The world population is likely to stop growing in about a century (and not because of any doomsday scenario)
The world population is growing, yes, but the rate of that growth is slowing down. While we could reach 9 billion by 2050, that's likely to be the peak. And not because of any doomsday catastrophe; life expectancy rates are actually increasing globally, and set to continue to do so. The reason for the decline in births is due in part to women becoming more educated and empowered around the world.
By the end of the century, we may "plummet" back down to "only" 6 billion again.
So don't let anyone guilt trip you about having a large family; enough other people are choosing not to that it will even out. Have all the children you feel you can responsibly care for; it's nobody else's business.
And as for world hunger, there is already enough food in the world to feed everyone, and has been for at least twenty years; the reasons for starvation in the modern world are purely political. That itself is extremely depressing in what it suggests about humanity, but at least it's possible to feed everyone, if we can only get our sh*t together.
Chris Evans of "Captain America" fame to star as My Pillow Guy in Pure Flix biopic
From Movie Web:
"My Pillow: the Story of Mike Lindell" is set to debut on Pure Flix this Easter. Staring as the titular My Pillow Guy is Chris Evans, best known as Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the director's seat is Mel Gibson, director of "Passion of the Christ" (2004).
Though production is largely under wraps, we do know that the film will chronicle Lindell's famous battle with cocaine addiction, and his spiritual awakening. The latter ocurrs when a destitute young Lindell receives a visit from the Archangel Gabriel (Kennan Thompson), who informs young Michael that his destiny is to create a pillow "soft enough for baby Jesus to lay his haloed head upon." According to this movie, it was in fact the Archangel who inscribed the words "My Pillow" onto Lindell's wall with divine lightning, rather than a cocaine-addled Lindell himself as many a Godless tax-raising liberal has claimed. The film will go on to depict Lindell's political battle to legalize packing-peanuts as pillow stuffing; his forbidden love affair with Donald Trump; and his final standoff with Bolivian police in Buenos Aires.
Millions have already purchased subscriptions to Pure Flix in anticipation of the biopic. And yet, the film is not without its critics. Feminists are accusing the movie of glorifying rape-culture, in its depiction of Lindell forcing his pillows on several unwilling customers who initially resist, but relent romantically upon realizing that this is the best pillow they've ever used. Sleep experts meanwhile are pointing out dangerous inaccuracies being pushed in the film, where characters' insomnia and neck pain is cured overnight by pillows stuffed with sawdust, slinkies and live pultry. Even some Christian leaders are taking issue with the film's inaccurate depiction of Biblical scripture (such as Gabriel wearing a feathered pimp hat). Finally, President Trump slammed his own depiction in the movie, calling actress Rebel Wilson "a fat liberal cow" and citing that her makeup is the wrong shade of orange.
Will "My Pillow" be the flop some are anticipating? Or will it make it to the Oscars? Only time will tell.
Since 2025 is coming to an end, I want to share some good news about women and girls across the globe, to show things aren't all bad and to give people hope. I got these from TikTok
The Kingdom of Jordan has outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood (the progenitor organisation of Hamas and firm ally of the terrorist group) and confiscated their assets.
Reminder, analytical AI and generative AI aren't the same. While I loathe generative AI and feel there is no ethical way to use it at this time, analytical AI can serve valuable purposes in many fields.
The state, which has long ranked worst in the US for child wellbeing, became the first and only in the country to offer free childcare to a
"The state, which has long ranked worst in the US for child wellbeing, became the first and only in the country to offer free childcare to a majority of families
There was a moment, just before the pandemic, when Lisset Sanchez thought she might have to drop out of college because the cost of keeping her three children in daycare was just too much.
Even with support from the state, she and her husband were paying $800 a month – about half of what Sanchez and her husband paid for their mortgage in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
But during the pandemic, that cost went down to $0. And Sanchez was not only able to finish college, but enroll in nursing school. With a scholarship that covered her tuition and free childcare, Sanchez could afford to commute to school, buy groceries for her growing family – even after she had two more children – and pay down the family’s mortgage and car loan.
“We are a one-income household,” said Sanchez, whose husband works while she is in school. Having free childcare “did help tremendously”.
...Three years ago, New Mexico became the first state in the nation to offer free childcare to a majority of families. The United States has no federal, universal childcare – and ranks 40th on a Unicef ranking of 41 high-income countries’ childcare policies, while maintaining some of the highest childcare costs in the world. Expanding on pandemic-era assistance, New Mexico made childcare free for families earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level, or about $124,000 for a family of four. That meant about half of New Mexican children now qualified.
