DXFDM)

118 Posted by: MIRROR UNIVERSE MITT ROMNEY at May 06, 2021 10:20 AM (Pzzpr)

You DICK!!!!

Posted by: Jeff Spicoli at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (Zz0t1)

119 D'oh Boy bought his first house yesterday! It's a very nice place that he and two roommates have been living in for a couple of years. Safe, nice neighborhood, privacy fenced back yard, nicely landscaped. He went through the VA and they were great.

Posted by: Jane D'Oh #Impeach Foady Six! at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (ptqGC)

120 Tell us about their Tennis Skirts.
Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:18 AM (Vblwd)

https://tinyurl.com/bz3f5ys3
Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:20 AM (Zz0t1)

Bless you

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (ifmtJ)

121 Every biotech stock I own (along with tech stocks) has been dropping for two weeks. Higher cap gains taxes and the end of cheap money probably drives that (with the thesis being all these companies require tons of capital before producing revenue).
Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 06, 2021 10:18 AM (uiux

-------------------

Pharmaceuticals have to be dropping today after Biden's administration came out in support of a "pause" in patent rights. Sure, it's only /wink wink/ the COVID vaccine. At least until they figure out what should be "shared" next week.

Hopefully we've invented every medicine ever needed, because good luck getting any R&D approved in the future.

Posted by: Virginia SoCon at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (a/dOO)

122 Don't force me to side with TJM.......

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:09 AM (Zz0t1)

Can't we all just get along???

Posted by: Doof at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (mZUr4)

123 My grandmother came from (what is now) Croatia; I might even have a right of return there. But I don't speak the language, and I worry that the Balkans are right in the middle of the highway of the Middle Eastern invasion sweeping over Europe.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (8akOE)

124
My wife and I did #2 and have no regerts.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (wLuYo)

We're still not doing phrasing, are we.....

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (Zz0t1)

125 94 But socialism is a wonderful system! It just hasn't worked anywhere it's
been tried, because the right people - with the righteous good hearts
necessary - haven't been running it.
sure, assuming you know what "worked" means. bear in mind that some staunch advocates of socialism are also folks who claim that there are too many people on the earth.

Posted by: Comrade Anachronda, behind the Newsom curtain at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (sGtp+)

126 >I actually know quite a few women under 45 who refused to have kids due to environmental damage. And at a few do not work. They play tennis and they are active in unpaid activism.
Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:17 AM (ONvIw)

Hmm, I didn't consider that a large cohort of childless middle-aged women is a great source of free labor to push the prog agenda.

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (DXFDM)

127 Japan's current directive is to pay people to copulate. That's how bad their population problem is.

But Japan doesn't open its borders for mass immigration either.

Posted by: AlaBAMA at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (4fSQf)

128 jane
that's great news!

Posted by: phoenixgirl at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (CqHIp)

129 D'oh Boy bought his first house yesterday! It's a very nice place that he and two roommates have been living in for a couple of years. Safe, nice neighborhood, privacy fenced back yard, nicely landscaped. He went through the VA and they were great.
Posted by: Jane D'Oh

Congratulations to him!

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (OCTRt)

130 I LOVE tennis skirts.

Should probably take the game back up.

Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (Vblwd)

131
Bless you
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (ifmtJ)

I help where I can.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (Zz0t1)

132 ++++
Crazy. I know several women - an aunt among them - who parroted that line then right on and had kids anyway. 2-4 of them, depending on the person.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:18 AM (Jsjd7)

Sometimes it depends on whether or not you think your husband will dump you for someone who will have kids. I knew a few women, my age, who did that. I also know one of these greenies, whose husband left her when he changed his mind about the "planet".

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (ONvIw)

133 Conservatives are scared to death at what the future holds and don't want to put kids through it.
Posted by: AlaBAMA

*fistbump.

I fear for my nephew and "step" grandchildren.
Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:13 AM (OCTRt)

I know people whose children/grandchildren are going into the military. They seem like decent folk, their children are not monsters, but I wonder what comes out the other end, when they finish their "training."

Will these be the kids fighting for us... or against us?

Posted by: BurtTC at May 06, 2021 10:23 AM (U2EjU)

134 Good job Sponge.

Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:23 AM (Vblwd)

135 To be fair my stepdaughter has 5 wonderful kids, and she hates odd numbers. So the averages are about right in the big picture.

Posted by: IP at May 06, 2021 10:23 AM (pWrfh)

136 Basecamp developments

This was posted earlier by someone else:

https://tinyurl.com/3servubd
Posted by: pawn at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (Cfk8j)

Ugh.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:23 AM (Ez6QX)

137 Seeing Japan, Russia, and Middle East having population growth problems, leads me to think that this isn't an American only issue. It's probably more along the lines of technology and government hasn't figured out how to incentivize it properly.

Posted by: Brometheus at May 06, 2021 10:23 AM (s85a/)

138 125 Don't force me to side with TJM.......

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:09 AM (Zz0t1)

Can't we all just get along???
Posted by: Doof at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (mZUr4)

=========

Them's fightin' words...

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 10:23 AM (LvTSG)

139 84 Bond yields have been rising for a while already.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:23 AM (wLuYo)

140 Japan's current directive is to pay people to copulate. That's how bad their population problem is.

But Japan doesn't open its borders for mass immigration either.
Posted by: AlaBAMA

Bet they don't rape the guy on divorce, alimony & child support either.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:23 AM (OCTRt)

141
Good job Sponge.
Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:23 AM (Vblwd)

*fistbump*

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (Zz0t1)

142 Hungary is paying for babies. It seems to work. Too bad we decided to import babies instead of investing in our own. I miss the America I grew up in.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (/MaDp)

143 I am amazed and amused that childless libs (like many fomrer fiends and one of my sisters ) that don't care about the flood of third worlds immigrants think their priories of the environment, feminism, gay rights, NPR etc... will be priorities in the new shit-hole the US is headed for. Those things will all be tossed overboard along with the elderly white libs.

Posted by: Ripley at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (MxEKc)

144 Is it okay to have .5 of a child? *hic*

Posted by: Suburban Wine Mom at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (W4eKo)

145 Congratulations to D'oh buy on his first house. Always glad to see the deserving next generation buying into our country's future, especially vets.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (uiux8)

146 I know people whose children/grandchildren are going into the military. They seem like decent folk, their children are not monsters, but I wonder what comes out the other end, when they finish their "training."

Will these be the kids fighting for us... or against us?
Posted by: BurtTC at May 06, 2021 10:23 AM (U2EjU)

They'll just be like normal people. The extra brainwash sessions in the military are as convincing as the weirdos at college.

Posted by: Brometheus at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (s85a/)

147 >https://tinyurl.com/3servubd
Posted by: pawn at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (Cfk8j)

Well that's depressing. The screaming woke minority notch another win in the end. The left have pressure campaigns honed into a very sharp weapon.

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (DXFDM)

148 >>> The Basecamp leader that was trying to flush all the political BS out of the workplace was forced out after a confrontation.
Posted by: pawn at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (Cfk8j)

One individual left, not the executives that released the memo saying no more woke crap during work.

That person committed a thought-crime when he stated that it might be racist if you say that the color of your skin makes you a bad person and subject to the original sin of racism. The company suspended him but he then quit. Apparently there were millennials screaming, foaming at the mouth, and crying at work as a result of what he said.

It's crap but doesn't involve the executives and the original decision. The guy was probably just a scapegoat. And I don't blame him for quitting. He wouldn't have if he didn't believe he had better opportunities.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (DoV/l)

149 5 I was assured last night on the science channel that a super nova will wipe us all out.
Posted by: BignJames at May 06, 2021 10:02 AM (AwYPR)

You people are so fickle. Just because I tease for over a decade you decide to move on to something else. See if I give you any attention anymore.

Posted by: SMOD (not the reg. commentator) at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (Ojki1)

150 My wife and I did #2 and have no regerts. We spent the first few years of marriage living it up. We traveled a lot, went to bars, clubs etc. Among our friends it was the same. Then we all started having kids in the 32-35 years old range.
Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (wLuYo)
++++
Then you were likely married in your twenties. It's very very hard to get started if you wait until your thirties. You have to meet, court, marry, and get busy quickly. It isn't impossible but it is much more difficult.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (Jsjd7)

151 We were blessed to be able to have one child. Several miscarriages later, and one when he was two.

Wish we could have had one more, but it is what it is.

Posted by: Jane D'Oh #Impeach Foady Six! at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (ptqGC)

152 100

Yep. Nasdaq went on a 0% interest fueled tear over the past year. That party is over.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (wLuYo)

153 Seeing Japan, Russia, and Middle East having population growth problems, leads me to think that this isn't an American only issue. It's probably more along the lines of technology and government hasn't figured out how to incentivize it properly.
Posted by: Brometheus

Simple. Pay has not risen as sharply as costs.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (OCTRt)

154 �I LOVE tennis skirts.

Should probably take the game back up.

Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021�

You can still wear them without playing.

Posted by: OMG LOL at May 06, 2021 10:25 AM (+5yHl)

155 It's not always us "career gals" at fault. I could never pin down my (ex)husband about when he wanted to start having kids, and knew as time went on that it wasn't going to work out.

People told me "just have a kid anyway!", but then I'd be one of those divorced women with kids that get slagged by this fine site.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:25 AM (Dc2NZ)

156 Hmm, I didn't consider that a large cohort of childless middle-aged women is a great source of free labor to push the prog agenda.
Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (DXFDM)

Indeed they are. And they run for poorly remunerated local offices too. Even school boards despite having no kids.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:25 AM (ONvIw)

157 Does it really matter, though? The quickie headline on my phone this morning was that some Chinese rocket is hurtling to earth. It occurred to me that if that rocket should land right on top of Chicago or Seattle, or any big American city, the media would instantly be filled with excuses for the Chinese. We would be sternly lectured about defaming them by suggesting that they did anything wrong, let alone that they should pay for damages.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at May 06, 2021 10:16 AM (8akOE)

The responses from the liberal blowhards would be:
a) LOL where is ur sky daddy to protect you now?
b) we deserve it because we started the space race in the 1950's so here we are.
c) conspiracies that the evil government (the Bush / Cheney one, not the Biden / Harris one) hacked the rocket to do this on purpose to ourselves.
d) we need to form a global space coalition and all share our technologies so that something like this can never happen again (yay, globalistic socialism)!

Posted by: Speed Racer's Banana Hammock at May 06, 2021 10:25 AM (RQDhf)

158 115 Laymen's version: immigrant labor is cheaper and more profitable than your native kids are.

Have you honestly seen the quality?
Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:20 AM (OCTRt)

I don't know which group's quality you're referring to. Native or immigrant? Because for certain occupations (fast food, grocery store, landscaping), immigrant work ethic kicks the ass out of the average American-born worker. That's the type of mentality that Mike Rowe has been trying to address.

Posted by: Virginia SoCon at May 06, 2021 10:25 AM (a/dOO)

159 Yeah, I don't think I'm ever going to be a grandmother. I'm okay with that.
Posted by: Jordan61

Adopt grandchildren. Then you drop off the kids at your kids house for just 2 hours. Get this, don't return ever.

Posted by: humphreyrobot at May 06, 2021 10:26 AM (o89XP)

160 Sometimes it depends on whether or not you think your husband will dump you for someone who will have kids. I knew a few women, my age, who did that. I also know one of these greenies, whose husband left her when he changed his mind about the "planet".
Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (ONvIw)
++++
Unpossible. I am assured by our popular culture that men don't care about or want children.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:26 AM (Jsjd7)

161 garrett: Imagine Meggie Mac in a tennis skirt.

You're welcome.

Posted by: Jane D'Oh #Impeach Foady Six! at May 06, 2021 10:26 AM (ptqGC)

162 Kids also used to be a source of labor for farming, and just trying to survive.

Now with the amenities of our technology and industrial lives, kids are an option. And a lot of people opt out.

Kids were a necessity back when farms were required to eat.

Posted by: AlaBAMA at May 06, 2021 10:26 AM (4fSQf)

163 So Americans having kids is no longer a thing. Evidently, like everything else, we prefer to import them.

Posted by: creeper at May 06, 2021 10:26 AM (XxJt1)

164 My grandmother came from (what is now) Croatia; I might even have a right of return there. But I don't speak the language, and I worry that the Balkans are right in the middle of the highway of the Middle Eastern invasion sweeping over Europe.
Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at May 06, 2021 10:22 AM (8akOE)

They could do worse than to emulate Hungary: "Hiya, mohammed. Welcome to Hungary. Exit's that-a-way."

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 06, 2021 10:26 AM (kQcVW)

165 Yep. Nasdaq went on a 0% interest fueled tear over the past year. That party is over.
Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (wLuYo

What was the plan? I feel asleep again

Posted by: Janet Yellen, Secretary of Naps at May 06, 2021 10:26 AM (s85a/)

166 Can't we all just get along???
Posted by: Doof

Them's fightin' words...
Posted by: TheJamesMadison

Right on cue!

* collects 20,000 quid for betting the under on TJM's response time *

Posted by: Doof at May 06, 2021 10:26 AM (mZUr4)

167 I kind of figure that our society is heading towards some ugly combination of Chinese style authoritarianism (fascism in the economic sense and a vicious surveillance state), along with squalor and lawlessness similar to Central America. I think the only escapes will be very red states, or the isolation of rural Alaska.

Posted by: Rian at May 06, 2021 10:26 AM (SUzf/)

168 Posted by: Virginia SoCon at May 06, 2021 10:21 AM (a/dOO)

====================
It'll be interesting to see whatever they decide litigated. Looks like a taking to me, on the surface.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 06, 2021 10:27 AM (uiux8)

169 We're also going to need and endless supply of new immigrants to take care of our elderly, childless population.
Who is going to wipe their asses?

Posted by: JoeF. at May 06, 2021 10:27 AM (HrMC1)

170 We were blessed to be able to have one child. Several miscarriages later, and one when he was two.

Wish we could have had one more, but it is what it is.
Posted by: Jane D'Oh #Impeach Foady Six! at May 06, 2021 10:24 AM (ptqGC)

We have a similar story. Only one miscarriage, but vowed after I wouldn't put my wife through that again.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:27 AM (Zz0t1)

171 Joe,

Late 20s, yeah. The plan was always to wait for kids until we got financially settled and sewed our oats so to speak. First kid was born almost 5 years after we got married.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:27 AM (wLuYo)

172 >>Imagine Meggie Mac in a tennis skirt.

I think you bed skirt.

Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:27 AM (Vblwd)

173 Watch out for the Teutonic faults.

Posted by: Roman Legionary #3475 at May 06, 2021 10:27 AM (PpDo3)

174 Recently moved from neighborhood that had a couple nice parks, one across the street. Almost never saw kids playing in them like the days long gone and certainly not without a parent watching over them. Plenty of young couples walking their dogs though.

Posted by: Ripley at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (MxEKc)

175 I would not want to have employees that scream and cry out at work when leftist-designated thought-crimes are committed. Like being in a damned body-snatchers movie all the time. Good riddance.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (DoV/l)

176 It's not always us "career gals" at fault. I could never pin down my (ex)husband about when he wanted to start having kids, and knew as time went on that it wasn't going to work out.

