Population numbers are pretty much all I think about when yet another friend is popping out a(nother) kid like they deserve a medal or something. Yay.

As scummy as trump is, I think deathSantis would be worse - and potentially more electable. Sure would be nice if the D’s could actually find a solid candidate.

Awesome song link - thank you! Usually it’s Taylor swift or some other garbage these days.

Yes, it's hard to be happy about the mid-term election results. They were better than expected but that's like saying inflation is better than expected because it dropped to +7.4%. That's a long way from good. We kept the Senate and likely will add another seat. Good long term for Biden's judicial nominees and the ability to ignore crazy legislation from the House. Also good if Manchin decides to switch parties or a Dem senator strokes out and is replaced by a Republican Governor.

We lose the House so no meaningful legislation for the next two years. Investigation of Republican sins will screech to a halt and be replaced by investigation of Democratic errors and omissions. The main positive to come out of the mid-terms is that we seem to have taken a step back from the authoritarian precipice. Key states for the 2024 election - Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, etc., chose people whom we trust to run a free and fair election process.

@2 It's also another kid to pollute an already wildly overpopulated planet. Sure, a declining population will create all kinds of short term economic havoc but we have to dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of our species if civilization is to survive. Do the math.

I was listening to something today and that idiot Marjorie Green was promising "battles" today during their "leadership meeting". If nothing else, it will be entertaining to watch the GOP bumble around the next two years.

But here's a thought: What if a few GOP reps, in purplish area, decide to cross over? It's happened before (But usually just one)

Conversely, what if Manchin or Sinema decide to go GOP if Mitch is ousted?

@6 We have 8 billion brains. That's more than enough. And most of the new children will be born into circumstances that will limit their ability to use their natural gifts. The densely populated parts of the world that will see the greatest growth are subject to the most destructive effects of global warming.

Ugh, this Congress is going to be rough for "people like me". It just never ends.

As @5 says, Republicans are Horrible People.

@5 At least one R rep was talking about switching sides to appoint a moderate speaker if the R team puts up somebody freakier than McCarthy.

There's nobody running against McConnell who has a chance of winning, so I don't see our buddy Mitch losing unless he decides to hang it up. If either Manchin or Sinema jump, they know their political career is over. Sinema's probably is anyway in 2 years, but she has a hope now.

"Total red wave Republinazi victory!"

--The New York Slimes

OR

"Why midterm wins are catastrophic for Biden and Democrats"

Everyone with two brain cells to rub together knows that dumFux Nooz is a clown show of mush-brained stupidity, however by far the greatest purveyor of Republinazi lies and propaganda is the New York Slimes, combined with white liberals' disgusting, toxic, codependent relationship with it.

From the Clinton impeachment, to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the Great Recession, the rise of the Tea Klux Klan followed by Tr666p, and now the so-called red wave, those Republinazi whores at the NYT have never been held accountable for their shameless, nation-ruining mendacity.

@7: Half empty, meet half full @6.

Liz Cheney should run for Speaker (you don't need to be a sitting House member to be Speaker).

@10: How does it ruin the nation when The Gray Lady has been infuriating both conservatives and liberals for decades?

Gotta love that this country is going to allow a traitor who tried to overthrow the government for his own personal gain to run for president AGAIN in 2024. The fact that he is still walking around free proves our government and all of its laws are meaningless as long as you are a white male psychopath. Seriously, what the fuck are we doing? Performance art and calling it democracy. It never was a true democracy, but we stomped around the world pretending we gave a shit and wanted to liberate the world. We want no such thing. The only thing this country cares about is money and everything, all life, the entire planet, will be sacrificed to ensure that the small number of white people on the face of this planet get everything they want at all costs. It's so fucking obscene.

@1
Veteran, astronaut and Senator Mark Kelly, a mod Dem who could pull in the independent voters.

@15
I could see Kelly as VP-
or Whitehouse from RI.

@1, 16: except Biden will run again. And win.

@14: This country has the mechanism to not allow it, but the senior senator from the Commonwealth of Kentucky chose to rally his caucus to not impeach. Focus your blame on him and him alone.

@12 - yes!

We really need to put term limits on all political positions of authority. Power corrupts as we’ve seen over and over again.

@17 not even the Dems want that.

I hate it that the Republicans are taking the House, too. Really hate it. I won’t be able to watch Kevin McCarthy, the political spider that he is, take the Speaker’s gavel. It will break my heart to do so. And remember, many of those Republicans in the House only won their elections by tens or hundreds of votes. Not a mandate of any kind. But it does renew my belief, much to my dismay, that many parts of this country are irredeemably Republican – no matter what.

