How To Talk Politics With Your Crazy Relatives During The Holidays

Think Progress put it more kindly: “How to Discuss Climate Change With Your Uncle During the Holidays.” However, these precepts can be applied to any discussion that comes with family members who don’t see things your way. To summarize Russell McLendon‘s tips:

1. Don’t blow hot air: Whether you’re debating your uncle or a stranger, it helps to know what you’re talking about. Doing your homework will help ensure you always have a response ready without resorting to hyperbole.

2. Don’t be insulting: There’s no going back from ad hominem attacks. Don’t treat your uncle like …

It’s The One Percent That Has No “Skin In The Game”

by Stuart Shapiro

Matt Taibbi is up to his usual brilliance.  His target are the Wall Street oligarchs who seem upset that no one loves them.  He takes particular aim at the canard that poor people are the ones who should pay more taxes because they have “no skin in the game.”

But it seems to me that if you’re broke enough that you’re not paying any income tax, you’ve got nothing but skin in the game. You’ve got it all riding on how well America works.

You can’t afford private security: you need to depend on the police. …

Letters To Santa Have Changed Dramatically In 100 Years

In 1911, things were simpler, it seems:

“I want a baby doll and a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves and a toffee apple and a gold penny and a silver sixpence and a long toffee.”

 By 2011, it’s become more complicated:

“For Christmas I whould like: 1 plasma tv, 1 set of glow-in-the-dark googles, civil war battle set, bananas, grapes, any books you whould think i whould like, 2 fake heads, target gift card, 3-DS, Nentendo dS, rubex cube, flame thrower, 1 defiance toy car, empty diary (lines), analog clock (real), soda, 54 pencils (sharp), …

Gingrich Stands Up For South Carolina Flying Confederate Flag Over Capital

Newt Gingrich respects the right of the people of South Carolina to fly the Confederate flag.

At an event in South Carolina yesterday, Newt Gingrich was asked by a town hall participant to offer his views regarding the state’s decision to fly the Confederate flag at the statehouse in Columbia. The woman’s question was met with a smattering of boos from the audience.

“I have a very strong opinion,” Gingrich said, prefacing his weak response. “It’s up to the people of South Carolina.” (He then qualified his answer by assuring that he is opposed to segregation and slavery.)

As …

South Carolina Voter ID Law Ruled Discriminatory By Justice Department

The Justice Department has ruled that South Carolina’s voter ID law requiring photo ID’s at the polls would “significantly” burden non-white voters.

Democrats sent out a fundraising letter Dec. 16 that asked supporters to donate to the party to help push back against Republican efforts to suppress voters through the new laws. Reince Priebus, the Republican Party chairman, responded by criticizing Democrats for what he termed “extreme rhetoric” on the issue.

South Carolina’s law, which [Governor Nikki] Haley signed into law in May, requires voters to show government-issued photo ID.

Non-white voters would be “significantly burdened” by the law’s requirements …

What Santa’s Job Pays

Submitted by Airedelapaz

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Santa’s job should pay $133,000 a year.

Manufacturing executive, sleigh pilot, labor negotiator, compulsive list checker and fulfiller of children’s dreams, Santa Claus has no peers when it comes to juggling diverse duties at his North Pole headquarters.

The man who sees you when you’re sleeping and knows when you’re awake should be earning a well-deserved six figures, according to our analysis of wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We took a look at the tasks for which Santa is best known and calculated what it would …

Holiday Hate Mail. Feliz Navidad!

From: Ray and Elaine
Sent: Saturday, November 12, 2011 6:40 PM
To: Alan
Subject: For Alan

I’ve listened to your pro-gay, pro-loose morals and pro-everything liberal and your attributing these things as “progress”. The Bible says, “In the latter days men shall wax worse and worse” and they will call “good evil and evil good”. Wrong will be wrong even if everybody is doing it and right will be right even if nobody is doing it. The Bible says, “ I am the Lord God…I change not”.

Your liberal outrageous views lead me to believe you are outside the gravitational …

On Friday’s Radio Show…

• Director of the Office of the Americas Blase Bonpane tells Alan why he believes the Occupy movement is similar to the movement of early Christianity.

• A new poll shows that 77 percent of adults believe angels are real. Monty Farber and Amy Zerner of TheEnchantedWorld.com join Alan to discuss the widespread belief.

• It’s a festive Friday Night Free-For-All!…

Truckers And Pilots Told They Can’t Work As Many Hours

by Stuart Shapiro

It’s been a busy week for the Obama Administration.  I blogged yesterday about the new mercury standards.  There was a major settlement with Bank of America on discriminatory lending practices.  And there were two new regulations from the Department of Transportation. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) required more rest for truckers:

FMCSA’s new HOS final rule reduces by 12 hours the maximum number of hours a truck driver can work within a week. Under the old rule, truck drivers could work on average up to 82 hours within a seven-day period. The new HOS final rule …

Romney Ignores 2.3 Million New Jobs Created Since March 2010

Mitt Romney continues to say Obama hasn’t created any new jobs, which is not true, explains Greg Sargent.

…according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the private sector has added around 2.3 million jobs since March of 2010.

Romney knows it’s false to make this claim. In previous statements, the Romney campaign has been careful to qualify this assertion by saying that Obama didn’t create a single “net” new job. That’s an accurate claim in the most narrow of technical terms. The situation that Obama inherited was so catastrophic that the economy continued hemorraging jobs at a furious rate …

Soldier Sells Purple Heart To Pawn Shop

An Afghanistan war veteran sold his Purple Heart to a West Michigan pawn shop.

The purple heart was sold to A-Z Outlet owned by Bryan VandenBosch, in West Michigan.

Bryan said that in his 19 years in the pawn shop business, this was the first time he has ever gotten a purple heart. He declined reporting how much he bought the award for but said “I won’t ever sell it. If he ever decides he wants it, it will be here waiting for him.”

Bryan says that the soldier told him that the award was one of the two purple …