People told me "just have a kid anyway!", but then I'd be one of those divorced women with kids that get slagged by this fine site.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:25 AM (Dc2NZ)
++++
The fundamental problem is fucking around with sex and marriage standards. This was done quite deliberately, really starting in the 60s, and it was done with glee. Sex and marriage standards differ across cultures but all successful cultures have rigorously enforced standards in this regard. It takes a long time to figure out what works, and virtually no time at all to smash it to pieces.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (Jsjd7)

177 A strongly worded comment will fix all.

Posted by: Jak Sucio at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (96oqi)

178 What a shocker the birth rates are down. Democraps running the country is not exactly a boner enducement.
Those little creatures are known to be pretty expensive to keep around. And when the progs with their partners the ChiComs attack us with a bioweapon that causes imbecile politicians to flex their tyranny muscles and shut down the nation for a bad flu season, I can see young couples waiting until the economy improves to squeeze out a kid.
With this clown car of an administration, they're going to be waiting for quite a while. Unless, of course, we collectively decide one day soon that we've had enough of the prog's bullshit, realize that they absolutely will not stop on their own and actually have a real, live revolution...

Posted by: BackwardsBoy - Psychos Rule! No, really. They're in charge now. at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (HaL55)

179 I don't know which group's quality you're referring to. Native or immigrant? Because for certain occupations (fast food, grocery store, landscaping), immigrant work ethic kicks the ass out of the average American-born worker. That's the type of mentality that Mike Rowe has been trying to address.
Posted by: Virginia SoCon

Immigrant. Carpentry, cabinetry, painting, remodeling, etc.
Close is good enough.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (OCTRt)

180 I LOVE tennis skirts.

Should probably take the game back up.
Posted by: garrett

*****

Now I begin to see where ace got certain impressions of you.

Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (Fc5rx)

181 You can still wear them without playing.
Posted by: OMG LOL at May 06, 2021 10:25 AM (+5yHl)

--------

Threadwin.

Posted by: Speed Racer's Banana Hammock at May 06, 2021 10:29 AM (RQDhf)

182 It would take a miracle to get us out of the fix America is in. There are far, far too many people that are just fine with the decline of this country, not realizing just how miserable they're going to be when opportunity, economic and political freedom are all dust in the wind.

Posted by: Lady in Black at May 06, 2021 10:29 AM (O+I8R)

183 croatia, okay....how about Belize?

Posted by: how many bullets does Biden's security detail need at May 06, 2021 10:29 AM (USW1s)

184 People told me "just have a kid anyway!", but then I'd be one of those divorced women with kids that get slagged by this fine site.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:25 AM (Dc2NZ)

That slagging is very sad and unfair, btw.

Kid 1 and spouse have an unmarried female friend who had two kids anyway. She was 43 at the time of this decision, and they seem like well adjusted boys. Her dad spends a lot of time with them, they play little league and do normal boy things. I have no problem with this decision.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:29 AM (ONvIw)

185 re 124: "Hopefully we've invented every medicine ever needed, because good luck getting any RD approved in the future."

that might be the idea. we won't need so many drugs when we give up red meal and start eating meal worms (like our mighty brother, the frog)

Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at May 06, 2021 10:29 AM (4a9Vv)

186 >>People told me "just have a kid anyway!", but then I'd be one of those divorced women with kids that get slagged by this fine site.

Kids are a lifetime invesment.

Marriage, not so much.

Add in the harsh and inevitible penalties involved for the guy and it is a tough sell, imo.

Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:29 AM (Vblwd)

187 I thought CCD was that after-school Catholic hangout thing where they serve Rice Krispie treats after listening to a housewife recite Bible verses.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at May 06, 2021 10:30 AM (vuisn)

188 We are friends with a couple (well, husband is friends with the husband) who have four grown kids. All four are prog jackasses and treat their parents like dirt. I blame the woke parents, especially the idiot wife I'm no longer friends with.

We went with quality over quantity. Also, son was afraid of me for years.

He gave me flowers for Mother's Day with this card, which is the Best Mother's Day Card Ever:

"For 31 yeas you have consistently been a great mother. Though I was a pain in the ass, you kept yourself from killing me or dropping me off at a farm. That's a great mom! I love you!"

Posted by: Jane D'Oh #Impeach Foady Six! at May 06, 2021 10:30 AM (ptqGC)

189 Who knew the song In the Year 2525 was 2 or 3 hundred years behind the curve?

Posted by: Only Context at May 06, 2021 10:30 AM (xEIoY)

190 *****

Now I begin to see where ace got certain impressions of you.
Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (Fc5rx)

LMMFAO.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:30 AM (Zz0t1)

191 A lot of women bought into the idea of having a career first, but men are also to blame because they bought into extended adolescence and plenty of zipless fucks.

Some wise up just in time, but others don't and become bitter when they realize the party's over, and they're all alone.

Posted by: JoeF. at May 06, 2021 10:31 AM (HrMC1)

192 croatia, okay....how about Belize?
Posted by: how many bullets does Biden's security detail need at May 06, 2021 10:29 AM (USW1s)

Your heating bills would be lower.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 06, 2021 10:31 AM (kQcVW)

193 >>Now I begin to see where ace got certain impressions of you.

Frankly, I think he's trying to get out of the hay barn and into the house...

But. Someone has to tee them up for the horde. I don't mind.

Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:31 AM (Vblwd)

194 It's not always us "career gals" at fault. I could never pin down my (ex)husband about when he wanted to start having kids, and knew as time went on that it wasn't going to work out.

People told me "just have a kid anyway!", but then I'd be one of those divorced women with kids that get slagged by this fine site.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:25 AM (Dc2NZ)

It's silly to point fingers at anybody making the individual decisions they do (unless they're getting preggy and killing their babies). The system that was created, it was designed to make it harder to plan a family. In a myriad of ways.

A few generations of brainwashing has led us to where we are. Some people are more brainwashed than others.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 06, 2021 10:31 AM (U2EjU)

195 I thought CCD was that after-school Catholic hangout thing where they serve Rice Krispie treats after listening to a housewife recite Bible verses.
Posted by: Dr. Varno at May 06, 2021 10:30 AM (vuisn)

On your way to learning about Jesus to gain the privilege of receiving Communion.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:31 AM (Zz0t1)

196 I'm just thankful that my children and grandchildren have a home on some land away from most of the lunacy.

Posted by: SMH at May 06, 2021 10:32 AM (Fdh9S)

197 Now with the amenities of our technology and industrial lives, kids are an option. And a lot of people opt out.

Kids were a necessity back when farms were required to eat.
Posted by: AlaBAMA at May 06, 2021 10:26 AM (4fSQf)
++++
There's another factor, and it is also correlates with industrial development: infant mortality.

In preindustrial worlds, these combine to push a much higher birth rate. Not only are children a net benefit in agriculture, you need to hedge your bets because a lot of them will die. Old cemeteries show this well. A lot of little kids and a lot of old people, but relatively few in the middle.

With hygiene, sanitation and medicine, infant mortality collapses. This is good, but it also results in not needing to reproduce more in what is in essence a hedging exercise.

Birth rates falling following industrialization makes a lot of sense. It wasn't predictable, but it is explicable. Birth rates crashing to way under replacement is harder to explain. A drop from 5+ to 2-3 children per woman is way easier to fathom.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:32 AM (Jsjd7)

198 And having all the women working outside the home means taxpayers are doubled!

Posted by: andycanuck at May 06, 2021 10:32 AM (UHVv4)

199 Some wise up just in time, but others don't and become bitter when they realize the party's over, and they're all alone.
Posted by: JoeF. at May 06, 2021 10:31 AM (HrMC1)

You must mean the women? Men are seldom alone when they don't want to be.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:32 AM (ONvIw)

200 190 I thought CCD was that after-school Catholic hangout thing where they serve Rice Krispie treats after listening to a housewife recite Bible verses.
Posted by: Dr. Varno at May 06, 2021 10:30 AM (vuisn)

LOL... First thing I thought of when joe mangled CDC to CCD....

Posted by: It's me donna at May 06, 2021 10:32 AM (Zmnko)

201 garret wears tennis skirts?

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (ONvIw)

202 SN15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2sgT7O6_LE

Recovery. No commentary. Pretty cool. You can skip back and forth to speed it up.

Posted by: You Really Don't Want to Know at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (AHq56)

203 177 Recently moved from neighborhood that had a couple nice parks, one across the street. Almost never saw kids playing in them like the days long gone and certainly not without a parent watching over them. Plenty of young couples walking their dogs though.
Posted by: Ripley at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (MxEKc)

This. I have mentioned my grandparents house and subdivision in Muncie before on here and how, even to a young kid, I loved that place. It really was what started my 1950's nostalgia. Ranch houses. Big yards. Wide streets. I noticed even when I was a kid, it never seemed like there were that many kids out to play with. As I got older I realized: I missed them all by about 20 years. My uncles had enjoyed this place when all the families were young and had four kids at a time (like my grandparents.)

Posted by: Melanie at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (lmikk)

204 >>> You must mean the women? Men are seldom alone when they don't want to be.
Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:32 AM (ONvIw)

There are plenty of men who would say just the opposite.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (DoV/l)

205 garret wears tennis skirts?

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (ONvIw)

Don't judge.

Posted by: Jane D'Oh #Impeach Foady Six! at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (ptqGC)

206 Way too much Ann Richards hate upthread. I mean how great was it to have a mean drunk grandmother as our governor? Oh wait, it sucked, sorry.

Posted by: Only Context at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (xEIoY)

207 Is this really much worse than par for the course for when the Woodstock Generation gets the reins? I don't want to call out Baby Boomers as that's just an age, and many Morons and 'ettes are not in the group I have a problem with.

But this seems like exactly what you'd expect when the 60's Leftist (again, this is not everyone of that age) youth gets to their 60 and 70s and wind up being the CEOs, Senators and Presidents of the University. They've spent the last ten to twenty years at the height of their careers and decision making power to instill all the institutions with their destructive ideas.

Posted by: Bilwis Devourer of Low Glycemic Souls at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (Wm5SB)

208 Imagine Meggie Mac in a tennis skirt.

I think you bed skirt.
Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:27 AM (Vblwd)

I used to bed skirts, then I got married.

Sigh.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (ifmtJ)

209 >Recently moved from neighborhood that had a couple nice parks, one across the street. Almost never saw kids playing in them like the days long gone and certainly not without a parent watching over them. Plenty of young couples walking their dogs though.
Posted by: Ripley at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (MxEKc)

That drives me bonkers. I let my kids go to the park and roam the neighborhood by themselves. They're some of the very few white(ish) kids that I see doing that. Some of the other cultures around here do still let their kids roam free.

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (DXFDM)

210 So, I joined the Knights of Columbus. The cathedral is starting a St. Finbar Council, and it looks like I'm in because I was an early sign up.

I can't wait to get my suit of armor.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (LvTSG)

211 The fundamental problem is fucking around with sex and marriage standards. This was done quite deliberately, really starting in the 60s, and it was done with glee. Sex and marriage standards differ across cultures but all successful cultures have rigorously enforced standards in this regard. It takes a long time to figure out what works, and virtually no time at all to smash it to pieces.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (Jsjd7)

Pope Paul VI saw it coming a mile away.

He was hounded to his death by the tolerant left.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 06, 2021 10:34 AM (2JVJo)

212 If people dont want kids, fine dont have kids. I mean would you rather have these people raising kids they hate?

I have a neighbor on my street, 4 kids including a baby. It is weird to see that many kids in a family. I mean I dont care either way have 10 if you want. But they do stand out. Everyone else in our hood has 0-2 kids, with 0 being the most common.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:34 AM (wLuYo)

213 I thought CCD was that after-school Catholic hangout thing where they serve Rice Krispie treats after listening to a housewife recite Bible verses.
Posted by: Dr. Varno at May 06, 2021 10:30 AM (vuisn)

LOL... First thing I thought of when joe mangled CDC to CCD....
Posted by: It's me donna

So he's regressing to elementary school age?

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:34 AM (OCTRt)

214 Kids are a lifetime invesment.

Marriage, not so much.

Add in the harsh and inevitible penalties involved for the guy and it is a tough sell, imo.
Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:29 AM (Vblwd)
++++
No-fault divorce on demand was probably the most catastrophic policy change of the 20th century. Ensuring that the courts were one-sided (which wasn't a new development but did get more pronounced) was the icing on the cake.

That policy change is why I cannot put Reagan in the echelon of our greatest presidents. He did some truly great things and wrecked the USSR, but he was also responsible for that one. First as governor of California, then he helped take it national.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:34 AM (Jsjd7)

215 "Blur the lines between men and women so the traditional roles of mother and father are less attractive compared to the hedonism presented by popular culture."

And of course, establish institutional barriers such that only the top 1% of alpha males have access to any sex at all, while for the rest any attempt is criminalized.

Posted by: nishdoogedacht at May 06, 2021 10:34 AM (WusEB)

216 I'm childless, and in retrospect the best time to have kids is when you are young and dumb and flying by the seat of your pants with little money.
The best adjusted young people I know are the ones who are products of parents who had them young--the kids and parents practically grow up together.

Too many "trophy kids"--the only child raised by careerist parents are neurotic and depressed.

Posted by: JoeF. at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (HrMC1)

217 The fundamental problem is fucking around with sex and marriage standards. This was done quite deliberately, really starting in the 60s, and it was done with glee. Sex and marriage standards differ across cultures but all successful cultures have rigorously enforced standards in this regard. It takes a long time to figure out what works, and virtually no time at all to smash it to pieces.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (Jsjd7)
---

There was no golden age. Our parents and grandparents in the Good Old Days were divorcing and screwing around too.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (Dc2NZ)

218 /Off roller skate sock

Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (lmikk)

219 190 I thought CCD was that after-school Catholic hangout thing where they serve Rice Krispie treats after listening to a housewife recite Bible verses.
Posted by: Dr. Varno at May 06, 2021 10:30 AM (v

We had it during school, and it was a public school. Benefit of being a small town that is overwhelmingly Catholic and the CCD center was right next to where the school buses parked, so it was a short walk.

Posted by: Buzzion at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (caHTz)

220 208 garret wears tennis skirts?

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (ONvIw)

Don't judge.

Posted by: Jane D'Oh #Impeach Foady Six! at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (ptqGC)

Maybe he can play doubles with Ladyl.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (lmikk)

221 I'm friends with a conservative lesbian with two normal and well adjusted teenage kids. They were conceived the natural way, and the father is and always has been known to the children. They both signed a bunch of papers about child custody and care. Basically they are her children, if he wanted to be around, that was fine, but no going back on the deal. In for a penny, in for a pound.

I was skeptical, who knew it would work.

Posted by: IP at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (pWrfh)

222 LOL... First thing I thought of when joe mangled CDC to CCD....
Posted by: It's me donna at May 06, 2021 10:32 AM (Zmnko)

Me too! Good times...

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:36 AM (Ez6QX)

223 Governor and his gay fake-married boyfriend have two kids and a dog.

I think the dog is a cocker spaniel.

Heh!

Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:36 AM (Fc5rx)

224 Haven't touched a woman in 42 years 7 months 3 days 8 pm cdt. And look how balanced my tires are on my Pinto.

Posted by: humphreyrobot at May 06, 2021 10:36 AM (o89XP)

225 And of course, establish institutional barriers such that only the top 1% of alpha males have access to any sex at all, while for the rest any attempt is criminalized.
Posted by: nishdoogedacht at May 06, 2021 10:34 AM (WusEB)

We say that, but there are plenty of losers getting laid--and having children.

Just look around.

Posted by: JoeF. at May 06, 2021 10:36 AM (HrMC1)

226 garret wears tennis skirts?

