A couple things to which we can look forward

Howard Stern has been confirmed as the new judge on America’s Got Talent, after weeks of speculation and denials.


So we can look forward to week after week of "hey, that song was great. Show me your tits!"

As the House Judiciary Committee met to consider changes to the Stop Online Piracy Act, several members of the committee warned that rushing the bill through the legislative process would lead to costly mistakes.

So now we can look forward to several more days of PSA's pretending that SOPA is going to protect us from fake medicine and save American jobs.

Caturday Heroes

Dick of the Day

It's former secretary of education and current fat bag of assholes William Bennett:

 Bill Bennett gave his opinion of Christopher Hitchens' passing with one final jab: “He was left, I was right, but we had great debates, great drinking bouts. And I hope as the big atheist that he was, he’s in for a big surprise.”

Holy Fuck! Did he really just say that he hopes Christopher Hitchens is now in Hell?
Well, not in so many words, but yeah, pretty much. Boy, that Hitch was a heck of a guy, hopefully he's being tortured for all eternity right now!

Coming in a close second, it's part-time huckster-minister and full time dick Rick Warren:

Rick Warren

@RickWarren

My friend Christopher Hitchens has died. I loved &  prayed for him constantly & grieve his loss.
 He knows the Truth now.

Because at least he doesn't say that he HOPES Hitchens is damned for etrernity. He just smugly implies that he is.

These are real people who exist in 21st Century America

An Ohio landlord accused of discriminating against an African-American girl with a "white only" sign at her swimming pool told ABCNews.com that the sign was an antique and a decoration.
"I'm not a bad person," said Jamie Hein of Cincinnati. "I don't have any problem with race at all. It's a historical sign."

Kentucky church votes to ban interracial couples

Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church votes on resolution that says the church 'does not condone interracial marriage'

The World's Happiest (And Saddest) Countries

So, who is the world's happiest country?

. . . .Drumroll, please. . .

At No. 1 for the third year in a row: Norway. 

  

We'd be happy, too with hats like those.

What’s it got that the rest of the world doesn’t? For one thing, a stunning per capita GDP of $54,000 a year. Norwegians have the second-highest level of satisfaction with their standards of living: 95% say they are satisfied with the freedom to choose the direction of their lives; an unparalleled 74% say other people can be trusted.

  

And this. They also have this.

But, wait. Aren't they godless pinkos? How can they possibly be happy?

Cynics say Norway’s ranking is a fluke, that it’s a boring, godless (just 13% go to church), homogeneous place to live, with a massive welfare state bankrolled by high taxes. Without massive offshore reserves of oil and gas that it exports to the world through state-controlled Statoil, Norway’s GDP would be far smaller.

A fluke. Three years in a row? Is it maybe possible, just possible, that maybe the Norwegians like having a massive welfare state? No, that couldn't possibly be! And maybe not having to get up early on Sunday mornings isn't really considered a negative there?

Also, their GDP would be smaller without oil and gas reserves? So would ours, genius! It's like complaining that the Packers would never have won the Superbowl if they didn't have all those good players. So who are these "cynics" who say that Norway's ranking is a fluke? Forbes helpfully doesn't say. 

 

 He looks pretty cynical.

So what are the world's other most happy countries?

 

Doesn't count.

# 5:  Sweden

Sweden, which Forbes refers to as " a tech-savvy socialist paradise." 

# 4: New Zealand

Relatively socialisty.

# 3: Australia

Socialized kangaroos for everyone!

 

Lazy kangaroo, always looking for a handout.

# 2: Denmark

About which Forbes has this to say: "The tiny country ranks first in entrepreneurship and opportunity, based on high levels of social equality," which sounds suspiciously Marxy-Leniny.

And #1: as previously mentioned, Norway.

  

So, where are all the free-market, small-government paradises on this list?