A.M. Links: NYC's Mayor-Elect Planning To Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, Russians Round Up Dozens After Bombings, Many Latvians Don't Want To Adopt the Euro

Credit: Paul Songco/wikimedia

• New York City's Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio is planning to ban horse-drawn carriages, which he believes are inhumane.
• Secretary of State John Kerry will present a "framework proposal" relating to peace talks to Israeli and Palestinian leaders later this week.

• The journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has reported on Edward Snowden's leaks, says that the NSA does not have access to in-flight communications.
• Nearly half of Latvians oppose their country adopting the Euro, which it will do tomorrow.
• U.S. population growth is at its slowest rate in over 70 years, with an increase of only 2.26 million in the twelve months before July 1, 2013.
• Russian authorities have rounded up dozens of people in the wake of the recent suicide bombings in the city of Volgograd.

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Comments

[General Butt Naked]

Where's everyone at?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Hello General.

[General Butt Naked]

Good last morning of '13, CPA.

I bet our Dear Leader is thanking his own personal Jesus that this year is finally over. Hopefully next year will be just as interesting as this one was for him.

[RBS]

His own personal Jesus? You mean his ego?

[General Butt Naked]

I think he prays while looking in the mirror.

[Cdr Lytton]

Yes, but which direction does he face when looking in the mirror?

[Ted S.]

Poor Fisting With Etiquette.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Don't cry for me, AM Links.

[Atanarjuat]

I'm in Orlando. Which made me wonder, whatever happened to beloved commenter generic brand ("Fuck Lake Eola")?

[General Butt Naked]

If he's a libertarian he's probably in jail for coke, or not paying his taxes, or something.

[PM]

Brings up an interesting question: if they legalized coke and taxed it like booze, should libertarians continue to buy it without paying taxes on it?

[Atanarjuat]

Buy coke from whoever has the best stuff for the best price. But yeah, more and more I am turning to under the table transactions when possible.

Also I always leave tips in cash, so the waitress or bartender (or topless dancer, or whatever) can choose for themselves whether or not to share some with Uncle Sam.

[General Butt Naked]

Also I always leave tips in cash...

As someone who worked over a decade in the restaurant business, you're a saint. Not only are you saving the worker from paying taxes, but also the business owner. Which helps him hire more workers, and so on.

[PM]

I do the same. Even if I'm paying for the meal with plastic I'll leave the tip in cash or give it directly to the server.

[Ted S.]

Aren't waitresses taxed on the assumption that they get a minimum of 8% in tips?

[General Butt Naked]

Yes and no.

A lot of places have a computerized systems that automatically assume in tips and that info goes into their pay checks. The places I worked at we had credit tips reported automatically and cash tips were self-reported.

[General Butt Naked]

Oh...

And in my state if you report less than minimum wage the employer makes up the difference and the taxes would be calculated via that. Me and my fellow employees would just figure out how many tips got us to minimum wage and report that.

[wwhorton]

GBN, same in Maryland. Last place I waited tables it was sort of a matter of pride if you got a paycheck for $0, which meant that you'd made enough in tips for your entire paycheck (such as it was) to go to withholding. And, definitely, people who tip in cash are heroes.

[DontShootMe]

Hmm, I usually put 15% on the credit card, then I add a bit more in cash, since I figure if the mgmt / IRS doesn't see 15% on each bill, they'll go looking.

[Brett L]

Didn't he move away to go to law school?

[RBS]

Maybe but depending on his course load he should have 2-4 hours a day to get on here while some Prof who couldn't cut it in private practice is droning on about things that won't actually help him be a lawyer.

[Atanarjuat]

Yeah, I think so, but what kind of monster quits Hit 'n' Run just because of diversions like career, family, etc.?

[Nikki just says no]

Generic Brand is here in Chicago (though not right now, for the holidays, I think) and we have hung out a couple times. He is a super busy bee with law school.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Here.

Hello.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Good morning, everyone. Listening to REM's Fables of the Reconstruction right now. Good stuff.

[RBS]

Nice, I was listening Murmur on the way to work. I love old college rock REM.

[Tommy_Grand]

radio free europe; radio free europe

[Rasilio]

Hey Kenny, what was that frequency again?

[Nooge.]

Bang FM?

[Auric Demonocles]

I was trying to break back into my apartment. Apparently I needed the perfect piece of junk mail. I spent an hour trying, and as soon as I switched to this particular one it worked twice in a row.

[Rasilio]

I think they're all off with the white women

[The Late P Brooks]

New York City's Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio is planning to ban horse-drawn carriages, which he believes are inhumane.

Public schools are still acceptable, however.

[Ted S.]

How are people going to get around after the greenies ban the internal combustion engine?

[Drake]

Since when are serfs allowed to leave their masters' land?

[PM]

If every building were 45,000 stories, everybody could just live within a half mile of where they work and shop and then everything would be peachy keen.

[pan fried wylie]

45k stories is something like 80miles....

Oh, I guess we're assuming people at the top never got to the bottom, right?

[txgypsy]

so instead of getting stuck on crowded freeways with masses of dumbasses in the morning rush hour,we are stuck armpit and asshole with these dumbasses on crowded elevators???...........

[Count Negroni]

Wait for the sign. Then all prisoners will be released.

[wareagle]

nothing says mayoral leadership quite like shutting down a business that you find personally offensive.

[Count Negroni]

What's the point of going into politics if you can't do that?

[Ted S.]

It's the "right" to tell other people what to do with their property.

[CampingInYourPark]

What will Bill have to do when teh gayz want a horse drawn carriage ride?

[Drake]

But what happens next to the now useless horses will be humane?

[Rhywun]

Neigh.

[pan fried wylie]

You can't have your pudding unless you finish your meat.

[DontShootMe]

I predict a price fall in Jell-o brand gelatin, and Elmer's glue.

[Brett L]

Despite Epis protestations, at least a plurality of voters prefer outright rule by dictator in NYC.

[Ska]

I think the protestations are when you write shit like "everyone in NY deserves what they get" when voting here works much like everywhere else - largely ineffectual with unchangeable results that fuck over people who spend their lives trying to do more important shit.

[robc]

Do they still allow greyhound to run out of NYC?

Because you can fucking move.

[Ska]

I can, but I'd rather not. Most of my family lives here, most of my friends live here, I make a good living, and I'm OK with breaking the laws I don't agree with. In any case, living free of DiBlasio isn't worth what I'd have to give up to get away from him.

Just stop with the "NYers deserve what they get" BS. Nobody deserves to have a fucked up, oppressive government. Or do we all deserve the governments we have because we're not emigrating?

[robc]

Yes.

That is to your last question.

[wwhorton]

Then either vote with your feet or get involved. Easier said than done, I know, but even though the local Democratic machine won in my town this past election we were able to shake things up considerably. In my city, that means that not every office was held by an encumbent Democrat that engaged in mild to moderate campaign fraud. Plus, I'd like to think we started a general trend of a.)holding elected officials directly accountable, and b.)not waiting for local government stooges to come handle situations that neighborhoods can deal with themselves. Bonus points for getting our alderman charged with election fraud.

[a better weapon]

de Blasio is going to be fast out the gate on his way to being a bigger nanny than Bloomberg.

The best part is the plan to replace them with antique cars modified with an electric engine and using the same carriage drivers! I'm sure the horse handlers are going to love waiting 9 hours at a charging station every 40 miles or calling AAA when the battery won't start when its 10 degrees out.

[Bill Dalasio]

Also, who the hell is going to want to drive around in what amounts to a golf cart as a romantic diversion?

[Nikki just says no]

Wait, what? Um, does de Blasio not know that the whole point of the rides is the fucking horse? Yeah, nothing says romantic like electric-engine antique car...

[RightNut]

You guys are presuming Nanny Blasio gives a shit about the riders or the drivers.

[Rhywun]

Or the horses.

[DontShootMe]

Or the tourists, apparently.

[Shocked]

I'm sure he will ban the NYPD's mounted squad next, right? Why is it humane to use a horse to chase bad guys with guns?

[Raven Nation]

Well this horse seemed to be having fun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPzS85LS8kg

[a better weapon]

It does fit the exact criteria for banning private use of horses. Ah, if only we lived in a world of consistency and principles.

[Don Mynack]

As long as you don't feed those horses Beefaroni, all is well.

Seriously, the people of NYC are about to get their dose of socialism good and hard, which is exactly what they deserve for electing an asshat.

[PM]

Melitha Harrith Perry makes fun of Romney's black grandchild. It's funny because it's so racist.

[RightNut]

That baby is a Republican Uncle Tom. So not racist.

[Brett L]

See, this is why you're horrible! They weren't being racist, they were making fun of Romney!

Just because it sounds identical to the comments on Stormfront...

[wareagle]

guess it didn't dawn on the Storm troopers that they were making fun of the Romneys over a black child.

[Brett L]

Altenatively: Cue Blazing Saddles: "That baby's a n...!"

[Swiss Servator, Pikes Forward!]

I think he is saying the baby is near?

[Andrew S.]

As mayor of MSNBC, Melissa Harris-Perry would like to extend a laurel, and hearty handshake, to their new.... baby?

[The DerpRider]

Nobody move or the baby gets it!

[Agammamon]

Ooh, baby, you are so talented!

[wwhorton]

Do what he say, do what he say!

