Difference between revisions of "RationalWiki:Saloon bar"

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::Are all intelligence researchers fucking idiots or just you and Emil Kirkegaard?-[[User:Hastur|Hastur!]] ([[User talk:Hastur|talk]])  21:49, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
 
::Are all intelligence researchers fucking idiots or just you and Emil Kirkegaard?-[[User:Hastur|Hastur!]] ([[User talk:Hastur|talk]])  21:49, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
 
:::Stop the presses! "''Wikipedia has better traffic than RationalWiki.''" my god, who'd a thought it? [[User:Scream!!|Scream!!]] ([[User talk:Scream!!|talk]]) 22:31, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
 
:::Stop the presses! "''Wikipedia has better traffic than RationalWiki.''" my god, who'd a thought it? [[User:Scream!!|Scream!!]] ([[User talk:Scream!!|talk]]) 22:31, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
 +
:::: You guys appear to be the sort who think it is a crime to talk about race. Emil Kirkegaard is a scholar, he publishes peer-reviewed papers every few months. He is not scared to publish what he thinks. Yes he has often got into trouble but he does not back down to any establishment. How many papers have you guys published? 0. I am published in peer review myself [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jordan_Lasker]. More and more people are waking up to the fact racial intelligence is a reality. The Wikipedia article for Emil Kirkegaard will be above the RationalWiki in less than a month. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. I was interested in knowing why you guys hate Kirkegaard so much but I see now this appear to be an anti-white man website. You seem to smear white intelligence researchers as "pseudoscientists" but we are published in peer-review. [[User:BerlinburgerTor|BerlinburgerTor]] ([[User talk:BerlinburgerTor|talk]]) 22:41, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
  
 
== "Leftist Cancel Culture" ==
 
== "Leftist Cancel Culture" ==

Revision as of 22:41, 6 February 2021

Saloon bar
WIGO Bar colour.png

Welcome, BoN
This is a place for general chit-chat about virtually anything that doesn't fit anywhere else.
Guinnesssmiley.gif For previous conversations, see the automagic barchives.Invision-Board-France-355.gif

What is going on?

(talk) (talk) (talk) (talk) (hic)

Pointless poll

Who's winning?Wikipedia

Kendrick Lamar

7

Vote

Drake

1

Vote

J. Cole

1

Vote

Spicy food, yay or nay?

Spice is nice!

119

Vote

Can't handle heat, must avoid at all costs.

33

Vote

Should Azureality be the site mascot?

Heck yeah!

64

Vote

That thing is so cool, I love it!

4

Vote

Needs more goat

27

Vote

What am I looking at, and whose hairbrained idea was it to make a frickin' Pokémon our mascot?!?

103

Vote

Who is the better rapper?

Tupac Shakur

30

Vote

Biggie Smalls

27

Vote

Both are equally great

25

Vote

MC Goat

63

Vote

To do list


Why do all users have the "suppressionlog" permission?

This discussion was moved to RationalWiki:Technical support#Why do all users have the "suppressionlog" permission?.

Conservapedia on Mike Pence

Moved to TWIGO:CP

Funny conservapedia shit

Moved to TWIGO:CP

Reddit vs Wall Street

This is a thing of beauty. There's a subreddit, WallStreetBets, that's basically dedicated to people making ridiculous bets on the stock market. People have made, and lost, large sums doing this. However, they learned about an investment company, called Citron Research, that was short-selling GameStop, as a way to cash in, if the share price of GS continued to tank. Well, these guys went "fuck that shit" and started buying GS shares. To the point where GS is up nearly 300% in the last month alone, and Citron is staring down the barrel of an 8-figure loss. Intro to the story here. -RoundeTheeHorne (talk) 19:49, 25 January 2021 (UTC)

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, go Reddit taking down corporate profiteers! On the other hand, Gamestop? That's who you decided to stick up for? IveBeenFrank (talk) 19:53, 25 January 2021 (UTC)
Hmm... I know what company to buy Puts on...
Today the price was between $60 and $145, dear lord that's some massive market manipulation.
Ah, here we go. Blegh, so expensive. So I'm looking at those puts with a 1/29 expiration (this Friday) and $60 strike. The bid/ask spread is relatively low compared to some of them. So basically, if GameStop goes below $51 by Friday, every dollar below that is profit, which is hardly impossible considering the company was at $20 two weeks ago. If it's between $51 and $60, then partial loss. If above $60, all loss. Someone in the options market already made a fortune...CoryUsar (talk) 20:01, 25 January 2021 (UTC)
Ok, seriously did consider buying those puts at like $10. But the contract is for 100 options, basically $1000. A bit too rich for my blood, but, we will see how much hypothetical money I would've made. Remember, it's a $60 Strike so every $1 below $60 is $100 in option value. Of course, never exercise an option early, better to just sell the damned thing :P. CoryUsar (talk) 20:23, 25 January 2021 (UTC)
The GME stock thingy is a bit of a "tulip mania"Wikipedia to me as I've mentioned before, but hey, some people can make money with that sort of thing (some people can lose money, too). Hopefully it's not a handful of mods colluding in the background. (Because, that would be a pump and dump scheme, and you'll get SEC'edWikipedia for that). If this is an organically grown meme, it's all fun and games. I think I looked at the put options for GME and none were timed or priced like I wanted, the US stock market is frothy and tech overall has some insane valuations right now so I have no idea how long this valuation will last. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 22:42, 25 January 2021 (UTC)
The thing about making money in scams is that if you aren't in on the scam, you are far more likely to be one of the suckers that loses money than one who makes money. But, oddly, the fancy stuff like short selling exists specifically to fuck over people trying to pull scams. If someone is doing a pump and dump, short sellers can come in and eat their lunch so to speak, only, in much much more colorful terms. If someone is trying to cause a sell-off, others will not just buy but buy on margin and again, eat their lunch, and again, in much more colorful terms. CoryUsar (talk) 22:50, 25 January 2021 (UTC)
You hate corporate profiteers but you're pro-capitalism? Curious.... Oxyaena Harass 03:58, 26 January 2021 (UTC)
That's not a contradiction in the slightest. Virtually all economists hate rent seeking, and all but the deranged An-Caps believe government regulations should exist to prevent such behavior. CoryUsar (talk) 04:34, 26 January 2021 (UTC)
All capitalism consists of is rent seeking. Oxyaena Harass 09:42, 26 January 2021 (UTC)
From the lady who wants us all to rearrange the entire system so she gets free shit but doesn't have to work for it. CoryUsar (talk) 13:48, 26 January 2021 (UTC)
Why don't you try reading what socialists have to say for once instead of mouthing off from a position of ignorance like the dense fool you are? Oxyaena Harass 13:55, 26 January 2021 (UTC)
@CorruptUser The remark about "free shit and not working for it" is not cool, man. It's a common phrase, utilizing a dangerous bootstrap mindset, by conservatives used to attack and belittle poor people for not working hard enough and is used to oppose policy that'll save lives or otherwise help people including guaranteed public healthcare, subsidies for education, affordable college education, affordable housing, and more. Some people can't work, some people are working to their limits. Oxy seems to be in dire poverty and under disabilities. It's not good form to strike people's vulnerabilities like this. Sure, she's way too aggressive but don't use such rhetoric that can propagate mindsets that can and will harm vulnerable people. --It's-a me, Lgm sigpic.png LeftyGreenMario! 21:59, 26 January 2021 (UTC)
...and would've lost $600-700 had I bought the options. Dodged a bullet there.CoryUsar (talk) 19:18, 26 January 2021 (UTC)
Gambling. If Wall Street Bets isn't enough to remind people that stocks, dollars, and the economy are based on feelings, rather than facts, I don't know what to to tell you other than reverting to Fiat currency would leave you with nothing, you personally, with nothing. Like, what do people want out of their economy? A huge casino seems to be the current meta for the US. I can't exactly blame anyone for it, it's not like people trust saving your money out here. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 06:16, 27 January 2021 (UTC)
No, derivatives are gambling, and could probably do with a bit of regulation, e.g., at least 1/4 of all derivatives must be held by people owning or having a vested interest in the underlying commodity/stock, or, everyone else has to pay a small tax to trade. Are you an oil producer? Then you may purchase all the puts or sell all the calls on Oil that you want, because paying a few dollars to guarantee you never have to sell below $50/barrel is definitely worth it to you. Are you a Wall Street Hedge Fund that doesn't actually consume or produce oil? Well, you are going to have to pay a 10 cent tax per Oil option that isn't traded with a legit oil producer, you filthy speculators. Basically, the derivatives market would all but collapse except for the people who actually have a damn good reason to be involved in options.
Stocks are a bit different. The real value of a stock is the present value of future dividends, and if you ever go into the market not understanding this I don't want to hear any complaints about losses. If people think Toyota is a junk company that's worth a mere $20/share but it's paying $5/share every single year, someone can put a lot of money in Toyota and keep getting a fortune in dividends. If people think Tesla is this amazing Trillion-dollar company (more than all the other automakers combined, well, they can put their money in it but they will never see the dividends. Eventually the other investors are going to get sick of never seeing the profit, and, well, eventually the world runs out of fools and Tesla's stock will crash. It might take a few years, it might take a decade, but eventually it will all come crashing down. CoryUsar (talk) 14:52, 27 January 2021 (UTC)
Economies and stock markets are always "a bit of both" with data and feelings, sometimes more one than the other. Manias are super common in history. Options have their use, but they sometimes have a whiff of gambling to them in practice. (More "boring" entities like bonds and dividend paying staple stocks are a different story.) This is not the first massive "short squeeze" (see Volkswagen in 2008) but this is the first one I can think of where an amateur mob is ganging up to take on a hedge fund. A return to fundamentals is most likely at some point, and hopefully too many of the mob don't get burned on the way down. But so far it seems that all indicators are that the hedge funds shorting GME are probably going to get burnt the worst. Given everything I know, it's hard not to root for the mob here, to be honest. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 15:13, 27 January 2021 (UTC)
The mob burning a market manipulator into ash is exactly how the market should work. Kind of. Let's say a stock is trading at $70. If a market manipulator tries to raise its price to $200, the mob is supposed to come in and short sell the shares until the stock is back down to $70 and the manipulator loses his shirt. If the manipulator is short selling the stock down to $20, the mob is supposed to keep buying the stock until it's back to $70 and again, the manipulator loses his shirt. That the mob is over counter-manipulating is "wrong" in a sense, but definitely not anything to cry about; if a manipulator should've "only" lost their shirt but loses their pants as well?
Good.
Fuck them.
Without lube.
As for "gambling", it's only gambling if the edge favors the house. In the derivatives market, every penny you make is a penny someone else loses; it's a zero sum game. But there's the fees involved, plus the big boys can trade faster than you, so the edge is against you. It is gambling; you are better off at a casino. So I can say, as an actuary (the profession that enables the finance world to exist), the derivatives market could kick out 90-95% of the people/money involved and it would be a net gain for society. CoryUsar (talk) 16:11, 27 January 2021 (UTC)
It's only a "zero sum game" if you buy into financialization as a ideal, at least inasmuch that the stock/bound/etc market accurately enough reflects reality at any moment to not have unwarranted side effects. If you pull a Bain capital, acquire a company like Toys R Us on the cheap, load it up with bond debt, then allow it to disintegrate, that actually destroys the business. People lose their jobs, locations close, shopping centers have a missing anchor, and the side effects reverberate. That was going to happen to gamestop with this scale of mass short. Should that happen to gamestop? I couldn't say, but it's not a game, and thinking of it as a game(even a game theory game) disconnects from reality. Here we're seeing the effects of large scale actors trying to control the market as a whole. Be it billionaires with hedge funds or an alliance of a couple million users of a bad website. ikanreed 🐐Bleat at me 16:55, 27 January 2021 (UTC)
I'm referring to the Derivatives Market only, not the Stock, Bond or Commodities markets.
As for Bain, I think there are numerous people at fault. If Bain buys ToysRUs, and then they go to Deutsche Bank asking for $10B in loans using TRS as collateral (and use the $10B in loans to buy cheap plastic garbage from themselves and pocket most of the $10B), it's on the Federal Government to step in a regulator and slap Bain upside the head, it's on Bain for pulling this shtick, and it's on Deutsche Bank for being so fuqtarded as to sign this deal. When DB signs this deal and demands a bailout, it's on the Fed for being so fuqtarded as to even consider giving DB a bailout, and it's on the public for re-electing these idiots who gave the bailouts.
As much as I hate to say it, if the companies are going to do stupid shit on the expectation of a bailout and get said bailout because they are "too big to fail", then yes I agree with the people who say we shouldn't let these companies get "too big to fail" in the first place. CoryUsar (talk) 17:27, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Robin Hood shenanigans