In one of the poorest states in the nation, where the median household income is half that and childcare costs for two children could take up 80% of a family’s income, the impact was powerful. The state, which had long ranked worst in the nation for child wellbeing, saw its poverty rate begin to fall.
As the state simultaneously raised wages for childcare workers, and became the first to base its subsidy reimbursement rates on the actual cost of providing such care, early childhood educators were also raised out of poverty. In 2020, 27.4% of childcare providers – often women of color – were living in poverty. By 2024, that number had fallen to 16%.
During the state’s recent legislative session, lawmakers approved a “historic” increase in funding for education, including early childhood education, that might improve those numbers even further...
When now-governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced her candidacy in late 2016, she emphasized her desire to address the state’s low child wellbeing rating. And when she took office in January 2018, she described her aim to have a “moonshot for education”: major investments in education across the state, from early childhood through college.
That led to her opening the state’s early childhood education and care department in 2019 – and tapping Groginksy, who had overseen efforts to improve early childhood policies in Washington DC, to run it. Then, in 2020, Lujan Grisham threw her support behind a bill in the state legislature that would establish an Early Childhood Trust Fund: by investing $300m – plus budget surpluses each year, largely from oil and gas revenue – the state hoped to distribute a percentage to fund early childhood education each year.
But then, just weeks after the trust fund was established, the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic.
“Covid created a really enormous moment for childcare,” said Heinz. “We had somewhat of a national reckoning about the fact that we don’t have a workforce if we don’t have childcare.”
As federal funding flooded into New Mexico, the state directed millions of dollars toward childcare, including by boosting pay for entry-level childcare providers to $15 an hour, expanding eligibility for free childcare to families making 400% of the poverty level, and becoming the first state in the nation to set childcare subsidy rates at the true cost of delivering care.
As pandemic-era relief funding dried up in 2022, the governor and Democratic lawmakers proposed another way to generate funds for childcare – directing a portion of the state’s Land Grant Permanent Fund to early childhood education and care. Like the Early Childhood Trust Fund, the permanent fund – which was established when New Mexico became a state – was funded by taxes on fossil fuel revenues. That November, 70% of New Mexican voters approved a constitutional amendment directing 1.25% of the fund to early childhood programs.
By then, the Early Childhood Trust Fund had grown exponentially – due to the boom in oil and gas prices. Beginning with $300m in 2020, the fund had swollen to over $9bn by the end of 2024...
New Mexico has long had one of the highest “official poverty rates” in the nation.
But using a metric that accounts for social safety net programs – like universal childcare – that’s slowly shifting. According to “supplemental poverty” data, 17.1% of New Mexicans fell below the federal “supplemental” poverty line from 2013 to 2015 (a metric that takes into account cost of living and social supports) – making it the fifth poorest state in the nation by that measure. But today, that number has fallen to 10.9%, one of the biggest changes in the country, amounting to 120,000 fewer New Mexicans living in poverty.
New Mexico’s child wellbeing ranking – which is based heavily on “official poverty” rankings – probably won’t budge, says Heinz because “the amount of money coming into households, that they have to run their budget, remains very low.
“However, the thing New Mexico has done that’s fairly tremendous, I think, is around families not having to have as much money going out,” she said.
During the recent legislative session, lawmakers deepened their investments in early childhood education even further, approving a 21.6% increase of $170m for education programs – including early childhood education. However, other legislation that advocates had hoped might pass stalled in the legislature, including a bill to require businesses to offer paid family medical leave...
In her budget recommendations, Lujan Grisham asked the state to up its commitment to early childhood policies, by raising the wage floor for childcare workers to $18 an hour and establishing a career lattice for them. Because of that, Gonzalez has been able to start working on her associate’s in childhood education at Central New Mexico Community College where her tuition is waived. The governor also backed a house bill that will increase the amount of money distributed annually from the Early Childhood Trust Fund – since its dramatic growth due to oil and gas revenues.
Although funding childcare through the Land Grant Permanent Fund is unique to New Mexico – and a handful of other states with permanent funds, like Alaska, Texas and North Dakota – Heinz says the Early Childhood Trust fund “holds interesting lessons for other states” about investing a percentage of revenues into early childhood programs.
