economiccrisis - Jezebel

posts about #economiccrisis more →
Women Get Smaller To Help Their Children Get Bigger
Objectivists Talk Economics, Fail Basic Math
Strip Club Offering More Jobs When Jobs Are Hard To Come By
An Ode To All The Booze We've Drunk Before

There's No Reason To Back Obama Besides His Race (And Other Masturbatory GOP Fantasies)

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

bananaprincess
04/29/09

In reply to Women Get Smaller To Help Their Children Get Bigger
so few comments compared to the thin supermodel story. Women were not taking their free aids medicene because of empty stomach and dying. talk about privlege
Reply

bananaprincess was starred bananaprincess was unstarred

Idra
04/28/09

In reply to Women Get Smaller To Help Their Children Get Bigger
I definitely saw this in action while I was in Zambia last summer. One of the girls I was traveling with (another American) had a little birthday celebration at a local nshima joint. She wanted to invite some of her Zambian pals, so she offered to treat in a tactful way (otherwise they would not have been able to come). Two of the Zambian women that were there barely had a nibble of their food before wrapping everything up to take home. The third Zambian woman rolled her eyes and whispered to us "They are taking it all home to feed their husbands!"

While nothing is wrong with taking care of your family, it's seems unfair that so much of the burden falls on women.

Sidenote: Yet another reason I would make a crappy mother; I cannot be walking away from some free food.
Reply

Idra was starred Idra was unstarred

colormeroutine
04/28/09

@Idra: Psh, screw that. I'd do it for kids in a heartbeat, but my husband had damn well better be able to fend for himself
Reply

colormeroutine was starred colormeroutine was unstarred

colormeroutine
04/28/09

In reply to Women Get Smaller To Help Their Children Get Bigger
I am continually amazed by (most) mothers. My own went without more things than I can count for most of my childhood but I didn't even know we were broke because while I certainly wasn't spoiled, anything I REALLY, REALLY wanted she moved heaven and earth to find a way to get me
Reply

colormeroutine was starred colormeroutine was unstarred

Majrhoulihan
04/28/09

@colormeroutine: Despite the oft-repeated idea that having children is selfish, I truly believe that having children takes whatever capacity one has for selflessness and kicks it into high gear.
Reply

Majrhoulihan was starred Majrhoulihan was unstarred

colormeroutine
04/28/09

@Majrhoulihan: One hopes anyway. I've known some deeply, deeply selfish people who did not have this happen. They made pretty awful parents
Reply

colormeroutine was starred colormeroutine was unstarred

JerkoftheMonth
04/28/09

In reply to Women Get Smaller To Help Their Children Get Bigger
Well at least they have their priorities straight. Staying skinny while being a mom. That's the only way to be a MILF.

/sarcasm

A bit ironic that many celebrity moms go without proper nourishment for entirely different reasons, no?
Reply

JerkoftheMonth was starred JerkoftheMonth was unstarred

bananaprincess
04/29/09

interesting that the jezeies are much more likely to comment on that than this.@JerkoftheMonth: I don't think many people read the article.
Reply

bananaprincess was starred bananaprincess was unstarred

sara-without-an-h
04/28/09

In reply to Women Get Smaller To Help Their Children Get Bigger
There's a mother in my neighbourhood who pretends to be walking her dog in the evening and instead rifles through people's garbage to look for food.

Everytime I see her I am reminded of the terrible plight of famished societies in the world. And of the fact that most supermarkets in my area pour toxic products over their garbage (mostly food that's just officially past sell date) so people can't get it.
Reply

sara-without-an-h was starred

AthertonMerriweather
04/28/09

@sara-without-an-h: That's horrible! They should at least try to donate it to a shelter.
Reply

schweppes
04/28/09

@sara-without-an-h: Oh my word - do you have any idea why supermarkets would do something like that? Liability? Keeping people from milling about?
Reply

schweppes was starred schweppes was unstarred

Beat Girl
04/28/09

@schweppes: Most likely liability. The problem with sell by dates is that, while on some foods they're a guidance, on others they can be strict. Eating old seafood could kill someone, whether it's clean and packaged or not.
Reply

Beat Girl was starred Beat Girl was unstarred

Beat Girl
04/28/09

@schweppes: Oh, and their main concerns likely pertain to vermin, not the assumption that people might raid their trash. If the food's toxic, the rats die.
Reply

