today's wtf moment

Sometimes, I like to enter a random word into Google Images and see what comes up. Sometimes it can be really dull (bread, for instance), and sometimes it gives you something more unexpected, like this image to the right (and dozens like it).

The word? "Golly"


I mean, wtf?!

just thinkin'

Okay, here's an interesting bit of numberplay that I came up with, based on this statistic:

Imagine if 60% of the people in the U.S. lost everything, every dime they had, all of it. That's something on the order of 180 million Americans, all flat broke. Guess how much money we would have to tax the wealthiest 3 million folks in this country to replace every last dime of all those destitute souls?
13%.
That's right. Without touching the money of the top 2 to 39% most wealthy people in the U.S., we could replace the wealth of the bottom three fifths of the nation, by taking away less money from the very top than one would normally add to the check at a restaurant* (if you'd like to think of the majority of the nation as a tip for the meal that was the United States).

Now tell me again how unfair the tax system is to all those rich folk.


Addendum:

You realize, that the numbers say that the wealthiest 1% of the country has almost 8X the amount of money as over half the nation combined. I dont care how you twist it, there is no justification that can support that kind of imbalance. That is not a reward for being smarter or luckier or more willing to take risks, that's just ridiculous, and I dont think anyone can become that wealthy without behavior that is questionable, if only on an ethical level.

* Yes, I know it doesnt really work that way.

quote for the day

There is room in a liberal's world for conservatives, but no room in a conservative's world for liberals.

some guy named Gordon Smuder commenting at The Rude Pundit's Facebook page.

Absofuckinlutely A!

Okay, admittedly, there are a lot of liberals who would be fine excluding conservatives. I happen to think that we need both sides in order to get things done, but not go out of control doing it. You'll frequently find that attitude on the Left, but not to often on the Right, especially these days when the inmates are running the GOP's asylum.

film at 11 (:32)

Where is Lewis Hine when you need him?

Props to Kel.

Addendum:

I have to wonder, as America's business suffer in the global downturn and from competition from Asia and perhaps South America, is there anything which our Managerial Class will not do in order to maintain (or increase) profits? I mean for a country that has the issues with prostitution that we do, we seem awfully willing to whore ourselves.

lexography

Did you know that there is an actual term for the act of blowing on someone's belly*? Neither did I. Zerbert! Thanks (indirectly) to Wondermark for the new word.

Ahhhm-num-num-num-pththththth!


* or whatever

What did you DO, Ray?

RUBBER DUCKY!!!!

a thought on capitalism

People who say that communism failed because workers there lacked the profit motive to succeed are wrong. After a year of recession, it should be obvious that it is not the carrot that drives productivity, but the stick. In this case, the stick is unemployment. Watch productivity numbers, and you will see that productivity goes up whenever unemployment does. This is not only because there are often fewer employees to do the same amount of work, but because the remaining employees are worried about keeping their own jobs. Communists never had to worry about losing their jobs, but we do.

excuse me for a moment...

Lately, I've been plagued by the feeling that I've somehow offended almost everyone I know, but no one will tell me how, or even if it is so. I tell you this not in an effort to solicit sympathy or reassurance, but because the thought's been rattling around in my head and I'm attempting to purge it my exposing it to daylight. GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

quote for the day

"There’s no measure I can think of by which the U.S. economy has done better since 1980 than it did over an equivalent time span before 1980."

Paul Krugman

Actually, there is one, the growth of the wealth of the top 1%. But who's counting?

quote for the day

Guns don't kill people, people kill people. It goes to follow that we don't need gun regulation, we need people regulation -- we need people to be smarter. But people have proven to be violently opposed to this idea.

Jeffrey Rowland at Overcompensating