The world could really do without sensationalist headlines like this from the BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53409521Â Â Apparently we should be investing in keeping our country over populated Â
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
This is more bafflement than curmudgeonliness, but why do people put asterisks in swear words or trade names? Cr*p, &rse, Am***n - that sort of thing. When I see cr*p I read it as crap not cr-cough-p. The word is in my head so if I was going to be offended I still would be.
In some cases their use is understood to circumvent profanity filters but, if there is one on this site, it is set pretty high. There are words that fail the not-in-front-of-the-vicar test, we all know them, industrial strength swearing, but social mores prohibit their use in most interactions. At the other end of the scale I saw on this forum the other day someone write d*mn - I thought the last person to take offence at that word was kicking on when William Gladstone was alive.
Can’t speak for the others but I put asterisks in the name of the online sales company and similar  so that it doesn’t get picked up by the many bots patrolling the internet and added to some list (which may or may not exist) of its ‘mentions‘, or included in the answers to Searches.Â
I was advised to do this ages ago by someone whose work involved monitoring such things but whether it’s still relevant or not I have no idea.Â
As for ‘if the word is in my head ...’ maybe if the word is in your head you’re less likely to be offended as it’s part of your usual vocabulary?Â
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I did not see the headline as sensationalist, far from it. This trend is going to have a massive impact on the lives of today’s children as they reach their retirement age and I would not be surprised if the concept of retirement significantly fades. My guess is that within 50 years the expectation will be to carry on working until you’re no longer physically capable of doing so and that those who give up work before, perhaps, they are in their mid 70s will have a much reduced standard of living.
Competition for labour will drive up prices and there will be a massive exodus of workers out of Africa. On the plus side the exploitation of the world’s resources will diminish and I would expect the trend of the past 40 years to acquire ‘stuff’ will fall out of favour. With China et al no longer able to make the goods we see on Amazon and eBay on sale for no more than pocket money, we will become more of a make do and mend society. I predict we will be purchasing more high quality long lasting items which will be expensive and cheap; disposable trifles will become a thing of the past.
Years ago on these boards you couldn't even type fuchsia because the swear monitor thought it was rude so we always had to put f*chsia and it was the same for crap.  Now it's just habit.
As for that news on birth rates @wild edges, it's great stuff. Far too many babies being born into lives of poverty and neglect as it is so the more women who get educated and the faster birth rates fall the better as far as I'm concerned.
I used to know an EU interpreter back in Belgium. 8 kids. Said he was just doing his bit making sure Europe didn't turn brown next decade because of all the immigrants. His mum was a Peruvian Indian and his dad was white British but he didn't see the irony.
You need to strike a balance but a declining population has serious negative economic impacts. If we want to be economically better off raising child benefit rather than scrapping it is advantageous. Approaching the same issue from an environmental perspective you might well arrive at a different conclusion.Â
There again, it is much easier to protect the environment if you have high GDP, and you can resist the approaches of environmentally predatory nations like China. Mind you, we have ‘history’ in that regard and our current practices are far from pristine.
You need to strike a balance but a declining population has serious negative economic impacts. If we want to be economically better off raising child benefit rather than scrapping it is advantageous. Approaching the same issue from an environmental perspective you might well arrive at a different conclusion.Â
Only if those born are "economically active" and don't sit on their backsides thinking that breeding and watching daytime TV is a worthwhile contribution to society.
Posts
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
In some cases their use is understood to circumvent profanity filters but, if there is one on this site, it is set pretty high. There are words that fail the not-in-front-of-the-vicar test, we all know them, industrial strength swearing, but social mores prohibit their use in most interactions. At the other end of the scale I saw on this forum the other day someone write d*mn - I thought the last person to take offence at that word was kicking on when William Gladstone was alive.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Competition for labour will drive up prices and there will be a massive exodus of workers out of Africa. On the plus side the exploitation of the world’s resources will diminish and I would expect the trend of the past 40 years to acquire ‘stuff’ will fall out of favour. With China et al no longer able to make the goods we see on Amazon and eBay on sale for no more than pocket money, we will become more of a make do and mend society. I predict we will be purchasing more high quality long lasting items which will be expensive and cheap; disposable trifles will become a thing of the past.
As for that news on birth rates @wild edges, it's great stuff. Far too many babies being born into lives of poverty and neglect as it is so the more women who get educated and the faster birth rates fall the better as far as I'm concerned.
I used to know an EU interpreter back in Belgium. 8 kids. Said he was just doing his bit making sure Europe didn't turn brown next decade because of all the immigrants. His mum was a Peruvian Indian and his dad was white British but he didn't see the irony.
" If you can't feed them: don't breed them"