Anyone see what's happening with Robin Hood? Apparently barred certain transactions that people consider market manipulation. It's getting like 100,000 1-star reviews and people are calling for lawsuit. Capitalism is complete disgrace, but that goes without saying these days. --It's-a me, Lgm sigpic.png LeftyGreenMario! 19:51, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

It's 100% certain they burned through all the reputation they made. Banning a long position as market manipulation is particular insane though. ikanreed 🐐Bleat at me 19:53, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
On the plus side, the initial take from Congress is unexpectedly bipartisan trashing of Robinhood. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida TlaibWikipedia and Elizabeth Warren tweeted that (in essence) Robinhood pulled a scummy move today. So did Ted Cruz and Marsha BlackburnWikipedia. I wonder if anything will come of this moment. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 20:05, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
I can't believe it, AOC and Ted Cruz actually agree on something! Now if they could find a little more common ground maybe we could get things done in this country. SlayAllPedos (talk) 13:29, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
Yeah, I'd rather the Social Democrat and the opportunist who's spent the last four years pandering to fascists not get along, for obvious reasons. ☭Comrade GC☭Ministry of Praise 14:55, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

Are we sure the Wall Street bigwigs lost?

A lot has been made about the shortsellers allegedly losing $19,000,000,000 or so due to people buying up Gamestop stock. But are we sure the shortsellers have lost? In stocks, there's something called "options". Options are, well, you purchase the right to buy or sell at a specified price and date. A Put option is the right to sell, a Call option is the right to buy. Let's say the stock is trading at $100. You purchase a call option with a "strike" price of $110 for $5. At the end, if the stock is $105, you aren't going to buy the stock at $110 so the option is worthless. If the stock goes to $150, you buy it for $110 instead and then resell for $150, effectively turning your $5 into $40. If the stock is only $112, your $5 only got you $2 so you lost $3. Puts are the reverse, you purchase the right to sell for $90, and if the stock goes to $50, well, that option is now worth $40. You can "write" options, meaning that instead someone else will have the right to buy or sell the stock and you have to eat the loss, in exchange for the money up front, but at the risk of the stock going to the moon and you being on the hook for a fortune. So you write that call with a $110 strike for $5, if the stock goes down, you keep your $5. If it goes up to $200, you are now on the hook for the $90, so you lost $85. If you own the stock itself, well, your gain on the stock is wiped out by the loss on the option. You are in essence buying and selling the volatility of the stock. If the stock is more volatile, the options become pricier, if the stock calms down and stays close to where it currently is, the options are less valuable.

But, back to short selling. Most short sellers, if not too aggressive, purchase call options. Basically, stock is at $100, you short sell it, if it goes to $70 you made $30, but if it goes to $500 you lost $400. However, if you purchase a call with, say, a strike price of $110 for $5, if the stock goes to $500 your short sale lost $400 but your option made $385, so you can never lose more than $15. Of course, if the stock stays at $100, you lose the $5 for the option, and if it goes to $95 you got nothing in spite of being "right" about short selling.

Now, a wall street firm doesn't necessarily have to buy equal amounts of calls as it does short selling. What if, hypothetically, a company shortsold GameStop for $20, but bought twice as many call options for pennies at $50? In spite of losing on the shorts, they make so, so much more on the calls. Furthermore, the people buying up those options might not have been the Redditors themselves, but other Wall Street firms. It's entirely possible that, while someone is losing, the big WS firms are still making money hand over first. CoryUsar (talk) 17:52, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

I personally think the story is too good to be true, and there's a catch OR there are other rich funds in there joining reddit in the speculating wars or whatever. --It's-a me, Lgm sigpic.png LeftyGreenMario! 01:05, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
That one group? Sure, they're out of a job for now, though they likely had golden parachutes. Personally, I find it rather amusing that people are rooting for the same sort of scum who work at hedge funds just because they're fucking over established firms. Remember, the enemy of my enemy is not always my friend. ☭Comrade GC☭Ministry of Praise 01:59, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
One of the mistakes of conspiracy theory types, and even those who are WallStreetBets meme edgelords, is assuming that "the rich" or "the investor class" is some sort of evil monolith. There is a *lot* of "Wall Street opinions", and Wall Street has both Warren BuffettWikipedia and Michael MilkenWikipedia types. CorruptUser described quite well the game of "hedging", where, in lieu of uncertainty, one tries to play both sides of the coin. Aggressive short sellers don't have a great reputation on Wall Street (just ask Dick Fuld Jr.Wikipedia, who dissed short sellers in spite of being one of the fucktards most responsible for the 2008 real estate crash/recessionWikipedia) so in some ways there's no issue whatsoever with WSB dicking over the short sellers. But one thing I do see with the LOLmeme revolution of WallStreetBets is that, unknowingly, they are helping to bail out some companies with pretty fucked up finances. AMC is a great example: due to streaming being of increasing dominance, cinemas probably need to perform a complete makeover in order to compete in the future (future cinemas IMHO will be more like, say, Alamo Draft House, providing a more full service experience of some sort). With COVID-19 fucking up their traffic, many cinema companies like AMC were in serious deep doo doo, with a lot of debt and nothing short term to lean on. Thanks to the Reddit army, AMC is in a much better position to revamp. There's a lot of the power of crowds at work here, and while you can see the power of crowds saving other beloved companies, you can also see the potential for abuse (no surprise some Dogecoin shills tried to hype up the cryptocurrency train shortly after the Gamestop hype, for instance). PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 02:51, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
It's also just a flat out pump and dump scheme, so I would caution anyone buying GME shares (or really any share that's being pushed by WSB and other people) to not do this stuff. You don't want a visit from the SEC, because this is the kinda stuff that they will probably go after because of how obviously fraudulent it is. Techpriest (I am Alpharius! / Pencil.png / Tux icon.png / Shield.png) 12:08, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
@Sirius Also the guys at the top of WSB are using the naive rubes as human cash shields. @PanGalacticGargleBlaster While "the rich" may not be a monolith per se, they do have certain overall behavioral trends. They're less likely to push for things like worker co-op or unions and they're more likely to actively oppose these things. That isn't to say that there's some kind of grand conspiracy (fuck every leftist or anyone else who says implies there is, learn behavioral dynamics you effing twits!) but that there is, again, overall behavioral trends. Though to be fair those trends make sense for people enmeshed in business culture. ☭Comrade GC☭Ministry of Praise 13:50, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
@GrammarCommie I'd go so far as to say "people do and advocate for what they think is in their personal interests". And hell yes, fuck the Grand Conspiracy types; anyone who thinks even several dozen people could control a single major city all by themselves, let alone the entire world, needs to be slapped upside the head a few times. CorBlimey (talk) 14:43, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
Yes, I think the famous Upton Sinclair salary quote applies here. The rich business class also has fucktards like your John McAfee types who made tons of money on scams (in McAfee's case, promoting, pumping and dumped crypto in meme-driven social media... the crypto mania shares some similarities to WSB mania to me). It's difficult for me to tell if WallStreetBets is orchestrated or if it's just mob rule (seems the later to me), but since this group has grown by literally millions in the last couple of weeks and has dominated headlines, I'm pretty sure if there's been some illegal coordination, it will be found out. An individual who gets scammed on the GME deal won't get the SEC, but any sort of person that coordinated this, if this happened, will be in major SEC trouble. Of course, a mob driven pump and dump is still a pump and dump. But there won't be anyone to blame when the inevitable crash occurs. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 16:21, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

What are the chances of Trump winning in 2024?

With Trump's acquittal by the Senate looking almost certain, what do you folks think the likelihood is of Trump winning the presidency again in 2024? Of course, the biggest threat to America isn't that Trump will win 2024, but that a more competent fascist will, but his base is as fired up and angry as ever, and Biden won by the narrowest of margins (45,000 more votes in AZ, GA, and WI would have given Trump a second term). At least to me, it's easy to see that lower Democratic turnout (likely due to progressive disappointment with Biden) in 2024 could easily give Trump the White House. What do you folks think? TheEndlessVoid (talk) 14:31, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