[Bardas Phocas]

Think of the production meeting at MSDNC.
Perry: We need something for our 'Make fun of Republicans' series. Ideas?
Dweeb producer 1: I've been scouring the internet for county commissioners saying stupid things but have nothing.
Unpaid Intern: I found this picture of the Romney family. Apparently they got themselves a tar baby.
Perry: That's it. Let's make fun of black baby. It's edgy. It's troll bait. And best of all it's racist. How we will laugh.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Getting hammered in the comments.

That cunt should also be fired. The ultimate irony: They call everyone a racist when they are themselves.

MSNBC. You can't get lower than this. On a roster of uber-douches like Matthews, O'Donnell, Maddow, Bashir, Olbermann, Perry is Queen.

[Snark Plissken]

Melitha is sensitive to tokenism since she knows she's one for MSNBC.

[a better weapon]

Tokenism and racism (veiled and overt) are commonplace for this network, but Jesus, at least wait until the baby is old enough to defend himself.

That's really fucking low, even for MSNBC.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I've said before, they took all the wrong cues from Fox, thinking that they just needed to be a blatantly left-wing spin machine to bring in ratings. The problem is that no one outside the most rabid leftists and various political wonks ever watches the network because they're so hyper-partisan.

If you ever want to know what leftists really think of their political opponents when they think they don't have to be polite, just watch MSNBC or an average college classroom.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

My favorite leftist idiot:

7 years ago: A surge of 'more'

[MJGreen]

God, I remember getting into it with progressives a few years ago, and they laughed because I didn't read "slacktivist." They shared one of his posts about... something... maybe taxes or libertarians and sex... and it was so incoherent and contradictory that I didn't know how to respond. I asked them several times to distill whatever the argument was supposed to be, and no one did. But they did continue to judge me for thinking that guy was a blithering idiot.

And good comment. Of course you get downvoted.

[RightNut]

Bill de Blasio is planning to ban horse-drawn carriages, which he believes are inhumane.

Is it more humane to deprive the horse of purpose and send it to a slaughterhouse in Asia?

[Brett L]

Wait, we don't have enough dogs to support horse slaughter in the US?

[Nikki just says no]

We banned it.

[pan fried wylie]

I thought that was only slaughter for human consumption.

[General Butt Naked]

This is a situation of someone legislating from ignorance.

I have some family with horses and they (the horses, not my family) are very social animals. They seem to enjoy their toil.

I imagine this law would be like making a law that forces owners of border collies to not work them. It'd be hell for the animal.

Any horse people that can concur?

[Swiss Servator, Pikes Forward!]

"See, honey, we can't keep a horse in the city...so we are going to give it to a nice farm family, where it can live and gambol freely in the countryside!"

*Slaughterhouse van pulls away*

[Auric Demonocles]

It should be a plains family. Much better gamboling.

[Old Man With Candy]

Rusty!!!!!

[RBS]

One never knows how the gastrointestinal workings of the equine are going to function.

[Pro Libertate]

"Horse people?" Humans and horses are different species and cannot interbreed, despite what the Internet may suggest. Unless you're aware of some insane eugenics program to insert horse DNA into human embryos.

[General Butt Naked]

I've seen them and they post here.

Be nice.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm sorry, but I'll need more evidence than your say-so about such an extraordinary claim. Please provide the full genome of this human-horse hybrid of which you speak.

[General Butt Naked]

Gaaaawd...

Get off my back about the horse-people thing already!

Look, would one of you horse-people kindly mail Pro Lib a vial of blood, or semen, or something so he can "genome" it, or whatever.

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, it's suddenly my job to evaluate your unreasonable claims about a heretofore unknown species of sapient equine?

[Swiss Servator, Pikes Forward!]

+1 Mentor

[General Butt Naked]

They're only unknown to you.

Everyone else is in on it.

[RightNut]

A horse is a horse....

[The DerpRider]

Bronies.

[General Butt Naked]

Bronies are cultural appropriators of the long oppressed horse-people-americans' rich heritage.

[Auric Demonocles]

I know you watch football, so let me point you to the Denver Broncos, and more specifically John Elway and Shannon Sharpe.

[Rabban]

What's is her name from Sex in the City. That is proof enough for me.

[Marshall Gill]

Wrong thread.

[Kid Xenocles]

Tell that to Catherine the Great.

[Pro Libertate]

That's a myth, and even if it wasn't, she was well past breeding age.

[Kid Xenocles]

I know. It's just so damn funny.

[Kid Xenocles]

I know. It's just so damn funny.

[Pro Libertate]

Not to horses, it isn't. Or to horse people.

[Rebekah]

I have horses, and I concur.

Besides working horses (for the most part) preferring to work, there's nasty unintended consequences of depriving the animals of a purpose.

It's not too dissimilar to what happened after the Premarin market dried up (and production was de-facto outlawed in the US). It flooded the American market with rescue horses, mostly middle-aged mares with little to no training. Most of them ended up in slaughterhouses in Mexico. I have two Premarin babies I brought down from Manitoba, but there were many, many more that weren't so lucky.

Now, the forced unemployment of the NYC carriage horses probably won't be nearly as extreme; there are far fewer of them and most probably have drivers/handlers/owners who will do there damnedest to make sure they're provided for (if not quite as happy as when they were working). But horses are expensive, so I'd be surprised if many didn't find themselves in feedlots.

[Rebekah]

Dammit. There=their in the last paragraph.

Stupid English and its stupid homophones.

[The DerpRider]

Hey, that word was born that way.

[Steve G]

Yep, no different than folks w/ working dog breeds. You'll never seem them happier than when they are doing what we programmed them to do over countless generations.

[Brett L]

"Why are all the kids standing in a circle in the middle of the yard?"

[RightNut]

http://youtu.be/44IanwYO-Cg?t=2m53s

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I find this troubling. I'm pretty sure they're well taken care of by their masters.

[Brett L]

Next, they'll come for our orphans!

[a better weapon]

and send it to a slaughterhouse in Asia?

Don't be ridiculous! They won't go to a slaughterhouse. I assure you they will go to a nice open field or prairie to freely roam... until they starve to death and the owner claims the horse "got separated" from the group and ran off.

[Swiss Servator, Pikes Forward!]

Wolves gotta eat too...

[Cdr Lytton]

Can't anyone see the obvious. Napoleon Blasio just wants to send Boxer to the glue factory.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

They soooooo want Elizabeth "Tenderfoot" Warren:

'The pieces come together because a lot is broken'
Your state has two senators who may or may not give a rat's whisker about your interests or about the interests of people like you (most senators don't). But even if you don't live in Massachusetts, you've got at least one senator who does represent you ? and she's pretty tough, too...

[MP]

Look, if you want to blow up the economy/the establishment, there's probably no better way to do it than to elect an outright Marxist. Just look at France.

She's got my vote.

[General Butt Naked]

It's funny that these commie fucks trip over themselves trying to come off as warriors for the middle-class, when their marxist monkey shit, if implemented, would effectively kill off the middle-class.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

The middle class, like all else, exists to be consumed by progs, like the media, education, etc.

[Jordan]

when their marxist monkey shit, if implemented, would effectively kill off the middle-class.

Effectively? Marxists have honed actual killing down to a science.

[General Butt Naked]

I was gonna put an asterisk there and say something about kulaks, but then I remembered my audience and realized that I didn't have to say a thing.

[Swiss Servator, Pikes Forward!]

Suuuure you didn't, wrecker, splitter!

[tarran]

But even if you don't live in Massachusetts, you've got at least one senator who does represent you ? and she's pretty tough, too...

What's comical is that she isn't tough. Remember she was such a mess of incompetence and skeletons that even the Obama admin passed her over for heading the agency whose creation she advocated.

[Auric Demonocles]

I do live in Massachusetts, and let me be clear: Warren doesn't care about my interests at all.

[RightNut]

Why would she care? She's not from MA. Warren is a citizen of the People's Republic of Cambridge.

[Auric Demonocles]

I live in Somerville. The t stop I use is in Cambridge.

[Restoras]

Auric, if you haven't stopped by Mead Hall in Cambridge try it sometime. The owner is an acquaintance of mine.

[Auric Demonocles]

I have not yet gotten around to it, though there have been a couple of nights where it was on our short list. It just keeps being #2. Maybe I should make it a priority.

[Auric Demonocles]

I wonder where slumbrew (the commenter) has been lately. I remember having a brief discussion with him about meeting up sometime for a drink.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Who will be the first to engage the wackos in the threads?

[Spoonman.]

There is no fucking way Elizabeth Warren will be elected President. Obama was a blank slate. She is just abominable.

[RightNut]

For some reason proggies always think the best political candidates come from MA. In 2012/2008 they thought Romney was the best GOP candidate to beat Obama, in 2004 they thought Kerry was the best candidate to beat Bush, and just look at home many times they tried to get Ted Kennedy to run.

[RightNut]

how*...how the fuck did I type "home"?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That's because they honestly believe it's one of the 'smarter' regions in the country. At least, that's what my Boston friend keeps telling me. He also asserts if all states were as progressive as California on policy the country would be swell.

Scary sometimes to listen to him. Scary because he's no slouch or dummy.

[DontShootMe]

You should listen to the NPR fundraisers in MA. I swear the on air personalities are all going to get dislocated shoulders from patting themselves on the back.

[CatoTheElder]

NPR fundraisers are the same everywhere. Texas is not different from MA in that regard.

[Rasilio]

Hey, you can never underestimate the Republican Party's power to screw things up and nominate someone just as bad as her in a different way.