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (ONvIw)

Don't judge.

Posted by: Jane D'Oh

Not judging. He can always call it a short kilt.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:36 AM (OCTRt)

227 220 There was no golden age.
Divorce was uncommon before the 1960s. Laws were changed.

Posted by: You Really Don't Want to Know at May 06, 2021 10:36 AM (AHq56)

228 There are plenty of men who would say just the opposite.
Posted by: banana Dream at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (DoV/l)

I don't know any, but I guess there are some. It's usually women "of a certain age" that get cut out of the scene. Men easily breed after 50 and have families with younger women, women on the other hand, do not.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:36 AM (ONvIw)

229 The problem is that you want the traditional lifestyle to be accepted as the tradition. But now, it's actually the counterculture. We need to embrace that. Look at all those squares with their piercings, tatts, green hair and high abortion count. They're all alike. Be different. Be the counterculture. There are young people out there wanting to hear some encouragement. Why else would Jordan Peterson be so popular, telling them to start by cleaning their room?

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 06, 2021 10:36 AM (5HBd1)

230 There was no golden age. Our parents and grandparents in the Good Old Days were divorcing and screwing around too.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (Dc2NZ)
++++
Of course. The genetic history of the species - the fact that you have a *lot* more female ancestors than male - proves that beyond a doubt. But there is a difference between acknowledging that it happens and actively and wantonly encouraging it.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (Jsjd7)

231 >>Maybe he can play doubles with Ladyl.

I would feel really bad for her when I was playing the net.

Can't imagine that view being a pleasant one.

Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (Vblwd)

232 ot realizing just how miserable they're going to be when opportunity, economic and political freedom are all dust in the wind.
Posted by: Lady in Black at May 06, 2021 10:29 AM (O+I8R)

Dust in the Wind - Great, great song by Kansas! But yeah.... most people are oblivious. I was oblivious for years myself; I was too busy working and raising a family to notice that the fanatics were working furiously to destroy the country. Which they've now largely accomplished....

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (pcsoT)

233 I can't wait to get my suit of armor.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (LvTSG)

Appreciate the heads-up. That's gonna amp up our spat.

Posted by: Doof at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (mZUr4)

234 203 190 I thought CCD was that after-school Catholic hangout thing where they serve Rice Krispie treats after listening to a housewife recite Bible verses.
Posted by: Dr. Varno at May 06, 2021 10:30 AM (vuisn)

LOL... First thing I thought of when joe mangled CDC to CCD....
Posted by: It's me donna at May 06, 2021 10:32 AM (Zmnko)

Us protestants had "Joy Club" which was basically the same thing, even with the Rice Krispie treats.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (vuisn)

235 To me, one of the weirdest changes is big houses with no yards, and few children playing outside. Everyone is inside on their screens (as I type this on my screen),

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (Dc2NZ)

236 The fundamental problem is fucking around with sex and marriage standards. This was done quite deliberately, really starting in the 60s, and it was done with glee. Sex and marriage standards differ across cultures but all successful cultures have rigorously enforced standards in this regard. It takes a long time to figure out what works, and virtually no time at all to smash it to pieces.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (Jsjd7)
------------

Openly turning sex into a hobby is the downfall of every great society. Heck, it's even part of the warning in several of the great "cautionary tales" about precisely this.

Look at how sex was used to control the citizens in "1984." Hookers were still illegal I believe, but they were given a pass by the government because it gave the citizens a way to blow off steam in a sucky hellhole life, AND also gave them leverage against basically any one individual should they find themselves needing re-education.

Look at how sex was basically the national pastime in "Brave New World." Most women were intentionally bred to be sterile in the story, and the ones who were still fertile were perpetual egg donors.

Posted by: Speed Racer's Banana Hammock at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (RQDhf)

237 220 The fundamental problem is fucking around with sex and marriage standards. This was done quite deliberately, really starting in the 60s, and it was done with glee. Sex and marriage standards differ across cultures but all successful cultures have rigorously enforced standards in this regard. It takes a long time to figure out what works, and virtually no time at all to smash it to pieces.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:28 AM (Jsjd7)
---

There was no golden age. Our parents and grandparents in the Good Old Days were divorcing and screwing around too.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (Dc2NZ)

There was in fact a time where divorce was below 50%, reproduction rates greater than replacement rates, and people didn't spend their 20s messing around. The 70s did happen. The wave of STDs did happen. No fault divorce didn't always exist.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is Already Dead at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (z5Vrg)

238 233 Of course. The genetic history of the species - the fact that you have a *lot* more female ancestors than male - proves that beyond a doubt. But there is a difference between acknowledging that it happens and actively and wantonly encouraging it.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (Jsjd7)

=========

Dolley's family history from her grandmother on back is...sordid.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (LvTSG)

239 Personally, I think inflation fears in financial markets are so widespread that the contrarian view may be worth a bet. We've had significant commodity inflation for so many months (and maybe years, if my grocery bill is any indication) that didn't rock markets that I'm having a hard time understanding what the worry is all about. For example, I saw a CNBC story this morning fretting over a dramatic rise in copper prices that may be coming, without any real reason for an accompanying increase in end-user demand. That sounds like speculators planting stories to me. As another example, a friend who trades oil futures has been making money hand over fist lately as prices rise in anticipation of future inflation but she says Goldman (for whom she works) isn't yet predicting any big demand drivers. So, why the inflation expectations?

Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (uiux8)

240 So, I joined the Knights of Columbus. The cathedral is starting a St. Finbar Council, and it looks like I'm in because I was an early sign up.

I can't wait to get my suit of armor.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (LvTSG)

I've heard the KoC here has a massive private bar. Heck of an incentive.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (DoV/l)

241 There was no golden age. Our parents and grandparents in the Good Old Days were divorcing and screwing around too.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (Dc2NZ)

How old are you and where did you grow up?

Screwing around may have happened, it was harder pre-60's, but it happened. But divorce was rare before no-fault divorce.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (ifmtJ)

242 >>He can always call it a short kilt.

Only if I can borrow some SPF 80.

Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:38 AM (Vblwd)

243 >People told me "just have a kid anyway!", but then I'd be one of those divorced women with kids that get slagged by this fine site.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:25 AM (Dc2NZ)

Yeah, sometimes the circular fire here gets a bit nasty. I've been kind of mouthy the last few days because of it. Let's all agree to be a bit more understand to those Horde members in good standing who have different circumstances from us, yes?

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:38 AM (DXFDM)

244 The United States Government is sucking the lifeblood out of the United States

it is a monster run amok

it is self-aware and will do anything necessary to perpetuate its existence and further growth

we are doomed

Have a nice day!

Posted by: DB- just DB at May 06, 2021 10:38 AM (iTXRQ)

245 Voting harder, Boss!

Posted by: t-bird at May 06, 2021 10:38 AM (9Fwwf)

246 He can always call it a short kilt

And a looooooooong..... jacket!

Posted by: Cake at May 06, 2021 10:39 AM (mZUr4)

247 TJM is going to be really disappointed when he finds out the crusader memes are not connected to the Knights of Columbus.

Posted by: Buzzion at May 06, 2021 10:39 AM (caHTz)

248 Fox News, always carrying Need To Know crap.

So Josh Duggar had porn detection software on his computer that sent reports to his wife Anna. Multiple child pornography files were found on the computer and more than 200 images had been found on the computer that had been deleted.

At least the Duggars had lots of kids, though.

Posted by: Jane D'Oh #Impeach Foady Six! at May 06, 2021 10:39 AM (ptqGC)

249 There was no golden age. Our parents and grandparents in the Good Old Days were divorcing and screwing around too.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (Dc2NZ)

My grandparents sure didn't. And my parents were considered unusual in the early 60s when they divorced. My brother and I experienced great social unease and exclusion over it. But that was Michigan, and screwing around was not easy pre-pill The pill changed all that.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (ONvIw)

250 >There are plenty of men who would say just the opposite.
Posted by: banana Dream at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (DoV/l)

That that statement seems completely against everything I've seen.

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (DXFDM)

251 I can comment on divorce back in the 50s. My parents were divorced before I was born. I was in school during the late 50s and 60s. I was always asked why I had a different last name than my mom. And I was usually the only child in the class with a single mom. There has been divorce in this country for a long time, but it used to be rate. I believe no-fault divorce is to blame for a lot of our problems.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (5HBd1)

252 Ok, usage question:

-when referring to a company, do you use the singular or plural?

Ex that is making my eye twitch from youtube:
Activision Are CRUMBLING: EA Are MOVING IN For The Kill.

That is driving me nuts. (and not just for the clickbaitiness.)

Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (lmikk)

253
Not judging. He can always call it a short kilt.
Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:36 AM (OCTRt)

W/ Crocs.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (Zz0t1)

254 how to play social media like a progressive:

https://cryptome.org/2012/07/gent-forum-spies.htm

Posted by: how many bullets does Biden's security detail need at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (USW1s)

255 TJM is going to be really disappointed when he finds out the crusader memes are not connected to the Knights of Columbus.
Posted by: Buzzion at May 06, 2021 10:39 AM (caHTz)

Sounds like heretic talk.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (ifmtJ)

256 Three Things Fucked Us Up

1--The Birth Control Pill
2--The 1965 Immigration Act
3--The Great Society
4--Legalized Abortion
1 and 4 prevented the best people from having children
2 and 4 encouraged the poorest to have MULTIPLE kids.

Posted by: JoeF. at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (HrMC1)

257 I'd definitely advise couples to have kids young. It's a lot easier in many ways. We were kind of old (28 and 31) when we had our first. I sometimes want a third, but we're definitely too old now and also can't afford it.

And also, I worry, a lot, about what the hell kind of miserable world my sons are going to live in. I can't imagine I'd have kids now if I were a young person contemplating children.

Posted by: Mrs. Peel - Texas Morons, Support HB 1359 at May 06, 2021 10:41 AM (G6Lqs)

258 Governor and his gay fake-married boyfriend have two kids and a dog.

I think the dog is a cocker spaniel.

Heh!
Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:36 AM (Fc5rx)

I think it's a cocker spaniel and shitzu mix.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 06, 2021 10:41 AM (U2EjU)

259 I meant Four Things

Posted by: JoeF. at May 06, 2021 10:41 AM (HrMC1)

260
Only if I can borrow some SPF 80.
Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:38 AM (Vblwd)

Good call.

Posted by: Josh Brolin at May 06, 2021 10:41 AM (Zz0t1)

261 Too many "trophy kids"--the only child raised by careerist parents are neurotic and depressed.
Posted by: JoeF.

So, you've met two of my granddaughters? Not 'onlys' in this case though. The parents, in name only, can't seem to be bothered with feeding, raising, clothing or paying attention to them - but, in their circle, they got their "I have children" ticket punched so are in the cool kids group.

But just try and get custody. . . .

In today's society, any normal, well adjusted adults seem to be, at best, low scale persecuted by the ones that scream the loudest.

Fuck it - I scream back.

Posted by: Tonypete at May 06, 2021 10:41 AM (Rvt88)

262 There was no golden age. Our parents and grandparents in the Good Old Days were divorcing and screwing around too.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (Dc2NZ)

==============
There was in fact a time where divorce was below 50%, reproduction
rates greater than replacement rates, and people didn't spend their 20s
messing around.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is Already Dead at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (z5Vrg)
===============
there are definitely long term cultural influences at work in reproduction rates, but I wonder if those are more to do with our comfortable society than anything else. Poor people have more kids, for reasons.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 06, 2021 10:41 AM (uiux8)

263 I can't wait to get my suit of armor.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 10:33 AM (LvTSG)

Appreciate the heads-up. That's gonna amp up our spat.
Posted by: Doof

Psssst. Stun gun. Armor suits conduct electricity extremely well.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:41 AM (OCTRt)

264 I would feel really bad for her when I was playing the net.

Can't imagine that view being a pleasant one.
Posted by: garrett at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (Vblwd)

Pro tip: when she hands you a bottle of Nair- don't use it!

Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:42 AM (lmikk)

265 43 Because of low birth rates and the "disappearing middle class" the Ryan-esque GOPe types like to whisper that immigration is the only way to keep Social Security and Medicare from going spectacularly bust.

Of course, there is one other way. Encourage a healthy middle class and American families. Those policy changes might help.
Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 06, 2021 10:08 AM (uiux

-------------

That's the big secret that no politician will talk about. Entitlements is a pyramid scheme that will collapse if our population stops growing.

Lindsey Graham mentioned it during the 2016 primaries debate saying unless we start getting busy having babies, we need immigration.

Posted by: WisRich at May 06, 2021 10:42 AM (G0vdT)

266 >Ok, usage question:

-when referring to a company, do you use the singular or plural?

a company is a thing, which is

Posted by: DB- just DB at May 06, 2021 10:42 AM (iTXRQ)

267 Poor people have more kids, for reasons.
Posted by: Huck Follywood

Because government pays them. Eliminate that safety net....

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:42 AM (OCTRt)

268 255 when referring to a company, do you use the singular or plural?
You're confused. The company is singular but may choose it's own gender.

Posted by: You Really Don't Want to Know at May 06, 2021 10:42 AM (AHq56)

269 Divorce was uncommon before the 1960s. Laws were changed.

Custody rules changed too. I remember reading an essay pointing out how when divorce laws were first liberalized, it was usually the father who got custody of the kids. This worked against both parents' interests: if it was the woman who wanted to divorce, she'd have to sacrifice her kids. If it was the man, then he couldn't just dance off fancy-free to find a new woman - he had to take the burden of the kids with him. It worked against the *individuals* involved, but as a result, it made it likelier they'd stay married, because it raised the costs.

Once a woman knew could hang on to the kids, she was much more likely to dump the husband, even if it meant a poorer, less stable home for the kids. SHE was getting what she wanted, after all - kids with no man to bother with.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (8akOE)

270 I think a lot of people are fixated on things like that because it absolves them of trying to fix anything. "There's no point because apocalypse X will get us anyway." It's the old-fashioned fatalism cop out with a pseudoscientific bent.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:11 AM (Jsjd7)

Do you really want people like Bill Gates trying to "cool the earth"?

Posted by: BignJames at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (AwYPR)

271

Psssst. Stun gun. Armor suits conduct electricity extremely well.
Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:41 AM (OCTRt)

This needs to be a Jackass stunt.......

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (Zz0t1)

272 258 TJM is going to be really disappointed when he finds out the crusader memes are not connected to the Knights of Columbus.
Posted by: Buzzion at May 06, 2021 10:39 AM (caHTz)

Sounds like heretic talk.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (ifmtJ)

=========

*grabs flint and tinder*

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (LvTSG)

273 Reply to 87, as the anti-raykon device does not allow for quoted response.

Counterpoint 1) Studies show within a decade of coming here immigrant children are Americanized, including being far less religious. -Which is ironic as their parents bring them here for a better life and wind up delivering them into the worse afterlife.
2) Keeping groups separate and fighting for scraps is exactly how you can keep power- its why the Dems are stoking all the racial healing in the country now. Divide people are easier to rule.
3) New imports come from countries that already did this, and they didn't see it coming then and haven't changed their voting habits even after.