Beat Girl was starred Beat Girl was unstarred

JerkoftheMonth
04/28/09

@sara-without-an-h: I used to work at a Starbucks (in the UK) and we had to throw away SO MUCH food at the end of every day. Sometimes some homeless people would come in around closing time to ask for the food that was going off, and the managers wouldn't let them have it in case they were sued for giving someone contaminated/rotten products. It's a serious shame. I can't stress the amount of muffins that go into the garbage at places like that.
Reply

JerkoftheMonth was starred JerkoftheMonth was unstarred

AtomiClash: humanitarian misanthrope
04/28/09

@schweppes: I think it has to do with liability for some strange reason, hence the toxic stuff and no donations to food banks. I can't place why I think that, though.

@sara-without-an-h: Do you have a neighbourhood organization that might be able to help them? Or a nearby religious group you could anonymously give their address to? I mean, clearly, she must be embarrassed about it, and you'd hate to add to her problems, but that's horrible! :(
Reply

Fridge Hussy : Is finally heading back to uni!
04/28/09

@AthertonMerriweather: They may be concerned about liability. In my state, they recently enacted a Good Samaritan law, which protects supermarkets and restaurants from food poisoning-related liability if they donate quality unsold produce.

Or...arseholes. They could just be arseholes.
Reply

Red-headed bookworm
04/28/09

@sara-without-an-h: That's just sickening. What a waste of food that could go to someone who needs it.
Reply

cate3710
04/28/09

@sara-without-an-h: They pour toxic stuff over their garbage? That pisses me off because that toxic stuff will then go into a landfill AND they've destroyed food that is needed and probably still edible.

@schweppes: Probably just to prevent dumpster diving - I doubt you can be held responsible for what happens to someone if they eat something they retrieved from the trash. (Unless you're poisoning it knowing that someone will probably eat it.)
Reply

cate3710 was starred cate3710 was unstarred

Ailatan
04/28/09

@sara-without-an-h: I live in a poor country and I see people going through people's bins every day. Thousands of people come from the outskirts into the city.
Reply

Ailatan was starred Ailatan was unstarred

Plum-Pie
04/28/09

@JerkoftheMonth: Pret a manger has a scheme where it delivers its leftover food at the end of the day to homeless shelters etc - if only this could be expanded.
Reply

Plum-Pie was starred Plum-Pie was unstarred

DutchessOfDork
04/28/09

@sara-without-an-h:

It's also an issue of allergies. I knew a caterer that would try to donate the leftovers and they stopped letting him because of allergies and liability.
Reply

DutchessOfDork was starred DutchessOfDork was unstarred

doodley is not amused
04/28/09

@JerkoftheMonth: That's interesting, because in the US, there is a chain called Panera that, among other things, specializes in baked goods. At the end of each day, they donate any leftover baked goods to charitable organizations such as food banks and shelters. I would think the risk posed by less than day-old baked goods would be pretty slight. However, I also know that people will sue for just about anything.
Reply

AthertonMerriweather
04/28/09

In reply to Women Get Smaller To Help Their Children Get Bigger
This affects many women in the US as well. I have friends that often skip meals or eat the leftovers of their kids dinners. They'd rather go without than have their kids go hungry. These are college educated women with good jobs. It's not just "the poors" that this happens to.
Reply

Ailatan
04/28/09

@AthertonMerriweather: Ibelieve what happens with your friends is a problem of time management.

This women the article mentions are women that have no choice to "skip a meal" or "eat leftovers" from their kids' plates. And that's really a shame.
Reply