Then you just need a few ill timed comments about rape victims and bingo President Warren

[MJGreen]

I can't understand this kind of bootlicking. What sad, sad people that they need to find a politician to venerate.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Boy, she really is a female version of Obama--uses a lot of words saying absolutely nothing of substance.

[CatoTheElder]

All of those costs have shot through the roof.

I thought the party line was that inflation was too low, and needed to be goosed up a bit. Now Warren says that costs have shot through the roof.

I need to work on my doublethink.

[Atanarjuat]

John (the HnR commenter) once wrote that government-owned conservation land is comparable to royally-owned medieval forests that peasants could not hunt in. Well, now Everglades National park is banning airboats.

To be fair, airboats are insanely loud and annoying to those not on them. But they don't harm the habitat. It's just a case of you can't use them here because Fuck You, That's Why. Although they will allow a few airboat tour operators to remain and pay a concession to the park.

[Brett L]

I cant wait to see the airboat chases on cable TV.

[Count Negroni]

"This must be what it's like to have sex with me."

[Longtorso, Johnny]

John (the HnR commenter) once wrote that government-owned conservation land is comparable to royally-owned medieval forests that peasants could not hunt in.

Same way gun control laws are really saying that only 'gentlemen' should be armed, and the general complaints about consumption among the masses, and the hatred of power based on business generated wealth instead of social class and connections...

[DJF]

"""saying that only 'gentlemen' should be armed"""

Actually they don't think the gentlemen should be armed, that would mean them getting their hands dirty, they want the gentlemen's government provided body guard to be armed

[Pro Libertate]

What? That's absurd? I mean, Gentle Ben! The opening credits had little Clint Howard and his dad (or maybe just his dad--been a while since I've seen it) booking around in an airboat. Airboats are awesome.

Apropos of nothing, the family and I went on an airboat tour north of Tampa, which was fun. We were talking about going down to the Everglades to do it. Now I guess we can keep our money and spend it on Disney or something.

[Auric Demonocles]

Booze. Always spend it on booze. Especially if you are going to a Bucs game.

[Raven Nation]

Well, at least you will be getting a new coach.

[Auric Demonocles]

That was a shot a Pro Lib. I'm pretty sure my NFL team will be keeping their coach for quite a while.

[Raven Nation]

Gotcha. Happily, KC seems to have righted the ship at least for a season.

[Pro Libertate]

You mean tranya?

[BakedPenguin]

I relish it so.

[Pro Libertate]

I wonder if the whole Gentle Ben thing was just a tranya-induced hallucination of Balok's.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

One more:

Scenes from the Class War (12.23)
..."Wages ought not to be insufficient to support a frugal and well-behaved wage-earner. If through necessity or fear of a worse evil the workman accept harder conditions because an employer or contractor will afford him no better, he is made the victim of force and injustice."

"President Barack Obama is throwing his support behind congressional Democrats' proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 and peg it to inflation, more than a dollar higher than the $9 proposal he made in his State of the Union address in February."...

[Ted S.]

Wages ought not to be insufficient to support a frugal and well-behaved wage-earner.

Don't get knocked up if you can't support a family.

[General Butt Naked]

Yeah.

I lived my entire 20's in statistical poverty, but without the rugrats and a need for $100 sneakers I lived pretty comfortably.

[RightNut]

Not sure when you were in your 20s but the government pays for the rugrats these days.

[General Butt Naked]

I just left my 20s. I was just saying that if you wear a rubber, or two, you can live on minimum wage.

But that's the thing, people have kids they can't afford, get gov. assistance and still bitch that they need paid more for their skilless job. Of course they have $100 sneakers and an iPhone, but you need those things!

[RBS]

GBN you heartless, child hating monster!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yup, don't use a credit card too unless absolutely necessary.

[Spoonman.]

If you have the willpower, rewards credit cards like the one I have through Costco are nice. But of course you have to pay them off every month.

[Spoonman.]

My wife seems to be deciding that she would rather stay home with our new baby than send her to day-care and work, so we're preparing to move to a much smaller house so we can continue to live well below our means.

I suspect that when we put this plan into place my family will think that we are insane, since we have a very nice house now, but we just don't need 3200 sf at the moment (well, ever), and we could be very rich with my current salary by moving.

That sort of downgrade would be unthinkable to many people, though, I'm sure.

(We'll make a big profit on the house - the bank we bought it from thought it was much smaller.)

[Spoonman.]

Just to clarify, I'm not moving my family to the ghetto; the Allentown area is just very inexpensive.

[BakedPenguin]

Of course. They've taken all the coal from the ground.

[The DerpRider]

You had to be a big shot.

[MJGreen]

Sounds like a good, responsible plan. I applaud you and the wife, sir!

[BiMonSciFiCon]

If through necessity or fear of a worse evil the workman accept harder conditions because an employer or contractor will afford him no better, he is made the victim of force and injustice.

This person essentially just defined life. Oh no, life has given me hard choices! Help, help, I'm being repressed!

[a better weapon]

Not to mention, this only ensures workers will never achieve lift off from the price floor no matter how hard they work.

From $7.25/hr, you will likely get a raise for simply not being a dunce and breathing. Most productive hourly workers will easily clear $10.10, but now their wages will have to subsidize the above market wages of the slow guy cleaning the bathrooms and 26 year old nesters who don't give a shit and don't have to worry about rent.

[MJGreen]

Yep, there is always fear of a "worse evil." You choose the best option available to you, so by definition, all other options are worse. So this whole line of reasoning is logically flawed, unless you find an objective way to 1) measure how great the other evil is, and 2) determine at which point the severity of the other choice cannot be accepted. Which cannot be done, so it's just subjective disagreements; my say-so vs your say-so.

The only theoretical exception is when you are indifferent between choices, which sounds like a boring life. Assuming it wasn't impossible.

[wareagle]

I'm sure the union contract connection to the minimum has nothing to do with Obama's support.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

"President Barack Obama is throwing his support behind congressional Democrats' proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 and peg it to inflation, more than a dollar higher than the $9 proposal he made in his State of the Union address in February."...

Fucking hell. It should be obvious to anyone that's looked at the minimum wage increases and CPI changes that minimum wage increases are already reactionary to the inflation of consumer goods. It doesn't matter how high you jack up the minimum wage because inflation will simply negate whatever gains happen to be made.

Decades of cumulative inflation have destroyed the purchasing power of the middle class, not holding down the minimum wage. But these idiots think that they aren't tied together at all.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

America's hidden retirement crisis is racial

I post because I find it amusing these types of articles never mention how Asians are doing.

[Brett L]

Black men are living to retirement age? This is excellent news! Maybe Social Security won't be an outright wealth transfer from poor black men to wealthy white women.

[RightNut]

You mean how they are nearly Highlanders?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Ok, one more:

'The rich rule over the poor': Dave Ramsey, McDonald's, and the personal salvation of personal finance (part 1)
...Credit-card banks and other lenders are scared of Richard Cordray and of Elizabeth Warren. But they're not scared of Dave Ramsey. They love the guy. No matter how many new ways they concoct to fleece their customers, they can always count on Ramsey to have their back, telling his radio audience that it's their fault and that their only response should be to cut expenses and pay those new rates and fees in full.

We're seeing an encouraging wave of push-back against Ramsey's victim-blaming and his apparent ignorance of "what it's actually like to live on $8 or so per hour." I want to highlight some of the sharp responses to Ramsey's mean poverty-is-your-fault ideology, the graceless works-righteousness behind his individualistic misunderstanding of "personal responsibility," and the way his victim-scolding framework serves the interests of creditors and robber barons....

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Dave Ramsey and Dear Prudence: When good advice goes bad
...Yoffe, like Dave Ramsey, seems to think of herself as a tough-minded provider of tough love. "A misplaced fear of blaming the victim has made it somehow unacceptable to warn inexperienced young women that when they get wasted, they are putting themselves in potential peril," she writes, wanting readers to know she's not "afraid" of blaming the victim....

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I like to listen to Ramsey. His advice is very suspect, but the asshole in me likes hearing about how bad other people have it.

To his credit, he has never had an advertisement for credit (other than Churchhill Mortgage) on his show.

[PM]

I think it's remarkable that he's managed to parlay "pay off your credit cards, shred them, forget you ever had them, save your money, and buy a house" into millions of followers and best-selling books. Makes me wonder if there's a decent market for a "Don't Masturbate With Capzasin-HP" book series.

[Ted S.]

Warty will buy a copy.

[Swiss Servator, Pikes Forward!]

Warty will write a copy?

[Brett L]

I don't know. If you're spending more than you make and your interest payments are eating your ability to accrue capital, he's spot on. Cut your expenses, get a second job, quit fucking borrowing money. Is it the cheapest way to get out of debt? No, but it is literally idiot proof. Any dumbass can follow the plan and get out of debt.

[wareagle]

if only there was a govt application for this theory.....

[Certified Public Asskicker]

True. His baby step advice from 1-3 is great for most people (I would still argue paying off higher interest first, but I understand his philosophy).

What I find suspect is his investing and mortgage advice.

[Brett L]

Agree 100%. There is no reason for EVERYONE to buy a house.

[Spoonman.]

Right, but the poor bastards who need his advice in the first place are likely looking at houses for $120k. At that level buying makes a lot more sense than renting unless you live in NYC or something.