Posted by: Bete at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (Ojki1)

274 There has been divorce in this country for a long time, but it used to be rate. I believe no-fault divorce is to blame for a lot of our problems.
Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (5HBd1)

no fault too often means no responsibility...for anything.
In my case, teachers usually assumed my father was dead. It was pretty embarrassing at times.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (ONvIw)

275 Sounds like heretic talk.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (ifmtJ)

I'd be down for resurrecting the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (lmikk)

276 1--The Birth Control Pill
2--The 1965 Immigration Act
3--The Great Society
4--Legalized Abortion

***

5-- Above the ankle ladies' swimwear

Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (Fc5rx)

277 Forcing married people to stay together and be miserable for 50 years is not something to champion.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (wLuYo)

278 Ok, usage question:

-when referring to a company, do you use the singular or plural?

Ex that is making my eye twitch from youtube:
Activision Are CRUMBLING: EA Are MOVING IN For The Kill. ...
Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (lmikk)
++++
Queen's English or American English?

In British English, you typically use the plural (Company X are considering a new marketing strategy). In American English, you typically use the singular (Company X is considering a new marketing strategy).

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:44 AM (Jsjd7)

279 TW, Biden effed up again speaking yesterday. Called the CDC the "CCD". Unless he was actually thinking CCP??

I saw the clip. It's generous to say he was thinking anything. Such an open joke.

Posted by: t-bird at May 06, 2021 10:44 AM (l0Lgi)

280 when referring to a company, do you use the singular or plural

We prefer "The" Company

Posted by: Langley Folks at May 06, 2021 10:44 AM (mZUr4)

281 what if your armor were made of polymer materials

Posted by: DB- just DB at May 06, 2021 10:44 AM (iTXRQ)

282 255 - in US English, singular verb. In UK English, plural verb.

Posted by: Mrs. Peel - Texas Morons, Support HB 1359 at May 06, 2021 10:44 AM (G6Lqs)

283 How old are you and where did you grow up?

Screwing around may have happened, it was harder pre-60's, but it happened. But divorce was rare before no-fault divorce.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (ifmtJ)
--

Old enough to have had two parents and a free-range-ish childhood.

But (greatest Gen) dad's daughter from his first marriage showed up one day to visit -- surprise! We loved her, but over the years I could tell how needy and desperate she was for parental love from the dad who basically ditched her.

And maternal grandmother was married several times. Mom said they had to leave quietly so one, who turned out to be violent, couldn't trail them. He did.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:44 AM (Dc2NZ)

284 Slate explicitly admits FDR created the welfare state.
They're giddy with Joe and the ho.

Posted by: torabora at May 06, 2021 10:44 AM (ZjFZv)

285

Because government pays them. Eliminate that safety net....
Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:42 AM (OCTRt)

*harkens back to Hurricane Katrina where the poor communities had morbidly obese women with 6 kids and a really big TV in a 1 bedroom apartment.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:44 AM (Zz0t1)

286 a company is a thing, which is
Posted by: DB- just DB at May 06, 2021 10:42 AM (iTXRQ)

Thank you.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:44 AM (lmikk)

287 Had a third son born last year after huge 10 year gap from the first two. Major challenge but never ending source of joy. Also learned a lot of lessons from the first set . At three we are proudly outside the norm. We may even try for one more, but my wife keeps going back an forth. Lots of suffering for her involved so I can't push her on this

Posted by: Ripley at May 06, 2021 10:45 AM (MxEKc)

288 Lindsey Graham mentioned it during the 2016 primaries debate saying unless we start getting busy having babies, we need immigration.
Posted by: WisRich

Because the illegal getting paid $6 hr under the table is really going to prop up the entitlement scheme.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:45 AM (OCTRt)

289 Sounds like heretic talk.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (ifmtJ)

I'd be down for resurrecting the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (lmikk)

Deus Vult intensifies

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:45 AM (ifmtJ)

290 278 Sounds like heretic talk.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (ifmtJ)

I'd be down for resurrecting the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (lmikk)

=========

I'm still holding out on my theory that Pope Francis is actually a Trojan Horse for the resurgent Knights Templar, which is making final preparations for a conquest of Europe from their base in Poland.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 10:45 AM (LvTSG)

291 5-- Above the ankle ladies' swimwear
Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (Fc5rx)

6-- Jazz records!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:45 AM (Dc2NZ)

292 To me, one of the weirdest changes is big houses with no yards, and few children playing outside. Everyone is inside on their screens (as I type this on my screen),
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:37 AM (Dc2NZ)
---------

Both parents work, probably overtime as well, in order to afford the huge house and the car leases and the fees and dues for the 3,000 extra-curriculars they send their kids to. No time for yardwork anyway; a large lawn to maintain is a burden to these folks.

I think some of it is a deeper societal issue. We've been led to believe through entertainment and through commercials that things like yardwork are unpleasant, undesirable, and unworthy of our time. Get a new mower - you'll cut your time spent cutting the grass in half! More time to do *the important things!* Use this weed-killer, and you'll never have to pull weeds, freeing you up to *do what you want!*

I've had to rediscover the satisfaction in a day of yard maintenance. But the accomplishment feels good. The day outside in the sun feels good. The iced tea on the patio that evening is awesome.

Posted by: Speed Racer's Banana Hammock at May 06, 2021 10:45 AM (RQDhf)

293 ***

5-- Above the ankle ladies' swimwear
Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (Fc5rx)

See? We've been trying to tell ya.....

Posted by: Muslims Everywhere at May 06, 2021 10:45 AM (Zz0t1)

294 GRAND POWER Stribog SP9 A3 9mm Pistol; $819; https://bit.ly/3tshSVU

Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 10:46 AM (YYlyE)

295 Because of low birth rates and the "disappearing middle class" the Ryan-esque GOPe types like to whisper that immigration is the only way to keep Social Security and Medicare from going spectacularly bust.

--

When the immigrants (and most illegals seem to be very low skilled workers) basically pay no taxes, or get paid under the table and all that jazz, just how successful is it to think they're going to be the ones who prop up SS and Medicare?

Will that change once Turnip enacts sweeping amnesty to the 40 million here? I don't see it.

Posted by: Lady in Black at May 06, 2021 10:46 AM (O+I8R)

296 no fault too often means no responsibility...for anything.
In my case, teachers usually assumed my father was dead. It was pretty embarrassing at times.
Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (ONvIw)

Related, GK Chesterton, A Defense of Rash Vows
https://tinyurl.com/3ujk4han

Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:46 AM (lmikk)

297 >There was no golden age. Our parents and grandparents in the Good Old Days were divorcing and screwing around too.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (Dc2NZ)

Yeah, the skeletons that came out the closet in my family after my grandmother passed were kind of shocking. I think the romantic image of pre-1960s America as this wonderland of morality is really kind of a powerful illusion.

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:46 AM (DXFDM)

298 #279
Gun control act of 1968

Posted by: torabora at May 06, 2021 10:46 AM (ZjFZv)

299 The best adjusted young people I know are the ones who are products of parents who had them young--the kids and parents practically grow up together.

Posted by: JoeF. at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (HrMC1)

I was 21 and hubs was 22 when our son was born. I think this describes our family really well. Son frequently tells me I am a good mom, and I tell him I was lucky. I didn't know what the hell I was doing.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:46 AM (Ez6QX)

300 246- I chose not to have children, despite being badgered about it for years by my mom. When I mentioned the cost as a reason, she said "You'll find the money."
I didn't mention all the dough I spent for years to therapists because she and my dad clearly had more children than they could afford, and ignored or resented our needs -- and reminded us of that regularly.
Still have no regrets. I like kids. I like ponies, too. Doesn't mean I want one.

Posted by: how many bullets does Biden's security detail need at May 06, 2021 10:46 AM (USW1s)

301 harkens back to Hurricane Katrina where the poor communities had morbidly obese women with 6 kids and a really big TV in a 1 bedroom apartment.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:44 AM (Zz0t1)

I can confirm that as true

Posted by: Brian Williams at May 06, 2021 10:47 AM (mZUr4)

302 I didn't know what the hell I was doing.
Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:46 AM (Ez6QX)

No one really does in the beginning.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:47 AM (Zz0t1)

303 246 Let's all agree to be a bit more understand to those Horde members in good standing who have different circumstances from us, yes?

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:38 AM (DXFDM)

YOU TAKE THAT BACK

Posted by: antisocial justice beatnik at May 06, 2021 10:47 AM (DTX3h)

304 >5-- Above the ankle ladies' swimwear
Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM (Fc5rx)

6-- Jazz records!
Posted by: All Hail Eris

the moment we started seeing ladies' elbows in public was when things started to slip

Posted by: DB- just DB at May 06, 2021 10:47 AM (iTXRQ)

305 299: Thanks

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:48 AM (ONvIw)

306 People fucked from the beginning of time to 1950. Then took a 10 years break. And started fucking again.

I mean that is what we are led to believe about the 1950s.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:48 AM (wLuYo)

307 And dad was in his late 40's and mom in her mid 30's when she had us. I don't know how the parents' ages affect upbringing. They were still young enough and plenty active.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:48 AM (Dc2NZ)

308 Had a third son born last year after huge 10 year gap from the first two. Major challenge but never ending source of joy. Also learned a lot of lessons from the first set .
Posted by: Ripley

Me too. My first litter are 10 years older than the second group. #s 3, 4, and 5 were much, much easier to raise because (I think) I was much slower to panic.

Posted by: Tonypete at May 06, 2021 10:48 AM (Rvt88)

309 So I see at WZ that joeys choo-choo stories from last week were all made up....

Posted by: It's me donna at May 06, 2021 10:48 AM (Zmnko)

310 DOW is making new highs again ... but it is priced in infinite fiat currency. That confetti currency can be printed forever, but still be used by BigGov to buy stocks/bonds or shell out freebies forever (till something breaks ... which seems to be their NWO plan)

Sell stocks and invest locally? That would be nice, but lockdowns have favored BigCorp. Choices are limited ... I did notice Sam's was out of all their vodka ... are people hording to beat inflation? idk

Posted by: illiniwek at May 06, 2021 10:49 AM (Cus5s)

311 Screwing around may have happened, it was harder pre-60's,

***

Sounds like someone needs the little blue pill...

Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:49 AM (Fc5rx)

312 So I see at WZ that joeys choo-choo stories from last week were all made up....

Posted by: It's me donna at May 06, 2021 10:48 AM (Zmnko)

No way!

Posted by: Neil Kinnock at May 06, 2021 10:49 AM (mZUr4)

313 285 255 - in US English, singular verb. In UK English, plural verb.
Posted by: Mrs. Peel - Texas Morons, Support HB 1359 at May 06, 2021 10:44 AM (G6Lqs)

Sorry Blighty, but that are stupid.

(Thank you Mrs Peel for the info.)

Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:50 AM (lmikk)

314 Isn't depression linked with birth control pills? Lower libido, which would of course lead to depression because sexuality is such a key component of overall health, is definitely linked to the pill. (Also, being attracted to feminized men is linked to the pill, which I would think would have to be incredibly depressing as well!)

I don't understand why women take the pill when their bodies are working correctly. If you've got endometriosis or something, then yeah, but if everything is working correctly and you have healthy desire and healthy sexual response, why the hell would you take something that fucks with your hormone levels? Would a man take a pill that fucked with his testosterone?

Posted by: Mrs. Peel - Texas Morons, Support HB 1359 at May 06, 2021 10:50 AM (G6Lqs)

315 What you think putt-putt means and what I think putt-putt means are two different things.

Posted by: Bill Gates at May 06, 2021 10:50 AM (ZjFZv)

316 And dad was in his late 40's and mom in her mid 30's when she had us. I don't know how the parents' ages affect upbringing. They were still young enough and plenty active.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:48 AM (Dc2NZ)

*fistbumps the old man*

You cradle robbin' bastard!!!

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:50 AM (Zz0t1)

317 I was 21 and hubs was 22 when our son was born. I think this describes our family really well. Son frequently tells me I am a good mom, and I tell him I was lucky. I didn't know what the hell I was doing.
Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:46 AM (Ez6QX)

My parents got married in 1959 and had kids in 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967 and then another in 1975.

Big, loud rambunctious family and we did everything together.

Posted by: JoeF. at May 06, 2021 10:50 AM (HrMC1)

318 I feel bad that my yuge liquor collection remained virtually untouched during the lockdown (which barely affected me). It would have been a good time to experiment with mixology.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:50 AM (Dc2NZ)

319 Having kids at 21 seems alien to me.you give up your youth. But then again the kids are out of the house when you are in your 40s.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:50 AM (wLuYo)

320 Poor people have more kids, for reasons.
Posted by: Huck Follywood

Because government pays them. Eliminate that safety net....
Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:42 AM (OCTRt)

Some of that, but just as much the fact that poor people very often have poor impulse control and high time preferences. This means that birth control is used less often, or less reliably.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at May 06, 2021 10:51 AM (jOcSX)

321
When I get around to buying a house, I'll do a lot of yard work.

Once.

When I tear out that damned lawn and replace it with an attractive low-maintenance lawn alternative.

To me, a lawn is silly as hell. It's a place that eats your weekends for six months each year, to grow stuff you can't eat, on a spot too small for playing golf. FTS. It's an American cultural oddity I've never understood, at all.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 06, 2021 10:51 AM (Uh2oA)

322 Would a man take a pill that fucked with his testosterone?
Posted by: Mrs. Peel - Texas Morons, Support HB 1359 at May 06, 2021 10:50 AM (G6Lqs)

They did make a birth control pill for men. Of course we don't take it, do we look crazy to you?

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is Already Dead at May 06, 2021 10:51 AM (z5Vrg)

323 So I see at WZ that joeys choo-choo stories from last week were all made up....
Posted by: It's me donna at May 06, 2021 10:48 AM (Zmnko)

Joe Biden lied?

The HELLS you say.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:51 AM (Zz0t1)

324 TW, Biden effed up again speaking yesterday. Called the CDC the "CCD". Unless he was actually thinking CCP??

I saw the clip. It's generous to say he was thinking anything. Such an open joke.
Posted by: t-bird at May 06, 2021 10:44 AM (l0Lgi)

------

"CCD" is the acronym for Catholic Sunday School. I don't remember what it stands for, it was forever ago.

But my brain immediately went there, even after several decades. Even though I am not Catholic and raise my kids in a Bible Church that has "Sunday School."

Joe is lapsing badly. His brain went there too.

Posted by: Speed Racer's Banana Hammock at May 06, 2021 10:51 AM (RQDhf)

325 I'd be down for resurrecting the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM

I believe they still exist actually.

Posted by: Buzzion at May 06, 2021 10:51 AM (caHTz)

326 >>> That that statement seems completely against everything I've seen.
Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:40 AM (DXFDM)

I'm married, decades now, and will hopefully die that way. The same girl I dated in college.

But I know both sides, men and women, always think it's more difficult for them. This is to some degree egged on by media and the need to create tribal boundaries to exploit but also a natural consequence of basic human emotion.

We want to think our difficulties are engrained and stacked against us and not partly our own fault or just an arbitrary happenstance that affects everyone equally.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 06, 2021 10:51 AM (DoV/l)

327 Would a man take a pill that fucked with his testosterone?

Posted by:�Mrs. Peel - Texas Morons, Support HB 1359�at May 06, 2021 10:50 AM (G6Lqs)

Oh yes

Posted by: Bruce Jenner at May 06, 2021 10:51 AM (+5yHl)

328 My parents got married in 1959 and had kids in 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967 and then another in 1975.

Posted by: JoeF. at May 06, 2021 10:50 AM (HrMC1)

Good Catholics, eh?