The good news is that it’s only for two years then we get to try again. Let’s hope that most of the poor and disenfranchised folk who’ve been under Trump’s spell will get fucking fed up with McCarthy hanging up useful legislation that could, in fact, benefit them. But that seems unlikely. Guns and Bibles, y’know. Or McCarthy and his crew spending big chunks of valuable time and effort on nailing Hunter Biden and, by proxy, the President. You can also say good-bye to the January 6th Committee. I wouldn’t be surprised if the House doesn’t try to enshrine January 6th as a emblematic day of democracy-in-action. We all know now that stuff like that is very possible. Trump taught many in Washington that there really aren’t many legal or ethical bounds when it comes to governing. All boundaries, he believes, are self-imposed.

At least they won’t be able to push through whack legislation that requires Senate co-operation. Hooray for that. So, national abortion ban? Dead. The House will be, for the most part, bitch, block, and threats to impeach.

Seattle, a town which I love and adore, needs to grow up when it comes to renters’ rights. And by that I mean renters need a stronger voice. Not all, but many landlords get away with murder and have done so for years. You need some kind of enforceable rent oversight. There are those who believe apartments are part of the free market scheme. And they are, but apartments aren’t bananas or bacon at the grocery store where you can stop buying if the price is too high. A residence is like healthcare. Both needed, no choice in the matter, you have to pay to live. In LA proper, before the pandemic at which time all increases were suspended, rent increases were limited to 3-8% a year. The Housing Department decides the amount annually. It’s usually 3% - and no one, not the tenants nor the landlords, are going hungry because of it.

Eli Lilly is the Coca-Cola of the pharmaceutical world. I mean that in a good way. They’ve been the maker of Darvon and Keflex and many other stalwart drugs. They make my Humulin – so, thanks. But I learned something about them when I was in pre-pharmacy that I haven’t been able to forget. In the late 1800s and early 1900s (maybe for forty years?), they used convicts to test their new drugs without informed consent. I’m sure they regret that now – or at least I hope they do, but whenever I see the Lilly logo (which denotes clean, professional, understated), I think of those prisoners. Another American corporate horror story.

And I think the music scene is broken everywhere. Really, all you have to chose from these days are hip-hop and country (country is a huge tent now, but still awfully nasal), Jann Wenner in his new book talks about rock being dead and says that he misses it, but it's never coming back - not the rock we knew. And the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is running out of people to nominate. So, yeah, it's broken (and pretty boring and disenchanting, too).

Oldwhiteguy’s 100% right. Way too many fucking people on the planet now and most of them are screwed from birth. It’s about damn time we got serious about population control. And not just the third worlds. No more fucking quiverfulls here, either.

@21 "There are those who believe apartments are part of the free market scheme. And they are, but apartments aren’t bananas or bacon at the grocery store where you can stop buying if the price is too high. A residence is like healthcare. Both needed, no choice in the matter, you have to pay to live."

Okay, help me out here. How are bananas and bacon different from a residence in our free market system? I can eat cheaper but I do have to eat. Maybe I can't afford the rent in LA but I can in Lubbock. And I can find work there, too.

I picked Lubbock out of the air but it doesn't sound too bad! Just off of the interstate east (way east) of LA. The weather and scenery leave a bit to be desired, I guess.

If you're looking for a cheaper place to rent in a big Texas city, look no further than Lubbock. Lubbock is the largest city among the top 10, the 11th largest in the state and has a population of more than a quarter-million people. As well, the city also houses the campus of Texas Tech University.

Lubbock also has cotton and a lot of it. The Lubbock area is the largest cotton-producing region in the entire world. Cotton not the fabric of your life? The region also produces 80 percent of the state's wine grapes — thanks to a unique soil composition — and offers five wineries open to the public. Come nighttime, students and locals descend on Depot District, the Hub City's entertainment hub, featuring brewpubs, music venues, upscale restaurants, theaters and nightclubs.

Home to Buddy Holly and a Final Four college hoops team, Lubbock can also be home to you at a great price. Average rents list for just $711 a month for a one-bedroom apartment.

@23 - There are wants, and there are needs. Leaving needs (or essentials) entirely to the whims of the free market seems to me a recipe for all kinds of problems. You can eat cheaper by buying sale items at the store that has the expensive bananas and bacon, but can't just stop eating and live to tell the tale. You can rent cheaper apartments in North Dakota - maybe - but it requires an uproot and looking for work once you get there. That would be a bridge too far for some, and even if you could afford the moving costs, it's exponentially more impactful than wanting bacon, but settling for the chicken. The working homeless who are homeless for economic instead of mental health reasons wouldn't be homeless perhaps if they'd just pick up and go somewhere cheaper?

