"From my weekly watching of a few shows on Comedy Central, I would say that the best [comedians]are Jews, Irish and Blacks, in that order." 
 
But what about all those German comics?

Here's a link to a photo of Jon Stewart and his writers, after winning an Emmy last night for best writing for a variety, musical, or comedy. If you scan very carefully through the crowd, you might be able to find Waldo...or should the name be Waldene?  
 
http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/tv_pix/emmys/emmy_awards_press_room_2003_photos/jon_stewart/emmy7.jpg

"My impression, from Berkeley historian Yuri Slezkine's 2004 book "The Jewish Century," is that the higher class, more assimilated, more educated Jews of Eastern Europe were more likely to move East to the great cities of Russia (later, the Soviet Union)." 
 
You mean to tell me that our amazing and endless flow of American Jewish talent descends from the LOWER half of European Jews??!! Jesus!! (There's yet another gifted Jew for ya'.)

Very good commentary. The fact that Social Security and Medicare are such huge federal expenses is often used to show how costly seniors are, but that conveniently ignores how most of the funding for education occurs at local and state levels.

Mormons have no desire to keep things like road shows from others. It's just that Mormons divide the world into themselves and potential converts so the involvement of non-Mormons in Mormon activities becomes a "situation" for both groups. These activities are almost always designed to instill belief in the audience so a situation is created where members hesitate to invite a non-Mormons because the latter are going to feel like they are being proselytized. If a person who knows anything about Mormons were invited to an event, they would not want to go because they know that Mormons use every occasion to coax. The problem with things like roadshows is not that Mormons want secrecy; the problem is that they are unable to chill. For example, two of the most lavish roadshow-like productions put on by members are the Hill Cumorah Pageant held annually near Rochester, NY and another similar to done each year in Manti, UT. The productions retell stories from the Book of Mormon and about Joseph Smith starting the Church. The intent of these shows is first and foremost to get out the religious message to non-members and secondly to provide yet another opportunity for members to have a spritual, faith-reinforcing experience. 
 
If one wants to speak of secrecy, you're on more solid ground when you speak of religious ceremonies held in Mormon temples. Only devout Mormons are allowed to enter and folks are sworn to not tell others about the ceremonies performed. The practice once again raises the dark specter of conspiracy--"the Mormons are plotting to take over America"--but the truth is that Mormons have to earn their way in, and they believe they learn sacred things that help them get to Heaven. One has to earn the privilege, and it would offend God to "cast pearls before swine." As Durkheim wrote, religion has always been about separating what is sacred from what is profane.  
 
I wish to God that a desire for secrecy was something that drove Mormons because as someone surrounded by Mormons I get tired of constantly hearing EVERY detail of their religious lives. A fundamental desire of any devout Mormon is to get everyone to be as fascinated by the religion as they are. The only reason why you don't see more of it is that they know others don't want to hear it.

"Take Brazil. In its 2000 Census, 199,645 residents identified themselves as LDS, while the church listed 743,182 on its rolls." 
 
I'm not surprised. Brazil went from few members prior to the 1978 doctrinal change concerning race to these kinds of numbers now, and when you're baptizing that many people each year, most will slip away and forgot about that "Mormon stage" they went through. Plus, there are people like me: people born into the church whose names are still on the rolls but who are non-believers and would not call themseves Mormon on a census form. These are two ways in which Mormon leaders are not lying about numbers.

How is Mormon interest in road shows like a secret rite? The cat is out of the bag: kids into music and drama is a great front for people plotting to take over the world.

Obviously Starks numbers are way off. (If I remember right, he predicted a steady 40% growth per decade without end). Worldwide, membership did grow from 8 to 11.5 million in the 90s (if the number I've seen are accurate) but church leaders have intentionally slowed growth in recent years to avoid chaos. Indeed, the growth rate should diminish as the low hanging fruit are picked, but I will say that even in countries where Mormonism has had its greatest success, membership is no more than a tiny sliver of the total population so there may still be plenty of potential converts. If the ceiling were 1 percent of all people, that is more than 60 million members (and more as the world's pop. continues to grow). It is a testament to the energy of these people that they have grown as much as they have since their religion is a hard sell.

"I was wondering how long it would be before the holy underware was brought up! 
 
Pardner, that's damn near as kooky as handling snakes :)  
 
Nice folks and all, just touched in the head a bit." 
 
Yeah, wearing special clothing is NEVER seen in normal religions.  
 
I'm afraid that several posters missed Razib's excellent point that Mormons are not uniquely kooky among religions because ALL religions are kooky if you bother to take a look.

This analysis is dead-on with respect to Romney. The hostility towards Mormons that I hear from evangelicals shocks me, especially since they are so similar culturally and politically. Romney has also run for office in the past on the pledge to keep abortion safe and legal, another reason it is unlikely that he would get past the primaries. It is amusing to me that Mormon Romney is a much more acceptable to the liberal residents of Massachusetts than to conservative Christians.  
 
It is interesting that this level of hostility is not mutual: from my experience with Mormons (which is substantial since I was a devout Mormon until age 25 and all my relatives are active) they wouldn't even consider not voting for someone for President because he/she were an evangelical Christian. My entire family voted for Bush in both elections, and his religiosity was considered a plus.

"I was talking about high quality protein, not mere calories." 
 
I wonder if the high levels of iron and Vitamin B12 found in meat might be important as well.