Old fuddy duddy ranting about illegitimate kids

Wow.  Just read this article in the New York Times online - For Women Under 30, Most Births Occur Outside Marriage.  Some statistics:

Percentage of births to married  mothers (all ages) = 59%
Percentage of births to married  mothers (white, under 30 years old) = 49%

Don't even ask for the minority statistics (73% of black children born out of wedlock).  Some quotes from the article that kind of pissed me off...

Amber Strader, 27, was in an on-and-off relationship with a clerk at Sears a few years ago when she found herself pregnant.

She "found" herself pregnant?  Here's a clue Amber, honey.  When a guy sticks his dick in you and he's not using a condom and you're not on the pill, you can get pregnant.  I probably learned that little factoid in middle school.

A former nursing student who now tends bar, Ms. Strader said her boyfriend was so dependent that she had to buy his cigarettes. Marrying him never entered her mind. “It was like living with another kid,” she said.

Amber, Amber, Amber.  You're a fucking dolt.  Wait, you were fucking a dolt.  Whatever.  Really?  This is the guy you spread your legs for?  Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?  You can pay ten bucks a pack for cigarettes but skip the couple of dollars for an econo-size pack of condoms at Wal-Mart? 

What I really want to know is the secret these guys have that allow them to get women to sleep with them and buy them cigarettes so they can hang around and play video games all day.  Those are some admirable people skills.  I guess momma never told Amber the story about free milk and the cow.

How about this gem?

One group still largely resists the trend: college graduates, who overwhelmingly marry before having children. That is turning family structure into a new class divide, with the economic and social rewards of marriage increasingly reserved for people with the most education.     

College graduates don't have kids out of wedlock (even though they fuck like bunnies in college).  Why whatever is their secret?  Could it be they're smart enough to realize that babies are made by sex?  This esoteric knowledge causes them to, I don't know, maybe use some fucking birth control?

Oh look, it's a class divide?  Damn rich people forcing poor people to have all them babies out of wedlock.  By the way, speaking as someone who got married on the cheap (I was still in graduate school), you really only need about 50 bucks to get married (that's less than the cost of the tramp stamp a lot of these women sport on their backsides).  Oops, did I just say that?

Look, I'm not a prude or a moralist.  However, the plain fact is that many mothers of children born outside of wedlock require public assistance.  That isn't "government" money, the government has no money other than what it confiscates from people in the form of taxes.  It's partly my money.  What the hell gives people the right to make stupid decisions and then ask us to pay for them.  In addition, as the article states,

...children born outside marriage face elevated risks of falling into poverty, failing in school or suffering emotional and behavioral problems.       

More social costs from these piss-poor decisions.  I won't "judge" you if you don't come to me, hat in hand, demanding my hard-earned money for your support.

That's my rant for the day.

Geologists

Don't know where it came from, so I can't credit it, but someone emailed this to me.

Random Friday thoughts

Yesterday I saw the following on my StatCounter.  111,111 Unique Visitors.  Cool.  Must mean something in the cosmic scheme of things right?  Numerologically, the number 1 is great!  This will be a good day, I can feel it.

Haven't been getting much sleep this week for some reason so I have to watch what I type.  When I get overtired I'm apt to say inappropriate things.  I told my students one of my favorite mnemonics this week - "Kinky People Come Over For Good Sex."  Can you tell what it helps you remember?

Not helping my sleep situation is the fact that we adopted a 5 month old kitten this week.  It's been living in my wife's and my bedroom since it's still skittish of the dog (a very jealous dog since the kitten has been the center of attention).  My wife had the bright idea of getting a collar for the kitten with bells.  Ever try to sleep at 4 am with a jingling kitty racing over your head (literally racing over your head)?

Ugly little beast, isn't he?  Damn thing sleeps during the day when people are out and wants to play in the middle of the night.  If he doesn't watch out, I'll toss him outside and let they coyotes chase him.

Today is the end of the fifth week of classes.  One of my courses has an exam next week and some assignments due (online assignments through a package that come bundled with the textbook).  Assignments that were assigned on the FIRST day of class five weeks ago.  A student sends me an email tonight.  Doesn't have the correct book.  Hasn't done the assignments.  Whatever are they to do?  Ummm.  Let's see.  You completely ignore the course syllabus, handouts given on the first day of class explaining how to access the assignments, web site for the course with copies of all this material, constant reminders about this in class for the past five freakin weeks, you don't talk to me until practically the night before it's due, and I'm supposed to do what?  Give an extension?  Nope, sorry, get the access, do the damn assignments over this three-day weekend, or get a zero.  Real simple (and that's exactly what it says in the course syllabus).  We're not in high school anymore. Right mean bastard, aren't I?  Doing my part to teach the younger generation the value of personal responsibility.

Today I also told a class that I assigned a final paper for their benefit, not mine.  They laughed.  I explained how they need to learn to research (beyond Wikipedia) and write better - do they really think I enjoy reading 30 ten-page papers during finals week?  I could just give them a Scantron multiple choice exam instead and no one would care.  Except my conscience.

Hard to believe I am a past winner of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, isn't it?  Telling my students mnemonics about kinky people having sex, having no sympathy for their textbook mishaps, and mocking their most excellent writing skills.  Easy to believe I have tenure, though.

After driving to Albany and back this afternoon (an hour plus each way), I stopped at Starbucks for a venti skinny caramel macchiato and whipped out my laptop to write up a blog post on a geological topic.  Went to search for an image I needed in Google.  Guess what popped up?  A picture in a post I wrote about this exact same topic in the summer of 2010 on this blog.  A post I had completely forgetten I had written.  The exact same topic.  I would have used the exact same image.  Pathetic.  Sometimes I wonder about early-onset dementia.  Deleted the post I was working on.  Sigh.  The coffee was good though.

Friday - I really look forward to a tall, cold glass of ale.  I have no classes Friday, I get to work on Department Chair administrative bullshit the entire day.  The only time I allow myself adult beverages is Friday after work when I go visit Meghan, my favorite bartender.  I think I'll go for the pint of Sam Adams Winter Lager.  I can taste it now.  Mmmm, beer.  No, I'm not a role model for young impressionable minds.  Never wanted to be one either.  I'm rambling, can you tell?  I do that when I'm overtired as well.  Rambling and saying inappropriate things.  Hell of a combination, isn't it? Gets me into trouble every time.  Hey, am I still typing?  I don't really have anything to say anymore.  Let's see - complaints about students, lust for beer, pretty bartenders, kinky sex - nope, think I have it covered for today.

Happy Friday everyone, enjoy the three-day weekend!

Fibonacci & Phyllotaxis

I love these videos from Vi Hart on YouTube.