What is Words With Friends?
Based on reports that Alec Baldwin was kicked off his American Airlines flight the other day, it seems that the 30 Rock star feels that he doesn’t have to adhere to the same rules as the rest of the passengers. While everyone else was busy keeping their electronic devices off (a dumb rule but a rule nonetheless), Baldwin felt the need for some Words With Friends whilst waiting out a delay on the plane.1 No matter how silly the rule may seem, think of how much havoc one would have to cause to actually get kicked off a plane. Worse yet, celebrities already tend to get a little leeway, so imagine the scene Baldwin must have caused just to defend his game playing even though it’s against the rules.
The story itself makes for a great Dinner Topic, but it also helps to know what Baldwin was playing. Words With Friends is a word game nearly identical to Scrabble that has millions of online players, playing via various methods: apps on tablets and smartphones, Facebook, etc. Anytime you want to play a game, you can immediately connect to a random player and play the Scrabble-like game to its conclusion, exchanging turns in rapid fashion or over days if your schedule doesn’t allow for all-day gaming.
Words With Friends is an addictive word puzzle game that was wildly popular before, and now thanks to Alec Baldwin’s ego, figures to reach new heights of popularity. Luckily, you follow Dinner Topics and are well-informed when the story is discussed at the table later.
Read on:
Slate.com – Alec Baldwin, Airline Spar Over “Words With Friends” Incident
(image above from TwitPic.com)
Betting can be a good discussion topic for dinner. If the conversation doesn’t flow, you might not be in the right company for discussing sports betting. In that case, have a look at the different discussion topics and ice breakers on categories like business/economy, entertainment and trivialities.
401(k) deposits AND lottery sales up. What gives?
The iffy global economy is far from being out of the woods, and some of the details about what we are doing with our money shows that the public is just as confused about the economic future as the government. On the positive side of things, in the past 12 months, the average contribution into 401(k) plans by participants was at a record high ($5,890) along with a record percentage of participants contributing (84%).1 The numbers above would indicate that the American public has a little more money to save and all is well and good with the world. That feeling of confidence is thrown off a bit with the knowledge that despite increased contributions, 401(k) balances have actually dropped 12% thanks to a skittish stock market.
Need another dose of reality to share at the dinner table? People are still looking for the quick fix over the slow accumulation of money more than ever as lottery sales have skyrocketed of late. 26 of the 43 states with lotteries saw revenue growth last year, and “ticket sales in at least 17 of those states set records…”2 In other words, we don’t know what to think about tomorrow, but we sure wouldn’t mind getting rich quickly.
Read on:
NHJournal.com – Fidelity: 401(k) balances drop 12 pct in 3Q
USAToday.com – Lottery ticket sales increase across country
(image taken from WorldNewsInsight.com)
Turkey at Thanksgiving? Try “pass the deer, ‘dear’”
Everyone associates turkey with Thanksgiving and vice versa, but despite our beliefs in traditions based on the origins of the event, it seems that the Pilgrims’ meal did not necessarily include turkey. Details are sketchy (I guess no one was tweeting their meal choice back in 1621), but from the few reports alive, it seems that the main course likely involved deer and duck. Sides and dessert? Sorry, no cranberry sauce, no mashed potatoes, no pumpkin pie – no sugar even because supplies were so low!
Like most things, we Americans romanticize a day which probably wasn’t all that enjoyable for many at the table that day, but at least with Thanksgiving, we have turned the holiday into one with a positive message: give thanks for what you have. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Read on:
Scholastic.com – Thanksgiving Slideshow
CSMonitor.com – The first Thanksgiving
Stephen King’s latest book “saves” JFK
The holidays are quickly approaching, and along with the frenetic shopping comes a need to settle in for a nice night of reading. The one book sure to be talked about in the coming weeks is Stephen King’s latest titled 11/22/63. For those of you unfamiliar with historical dates, 11/22/63 is the day President Kennedy was assassinated. King’s book veers from his normal genre of horror, however, presenting readers with a fictional alternate timeline where a man uses a time portal to go back to 1958 in an attempt to kill Lee Harvey Oswald and subsequently prevent JFK’s death.
Conspiracy theorists can go wild with the notion that killing Oswald may or may not prevent the assassination depending on what you believe, but the novel isn’t about who did it but rather how to stop it before it happens. The assumption is that Oswald is known to be the killer.
