I don't disagree with you- I'm not saying that mournfully, just matter of factly.  Everyone would rather pay $1.80 less, so of course manufacturers/retailers scramble to provide products for $1.80 less.  People like to say "THEY moved the factory overseas!" when a more accurate statement would be "WE moved the factory…

I think you have your causation flipped- the pressure for everyone to go
to college started after people were no longer able to get the
reliable, life-long, middle class factory job right out of high school.

At least these days, you can point to Obama as someone unambiguously successful who was raised by a single mom.  (Not that the anti-single moms crowd is particularly pro-Obama, but Harvard Law, Senate, President- can't argue that being raised by just his mom doomed him to failure.)

Exactly.  I had trouble even reading this (let alone reading the semi-pity for Quayle) because it makes me furious.  I was about 10 when this aired: old enough to remember the fuss, but too young to remember when it was A-OK to demonize single mothers.  For not getting the abortions you also don't want them to get? …

Can I just say how much I love this whole thread?  And that I'm totally fucked if I ever get arrested in the UK because I won't be able to stop giggling in court?

But it had a solid of hour of indestructible people punching each other, over and over again!  Not doing any damage, not causing any pain other than an occasional mild wince.  Not tipping the balance of power in any way, or moving us any closer to a conclusion.  Just punching and punching and punching.  Punching with…

My big binge-watch, want to discuss but can't spoil thing this season was the Alex-Piper-Larry triangle.  I liked how you start out on Piper and Larry's side, seeing Alex as this crazy monster, and then your perspective slowly shifts throughout the season. 

And Timothy Olyphant's much less talented younger brother.

Right- the fiancee.  I hadn't thought about it before, but I like how they're the Bizarro version of Larry and Piper.  They love each other, they want to be with each other, they get engaged via text.  Simple, easy, no drama, no fuss.  No endless "what does it all mean??!?!"

I kind of enjoy Larry's dad and his sighing.

They show it on Lifetime a lot- does that count? 

Under the Banner of Heaven is really fantastic.  And it gives you something to talk about when teenage missionaries in ties come to your door!

I finished John Lanchester's Capital , which I really enjoyed.  I didn't love the central conceit of "We Want What You Have" but I thought the character sketches were great.  I'm midway through Ian McEwan's Sweet Tooth , which is fun but somehow not addictive enough.  I like it when I read it, but then I set it down…

Yup, "he" = Cromwell almost 90% of the time.

I assumed that when shit was finally hitting the fan, Walt sprayed it there in some kind of "I AM HEISENBERG!" moment.  Thematically, it works- that he's the one who turns this warm family home into a empty, boarded up graffitied ruin.

His stuff is kinda fun to read because it's CRAZY NONSENSE masked in the standard "entertaining history prof" tone.  It does angry up the blood though.

@avclub-84ca205fe6bc691c41c3bfe5a2820a15:disqus I totally agree with you- they're not malicious, but they're still responsible for the pain they cause.   I think Larry's total obliviousness about shows that deep down he's not a nice guy, that he doesn't look beyond his own needs and wants enough.  And

***MORE SPOILERS
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@olivececile:disqus @Scrawler2:disqus I think both Piper and Larry are the kind of people who say "But I didn't mean to hurt anyone!" and think that that's enough, even though they keep hurting people.  They're not malicious, just self-involved.

This, absolutely.  I think this is the root of Larry's "I'm nice, right?  Right?" act- deep down, he knows he's not.   Though it's hard to dislike him.  He's basically a 10 year old kid, with a little kid's "ME!" selfishness and self-involvement.

@avclub-1881baeccb7399f3452cd7f37cdb2b29:disqus I think Girls wants to be self-aware about its characters' privilege, but it's not always.  Or it loses sight of just how privileged these characters are.  There are moments (like Hannah stealing the maid's tip in the first episode)- but then there are four episodes…