The Off Topic Topic

[Ideologue]

One advantage humans have over cats is that they have the reasoning ability to respond appropriately to threats and violence.

I'm not sure I thought through the bleach thing.  I had previously believed that shit just sort of dried instantly; that is, it was volatile.  It's, uh, still kind of just there.

[sbr]

So 4-5 years ago the boy-cat that lives here had a fun game where he would run into my bedroom as soon as I opened the door in the morning and hide under the bed so I couldn't get him out before I had to go to work.

All 3 times this happened I came home to a steaming pile of shit right on top of my pillow.  Now I am not a neat freak, and there are lots of places in my room that a cat should have preferred to shit.  But better places were irrelevant, he was making a point and the point was made,

We have now come to an understanding that he doesn't come near my bedroom door.  In exchange he gets to not starve to death and occasionally gets to sleep inside.

[Josquius]

Britain's special relationship with the US can be summed up thus: We're too lazy to learn French.

[Eddie Teach]

Nah. We're too lazy to learn useful languages like Spanish and Chinese, being too lazy to learn French as well isn't worth mentioning.

[Ed Anger]

I suffered a case of gas last night that caused what I like to call 'El Diablo Diarrhea' Dear lord.

[The Larch]

Drop the h, it's just diarrea.

[Ed Anger]

Drop the h, it's just diarrea.

Really, you are being pedantic over that?

Besides, my spelling is fine. Look it up. Before I shit on more of your posts.

[The Larch]

Drop the h, it's just diarrea.

Really, you are being pedantic over that?

Besides, my spelling is fine. Look it up. Before I shit on more of your posts.

If you start speaking random Spanish, at least write it well, Ide-lite. 

[Razgovory]

Chuck Coleson is dead.

[Ideologue]

Drop the h, it's just diarrea.

Really, you are being pedantic over that?

Besides, my spelling is fine. Look it up. Before I shit on more of your posts.

If you start speaking random Spanish, at least write it well, Ide-lite. 

Mi espanol esta perfecto, Larcho.  Tal vez tu estas el un con la problema.

[alfred russel]

I had Burger King recently. 5 bucks for a double whopper for just the sandwich. Oy.

I think the Double Whopper meal (large) is ca. €6.49 over here.

For some reason BK is considered inferior to McDonald's here, but seems to be at a premium to McDonald's overseas. I recently saw one of the BK sandwiches selling for $20 in Norway. Which is about 95% absurd prices in Norway, and 5% BK being priced higher overseas, but at that moment I wish I had a camera.

[The Larch]

Drop the h, it's just diarrea.

Really, you are being pedantic over that?

Besides, my spelling is fine. Look it up. Before I shit on more of your posts.

If you start speaking random Spanish, at least write it well, Ide-lite. 

Mi espanol esta perfecto, Larcho.  Tal vez tu estas el un con la problema.

See? Case in point...

[Razgovory]

Fareed says it sucks to be a European

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

A new poll in the United States shows that Americans are still deeply frustrated at the slow pace of the economic recovery. That's understandable. Unemployment stays stubbornly high. But I was just in Europe, and they think America is booming.

Consider this: the U.S. economy is on track to grow between 2 and 3 percent this year. In Europe, by contrast, half the eurozone economies are going to actually shrink this year - and not one major European country will grow over 1%.

Last Thursday, Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, and former French Finanace Minister of France, said there were "dark clouds" hanging over the global recovery and that the eurozone was at the "epicenter of potential risk." Borrowing costs for countries like Spain, Italy and Greece are rising again.

What is going on? Didn't it look like the Europeans had managed to avert a crisis only a few weeks ago?

Yes it did. Mario Draghi, Europe's new Central banker, had adopted a version of Ben Bernanke's policies and injected money into the European financial system and economy. But his efforts are now being undercut by the German Bundesbank, which reflects Germany's obsession about inflation even at the cost of growth.

The larger failure, shared across Europe, has been too much austerity.

Consider that data we started with. The U.S. economy, which received monetary and fiscal stimulus, will grow at well over 2% this year. European economies that have followed the path of cutting spending and raising taxes to reduce deficits are finding themselves in a downward spiral: cutting spending means laying off people, which means less demand for good and services, which means the economy shrinks, which - ironically - means lower tax revenues and thus larger budget deficits.

Take a look at Britain. Britain has followed a brave austerity plan, cutting government spending across the board and raising taxes. The result, British growth has stalled; the economy will grow barely 0.8% this year. And while its budget deficit was predicted to be under 13 billion dollars in February, it was in fact 24 billion dollars for that month alone.

After its austerity programs, Spain has hit 20% unemployment - 50% youth unemployment - and now has a much larger budget deficit than projected.

Europe needs structural reforms that will cut spending over the long term - by raising retirement ages and cutting benefits. But it also needs pro-growth reforms that open up its labor market. But most importantly for now it needs to stop imposing austerity in a depressed economy and learn from something from the example across the Atlantic. Two or 2.5 percent growth might not look so great in America, but it a lot better than negative 0.3 percent, which is the current estimate for the Eurozone's economic growth.

[Ed Anger]

Drop the h, it's just diarrea.

Really, you are being pedantic over that?

Besides, my spelling is fine. Look it up. Before I shit on more of your posts.

If you start speaking random Spanish, at least write it well, Ide-lite. 

Excuse me for attempting to speak your pig language even in a mildly humorous way. I won't make that mistake again.

[The Larch]

Drop the h, it's just diarrea.

Really, you are being pedantic over that?

Besides, my spelling is fine. Look it up. Before I shit on more of your posts.

If you start speaking random Spanish, at least write it well, Ide-lite. 

Excuse me for attempting to speak your pig language even in a mildly humorous way. I won't make that mistake again.

It was just a friendly correction.