You are of course assuming he gets the Nom. If he doesn't, and runs as third party, it's guaranteeing a Biden victory. CoryUsar (talk) 14:33, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
Don't be so hasty about your statements. Hitler ran a third party and still became the dictator that we all know and hate. MarioSuperstar77 (talk) 17:24, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
That's assuming Biden gets the Dem nomination. Both of you are putting carts before horses. ☭Comrade GC☭Ministry of Praise 14:43, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
I got the impression (from somewhere) that Biden doesn't intend to run in 2024 and just wanted to get Trump out of office and clean up after him in a single term. I'd imagine Harris would be most likely Democratic candidate. Knight CommanderIn ServiceTo HerGoatness 14:47, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
I for one don't think Biden will run in 2024 (God help us all if he doesn't realize 82 is too fucking old to be running a global superpower). My guess is that Harris will likely run for/win the Dem nomination (probably after a substantial challenge from a more progressive candidate). As for the idea that Trump will run third party, I just don't see him doing that given that GOP leadership have made it clear they aren't abandoning him any time soon. Of course, there's always the possibility that he won't run, or he'll be in prison or the grave in four years.TheEndlessVoid (talk) 14:52, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
According to the messages from the Biden camp he will run again. But that might be because saying "Only one term" would make him start off like a lame duck. Obviously, at the moment, the most obvious successor would be the existing VP.Bob"Life is short and (insert adjective)" 16:39, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
Remember, people have real short attention spans. Trump's political power depends entirely on his ability to maintain a presence in the national spotlight. If these few weeks are anything to go by, he'll fade away just like Bush did. Of course, he'll still have power, but the more active, attention-getting Republicans will be the candidates everyone talks about. Trump's made enough of an influence that any successors will have to at least pay lip service, but it's not inconceivable that they will bring about a radical shift in Republican policy not unlike the flip from neoconservatism to Tea Party to Trumpism. Of course, this advantageous (in my opinion at least) scenario depends on Trump not getting prime-time attention - this isn't a certainty just yet. IveBeenFrank (talk) 15:22, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
Regardless of who the democratic nominee is in 2024, they're almost guaranteed to win if Trump runs as a third party and splits the vote (unless a similar thing happens within the Democratic party). I'm not sure how much it will matter that the GOP leadership haven't abandoned Trump; he was apparently pretty furious with them that they didn't do more to support his bid to remain president despite the election. Ultimately, I think it will depend on the advice of whoever is closest to Trump when (if) he decides to run again. I think if Trump were to run again he would get a huge amount of primetime attention, rendering moot any lull in the meantime. He also gets enough attention and has enough resources that I can see him forging his own show/website/something else and staying in the spotlight as long as he can; I think he rather likes getting a lot of attention. In any case, I think he will be an impactful figure in 2024, whether or not he runs (unless he dies before then, and even then he's made quite an impact on the GOP already). 68.56.144.8 (talk) 15:35, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
Trumps social media presence also got extremely neutered. Remember that a lot of his 2016 campaign came from him tweeting shit out on his personal Twitter. He's lost all of his social media outlets. Techpriest (I am Alpharius! / Pencil.png / Tux icon.png / Shield.png) 15:41, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
It's too early to speculate about who will run, let alone who will win. ☭Comrade GC☭Ministry of Praise 15:57, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
This tbh. Frankly, 4 years is a long time. A lot of things can happen. Techpriest (I am Alpharius! / Pencil.png / Tux icon.png / Shield.png) 16:04, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
Yes, there are much worse virus candidates than Covid, and more ways for the world to mess up.Bob"Life is short and (insert adjective)" 16:41, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
I'm trying my best to reserve judgement on Biden and not hate him out the gate other than for the inexecusable things he did in the past. But my gut feeling based on no serious analysis is that he will fail to substantially improve the lives of americans, catch the blame for the continuing escalation of day-to-day problems, even worse inequality, hit a giant market crash, "need to deal with the debt", and get beaten by someone with trump's pseudo-populism and far more structural competence. Certainly media people will expect the pandemic to go away faster than it's gonna and blame Biden for every act he does to control it as too far, but also "How is it not fixed yet, why didn't (half measure x) fix it?". I don't have a best case scenario in my head. I literally cannot imagine anything going especially well in the next few years. ikanreed 🐐Bleat at me 16:49, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
First - what will the US be like in 2024; then who else will be in the running.
What chance ComputerAvatarDonaldTrump? Anna Livia (talk) 17:12, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
Concur with GC, Biden/Harris have been in office for seven days. Too early to make any sort of prediction, especially considering there are off cycle elections in Virginia this year, and mid-term elections in 2022. With Trump, the only thing we should expect is chaos. If he tries to put his thumb on the scale for mid-term elections, that will be the first test of his political power not on a ballot or in office. GOP candidates were trounced in '18 when he tried to make the election all about him, lost the general election by 7 million votes, and fumbled two run-off elections in Georgia. The political power he wields come more from people questioning themselves following '16, which while surprising, wasn't nearly as stunning as people make out. Since then his record is spotty. -RipCityLiberal (talk) 18:13, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
Also, why are we assuming that Biden is going to be too old in 2024, but not Trump? Trump is 4 years younger, yes, but his entire diet consists of deep-fried salt and his idea of "exercise" is "golf". There's a chance that Trump won't be capable of running in 2024. CoryUsar (talk) 18:17, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
There is no chance of Trump winning in 2024. He is, by his own criterion, a loser. He was the first president since Hoover to lose the House, lose the Senate, and lose the presidency in his first term. As the reality of "more than 500,000 dead Americans" sinks into the mulish skulls of many white Americans, impressions of Trump's presidency will continue to deteriorate. As long as the Biden administration is seen to work to provide relief for poorer people, including whites, Republicans will be shit out of luck.Ariel31459 (talk) 19:31, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
While I don't see Trump running again in 2024, don't for even a second think that the Republicans won't have a chance at taking back the White House in 4 years. That line of thinking is what cost the Democrats in 2016 and it will happen again in 2024 if they let it. As Endless Void pointed out, Trump's fanbase is probably more fired up now than they were at any point during the last four years. Who exactly will win the White House for the Republicans is anyone's guess, but the chances of it happening are certainly there. Also keep in mind that while some states like Texas and Georgia are slowly becoming more Democrat, others like Florida and Ohio are not, they are actually becoming more Republican. Aaronmichael5 22:38, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
I am glad as anyone that Trump is gone, people need to stop this absurdly optimistic triumphalist routine. The senate is 50/50 with the filibuster still in play. Given their house results last year during what should have been a complete rout the republicans have a pretty good chance of retaking that part of congress in 2022. Trump lost by less than 100,000 votes in a key few states. Writing off the GOP at this point is pure stupidity. SOME users obviously completely failed to learn the lesson of 2008-2010.-Flandres (talk) 22:51, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

The 2024 election will be Prince Harry v. Melania Trump v. Bigfoot. Anna Livia (talk) 19:39, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

i am alittle bit sad hes gone as there is nothing to distract from the inevitable break up of the uk. still got covid to blame for failures from brexit as they happen. it might still take a while to run out of things to blame things on. its the spirit of the blitz and/or the little boats of dunkirk that will allow england and probably wales at best to keep calm and blame it all on someone else. we cant vote brexit out like you could with ex prez fuckface. would we better if implications of the economy shrinking from poor trade deals or just trade deals that could never be better than what we gave up were more obviously the result of leaving the eu, or are hiding behind covid and just saying everything is shit anyway as we watch economies recover while ours doesnt, an our health service, schools, welfare, fucking everything is run into ground by private companies because that was the fucking point of brexit. it wasnt fucking sovereignty thats for fucking sure.
at least trump was entertaining, especially as he was your problem. nothing to distract from brexit and trade deals and and hard borders and delays in kent. the destruction of the uk is inevitable and so fucking tedious going about it. AMassiveGay (talk) 23:48, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

Fascism Competing Against Socialism

I have had this thought of late that has two basic parts:

  1. Since 2008 the GOP has been sounding the alarm of radical Socialism coming to America, through various actions from the Obama administration. From the jump it has been a scare tactic, not based in reality, as any socialist would tell you the Obama administration was at best a centrist administration, more traditionally a center-right administration. But much like the Streisand Effect, there became a rising interest in actual socialism (or at least Social Democratic principles) that have become mainstream in the Democratic Party. This in turn..
  2. In response to this rise, far-right figures have leaned into increasingly fascist ideas, specifically using the rise of Mussolini and Hitler to counter the USSR. This of course has increasingly led to violent language, and actual violence, which has in-turn inspired and increasingly violent Anti-Fascist movement to counter.

Frequently I find myself thinking of a Politico Magazine article I read in 2019.[1] It details the murder of five communists that seems to have been the first partnership between the KKK and Neo-Nazis. In short, although the KKK had similar feelings about white supremacy, they refused to partner with Neo-Nazis because Nationalism. But when Black people began organizing with communists (more Maoists honestly) in North Carolina, the dual threat of an organized Black population created common cause with the KKK and Nazi's to create a partnership that is still active today.

The violent rhetoric from the far-right, to this day, still uses the threat of global socialism as a motivating factor. Would roundly repudiating this, and the GOP forced to use correct the language bring the temperature down? Or are we currently in a spiral of increasing violence that won't be resolved without open conflict?-RipCityLiberal (talk) 20:21, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

From what I know of Italian and German history, it definitely seems like fascism’s raison detre (one however tf you spell it I haven’t learnt french in 10 years), is inherently opposition to “the left”, however that is defined. Every fascist movement to my knowledge has been inherently defined by an alliance of the radical right and traditional conservatives to oppose any leftist/worker type movement. We’re definitely seeing that in the US, and as far as I can tell, the only solutions are either open conflict in which the fascists are crushed, or alternatively, instituting massive policies that change everyone’s lives for the better (eg M4A), which have a tendency to become extremely popular once instituted and thereby neuter fascist movements. Idk tho I’m not a, uh, history studier. ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 21:47, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
It's a bit more complex than that. Fascists want to return to a prelapsarian golden age, or at least emulate one. Hence the heavy emphasis "restoring" the country to a supposed past glory. The core of most leftist thought on the other hand tends to lean heavily towards abandoning the current status quo in favor of new theoretical systems rather than trying to reclaim the past. Both of these are differentiated with the center and the center right which tend towards trying to make do with the present. It isn't surprising then that most fascist movements come into conflict with leftism (though we also shouldn't forget their alliances with other political factions tend to be rather loose), whereas a more right-wing outlook might be more sympathetic due to it wanting to preserve established traditions and sociopolitical dynamics. ☭Comrade GC☭Ministry of Praise 22:06, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
Yeah ur right of course. I’m not super good at understanding “words” or “tone, but I get the vibe that we more or less agree except that ur putting more detail into it than my “extremely oversimplified shit”? Idk lmao, please let me know if I have misunderstood. And also ur deffo less of a “Dumb Ass” than me so I respect ur perspective and appreciate your insight ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 22:19, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

The use of hysterical anti-communist rhetoric is nothing new, nor is uniquely North American. Neither is the use of fascist paramilitaries to attack the left. Almost every country in Latin America is dotted with mass-graves that were filled indiscriminately with almost anyone who so much as thought about a living wage - with much of the rhetoric justifying these atrocities being based in anti-communist sentiment.

Not sure what your thought is here. That fascists and communists are generally mortal enemies? That conservatives cynically brand liberals and social democrats as communists in order to justify various forms of over-reaction? Get ready, it's... (talk) 22:13, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

I'm not convinced that pseudo-history is the exclusive domain of the Far-Right though, nor is futurism the exclusive domain of the Far-Left. CoryUsar (talk) 22:21, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
Well, I’d argue that, ofc nobody has a monopoly on “dumb traditionalist/pseudo historical shit” or “tryna fundamentally change society for a new future”; however, I do think that the history shit is much more of a defining feature of the fash while future shit is more of a defining feature of the left. I’d also argue that many fascist and leftist ideologies work on the interplay/synthesis of these things, but that overall when you boil it down, that’s kinda the cores of the different things. Idk tho. As said, I’m not some kind of “Smart And Knowledge Person”. ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 22:25, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
To @Tikitime, the point I'm trying to flesh out, is that the GOP since Goldwater has flirted with extreme right wing beliefs, i.e. John Birch Society, and has frequently target Democrats and Democratic policies as "Socialist", the extreme left. Perpetuating that lie, has given rise to this fascist rise in America, and there seems to be no brakes right now. But it is their own lie that has given rise to this. Shouldn't there be a massive intellectual movement from the center-right to call this shit out?-RipCityLiberal (talk) 22:28, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
Ya'll are right that the far-right tends to adhere to pseudo-history more than the far-left, but believing in pseudo-history is not a prerequisite of being a far-right lunatic. CoryUsar (talk) 22:31, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
I’d argue that, even if it’s not a prerequisite on the individual level, the ideologies themselves cannot realistically be sustained without at least a current of pseudohistory. If you believe that your “people” are inherently better than the outgroup and deserve to control or destroy them, that’s not really something justifiable without a shitload of pseudohistory and pseudosci nonsense. You might not personally believe that, say, white ppl/Americans/whoever the fuck are “gods chosen ppl”, but without that kind of belief existing, there would be no justification for that movement to exist, I guess is what I’m saying. ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 22:37, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

@RipCityLiberal, conservatives have flirted with extreme right wing beliefs since forever. There have always been establishment conservatives with abhorrent views and many conservatives are probably acutely aware that much of the far-right is just free-votes. I mean the whole point of the dog-whistle is that it allows conservative politicians to court more far-right voters while still pretending to be a 'sensible moderate'. This grift is well established and it works for both the far-right and for more vanilla conservatives.

@CoryUsar Agreed. I'd say fascisms general support for fixed hierarchies (and also capitalism) does a much better job of explaining the animosity than any appeal to future aesthetics vs golden era aesthetics.