[Brett L]

Sure. And its a good investment if you don't live on the coast (or other big cities) and plan to stay in the same placed for 5-7 years. But some people would choose other ways to invest if they don't care to own a house. But again, I think if everyone were at least this disciplined, America would be better.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The thing people don't grasp about owning a house is the operating costs associated with maintaining a home over the long-term and in some cases property taxes they may not be able to afford.

Some people are not cut out to own a home financially or in terms of household upkeep.

[BakedPenguin]

Also, there is a huge difference in cost if you're handy, or if you have to hire someone to do the work.

[Rasilio]

And others just are not the type to sit in one place for a long time.

In my adult life I have never lived in the same metropolitan area for more than 6 consecutive years. Ever.

I made the mistake of buying 2 houses only to get burned when I had to sell them to relocate after 2 and then 5 years. I would have been MUCH better off to have just rented for that period and put the down payment money into a Mutual fund.

[robc]

He recommends against buying a house for most people.

Houses should ONLY come after 100% out of debt and have saved up a nice downpayment.

He often says that otherwise houses are a curse instead of a blessing.

[RBS]

Yeah, my best friend and his wife just bought a house and so far it's a disaster. It's an older house so the upkeep is more than they expected and the payments are pretty high so between that and paying off student loans etc. they have very little left at the end of the month.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Houses should ONLY come after 100% out of debt and have saved up a nice downpayment.

This is what I've had to get across to my wife. She's mainly going along with it because I'm the main breadwinner in the family, but it's obvious by the way she clenches her jaw when we talk about it is that if she had her way, we'd be in a house right now irrespective of the debt we currently hold.

I told her we're not getting a house until both the cars and our credit card debts are paid off, and we have enough for a decent downpayment--which should be in about a year and half if we don't do anything stupid. I don't want to end up like the sad sack in the "Suzanne researched this!" commercial from a few years ago. Thankfully, she's completely on board with getting a house that's less than half of our combined income if it's in a decent area.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Oops, that should be, less than double our combined income.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

So now being unable to control your spending and not go into debt makes one a victim? I lived on ~$960 a month in D.C. while paying $600 in rent and didn't take on any debt.

If the left gets its way, there will be two classes of people: victims and racists. Bring on 2014!

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Yes, saying you have any control over your life w/o turning it over to the govt is "blaming the victim".

[Atanarjuat]

Actually, Ramsey advises his listeners to cut the lowest deal possible when paying off their debts. He also calls the credit card companies "scum" and tells everyone to cut up their cards. They "love the guy" my ass.

Dave Ramsey is truly blessed in that his enemies are such fools. A few weeks back he posted a list of behaviors that differ between successful people and those that aren't and suggested that the unsuccessful try to change their ways to better themselves. Really offensive stuff like "X% of the wealthy read more than they watch TV". Lefty blogs had a predictable spaz attack saying he was denigrating the poor.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Yeah that was good. Wealthy people are more likely to exercise, read, not watch reality tv, socialize with other wealthy people, and maintain a to do list.

THIS IS OFFENSIVE. YOU CANNOT SAY THIS!

[SugarFree]

I listened to him for years at a job I used to have. No one has more contempt for credit card companies, car loans, payday loans, and variable rate mortgages than Dave Ramsey. This is an entirely ridiculous argument against him.

The left can't come out and directly attack him for his religious convictions so they just make up lies.

[Brett L]

Its like the Duck Dynasty thing. Anytime several million people listen to someone who is beyond their control, they must immediately attempt to destroy that power base.

[SugarFree]

It's much, much worse. Robertson shot his mouth off about gays, civil rights laws and marrying 15-year-olds. He knew he was going to piss people off.

Ramsay encourages personal responsibility and living without crushing debt. What an asshole, right?

The entire article is a retard banging on a pot with a wooden spoon.

[Brett L]

Its only about intentions on their side. On the other side, its a raw power measurement. Ramsey threatens the dependence structure. Imagine if the predominantly black churches in cities started inviting Dave for workshops and practicing what he preaches? It would be a disaster for whole sectors of the progressive power base.

[SugarFree]

It would also hurt a lot of companies that dump money into politics. Can't have that. Of course, the left is too stupid to make the connection.

[Nikki just says no]

The left can't come out and directly attack him for his religious convictions so they just make up lies.

Yeah...or they're just that retarded. It's kind of hard to say. I mean, that's spectacularly retarded.

[SugarFree]

Tards gonna tard, yo. We should all come together as The Cassandra Party.

[wareagle]

who the hell does Ramsey think he is linking behaviors to outcomes?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yes, the GOP will side with the pay-day loan sharks. That will teach those working class moochers to stay in their place.

Seriously, auto loans didn't suffer when the "APR" was clearly stated on loan papers as required by the Truth in Lending Act of 1968.

[General Butt Naked]

How "libertarian" of you, shreek.

[Palin's Buttplug]

It is not libertarian. Pick your fights dude. The APR statement is small game. I won't lose sleep over it.

[General Butt Naked]

It is not libertarian.

I know.

We all know.

You're a dyed in the wool democrat. It's obvious.

[PM]

It is not libertarian.

Unpossible! Remember?

I always argue for the libertarian side (the Fed excepted).

[Palin's Buttplug]

I am not arguing for the TILA. I am saying pro/con is not worth my time.

It would be like if we legalized MJ and the price would be an impairment disclaimer on the pack of MJ cigs. I won't fight that either.

[PRX]

good old APR, the government disclosure figure that excludes some borrowing expenses due to the political clout of the beneficiaries of those expenses. and no payment in history was ever calculated using APR.

[PRX]

Seriously, auto loans didn't suffer when the "APR" was clearly stated on loan papers as required by the Truth in Lending Act of 1968.

auto loan APR is the same as the note rate dumbass. auto loans don't have closing costs.

[wareagle]

if only there were steps people could take to avoid using pay-day lenders. If only....

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Wow. Which school of classical liberal economics did you get that? Bravo.

[Raven Nation]

That's an interesting comment on Ramsey. While he certainly tells people to take responsibility for their own finances, he's no friend of credit card companies and credit in general. I won't go into all the examples here, but the original author (not L, J) seems to be pretty selective on Ramsey's approach.

[Aloysious]

OT to everything: Slayer Goes to Church !

Just like a Slayer concert, except less bleeding.

I like the chik at 2:25; she really knows how to head bang.

I also think I was forced to go to the wrong churches as a kid. Some of these look pretty far out.

[BakedPenguin]

Infamous... Savior!

[General Butt Naked]

Related:

Kids interview Tom Araya.

He's like the nicest dude ever.

[MP]

RA....!

[BakedPenguin]

Nearly half of Latvians oppose their country adopting the Euro, which it will do tomorrow.

"Dr?t?ties jums, ka k?p?c"

[Swiss Servator, Pikes Forward!]

I am too lazy to look up a translation... so I will guess - "bend over, here it comes!"?

[Ted S.]

I was thinking "Fuck you, that's why".

[Swiss Servator, Pikes Forward!]

I'll go see who is right...

Ah, looks like you were!

[BakedPenguin]

I'm sure it's butchered, but as close as I could get with Google Translate.

[PM]

TV Guide Magazine's 60 best series of all time includes such timeless classics as The Big Bang Theory and Golden Girls. Also includes both St. Elsewhere and ER, but not House. And Survivor, as TV Guide's coy way of saying "fuck you" to anybody who watched TV the last 50 years.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

The Golden Girls: How One TV Show Turned A Generation Of American Boys Into Homosexuals

[Kid Xenocles]

You would never let us down, Longtorso.

[SusanM]

How the buggering hell does this idiot assert that Styx encouraged overactive libidos?

[SusanM]

Has to be a parody, though

[Andrew S.]

People still read TV Guide?

TV Guide is still published?

[Jordan]

When I went home for Christmas, I was dismayed to find that my parents are fans of the Big Bang Theory. I had to sit through an entire episode. That was the longest half-hour of my life.

[MP]

Sitcom tastes are hard to pinpoint. I never bought into BBT either. Nor do I understand how most of the other sitcoms on CBS (Mike and Molly, Two Broke Girls, etc.) are funny at all.

But I love Modern Family and Brooklyn Nine Nine, for which I'm sure that for them haters abound too.

Can we at least all agree to look forward to the return of Archer on 1/13?

[Jordan]

Yes, Modern Family is the only network show that I'll even watch. I think it's no coincidence that it doesn't have a laugh track, either.

Never seen Brooklyn 99, but I might look into it.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Modern Family doesn't have a laugh track because it's a single cam show. It's just a different style of show that got started in the 2000's with things like The Office. It's not much to do with quality, though single cams tend to be more expensive.

Brooklyn 99 is supposed to be an ensemble, but it focuses heavily on the untalented and unfunny Andy Samberg way too much.

[John]

Am I the only one who finds Modern Family to be uniquely annoying? With the exception of the Ed O'Neil character, everyone on that show is just grating.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I'm not a fan of MF. It has its moments, but I find most of the characters to be one-dimensional and unsympathetic. And, like with BBT, I don't understand how these people are in relationships with each other (especially the Dunphys and Cameron/Mitchell) - they seem to hate each other.

[John]

Kristen,

I can't imagine being married to the sort of hot blond mom on that show. My God she is a shrew. The Ed O'Neil Vigara couple is actually the only believable couple on there. She married him for his cash and probably a green card and he married her to get laid and show her off. There are a lot of couples like that.

[BakedPenguin]

... I find most of the characters to be one-dimensional and unsympathetic. And, like with BBT, I don't understand how these people are in relationships with each other...