In New Mexico, those revenues come largely from oil and gas, but New Mexico Voices for Children has put forth recommendations about how the state can continue funding childcare while transitioning away from fossil fuels, largely by raising taxes on the state’s wealthiest earners. Although other states have not yet followed in New Mexico’s footsteps, a growing number are making strides to offer free pre-K to a majority of their residents.
Heinz cautions that change won’t occur overnight. “What New Mexico is trying to do here is play a very long game. And so I am not without worry that people might give it five years, and it’s been almost five years now, and then say, where are the results? Why is everything not better?” she said. “This is generational change” that New Mexico is only just beginning to witness as the first children who were recipients of universal childcare start school."
It allows women to fetch water and firewood, take family members to medical facilities, or bring and buy produce at local markets.
"In Zimbabwe, an Africa-born mobility startup is providing women with the catalyst they need to drive change in their community and society.
Called the Hamba, this durable electric tricycle is mobilizing a generation of working women and mothers, allowing them to perform arduous tasks with relative ease and comfort.
Manufactured in Africa and managed by the startup Mobility for Africa (MFA), a leasing program for women allowed one or several locals to lease a Hamba for $15 a month. This pilot program was a huge success, and now these electric tricycles are available to buy, on a lease-to-purchase agreement, and to rent—all on an ad-hoc basis.
It allows women to fetch water and firewood, take family members to medical facilities, or bring and buy produce at local markets, saving sometimes dozens of miles of walking each day.
“In the past transporting our produce to the market was a nightmare we would wake up at 3 am and travel a very long distance using an ox-drawn cart but now it is much easier we can reach the market on time,” a 34-year-old tomato farmer and mother of six, Hilda Takadini, told Africa News.
92% of female customers participating in the company’s pilot program noted an improvement in how safe they feel whilst traveling since they started using the Hamba compared with walking, and some have offered their services as couriers and drivers to other community members, sparking the spirit of entrepreneurialism.
Among the women whose stories were changed by the appearance of the Hamba was Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe who was excluded from economic life.
Now, she’s the major bread winner in her house, and Takadini relies on her to bring tomatoes to market before they spoil.
“Even my husband and in-laws have more respect for me now. No one used to listen to me, but now I have a seat when important decisions are being made,” the mother of three told Africa News.
70% of the Hambas are reserved for women, and 300 are estimated to currently own or rent one. The solar-powered trikes have just one moving part in the motor, making them easy to maintain and fix. Batteries can be exchanged when depleted at a cost of $5.00 at one of Infraco Africa’s solar power stations, a partner with MFA on the initiative.
Each Hamba can carry 1,000 pounds or so of cargo, and have a top speed of 37 mph (you couldn’t go much faster on a rural Zimbabwe road anyway)."
-Article via Good News Network, April 9, 2025. Video via Africa News, March 22, 2025.
According to newly released data that the Pew Research Center collected in 11 countries with significant Muslim populations, people from Nigeria to Jordan to Indonesia overwhelmingly expressed negative views of ISIS.
In Lebanon, a victim of one of the most recent attacks, almost every person surveyed who gave an opinion had an unfavorable view of ISIS, including 99% with a very unfavorable opinion. Distaste toward ISIS was shared by Lebanese Sunni Muslims (98% unfavorable) and 100% of Shia Muslims and Lebanese Christians.
In nations with significant Muslim populations, much disdain for ISIS
This is actually not COMPLETELY shocking, since the Druze have been pushing back against a lot of the forces involved and are unlikely to get the representation they want in Syria. And Israeli Druze seem to like being Israeli.
Ever wonder what Peter Lorre speaking Hebrew might have sounded like?
I found this clip through Bluesky (the new Twitter for non-inbreds). Its from an Israeli movie called "the City" (2023). From what I gather, it's a "hip-hop musical" and parody of film noir.
The short guy definitely sounds like he's doing a Peter Lorre impression. And in a trailer with English subtitles, he says this:
The trailer reveals the actor's name as Idan Alterman, but no cast listing I could find gives any name for his character. Not a bad PL impression though.
Anyway, "the City" is now on my to-see list. I just hope there's a version with English subtitles.
His posts, it added, “can have real-world consequences."
"Elon Musk might be in charge of the business of Grok, but the artificial intelligence has seemingly gone into business for itself, labeling Musk as one of the worst offenders when it comes to spreading misinformation online."