Posted by: Doof at May 06, 2021 10:51 AM (mZUr4)

329 Sell stocks and invest locally? That would be nice, but lockdowns have favored BigCorp. Choices are limited ... I did notice Sam's was out of all their vodka ... are people hording to beat inflation? idk

Posted by: illiniwek at May 06, 2021 10:49 AM (

I am not hoarding.
I'm a collector.

Posted by: Diogenes at May 06, 2021 10:52 AM (axyOa)

330 Posted by: Mrs. Peel

___

I went on the pill when I first joined the Army in the late 80s.
I had irregular periods, and regularity was what I wanted when I was in.

Kinda helped, since when I missed my period, I knew I was preggers.

Posted by: SMH at May 06, 2021 10:52 AM (Fdh9S)

331 Having kids at 21 seems alien to me.you give up your youth. But then again the kids are out of the house when you are in your 40s.
Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:50 AM (wLuYo)

You would think so, but...

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:52 AM (Ez6QX)

332 >I'd definitely advise couples to have kids young. It's a lot easier in many ways. We were kind of old (28 and 31) when we had our first. I sometimes want a third, but we're definitely too old now and also can't afford it.

Posted by: Mrs. Peel - Texas Morons, Support HB 1359 at May 06, 2021 10:41 AM (G6Lqs)

Yeah, I started in my mid-thirties and wish I could have started younger, giving me the energy to have more kids. But that didn't happen because contrary to the previous assertion, I couldn't just have the companionship of a woman whenever I wanted. That's ok though, because although it took awhile, I found a good one.

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:52 AM (DXFDM)

333 O/T:

A really underappreciated Queensryche song:

https://youtu.be/u6se8D4JQ1Y

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:52 AM (Zz0t1)

334 323

Yes!!
And we should not celebrate that shit either.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:52 AM (wLuYo)

335 all I know is, based on my birth date, I was conceived on or around my parents' wedding anniversary

some celebration

Posted by: DB- just DB at May 06, 2021 10:52 AM (iTXRQ)

336 284 what if your armor were made of polymer materials
you mean, what if it were polymermaid armor?

Posted by: Comrade Anachronda, behind the Newsom curtain at May 06, 2021 10:52 AM (sGtp+)

337 I thought WINE MOMS was some joke, then I went to the playground in our development some Moms came with their kids and they broke out a bottle of wine and started drinking. I am like WTF

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 06, 2021 10:52 AM (dKiJG)

338 Screwing around may have happened, it was harder pre-60's,

***

Sounds like someone needs the little blue pill...
Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:49 AM (Fc5rx)

I'm married. No point in little blue pills.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:53 AM (ifmtJ)

339 To me, a lawn is silly as hell. It's a place that eats your weekends for six months each year, to grow stuff you can't eat, on a spot too small for playing golf. FTS. It's an American cultural oddity I've never understood, at all.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 06, 2021 10:51 AM (Uh2oA)
++++
It looks nice. I have a lawn now for the first time. I am not a lawn enthusiast. I mow it every two weeks and use the weed whacker on the edges. I don't enjoy it much. I don't mind mowing. I actually find it kind of relaxing. I despise the string trimmer, though, and it is an irreconcilable difference. I have a big ass yard and the weed whacking takes at least as long as the mowing. Unlike the mowing, though, there is nothing to recommend it. It isn't enjoyable in the slightest.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:53 AM (Jsjd7)

340 Kinda helped, since when I missed my period, I knew I was preggers.
Posted by: SMH at May 06, 2021 10:52 AM (Fdh9S)

My sister got pregnant TWICE while she was on the pill. My BIL was really proud of himself, until she made him get a vasectomy.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:53 AM (Ez6QX)

341 My parents got married in 1959 and had kids in 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967 and then another in 1975.

Posted by: JoeF.

Good Catholics, eh?
Posted by: Doof

I'm the first of eight. Why yes, we filled the pew during Mass. Why do you ask? LOL

Posted by: Tonypete at May 06, 2021 10:53 AM (Rvt88)

342 I topped my pepper plants because their stems were looking a little too thin to support being tall right now. They're starting to bush out nicely.

https://bit.ly/2SrVaAt

Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 10:53 AM (YYlyE)

343 It's right that there was no golden age. But I think that only underscores the need for traditional rules, because they're the only thing keeping us louts in line. And by in line I really mean something like not crossing the line so far and so often that we burn everything down.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at May 06, 2021 10:53 AM (H5knJ)

344 As I age, a future description in one of Isaac Asimovs lesser books seems more and more on point. He talked about a planet called Solaria, where the population lived in massive houses built underground (so as not to mar the planet's natural beauty) and the people had evolved away from sexual reproduction into hermaphrodites who lived completely alone. Robots did all the work.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 06, 2021 10:53 AM (uiux8)

345 340 I thought WINE MOMS was some joke, then I went to the playground in our development some Moms came with their kids and they broke out a bottle of wine and started drinking. I am like WTF
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 06, 2021 10:52 AM (dKiJG)

I know. I thought it was "just slang" until I saw a similar situation at about 11A a few years back.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:54 AM (ONvIw)

346 I'd be down for resurrecting the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:43 AM

I believe they still exist actually.
Posted by: Buzzion at May 06, 2021 10:51 AM (caHTz)

Knights of Malta, IIRC. And at one point they had one of the largest air forces in Europe.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at May 06, 2021 10:54 AM (jOcSX)

347 Rita Panahi on Twitter:

Cancel culture wouldn’t exist without coward culture.

Don’t apologise unless you’ve done something wrong.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:54 AM (Dc2NZ)

348 I mean that is what we are led to believe about the 1950s.

Bartended a bachelorette party many years ago. Heard two tipsy and probable grandparent age women lecturing one of the bridesmaids. I didn't hear it all over the band but I heard one say that nothing they were doing sexually now was new.
Bridesmaid: I can believe you'd...Grandma Figure 1: Give up the butt?!Grandma Figure 2: Got my first airplane ride for it!

I had to step out I was laughing so hard.

Posted by: IP at May 06, 2021 10:54 AM (pWrfh)

349 I feel bad that my yuge liquor collection remained virtually untouched during the lockdown (which barely affected me).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:50 AM (Dc2NZ)

Use it before it spoils.

Posted by: BignJames at May 06, 2021 10:54 AM (AwYPR)

350 Knights of Malta, IIRC. And at one point they had one of the largest air forces in Europe.
Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at May 06, 2021 10:54 AM (jOcSX)

Was this because the rest of Europe had a small airforce or because they had a large one?

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is Already Dead at May 06, 2021 10:54 AM (z5Vrg)

351 It's not about forcing people to stay miserably married. What about the damage done to children when their folks divorce? Is it fair to make them miserable, so they can find themselves? Why do we depict marriage in such an awful light? We pretend that it's impossible for two people to love one another enough to work through a tough spell in their relationship. We don't even try.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 06, 2021 10:54 AM (5HBd1)

352 We will end up with a sclerotic society devoid of the entrepreneurial spirit, empty of a positive vision of the future, and one that will spiral into something like Italy if we are lucky, and Venezuela if we aren't!

We're not currently importing a lot of Italians.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at May 06, 2021 10:55 AM (nR2nR)

353 The socialists think they'll be part of an elite class ruling over a brown underclass. Working class whites aren't as easily controlled so the have to go. This is all by design.

Posted by: brak at May 06, 2021 10:55 AM (geKVs)

354 I'd be down for resurrecting the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.
Posted by: Aetius451AD

Order of the Knights of Arthritis - Sons of Ibuprofen Chapter.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:55 AM (OCTRt)

355 Having kids at 21 seems alien to me.you give up your youth. But then again the kids are out of the house when you are in your 40s.
Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:50 AM (wLuYo)

You would think so, but...

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 10:52 AM (Ez6QX)

Mrs D and I (I assume it was I...but I was in the field a lot) had them young. One thing the Daughters of Diogenes agreed on later in life was we were the cool parents. Younger than their peers' and we did all the cool stuff. Best part was, we could afford it by then.

Posted by: Diogenes at May 06, 2021 10:55 AM (axyOa)

356 I am not hoarding.
I'm a collector.
Posted by: Diogenes

***

Yeah. Hoarding suggests you are stashing it away where nobody can get to it. What you are doing is more like reinforcing the supply chain!

Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:55 AM (Fc5rx)

357 My parents got married in 1959 and had kids in 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967 and then another in 1975.

Posted by: JoeF.

Good Catholics, eh?
Posted by: Doof

Hell yeah. We all went to Catholic School too.

I don't know where people ever got this notion that Catholics are prudes.

They are champion fuckers

Posted by: JoeF. at May 06, 2021 10:56 AM (HrMC1)

358
I totally get having a garden, though. I could even see replacing the entire lawn with rows of vegetables that I have to tend. Something where the effort has a point to it.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 06, 2021 10:56 AM (Uh2oA)

359 Bartended a bachelorette party many years ago. Heard two tipsy and probable grandparent age women lecturing one of the bridesmaids. I didn't hear it all over the band but I heard one say that nothing they were doing sexually now was new.
Bridesmaid: I can believe you'd...Grandma Figure 1: Give up the butt?!Grandma Figure 2: Got my first airplane ride for it!

I had to step out I was laughing so hard.

Posted by: IP at May 06, 2021 10:54 AM (pWrfh)

That's hot.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:56 AM (Zz0t1)

360 We're not currently importing a lot of Italians.
Posted by: I used to have a different nic at May 06, 2021 10:55 AM (nR2nR)

To our detriment!

And I'll cut anybody who says otherwise!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:56 AM (Dc2NZ)

361 Asimov was one of those folks pushing zero population growth. might want to factor that into why people stopped having kids back in the 70s.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 06, 2021 10:56 AM (5HBd1)

362 Grampa, what's morality?

Posted by: Arkansas Biden Baby at May 06, 2021 10:57 AM (W4eKo)

363 A really underappreciated Queensryche song:

https://youtu.be/u6se8D4JQ1Y

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:52 AM (Zz0t1)

Good tune, Sponge. Perhaps Soundgarden used this as inspiration for the time signature in many of their songs. I think it's 6/4.

Posted by: Doof at May 06, 2021 10:57 AM (mZUr4)

364 Excerpt:
'They appear to imagine that the ideal of constancy was a yoke mysteriously imposed on mankind by the devil, instead of being, as it is, a yoke consistently imposed by all lovers on themselves.'

and

'They have invented a phrase, a phrase that is a black and white contradiction in two words -'free-love' - as if a lover ever had been, or ever could be, free. It is the nature of love to bind itself, and the institution of marriage merely paid the average man the compliment of taking him at his word.'

Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 10:57 AM (lmikk)

365 Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 10:35 AM (Dc2NZ)

Yeah, the skeletons that came out the closet in my family after my grandmother passed were kind of shocking. I think the romantic image of pre-1960s America as this wonderland of morality is really kind of a powerful illusion.
Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:46 AM (DXFDM)

The mistake is believing behavior goes hand in hand with morality. People are people, and there's no "age of morality" one can point to, but multiple factors would go into the behavior being different.

Not least of which is the shared culture, and the pressure on people to adhere to a standard of behavior... whether they wanted to or not.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 06, 2021 10:57 AM (U2EjU)

366 I really do feel sorry for these Woman that are being told that HEY FREEZE YOUR EGGS and you can have a career and kids are finding out that when you unfreeze your eggs it doesn't work out. I think I read where a woman featured about doing this none of her eggs took. and she was on all these magazines about how she froze her eggs,

The day you die they will post your job that day and maybe they might send flowers.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 06, 2021 10:57 AM (dKiJG)

367 >>> To me, a lawn is silly as hell. It's a place that eats your weekends for six months each year, to grow stuff you can't eat, on a spot too small for playing golf. FTS. It's an American cultural oddity I've never understood, at all.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 06, 2021 10:51 AM (Uh2oA)
++++
It looks nice. I have a lawn now for the first time. I am not a lawn enthusiast. I mow it every two weeks and use the weed whacker on the edges. I don't enjoy it much. I don't mind mowing. I actually find it kind of relaxing. I despise the string trimmer, though, and it is an irreconcilable difference. I have a big ass yard and the weed whacking takes at least as long as the mowing. Unlike the mowing, though, there is nothing to recommend it. It isn't enjoyable in the slightest.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:53 AM (Jsjd7)

I hate yard work. I would console myself that afterward I could enjoy a nice beer on the patio and look at my conquered kingdom. I got a yard company to do it now for not much.

And I was surprised to find that I could still happily sit on my patio and drink beer.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 06, 2021 10:57 AM (DoV/l)

368 I have a pretty small property and my lawn care is 30 mins a week. I mow and trim it. But thats it. No fertilizing or aerating or any of the other bullshit. Seems like people who spend their lives worrying about lawns are in HOAs in the burbs.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 10:58 AM (wLuYo)

369 354 It's not about forcing people to stay miserably married. What about the damage done to children when their folks divorce? Is it fair to make them miserable, so they can find themselves? Why do we depict marriage in such an awful light? We pretend that it's impossible for two people to love one another enough to work through a tough spell in their relationship. We don't even try.
Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 06, 2021 10:54 AM (5HBd1)

I agree. My mom went on to make 3 more "unhappy" marriages, which became unhappy when things did not go 100% her way. She never did "find herself", but she alienated both her kids, aborted the third, and spent her life resenting her more sensible siblings who were capable of compromise and commitment.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 10:58 AM (ONvIw)

370 >Posted by: banana Dream at May 06, 2021 10:51 AM (DoV/l)

Thanks, good thoughtful response.

I think there are biological reasons why it's easier for women to find "companionship" if they want, but you're absolutely right that we all have our own unique struggles and one size does not fit all.

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:59 AM (DXFDM)

371 It's not about forcing people to stay miserably married. What about the damage done to children when their folks divorce? Is it fair to make them miserable, so they can find themselves? Why do we depict marriage in such an awful light? We pretend that it's impossible for two people to love one another enough to work through a tough spell in their relationship. We don't even try.
Posted by: Notsothoreau
___

I prayed that my parents would divorce when I was a kid.

They're still married, though living in separate parts of the same house, rarely speaking to each other, afraid of catching the wuflu so much, they want no unvaccinated kin to visit them.

So, yay?

Posted by: SMH at May 06, 2021 11:00 AM (Fdh9S)

372 > Cancel culture wouldn't exist without coward culture.

Steven Crowder has been pushing the need for bravery. It's a good point. I go grey man outside of my home, here, and Church. Those are the only places I behave like myself. Everywhere else, especially work, I try to blend in.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 11:00 AM (YYlyE)

373 "To me, a lawn is silly as hell. It's a place that
eats your weekends for six months each year, to grow stuff you can't
eat, on a spot too small for playing golf. FTS. Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice"

Do you have a newsletter? Actually I do have a nice yard/lawn that suck up time but if I didn't have kids I could live happily without it or just trees or weeds.

Posted by: Ripley at May 06, 2021 11:00 AM (MxEKc)

374
Good tune, Sponge. Perhaps Soundgarden used this as inspiration for the time signature in many of their songs. I think it's 6/4.
Posted by: Doof at May 06, 2021 10:57 AM (mZUr4)

On the CD, they mix that song right into "Damage." It's a really good mix. Once you've heard it, it's kinda like Van Halen "Eruption" into "You Really Got Me." You MUST have both.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 11:00 AM (Zz0t1)

375 Physically, women are designed to have kids at a young age. It gets harder as they age. it's part of the reason cultures used to make arranged marriages for young girls. Get them safely married before they can disgrace the family.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 06, 2021 11:00 AM (5HBd1)

376 To me, a lawn is silly as hell. It's a place that eats your weekends for six months each year, to grow stuff you can't eat, on a spot too small for playing golf. FTS. It's an American cultural oddity I've never understood, at all.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

It looks nice.
Posted by: Joe Mannix

So does artificial turf.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 11:01 AM (OCTRt)

377 I prayed that my parents would divorce when I was a kid.
---

Me too!