That sounds like the opposite of Parks and Rec. While the show's last season wasn't that great, I love the way the characters are drawn, and how they interact.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Ron Swanson is the greatest character on TV.

[BakedPenguin]

I think I'd agree with that even if I wasn't a libertarian.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Parks & Rec is my most beloved TV show of all time. And I have the t-shirts and tchotchkes to prove it.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Am I the only one who finds Modern Family to be uniquely annoying? With the exception of the Ed O'Neil character, everyone on that show is just grating.

Phil and Claire's family is basically a copy of the one from Malcolm in the Middle--the bumbling, clueless father; the control freak harpy wife; the dumbass older sibling; the precociously intelligent middle sibling; the irrepresible younger sibling. The only difference is the show isn't centered around the "Malcolm" character.

[Snark Plissken]

Single camera shot in real locations. I don't understand how they could be more expensive though. I thought the first season of Sunny was basically done for nothing, including the theme which was stock and royalty free.

[John]

Sunny is very funny. It is a bit like South Park in that it can be hit and miss. But when it is good, it is very good.

[SugarFree]

I don't understand how they could be more expensive though.

They take longer to shoot and are often shot on film. They whole point of the multi-camera video format is to reduce the number of takes and set-ups to get a complete scene to edit together.

[John]

What SugarFree said. It takes a very skilled camera man. In a multiple camera set up, if someone screws up you can use the other camera. Often an actor out of the action but on the scene will mess up and it won't matter because you can use a camera that doesn't have that actor in the shot. But with single camera everything has to be perfect.

It is why film students ooh and aah at long single camera shots in movies like the opening to Full Metal Jacket or the shot in Goodfellas where Henry and his date walk into the Copa Cabana through the back entrance.

[MJGreen]

Snark: Real locations cost a lot of money, a lot more than an established set in a studio. Building and lighting sets is actually pretty cheap. Consider SNL, which has to build sets every week. And look at Community, which went from shooting on location regularly in the first season to doing everything on the studio lot in the second, due to money.

[MJGreen]

I liked Modern Family in the first season, enjoyed the second season, but by the third it just got exhausting. So many of the stories are based around the characters being total assholes to each other. Ty Burr and Ed O'Neil can still be funny, and they still throw out some good puns and comedic situations, but all of the feminine characters are grating harpies. It can be so depressing watching them try to sabotage each other, while presumably loving each other.

[PM]

The only currently-running comedy on TV worth watching is It's Always Sunny (and I can't speak for the 9th season as I haven't watched it yet).

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Workaholics.

[RBS]

You saw dick didn't you? Didn't you!?

[Old Man With Candy]

Portlandia. Though the Libertarian Wife and I are big Sunny fans as well.

[MJGreen]

Archer returns in a couple weeks. Community restarts on Thursday, and who knows, it may be worth it.

And then there's Veep. GET SOME FUCKING NUTS!!

[Arkansaustrian Economics]

The 9th Season of Sunny is the best yet. I say that as someone who has watched every episode countless times.

They really "explored the space" this year, and several of the best scenes the show has ever had, and the by far the fullest exploration of the main characters, were the result.

[Rabban]

Archer, American Dead, Metalocalypse, Venture Brothers's,ect. Sure all cartoons, what medium better captures the absurdity of our modern age?

[Ted S.]

My parents watch all those courtroom shows.

[trying to avoid retching]

[John]

I don't think that show is bad. I don't get the hate for it. I have no love for current sitcoms. I find Modern Family, which my wife watches, to be horrible. But I see BBT as a decent show. It is not Cheers or anything. But I don't see why people find it unwatchable.

[tarran]

I personally enjoy it, but I can understand the hate.

Some guy has youtube videos of the show altered to strip out the laugh track. And the show doesn't survive that transformation very well.

[John]

I will look that up. For me at least, I think it would. It is really just a reimagination of the old Bob Newhart Show with Leonard as Bob and Sheldon Cooper as Mr. Carlin. Now, it is not in the league of Newhart. But it has some good lines and the comic timing is pretty good. I think the actors are all competent.

It is a reasonably funny show and Melissa Raunch and Katie Cuoco are both really hot. There certainly are worse things on TV. Better that than the watching the Melissa McCarthy on that show about fat people.

[PRX]

BBT is more in the tradition of the fish out of water like Beverly Hillbillies, nerds interacting with human society.

[John]

That was what Bob Newhart was too. It was crazy people seeing a psychiatrist and trying to interact with normal society.

[PRX]

somewhat, but Newhart was normal and so was Pleschette. all their acquaintances provided the zaniness. kind of a flip of the fish out of water and more the usual format of sitcoms.

[Snark Plissken]

The laugh track in BBT is especially grating, like they dialed it up to 11. Perhaps I've just gotten allergic, but Seinfeld laugh track doesn't annoy like BBT, doesn't seem nearly as mixed up.

[Nikki just says no]

Doesn't it have a laugh track? I remember seeing it with my parents and just being so distracted by the laugh track...I didn't think TV shows still had that anymore.

[John]

I have never noticed to be honest. Laugh tracks never get my attention one way or another.

[MP]

Laugh tracks never get my attention one way or another.

Wow. Really? It's usually my primary filter. "Oh, this show has a laugh track? Next!"

[John]

All of the classic sitcoms from the 70s like MASH and Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart had time. I am pretty sure Cheers had one too. Those were still plenty funny. I don't see how they make a difference. Modern Family doesn't have one and it is in my opinion horrible.

[Snark Plissken]

Things change, John. The clich? of the patriarch being a blowhard idiot who constantly comes up with hair-brained ideas, has a best friend next door neighbor, etc, was really funny, cutting edge stuff when the Honeymooners did it. It was ripe repeated ad naseum and is still being used in shows like the Simpsons. But it is way beyond being worn out. Likewise with laugh tracks.

[John]

No Snark, anything can be funny if it is well written. I think it is more that you just don't like sitcoms as much as you did when you were younger.

[Snark Plissken]

No Snark, anything can be funny if it is well written.

Pretty meaningless statement. Anything can be funny if it is funny.

I'm talking about comedy evolving, people having seen the old tropes a million times and being generally more sophisticated. Character catch phrases, those have become more or less extinct unless done in an ironic manner. The best parody of the clich? sitcom format was That's My Bush, which is a minor classic in its own right. Laugh tracks are a conceit that have become tired and that many people have outgrown.

This exists for a reason.

[John]

I'm talking about comedy evolving, people having seen the old tropes a million times and being generally more sophisticated.

People are less sophisticated now. Go watch an old Honeymooners sometime. Sure it is a screwball comedy. But, the language, themes and tone of the show are the college of Athens compared to something like Two and a Half Men or Modern Family.

The current audience is much more juvenile and less sophisticated in their tastes than even 20 years ago.

[Snark Plissken]

People are less sophisticated now. Go watch an old Honeymooners sometime. Sure it is a screwball comedy. But, the language, themes and tone of the show are the college of Athens compared to something like Two and a Half Men or Modern Family.

But not compared to the original Office, Flight of the Conchords, Archer, first three seasons of Community, Curb Your Enthusiasm, etc etc. Also, MF can be quite good. I'm gonna take a wild guess that you never saw the original Office or you didn't find it funny at all.

[John]

I beg to differ on all of that except for Community and Curb your Enthusiasm. The Office and Flight of the Conchords are both idiotic and generally an insult to the viewer's intelligence. And even if you don't agree about Chonchords, it is on IFC and like 20 people watch it.

[Snark Plissken]

The Office and Flight of the Conchords are both idiotic and generally an insult to the viewer's intelligence. And even if you don't agree about Chonchords, it is on IFC and like 20 people watch it.

Yeah, doesn't surprise me you don't like those shows. And when it comes to subversive and contrary, nothing was moreso than the Office, albeit it was British. In many ways it was an extension of Fawlty Towers where the protaganist is essentially a complete asshole, very very subversive for the time, and even nowadays.

Your taste in comedy is quite different than mine obviously but I don't think the number of people who watch Conchords has anything to do with how funny it is, anymore than the popularity of libertarianism has anything to do with its validity.

[John]

Snark,

I will give you the British version of the Office. That show was funny. But the American Steve Corell version was awful, completely stupid and insult to the viewer's intelligence.

I thought you were talking about the American version. My mistake. You are right about the British version. But the British have always done comedy well.

[Snark Plissken]

I will give you the British version of the Office. That show was funny. But the American Steve Corell version was awful, completely stupid and insult to the viewer's intelligence.

We can agree on that, although I barely watched the Am version, tried the first couple and thought it was dumbed down, kinder gentler version. I think it's important to note that Ricky Gervais #1 favorite movie is Spinal Tap and he got a lot of the inspiration for that mockumentary format from that film. So while it was brilliant, it was really inspired by American comedy.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I'm the opposite - I preferred the American version of The Office until Steve Carrell left. Actually, until they brought in Ed Helms. Bringing in new characters like that spells doom for most sitcoms. That's why I'm terribly worried about Parks & Rec, with Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe leaving. I get the feeling the producers' solution will be a one-dimensional OTT character.

[Redmanfms]

But the British have always done comedy well.

Late to the party, but, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

The British have only done the incredibly small fraction of comedy shows that have been exported to the States well. The overwhelming majority of British television (not just their comedy) is just unwatchably terrible.

If you had to spend more than a few months living in Britain (as I have) and enduring British television shows you'd give up on TV altogether and find something else to do (which I suppose some might see as a feature).

