Recent Comments

1. over 2 years ago on Michael Ramirez

   Yeah, that was the other bit. It also started because he held this nine-month rigmarole of auditioning a host, and then announced: “I’ve picked a new host. It’s ME!” which makes Ramirez’s Caesar analogy apt, but not in the way he intended it.

   It also led to a lot of fans who had multiple favorites among the auditioners saying they would stop watching the show altogether after that.

   If you’re executive producer of a long-running TV show and make an announcement that you’re going to make the ratings drop precipitously, that’s not “cancel culture.” That’s “how television works on a fundamental level.”

2. over 2 years ago on Michael Ramirez

   @DD Wiz It wasn’t even “offensive statements.” It was statements where he said he is manifestly unqualified to be on a trivia show.

3. almost 6 years ago on Michael Ramirez

   I’m an Italian-American. When I first saw this toon by Ramirez, I said an old Italian phrase:

   “The BALLS on this fawkin guy!”

   Roughly translated:

   “I am quite astonished by this gentleman’s audacity and brazenness.”

4. almost 8 years ago on [Deleted]

   No, because homicide is the one penal crime where you don’t need intent to have committed the crime, although there are different degrees of homicide. In this case, because the guy was already committing a crime with intent to commit that crime – driving drunk – it would be called “2nd degree homicide” or “non-negligent manslaughter,” which has reduced sentences. If the guy were sober but were, say, really old and, although licensed, prone to blackouts or confusion, it would be 3rd degree/negligent manslaughter if it were even prosecuted as a crime at all. Hillary would not have been charged with homicide or manslaughter, so the point is moot, but it doesn’t surprise me that you, McCoy and your conservative buddies are unfamiliar with the legal concept of “malice aforethought.”

5. over 8 years ago on Bloom County

   Steve is singing a fictitious song, but his Spanish is actually quite good. The lyrics are:Oh, my! Maria,Maria of the blue sky;Although this life is difficult, Maria,I will never leave you!If you could go up the heavens, Maria,The stars would come down to you;With the moon at your feet, Maria,With the sun as your crown!

6. almost 9 years ago on Bloom County

   I don’t think you “get” “Bloom County.”

7. almost 9 years ago on [Deleted]

   I guess I have to be Pro to post links (or apparently, get paragraph breaks), and I’m not going to pay money just for this, but search for “hours americans work in a week,” and it’s the first non-news hit on Google. It’s an ABC News story with the headline, “Americans Work More Than Anyone.”

8. almost 9 years ago on [Deleted]

   The OECD’s data for the US is largely based on the US Department of Labor’s figures, and the DOL , which admits its estimates are probably very low, because they’re based on employers’ reports.

   Which is kind of like estimating how many black people are killed by cops. When the DOJ asks cops – which is how it gets its figures, which it admits is almost certainly an underestimate – the numbers are high, but not as high as you’d expect. Whereas when “The Guardian” did its own study just starting THIS YEAR, it has already found a MUCH higher number, just since January.

   Same thing here. An independent study found a MUCH higher number, largely because of all those salaried “managers” whose employers report 40 hours. And yes, I do have a link.

   http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93364

   That’s not even counting the fact that we’re only counting people who are employed. Unemployment is much higher in Greece, and the average retirement age is somewhere between 5 to 10 years younger, according to both the OECD and the US DOL.

9. almost 9 years ago on Ted Rall

   @Ted Rall

   When you Tweeted this strip, you claimed the Greeks work more hours than the Germans or we do. This is incorrect.

   It is true the Greeks work the most hours in all of Europe, but you might notice we’re not Europeans. Greece is also an industrialized nation, and guess which industrialized nation works the most hours per week (estimated between 47 to 49 to Greece’s 42), takes the fewest and shortest vacations, gets the least maternity leave and has the fewest sick or family/bereavement leave days of them all.

   Yeah, that would be us, as in the US.

10. almost 9 years ago on Henry Payne

    Gotta come up with a cartoon, gotta come up with a cartoon. THINK, Henry, THINK! OK. So a guy on a team won this one thing, and this other horse won some other thing! I KNOW! We’ll show the guy who won the one thing on the horse that won the other thing!

    What’s that? The guy who won the one thing is WAY too big for the horse, and the guy’s team didn’t actually win the championship?

    Whatever. Glug glug glug glug glug.