Like It Is

I have Adam to thank for my writing anything on this particular topic, so props are in order.

On his blog last week he mentions that SICKO, the latest film by Michael Moore is coming out. Today I saw an article on Salon that also got me thinking about sharing my opinion.

I knew MM’s latest film was to do with health care in America, or rather the lack of universal health-care for its citizenry.. I have to admit that I wasn’t terribly interested in going to see it – I will probably watch the DVD, partly because Moore has shown that the message is more important than the means by which the message is put across. By doing this, I think he has marginalized himself somewhat, so even when he is making a very good point, he give people reason to side step the main issues. Still, I do believe he makes his point.

In Sicko – you can watch Moore on the vid on Adams blog – he argues for a complete change to America’s “health care system.” I’d argue myself that there isn’t really a “health care system” in America, there is insurance. Adam suggests his own proposal, in addition to Moore’s, which I think is a good one, but still think Americans would fight it.

Will a sea change happen? Has Moore set things in motion for a change? I highly doubt it and here’s why… Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Sicko

How about that then?

Not only can you claim benefits for your “real” kids – but you can also make up some imaginary kiddies and hey presto, you’ve made a fortune. It seems imaginary kids appear to have uses. Of course, you could get caught. Like these two thieves did.

Couple pretend to have 16 children to claim £125,000 in benefits

“ A couple claimed more than £125,000 in benefit payments after inventing 16 children, a court heard. Heavy gambler David Wilshaw, 57, and his alcoholic partner Nancy Stevenson, 58, launched their four- year assault on the system in 2003 before they were finally trapped by their greed.”

As I read this story several questions came to mind… such as:

• Why didn’t social services ask to see any proof of the children? No-one even checked. Nice to know where your tax money is going isn’t it?
• These two were a gambler and a drunk. Wilshaw was losing over £600 a week in betting shops. Partner was downing the brandy like there was no tomorrow. Why are these people even parents? Just because they can?
• They already received income support (that’s social assistance) of £113 a week. Of course, Wilshire was unemployed. Why work when you can rob the state?
• Completely shameless, Wilshaw claimed he performed a public duty by exposing the loop hole
• I wonder how many fine examples of parents are cheating the system with their imaginary kids? It would be a real shame if genuine claimants got shafted because of scams like this.

Original article from the Daily Mail by Christian Gysin.

Props to mercurior for yet another interesting link.

Technorati Tags: inventing 16 children

And, according to this article in The Telegraph, having children “is bad for your mental health.”

Being childfree, I could have told them that. Most childfree people could have told them that.

While some parents would tell me, in their quest to get me to join their harassed ranks, that I’d miss the joys of bringing up kids, I always wondered why they selectively leave out the fact that parenting can drive you nuts. It would have driven me nuts anyway, so I decided it wasn’t for me. There was never a need to find out otherwise.

A study done in 2006 indicated that parenthood was actually bad for your health - contrary to popular opinion. Read the rest of this entry »

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I liked this so much, with Brightfeather’s permission I’ve swiped it. She made it by the way. If you like, feel free to swipe it for yourself. And, yeah, I just loved the title of her post…because it’s very true for me

Did you know that this universal symbol of love and affection has its origins in a herb that that let the ancients fornicate (like rabbits) without the fear of pregnancy? In other words, it originated as the sign for a natural birth control pill. Who’d have thought it? Not me, so I found this article fascinating.

And no wonder she followed the title – imagine finding the very thing you say to your dearest… “ I love( not having kids) with you..” as a phrase in an article. Follow the link – it’s worth a read.

I have to warn you that visiting this particular post might make you roll your eyes. Or rant. Or a combination of both. It might even annoy you :). You’ll have to make up your own mind.

Brightfeather sent me this interesting link (thank you BF!) and of course being the curious person I am I wanted to see what the Happiness Project was all about. And of course I have a view. According to many of the responses to the article (and you know that comments are often the most revealing bit, right?) on The Happiness Project children make you happy. Or do they?

According to some studies - no, they don’t.

Well, even if they do, I’m happy to be childfree. Children would not make me happy. Why do people find that so hard to believe?

