Even if you don’t feel bad for the lemmings, I suspect that whoever lent them hundreds of billions of dollars is government guaranteed. Who’s the chump when they need a bailout? You and I, assuming you pay taxes in the US...

Eh, LOTS of people are very financially irresponsible, so if you loan them hundreds of billions of dollars you’d better not expect to see it again. If you are saying that we should do a better job financially educating people, that’s for sure, but a bank that can’t tell a good bet from a bad one is a bank that is…

Well, that book was written a long time ago.  At about 500% inflation you should need about 1.50 to get a 1972 quarter chub.

Pity no one told Mao or Stalin that you can’t take other peoples privileges away...

Oh dear God, no habitations at all.  If people are living there that is a whole different ballgame.  Like abandoned mansions with windows broken out or decaying cabins out in the woods are still indefensible but that's what I am talking about.  I thought the tiger was in an abandoned house, they say vacant.  Like…

Eh, well, not that it’s a good defense, but sneaking around exploring places and getting high are both high ranking activities for bored young people(er, past me anyway). Getting high in ridiculous places gives you a story to tell your friends, although it’s not usually nearly as good a story as this kid got!

Hmm. If prosecutors are refusing to enforce the law, it’s no wonder people are increasingly ignoring it. I’m surprised it’s only 4% actually... I do sympathize with poor people in New York and don’t mind them riding the subway, but I would rather they get free cards or just make the whole subway free or something than…

Worth pointing out that building cheap minimalist housing is actively illegal in most places. Many places demand parking spaces and space and amenities as a way of intentionally excluding poor people, who tend to consume more in services than they pay in tax, and mill around annoying rich people (by not being WASPs…

Ya

Yeah, grizzlies and polar bears are dangerous bears. Black bears (like we have in PA where I live) will mess up your bird feeder or garbage but unless you threaten their cubs or pick a fight with them will avoid conflict.  The only injury I can recall is some lady whose dog picked a fight and then ran and hid behind…

WTF is “Belief in a moral duty to protect those who provide abortion services.”?  Isn't that literally the job of the FBI?  Are they calling themselves extremists, or are they saying they think protecting Americans is immoral...

Uh, he didn’t, we did I think. We pumped it full of so much tear gas the tear gas hit a spark and ignited, and shot the people trying to flee iirc. The conversation Koresh had with the negotiators trying to get the helicopters to stop shooting at them was particularly darkly funny in my recollection. The government…

I would not be surprised if that was just the one bill, it might be the biggest but I doubt it's the only one.

I think doing anything near NYC is arduous, I remember looking at a study of why building there cost so much and the average project had like 5x as many people and took twice as long as a similar project in Europe(IIRC). The workers were like 1/10 as efficient as Spaniards or Italians, basically. I presume the worker…

But not old enough for hitchhiking, so like 55? Pretty sure 70 year olds remember when Americans mostly trusted each other... Plus the depression and the war, people forget the ration was like a gallon of gas a week, people in the greatest generation had to help each other and work together.

I’m certainly not a bear expert, but I’m also not seeing any convincing evidence that he is right, either. I AM a reactionary contrarian, I have a gift for seeing both sides of an issue, and disagreeing with both of them. My cursory googling showed bears to be both fairly intelligent and social animals, so if they are…

Yeah, I was going for the Kevin Smith talks to colleges bear reference, but it was kind of a stretch.  Don't know if it landed...

While I find the kids story highly unlikely, and three year olds generally not credible at all, the expert running their mouth about anthropomorphism still manages to annoy me. Like there is a 99% chance he is right, but his ability to peer into the heart of an almost certainly imaginary bear and find no pity or…

I think even a bunch of the essential employees aren’t getting paid so are kind of slaves almost, although they will theoretically get paid eventually, and the non-essential employees generally end up getting paid eventually for the work they didn’t even do, so it’s just about as stupid and wasteful and annoying as…

I think the family doesn’t think she is in a pvs, they say she can move a little and likes music and can make faces and respond when she recognizes family. IMO there should be some way to tell if people have an adequate quality of life, like I’m fine with taxpayers paying to keep severly brain damaged people alive as…