Bits and Pieces for the Week of October 9 - 15

It's Rapture time. AGAIN. (Mike)

As you have heard by now, only 53% of Americans pay federal income tax. Who are the 47% deadbeat Americans leeching off the system? Why, it's those lazy-ass elderly, handicapped and poor! And let's also ignore the fact that 70% of those loafers do pay payroll taxes. (Mike)

Why the FBI's accusations of Iran in a plot to assassinate the Saudia Arabian ambassador in the U.S. are just complete BS. (Mike)

We live in a democracy deficit (Mike)

How Occupy Wall Street works. Also, how to respond to OWS critics. (Mike)

Well, that sure backfired. This summer California stopped giving hybrid vehicles (such as my Prius) single-occupant-access to HOV (car-pool) lanes. It turns out that, not only are the non-HOV lanes now slower, but so are the HOV lanes! (Mike)

Paul Krugman is spot on. Panic of the Plutocrats. "The way to understand all of this is to realize that it’s part of a broader syndrome, in which wealthy Americans who benefit hugely from a system rigged in their favor react with hysteria to anyone who points out just how rigged the system is... So who’s really being un-American here? Not the protesters, who are simply trying to get their voices heard. No, the real extremists here are America’s oligarchs, who want to suppress any criticism of the sources of their wealth." (7 of 6)