When it was good, it was great, but when it was bad...

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 11:02 AM (Dc2NZ)

378 Bridesmaid: I can believe you'd...Grandma Figure 1: Give up the butt?!Grandma Figure 2: Got my first airplane ride for it!

I had to step out I was laughing so hard.

Posted by: IP at May 06, 2021 10:54 AM (pWrfh)

**reaches down and turns on autopilot**
OK Baby, its hump or jump!

Posted by: Diogenes at May 06, 2021 11:02 AM (axyOa)

379 I remember seeing a house once where the entire front yard was gravel with a few large rocks thrown in for decoration. It was like the guy just said f'k it to plants.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 06, 2021 11:02 AM (xfb67)

380 >>What a perfect argument for opening the gates on our southern border!

Probably already mentioned: now coastal Lefties are posting population density stats (US vs. other countries) as well as maps showing sparsly populated areas and saying: "We can handle more people, so you're wrong if you're against mass immigration!"

Never mind that so much of that open space is not inhabitable because of geograpgy (deserts, canyons, mountains, etc.) as well as - get this! - many of the Western states have vast amounts of land that is owned by the state, the feds, or Native American tribes. But they wouldn;t understand this because they live in NYC or San Francisco and never bothered to see what's inbetween from anything other than a plane at high altitude.

Posted by: Lizzy at May 06, 2021 11:02 AM (bDqIh)

381 Actually I do have a nice yard/lawn that suck up time but if I didn't have kids I could live happily without it or just trees or weeds.
Posted by: Ripley at May 06, 2021 11:00 AM (MxEKc)
Try groundcovers. Pachysandra isn't mowed, I have a lot of it, and a rose and flower garden that also cut down the size of lawn.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 11:02 AM (ONvIw)

382 It's not about forcing people to stay miserably married. What about the damage done to children when their folks divorce? Is it fair to make them miserable, so they can find themselves? Why do we depict marriage in such an awful light? We pretend that it's impossible for two people to love one another enough to work through a tough spell in their relationship. We don't even try.
Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 06, 2021 10:54 AM (5HBd1)

Agreed. There was a time, about 20-25 years ago, that I thought I was unhappy and getting divorced would fix that. Then I decided I was being stupid, and talked things out with my husband instead. I'm so, so glad I did.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 11:02 AM (Ez6QX)

383 Use it before it spoils.

If it's Valu-Rite Brand Vodka, drink it before the glass bottle starts to get soft and rubbery.

And no open flames, 'k?

Posted by: BackwardsBoy - Psychos Rule! No, really. They're in charge now. at May 06, 2021 11:03 AM (HaL55)

384

*hic*

Posted by: Hillary Clinton at May 06, 2021 11:03 AM (K2SnJ)

385 "To me, a lawn is silly as hell. It's a place that
eats your weekends for six months each year, to grow stuff you can't
eat, on a spot too small for playing golf. FTS. Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice"

I have mowed a lawn every year since I was twelve. Except for the four years I worked for the prison system and then the two after marriage where we rented. Looking forward to this next chapter. No lawn.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 11:03 AM (OCTRt)

386 Valu-Rite makes a terrific degreaser and rocket fuel.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 11:03 AM (Dc2NZ)

387 Agreed. There was a time, about 20-25 years ago, that I thought I was unhappy and getting divorced would fix that. Then I decided I was being stupid, and talked things out with my husband instead. I'm so, so glad I did.
Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 11:02 AM (Ez6QX)

A lot of the modern culture tries to push people to divorce the second they aren't perfectly happy. There's always someone better waiting, just ask Hallmark channel!

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is Already Dead at May 06, 2021 11:03 AM (z5Vrg)

388 > I totally get having a garden, though. I could even see replacing the entire lawn with rows of vegetables that I have to tend. Something where the effort has a point to it.

I've been noodling building a flood and drain hydroponic system in a spare room. Year round leafy greens, zero pesticides, picked when they're ripe and right onto my plate.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 11:03 AM (YYlyE)

389 Also, the one I linked was the abridged version.

This is the full:
https://tinyurl.com/fatfs67k

Excerpts that were removed:
(regarding being 'Free' to not fear any man or women as a single)
This is a perfectly possible, rational and manly position. But what have lovers to do with ridiculous affectations of fearing no man or woman? They know that in the turning of a hand the whole cosmic engine to the remotest star may become an instrument of music or an instrument of torture. They hear a song older than Suckling's, that has survived a hundred philosophies. 'Who is this that looketh out of the window, fair as the sun, clear as the moon, terrible as an army with banners?'

Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 06, 2021 11:04 AM (lmikk)

390 354

Kids living in a family with parents who hate each other and stay together for the kids is no better. If the parents are good people they will raise the kids well even after a divorce.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at May 06, 2021 11:04 AM (wLuYo)

391
Agreed. There was a time, about 20-25 years ago, that I thought I was unhappy and getting divorced would fix that. Then I decided I was being stupid, and talked things out with my husband instead. I'm so, so glad I did.
Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 11:02 AM (Ez6QX)

*pats on back*

Good on you. This fails to happen SOOOOO much.

Communication is the key. Too many couple lose their keys in the ditch and don't go looking for them.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 11:04 AM (Zz0t1)

392 Yeah. Hoarding suggests you are stashing it away where nobody can get to it. What you are doing is more like reinforcing the supply chain!

Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 10:55 AM (Fc5rx)

Exactly.
At the local university where I don't teach anymore, I taught supply logistics. I see my liquor cabinet as a living practical exercise.

Posted by: Diogenes at May 06, 2021 11:04 AM (axyOa)

393 Agreed. There was a time, about 20-25 years ago, that I thought I was unhappy and getting divorced would fix that. Then I decided I was being stupid, and talked things out with my husband instead. I'm so, so glad I did.
Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 11:02 AM (Ez6QX)

Well done. Nobody is happy 100% of the time, even though it is easy to imagine that everyone but us is always delighted with their lives.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 11:04 AM (ONvIw)

394 >the entire front yard was gravel with a few large rocks thrown in for decoration. It was like the guy just said f'k it

you see that a lot here in CO

spring and early summer are green
then August and September turns everything into dry tinder

Posted by: DB- just DB at May 06, 2021 11:05 AM (iTXRQ)

395 Grampa, can we watch Cuties again?

Posted by: Arkansas Biden Baby at May 06, 2021 11:05 AM (W4eKo)

396 Kids living in a family with parents who hate each other and stay together for the kids is no better. If the parents are good people they will raise the kids well even after a divorce.
Posted by: Joe XiDen
___

This^^^

Posted by: SMH at May 06, 2021 11:05 AM (Fdh9S)

397 I've been noodling building a flood and drain hydroponic system in a spare room. Year round leafy greens, zero pesticides, picked when they're ripe and right onto my plate.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 11:03 AM (YYlyE)

You'll get a visit from the cops when the power company rats you out for your grow lights. Happened to a guy I know.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 06, 2021 11:05 AM (xfb67)

398 It looks nice. I have a lawn now for the first time. I am not a lawn enthusiast. I mow it every two weeks and use the weed whacker on the edges. I don't enjoy it much. I don't mind mowing. I actually find it kind of relaxing. I despise the string trimmer, though, and it is an irreconcilable difference. I have a big ass yard and the weed whacking takes at least as long as the mowing. Unlike the mowing, though, there is nothing to recommend it. It isn't enjoyable in the slightest.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 10:53 AM (Jsjd7)

You know what looks nice? A "yard" full of rocks!

I bought my house specifically because it has no plants. When things grow on my property, I kill them. Two minutes of spraying, and my "yard work" is done.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 06, 2021 11:05 AM (U2EjU)

399 I think I read where a woman featured about doing this none of her eggs took. and she was on all these magazines about how she froze her eggs.

Without meaning to bash women, a huge part of what's gone wrong in our culture is that women were sold a bill of goods: you can have it all. And a lot of them believed it, and continue to believe it. It's a formula for misery because you can't navigate life without accepting the concept of opportunity costs. If you are planning on having it all, reality is bound to disappoint.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at May 06, 2021 11:05 AM (H5knJ)

400 On the CD, they mix that song right into "Damage." It's a really good mix. Once you've heard it, it's kinda like Van Halen "Eruption" into "You Really Got Me." You MUST have both.
Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 11:00 AM (Zz0t1)

Ahh, so you DON'T hate everything! I knew it.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 11:05 AM (Ez6QX)

401 my mom was 36 when she had the first of 5....she was one of 6, the only girl in her family and the first to go to college. she worked, didn't think she'd ever get married and when she got married never thought she'd be able to have children. she ended up with 5 in 6 and a 1/2 yrs. my parents were a good 15 to 20 yrs senior to all the other parents in our friend groups...pretty much a different generation....i remember all my friends borrowing their mom's clothes for 50's dances...i asked to borrow my mom's and she laughed....she was working by then...she never had the poodle skirt....that was for kids...

Posted by: phoenixgirl at May 06, 2021 11:05 AM (CqHIp)

402 Also, the art was great today. I'm sorry to have missed it.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at May 06, 2021 11:06 AM (H5knJ)

403 > So does artificial turf.

We have rich friend who put in some artificial turf. I had no idea it was so expensive. It was like $18,000 for about 800 square feet.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 11:06 AM (YYlyE)

404
Ahh, so you DON'T hate everything! I knew it.
Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 11:05 AM (Ez6QX)

MMMUUUUAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 11:06 AM (Zz0t1)

405 Nice lawn you got there. Be a shame if sumthin happened to it.

Posted by: Mole Mafia at May 06, 2021 11:06 AM (pnSY9)

406 SMH,
Do you have daddy issues? Because a lot of the women from divorced families do.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 06, 2021 11:06 AM (5HBd1)

407 for some reason I am watching a video about this guy working for the Railroad was pulled over assaulted, cussed at and threatened. He went to the police Chief and filed a report, so the Chief then Arrested the Railroad Worker for interfering with a Police Officer. The Chief get the Wife alone and blames the Husband for the arrest saying he was violent, So they divorce months later, 2 years later the video evidence is released showing he was cooperating and it was the cop that was over reacting and being violent.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 06, 2021 11:06 AM (dKiJG)

408 Bridesmaid: I can believe you'd...Grandma Figure 1: Give up the butt?!Grandma Figure 2: Got my first airplane ride for it!
I had to step out I was laughing so hard.
Posted by: IP at May 06, 2021 10:54 AM (pWrfh)
That's hot.
Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 10:56 AM (Zz0t1)

I think I know those two broads.....

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 06, 2021 11:06 AM (xW72t)

409 You know what looks nice? A "yard" full of rocks!

I bought my house specifically because it has no plants. When things grow on my property, I kill them. Two minutes of spraying, and my "yard work" is done.
Posted by: BurtTC at May 06, 2021 11:05 AM (U2EjU)
++++
It sure can. Like I said, I am not a lawn enthusiast. If I had built this place, it wouldn't have a lot of the really nice landscaping the previous owner did. But I do maintain it. I view it as a couple of hours every other Saturday to keep it from turning into a jungle. That's about it. But some people - some of my neighbors, for example - are total lawn guys. They obsess over it. Everything is always perfect and they work on it constantly.

To each his own.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 11:07 AM (Jsjd7)

410 Damn, Notsothoreau.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 11:07 AM (Dc2NZ)

411 > You'll get a visit from the cops when the power company rats you out for your grow lights. Happened to a guy I know.

I'm not looking at HID lights. Maybe a couple T5 fixtures, or if I'm really feeling like splurging, LED grow lights.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 11:07 AM (YYlyE)

412 390 Agreed. There was a time, about 20-25 years ago, that I thought I was unhappy and getting divorced would fix that. Then I decided I was being stupid, and talked things out with my husband instead. I'm so, so glad I did.
Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 11:02 AM (Ez6QX)
A lot of the modern culture tries to push people to divorce the second they aren't perfectly happy. There's always someone better waiting, just ask Hallmark channel!
Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is Already Dead at May 06, 2021 11:03 AM (z5Vrg)

And it seems like a lot of the marriage "counseling" services are more about convincing the wife that divorce is the way to go instead of working at the marriage. And hey for some divorce might be the way to go, but too often it seems like one hiccup and it's time to call the lawyers.

Posted by: Buzzion at May 06, 2021 11:07 AM (caHTz)

413 >Steven Crowder has been pushing the need for bravery. It's a good point. I go grey man outside of my home, here, and Church. Those are the only places I behave like myself. Everywhere else, especially work, I try to blend in.
Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 11:00 AM (YYlyE)

I think that's a great message. I much prefer the encouraging, "let's buck up" messaging over the nearly Karen-like scolding that gets thrown around on our side.

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 11:08 AM (DXFDM)

414 Kids living in a family with parents who hate each other and stay together for the kids is no better. If the parents are good people they will raise the kids well even after a divorce.
Posted by: Joe XiDen
___

This^^^
Posted by: SMH at May 06, 2021 11:05 AM (Fdh9S)

I agree with this also. In my particular situation, we didn't hate each other, I just thought life would be better if I were single. Which was bullshit.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 11:08 AM (Ez6QX)

415 Do you have daddy issues? Because a lot of the women from divorced families do.
Posted by: Notsothoreau

___

My mom was a raging alcoholic.
Plus, my parents never divorced.

Posted by: SMH at May 06, 2021 11:08 AM (Fdh9S)

416 I remember seeing a house once where the entire front yard was gravel with a few large rocks thrown in for decoration. It was like the guy just said f'k it to plants.
Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 06, 2021 11:02 AM (xfb67)

The least you could have done is wave to me when you drove by.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 06, 2021 11:08 AM (U2EjU)

417 You know what looks nice? A "yard" full of rocks!

I bought my house specifically because it has no plants. When things grow on my property, I kill them. Two minutes of spraying, and my "yard work" is done.
Posted by: BurtTC

Ahhhhh. The Aridzona/Nevada approach to lawn maintenance.

Golf clap.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 11:08 AM (OCTRt)

418 Do you have daddy issues? Because a lot of the women from divorced families do.
Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 06, 2021 11:06 AM (5HBd1)

I was very jealous of friends with intact families, and cried like a baby when I saw "Father of the Bride" as that was totally inaccessible to me.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 11:08 AM (ONvIw)

419 We have rich friend who put in some artificial turf. I had no idea it was so expensive. It was like $18,000 for about 800 square feet.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 11:06 AM (YYlyE)

Must have the gold foil backing.

Posted by: BignJames at May 06, 2021 11:09 AM (AwYPR)

420 what would be useful would be to encourage young people to think long and hard about the person they get involved with and have children with. There's not much thought that goes on there. But there should be. it would cut down on divorce.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 06, 2021 11:09 AM (5HBd1)

421 I was very jealous of friends with intact families, and cried like a baby when I saw "Father of the Bride" as that was totally inaccessible to me.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 11:08 AM (ONvIw)

We all cried about how much that movie sucked.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 06, 2021 11:09 AM (xfb67)

422 bonhomme
and dogs will take a dump on it.....18k...lol...i'd lose it if my dog took a dump on my cheap rug

Posted by: phoenixgirl at May 06, 2021 11:09 AM (CqHIp)

423 You'll get a visit from the cops when the power company rats you out for your grow lights. Happened to a guy I know.

Go solar.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 11:09 AM (OCTRt)

424
I've been noodling building a flood and drain hydroponic system in a spare room. Year round leafy greens, zero pesticides, picked when they're ripe and right onto my plate.
Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 11:03 AM (YYlyE)

--------

I've done this on a fairly large scale before. It's a lot of work, if you don't plumb the drainage for the system. But it is fun.