Get ready, it's... (talk) 22:34, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

@Tikitime I think that BOTH the “golden era” shit AND the fixed hierarchy shit are necessary for fascism, and for each other — this hierarchy is good bc when we had it the world was better; the world was better bc these fixed hierarchies existed. Again, this is just my Dumb Ass Talk but that’s what I would say that I RECKON ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 22:39, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
(also for clarity the caps aren’t me yelling or being mad, I just emphasise things weirdly. I think you’re right and I’m not tryna b mad here) ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 22:40, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

I don't see how golden era would be necessary. Often co-morbid maybe... but it seems entirely possible to construct a fascist world-view that argues it is constructing something new. Again... see earlier references to the role of the Futurists in Italian fascism. Get ready, it's... (talk) 22:43, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

I think that fascism is inherently a combo of futurism and golden age shit. The futurists ofc played a HUGE role in Italian fascism, especially in the aestheticisation (spelt that wrong) of violence, weaponry, etc. However, even for Italian fascism, it as absolutely necessary to have all these ideas about the Roman Empire etc etc etc. I think that without the golden age stuff, the ideology is “just” ultranationalism and not fascism. That’s what I’d reckon anyway. ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 22:47, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
I'm not being rude, (and I mean this genuinely) but I don't think even you know what you are referring to as fascism now. Seriously 'fascism - golden age thinking = ultranationalism'?. Come on... there is a lot more to fascist politics than just ultra-nationalism + golden age thinking. The defining trait that makes fascists want to kill communists is their, percieved, faulty insurrection against a, perceived, natural order; not their failure to recognise how totally awesome Rome or Ancient Britain was. We can debate the extent to which national myths and bad history play in the fascist psyche (probably varies person by person and movement by movement) but it's always going to fail to properly identify what actually puts fascists and communists at each-others throats. And that is that their plans for the future, their relationship with capitalism and their ideas of social order are by their very nature at odds. Get ready, it's... (talk) 23:08, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
I think that theres 2 problems here. Problem 1, the obvious one, is that I’m fairly ignorant and terrible at communicating. But that’s just life. The second problem here, I think, is that fascism is so fluid and messy and complex that any simplified definition is going to be wrong. But I think that, you’re right that it’s not necessarily national myths that make them hate commies; however to my knowledge I’ve ALWAYS seen one of the defining traits of fascism as being a combo of that “national rebirth” shit PLUS the ultranationalism/hierarchy/etc. I’m not denying that the main issue with the fash vs commie thing is their relationships to heirarchy, nationality, capitalism, etc. But I think more broadly, the majority of fascist movements require that national mythical shit to be “true fascism”. But again, I do not think I’m communicating this clearly, and I do not think I’m likely to be correct, so I may just have a nap rn. ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 23:22, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
I don't think of fascism as fluid. Fascists identify a group that they say is entitled to power, being denied by another group, usually by some shadowy Jewish cabal. They articulate that if they don't take power, they will be killed by the other group. Usually they include some sort of shared history to support their narrative, but primarily it's - We are the majority, the Jews are controlling everything, and we must kill everyone to secure power.-RipCityLiberal (talk) 23:44, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
I would argue fascism is somewhat fluid simply by being a hyper-nationalist ideology. As such, it will always modify itself to suit the nation it manifests in. They follow the same broad broad contours, yes. But beyond the Palingenetic framework at lot can be different because different cultures have a specific idea of what constitutes "purity" and such.-Flandres (talk) 01:47, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
My working thesis is that fascism is a pseudo-ideology. ☭Comrade GC☭Ministry of Praise 23:57, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
Ok, I'll bite. What's the demarcation between an ideology and a pseudo-ideology? CoryUsar (talk) 23:58, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
@CorruptUser An ideology has concrete goals, policy proposals, and at least degree of coherency. Fascism has none of these things beyond a very superficial level. Hence, it is a ideology in name only, a fake ideology, a pseudo-ideology if you will. ☭Comrade GC☭Ministry of Praise 13:20, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

@RipCityLiberal @Flandres, I'd say you are right about the fluidity of fascist mythology but I don't think it's all that useful to define fascists by what they specifically believe. The more robust way to identify them is to look at the role their movement plays in the broader political ecology. Whatever they believe, fascists are essentially a force of reaction that asserts the natural supremacy of gender, race and class in their politics (even if their rhetoric seems ambivalent to one or more of those topics). In my experience allowing fascists to define themselves by what they believe is one of the things that makes crypto-fascism and the alt-right so effective against liberals. People spend so much time scratching their heads going "wait these guys are identitarians. Let's not be too hasty and brand them as fascists!" because they don't ask the material questions about what where this movement fits in the broader landscapes and historical moment. I don't think fascism can be articulated definitively by reference to what its members think... rather asking 'what does it do' seems more pertinent. Get ready, it's... (talk) 09:44, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

I don't see the definition problem pertaining to fascists. The right-wing of the GOP has been slowly gaining in power, incorporating more right-wing members that support Christian Fascism. The dangerous thing, is that this response is of their own creation. The GOP believed it could co-opt the support of Birchers, the militia movement, and white supremacists with dog whistles because they share one common goal, a smaller and weaker federal government, among these being the threat of Socialism. Though generally the most extreme socialism supported by mainstream Democrats were market based, that dehumanizing language is the reason for fascism rise. The only off-ramp I can see before we get to The Turner Diaries level violence, is a concerted effort from the Center-Right to call out this use of language, and purge members from their supporters.-RipCityLiberal (talk) 16:49, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
@RipCityLiberal, again your treating far-right membership in broader conservative movements as though it is something new. It's not. Conservative movements in the U.S. have nearly always courted the far-right. Waiting for centre-right conservatives to take a moral stance against fascism is like waiting for Jack Daniels to fund AA programs and start advocating for a tee-total lifestyle. It is simply not in their interest.
Principled conservatives are a very small minority. They exist but often have little influence. I would go so far as to say there is not a single fascist movement that has been prevented by conservative politicians taking a moral stand.
Fascism is often a product of faltering faith in democratic institutions and their ability to deliver to the masses. It can also be (to paraphrase Aimé Césaire) what happens when imperialism and colonialism comes home. Primarily it takes public discontent with the status quo and diverts that aggression away from the seats of power and towards the powerless - which is why conservatives are so ambivalent to stopping it, it turns out fascism is an excellent remedy to socialism. The man on the street won't be storming the bastille so long as he's busying himself screaming abuse in the face of a homeless asylum seeker.
'Full Marxist Hat On'
If you want to defeat fascism you have to tackle the discontent that it feeds off of. Demonstrate that there is an alternative to race-war. Demonstrate that the fascist dream is a lie sustained by nothing but propaganda. And you have to disrupt fascist attempts to spread propaganda and organise. Whether that is through debunking(counter-propaganda), finding ways to fuck with their income by outing fascists to employers, or ensuring that every rally they hold ends with them outnumbered, humiliated and upset. Or even just working in favour of policies that alleviate the economic and social concerns that feed these movements or supporting anti-racism initiatives.
There are things you can do to push back against fascism but waiting for conservatives to make a moral stand is going to leave you disappointed at best. Get ready, it's... (talk) 00:16, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
As my name should indicate, I agree with that sentiment. If people reward you with power, promising to improve their lives, it is incumbent upon you to use that power. The mixing of conservatives and fascism I understand is also not a new thing, but I find that telling people that are right-wing, are in fact fascists, seems to dilute the power of your argument. But dressing down people who squeal "SOCIALISM" at every policy the Democrats propose would seem a better way to state clearly that not everything the Democrats do is socialism. However that would also people to be responsible with their language, which seems a lost art nowadays.-RipCityLiberal (talk) 00:31, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
Dilutes the power of what argument? Are you trying to imply that fascism has risen because of red-scare tactics? That support for the far-right would wane if the democrats sufficiently distanced themselves rhetorically from socialism?
I have serious doubts about any solution that involves trying to convince fascist sympathisers that you are not like the people they are angry at. 'No silly! We're not socialists... we hate socialists as much as you do! Stop being ridiculous' Such a strategy could quickly and easily morph into one where liberals throw socialists (and other political/social minorities) under the bus to keep fascists placated - a strategy that rarely works in the long term.
How does that old poem go again? Something about 'first they came for the socialists...'Get ready, it's... (talk) 12:12, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
alt right nazi facist far right from a purely conversational perspective, where playing fast and loose with definitions is usually sufficient to convey groups and thoughts to far to the right for comfort that actual specific differences doesnt change the fundemental fact that they are arseholes on the right beyond the point where anything good can be achieved by civil discourse. i might reserve 'nazi' for far right pricks with explicitly racist agendas and will probably use 'far right' merely to avoid getting bogged down defining terms more precisely than any purpose i might have requires. i reserve 'facist' when i want say far right cunts and leave things at that.
the left though, is a far broader church ranging from left of centre to maoist insanity where anything more specific than 'the left' will result in the most tedious conversations where the exact type of anarchist you is described and why the anarchist you talking too is of a kind of miniscule difference to ones own makes them a splitter worse than hitler.
it makes even less point to my mind as while i can see far right groups have an easier route to power or at least influence on the political world of lots of places. steps required or some form of facistic shitbags are few and dont require massive and radical shifts in politics or society at large. just scapegoating, scaremongering, misinformation, and a social media account. a bit of pandering to those such people, avoid talking about final solutions and restrict the overt racism to targets already unpopular with potential supporters, and we get dreadfully racist policies like the uk's hostile environment destroying lives as now race baiting is a legitimate electoral tactic as more mainstream parties court the racist vote and deflect blame for policies finshing of the post war consensus for good.
te left though, beyond social programs and easily explained things like universal healthcare, the further left you go, or more radically left i guess, are in the realms of fantasy. the likes of communism, of any variety, what ever shade of anarchism you going with, are so far from the status quo, requiring the changes in the society and the political system so major, likely involving significant hardships even if not in form of a violent revolution its all fantasy and make believe to even care what kind of anarchist you might be, its not in the realms of possibility to matter. communism is a non starter requiring some kind of post scarcity society not possible to even consider as a goal worth seeking, considering the upheavals required for an impossible dream. some degree of socialism, with clear goals and how to get sure. you cant expect anyone to get behind a vague fantasy and put up with hardship, compromising on the achievable goals in favour of a science fiction utopia. its the same with anarchism. critiqueing its many issues of some form or other might have in a hypothetical world where its a reality, or pondering on how it might deal with things in a society so far removed from where we currently reside, that i have no clue as to what existence would be like at all day to day to even know if its desirable, even as a fantasy utopia. and again, no clear route to even know where to begin. pointing to existing anarchist societies indicate a state of crisis or crushing poverty is required for pooling of resources to be worthwhile and not mean a drastic collapse in most peoples lives. and existing models exist within the here and now interacting and depending on an not anrchistic world, with limits on scale making successful anarchist society likely a local concern within existing societies.
when looking at antifa vs far right groups like proud boys. the far right benefit far more violence and disruption at demos than antifa or similar leftist groups because reactions to such activities lean towards more authoritarian actions that favor the right, and have a generally more divisive effect and intimidate opposition or grow their ranks, espec if they pin it on a leftist bogey man. antifa, with reference to riots at g8 conferences and the like does not achieve anything from it. its not going to spark a revolution or cause any kind collapse in capitalism or society in general to make people think ancharism or communism is the way forward. its just headache for authorities that just plays into the rights hands. it would be terrifying if they could destabilise society like that and not something anyone should hope for no matter how much the developed world might suck. with no plan or route forward or anything beyond capitalism bad boo to capitalism, why would any kind of utopian anarchist/communist society arise and not something more staliny or maoist? or just mad max style feudalism? or the same as before but lots of people have gone bankrupt, with the same systems in place just that more shitty? ive no idea. people seem to think things will just happen and be really great and not all kinds of awful involving hunger and cannibalism.

tl/dr while facism used to be super anti communist/socialist, that part of it is redundant these days. they may as well be anti dalek for all the threat communism or socialism has and there is a significant far right. its more a cover for the more racist varieties while chipping away at the what remains of a welfare state. far right groups are real tangible threat. communism? i'll worry about its more than just badge for internet posturing or beinmg advocated by guerillas with ak 47s and violent revolution AMassiveGay (talk) 21:11, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

I like what the Commie said: fascism is not an ideology. Neither is socialism. They are categories wherein we find historical examples similar in some ways to Nazism and Communism respectively. The words themselves are like stick figures: lacking sufficient detail to resemble a living person. Historical determinism is, itself, a dubious categoryUncleKrampus (talk) 22:28, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
@AMassiveGay Would raise some points vis a vis disruption at far-right protests.
The function of a march or demonstration is partly to raise awareness of a cause but it's more about organisations flexing their muscles and rallying supporters. An ideal demonstration ends with supporters feeling confident that their message was well received and that they are viewed positively by the wider public. Generally demonstrations are very bad ways of convincing new people (since people are always a bit suspicious of demonstrators) but good ways of building cohesion and confidence in a movement.
Conversely, if that person's experience is being scared, humiliated and suddenly very aware of how un-popular they are. It becomes difficult to convince that person to attend another event, let alone have faith in its leaders or in the idea that they represent a popular struggle. Their views may not change but their willingness to act on them will often be curtailed.
There are some caveats, the hardcore will generally be un-phased by violence and plenty of them will use disruption at their events to fuel their persecution complex but as a general rule the more of a drubbing the organisation has taken, the less likely they are to organise in the near future. In my personal experience, once a far-right group has had its demo go wrong they tend to hunker down and spend the next few months calling each-other paedophiles on message-boards. Disruption of fascist events can have crippling effects on fascist orgs. Bogging their decision making down in paranoia, miring their internal politics in bitterness and generally making their organisations very un-pleasant and un-appealing places for new recruits.
Also... Anders Brevik?... Fascism today is still very much obsessed with the far-left and anti-communism. And even though socialism is a political irrelevance in most places in the west. Most surveys show that it still has support amongst a decent chunk of the population. Get ready, it's... (talk) 13:38, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
@GrammarCommie I... almost agree with you, Fascism isn't based on sound, coherent logic or philosophy, and doesn't even have a "it works while broken" justification. I'll point out, however, that there is a policy goal that makes sense in the framework of "we need to be prepared to fight any of our greedy neighbors", and that's "Autarky", the economic policy of being completely unreliant upon international trade for every critical good even if it'd be more efficient to rely upon imported steel I just think my last hangup is whether many other ideologies would be considered "pseudo-Ideologies". For instance, would "Monarchism" and "Islamist Supremacy" be a pseudo-ideology? Corncob (chat) 17:37, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

