Recent Comments

1. about 4 hours ago on Red and Rover

   I kinda regret looking it up!

2. about 4 hours ago on Yaffle

   Shouldn’t he have his wings raised? C0ck pits in the cockpit?

3. about 4 hours ago on Off the Mark

   This is probably one of the best variations on the “matryoshka” jokes I’ve seen! ❤️

4. about 4 hours ago on Next Door Neighbors

   Cannonbaaaaalll!

5. about 4 hours ago on FurBabies

   Earlier this year, the Mets baseball team honored a veteran. His name is Seymour Weiner. He’s a lovely 97-yr old man who was absolutely delighted to participate in a later, “Dollar Hot Dog Night”. In an interview, he said that of course, he was teased about his last name, but that he never heard the silliness when you include his first name.

6. about 5 hours ago on Matt Davies

   The cost of the animals, feed, medical care, etc, were occasionally subsidized by the organization, but the majority of the cost was on the student(s family). The purpose was to teach the students the process, but also that there are business risks and rewards.

7. about 5 hours ago on Matt Davies

   What you said is true for the smaller-scale farmers and ranchers. However, both the egg and cattle industry are heavily concentrated into a few huge corporations, and small-scale farms and ranches are a small fraction of the industry. From a June 17 2021 Reuters article: “Four companies slaughtered about 85% of U.S. grain-fattened cattle that are made into steaks, beef roasts and other cuts of meat for consumers in 2018, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).When factoring in other cows used to make hamburger meat, the companies comprise about 70% of total U.S. beef production, according to the North American Meat Institute, an industry group.” The egg industry is a little better, with nearly a third of eggs being produced by only 4 companies. As these industries became more consolidated, they became more open to natural disaster (drought, animal illness, etc) causing an outsized impact. Additionally, since the companies are publicly traded, they are beholden to continuously profit for the shareholders, before giving the farmers, ranchers, and laborers, a financial boost to help them recover. And, let’s not forget that in a case from the end of last year, the main players in the egg industry were found guilty of price-fixing (yes, the time period at issue in the suit was specifically 2004-2008. However, it raises the issue of whether it happened again, before the lawsuit was brought to court. I’m not claiming that illegal price fixing has happened over the past few years, but I do think regulators should investigate.)

   For what it’s worth, my sister was involved in the Future Farmers of America while in high school. She raised a few sheep, and at least one steer, to sell at the county fair at the end of the school year.

   (I’ve never gone over length in a comment before! See below for part 2)

8. about 7 hours ago on Amanda the Great

   I can’t imagine it’s a “thing”. I think Amanda was just trying to come up with something seemingly possible, but absurd, to highlight the “different busy”. ☺️

9. about 10 hours ago on Yaffle

   I don’t know if I’d be eligible for a residence visa, but since you’d better stick around for a long while, I’ve got time to figure it out. :D

10. about 24 hours ago on Matt Davies

    I didn’t mean to imply my comment was directed specifically at you. Just general musings about how things have changed over the years.

    The housing market is a whole other issue, indeed. As a whole, the Boomer generation hasn’t downsized to smaller homes in their retirement years, as previous generations did. This has left an unexpected shortage of the larger homes most families are looking for, driving up prices. Additionally, new construction is maximizing profit by building large homes (but new construction isn’t enough to keep up with demand), causing existing smaller homes to be able to sell for significantly higher prices. Coupled with wage increases being almost flat, the cost of housing definitely “costs” more than it used to (as you mentioned!)

    And, nope, I don’t remember the economic situation of the ‘70s… I wasn’t born yet ;)