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Has anyone figured out whom to blame since I've been gone?

So since we don't know for sure that he was mentally ill, we should assume it was Glen Beck and Sarah Palin's fault in the meantime?

Yeah, I can't believe how many people in my med school class (where average student debt is ~$125,000) rushed into buying a house as soon as they graduated.

The retirement age will have to be raised gradually, so people can adjust their saving and spending patterns accordingly. Personally, I at least plan to be semi-retired by my early 60s if I can afford to save enough. People currently in their 50s and 60s have always operated on the assumption that they'll get benefits when they're 65, so they can't be expected to wait till they're 75. Anyone currently entering the job market with that assumption is a fool. And the disability system needs serious reform. Doctors, not bureaucrats need to be deciding who qualifies. I don't think you're getti

Dude, lighten up. A caveman from an annoying commercial is arguing politics with a cat in a Santa hat. Nothing should be taken too seriously in that situation.

It's pretty simple. If you can afford the debt that comes with buying a house, go ahead and buy one. If you're tens-hundreds of thousands of dollars (or pounds, euros, etc.) in student debt, rent until you pay off that debt. The younger people are renting from older people that have paid off their debt. And apartments are always an option. Good points, and I mostly agree with you. However, wasteful spending is not the problem. It's the routine stuff (Social Security, Medicare, and defense) that's the problem. Taxes should probably be raised for the time being, but only so that we don't g

If education can have zero cost, why are there budget issues? Perhaps there's some middle ground between universally "free" higher education and only Bill Gates' kids get college degrees: for example, the system we have here where you have state colleges with lower tuition and plenty of scholarships available. Certainly less so than people protesting that they might have to pay a little more for their tuition. Do they not have renting in England?

The issue is less absurd, but only a little. First of all, a college education can be a valuable thing, but it's not something that everyone needs or wants. It's certainly not something that someone else owes you. People are willing to take out loans >$100,000 to pay for a house, but it's somehow unreasonable that they borrow money to pay for their future? And we're not even talking about them suddenly having to pay for their entire education but just a small portion. That's what happens when the government promises more than it can fund. Eventually cuts have to be made.

The more I think about it, the more absurd this rioting seems. Their education is being paid for only almost entirely by others (presumably, even if they spend 7 1/2 years getting a major in masturbatory studies) and they're actually protesting the fact that they're not getting a completely free ride. It would be like someone gave you a suitcase full of money on the condition that you pay $100 for the actual case, and you respond by taking the suitcase and throwing rocks at his kids.

Well my math scores kick all of their asses, so I should get to make the budget. But not enough of them apparently. And the 35 hour work week. Yeah, but Denmark is kinda rotten. There's also less rioting here. How do you even say that without sounding like you have a lisp? I'm too busy working to do that! Maybe there were rioters outside his window.

Wow, that is pretty shitty. I think tutition here was like $8000 when I went (it's probably gone up a little since then), and you probably wouldn't pay any tuition if your high school GPA was above 3.5.

So everyone is entitled to free healthcare, a free college degree, a 35 hour work week, and retirement at 50? Do they not have math in Europe?

True, though a lot of that has to do with people's choices in schools. If you choose a private or out of state college, it's gonna cost a lot more. I don't know how it is in other states, but here you can at least get tuition fully paid just for having decent grades and test scores (and there are lots of full ride scholarships if your numbers are a little better).

Given that they are holding signs demanding free education, I would say they want a little more than reasonable fees. But mostly I'm just against douchebaggery. Nothing says "we have reasonable demands" like destroying private property.

We also know that they're douchebags. What class of douchebags, however, is left to speculation.

I love being able to keep the house below 70.

You people have really tainted this thread.

Nah, that's just icing on the taint.

My taint cries whenever I listen to Wilco (the album).

I bet the next Wilco album will tickle my taint.

I thought it was the other way around, and Bill Murray only wanted to do it if he was killed off and came back as a ghost.

How about sideways glancing? Does that work?

From the inside out!

I hate to break it to you, but even your caffeine-deprived stomach is full of a corrosive substance that, if left unchecked, is capable of perforating your stomach or causing cancer.

As long as you don't take any of my medical advice seriously.