Note: Power consumption can be a bitch, too. If you employ more 400W ballasts instead of fewer 1000W ones, it goes down quite a bit, though. Also - get the switchable ones so you can switch between MH and HPS for correct wavelengths in vegetation/fruiting stages.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 06, 2021 11:10 AM (Uh2oA)

425 Ahhhhh. The Aridzona/Nevada approach to lawn maintenance.

Golf clap.
Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 11:08 AM (OCTRt)

*snort*

Arid-zona. That's good.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 11:10 AM (Ez6QX)

426 I'm married. No point in little blue pills.

Posted by:�Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now�at May 06, 2021 10:53 AM (ifmtJ)

****

Well... that IS still the best form of birth control. I don't think hallway secks ever produced any progeny.

Posted by: Truck Monkey at May 06, 2021 11:10 AM (flINI)

427 >Without meaning to bash women, a huge part of what's gone wrong in our culture is that women were sold a bill of goods: you can have it all. And a lot of them believed it, and continue to believe it. It's a formula for misery because you can't navigate life without accepting the concept of opportunity costs. If you are planning on having it all, reality is bound to disappoint.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at May 06, 2021 11:05 AM (H5knJ)

Strong agree.

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 11:10 AM (DXFDM)

428 We all cried about how much that movie sucked.
Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 06, 2021 11:09 AM (xfb67)

With Spencer Tracy? I like it, but am still wishing I had that sort of life.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 11:10 AM (ONvIw)

429
I was very jealous of friends with intact families, and cried like a baby when I saw "Father of the Bride" as that was totally inaccessible to me.
Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 11:08 AM (ONvIw)

My parents stayed together till I was 21.

Any "Father of the Bride" situation was inaccessible. We're just not that close a family and never really have been.

Those with good family units always made me jealous. It's why I am with my wife and daughter the way I am. They NEED to know it's possible.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 11:10 AM (Zz0t1)

430 > Must have the gold foil backing.

It's the kind they use in sports fields, not the kind that rolls out like a carpet and looks awful.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 11:11 AM (YYlyE)

431 But some people - some of my neighbors, for example - are total lawn guys. They obsess over it. Everything is always perfect and they work on it constantly.

To each his own.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 11:07 AM (Jsjd7)

I'm visiting family as we speak (well not right now, I'm in my hotel room, sans pants). My mother's property is overrun with plants... well, there are tons of them, and there are hours and hours of work done (by her and others) to maintain it all.

Even I was put to work this past week. She thinks it's silly that I have pets. I told her I spend LESS time caring for my pets than she does on her plants. She tries to argue, but as usual, I'm right and she's wrong.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 06, 2021 11:11 AM (U2EjU)

432 what would be useful would be to encourage young people to think long and hard about the person they get involved with and have children with. There's not much thought that goes on there. But there should be. it would cut down on divorce.
Posted by: Notsothoreau
___

My parents grew up in southside Chicago, where both their dads skipped out on them.

The Navy (for my dad) and marriage for my mom were escapes.

Posted by: SMH at May 06, 2021 11:11 AM (Fdh9S)

433 Ahhhhh. The Aridzona/Nevada approach to lawn maintenance.

Golf clap.
Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 11:08 AM (OCTRt)
++++
There's a term for it: Xeriscaping. The yard where I live now would be outrageously irresponsible (and hugely expensive) to maintain where I used to live (Denver). If I lived anyplace without a lot of water, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Some places, water is just too precious to waste on lawns. Yet HOA bylaws often require it. HOAs that require manicured lawns in dry places are insane.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 06, 2021 11:11 AM (Jsjd7)

434 426 You'll get a visit from the cops when the power company rats you out for your grow lights. Happened to a guy I know.

Go solar.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 11:09 AM (OCTRt)

Put solar panels outside so you can provide simulated sunlight to plants inside? That's gold!

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 06, 2021 11:11 AM (xfb67)

435 in az...you can smell the artificial turf in the hot sun...

Posted by: phoenixgirl at May 06, 2021 11:11 AM (CqHIp)

436 I let portions of my lawn die last year, and I've become a bit obsessed with trying to help it grow back this year.

80% of my lawn is one of the best yards on the street. The other 20% is the worst lawn on the street.

I'm going to fix that.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 11:12 AM (LvTSG)

437 Gotta say, my yard looks nice. Even sent a few pixs to ktinthegarden.
But then the Mexican dude and his cousins of unknown citizenship take care of it.
Could I buy more ammo? Sure, but these guys are cheap.

Posted by: Diogenes at May 06, 2021 11:12 AM (axyOa)

438 ...and one that will spiral into something like Italy if we are lucky, and Venezuela if we aren't!

Wooohooo! Never ending pasta bowl...it will be awesome!

Posted by: Paladin at May 06, 2021 11:12 AM (7hzzD)

439 I had a deal blow up in AZ due to the invasion. All I want is a little park model trailer with some lava rock and a cactus for a lawn. And a tortoise. A very old tortoise. I'll name him Rob.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin at May 06, 2021 11:13 AM (I58tH)

440 I think the romantic image of pre-1960s America as this wonderland of morality is really kind of a powerful illusion.
Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 10:46 AM (DXFDM)
---------

I don't know if it was meant to be an illusion so much as simply people didn't freaking TALK ABOUT IT NONSTOP. Entertainment was about all sorts of different subjects. A popular song could be about something other than humping and still be popular.
Songs about humping were at least euphemistic. Most were instead about love.

Dixie Cups - Going to the Chapel
VS
Minaj - WAP

I rest my case. And I am apparently VERY MUCH an old-fart for being only 42 years old. Sheesh.

Posted by: Speed Racer's Banana Hammock at May 06, 2021 11:13 AM (RQDhf)

441 7
Put solar panels outside so you can provide simulated sunlight to plants inside? That's gold!
Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 06, 2021 11:11 AM (xfb67)

That shit's funny right there.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 11:13 AM (Zz0t1)

442 My shabby yard makes thieves think my house isn't worth breaking into.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 06, 2021 11:13 AM (xfb67)

443 I totally get having a garden, though. I could even
see replacing the entire lawn with rows of vegetables that I have to
tend. Something where the effort has a point to it.

I've been noodling building a flood and drain hydroponic system in a
spare room. Year round leafy greens, zero pesticides, picked when
they're ripe and right onto my plate.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 11:03 AM

Tens of thousands of property owners did that during WWII, called them victory gardens. But most stopped after war rationing ended in late 1945 because it was extremely hard work.

My grandparents had a 1 acre plot of garden that Goodyear let them use at one of their community gardens and they worked that place up into their late 70's when my Great Grandmother passed away. They just could not do it any longer. I spent many a summer vacation working their and it was work. I would rather have been laying sod than working that place.

Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at May 06, 2021 11:13 AM (JUOKG)

444 374 It's not about forcing people to stay miserably married. What about the damage done to children when their folks divorce? Is it fair to make them miserable, so they can find themselves? Why do we depict marriage in such an awful light? We pretend that it's impossible for two people to love one another enough to work through a tough spell in their relationship. We don't even try.
Posted by: Notsothoreau
___
I prayed that my parents would divorce when I was a kid.
They're still married, though living in separate parts of the same house, rarely speaking to each other, afraid of catching the wuflu so much, they want no unvaccinated kin to visit them.
So, yay?
Posted by: SMH at May 06, 2021 11:00 AM (Fdh9S)

Sounds like my 'rents. Still married ro each other, but geograohically separated by a good 9 hour drive. They both claim to still love the other, chat on the phone three or four times a dy, but emphatically refuse to do anything together.

Posted by: BifBewalski - at May 06, 2021 11:13 AM (VcFUs)

445 My yard looks amazing. So green.

With yellow.

And white.

Posted by: Buzzion at May 06, 2021 11:13 AM (caHTz)

446 You know what looks nice? A "yard" full of rocks!

I bought my house specifically because it has no plants. When things grow on my property, I kill them. Two minutes of spraying, and my "yard work" is done.
Posted by: BurtTC

Ahhhhh. The Aridzona/Nevada approach to lawn maintenance.

Golf clap.
Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 11:08 AM (OCTRt)

I think plants in Phoenix are a status symbol. The nicer the neighborhood, the more the homes are covered, every square inch, with plants. And not just cacti. Trees that have no business being in Arizona.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 06, 2021 11:14 AM (U2EjU)

447 323 Poor people have more kids, for reasons.
Posted by: Huck Follywood

Because government pays them. Eliminate that safety net....
Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 10:42 AM (OCTRt)

Some of that, but just as much the fact that poor people very often have poor impulse control and high time preferences. This means that birth control is used less often, or less reliably.
--------
Birth control is not covered by many insurance plans, including some state-funded ones. Apparently the pill and rubbers are OUP expense.

Viagra, OTH, is covered! At least that's the situation in OH. One of my lefty gaming group members works for Foster Services and she's tired of cleaning up after unwanted children (often a next-generation continuation problem) who are in the system.

Posted by: exdem13 at May 06, 2021 11:14 AM (W+kMI)

448 My husband's nephew is a Mormon and raised a family with his second wife. He had daughters from the first marriage. It was the second marriage for her too and she had a son from the first marriage. She had always been a bit of a bitch but got worse as the kids grew up. He tried everything, including counseling, but she just didn't want to keep the marriage together. So they divorced. She still alone. He has a new wife and is making a difference in her daughter's life. I think the old wife figured that she'd do a lot better when she was single again. Sure doesn't look like it worked out that way.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 06, 2021 11:14 AM (5HBd1)

449 But then the Mexican dude and his cousins of unknown citizenship take care of it.

Posted by: Diogenes at May 06, 2021 11:12 AM (axyOa)

My husband is Mexican but I think the gardening/landscaping gene skipped right over him.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 11:14 AM (Ez6QX)

450 Note: Power consumption can be a bitch, too. If you employ more 400W ballasts instead of fewer 1000W ones, it goes down quite a bit, though. Also

AND AS A BONUS, the police will show up to see if you are growing Mary Jane and all the drug laws included

Posted by: will choose a nic later at May 06, 2021 11:14 AM (bTQ72)

451 >>>I'm married. No point in little blue pills.

Posted by:Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at May 06, 2021 10:53 AM (ifmtJ)

======

Heh! That's what I told my doc when he asked if I needed them.

Posted by: Swingin' for the downs at May 06, 2021 11:14 AM (Pxs3T)

452 If you're going to dedicate manhours to a lawn, make it a garden you can consume.

Posted by: davidt at May 06, 2021 11:14 AM (pnSY9)

453 > Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 06, 2021 11:10 AM (Uh2oA)

Good thoughts, thanks!

The spare room is on the second floor. For draining, I was planning to put a ball valve on a hose. Submerge the hose completely in the reservoir making sure to get out all the air, close the ball valve, toss the hose out the window, open the ball valve. Voila, siphon empties the tank.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 11:14 AM (YYlyE)

454 80% of my lawn is one of the best yards on the street. The other 20% is the worst lawn on the street.

I'm going to fix that.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 11:12 AM (LvTSG)

The bad thing about wanting a good lawn is everyone in your neighborhood must want one too. Fighting off everyone else's weeds is a NEVER ending battle. And PRICEY........

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (Zz0t1)

455 But some people - some of my neighbors, for example - are total lawn guys. They obsess over it. Everything is always perfect and they work on it constantly.

To each his own.
Posted by: Joe Mannix

We had a guy in the neighborhood do that. Rolled the dirt flat. Put in bent grass. (Putting green grass)
Mowed it with the same mower they use on putting greens. Not one weed. Won best yard.

Next year it looked like shit. Way too much work.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (OCTRt)

456 Wooohooo! Never ending pasta bowl...it will be awesome!
Posted by: Paladin at May 06, 2021 11:12 AM (7hzzD)

Yeah. The "bowl" is the never-ending part.

The pasta inside, on the other hand... It ends.

Posted by: Speed Racer's Banana Hammock at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (RQDhf)

457 >>Without meaning to bash women, a huge part of what's gone wrong in our culture is that women were sold a bill of goods: you can have it all. And a lot of them believed it, and continue to believe it. It's a formula for misery because you can't navigate life without accepting the concept of opportunity costs. If you are planning on having it all, reality is bound to disappoint.

This.

Also, with abortion they've instilled this idea that you can "do over" a kid. Get pregnant at the wrong time in your life? Abort it and then have a do over when you're ready. Yeah, kids don;t work like that. First, each baby is a unique human being -- that kid is gone when you abort it. Second, who's to say that when you're finally ready (all prerequisite boxes checked!!) you can concieve, or that you have a good egg, or that you have good partner, and so on. SOmetimes it works out fine, but there's no guarantee.

Life rarely gives you the opportunity to schedule the big things -- kids, when you meet your spouse, when you find the perfect job, etc., so stop selling women the idea that you have 100% control over your reproductive system.

Posted by: Lizzy at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (bDqIh)

458 457 The bad thing about wanting a good lawn is everyone in your neighborhood must want one too. Fighting off everyone else's weeds is a NEVER ending battle. And PRICEY........
Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (Zz0t1)

=========

I just pull them by hand. It takes a while, but it's pretty effective.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (LvTSG)

459 459 Wooohooo! Never ending pasta bowl...it will be awesome!
Posted by: Paladin at May 06, 2021 11:12 AM (7hzzD)

Yeah. The "bowl" is the never-ending part.

The pasta inside, on the other hand... It ends.
Posted by: Speed Racer's Banana Hammock at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (RQDhf)

That's what the insects are for.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is Already Dead at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (z5Vrg)

460 >Without meaning to bash women, a huge part of what's gone wrong in our culture is that women were sold a bill of goods: you can have it all. And a lot of them believed it, and continue to believe it. It's a formula for misery because you can't navigate life without accepting the concept of opportunity costs. If you are planning on having it all, reality is bound to disappoint.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at May 06, 2021 11:05 AM (H5knJ)

On the flip side, teaching Gen X and younger men to be a bunch of white knight simps was also disastrous, and fed into the pathology that they taught to the women.

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (DXFDM)

461 I remember seeing a house once where the entire front yard was gravel with a few large rocks thrown in for decoration. It was like the guy just said f'k it to plants.

--

There's a yard right around the corner from my MIL's house in Winter Park, FL that is 100% rocks.

Posted by: Lady in Black at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (O+I8R)

462
Those with good family units always made me jealous. It's why I am with my wife and daughter the way I am. They NEED to know it's possible.
Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 11:10 AM (Zz0t1)

I rarely heard from my dad after the divorce (he never remarried) and my mom went from relationship to relationship, and resented any money spent on the kids.
My husband and I had our difficulties, but we stayed together. My husband always thought his childhood friend had the perfectly happy life, until he found out otherwise when she ran off to find herself...and came groveling back 10 months later. The friend told him just how "great" the years had been. Big awakening.

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (ONvIw)

463 You'd think with all this GMO stuff they'd event some dwarf grass or something that doesn't need to be mowed. Probably make a fortune if they did.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 06, 2021 11:16 AM (xfb67)

464 hey Dave!

