Mad World

Subjective beliefs? Greed?

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U.S. birth rate falls to its LOWEST in 35 years - and experts predict the 12-year 'baby bust' trend will continue because of COVID-19's impact on the economy

Aside from a one-year uptick in 2014, US births have been falling every year since 2007, when a recession hit the country. The drop continued even after the economy rebounded.

Prior to 2007, the fertility rate had remained consistently below replacement levels since 1971.
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No baby boom for you.

No intelligent people will breed slaves willingly.

<50% China’s birth rate fell to its lowest last year since the Communist Party took power 70 years ago, exacerbating concerns that population challenges will drag growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

Despite abolishing the one-child policy, the country posted 10.48 births per thousand people last year, the lowest since 1949, according to China’s national bureau of statistics. That amounted to 580,000 fewer babies in 2019, compared to the previous year.

China is battling a shrinking labour force, squeezed on both ends by a fast-aging population and waning births, a trajectory that will impact growth at a time the economy is already suffering. On Friday, China posted annual GDP growth of 6.1 per cent, the lowest rate in three decades.

The country’s working-age population has been on the decline since 2012, and is expected to fall roughly 23 per cent by 2050, according to official data.

To mitigate the demographics challenge, Chinese authorities abolished the controversial “one-child” policy in 2015, allowing couples to have two children.

Infrastructure investment grew just 3.8 per cent in 2019, decelerating from 4 per cent in January-November, despite sharply higher local government bond issuance and other policy measures.

The slowing economy could spell trouble for the Communist Party's pledge to eliminate extreme poverty in 2020.

Concerns about poverty re-emerged this week when a student who went viral on Cihnese social media for because she was too poor to afford adequate food died in hospital of malnutrition.

Coronavirus masks: Can’t find one? Would bandanna work? Does it matter?

And to be sure, McPherson added, “handkerchiefs, bandannas, and other articles of clothing do not have the barriers needed to protect someone from spreading illness or from contracting illness.”

The masks also are designed to be disposable. Eventually, they clog up and must be disposed. And if you think they protected you from some viral air, be careful how you handle them.

“One problem is that masks can become contaminated on the outside, and when you touch them, you can contaminate your hands,” Rabinowitz said.

How effective are the masks? They offer some protection, which is why hospital workers use them, but there are few conclusive studies on their effectiveness when worn by the general public.
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What's your point?

I'm not going anywhere near that Enochian/Crowley crap ever again. Not interested.

Because I know how aether works..and I recall the last time The Abyss was brought up.

I'll nip that shit in the bud, every time.

Not interested in touching that ever again. Pretty clear.

and if it is unsettling just say not in the mood
no problem

It's a prevailing theme, surrounds me, to the point of frustration. To the best of my recollection it started when I asked my father, about a month after my mother died, how they met.

The only thing he said in reply was, "I think I understand."


I appreciate the answer, a great deal, even if it only clears up one of today's drops in the bucket.
:dfly343:

I know what's in that pit..never going back.

[link to imgur.com (secure)]

HONK
[link to imgur.com (secure)]

wow, i've not seen that one of yours before...

that one of mine i saved this morning, literally, from a certain death

and i can't wait to tell my little tree once she rustles her leaves because a long time ago she saved another very similarly looking one from the jaws of a cat i called my own

and it sat in respite, and let her pet it


as did that one for me

i quite like when leaf turning presents as a potential theme

i really liked that show when i still watched tv

but bob saget...wtf

just saw mention of newt, used as a diminutive nickname

reminds of a gecko i cared for until death that my sister passed down to my trees on account of receiving more attention in two days from them than she had in two years' time with her and her horde of saplings.

I know what's in that pit..never going back.

[link to imgur.com (secure)]

HONK
[link to imgur.com (secure)]

the first gecko she got she named ripley, who i cared for during a year at college when she wasn't allowed to have pets

she didn't follow the trend of other siblings moving back closer to the city we all grew up in, and still lives a 3+ hour drive away

and i miss her company terribly at times


but the day is old on my watch, and i must close story time

yes
how old is that meme