Ailatan was starred Ailatan was unstarred

merv
04/28/09

@AthertonMerriweather: and it doesn't help that programs designed to alleviate hunger are not designed to reach the sort of women your referring to. so, for example, even if some women do qualify to receive food from a pantry they'll probably never know about it.
Reply

merv was starred merv was unstarred

AthertonMerriweather
04/28/09

@Ailatan: Yeah, time management is the reason she can't afford food.
Reply

merv
04/28/09

@Ailatan: actually, the article refers to the same occurrence.
Reply

merv was starred merv was unstarred

AthertonMerriweather
04/28/09

@mervbaby: One of my friends found out she makes $500 more than you can to qualify for food stamps. It's a shame because I feel so bad for them. I bring them canned vegetables, rice and pasta after I go grocery shopping to help her out, but I can tell she's embarassed. I'm hoping things will look up for her soon.
Reply

colormeroutine
04/28/09

@Ailatan: Um, no. There are plenty of college educated women in the US who struggle to afford to feed their families, and time management has nothing to do with it
Reply

colormeroutine was starred colormeroutine was unstarred

Red-headed bookworm
04/28/09

@AthertonMerriweather: I think this is probably the case world-wide for parents. If money is tight, they make sure their kids get their needs first, and the parents come second. It's sad that it has to be like this.
Reply

Majrhoulihan
04/28/09

@AthertonMerriweather: Is it a good job if it doesn't pay enough to feed your family?

I would argue a good job is any job that doesn't abuse you and allows you to support yourself and your family.
Reply

Majrhoulihan was starred Majrhoulihan was unstarred

AthertonMerriweather
04/28/09

@colormeroutine: Time management doesn't put gas in the car, pay for the car to be repaired when it breaks, buy kid's clothes, pay the rent, buy food and pay school fees?!
Reply

merv
04/28/09

@AthertonMerriweather: If she makes too much for food stamps she can probably still get product from food pantries or soup kitchens. They're less restrictive. She (or you) could probably get a listing for such an organization in your area from a the local food-bank.
Reply

merv was starred merv was unstarred

Ailatan
04/28/09

@AthertonMerriweather: sorry, I misread "good jobs" and I thought of "good incomes" I don't want to be insensitive. I apologise.
Reply

Ailatan was starred Ailatan was unstarred

AthertonMerriweather
04/28/09

@Majrhoulihan: Two women both had to take pay cuts recently in order to avoid layoffs and the other was recently laid off and is working as an administrative assistant. I think it has more to do with the economic climate than their jobs actually. I just meant that they aren't the stereotypical idea of the single mother is all.
Reply

colormeroutine
04/28/09

@Majrhoulihan: Sadly in many places (especially here in nyc) you really need TWO good jobs to support a family. My mom was a nurse, which I think most people would consider a decent job, but it didn't exactly make it easy for her to support herself and 3 kids when my dad was unemployed for 8 years. Especially not when she had to quit hospital work and take a lower_paying school nurse job so she could be home more for my sick brother
Reply

colormeroutine was starred colormeroutine was unstarred

AthertonMerriweather
04/28/09

@mervbaby: I'll research this. Thank you!
Reply

Majrhoulihan
04/28/09

@colormeroutine: Actually I live in NYC, my mother is a nurse and my father is unemployed. Bizarre.
Reply

Majrhoulihan was starred Majrhoulihan was unstarred

merv
04/28/09

@AthertonMerriweather: You're welcome!
Reply

merv was starred merv was unstarred

colormeroutine
04/28/09

@Majrhoulihan: The obvious explanation is we've found some sort of time-warp. You are me 10 years ago
Reply

colormeroutine was starred colormeroutine was unstarred

Majrhoulihan
04/28/09

@colormeroutine: Well you seem like you're doing OK.

Oh hai, future self!
Reply

Majrhoulihan was starred Majrhoulihan was unstarred

mommy_dearest
04/28/09

@Ailatan: FAIL
Reply

mommy_dearest was starred mommy_dearest was unstarred

merv
04/28/09

In reply to Women Get Smaller To Help Their Children Get Bigger
As someone who works in hunger relief, it's been my experience that women have little complaints concerning hunger in their homes as long as their children are feed. Their own hunger often doesn't factor in.
Reply

merv was starred merv was unstarred

merv
04/28/09

@mervbaby: *has worked
Reply

merv was starred merv was unstarred

Nighthawk (the former Okori Wadsworth) is headed back to DGUSA in November!
04/28/09

In reply to Women Get Smaller To Help Their Children Get Bigger
So what I guess this means is that the UN Food Program for Africa is A: Not working or B: needs to be expanded. because this, right here, is a damned shame.
Reply

Trulymadlyme
04/28/09

@Nighthawk (the former Okori Wadsworth) is proud to be a wre...: Interestingly enough very little "food aid" is actual food that people would eat (well, at least directly). Usually an NGO gets 1.1 billions tons or whatever of soybean oil or corn and they sell it on the world market. They then buy medical supplies, food, etc. for the people they serve. It's kind of a ganked up system since the amount the NGO gets is determined by world food pricing, which is diluted by their own sales (and the fact that they are selling surplus commodities). The WTO got involved like 10 years ago and instituted antidumping rules, which make the situation slightly better.