Posted by: 2012/2020 at May 06, 2021 11:16 AM (g741k)

465 If your man is working on the railroad, the secret to a happy marriage is to show him your leg.

Posted by: Dinah at May 06, 2021 11:16 AM (DMUuz)

466 My mother went to Fordson High and they had victory gardens for the students to work in, and then the kids could sell the produce or take it home.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 11:17 AM (Dc2NZ)

467 Excellent rant, CBD!

Posted by: m at May 06, 2021 11:17 AM (fVJPF)

468 My husband is Mexican but I think the gardening/landscaping gene skipped right over him.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 11:14 AM (Ez6QX)

Heh!
I wondered if that would get a comment from you? I look forward to meeting him sometime.

Posted by: Diogenes at May 06, 2021 11:17 AM (axyOa)

469 you should beat your lawn tools into weapons

Posted by: humphreyrobot at May 06, 2021 11:17 AM (o89XP)

470 There's a yard right around the corner from my MIL's house in Winter Park, FL that is 100% rocks.
Posted by: Lady in Black
___

My folks live in Winter Park.

Posted by: SMH at May 06, 2021 11:17 AM (Fdh9S)

471 My lawn is a vegetable conspiracy against my happiness. From here till winter, I'll be spending two to two and half hours on it a week. The front looks passable, but that's all that can be said for it. The back is deteriorating into a wasteland. It's basically a glorified dog latrine and rec area. I think it's 50 percent weeds despite my efforts. I really just want to pour gasoline on it and set it on fire.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at May 06, 2021 11:17 AM (H5knJ)

472
The spare room is on the second floor. For draining, I was planning to put a ball valve on a hose. Submerge the hose completely in the reservoir making sure to get out all the air, close the ball valve, toss the hose out the window, open the ball valve. Voila, siphon empties the tank.
Posted by: bonhomme at May 06, 2021 11:14 AM (YYlyE)

--------

That's fine. But think about two things, here, first.

1.) How much drainage will there be? Is it an erosion risk?

2.) Where will it be draining? Is it somewhere you care about growing other things? Because it will become overfertilized. A lot of the fertilizer you use won't be absorbed by the hydroponic system, and will be in the runoff.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 06, 2021 11:18 AM (Uh2oA)

473 There's a yard right around the corner from my MIL's house in Winter Park, FL that is 100% rocks.

Posted by: Lady in Black at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (O+I8R)

Weird. This house was near one of the exits of the old Nuclear Power School in Orlando. It may have been in Winter Park because that's where I lived when I was in power school.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 06, 2021 11:18 AM (xfb67)

474 We pay the neighbor's kid to cut the lawn.

Posted by: SMH at May 06, 2021 11:18 AM (Fdh9S)

475 On the flip side, teaching Gen X and younger men to be a bunch of white knight simps was also disastrous, and fed into the pathology that they taught to the women.
Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (DXFDM)

Gen X? I identified with Judd Nelson in Breakfast Club, not Emilio or Hall

Posted by: AlaBAMA at May 06, 2021 11:18 AM (4fSQf)

476 Birth control is not covered by many insurance plans, including some state-funded ones. Apparently the pill and rubbers are OUP expense. Viagra, OTH, is covered! At least that's the situation in OH.

Posted by: exdem13

You know why? Medical insurance fixes broken shit. Can't get it up? Viagra fixes broken shit.
Get her pregnant? Obviously your penis and her ovaries work just fine.

Posted by: rickb223 at May 06, 2021 11:19 AM (OCTRt)

477 My yard looks amazing. So green.

With yellow.

And white.

Posted by: Buzzion at May 06, 2021 11:13 AM
Dead guys are not supposed to have lawns.

Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at May 06, 2021 11:19 AM (JUOKG)

478 Nood gate scandal.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is Already Dead at May 06, 2021 11:19 AM (z5Vrg)

479
Heh!
I wondered if that would get a comment from you? I look forward to meeting him sometime.
Posted by: Diogenes at May 06, 2021 11:17 AM (axyOa)

Next time I see him, I'll have to remember this and call him 'esse.'

LOL!

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 11:19 AM (Zz0t1)

480 i let our lawn die....our dog was allergic to it but loved to roll around on it...he'd get horrible skin and ear infections...currently bidding out landscapers to redo the area...with all the new builds and material and labour shortages...i wish i had kept it...not sure when anyone can begin work......

Posted by: phoenixgirl at May 06, 2021 11:19 AM (CqHIp)

481 I loved one cranky geezer who paved over his front yard in patterned concrete and left squares open for shrubbery. Just hose down the yard once a week!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 11:19 AM (Dc2NZ)

482 Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (DXFDM)

Yep. Destroying the difference between men and women too. Ruined a lot of shit.

Posted by: thathalfrican - The One at May 06, 2021 11:19 AM (IhU+Y)

483 Note: Power consumption can be a bitch, too. If you employ more 400W ballasts instead of fewer 1000W ones, it goes down quite a bit, though. Also

AND AS A BONUS, the police will show up to see if you are growing Mary Jane and all the drug laws included

Posted by: will choose a nic later at May 06, 2021 11:14 AM (bTQ72)

But if you're lucky, they will completely miss the "juice machine" in the corner. Just cover up the coils.

Posted by: Diogenes at May 06, 2021 11:19 AM (axyOa)

484 We pay the neighbor's kid to cut the lawn.
Posted by: SMH at May 06, 2021 11:18 AM (Fdh9S)

All my neighbors' kids are infants or toddlers, or I would do that in a heartbeat.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 06, 2021 11:19 AM (Ez6QX)

485 If your man is working on the railroad, the secret to a happy marriage is to show him your leg.

And if he's a pilot, well you know...

Posted by: Grandma #2 at May 06, 2021 11:20 AM (pWrfh)

486 NOOD Bill Gates & CCP spy

Posted by: clutch cargo - processed in a facility that may contain lead at May 06, 2021 11:20 AM (wAnMi)

487 The bad thing about wanting a good lawn is everyone in your neighborhood must want one too. Fighting off everyone else's weeds is a NEVER ending battle. And PRICEY........
Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (Zz0t1)

I wonder what "herd immunity" for a good lawn would require so that you could get away with less fighting of "everyone else's weeds." I'm guessing it would need to be more than just your neighborhood. Would even a 10 block radius be able to do it if you were the center and everyone else around you was also maintaining their lawn and you stopped. How quickly would the weeds begin showing up?

Posted by: Buzzion at May 06, 2021 11:20 AM (caHTz)

488 Having a lawn's condition in NE Ohio was predicated on the old Greek ladys in black. The dandelion harvest of them alone took care of your lawn.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin at May 06, 2021 11:20 AM (I58tH)

489 Dr. Richard "Call Me Rachel" Levine, looking for an apartment in D.C. for his new federal gig has very particular preferences. He has already turned down two possible places because there was no ballroom.

Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 11:21 AM (Fc5rx)

490 Victor Hanson pointed out in several of his videos that the Greeks invented Western Civilization specifically to guarantee property rights and the ability to pass property on to heirs of each individual's own choosing.

It's early on in the youtube video titled "Victor Davis Hanson - Western Civilization, the Recovery of Greek Wisdom, and Today"

Posted by: EXTERMINATE! at May 06, 2021 11:21 AM (hbrUW)

491 492 Dr. Richard "Call Me Rachel" Levine, looking for an apartment in D.C. for his new federal gig has very particular preferences. He has already turned down two possible places because there was no ballroom.
Posted by: Muldoon at May 06, 2021 11:21 AM (Fc5rx)

Kennedy Warren

Posted by: CN at May 06, 2021 11:21 AM (ONvIw)

492 476 There's a yard right around the corner from my MIL's house in Winter Park, FL that is 100% rocks.

Posted by: Lady in Black at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (O+I8R)

Weird. This house was near one of the exits of the old Nuclear Power School in Orlando. It may have been in Winter Park because that's where I lived when I was in power school.
Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 06, 2021 11:18 AM (xfb67)

I know right where that is.

I also remember the X Division folks having to mow sand with a few wisps of grass growing. It takes work to have a decent lawn in Florida.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at May 06, 2021 11:22 AM (Dc2NZ)

493 Yard work. It's the beer afterwards.

Weed whacked. Before starting, look at your lawn and say: Say hay-o. To mi ittle friend.

Marriage longevity. Lots of yard work.

Circle of life kinda thing. YMMV

Posted by: Steve_in_SoCal at May 06, 2021 11:22 AM (52YyU)

494
Dr. Richard "Call Me Rachel" Levine, looking for an apartment in D.C. for his new federal gig has very particular preferences.

------

McCarthy and Luntz have certain preferences, as well. I'm sure they'd love to move him in and make it an Odd Throuple situation.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 06, 2021 11:22 AM (Uh2oA)

495 There's a yard right around the corner from my MIL's house in Winter Park, FL that is 100% rocks.

Lots of beach homes over on the coasts do that as well. I once lived in WP. Kewl little place to live. Lots of money there. If there was some new exotic superfast sexy car to be had, you'd see one on the road there about two weeks after introduction.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy - Psychos Rule! No, really. They're in charge now. at May 06, 2021 11:23 AM (HaL55)

496 Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 06, 2021 11:18 AM (xfb67)

--

Now that is weird! I'm trying to think of the street it's on.

Posted by: Lady in Black at May 06, 2021 11:23 AM (O+I8R)

497 461 457 The bad thing about wanting a good lawn is everyone in your neighborhood must want one too. Fighting off everyone else's weeds is a NEVER ending battle. And PRICEY........
Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (Zz0t1)
=========
I just pull them by hand. It takes a while, but it's pretty effective.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, in a Lynchian nightmare at May 06, 2021 11:15 AM (LvTSG)

I got the brigt kelly grewn lichen all throuhout my lawn. Huntsville is too wet to grow anything except grass that needs 100% direct sun, and i live on the side of a mountain with 98% shade by bigg assed trees. Feels like walking on deep shag carpet when barefoot. Zero maintenance other than leaf raking in the fall. The lichen kills all the weeds by itself with no help from me. This is after $6k of fescue sod that died of a fungus within one season. My opinon is fuck grass, all kinds, i'll spray roundup before tsking care of grass again.

Posted by: BifBewalski - at May 06, 2021 11:23 AM (VcFUs)

498 Concerning the divorce/population control bit here.... My mother was from what was called "a broken home" when she was a child, and despite getting remarried my grandmother's happiness was not complete. (This was hidden from me as a child because time heals some wounds and adults in those days pushed the positive values of marriage on kids.) Mom saw & heard much, thought much, and decided she would always try to make things work. My parents have been married since 1964, are almost a textbook case of couples making decisions and agreements to avoid conflict, and they do everything together, especially since they are both retired.

Posted by: exdem13 at May 06, 2021 11:25 AM (W+kMI)

499 Deferred childbearing is reduced childbearing.
A huge portion of couples fall off the fertility cliff in their 30s when they "thought" they'd have everythnig in order and so feel lucky to squeeze out a kid. Once that one's out of diapers they reassess their energy/patience level in their mid 30s and maybe think about #2.

OTOH a little depopulation (if not "supplemented" by a wholesale, artificial demographic/political culture shift of importing many more million 3d world peasantry) would not a bad thing. I still remember a country hovering around 200M and there was a shitton less traffic, stupid "development" and paving over every last inch of the Northeast corridor.

Posted by: Zek at May 06, 2021 11:26 AM (5RTdG)

500 .

Posted by: chango lot at May 06, 2021 11:32 AM (g741k)

501 52 Demography is destiny. I often find myself looking at childless 30, 40, and 50 somethings thinking I don't really think your opinion matters on anything as you have no skin in the game. I won't vote for any childless politician because what do they care about the future?
Posted by: Lulu

I have more skin in the game than you think. I've paid for your crotch fruit's schooling for thirty years with ZERO fucking input because "I don't have kids". Just shut up and pay your taxes serf.

Yeah. Fuck that shit.

Actually, you have not. My parents went to private schools. My siblings and I attended private schools. And my children attend private schools. Meanwhile we all pay into SS, Medicare, etc. for older people who are not related to us.

Again do you think a childless 60 year old politician gives a crap what happens to his/her country in 30+ years? I don't see Europe.

Posted by: Lulu at May 06, 2021 11:34 AM (Ve//x)

502 all I know is, based on my birth date, I was conceived on or around my parents' wedding anniversary

some celebration

When I was working in Philly, we had a crop of young Engineers. 9 I think that all had birthdays the 1st week in September. Happy New Years!

Posted by: Paladin at May 06, 2021 11:42 AM (7hzzD)

503 Italy? Dude, you lost me. If the USA spirals down the toilet it has no chance of being Italy.

Think either Canada - better; Mexico - worse; or Venezuela - worst.

Posted by: Bronx Native at May 06, 2021 11:54 AM (zz/dg)

504 You'd think with all this GMO stuff they'd event some dwarf grass or something that doesn't need to be mowed. Probably make a fortune if they did.
Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 06, 2021 11:16 AM (xfb67)

----------

I'm gonna go a little conspiratorial here, so bear with me. I bet it exists. And I bet all the patents to it have been bought by Husqvarna.

That said, there is part of my acreage that seems to grow more of a clover / ground cover sort of thing instead of the ryegrass or St. Augustine that's everywhere else. It never seems to get very tall at all, and mowing over it is more of an "evening it out" than a "taking everything down an inch."

Posted by: Speed Racer's Banana Hammock at May 06, 2021 12:07 PM (RQDhf)

505 I wonder what "herd immunity" for a good lawn would require so that you could get away with less fighting of "everyone else's weeds." I'm guessing it would need to be more than just your neighborhood. Would even a 10 block radius be able to do it if you were the center and everyone else around you was also maintaining their lawn and you stopped. How quickly would the weeds begin showing up?
Posted by: Buzzion at May 06, 2021 11:20 AM (caHTz)

--------

It wouldn't take long. Those little feathery seeds off of a dandelion can go for miles on a stiff breeze.

My biggest battle (and yes, I will admit this is a very unsasvory part of yard work) is not with weeds though so much as it is with fire ants.

Those are some tenacious little shits, and instead of dying off when poisoned, they'll just move to a neighbor's yard for a while and then come back later. You've gotta use really fast-acting stuff that kills on contact instead of "food poisons."

Posted by: Speed Racer's Banana Hammock at May 06, 2021 12:24 PM (RQDhf)

506 Test

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at May 06, 2021 04:56 PM (49Dnm)

507 To many here, let's face it, if you work in something NOT manufacturing, you're a traitor. The dream is to see an American economy that looks like this:
80% private sector, 20% government

of that 80%, 100% is manufacturing. (If you attempt to do anything other than manufacturing, you are immediately arrested and charged with treason and wrecking.) Of the world's manufacturing, 100% is done in the United States. No country is permitted to make anything outside of the United States.

Finally, it is not up to the employer to pay you enough to not need a second income. You CAN get by on one income: you just don't want to, and in typical American fashion you want to blame everyone and anyone but yourself for your poor budgeting decisions.

Let's see if this comment stays or of the gremlins will eat it like always.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at May 06, 2021 05:04 PM (49Dnm)

508 It's the "judeo" in our purported " judeo Christian values" that causes the the problem.

Posted by: Chicolini at May 07, 2021 06:58 AM (8vKmS)

Processing 0.05, elapsed 0.0626 seconds.
15 queries taking 0.0242 seconds, 517 records returned.
Page size 292 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.