Re: Pointless poll

I love Babylon 5. One of the greatest shows of all time. How are you going to say that it's about a ragged bunch of misfits, though?-Hastur! (talk) 00:55, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

I know, it's only sort of that and doesn't quite fit. The crew of the station doesn't quite belong, often working against each other, constantly shifting alliances, all the politics and intrigue. It isn't like Star Trek, where Starfleet has some semblance of discipline and everyone is the most elite the Federation has to offer. CoryUsar (talk) 01:08, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
I loath almost all things sci-fi. AceSimple Maze 01:28, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
Must....control....nerd-rage...
Ok, what are the scifi things you don't loath? CoryUsar (talk) 01:39, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
Presumably something noxious like the Star Wars prequel trilogy lol-Hastur! (talk) 01:42, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
Star Wars I can live with. High concept like the movie Coherence I like, enjoy the works of John Wyndham - but pop-Sci Fi can get fucked, drowned with a bag of kittens chucked from a bridge by some Victorian era psycho. AceSimple Maze 01:50, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
So... do you like any of the following?
District 9
Alien
2001 A Space Odyssey
Blade Runner
Total Recall
Moon
Planet of the Apes (original, remake, but NOT the Tim Burton bullshit)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Note that these are all SciFi movies where there's a reason for them to have the SciFi, to explore the limits of humanity or to get us to question reality by present our own world in a different light. Star Wars? Yeah it's entertaining, but you could replace the ships with wizards and you could keep the story intact. CoryUsar (talk) 02:05, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
@Ace McWicked — u ever read Dune? ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 05:08, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

I just wanted to say that it's "Battlestar Galactica", not "Gallactica". Glad to see my favorite show here anyway. GeeJayK (talk) 05:11, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, Cory. GeeJayK (talk) 05:14, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
Cowboy Bebop, but no Outlaw Star? What a useless poll! Revolverman (talk) 18:57, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
Added Outlaw Star for you, be sure to vote for it :P CoryUsar (talk) 01:31, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

Your worst breakup

Excerpt I care about is too long for WIGO

This piece is fairly typical of our era


Anyway, it is true that Marjorie Taylor Greene and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez play equivalent roles within their respective parties. MTG holds down her party’s right flank, and AOC holds down her party’s left flank. You can somewhat deduce the corresponding beliefs of the two parties’ mainstream contingents by moving somewhat to the center of each. Most Democrats are skeptical of defunding the police and question the feasibility of transitioning to a state-run health-care system. Most Republicans are probably quite skeptical that the California wildfires were intentionally set by a Jewish space laser.

There's more in the article that gives context to that, but it pretty much summarizes our political world. ikanreed ;🐐Bleat at me 16:31, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

Now THAT is false equivalence. IveBeenFrank (talk) 16:34, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
I think it was intended as a joke, but nottheless does, in fact, accurately describe the beliefs of those elected to congress. ikanreed 🐐Bleat at me 16:43, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
I don't think it's a false equivalence. I think it's an indictment of the GOP. If the far left of the Democratic party is AOC, who at best is a Social Democrat, and the far right of the GOP is MTG, a proto-fascist, then what does that say about the values of the parties?-RipCityLiberal (talk) 16:53, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
Centrism not exactly at it's worst, it's a "Both sides" opinion piece... At least it's framed as opinion... We're in trouble, aren't we? Gol Sarnitt (talk) 06:23, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
Jonathan Chait is a center left columnist, noted for having a distaste for "sloganeering leftism" (won't use the snarl world here) and a more hawkish foreign policy then most on the left. So he's not going to fully embrace AOC. My take on the article though is that it's not a "both sides" piece. He seems to be saying that on the Democrat side, there is policy differences over issues like health care and police funding between the center left and the progressives. Certainly there can be heated debate, but at least both sides are grounded in reality. On the other side, however, the extreme end is batshit insanity that is not even wrong. The "center" of the Republican party may not quite be QAnon, but it certainly seems that the "center" of Republicans now has drifted into an anti-intellectual authoritarianism centered around devoted worship of a useless idiot, a party with hardly any policy to speak of (cutting taxes, tweet about "uppity" NFL players, refuse to concede elections even if you've lost, and ???). So my take is more like RipCityLiberal. Both sides are divided these days, but only one side really represents sanity at the moment. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 03:50, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

I'm drunk!

Just wanted to let you know. For the first time in about 3 weeks, I'm truly, really, wholly and entirely drunk. That's all. Knight CommanderIn ServiceTo HerGoatness 01:57, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

............... Aaronmichael5 04:06, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
We're all tough here. Don't let em get you down. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 07:16, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
Trying barleywine for the first time. Can't say that I'm drunk yet though lol-Hastur! (talk) 07:19, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
Mondo edit, what does barlywine taste like for you? I tried it one time and I didn't like it. And I like IPAs, but they get me hammered. I like wine, I like ales and pilsners and stouts I really like O'Douls take on ale. Like, the only thing they can do is keep the flavor, it's their only job, they do it. There's no alcohol off the top, no perfume, but it's good beer. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 08:07, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
Barleywine is just a category of very strong ales; there are no doubt different varieties, and as usual British ones will be better than US ones. I dislike US IPAs, they tend to taste like sour turpentine to me. Smerdis of Tlön, wekʷōm teḱsos. 15:43, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
The barleywine was... fine. Potable. I'll drink an IPA if I'm in the mood. But I don't usually feel like drinking anything too hoppy. The fruitier IPAs are good-Hastur! (talk) 15:46, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
As a category, I like IPA, but there are a vast number of varieties. Some are fantastic and some are, in my opinion, undrinkable. There are a surprising number of them now being made locally in Spain. I've seen them as low as 4 percent alcohol and up to 12.
Not had a barley wine for ages, but I used to quite like it in the UK.
The strongest "beer" I ever tried was an Imperial Stout at 21 percent. It was pretty undrinkable though.Bob"Life is short and (insert adjective)" 19:48, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
I went to two beer tasting festivals with my dad and brother. They are more responsible than me. My dad likes IPAs, my brother likes Stouts. I like everything, so I got wasted at both. My brother took me to another beer festival, and he dragged me to a one man panel discussion from the guys from Boulevard brewing. And the guy said something that really stuck with me. The main point is it's stupid to just snob a beer, because what Budweiser and Busch do is actually an exercise in consistency. You never have to ask what a Bud is going to taste like, you never get a bad bottle or can, so if your neighbor offers you a Bud or a Busch or a Coors, they aren't offering you a bad beer. They are, just, offering you a beer. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 03:38, 31 January 2021 (UTC)m
Being said, an IPA that reminds me of grapefruit is always a thumbs up. I've really wanted to try Old Rasputin, I've heard it's so dark you can chew it. I don't like sweet or bready beers very much. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 03:49, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
The real question is, were you prepared for the next morning with some cheap sunglasses? I can control myself just fine, especially with beer, and between my proximity to New York and my home state having plenty of local breweries (if you ever want a success story of deregulation, how about the deregulation that launched breweries and distilleries in the United States?) I have plenty to keep me busy. Unlike those above, I do enjoy a harsh IPA as much as a good old gin and tonic; bitterness suits me. The Blade of the Northern Lights (話して下さい) 06:07, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
Used to b a big “weißbier, nitro stout and pils” type person. Now oestrogen (or being increasingly socialised as a woman) has made my tastes go all weird and 90% of what I drink now is wine. I never even used to like red wine that much but now I think it’s p great. Never enjoyed any form of pale ale tho and I never will. Tastes like bug spray. Gin and tonic is good tho. Probs bc I’ve drank tonic water since I was a small child and also I’ve never poisoned myself from drinking too much gin. ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 12:36, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
Also u can make gin and tonics as strong as u like and they taste more or less the same (within reason). Ez way to get drunk fast with relatively little liquid but also less burning and cringing. ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 12:41, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── I find that all wine tends to taste the same for me. At room temperature I probably couldn't blindly tell the difference between most whites and reds. America has found ways to make wine worse; most California reds seem astringent and hard to drink. I do enjoy ice cold Chablis or Sauternes, but nobody makes that any more and it seems to have all been replaced by Chardonnay. Smerdis of Tlön, wekʷōm teḱsos. 16:29, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

wine is alcoholic fuit juice if fruit juice tasted like arse. i dont drink anymore. tend to get a bit leary and im too pretty to be starting shit. AMassiveGay (talk) 16:42, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
In place of that, I drink sake; you either need really cheap or really nice sake, anything in between tastes pretty much identical. I take that over wine pretty much any day. The Blade of the Northern Lights (話して下さい) 17:29, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
Certain "yeast byproducts" I'm particularly sensitive to. There's a "green apple" byproduct of yeast (acetaldehydeWikipedia and similar chemicals) that I find particularly repugnant in wines and beer. Certain red wines (hard to know which ones) is a "migraine trigger" (along with rapid altitude changes), unlike the green-apple there is no rhyme or reason I can figure out the whys. I tend to lean towards Belgian quads/tripels, dark lagers, and barrel aged dark beers (quads, Scotch ale, stouts, etc.). I also enjoy IPAs, but they have to be super-fresh, and not the muddy mess of NEIPA. For wine, I tend to stick to the barrel-aged California style chards because of the certainty you won't get some green-apple bomb or migraine-trigger (which is a shame because I like reds a lot). I actually homebrew and my home kegerator tap selection largely reflects my preference. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 03:09, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
See this is weird to me, I tend to get hangovers from beer and whiskey a 'lot' easier than red wine (can't stand the white stuff, although like most alcoholics that's not a hard no). Artificius (talk) 21:40, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
Hangovers are in part caused by the impurities in liquor and beer, or the tannins in the case of red wine. You are resistant to the tannins (probably), but not the other impurities in the liquors, that's all. Just avoid the bottom shelf liquors if you must have liquor.CorRekt (chat) 21:49, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
i suspect, im stress im not dr or anything, i suspect hangovers might primarily be the result of a shit tonne of alcohol. there might be other factors to consider, but the tannins in my tea never resulted in the same amount of vomit. AMassiveGay (talk) 22:39, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
I am a two time offender of the bad thing, drunk driving. I have a personal breathalyzer right by my bed, because I've had an ankle bracelet and a state mandated breathalyzer right by my bed, and when I got done with house arrest I got the old Blow n Go in the car which was about 70 bucks a month, and I can tell you, if you wake up the next morning and think sunglasses are a solution, you're too drunk to drive to work. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 06:31, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────Man, didn't even remember I made this post. Looking at the timestamp it seems to have taken me just about 3 hours with a bottle of scotch and some pilsner to get thoroughly plastered. Anyway, I do enjoy IPA's and red ales quite a bit, but pilsner is really my go to beer when I wish to drink like there's no tomorrow. Knight CommanderIn ServiceTo HerGoatness 06:50, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

COVID has made me extremely paranoid

I have been having bad allergies and I keep thinking worse case scenario. I know that I am being extremely paranoid. Mental illness is fun. --Zombie Broadcasting Dude (talk) 23:35, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

I’ve had 3 colds and the flu since the pandemic started (which says something about the masks, lol) and been tested twice and nothing. I’m curious if I was asymptomatic and immune now. Sievert 81 (talk) 04:00, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
Is there somewhere near where you can get a test? Otherwise just be very aware of how the symptoms of COVID compare to what you are experiencing. I have allergies too. Pizza SLICE.gifChef Moosolini’s Ristorante ItalianoMake a Reservation 02:58, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
I've been there. Every single time water goes down the wrong tube, my lungs burn and I have to cough it back up, my brain starts panicking about said burning sensation and assumes that it MUST be either 'rona or my second worst fear (especially since my dad recently lost a cousin to a rather aggressive one of unknown cause): a lung tumor caused by either radon or secondhand smoke (despite the fact that there are no uranium deposits anywhere near where I live and I never go outside on city streets at all anymore) and ONOZ ONOZ ONOZ I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE but then again part of me hopes that's the case because of this goatdamn pandemic- until the skepticism/critical thinking pathway in my brain gets triggered and swiftly shoots down those phobias. --Goatspeed. Stalk meCircularREmail2.gifasoningSee what I've been messing around with 07:13, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
I have stayed inside so much over the past 12-ish months, that I have not even had a single cold. I normally get sick real bad any time I get a cold, even if it causes tiny effects in others, so I suppose that’s at least partially good in a way. I’m probably gonna take disease avoidance way more seriously than I used to after this, not only out of residual paranoia but also, I just don’t need colds anymore I have decided. ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 11:23, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
CR, go to a doctor. Sounds like it might be water brash. In any case it's definitely not normal D: Kauri0.o (talk) 21:08, 1 February 2021 (UTC) Edit: misread, probably not water brash. Still not normal.

Sunday Vent

If anyone feels the need to scream into the void about something, you can do it right here. I'm not sure if this would be a welcome thing to the wiki, but experimentation is fun. The Good Bird (Problem?)

It's fine. There's a lot of things I'd like to vent about myself but I don't know where to start. Uh, I hate silverfish. Also wtf Ohio. --It's-a me, Lgm sigpic.png LeftyGreenMario! 21:17, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
Thank u for this opportunity. Why the FUCK cleaning my house gotta be soooo hard aaaaa and FURTHERMORE I just feel like if I look at 1 more news or politics I’m going to fucking lose my shit BUT I can’t stop looking bc I have this feeling that doing so makes me a “bad lazy selfish” person and alsoooo I’m so fucking scared for my American pals. And NOW there’s a dang impeachment that the repubs r gonna let the fascist get away with everythingg which isn’t surprising but is still horrifying. Also fruit flies. God I hate those little bastards. ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 21:58, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
Welp, I was about to vent, but then I found something that made me forget about everything else in my life that's bothering me.
Who do I have to lobby to get this remade?! By the sweet tap-dancing baby Jesus, I think this might be the greatest looking movie of all time!!! - Rairyu75 (Talk) 22:11, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
Oh, I saw part of that movie from Svengoolie's show. Pizza SLICE.gifChef Moosolini’s Ristorante ItalianoMake a Reservation 22:13, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
Started a little grease fire in my apartment. Ruined two perfectly good towels putting it out. Trying to think positively, because I'm getting new furniture soon and the towels would not have matched-Hastur! (talk) 23:08, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
I tried to watch Godzilla 2014, I know some guys really hyped about Godzilla v Kong. So Science mom and dad had an anomoly, science mom says over the radio "close the doors I can't make it" so Science Dad does it, and then Science Mom shows up in the window in a redundant "You probably didn't understand that this is a painful moment of loss" kind of thing. So flash forward, Army Son has to go get Science Dad at his apartment, where we see a drawing of bat on the wall among a million news clippings, because that's how Science Dad remembers how echolocation works. Science Dad is in trouble again, Amry Son asks Science Dad why he can't just let Science Mom go, Science Dad drops the line "Because I sent her down there." And I was like, OK "sent down there," is really good language, and there was a hard cut to Science Dad and Army Son is a boat floating up to a forbidden contamination zone, and I'm like "Wait, is that the River Styx?" and then they get out of the boat and three dogs run past them and I'm like "holy shit, is that Cerberus?" But then NOTHING comes out of it, Science Dad isn't exonerated, Science Mom isn't raised, Hell, Army Son just gets over his Science Dad's death, like, the second somebody asks him a question. Long movie short, they ask Army Son about his Science Dad's research, and Army Son says "I don't know, we didn't talk about it" and I say "well, he had a bat on his wall" and they ask him for anything and I say "He had a bat on the wall" and Army Son goes "wait," and I said "Well we know he has a bat on the wall" and Army Son says "He was studying echo-location, like these things are talking to each other" and I said "I am not the demographic for this movie." And then Army Son has plot knowledge throughout the rest of the film while simultaneously saving everyone he meets from every disaster and being allowed along on military things by saying "I'm Army Son, let me go with you, army." Like I can enjoy garbage action, but I can't enjoy garbage development. Watched King of the Monsters, it was literally better even though they casually introduced hollow earth. The first thing they did was say "The world understands that these monsters exist now" and that was all it took. One line of exposition to rule them all. Still a garbage movie, but tenable because of the entire lack of world-building. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 05:37, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
science dad was exonerated in the eyes of army son who just thought he was an unhinged lunatic until giant bat popped up. its a dogshit movie and all, but he did get a kind of 'told you so' moment. he could have had if hed gotten on with life and saw it all on tv, but i think they were going tragedy. king of monsters was infinitely worse though. dunno how godzilla v kong will work though. both of them have been established as the hero in their movies so i reckon they'll fight for a bit due a misunderstanding then team up an battle some other menace, then theyll embrace and passionately kiss and wonder of into the sunset to have implied freaky monster sex. AMassiveGay (talk) 11:40, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
King of Monsters was infinitely worse in the same way that the original Fast and the Furious is about cars being more important than cultures but now it's about demi-gods battling with cars. And I totally agree Kong and Godzilla are gonna give each other a look, defeat the real bad Kaiju, and respectfully move apart a la Batman v Superman and Mecha-Godzilla will be a lesson to the humans that they just need to stay out of it. Both King Kong and Godzilla are monsters invented to call out and display human arrogance, I'm not that stoked on how either one is being used now, I don't have much stake in the story, because the story was bad, is bad, and they blew it off with the second movie. At least we weren't supposed to care about the humans, unless we were, in which case wow, missed every beat on that. New science daughter gets an email from dad, we meet Mothra, I said "Mothra" at the exact same time as science daughter, because these movies are trash. Then Mothra got unruly, I said "Mothra just needs an email from Dad" and then they did the science thing with the Orca sound laptop with the invisible speakers that said "Alpha call" or whatever, it was bad, you have to understand I agree on that point. Maybe I was just fatigued from the pace of the first one, but at that point I stopped caring and watched the stupid monster fights. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 04:33, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
humanity is just a vehicle for exposition, as screeching magafauna notoriously unemotive. they would be better films if they just let the monsters fight. trying to make dumb bullshit seem not dumb, just amplified just how stupid those films are. and much worse than that, they made it all so fucking dull. b movies can be all kinds of garbage and it not matter if they are fun. making them so dull is an unforgivable movie sin. pacific rim the other hand ridiulous bullshit. really fun though AMassiveGay (talk) 15:54, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
I'm probably going to watch Ben Shapiro's school shooting movie tomorrow, if I can find it. I am usually ashamed of myself in an extremely roundabout way for watching movies without paying for them, but I might be ashamed of myself in a roundabout way for paying for a movie for once. It should be easier to watch than a Sci-Fi fake horror alien documentary, "But some say these are true facts" kind of thing. I mean, it's going to be bad, but knowing it's all just made up characters, I won't have to pore over every single decision to make it look real and convincing. Wish me luck regardless. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 03:12, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

The Thing (2011 movie)

https://youtu.be/tnQZJz1maEA

In the 2011 prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing it shows the scene where the Split Face creature is formed (hence the posted link).

Now the character Adam Finch is shown to be assimilated by the Thing. Now when the scene takes place another character had a gun.

Adam is already mortally wounded. Why not take the gun, put a bullet in his head and prevent the slow and painful death by assimilation? --Zombie Broadcasting Dude (talk) 23:03, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

Trick question; if I'm in a horror movie I put the bullet in my own head, because I'll be damned if I'm gonna let myself get assimilated via some alien's weird wing-wang. Semipenultimate (talk) 17:24, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
i also suspect that shooting your mates or even strangers 'for their own good' is not a really a decision people could make easily even when unimaginable suffering is apparent and you'd suspect you'd want them to kill you in the same situation. i would guess assuming you are not a psychopath who'd kill someone for 'their own good' after just a paper cut, you'd um and an ah and consider maybe trying this or that or that, or maybe they'll enjoy life as or a horrific abomination, they not desperately pleading for you to shoot them dead, they just screaming horribly, they might be ok, is it really the right thing to do? what you miss and just take his jaw off? you not going near that thing and your hands a little shakey. and thats if they'd only fatally disembowelled themselves in a freak shaving accident and lingering painfully and hopelessly on. you'd have all that 'omg ive never killed anyone before' angst of such a dreadful choice, but its that dreadful choice combined with the whole horrific murder beast from space thing to deal with, your pal is dying horrifically in front of you is doomed, and outside the door is white death of the antartic and there nowhere to go you going to die omg i dont want die. idont want to die like that. idonahhh ahhhh ahhha ahhah ahhhha until you run aimlessly into the ice and freeze, shot yourself in the head or your still screaming hysterically when its your turn for the unspeakably horrific drawnout and painful deaths that we should thank jesus christ its all as made up as he is. you might be a little stressed to make such a difficult choice. you might need some spreadsheets to present the pros and cons of the situation. deaths very final you dont want to be too hasty and you've got a lot of hysterical screaming to get through. id go run out in the slow. minutes it would take down there. you could build a snow man while you wait. take your mind of things AMassiveGay (talk) 21:56, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
I watched that clip, and the first thing that came to mind was "Yep I've seen Alien." Afterwards it's like, "Nope, don't know the physics rules here." Really strange that The Thing appears to be more powerful in the prequel. I disagree with Semipenultimate in that, in the event of my impending horrific death where I've been trapped by the alien power, I'm probably gonna kick and scream before I'm overpowered, but if I get grabbed, I'm not struggling so that my friends will stop to help me, more that the team would keep going. Have you seen "The Mist?" The worst case scenario is a temper tantrum, which, I know this is mixing some kind of assimilated loss of self vibes with just horror in the face of death, but few creatures in this world get a painless, calm end, and I don't need that so necessarily for you or myself as much as I need you to have a shot if I get grabbed. I'm fighting to my death, and telling my team to not fucking hesitate in torching my body, I would be furious with the home team if they didn't torch me in a Split Face assimilation when The Thing is right there eating me. But as AMassive puts it, that's my decision for myself, I don't know what I'd do if the last will wasn't clearly and emphatically agreed upon.Gol Sarnitt (talk) 06:03, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
Alright, given the ending of the film version of "The Mist", I can see why you would not perceive suicide as being a viable option for a horror movie protagonist/victim! What if the scenario change from gun to grenade, ala Aliens? Take a few of the scaly bastards with you? Semipenultimate (talk) 16:55, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
You got me there, that plan is definitely outside my wheelhouse. I think it still falls inside of "not having a temper tantrum," which I'm kinda prone to calling all adult behavior that is driven by feelings right now. I'm not a robot, I'm not Data at the end of Star Trek Nemesis, but I do recognize that Data did the thing a robot was supposed to do and I cheer it on in its own right. Can I honestly say, I'd just grenade myself and hope they all die/survive too? Depends on my role in the group. Definitely wouldn't do a Fist of the North Star Shiba "fuck around and find out" thing unless I was very confident it would make a differnce. Even in this scene, I am not very confident it made a difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lslhBgzntMg

Getting stuck behind in the scenario, without a dude bleeding from every limb of his body but instead a semi-cohesive unit where I've agreed to scout or vanguard an enclosed space, because they're always trapped in the labyrinth with the minotaur, yeah, if you catch me, fuck around and find out minotaur. Otherwise, everybody's gotta go go go go go. I'm not necessarily going back for you, don't even think about coming back for me. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 04:19, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

if for some reason we all find ourselves fleeing for our lives together from otherworldy beasts and im injured, just know when i say 'go on without me, i'll only slow you down' - you better not go on without me you fuckers. carry me if you have to. all that stoic go on without nonsense is just something you say because its expected and i wont actually mean it. im gona have something in my will leaving money to pay for assassins so anyone who went on without me will be hunted down and killed along with their families. just so you all know. if you tell me to go on without you, i'll be half way down the road before you've even finished what you were saying. not that i would be listening in the first place, do you think i'll stop to help you up if you tripped? fuck no, you snooze you lose, or in this you snooze you painfully ripped apart. chances are it i wouldve tripped you up in the first place. more time for me to escape if its stopped to eat you. i'll grab the last piece of cake on my way out too AMassiveGay (talk) 20:18, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

New Nickname, Sig

So... I'm fiddling around with my sig. I'm thinking, "CorBlimey". Is is better than CoryUsar? Worse? Don't really give a crap because you hate me? Also, I'm trying to figure out how to change my Sig's colors. What's the trick for that? CorBlimey (talk) 05:42, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

Check out Help:Wikisig#Pretty colors but I urge you to keep it to a minimum for the sake of readability. Rainbow sigs are this side of annoying. Techpriest (I am Alpharius! / Pencil.png / Tux icon.png / Shield.png) 09:37, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
But how do you make it blink? Large, bold, blinking rainbow text would be my go-to for annoying.Bob"Life is short and (insert adjective)" 12:11, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
Blinking is thankfully not possible without modifying our global css or javascript due to the way it must be set up, and I am not about to make that a thing for anyone. Techpriest (I am Alpharius! / Pencil.png / Tux icon.png / Shield.png) 12:14, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

CorBlimey?COR BLIMEY? are you cockney? no? this is clearly cultural appropriation. you are literally worse than dick van dyke. never forgetAMassiveGay (talk) 12:17, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

The usage is seen as 'vulgar'/rather downmarket. Does 'coruscating' appeal - the rainbow is implicit. Anna Livia (talk) 13:15, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
CorInth. CorruGated. CorRection. CorTez. CorVee. Hmm. Yeah, CorVee sounds good for now... CorBlimey (talk) 16:04, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
Well, this or CorVette. But I don't want my nick to be too far away from my username. CorVee does kinda go with Cor"u", plus the whole idea of my being here as a Free Man doing forced labor as part of the Corvee system. CorVee (talk) 16:07, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
Ok, this isn't too hideous. CorVee (chat) 18:50, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
Also, tempted to use "CorOna", but that's probably too much. CorVee (chat) 18:52, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
@CorruptUser Looks pretty good. Kinda reminds me of Twodots' new sig. In addition, maybe you should make it randomly select one of the following: CorInth, CorruGated, CorRection, CorTez, and CorVee. --Goatspeed. Stalk meCircularREmail2.gifasoningSee what I've been messing around with 18:52, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
@Twodots, we miss you buddy. But yeah, I'll work on the random. Thinking I want to keep the "Cor" so it should be "Cor"&(rand). CorVee (chat) 18:57, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
Alright, it's set to a select from a set I created. Oh dear lord, I could set my sig to be nothing BUT random words and colors. That would just be, ugh. The random names might be a bit too much already.CorVee (chat) 19:05, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────It is perhaps a bad idea, since the term is as a euphemism/corruption of "God blind me!", whose first documented appearance was in the 19th century. Bongolian (talk) 21:01, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

"CorBlimey" isn't in the list. Too long, all the second halves are all 3/4 letters. CorUsar (chat) 21:52, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
Also, decided to add a few, make the second half blend with the first. CorUsar (chat) 21:58, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
ooo interesting, refreshing the page actually causes my Sig to change the name, because the Sig includes the "choose" thing in the name rather than hardcoding it...CorUsar (chat) 22:02, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
@CircularReasoning Alright, I took the hint, and figured out how to keep the sig from going crazy. CorruptUser 20:56, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
I swear there was another user called CoryUser, who's no longer active? Or is that an old account of yours CorruptUser? Leucippus 12:50, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
No, not me. There's an old user named "Corry", is that who you are thinking of? CorruptUser 15:11, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
Also, my sigs now all change to the same thing instead of each being their own. E.g., instead of one being "Corner" and another "Corncob", both will be "Correkt". Eh, small price to pay so the edit page doesn't look hideous. CorruptUser 15:13, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

@CorruptUser Yeah, I think that's who it is. I was a little confused at first, when I came across that name on some article (that I forget the name of now). I thought the guy must have some relation to you....but you've cleared that up now...or so I thought! It seems that you have chosen to make a sock-puppet algorithm for your name. Let me just say this: I won't be shedding any tears when I see the name "Coronary" get banned for offending our long term alcoholic companions lol. →Leucippus 19:25, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

Was thinking "Corona" as one of them, but, too soon. I do have two socks though, "StickySock" but I lost the password and don't have a way to reset it, and "SockPup" which I created for testing things. May fool around with them further for testing a new edit filter. CorruptUser 19:38, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

U ever just

Wanna go to sleep but also r too tired to deal with “thoughts” so u stay up mindlessly scrolling on the dang phone ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 12:12, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

Hello, it sounds like you're dealing with clinical anxiety or depression. If you didn't know that, consider therapy. Even so, using your phone at night is going to make your ability to fall asleep so much worse. And trust me that lack of sleep and chronic fatigue is not going to make the things you're anguishing about feel better. Find a place out of your reach to keep your phone at night.
I know that all sounds like useless boilerplate advice that doesn't appreciate how bad you're feeling when you get caught up in those thoughts and how they're tearing you up inside, but really it helps. Getting used to staying up late at night prolongs your suffering and makes your coping strategies into crutches. If you're really really hard up, talk to someone, write in a journal even, don't use passive entertainment. ikanreed 🐐Bleat at me 19:04, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
Sound advice. Also, I hear that if you can't sleep, you should get out of bed and do something you find useful, like washing the dishes, sort the laundry, or read a book. Don't stay in bed. UncleKrampus (talk) 20:17, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
Also stop the screen time before bedtime. Bright lights can keep you awake. Bongolian (talk) 21:04, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
O yeah I know all this and have finally decided that I gotta go back to therapy again instead of just yoloing it the whole time. But also these weren’t even bc I was having extra bad thoughts, I was just overwhelmed by having to think lmao, I’d had too busy a day and was not up for any introspection or whatever at all. But also also. Yea the problem is I need my phone to listen to music when I sleep But, I suppose I could probably find some way to do that w/o it being right next to me. ❣️ ASELAཊལྐ ❣️ 00:10, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

Trump and Ancient Greek demagogues

Come to think of it, Trump, and by extension the parts of the GOP that he subverted, are a lot like a group of Greek demagogues. Always ranting about "the establishment", getting political opponents convicted by the mob (fortunately the US hasn't got to that), promising a lot, not delivering and then blaming someone else, having a loud mouth and foul tongue, and being rabble-rousers in general. And yes, Greek demagogues who kept getting re-elected tended to overthrow democracy and become tyrants. MeowPurr 18:54, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

Pretty damn good analogy. So true. --Zombie Broadcasting Dude (talk) 23:47, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
When Trump got elected, I though he'd quit within a year when he realized there were checks and balances in place designed to prevent him from becoming a dictator. I now think the reason he didn't quit is because he never realized that. Spud (talk) 09:59, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
I don't know about that really - four years and the possibility of a coup appeared. Eight years and an actual coup? Some might call it unlikely, but pretty much everything about Trump is unlikely. MeowPurr 13:24, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
I shudder to imagine what would've happened if Trump were to succeed in stealing reelection. It wouldn't be long before he'd start building "camps" for all the BLM protesters, liberals, immigrants, and all the minorities who "voted illegally", abolish term limits, allow Big Oil to finish off Alaska's ecosystem, have the people building his wall finish off Arizona's ecosystem, and turn the imprisonment of "illegal immigrants" into a full-scale genocide (which the UN isn't doing a very good job at preventing- or indeed, even recognizing its warning signs in a country that half its members are utterly dependent on for steel and cars.) I'll bet he'd love to do shit like that. --Goatspeed. Watch meCircularREmail2.gifasoningSee my experiments 19:23, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
OK, what the shit is with that sig? Is that a warning to me about my sig?
Anyway, I don't think Trump would round up Liberals and people who voted against him, but he did just that to illegal immigrants, so it's not beyond the impossible. Actually, he was kinda doing something with the military during some of the protests, so, well, if another CHAZ were to happen he could very well send in the army and have mass detention of "rebels". As for Alaska, that's not what we should be worrying about. His trade war with China was actually the best way to help the environment; going 100% carbon neutral is a sick joke if not only are the heavy industries outsourced to China, but then the goods/materials are all shipped back to us in superfreighters which basically burn asphalt. No, seriously, these ships are beyond awful for the environment, they are worse than all the cars in the world combined. And that's actually what really terrifies me about the Alberta Tar Sands and the keystone pipeline. The tar sands are, well, full of tar. The disgusting gunk that's left over when the gasoline and kerosene and other useful components are extracted. This gunk isn't pumped back underground, oh no, it's burnt. In those giant mega-ships. If the pipeline was completed, we'd produce so, so much more of that sludge, which would only push the price of sludge-fuel down, which means those freighters will be operating at full speed and using more of the stuff. Cortex (chat) 20:33, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
The deal is, we've got a head of state either way. I don't like Biden, and I don't like business as usual, and if I don't like business as usual I had better own up to my Biden vote. The Trump administration was NOT GOOD. It was regressive in its approach to social equality, it was oligarchic in its administration, and it was unapologetic in its rhetoric. I do not think the Dems will make good moves. I think the Democratic party makes dodgy lateral moves which move things further towards what the GOP wants, conservatism and austerity, that is what the two parties have always been good at providing an opening for absolutely wack ideology. Without a real and hard push on the Dems to do real meaningful shit, it's gonna be an all day buffet for the wackos. Already got my night interruped by a guy sending me this shit. I AGREE, let's not be happy about this, what the fuck does he want from me? To recant my Biden vote, which is stupid, impossible, and not how politics works. Let's not be happy or complacent about this. But the important first step is to agree both sides are bad, and Marjorie Taylor Greene is not the epitome of the conservative side.
Next, is to point out that they need to protect MTG's ideas the same as they think AOC's ideas are protected, if they think they are similarly politically motivated, or they are doing a false equivalence. Peace is not an option, they've been fed garbage, go peace in their online spaces. They can't shoot you over the internet, or Facebook or text message. When hit with a "peaceful protest hasn't been an option with everything that's been going on for the last year" take, repeat after me "Weird take, but, ok." They can't hurt you over the internet, and they might hurt somebody else if you don't take them seriously. They don't like the people they claim to like. Mnuchin, Wheeler, Devoss, they don't like those guys. It's the tiniest fucking leap ever to realize, "If I don't like those guys, I don't like Trump either." But you can't drag them across that gap, they have to make it, and they can. And you have to know, Biden's America isn't that much different either. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 04:59, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
Is there a better acronym than "MTG"? I keep thinking "Magic the Gathering". CorruptUser 17:08, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
That's not the first time I've heard that joke to dismiss the issue. So I dunno, is there? She'd make a pretty good red planeswalker, with her guns and her penchant for violence. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 05:48, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

Discovery

Hello,

I just found RationalWiki today, and I really like the site. I'd like to contribute and help out the project, but I don't really know where to help. I've been editing Wikipedia for a while now as well, for the record.

Thanks, 98.118.1.130 (talk) 20:15, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

I put the "welcome" thingy on your user page, before realizing you were a BoN (bunch of numbers). Heh. So I'll post it below, it contains our new user guide. Consider making a username, or making the BoN into a username.
New logo large.png Welcome to RationalWiki, Saloon bar!

