BDC Now: Bill Clinton Learns About the Presidency From ‘Scandal,’ ‘House of Cards’
The characters in “Scandal’’ and “House of Cards’’ may work in the White House, but they have some power that not even Bill Clinton was aware of. If he’d known about that kind of thing while he was in office, he says he definitely would have killed some more people. Hear him talk about that on today’s BDC Now, and read more about Weird Al’s latest big break, Kobe Bryant’s historic missed shot, a cop going undercover as a duck, a terrifying bus ride through the Himalayas, and how America’s income inequality is only getting worse.
Bill Clinton’s Favorite Presidents Are Fictional
When you’re done being President of the United States, you probably end up with a lot of free time. For Bill Clinton, that free time is apparently filled with binge-watching “House of Cards’’ and “Scandal.’’ He loves the two shows, but, as he told Ellen DeGeneres, he was a bit dismayed to see some presidential powers that he was unaware of when he was in office. Like murder. “The thing about ‘Scandal’ and ‘House of Cards’ that makes it fun to watch is that I can’t imagine that either a president, Spacey, or the president’s chief of staff on ‘Scandal’ could really get away with murder,’’ Clinton says. “I wish I’d known about that when I was in office. You know, think of all the opportunities I missed. So little time, so many people who had it coming.’’ Thanks, Bill. It’s super comforting to know that a president might use a TV show as inspiration to start whacking people, especially since Obama has demonstrated some awareness of both shows. Hopefully he canceled his Netflix subscription
RadioShack Gets Weird This Holiday Season
Hold your applause, folks, because Weird Al isn’t done dominating 2014 yet. After releasing a new music video each day for eight days back in July and mocking some of your favorite TV shows during the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards, the comedian-slash-musician is coming for your Christmas list. RadioShack launched a new ad showing off its slate of gizmos and gadgets that make great gifts, and Weird Al is the enthusiastic pitch man. When a shopper (played by Alison Becker) comes into the store asking about heliquads, Weird Al is there to show her the way through confetti, song, and universally-relatable references to that weird cousin who can’t get his life together. We’re not exactly sure what Weird Al has planned next, but it sounds like he might have something to say about batteries.
Kobe Bryant Is the Greatest Misser of All Time
Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.’’ Kobe Bryant listened. Unfortunately, he also misses many of the shots he does take. On Tuesday, Bryant missed his NBA-record 13,418th shot. The fourth quarter jump shot that clanged off the rim put him ahead of John Havlicek, the former Celtics player who retired in 1978 with 13,417 misses. Of course, the NBA shouldn’t write that record in pen. Bryant has 75 games left this season and the full slate of 82 he’s contracted to play next season – and that’s not counting any playoff games this very bad Lakers team might miraculously get to participate in. Of course, missing so many shots isn’t all bad. According to ESPN’s SportsCenter, the next five players on the “most misses ever’’ list are in the NBA Hall of Fame. “Miss-ery’’ loves company.
Have a Nice Trip, See You Next Fall
Visiting the Himalayas sounds like an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience. Unfortunately, it may only be once-in-a-lifetime because of this treacherous bus ride. YouTube user Egemen Yildirim posted a video of the view from his bus and the insane cliff face it runs along. Even when you’re safely sitting thousands of miles away, zero seconds of the footage feel safe. We’re not sure what convinced these guys to take a trip on a road that is both barely wide enough for their bus and right next to an estimated two-thousand-foot drop, but we did learn something: When we finally get the chance to visit the area, we’ll walk, thanks.
Under-Ducker Cop
A lot of crazy nonsense happens in New Jersey, but this might take the cake. A police officer in Fort Lee went out and got himself a Donald Duck costume, put it on, and then used it to go on an undercover mission busting drivers who didn’t yield to pedestrians. Seriously. The operation caught 130 drivers who decided they didn’t want to stop for a 6-foot-4 duck trying to cross the street. Each driver was fined $230 and issued two points against his or her license. But some of those drivers aren’t going to let this slide like water off their backs. One of them even went so far as to ruffle some feathers, arguing to a local news station that she was just a sitting duck who would have stopped for “a person dressed normally.’’ Of course, ducking out of these fines won’t be like a duck taking to water. They’re going to have to get their… um… get their “somethings’’ in a row. What is the word we’re looking for here? Oh, nevermind. Basically, they’ll have to be organized if they want to beat their tickets.
Everyone Is Getting Rich Except for Most of Us
Everyone knows how much we’re all supposed to hate the 1 percent. They’re those greedy, money-grubbing Scrooge McDucks (sorry, we just can’t shake the duck thing) at the top who use their money to make more money and use that money to buy influence and make it so nothing we ever say or do matters. They’re terrible. But, as it turns out, they’re not the worst thing out there. The worst thing out there is actually the 0.1 percent. According to a new research paper on income inequality in America, those jerks are doing so well that they are about to control as much of America’s wealth as the bottom 90 percent. The study, conducted by University of California economist Emmanuel Saez and London School of Economics economist Gabriel Zucman, found that between 1979 and 2012, the top 0.1 percent of households (about 160,000) saw their share of America’s total wealth jump from 7 percent to 22 percent, while the bottom 90 percent of households dropped from 35 percent in the “mid-1980s’’ to 23 percent in 2012. Sounds bad, but there is a silver lining: it’ll be pretty easy to change your protest signs. All you have to do is grab a Sharpie and draw a decimal point.
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