Also? Logistics suck. You may get the food to Africa, but getting the food or vaccines or whatever to the town where people need it is oftentimes crazy difficult. See also, Somali pirates.
Reply

Trulymadlyme was starred Trulymadlyme was unstarred

Nighthawk (the former Okori Wadsworth) is headed back to DGUSA in November!
04/28/09

@Trulymadlyme: this is true and terrible. I hate that this can still happen.
Reply

AtomiClash: humanitarian misanthrope
04/28/09

@Nighthawk (the former Okori Wadsworth) is proud to be a wre...: the UN food program is quite complicated and easily manipulated by the governments receiving aid. And while it's horrifying to see donated food stolen and re-sold to suffering populations (as is all too often the case), ultimately, it comes down to the concept that at least some of the food gets to some of the people who need it.
Reply

Nighthawk (the former Okori Wadsworth) is headed back to DGUSA in November!
04/28/09

@AtomiClash is a ball-cutting cybersuccubus: you hope so. and i hate to inject LOL's into this but damn your S\N is funny.
Reply

applejuice
04/28/09

@Trulymadlyme: Also, many governments that are in charge of the food and supplies are corrupt and screw over their citizens.

And, as you kind of said, often-times roads aren't good, their aren't enough vehicles, militia's steal things, etc etc....
Reply

applejuice was starred applejuice was unstarred

LaComtesse
04/28/09

In reply to Women Get Smaller To Help Their Children Get Bigger
Around the world includes the US. Lots of women I know personally have either done this in the past or do it now. My husband's mom tells grimly of only ever eating when she was at work because she was a waitress--her two kids and yellow lab all ate before she did.
Reply

LaComtesse was starred LaComtesse was unstarred

babyruthless
04/28/09

@LaComtesse Mourns Bea Arthur: Damn...the dog ate first?
Reply

babyruthless was starred babyruthless was unstarred

AtomiClash: humanitarian misanthrope
04/28/09

@babyruthless: I would eat my own foot before letting my pets go hungry, so I totally understand this.

Mothers always have been the ones to sacrifice the most for their children. Not to say all mothers, or that other family members don't sacrifice, as well, but moms tend to be the front lines of this.
Reply

Rare Affinity
04/28/09

@babyruthless: I would keep a lamb or calf as a pet. That way when times got tough I could always eat my pet. Mmmmmmm!
Reply

Rare Affinity was starred Rare Affinity was unstarred

Plum-Pie
04/28/09

@LaComtesse Mourns Bea Arthur: I'm sure there's something about this in some feminist classic - about the father of a family getting the hottest food and the most meat, then the kids get fed, then the woman eats whatevers left (the phrase 'cooling remains' may have been used). Female Eunuch? Beauty Myth? I can't remember.
Reply

Plum-Pie was starred Plum-Pie was unstarred

LaComtesse
04/28/09

@babyruthless: Oh yes. No one was going to say she wasn't taking care of her beloved Thurman. Besides, my husband loved that dog so much she would find him sleeping in the crate with him after mom said 'No doggies in your bed.' I guess she figured the kids had been through a lot anyway, so she didn't want to give up the dog on them...

@AtomiClash is a ball-cutting cybersuccubus: Definitely.
Reply

LaComtesse was starred LaComtesse was unstarred

resonanteye
04/07/09

In reply to Objectivists Talk Economics, Fail Basic Math
I have read atlas shrugged twice. The first time I read it through and it was torturous, the way a Tarantino movie is- I just hate it when the creator of a work of fiction makes me sit and listen to them talk to themselves.

The second time I skipped every single piece of dialogue. If it had quotes around it and was longer than two sentences, I didn't read it.

