MN>CT> Both Europe and North America will have an opposite problem in about
MN>CT> fifteen years.  Apparently, there aren't enough young to feed the
MN>CT> system which is designed to support the elderly here.
MN>Yes, and there is a larger segment of the population that is facing
MN>retirement than is working.  Part of that problem is gross
MN>mismanagement, however.  I'm fairly sure that the larger proportion of
MN>the pension fund is dedicated to formerly elected parasites.  At the
MN>least, a disproportionate amount is dedicated to them.  Add to that
MN>the fact that mass layoffs and high unemployment also cuts into the
MN>amount being contributed to the pension fund.  Plus, not only does
MN>that amount decline just by the people who aren't working, but also by
MN>the contributions the employer no longer has to make.
Well, it seems that we're paying in more than enough, but the politics
have diverted the money into general revenue, instead of leaving it in
Social Security where it belongs, so they can spend it on new airplanes,
etc. rather than having it around for retirement pensions.
MN>To top that off!--since those people who have been laid off are not
MN>making contributions, they are not on "pensionable time," and that
MN>means that they will get less when they do retire.  (I think.)
Social Security here is based on the amount you were making on your last
job, I think.  If you were making good wages, you can collect up to the
max of $1200 per month.  Less than good wages results in lesser amounts.
MN>CT> Europe (at least the western part) is having an even worse
MN>CT> problem.  A friend of mine recently went to Paris, and he said
MN>CT> that in the four days he was there he did not see ONE baby, baby
MN>CT> carraige, or pregnant woman.  That's rare, IMHO.  I look around
MN>CT> here and I know a LOT of couples who have no children.
MN>Hmmmm.  I wonder if that isn't fall out from population pressure.  Are
MN>you familiar with the experiment where some sociologist or biologists
MN>allowed the unrestricted breeding of rats under almost ideal
MN>conditions?  The only factor that was not expanded to take the growing
MN>population into account was liebensraum.  Eventually the rats were
MN>literally living on top of each other (as in the ST:TOS episode
MN>_Gideon_), and the whole society crashed and died out.
Yup.  It's similar to the fruit fly experiment, wherein they allowed
fruit flies to breed unchecked.  They eventually outpaced the available
food and died.  My friend told me that the people of France didn't have
kids, they had dogs.  Everywhere.  Even in restaurants.
MN>CT> MN> They'd let the local cops make the bust and when the perp got
MN>CT> MN> back to Canada he's face charges here.
MN>CT> Wouldn't they need some kind of proof to convict them?  How do
MN>CT> they know the guy didn't do the scenic tour of Thailand rather
MN>CT> than spending his two weeks banging his eyes loose in a child
MN>CT> brothel?
MN>Well, I guess if the perp gets busted with his pants down while on top
MN>of some twelve year old while actually inside the brothel, that would
MN>certainly make the case.
Hmmm, yeah, depending on how much money the defendent had.  Ooops,
sorry, a bit of cynacism crept in there....
MN>Apropos, something that ticked me off recently was the photo that loud
MN>mouth Jesse Helms used as "proof" that Canadians were going to Cuba to
MN>make use of the prostitutes.  Seems a long way to go to get something
MN>you have downtown.
The part I can't understand is how any rational human being continues to
vote for that guy.  I've had people from North Carolina tell me, "But he
really stands for something!"  I ask them exactly what it is he stands
for, and they squirm a bit....
MN>Anyway, this putative evidence supposedly showed two white males
MN>hanging out with Cuban hookers, their hands on the girls' backsides,
MN>but the photo was taken from behind and there was no indication that
MN>the men were Canadian.  The could have been European, or even a couple
MN>of service men from Guantanamo Bay, or  a couple of congressmen
MN>on a clandestine fact finding mission.
Let's take a vote:  I vote for the latter....;-)
MN>CT> MN> In our industrialized
MN>CT> MN> societies, we produce enough grain to feed the world [...]
MN>CT> MN> If a large segment of the third >world population goes away,
MN>CT> MN> there will actually be a glut of food.
MN>CT> Good point, although amazing in many respects. 
MN>There is precedent, however.  In Medieval times the peasants made
MN>their bread according to specs overseen by the lord.  The bread was
MN>made of wheat and rye, but most wheat went to market.  When the Black
MN>Death came along, it resulted in a surfeit of food, and the peasants
MN>took to eating more wheat. (In porridges and breads, I assume.)
Interesting.  As we talk about a surfeit of food, they announced tonight
that famine conditions are shaping up in the Sudan.  Africa is about to
go off again....
MN>CT> MN> CT> Sometimes I think if it were raining soup, I'd get
MN>CT> MN> CT> caught out in it with a fork....;-)
MN>CT> MN> Death's a bitch, then you're reincarnated.
MN>CT> Yup.  Captures the total doom and gloom of the situation nicely. 
MN>CT> "Your life is gonna suck, and it's NEVER going to end, no matter what
MN>CT> you do." 
MN>How well I know the feeling.  I had to blow almost a hundred fifty
MN>bucks yesterday for a new outside door.  A wind gust took the one I
MN>had right out of my daughter's hand and smashed it to the ground,
MN>almost literally.  This on top of an unexpected expense so Sheila
MN>could go down to the Gaspe to visit for Easter 'cause her father is
MN>ill.  Might have been the last time the whole family was together for
MN>a holiday.
Bummer.  There have been some minor chaos happening in my life too.  I
got whacked for $232 for an alternator for my car, after spending $300
for my truck so the kids could have something to drive to work and back
in....  These vehicles are breaking me, and I haven't even been to the
dentist yet.
MN>I shall refrain from enumerating other cash outflows both anticipated
MN>and necessary. :-(
Yup.  It's better not to think about them. 
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