[Snark Plissken]

I think it is more that you just don't like sitcoms as much as you did when you were younger.

You are probably projecting. I think TV is in a real golden age, thanks to all the different cable channels competing, the lower production costs thanks to technology, etc. It's movies that I can't stand these days.

[John]

I think TV is in a real golden age,

TV is more than sitcoms. And in some ways it is a golden age. But that is not because of the sitcoms. I will give you that thanks to cable we now have a lot more good shows. But few if any of those good shows are comedies. We just don't do comedies well anymore. I don't say that because I am old. I like lots of new things and have no illusions about the quality of TV in the past. I say that because I think the comedies made today are mostly unwatchable and that is mostly do to the fact that we have a pretty oppressive PC driven culture right now. Comedy to be funny has to be a bit subversive and contrary. And we don't do subversive and contrary very well these days and certainly not as well as we did in the 50s-60s-70s and 80s.

[MP]

All of the classic sitcoms from the 70s like MASH and Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart had time. I am pretty sure Cheers had one too. Those were still plenty funny. I don't see how they make a difference.

That's true, but I feel it was primarily obligatory. Simply a TV norm. What classic sitcoms didn't have a laugh track or a live studio audience? I'll admit though that the live audience at least had a tinge of honestly that was admirable, but obviously they were still coached. Listening to the audience laugh during Carol Burnett, particularly when the actors went off the rails, was enriching to that show's presentation.

I've always been irritated by the laugh/awww track. It interfered with my enjoyment. When it started to disappear, it became even clearer how, for the shows it remained, it served more to cover up the shows comedic deficiencies than anything else.

Today, I'm glad to be laugh track free.

[John]

MP

Carol Burnett was a legitimate comic genius. She was absolutely amazing at working a crowd and letting her fellow actors improvise without getting in the way. A lessor talent would have never been able to work with Tim Conway without either reigning him in or trying to compete with him and ruining it.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Carol Burnett was a legitimate comic genius. She was absolutely amazing at working a crowd and letting her fellow actors improvise without getting in the way. A lessor talent would have never been able to work with Tim Conway without either reigning him in or trying to compete with him and ruining it.

One thing that stands out about that show is how they could break character without destroying the skit or the laughs, unlike the idiots at SNL. The funniest moments from that show are the ones where the cast is trying not to crack up at each other.

[SugarFree]

A depressing number of sitcoms still do. Without jokes or humor, the audience must be told when to laugh.

Without the laugh track, it's just awkward and sad.

[robc]

Taking out the laugh track is a bogus measure though, because the actors are pacing to the laugh track. The pauses become akward.

I prefer live audiences if you are going to have a laugh track.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

BBT uses a live audience and then enhances it for the production.

[Invisible Finger]

The best use of laugh track was Get A Life. The producers didn't want to use it but the network made them, so they used it at inappropriate times.

I would say one-camera sitcoms don't need the laugh track but the 3-camera shows are probably better off with them just because it can hide editing errors (and those shows have to be edited in a rush).

[RBS]

I don't get the hatred either. It's one of the few shows my wife and I can actually agree on when trying to use the same tv. I'm not saying it's Seinfeld but it's not the worst thing ever made.

[lap83]

I used to dislike BBT until I watched the entire first season because I was bored. It's still not my favorite, the characters and relationships are not as believable as they could be. But it's funny and the acting is good.

My favorite tv shows tend to be British, I think the best ones have great writing and realistic characters. Peep Show, Spaced, The Office

[BakedPenguin]

Check out IT Crowd. I think Netflix has it still.

[Snark Plissken]

Spaced was fantastic. But American shows suffer under the huge weight of having to crank out 24 episodes/yr and being drawn out long past their prime. Except for things like Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO.

[BakedPenguin]

There should be some median ground between doing 24 episodes a season and doing 4-6. I think Always Sunny does 12, which is about right.

[Snark Plissken]

I saw John Cleese talking about Fawlty Towers on Charlie Rose many years back, he was saying it was the best writing of his life, but he and whatshername wrote the whole thing, whereas American shows have tons of writers and churn through them and go on for years. True, but American shows don't have the luxury of being able to make a few episodes for a state-run near monopoly.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Without clicking the link I already know it's terrible. I don't get what the fuss is about Big Bang. I find it meh. WKRP reruns kicks its ass any day.

[John]

I thought they couldn't rerun that show because of the moronic IP laws required insane licensing fees to use the music?

And yeah, KRP is a classic, definitely in any top ten list for sitcoms.

[tarran]

It's worse, John....

They can't figure out who owns the copyright on much of the music in the original.

Imaginary property FTW! 😉

[John]

So it is effectively censored. My patience with IP laws is getting pretty thin. The world before IP laws gave us Shakespeare, Milton, Bach and a lot of other people. So, I am not buying the "but without IP artists won't create" argument.

[tarran]

The major problem here is the government courts recognizing unregistered copyrights.

Require people to register or lose the protection, and about 75% of the bad effects instantly disappear.

[John]

That needs to change. There are all of these old textbooks from the 50s and 60s that Google tried to put on Google books but couldn't because no one could figure out who t he rights holders were and even when they could it was not worth the time and money to track them all down and get permission.

No one is making any money off those books. They should be in the public domain. The default should be "it goes into the public domain unless there is a really good reason" not it stays out of it forever.

[Pro Libertate]

I believe they've just released versions with cleared music. The problem is that it's not the music originally broadcast. No idea why they didn't get perpetual rights for the music used in the final footage of the episodes, which has been standard for a very long time, due to syndication, VHS/DVD releases, and so on.

[Pro Libertate]

Loved that show.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It used to be on at 4pm during my high school days and reruns ran until the 2000s I think at one point on Comedy Central. And then - poof. No more.

Why are Armenians eating lasagne?

[Pro Libertate]

No House? Granted, it declined over the years and became a little less consistently good, but the first few seasons were excellent.

Still disappointed that they didn't squeeze in a very special Blackadder reunion. At least Stephen Fry, right?

[RBS]

X-Files is way to low on that list.

[Kaptious Kristen]

BBT is nothing but a typical forumulaic Chuck Lorre sex romp. Not sure why it's so universally beloved.

[John]

Maybe because formulaic sex romps are not so bad?

[Brett L]

Sheldon's mom and, sadly, Wil Wheaton cameos are about the only good parts.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I got excited when Neil de Grasse Tyson had a guest spot, and sat through the whole episode waiting. Can't believe I wasted 22 minutes on that shite.

And the characters are all so goddamn mean to each other. How are they all even friends?

[Brett L]

Aspie men? Really?

[Rasilio]

Have you ever actually hung around with a bunch of geeks?

In the first couple of seasons they played up the fish out of water aspects and made the characters over the top stereotypes but in the last few years, yeah they have pretty captured geek culture (even of the get a fair amount of the details wrong)

[John]

My wife works in the research department of a medical school. The place is full of aspie geeks who are way too smart for their own good. She loves BBT and says it has them down perfectly.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I work in IT, dude.

[Rasilio]

Yes but working in IT hasn't meant being surrounded by geeks in almost 20 years.

I have worked for numerous companies where I was the only actual geek in the entire department

[BigT]

And the characters are all so goddamn mean to each other. How are they all even friends?

As a lifer in R&D I can tell you that the characters are stereotypical geeks, just a bit over the top. And they are friends because they don't think about the things they say in the same way that you do. Only when their intellects are challenged do they get really emotional.

[tarran]

One thing that grates:
1) All the male characters have huge mommy issues (and deranged moms). Sheldon being deranged, his mom is portrayed in a positive light as a superstitious but well meaning fundie managing her offspring with practicality and humor. The rest of the moms are insane. OK Raj's mom isn't (because his parents of foreigners and are thus deranged due to culture)

2) Except for Penny's dad, none of the characters have any relationship with their fathers. Raj's dad is there merely to be a grumpy foil to Raj's mom.

This is a cop-out in my mind.

[John]

That is actually the first legit criticism I have heard of that show. It does totally write out fathers or when it doesn't makes them look like alcoholic morons. And it is not Penny who has the excop father it is the short blond with the big rack who married the one guy.

[Not an Economist]

Penny's father has shown up in one episode (played by Keith Carradine). She and Bernadette both seem to have good relationships with their dads.

[John]

I haven't seen that episode. But yeah, the men are totally without fathers. Sadly, that kind of makes the show realistic.

[Kaptious Kristen]

This new Greg Kinnear show on Fox looks promising (Rake). Though I said the same about Brooklyn 99 and only made it 3 episodes before canceling it from my DVR.

[txgypsy]

Fuck TV Guide..........Rosanne is on the list, but Married with Children isn't??? .........BLASPHEMY!!!!!!

[Jordan]

Russian authorities have rounded up dozens of people in the wake of the recent suicide bombings in the city of Volgograd.

Did they go on full-lockdown-shit-your-pants-police-state mode like Boston did?

[Andrew S.]

I thought that was the normal state of affairs in Putin's Russia.

[Swiss Servator, Pikes Forward!]

Stalingrad Strong!

[tarran]

Did they go on full-lockdown-shit-your-pants-police-state mode like Boston did?

No, the Russians aren't the crybabies that Bostonians are.

[Entropy Void]

In a world of thtupid she ith the thoverien.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/12.....13-video/#!

[CatoTheElder]

thoveriegn?

[Entropy Void]

Yeth.

Thovereign of Thtupid.