I fully enjoyed the book the second time around. The same way I loved Deathproof and Dusk til Dawn when I used the fast forward button every time someone started talking.
Reply

resonanteye was starred resonanteye was unstarred

resonanteye
04/07/09

@resonanteye: I also find myself fantasizing about a general strike- in which everyone who is not a handsome genius billionaire, goes on strike.

Brains are worthless without hands or tools.
Reply

resonanteye was starred resonanteye was unstarred

Cam/ron
04/06/09

In reply to Objectivists Talk Economics, Fail Basic Math
Check out Yevgeny Zamyatin's novel, "We." It delivers a far more intelligent and poetic defense of individualism than anything Rand wrote, plus "Anthem" ripped off many ideas from the story. Zamyatin was also truly oppressed by the Soviet government at an age when Rand was just hanging out in Hollywood.
Reply

Cam/ron was starred Cam/ron was unstarred

Sputnik_Sweetheart
04/06/09

In reply to Objectivists Talk Economics, Fail Basic Math
I really wish that all these people who are threatening to "go Galt" will realize that they are not that special. Yes, I'm sure they have some talent, but guess what? A lot other people are as well, but never had the same resources, or the luck, or were never in the right time in the right place. And I hate that they keep saying that they deserve their success because they work hard. Well, you know what? I work hard, too. If I had not decided to go into a creative (read not well paid) field, I probably could have been a great Wall Street CEO and run the economy into the ground, too.

Seriously, go Galt already. We'll manage to survive without you.
Reply

Sputnik_Sweetheart was starred

braak: You are, as usual, completely correct.
04/06/09

@Sputnik_Sweetheart: Hah. I read a blog post from a guy talking about, "I am John Galt, I am taking a stand," etc etc. Halfway through, he said something like, "Maybe I can't stop the motor of the world, but I can stand up for what I believe in."

And I thought to myself: Idiot. You've missed the point. In the world of Atlas Shrugged, if you can't stop the motor of the world, then you don't fucking matter. Who are you? You're just some guy with a website? You're a software engineer? You work in sales? Guess what--the world doesn't give a shit about you. Go off to your island somewhere, shoot yourself into space, no one cares; shrugging only matters if you're Atlas.
Reply

misspell
04/06/09

@braak: Very well stated. I hate that the news stations (and I use that term loosely) have picked this term up. I am sure that the vast majority of them and their viewers haven't read anything by Ayn Rand, but besides that, it's just going to be one of these irritating ubiquitous terms that won't go away, like "staycation". I can't stand it.
Reply

misspell was starred misspell was unstarred

misspell
04/06/09

In reply to Objectivists Talk Economics, Fail Basic Math
Once I actually sent off one of those irritating postcards that comes in the middle of Atlas Shrugged, to learn more about objectivism, and they sent me all this information about this objectivist conference, where you could take classes about the fundamentals of capitalism, but also other things, like ballet appreciation. There was a choice to be assigned a room with another budding objectivist, too, which sounded like a serious nightmare - I'd end up with someone like Robbie from Dirty Dancing.
Reply

misspell was starred misspell was unstarred

misspell
04/06/09

@misspell: I should mention that I did this in a purely ironic way.
Reply

misspell was starred misspell was unstarred

pear.shaped.Sara
04/06/09

In reply to Objectivists Talk Economics, Fail Basic Math
I read it for the first time this year and it was just so OBVIOUS. Every single "moral" person also happened to be beautiful. Quelle suprise! All the "liberals" were chubby whiners who had bad sex. It was so repetitive that by the time I got to John Galt's epic speech I knew every damn thing he was going to say. Color me unimpressed.
Reply

pear.shaped.Sara was starred pear.shaped.Sara was unstarred

whynotshesaid
04/06/09

@pear.shaped.Sara is gunning for a star: For serious. The book could have been edited down to a single paragraph and it would have made its point just as well.
Reply

whynotshesaid was starred whynotshesaid was unstarred

BicSharpie
04/06/09

In reply to Objectivists Talk Economics, Fail Basic Math
Does anyone else find it odd that a group of people who believe in individualism above all else, get upset when a member of that group offers up a bit of a different viewpoint?
Reply

BicSharpie was starred BicSharpie was unstarred

braak: You are, as usual, completely correct.
04/06/09

@BicSharpie: You know, I feel like I should think that's weird...but for some reason I'm just...not surprised.
Reply

Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion