[News] strange happenings of 2015

[Tumbling Down]

This rampant prejudice against Muppet and Felt-Americans cannot stand. It will not!

I'm going to steal that Felt-Americans line.

[Gob Hobblin]

[C.A.P.]

they may be owned by Disney

They're not. They're a separate entity, and have done a lot of TV shows; last I checked, JHC is still responsible for building the Sesame Street Muppets (despite Sesame Workshop now owning the rights of the characters).

They also have no rights to anything Muppets related nowadays. The Kermit stuff in Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas? They have to negotiate with Disney to keep those scenes nowadays. Otherwise, they're free to do whatever they want with the special, because they do owe that (and they have, such as a live action musical that went around for a bit).

[Mr. Tines]

Two Canadians barred from leaving Malaysia on the grounds they did spiritual damage to a mountain, causing a magnitude 5.9 quake.

[Gob Hobblin]

They're not.

I'm confused; why bring up Disney? I legitimately thought they were in contract with them the same way they've gobbled up everything else (Marvel, etc.).

[drinian]

Two Canadians barred from leaving Malaysia on the grounds they did spiritual damage to a mountain, causing a magnitude 5.9 quake.

If they had stripped down in Canada at one of the most famous places in the nation, they'd probably at least be cited for something, too. The way this story's being reported has been really unfair.

[C.A.P.]

I'm confused; why bring up Disney? I legitimately thought they were in contract with them the same way they've gobbled up everything else (Marvel, etc.).

Well Gob, they aren't. Again, it's because they own the Muppets outright--trademark, copyright of the characters, the marketing, everything; Jim Henson himself actually wanted that to happen. The deal happened when Eisner was still around (2004), so I imagine how it was dealt with is all different. The Muppets writers (or at least, the ones that worked for Jim and are still writing for the characters today) and puppeteers are all independent (they don't work outright for Disney), the puppets are actually done in a LA studio called Puppet Heap, and Muppet content nowadays are done by a part of Disney called THE MUPPETS STUDIO.

Here, Wikipedia will give you an idea on what's up. Lot of it is sourced.

[Stryker]

Abortions on the decline -- for good reasons too, I would say.

[NemZ]

Two Canadians barred from leaving Malaysia on the grounds they did spiritual damage to a mountain, causing a magnitude 5.9 quake.

What that made me think of.

[Shinoyami65]

Two Canadians barred from leaving Malaysia on the grounds they did spiritual damage to a mountain, causing a magnitude 5.9 quake.

Oh, I heard about that earthquake on Mount Kinabalu. For some reason the government has decided to forgo their usual pro-Islamic dogma to become animist and argue that the mountain was 'angered' by people taking off their shirts and whatnot on what is undeniably an arduous trek.

I honestly have no idea where the idea of the 'mountain spirit' came from, it sounds more like Taoist or Shinto imagery than the usual stuff the government spews out. I also didn't realize we'd regressed so far as a culture that we now attribute natural disasters to the wrath of nature spirits.

[Mr. Tines]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/11661312/Belgium-defies-France-with-euro-coin-marking-Napoleon-defeat.html

[Guy Nacks]

Idiot thinks that everyone should just default on their student loans.

Hey, want a better idea? Perhaps a SOLUTION? How about the US just legalize marijuana already, tax the hell out of it, and use the proceeds towards subsidizing higher education so tuition rates aren't fucking retarded? Most pot users tend to be college students anyway, so IT PAYS FOR ITSELF.

Or just cut some of our $650+ BILLION defense budget just a hair year by year and use that money instead?

C'mon, USA. Get your act together you dumbass fucks. And I say this being a citizen.

[Nuclear Lunchbox]

I could afford to go to my state college for four years plus room, board, and meal plan for less than what it cost friends of mine to go to their private high school for one year. I've found that a lot of people taking out student loans do it so that they can go to the ivies or whatever top prestigious school they want to go to, and I think that attitude comes from ignorance about just what kind of education you can get at a college that doesn't have a fancy name attached to it.

But yes, the idea that everybody should default on their loans is ridiculous.

[Ornette]

He explains his (half) reasoning at the end, it's obvious that he's only half serious, it's an opinion piece afterall:

I am sharply aware of the strongest objection to my lapse into default. If everyone acted as I did, chaos would result. The entire structure of American higher education would change.

The collection agencies retained by the Department of Education would be exposed as the greedy vultures that they are. The government would get out of the loan-making and the loan-enforcement business. Congress might even explore a special, universal education tax that would make higher education affordable.

There would be a national shaming of colleges and universities for charging soaring tuition rates that are reaching lunatic levels. The rapacity of American colleges and universities is turning social mobility, the keystone of American freedom, into a commodified farce.

If people groaning under the weight of student loans simply said, “Enough,” then all the pieties about debt that have become absorbed into all the pieties about higher education might be brought into alignment with reality. Instead of guaranteeing loans, the government would have to guarantee a college education. There are a lot of people who could learn to live with that, too.

Clearly, this is all wishful thinking that's purposely not grounded in reality but used to make a point on a soapbox. In reality, defaulting on student loans is really pretty dangerous, they're not like regular loans. You can have your wages docked or your tax returns kept (or both), like pretty much forever, defaulting doesn't make them go away. It's terrible advice but I doubt he's seriously telling everyone (even people who can easily make payments) to just default on their loans.

Besides, everyone knows that anyone who suggests cutting the defense budget will be labelled universally as someone who hates America and freedom. It's political suicide and will be for any foreseeable future.

[drinian]

I've found that a lot of people taking out student loans do it so that they can go to the ivies or whatever top prestigious school they want to go to, and I think that attitude comes from ignorance about just what kind of education you can get at a college that doesn't have a fancy name attached to it.

True, but there's a few top private schools now (Princeton is the example that comes to mind) that have big enough endowments that they will make sure you graduate without loans. You'll still pay as much as they deem you able to, but, if you can get in, you'll be taken care of.

What's really bad are the schools without that kind of endowment money. A lot of them seem to be charging irresponsible amounts of money and throwing it away on embarrassing stuff like free cable TV, a free ice cream truck, and a concierge in the dorms -- all three of which are examples drawn from a relative's university about five years ago. State schools are doing this kind of thing too.

[Catamari]

What's really bad are the schools without that kind of endowment money. A lot of them seem to be charging irresponsible amounts of money and throwing it away on embarrassing stuff like free cable TV, a free ice cream truck, and a concierge in the dorms -- all three of which are examples drawn from a relative's university about five years ago. State schools are doing this kind of thing too.

My uni has been doing some pretty stupid things with our tuition money. coughfootballcough. They've decided that it would be a good idea to put televisions in every dorm room of the new dorms complexes. I mean, seriously. What the fuck. Even bought in bulk, that's a few thousand, multi-hundred dollar televisions. I know a few buildings that would greatly benefit from $100000 worth of repair work.

Then again, they are also building a new medical complex, one specifically for heart problems. I suppose that's one benefit of rampant obesity in America.

[Gob Hobblin]

In local news, a cop that takes pool parties way too seriously has resigned. Under the circumstances, the timing, and the statement by his chief, I'm guessing that resignation was waiting for him when he came in to work that day.

No word yet on whether or not his sweet moves affected the decision.

[Bagheera]

Clearly, this is all wishful thinking that's purposely not grounded in reality but used to make a point on a soapbox. In reality, defaulting on student loans is really pretty dangerous, they're not like regular loans. You can have your wages docked or your tax returns kept (or both), like pretty much forever, defaulting doesn't make them go away. It's terrible advice but I doubt he's seriously telling everyone (even people who can easily make payments) to just default on their loans.

Yeah. I really hope no one takes him seriously, because this is awful, awful advice. It's better by far to pay off the interest and ignore the principle, as this gives you stellar credit and is usually fairly manageable.

What we really need to do is focus more on helping young people come up with workable plans for their lives. That isn't always possible -- circumstances change, after all -- but as is we basically throw our kids to the wolves with nary a bit of decent career counseling, and that's why this debt problem exists. If people knew what they were gettting into they'd be far less likely to take out loans to begin with.

But then, that assumes success is the goal. Silly of me, I know.

[Nuclear Lunchbox]

It's better by far to pay off the interest and ignore the principle, as this gives you stellar credit and is usually fairly manageable.

This sounds like last-ditch effort advice to me, though. If you're only paying off the interest, you're literally going to be paying off those student loans forever. Hell, that's the first thing I learned in one of the finance management courses I took in high school during my senior year-- never, ever just pay off the interest (if you want that loan to go away any time soon.)

[NemZ]

Napoleon tangent split, as that clearly isn't 'news'. Carry on!


@Nuke: yes, but the point isn't to pay it off... it's to manage the debt and establish good credit. Having no debt is much worse for your credit rating than having an amount you can handle... lenders do actually want to make money on you, after all.