for the number of comments to show i use the code:
<?php comments_popup_link('No Comments', '1 Comment', '% Comments');?>
for the post meta data. It works okay in the archive template (http://lbbc.fearlessflyer.com/category/illegal-immigration/) - but not in other page templates (http://lbbc.fearlessflyer.com/politics/ ) - which uses the same exact code.