Landlords need to make a living like everyone else. It's the avarice I'd like to see controlled.

Yes, I would look to the government for solutions rather than the market. But folks have to do what they can. People walk a thousand miles to live in the shadows of this country. Impressive that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opIaQNTZQUo

@19, term limits are now and always have been a stupid idea, because it kicks out the good as well as the bad and replaces them with dawg knows whoever can buy a seat.

The ONLY reason there are term limits on the U.S. President is that Republicans hated the New Deal, and hated the fact that it was so popular that FDR won four times in a row.

@28 Your financial analysis and the positive impact that it's had on poverty worldwide is correct. If you include the carbon curve with your data, you'll have a complete picture. Ever increasing wealth is a great thing for the people, rich and poor, but it is not sustainable. The next 25 years will probably be a bit rougher than you suppose. And it's all downhill from there.

You often talk about "moral absolutes" - it seems to be an obsession - and occasionally someone will respond with some version or another of existentialism. I may have missed it (I'm not always here) but I've never seen you engage in a debate on the subject. Do you have some sense of morality that is binding on all people, in all cultures, at all points in history? Perhaps you could share your opinion?

We live in a country that just chose on a federal level to force all females to carry every pregnancy (even if it kills them) and give birth to every baby brought to term (even if it kills them), so the it's pretty clear this country does not give a fuck about the overpopulation of the earth. The only thing that will end humanity is a massive extinction event (which could come sooner rather than later if Putin decides to launch nuclear weapons). COVID tried but failed. The truth is it will most likely be a long, slow slog of suffering and horrifying events until humanity gets snuffed out once and for all.

"Sure, a declining population will create all kinds of short term economic havoc but we have to dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of our species if civilization is to survive."

You first.

@19
We have term limits. We call them elections.

@32 - have a better idea? Or should we just keep on breedin' and give up on climate change?

The argument that we need to keep popping out kids to do the work in a few decades ignores the fact that there are zillions of people in less fortunate parts of the world who are more than willing to immigrate to the US, Japan, Europe, etc. and contribute to society, like immigrants always have. So I don't really see a problem.

@34 I understand the critique of existentialism. But you didn't answer the question. "Do you have some sense of morality that is binding on all people, in all cultures, at all points in history? Perhaps you could share your opinion?"

@24 Median income in Lubbock, TX: $26,413

@38 Hmmm. That's for an individual so a one bedroom would be about 32% of annual income. 30% is the goal. Median income in LA is $30,225. Average rent for a one bedroom in LA ranges from $1,750 to $2,700 (quick google search). At the low end, that's 69%. Take next month's rent, buy a bus ticket and you still have enough for deposit and first month's rent in Lubbock. Try to line up a job before you go. Not that I've ever been there...lol

@14 & @31 xina: How tragic that we'll all be done in by corporate greed and an insatiable glut of fossil fuels.

@24 oldwhitefart: You can have Lubbock, Texas, and the rest of the Lone Star State. I'm not moving to a blood-red neofascist pro-Trump state of confusion--especially not the one grossly misgoverned by Greg Abbott.

@36 dvs99: 8 billion people on this rapidly dying planet. Wow. Now I'm really glad I planned decades ago not to ever have children. No daughter or son I might have brought into the world would ever have what I did growing up.
I have no answers but I'd like to think that by remaining childless I reduced my carbon footprint and that it's part of my contribution to a better, healthier society overall. If nothing else, I'm in my late 50s and just glad that nobody is pressuring me to have a baby anymore.

@5 Catalina Vel-DuRay, @8 Max Solomon, and @10 Original Andrew: +3 Agreed. RepubliKKKans are indeed, shamelessly horrible excuses for people.

Megan, I fully agree! The GOP is so rabid batshit crazy they'd be doing the rest of us with sanity and common sense a favor by eating each other up to mass extinction.

Can everyone on this board complaining about overpopulation and judging breeders have some integrity and swallow a bullet. If you wont help out the cause and just die then shut up you hypocrites.

@43 dvs99: The world being so grossly overpopulated is further proof (for me, anyway) that I did right by getting a bilateral hysterectomy back in 2020 to ensure the unlikeliness of pregnancy and childbearing. I'm 58, Type II diabetic, and there would have been at least a 50% possibility of my ever carrying a developing fetus to term being life threatening. I am just grateful to not be contributing to the world's overpopulation.

@44 shoobop: How has my decision to not reproduce make me a hypocrite? Please read my comment @43. Then maybe you'll understand why I chose not to breed. Everyone's story is different.