Recent Comments

1. 3 days ago on Barney & Clyde

   I absolutely understand your position but I insist that from an accountant’s point of view rounding to the closest nickel creates a problem with trying to balance the books — you can not just say close enough when dealing with checks and balances in accounting. And our actually continuing this discussion is really moot because those in charge will do what ever they want, and we will all just have to deal with it anyway — welcome to the new bizarro world.

2. 5 days ago on Nancy

   Is that considered “breaking” the 4th wall or merely wrapping one’s self in it?

3. 5 days ago on Barney & Clyde

   Just because your example of a $1.95 bagel which includes tax as a reason why we don’t need pennies excludes everything else that actually is taxed and thus the total fluctuates between purchases and of course from state to state with different taxes — why is that so hard to figure out and admit that we need pennies or we otherwise have to restructure everything about how the US does business.

4. 6 days ago on Scary Gary

   Shiplap are wooden planks that have one edge cut half way through on the top like an L shape on the edge (thus half lap joint) and the opposite edge is cut on the bottom edge so that one board laps over the other as they are joined. As opposed to a tongue and grove where the edge is cut in a tongue so that it can be inserted in a grove on the opposing edge of the next board. Or boards can be butt fitted without joining one to the other but that allows for a slight gap between boards when joined together.

5. 6 days ago on Doonesbury

   Well I guess Washington shouldn’t have fought the British — I mean seriously America was their country first (forget about the Indians living here of course) — why be a rebel when you can be a loyalist?

6. 6 days ago on Barney & Clyde

   Again sales tax varies from state to state — are you from the USA or didn’t you know that? And rounding up or down to the nearest nickel is stupid because it causes accounting problems.

7. 6 days ago on Crabgrass

   It’s not called a goatee — it’s called a VanDYke.

8. 6 days ago on Barney & Clyde

   It would be a bookkeeping nightmare — accounts need to balance — we don’t live in a world of “close enough” accounting.

9. 6 days ago on Barney & Clyde

   You’re asking why the U.S. is “dependent on exact pricing,” so let me break it down since you clearly didn’t process the explanation the first time.

   Unlike other countries that phased out their smallest coin, the U.S. adds sales tax after the subtotal, not before. That means a product priced at $1.99 doesn’t actually cost $1.99—it costs whatever the base price is plus a state-specific percentage of sales tax (which can vary by county and city). In a place with 5.5% sales tax, that $1.99 total actually becomes $2.10. In another state with 8.25% tax, it becomes $2.16. See the issue? These aren’t nice, round numbers that can just be cleanly divided by nickels without people losing money.

   And before you start foaming at the mouth about “just rounding,” let’s clear that up too: - In a cash transaction, either the customer or the business would constantly be shortchanged unless the entire pricing structure changed nationwide. - With electronic transactions, you could still charge the exact total, but that further widens the digital divide for people who rely on cash.

   Now, Canada and Australia? They include taxes in the sticker price. That makes it possible to round prices without screwing people over. The U.S. doesn’t do that. Until we change how we structure pricing and taxation, eliminating the penny is just half-baked nonsense.

   So, no, it’s not about “blind principle.” It’s about basic math and real-world economics—something you might want to brush up on before coming at me like a Reddit contrarian with zero understanding of the issue.

   Now, do you want to have an actual discussion, or are you just here to argue for the sake of arguing?

10. 6 days ago on Barney & Clyde

    If you’re bringing up Canada, Sweden, and Australia, I assume you’re referring to how these countries have eliminated their lowest-denomination coins. Yes, Canada phased out the penny in 2013, Australia did the same in 1992, and Sweden stopped using the öre (their smallest coin) in stages, fully eliminating the 50-öre coin in 2010.

    However, the key difference is how their pricing and rounding systems work:

    Canada – Prices are still listed including cents, but cash transactions are rounded to the nearest nickel (up or down). Digital transactions still charge the exact amount.Australia – Similar system; transactions are rounded when paying with cash.Sweden – Mostly cashless now, but when cash is used, it’s rounded to the nearest whole krona.

    Now, back to the United States—our system is heavily dependent on exact pricing, and sales tax is a major complication. Unlike Canada and Australia, where tax is often included in the price, the U.S. adds tax after the total, often resulting in numbers that can’t be evenly rounded to a nickel.

    So, while other countries have successfully eliminated their smallest coins, it doesn’t mean it would work smoothly in the U.S. without major pricing and tax structure changes.

    If you want to fully debate this, let me know—I can break it all down even further!