As for setting aside that evening to read, you may want to set aside a weekend or perhaps skip the holidays all together if you want to tackle King’s novel. Why? 11/22/63 is 849 pages long!! Maybe it would be better as a gift…
Read on:
USAToday.com – Stephen King’s creativity lights a dark day in Dallas
USAToday.com – King evokes horrors of history in ’11/22/63′
(image of dust jacket above taken from StephenKing.com)
The Duck Song
After a week of serious topics dominated by the terrible mess at Penn State, it’s time for a little levity on this grandest of days, 11/11/11. The video below doesn’t adhere much to our normal structure of Dinner Topics because it isn’t necessarily timely nor informative, but it just might make you smile. Over 63 million people have already viewed it, so at least now when you hear people talking about the “Duck Song” or saying “got any grapes?”, you’ll know what they are talking about. Happy Friday, and enjoy the clip.
Latest on Greek economy
You keep seeing headlines about the failing Greek economy and its effect on U.S. markets, but perhaps you don’t dig deep into the articles to find out what’s actually happening or perhaps the articles aren’t descriptive enough. Here’s a couple of sentences to inform you on the latest updates on the debt problems facing Greece.
The prime minister of Greece (George Papandreou) has called for a national vote on a controversial rescue plan set forth by the European Union. Originally, the plan was what caused markets to climb in recent weeks, but now that Greece has decided to vote on it (putting its production into question), there is speculation that the rescue plan may never see the light of day. Here’s the important part to know:
“The plan requires banks that hold Greek national bonds to accept 50 percent losses to help keep the Greek economy afloat. It also beefs up a European bailout fund and requires banks to strengthen their financial cushions.”1
Convincing banks to accept major losses is a bit of a last-ditch effort, but with the Greek economy hanging in the balance, investors are hoping that something can be salvaged. The vote is not expected to take place until January, however, so expect plenty of volatility and speculation in the markets until then.
Read on:
CSMonitor – Markets swoon, hit by thunderbolt news of a Greek debt referendum
CNN.com – Greek vote rattles world markets
Student loans: “Pay As You Earn” accelerated?
The economy might still be on shaky knees at best, but it’s not the credit cards that are hurting young adults’ pocketbooks the most lately; it’s student loans. This piece of news is a timely Dinner Topic because along with the data that student loans have overtaken credit cards as the number one source of debt1, President Obama and Congress are trying to accelerate a proposal known as “Pay As You Earn” to begin in 2012 that would add additional structure for those trying to pay off student loans in the long run.
Check out the links below for more details, but the basic idea behind “Pay As You Earn” is that student loan payments would only consist of 10% of discretionary income. This would come in sequence with additional steps that would allow former students to consolidate loans at a lower rate. In an economy where jobs are scarce and the ratio of debt to income is climbing for many young people, the proposal gives them an opportunity to defer some of the debt for a longer period, at potentially lower rates, and most importantly, in a way that is tied to income so the debt doesn’t swallow up one’s entire paycheck. Of course, adding proposals which decrease the incentive to earn or pay off debt quicker could backfire, but that’s why nothing in politics is ever a slam dunk.
The current news surrounding the “Pay As You Earn” proposal is regarding the attempt to move up the original start date from 2014 to 2012. Will it work? Does it make sense on a micro and macro level? That’s what the dinner table is for. Argue on your own time or post a comment below!
Apply Now – Get Approved – Get Funds.
Read on:
USAToday.com – Obama sets new rules for student loan payments
DailyFinance.com – White House Announces Plan to Ease Student Loans
(image taken from http://www.costello.house.gov/issues_MythsFacts.shtml)
Who is Herman Cain and what is 9-9-9?
photo by Gage Skidmore
If politics sometimes enters your conversations, you’re going to have to know about the latest Republican candidate of the hour known as Herman Cain. Keeping things short, Cain is a Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential election, and he is also the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, a national pizza chain. Currently, Cain is leading in some polls solely on the strength of his simplistic 9-9-9 proposal to overhaul the entire tax code.
Basically, the 9-9-9 refers to Cain’s desire to completely restructure the tax code so that everyone pays a 9% income tax, 9% corporate tax, and a 9% national sales tax. The results are obvious: many people would pay much less in income taxes, but everyone would pay much more in purchases. Cain chose “9″ as his magic number because he says that his research shows that the numbers are “revenue neutral” compared to our current confusing tax rates.1 That part of the plan can be debated ad nauseum, as can the idea of what constitutes a “fair tax” – does a fair tax mean a flat tax, does it mean a fixed rate for everyone over a specific income level (to avoid being tax on income used for necessities), or does it mean something entirely different to you?
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Politics often makes for a spirited, if not violent, topic at the dinner table, and with the Republican primaries approaching along with a presidential election down the road, there will be plenty to debate.
Read on:
WashingtonPost.com – Herman Cain tests how far a campaign can go with few traditional strengths