In Stumbling on Happiness says Gretchen the blog writer, prominent psychologist Daniel Gilbert argues that children don’t, in fact, make their parents happy. (By the way The link only refers to his book and not to the point made below (I searched for it to no avail) so I’m only linking to him because I thought it fair to mention him. The book does look like an interesting read though. And I have seen his reference before so I am going to check my research links. Meanwhile

“He points to studies that show that marital satisfaction plummets after the birth of the first child and increases after the last child has left home, and to research that shows that a group of women found childcare only slightly more pleasant than housework.

“So why do people think children bring happiness? Gilbert argues that without the successful transmission of that inaccurate belief, society would crash—no one would have kids. Also, he says, when people think about having kids, they imagine the fun and success, but not the inconvenience and anxiety.” Read the rest of this entry »

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At last. Someone has come out and said it. Why has it taken so long?

This might seem like a scene from your worst nightmare but, as they say, the future is here. It’s kid-shaped. A future of rude, undisciplined, frankly nasty little brats who are well aware of their “rights” and how to exercise them. Their parents are too afraid to say “boo” to them, let alone discipline them. There is no doubt who is in charge.

In the UK (and to some extent even in Canada) daring to instill anything remotely resembling discipline in your kids is a sure way to get frog-marched down to the local nick. And it’ll have been the fruit of your loins who will probably have reported you. In Canada, they tell you (and you could be a parent or a teacher) they’ll ring Child Services. And they can. In the UK it’s Social Services.

But first, the little dahlings will tell you where to get off. And the parents will cringe, try to appease, to reason with their beloved offspring, too afraid to give them a good talking to. Read the rest of this entry »

Chris W thought I would like this. I loved it.

It’s An Open Letter to Parents Who Bring Their Children to Extremely Violent Horror Films. It’s brilliant!

You know why? Not so much because I regularly watch horror movies at the theatre (or films at the cinema for we Brits). I do watch movies with quite a bit of violence. But because I have never been able to understand the stupidity of parents who take their young children to very violent, explosive, often very frightening films. With an R rating.

The children of course, in addition to exhibiting bratty behaviour get scared. Some of the violence would scare even me, and I’m an adult. I can handle what I go to watch. Along with my fellow cinema-goers, I go to have a good time, only to have it ruined by brats who have no business being there at all. By the time I’ve spotted the kids in da house, I can kiss any actual movie enjoyment goodbye, as the kids then proceed to completely destroy any possible enjoyment of my experience. It’s worse if they’re sitting near you, as they fidget all the time.

They should not be there. And it is completely the fault of their parents that they are.

Anyway, I think Anthony Burch has nailed it beautifully in his open letter. Read, enjoy and share, dear readers. It’s full of great bits, like this one, but you get the best of it by reading it in its entirety: Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: movies

Exposure is a Good Thing. Like It Is has been added to Blogs By Women . Nice.

As well as this being a really neat directory, it’s a great collection of blogs… no sploggers either, just plenty of interesting content. Hopefully many more child-free people will find out about the lively conversations we have on Like It Is. If you have a blog or want to discover more blogs, consider registering yours with Blogs By Women.

Here’s a snapshot for me to relish being on the front page for a while. The link above goes to my blog on BBW.

And… look, here’s me at the bottom!

Huzza sent me these. He said they were “sort of related to my blog.” I like the sly humour. How long did it take you to get this one?

Sarah Churchwell believes that there is more to life than motherhood. She’s right. In the light of yet another report trotted out to tell women if they don’t get pregnant now, they’ll rue the day, it’s refreshing to read of someone who doesn’t succumb to the scare tactics of breed now or regret it for ever.

Why I’m so happy to be childless, says highflyer.

I would have preferred she used the term childfree rather than childless, but then, we can’t have everything. Maybe she doesn’t consider herself childfree (yet). In the light of the overall article though, I consider it a moot point. For me the most puzzling words of the article were the opening words:

“Incredibly, the majority of female graduates nearing 40 are childless.” Why incredibly? This has been happening for a few years now and I don’t find anything “incredible” about it.

I found Churchwell’s article down to earth. It also echoed many of my thoughts as a childfree person as well as of other childfree people. Churchwell has said she doesn’t want children, just that they are not for her right now and she isn’t prepared to pursue motherhood despite the pressures that she should do so. And children may never be for her. Hopefully she will be at peace with that too, it seems she will.

Here are just a few of the things that resonated with me: Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: childfree, childless