Ath in Thupreme Leader, Head of Thtate, Abtholute Dethpot.

The whithkey made me mithpell it the firtht time, OK?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Dear Mike Rowe, I heard you on Glen Beck. I did not know you were racist, you racist.

MR: But the guts of your question ? even without all the name-calling and acrimony ? reveal the essence of what's broken in our country. You want to know "how I can associate" with someone you don't like? The short answer is, how can I not? How are we ever going to accomplish anything in this incredibly divisive time if we associate only with people that we don't disagree with?.

[General Butt Naked]

I don't feel like googling it, but has Beck ever said anything overtly racist?

I know proggies like to paint anyone not a proggie as racist, but maybe he really is, though I doubt it.

Maybe shreek could dig up a few quotes.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Katie Couric trapped the Beckerhead in a racist quote in a famous interview. He squirmed like a whore in church.

"Overtly" is debatable though.

[General Butt Naked]

A link to the quote would make your post a bit more believable.

[PM]

I'm thinking the interview where he said Obama was racist against white people, and then promptly backtracked like a unicycle rider doing a circus trick.

[Mike M.]

Beck obviously backed down because he didn't want to lose his television job (which he did anyway), but he shouldn't have, because what he said was 100% correct.

Obama detests white people, and especially white people who oppose his agenda. The guy even despised his own white family members and idealized the black family members that he never really knew.

[Jordan]

No kidding. In Shriek's world, if you stand up for freedom of association, you're a racist.

[John]

Sort of like the multiple times on here you commented on how horrible it was for Clarence Thomas to have a white wife. I have no idea if Beck is a racist. But I would bet good money, he isn't as big of one as you are.

[tarran]

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! PLEASE STOP INTERACTING WITH IT! THAT'S WHAt IT WANTS; A WALL THAT SCREAMS BACK AT IT TO PROVE THAT IT HAS AN EXISTENCE THAT MATTERS.

[John]

I know. I honestly never thought that Americans really had started mating with vegetables. But then Shreek comes around and I realized that my God it is true. It is just so horrible, I can't look away even though I should.

[Swiss Servator, Pikes Forward!]

He admitted bigotry against Muslims too.

[BardMetal]

He has? Every time I ever saw him on TV he seemed to go out of his way to say Islam wasn't a violent religion.

[Jordan]

Shriek, not Beck.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You're lying again John. I never commented on Thomas's wife.

I did say he was an affirmative action hire though.

[Fluffy]

And now you LIE about it. Unbelievable.

[Palin's Buttplug]

True that. The Beckerhead lives in a cocoon densely woven to keep other non-RWNJ ideas out of purview.

[RightNut]

dare I ask what your acronym stands for?

[Andrew S.]

"Right Wing Nutjob", I'll assume.

Of course, to people like PB, that includes anyone that disagrees with Saint Obama.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Right Wing Nut Job.

fwiw, I attack progressive idiots too. Like Michael Moore. If there are two things that "made" America it is capitalism and guns. How that pile of stupid can want to ban the two and survive as a political entity is unfathomable.

But no one here defends MM. They do GB.

[PM]

But no one here defends MM. They do GB.

Perhaps because GB is pro-capitalism and pro-guns, so there are points of agreement they can find.

[RightNut]

Whats wrong with George Bluth? Other than the Cornballer.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It's funny how you, a classical liberal, come out swinging the second a right-wing commenter comes out. But are intriguingly silent when the cunts'n cocks at MSNBC spew far worse ignortant venom, you remain silent.

Interesting that.

[Palin's Buttplug]

From what I can tell MSNBC is always playing defense vs the RWNJs who control the political debate in this country.

If one awoke like Rip van Winkle suddenly they would think the POTUS is a Muslim socialist foreigner who staged a coup against the rightful occupant of Oval Office (just based on low-brow mass media discourse).

[Red Rocks Rockin]

From what I can tell MSNBC is always playing defense vs the RWNJs who control the political debate in this country.

Which is the standard response of the brain-dead progressive.

Thanks for confirming that, you moron.

[Rasilio]

Then explain his friendship with libertarian atheist Penn Gillette?

[CampingInYourPark]

+1 quaker with a close shave

[The Late P Brooks]

HERETIC!

Casselton Mayor Ed McConnell says it's time to "have a conversation" with federal lawmakers about the safety of shipping crude oil by train.

A train carrying oil derailed Monday about a mile from the southeastern North Dakota town, prompting the evacuation of about two-thirds of the town's 2,400 residents.

No one was hurt, but McConnell says at least 100 people could have been killed if the wreck had happened in town. He says Casselton "dodged a bullet," and that it was "too close for comfort."

Fears of catastrophic derailments have been stoked after a train carrying crude from North Dakota's Bakken oil patch crashed in Quebec last summer. Forty-seven people died in the ensuing fire.

McConnell says he thinks shipping oil by pipeline has to be a safer option.

But pipelines are bad. The President says so.

[sarcasmic]

It's bikini day at the Daily Mail today.
Cast includes Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Charlize Theron, Katie Holmes, and the product of the union between Richie Sambora and Heather Locklear.
John, please look away. They're all way to skinny for you.

[John]

Unless Cox has gained some weight, she certainly is. She just look rough and used up these days. Aniston is past her sell by date but still okay. Theron is still hot last I looked. And I always loved Holmes until the whole Cruise thing. Maybe she has gotten her mojo back. Before she became Cruise's beard, she was for my money, they ultimate hot college girl.

[The DerpRider]

She looks awful in that stupid show TBS runs commercials for every two minutes. I wonder if she wakes up every day wanting to punch Jennifer Aniston in the face.

[John]

When you compare what she looks like now to what she looked like back in the 80s in that Bruce Springsteen video, it is just sad.

[Kaptious Kristen]

No Kate Upton? Fuck that.

[John]

Sarcasmic thinks Upton is fat. I know, it is insane. But that is what he thinks.

[Kaptious Kristen]

When I see a picture of Kate Upton, it ain't her stomach or thighs I'm seeing.

[John]

No kidding. My wife would go gay for her or Katherine Wynnick the lead in The Vikings. And I really can't blame her.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Yep, Katherine Wynnick is hot. The whole cast of Vikings is hot.

[John]

I don't think I would go gay for anyone. But if I had to, it would probably be the Cavlin Klein guy on that show. They did a great job casting that show.

[sarcasmic]

Jennifer Aniston in her most daring bikini yet! Actress almost falls out of two-piece as she soaks up sun with Friends co-star Courteney Cox in Mexico

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....exico.html
I hope Courtney doesn't go the way of Meg Ryan and Melanie Griffith, but I fear she's got the plastic surgery bug.

[RBS]

Yeah, she should stop right now.

[General Butt Naked]

I never really thought that much of jennifer aniston. I just don't get it.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah. A decently funny actress. About it.

[Mike M.]

Agreed. Her need for constant and endless attention is pathological, even by celebrity standards, and I find it very unpleasant.

[sarcasmic]

Turning up the heat! Charlize Theron shows off her enviable bikini body as she holidays with Sean Penn in Hawaii

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....awaii.html
My favorite African-American actress. (she's from South Africa)

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Bad hair cut.

[sarcasmic]

Katie Holmes strips down to hot pink bikini as tiny dancer Suri Cruise shows off her balletic poise by the pool

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....Miami.html
Cute kid. Too bad she's got that db for a dad.

[John]

She is still hot. She could gain about 5lbs and get some of her boobs back. But she still works. She is just a perfect all American brunette.

[sarcasmic]

Serve's up! Ava Sambora plays volleyball on Hawaiian holiday with her Bon Jovi guitarist father Richie

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....ichie.html
Sambora and Locklear did good! Oh how youth is wasted on the young...

[Rufus J. Firefly]

No olive skin there.

[sarcasmic]

Meet the 'boob artist', who creates ?300 artworks by dipping her 30D breasts in paint - and has sold canvases to Russell Brand and Hugh Hefner
Marcey Hawk from California covers her 30D bosoms in paint
Presses them against a canvas to create abstract art
Methods include whole breast print, 'just the tip' and 'squish and swirl'
Fans Russell Brand and Hugh Hefner have bought her work

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....easts.html
Seems to have an eye for color...

[Pro Libertate]

Wouldn't that make her nipples sore?

[SugarFree]

Her paint has plenty of cocoa butter and aloe.

[Pro Libertate]

Better have if she's rubbing her nipples against canvas.

[sarcasmic]

'You got to marry these girls when they are 15 or 16': Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson wades into new controversy as he advises men to marry underage girls in

newly unearthed video
Video of Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson telling an audience at a Georgia Sportsmen's Ministry talk to marry girl's as young as 15 has emerged
The video dates from Georgia in 2009 and follows the Robertson family patriarch's controversial comments on homosexuality and race-relations
The video has been discovered just days after Robertson was reinstated to the hit reality-show by A&E
This followed a huge backlash against his 9-day suspension - which his supporters said violated his First Amendment rights

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....video.html

[Jordan]

HAHAHAHA. A&E has thoroughly fucked themselves.

[Atanarjuat]

I'm pretty sure he could say anything and be defended by huge groups of people at this point.

[SugarFree]

No, he couldn't endorse abortion or talk about having anal sex with Jesus to name two. There are rules in Kultur War, after all.

[John]

As long as he doesn't go to the other side, yeah, he will keep his audience.

Basically, he has set himself up as a way of saying "fuck you" to the other side of the culture war. That is one of the best marketing ploys available today.

