Lisa > Recent Status Updates

“In one of the townships, abandoned babies sent to the civil administration department were denied because of a lack of funding, and the township had no choice but to send the babies to retirement homes (to) be taken care of by the infirm seniors.”

I want to look up how that worked out.

“(In rural China) almost 90 percent of all abandoned children were girls. This holds true in other areas of China. Between 1986 and 1992, 92% of the 16,000 children abandoned in Hunan were female…Over 87% of the female infants abandoned had no brothers.”

“the male-female birth ratio was more imbalanced for second births: (Table X)

1990: 1st 113.3 2nd 121.0 3rd or higher 127.0
1995: 106.4. 141.1 154.3
2000: 116.9. 151.9 159.4

“The (male/female) imbalance was highest in Hainan and Guangdong, with ratios of 135.6 and 130.6, respectively.”

Looking back on older fact books is fascinating because you can see how accurate population projections end up being. On page 65 Table 5 shows a graph by decade from 1990 to 2050 what populations for different ages groups were and what they might be. In 1990 people aged over were 5.6%, 2000 6.9%, and projected to be 11.5% in 2020. They under estimated. In 2021 it was 13.5%.

“.As we know, voluntary birth plans are closely related to level of education.”

Japan and China are different countries with different challenges, but one similar challenge is population vs arable land. Japan as a whole puts a lot of emphasis on education. Japan’s birth rate is historically lower 3.6 to 5.7 in 1950 and currently 1.31 to 1.19. China’s plan works, but would a focus on education be much higher?

…If a school can be built for 200,000, this could be used to build 26,000 schools for 5.2 million children…The policy… has been implemented for 23 years. How many schools have failed to been built and how many children cannot go to school?… If the entire 5.2 RMB x 23 we’re used to make education universal, the effect would be far better than the compulsory family planning policy….

“At present (2003) China boasts a total of 520,00 family planning staff…This huge army reduces China’s birth rate by 300 million. But how much do the people have to pay for this?…5.2 billion RMB…not tak(ing) into account…their bonuses and bribes they take as well as expenses for family planning facilities….

“In 1998…US asylum law (was clarified) to specifically allow victims of forced abortion and sterilization to obtain political asylum in the US.”

So gross. No progress made at all on people dying until one of those people happens to be male.

I definitely don’t want to see the Netflix series for this and am not all together sure I can finish the book. Holly freaking gruesome. Definitely adding this to my nonfiction horror shelf.

“Bismarck then ordered, in 1885, the expulsion of thousands of of Poles who; though long domiciled in Prussian Poland, were originally Russian or Austrian subjects. The following year a fund of a hundred million marks was created to encourage German colonization in the Polish eastern provinces of Prussia.”

“And Prussia…was enabled to to resume more methodically than ever her policy of Germanification which was fundamentally, according to the administration of Bismarck himself, a programme for the extermination of the Poles under Prussia.”

Oof

She couldn’t be 50th level if she keeps getting killed by the lich.

Is this a horror story?

I hope this book doesn’t keep going with the inconsistencies. I guess we’re just going to assume that gaming devices and laptops have evolved to not need much electricity. There’s no way you could pedal a bike to produce nearly enough electricity in any reasonable amount of time with the current devices that are out there right now.

“When she thought of that long night, it was like remembering an extraordinarily tough match where she prevailed, except there was no trophy or applause. The only recognition you got for surviving a night like that came from other mothers. Only they understood the epic nature of your trivial achievements.”

“Brook was a perfectly competent cook, like Joy herself. But also like Joy, she took no obvious pleasure in cooking; grimly plunking down plates with a put upon sigh.”

…The last insurgent was only executed in 1865. But the fate of Poland was…decided when France, England, and Austria…contented themselves in June 1863 with sending diplomatic notes to the tsar in favor of the Poles.”

“the rising broke out openly on 22nd January 1863. It had assuredly no chance of success. Nevertheless, this act of despair has left a memory sacred to every Pole…The January Rising, as it is usually called, lasted even longer that the November Rising.…

“The Prussian government… changed its attitude after the November (1831) rising….then began an active policy of Germanization.”

What was included in this? Names? Religion? Language?

“In 1802 the First Consul even den a detachment of them to San Domingo, where these unfortunate Polish soldiers were compelled to fight against the negroes and perished en masse.”

Whaaat?! Why gloss over one of the noblest fights of Polish soldiers in such a misleading and uninteresting way? Was O. Halechi racist?

I’m surprised that the author doesn’t point out that the larger army and resources came from colonial pursuits; something Poland never partook of. Poland hadn’t suddenly become weak, Russian and Prussia suddenly had a surplus of resources taken from elsewhere.

“All ten of us can relate to the challenges of being black women in medicine, but there are unique barriers that come with being African American. In particular the historical deprivation of education and financial opportunities still makes it difficult for African Americans to access the medical profession today. This is a burden that my fellow black female classmates can’t carry with me.”

“Members of Gen Z are less likely to go to parties, hang out with friends, date, for for a car ride, head to shopping malls, or even go to a movie than were those of previous generations…When they do meet up, they are much more likely to to bring along a parent….. they are far less likely to suffer the wounds brought on by adolescent heedlessness— but they’ve also failed to be toughened by the scars.”

“What happened? Podcast host Joe Rogan asked Haidt. Why the sudden spike in anxiety, depression, and self-harm? ‘Social Media’ was Haidt’s immediate response.”

Not the first book that has pointed out how damaging social media is specifically to young women. It promotes poor self image and substitutes in person friendships.

…Lest one assume that these girls are merely reporting their depression in greater numbers (and not necessarily experiencing more of it), Haidt, points out that the average rates of self-harm reflect the same spike: an increase of 62 percent since 2009– all among teenage girls. Among preteen girls aged 10 to 14, rates of self-harm are up 189% since 2010, nearly triple what they were only 6 years before.”