There are millions of people who hate the media and cultural elite but feel powerless to do anything about it. So what happens is the media and cultural elite pick some Goldstein to go after and those millions immediately embrace that person as a way of telling the elite to fuck off. Robertson is just the latest of these people.

[General Butt Naked]

I'm gonna coin it the "chick-fil-a effect". It's where a socon says something that inspires such mindless wrath among the left that their fevered outcries bring an outpouring of support from like-minded people. Where if the outrage wasn't so over the top the left's target wouldn't have gotten such fervent and wide-spread support.

Similar, but not equivalent, to The Streisand Effect.

[John]

Chik Fil a effect is a good name for it. I sympathize with the socons on that. I hate the media elite too and can't help but enjoy watching people tell them to go fuck themselves.

[Marshall Gill]

he couldn't endorse abortion or talk about having anal sex with Jesus to name two

Of course he could. It would just be huge groups of different people defending him.

[Rhywun]

UK writer hasn't a clue what the First Amendment means. Big shocker.

[Kid Xenocles]

To be fair, there are probably plenty of Americans who actually think A&E's actions violated the First Amendment.

[RBS]

checks facebook from last two weeks...

You are correct.

[sarcasmic]

Global warming scientists forced to admit defeat... because of too much ice: Stranded Antarctic ship's crew will be rescued by helicopter
Chris Turney, a climate scientist and leader of the expedition, was going to document 'environmental changes' at the pole
In an interview he said he expected melting ice to play a part in expedition
MV Akademik Schokalskiy still stuck among thick ice sheet 1,500 nautical miles south of Hobart, the Tasmanian capital
Called for help at 5am Christmas morning after becoming submerged in ice
Australia's back-up ship, Aurora Australis could not break through

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....cuers.html
I'm sure they'll blame it on global warming.

[Andrew S.]

In an interview he said he expected melting ice to play a part in expedition

*snerk*

[tarran]

This sorry episode remindes me of that train tunnel in Atlas Shrugged that killed everyone who rode the inaugural train through it.

[robc]

It wasnt inaugural.

They went thru in a coal engine because the regular wasnt available.

Or something like that.

[sarcasmic]

Aisle be back! US Safeway employee suspended on his last day after he mocks bosses over store closure in hilarious home-made sci-fi movie
Steve Yamamoto showed up at Dominick's supermarket in Chicago for his final shift only to be told bosses at parent firm Safeway had suspended him
His severance pay is now in jeopardy because of the suspension
Worker posted YouTube video with the title 'Thanks Safeway' - a parody of an alien invasion of his store with employees being blown up

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....arody.html

[Nikki just says no]

Fuck Safeway. Dominick's sucked, but it was a block away. That is all.

[John]

Remember the Darth Vader manager at the Super Market short? That was hysterical.

[Brett L]

Chad Vader? Was that it?

[John]

Yes. And it was awesome.

[The Other Kevin]

New York City's Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio is planning to ban horse-drawn carriages, which he believes are inhumane.

So funny that we all had the same reaction to this. I don't know how many horses work in NYC, but I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be enough farms and stables in the surrounding area to take in all those animals for free.

[Ted S.]

If the carriage-drivers had cojones, they'd keep operatinog the horse-drawn carriages, and force the city to use violence to stop them.

[PD Scott]

Doesn't the NYPD have mounted police?

[John]

Yes they do. And the people bitching about this don't know shit about horses. Pulling and walking is what draft horses like that do. As long as they are fed and have good shoes, they are as happy doing that as they would be hanging out in the pasture. It is like saying it is cruel to make border collies herd sheep in the cold.

[John]

So they will close them down and what happens to the horses? In this economy probably the glue factory. We will murder those horses in the name of "animal rights". It is really uncanny how everything progs do is exactly the opposite of what they claim it is.

[Bill Dalasio]

Just when you thought the New York mayoralty couldn't get any worse than Giuliani, say hello to Michael Bloomberg!

Just when you thought the New York mayoralty couldn't get any worse than Bloomberg, say hello to Bill DeBlasio!

Damn. I really wish I HAD put my nae on the ballot.

[Swiss Servator, Pikes Forward!]

"I really wish I HAD put my nae on the ballot."

Aye, there were no enough guid candidates.

[Pro Libertate]

A've been lairnin Scots ae month.

[BakedPenguin]

Wow. You probably would have taken at least 10-15%.

[Kid Xenocles]

As someone who hates New York to me this is just delicious. You say worse, to me it means better.

[Andrew S.]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

Hopefully when Balko gets to the Washington Post, he's allowed to punch the sycophants like this.

[BigT]

[ U.S. District Judge William H. ] Pauley, however, took it a step further. He wrote: "The question of whether that [the government's bulk telephony metadata collection] program should be conducted is for the other two coordinate branches to decide" ? meaning the White House and Congress.

Constitution, what Constitution? Apparently this Judge thinks the judiciary has no role in determining the legitimacy of laws. Why then does he have a job?

[GILMORE]

"Secretary of State John Kerry will present a "framework proposal" relating to peace talks to Israeli and Palestinian leaders later this week"

Oooh, a *framework*.

That should probably work better than the "Blueprint", the "Roadmap", and the ill-conceived "Recipe For Peace" proposed by Jaques Chirac. Because, you know, TEAM BLUE is *especially* good at this 'peace talks' shit. Every Democratic president since Carter has solved the Middle East Crisis in a different way!

[General Butt Naked]

It's "trickle down diplomacy".

[Aloysious]

Can I hope that every diplomat in attendance pelts John F'ing Kerry with someone else's medals? Because that would be rad.

[John]

It is so idiotic. They will get peace when the Palestinians decide it isn't worth it to try and destroy Israel. No road map or framework is going to make that happen.

At this point, I think the best solution would be to start giving the Palestinians green cards to the US or Europe. Most of them just want a job and the hell out of that shit hole away from their fucked up leadership. Let the sane ones leave the place for a better life and then leave the nuts to live in their own shit.

[GILMORE]

"The journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has reported on Edward Snowden's leaks, says that the NSA does not have access to in-flight communications."

Oh, well that's a relief.

Because now, all I need to do to feel entirely private in my telephone conversations is get on an airplane.

[Jordan]

See? Now you can stop bitching about your right to privacy! /derp

[SugarFree]

Now they'll hijack planes just so they can make a phone call.

[Drake]

So you will have to call somebody also on a flight?

[Raston Bot]

If you're looking for a good post-holiday purge, I highly recommend this bug I just got over. It was the dual-faucet variety. My abs are sore from the 4-hour killer crunch workout.

[BigT]

I feel needed:

Friend --

Over the past few years, a lot has changed -- for instance, we've doubled the number of dogs in the White House. I can also count a few more gray hairs.

But one thing has remained constant: the support I can count on from you, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that.

We've made enormous progress together. We made sure that we didn't slip into another Great Depression, we've ended a war, we made it easier for young people to afford to go to college, and we've taken historic steps to make sure that you won't go broke just because you get sick.

I can't wait to see what we're going to do together in the years to come.

So before the midnight deadline, chip in $10 or more, and let's go make sure next year is just as productive as the past five have been:

[linked address removed for your safety]

Thanks,

Barack

[Auric Demonocles]

Now you can go broke just for being healthy and able to understand probability!

[SusanM]

"Because even though you've cut back your heating to pay for higher insurance I still need more of your money. Just be thankful I'm asking...for now"

/Barack

[robc]

Good riddance to 2013.

[John]

Glenn Reynolds had the old Soviet joke about how the year was for Obama; it was average, worse than last year better than next year.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"Nearly half of Latvians oppose their country adopting the Euro, which it will do tomorrow."

Wow, EU. Being turned down by Latvia.

That's gotta hurt the ego.

[John]

Why would any country that is not broke join the Euro? If you have a decent currency and sane fiscal policy, you will just end up financing a bunch of socialist deadbeats.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Who needs France's pathetic socialist guidance, right?

[John]

The thing an up and coming economy like Latvia needs to do is hitch its wagon to a star like France, Spain or Italy.

[Michael S. Langston]

Recall not too many years ago France and Germany were arguing that Ireland, through the EU, should be punished or not allowed to enter or something similar because their corporate tax rates were too low.

Let's hope they make the same argument with respect to the new 75% tax rates on income - as the worse it gets over there, the more chance Americans have to see these policies destroy countries, the better chance we have to fix ourselves before the bankruptcy.

[BakedPenguin]

No, Latvia is joining the Euro. What surprises me is that less than half of them oppose it.

[John]

The ruling elites must get wildly rich in return for joining. It totally fucks the population but the elites always ignore that and do it anyway. I guess joining the Euro makes it easier to loot.

[Mike M.]

What surprises me is that less than half of them oppose it.

You seriously believe that?

[BakedPenguin]

Obama got over 50% of the vote in 2012.

So yeah, I do.

[The Bearded Hobbit]

Happy SIXTY FREAKING YEARS OLD!! to me!

Now get off my lawn!

... Hobbit

[BigT]

Been there, done that. HB TBH.

[prolefeed]

U.S. population growth is at its slowest rate in over 70 years, with an increase of only 2.26 million in the twelve months before July 1, 2013.

I'm going to guess that this is the the federal government's count of the change in one year of number of people it has counted as legal U.S. citizens.

Which is different, and far less meaningful, than the number of people, legal or not, counted or not, who are actually residing in the U.S. Which number I'm going to guess is slowing due to Barrynomics depressing economic activity.