Check out our guide for newcomers and our community standards!

Tell us how you found RationalWiki here!

If you are interested in contributing:

CorNer (chat) 20:25, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
Anyway, feel free to add to any page in a subject that interests you, preferably with decent citations. E.g., if it's about an event, a news article from CNN or BBC is fine, an article from RT less so. We do have our "to do list" if you want to get a sense of what a lot of people really want to see but we never got around to because of a combination of laziness and alcoholism. Note that we have a "snarky point of view", so we don't mind sarcastic humor and our articles don't need to be too formal. CorVee (chat) 20:32, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
If you plan on contributing more than once or twice, it would be a good idea to make an account. Christopher (talk) 20:42, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
Welcome to the club! Welcome to the club! Welcome Squidward! Welcome Squidward! 🥳🥳 --Zombie Broadcasting Dude (talk) 23:49, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
Welcome, BoN! Feel free to sign up for an account if you wish to contribute more than just once! --Goatspeed. Stalk meCircularREmail2.gifasoningSee what I've been messing around with 23:53, 1 February 2021 (UTC)
And - you do not have to have one username across the wikiverse (there are some weird and obscure wikis to be found). Anna Livia (talk) 19:36, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

YouTube video I am working on

Going to be an EAS scenario based on the Incel crowd. Perfect for Valentine's Day. They get depicted as domestic bioterrorists. Well the FBI has listed Incels as a domestic terrorist threat.

Name of the scenario- Your Secret Admirer. --Zombie Broadcasting Dude (talk) 00:04, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

Once you're done, don't forget to put a link up there so I can watch it. MarioSuperstar77 (talk) 11:00, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

Is Classical Liberal an editor on Rationalwiki

I genuinely want to know because it would explain things2600:1702:2A00:B3F0:6958:2FCB:BBBC:5ECC (talk) 01:24, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

If they are, it's under a different name. Don't recognize the user. Cortez (chat) 01:51, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
That really depends on what you mean by "classical liberal". ☭Comrade GC☭Ministry of Praise 20:26, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
That IP is a block evasion of that edit-warrer BoN at the Styxenhammer article. I blocked it yesterday for pi days. --Goatspeed. Stalk meCircularREmail2.gifasoningSee what I've been messing around with 20:30, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
Wait, Does TDM2 mean this guy? ☭Comrade GC☭Ministry of Praise 22:10, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
Yes I do mean that specific person, he claims to be a moderator here.2600:1702:2A00:B3F0:5A1:CC8:F9B7:8657 (talk) 12:53, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
Well, it's not me. See what the other five moderators say. Spud (talk) 13:02, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
Also does he say that? ikanreed 🐐Bleat at me 14:45, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi, just passing through

Haven't been here in a long time. Glad to see it's still a fun spot. Be well all. DogP (talk) 07:19, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

Welcome back, feel free to say hi, maybe laugh at an article or two for old time's sake. What made you leave, if you don't mind me asking? Corner (chat) 19:22, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
Drama. It made me leave years ago too. (different name then.)Cardinal Chang (talk) 22:49, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Autopsy on Trump's campaign

There's a report on Trump's campaign by his pollsters show how he lost the election. More especifically he suffered erosion amongst white voters (particularly white men) and across all age groups. Suburbanites also bolted to Biden's campaign. Also voter prioritized battling the pandemic over re-opening the economy. Tuxer (talk) 20:47, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

Who could have predicted that ignoring the pandemic killing thousands of Americans, and wrecking the economy wasn't a winning strategy.-RipCityLiberal (talk) 22:42, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

Newsom Oof

https://ktla.com/news/california/newsom-approval-plummeting-driven-largely-by-dissatisfaction-over-covid-19-response-poll/ Well Oof, one third of California's registered voters want him out now. Doesn't sound very good to me.

Here's what I'm wondering, if this guy really does get removed, you guys think he'll be replaced by a Republican or another democrat? My bets are it's gonna be another democrat, but honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if California ended up with a Republican governor when this is all said and done. Now who exactly that would be I don't know, but Kevin Faulconer, former mayor of San Diego, would be most likely on the Republican side. And then it's anyone's guess if his successor is another democrat. Aaronmicahel5 22:19, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

Last time that happened they got Das Governator, so my money is on Liam Neeson, though I'd prefer Tom Hanks or Dolly Parton. CorruptUser 22:33, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

Yay, New Kurzgesagt Vid

More importantly, YAY, ONE OF MY FAVORITE TOPICS!!! Nuclear energy! Wooooo!

Anyway, fun times ahead, watching at the moment. CorruptUser 23:15, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

Brilliant, this is exactly the sort of thing that needs to be seen. Opposition to nuclear power is very similar to opposition to GM stuff - "it'll make us wrinkled", it'll induce some disease", blah blah. I mean, there's a terrible climate crisis going on and the first thing that many people want to shut is nuclear power?! MeowPurr 07:33, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
Overall I agree that the public fear of nuclear power is often irrational. However, nuclear power has disadvantages, and the "pro nuclear" side often tends to gloss over them.
A) Up until recently, nuclear power was a "go big or go home" solution -- massive centralized plants. To do nuclear properly in this fashion was expensive.
B) Big Nuclear power has the potential for mass scale failure that makes thousands of acres of land uninhabitable for a long timeWikipedia, something that has no counterpart in any other energy source apart from coal firesWikipedia. (Hydro failures can massively affect thousands of acres, but not in a long-term way.) The same applies to waste disposal, nuclear waste can be dangerous for a long time.
C) Nuclear has unique security and geopolitical concerns due to the other major use for nuclear energy.Wikipedia One only has to look at Iran's quest for nuclear power etc. to see the problems here that don't really affect producing power by natural gas.
Certainly these are "challenges" and not something to completely irrationally dismiss, though. What I'm particularly fond of is the "small modular reactor" concept going around recently because at a high level, it seems to minimizes the expense and the potential damage of failure (it also fits a more renewable-driven world where one can use SMRs to smooth out peaks). I also think that small nuclear might be a possible solution for areas like the cargo shipping industry where a dirty fossil fuel replacement is not forthcoming in the future (past efforts to make nuclear cargo ships have failed due to the expense, but maybe if SMR works out as a cheaper, more modular version of nuclear, something might be possible here?) PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 13:56, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
Massive centralized plants also reduce the chance of accidents, even if each accident could become bigger. There's also the security issue; if a small plant that produces 100 mw needs 10 guards, a large plant producing 10,000 mw doesn't need 1000 guards. As for weapons proliferation, Iran's problem is they refuse to adhere to the non-proliferation treaty they agreed to back in the day. It's possible to get nuclear power without a serious risk of nuclear weapons, some designs of plants make it difficult to create weapons-grade material whereas the hypothetical Thorium reactors make it all but impossible. The potential for permanent damage is, well, it's serious but people forget that both Fukashima and Chernobyl were Gen II reactors, and Chernobyl was a shitty reactor to begin with (seriously, any design where the control rod causes the reactor to get HOTTER while the reaction slows is inevitably going to fail). Gen III's are much safer because they rely upon "passive" failsafes instead of active ones. Active failsafes are things like diesel pumps for the coolant in the event of a power failure, which failed in Fuka when the earthquake knocked those out of commission, whereas passive failsafes are things like electromagnetically suspended control rods which automatically fall into place if there is a power failure. The only way for a Gen III to have a really bad day is if someone is actively sabotaging the thing. Gen IV's are even better, though only theoretical, in that the configuration/fuel is such that even if the operators were trying to make it melt down and actively sabotaging the plant it couldn't, e.g., the Thorium molten salt reactor again, where the coolant is also the fuel, so the reactor physically can't meltdown even if you wanted it to.CorruptUser 14:46, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
political corruption, budget cuts, corner cutting, human error and hubris put any claims of safety on a sliding scale of credibility varying greatly from country to country. and the havoc a dirty bomb would produce would be immense and costly even when not especially deadly or destructive but ever more probable with more potential sources for nuclear materials.
countries where, though certainly not a 100% guarantee (i have to look up how the spell that word every fucking time), safety can be assured for nuclear power is a huge limit on its viability and its being the 'answer' to climate change. AMassiveGay (talk) 15:58, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
It's a fair concern; almost every major industrial disaster is the result of incompetence or corruption, and the scale required for a Gen II to fail is commonplace in major nuclear countries such as India. Looking at you, Bhopal. Sell the safety equipment for scrap, replace all the skilled workers with untrained incompetents? Yeah, sure, that'll work.
As for less corrupt countries, Fukashima comes to mind, and even then, there was user error involved. The earthquake knocked out the diesel generators, so the plant manager had to make the decision to either use the pumps connected to seawater and basically trash the reactor and get fired for losing tens of billions of Yen even if it was the right decision, or to hope for the best and probably nothing bad would happen. The manager chose... poorly. So yeah, the Gen II reactors do need to be replaced or upgraded. CorruptUser 16:54, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
I'm sure nuclear energy has problems. Everything has problems. The question is whether it has fewer problems than the carbon-producing alternatives. (Yes, I know the ideal would be renewables but we are not there yet.)Bob"Life is short and (insert adjective)" 17:17, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
Some renewables actually have large problems of their own -- in addition to the occasional dam failure, dam hydro power often results in some seriously shitty, long-lasting environmental effects for thousands of acres that also suddenly become flooded and uninhabitable, at least while the dam is up. Nothing's perfect. Fossil fuels are polluting when used (this can be nasty, both in the immediate health effects of pollution and the long-term environmental effects of climate change) and has pollution issues both with extraction and transport. So there has to be a balance of everything. I don't think it's great to be reflexively against nuclear power, personally, it's a perfectly valid option with pluses and minuses. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 18:09, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
This is a very complicated issue. I, for one, think that nuclear power has its advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages:
  1. A nuclear reactor can power a city for about 70 years.
  2. No carbon footprint
  3. Provided that the water is filtered properly before being released back into the environment, is far cleaner than oil and coal plants.
Disadvantages:
  1. A reduction of water supply for even a few hours could cause a Fukushima-like meltdown, leveling entire cities and rendering entire areas uninhabitable for a good 75 years.
  2. Could be a magnet for terrorist attacks; some may also want to steal the plutonium to build dirty-bombs, as others here have pointed out.
  3. Runoff water that is not properly filtered can contaminate the environment with nuclear isotopes.
--Goatspeed. Stalk meCircularREmail2.gifasoningSee what I've been messing around with 18:58, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
Teeeeeechnically the nuclear reactors have a huge carbon footprint in terms of concrete construction plus all the mining, but then again, so do dams and solar power. Probably less carbon footprint, due to producing so much electricity. As for cooling when there's no water available, yeah, that's probably an issue that may not be solvable with Uranium and boiling water reactors, the core is just that radioactive until the material decays. CorruptUser 21:04, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
Disadvantage points two and three are fair enough, but point one seems a bit flawed. Even if water supply goes off for a while, the worst case is a Fukushima-type meltdown, which tbh wasn't that bad - at most a few deaths from radiation (not dismissing this, every life is a life lost, but this is far less than the countless millions killed in coal accidents), and a few dozen cases of health issues. Most of the time, the plant can just be shutdown safely. Only a Chernobyl-type accident can level entire cities though - nuclear plants are fundamentally different from nuclear bombs; their level of criticality is much lower, and they are not primed to blow; ergo, they can't explode like a bomb. Of course nuclear power is problematic, but not much more so than windmills and solar - they need lots of space as well and also have high investment costs, working out to about the same as nukes. Solar panels will hopefully get more efficient soon, but by that time I guess we'll have much safer gen IV reactors. I personally think the future lies in making renewables fulfill all small-scale power needs (energy stations, traffic lights, fences et al) and having nukes handle large-scale generation. Desert countries, of course, can have a solar party. There is one big issue though, the one Cory pointed out above - a country with a not-so-great record for safety or scrupulousness getting to run a plant. MeowPurr 09:58, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
The infrastructure does go a little further than concrete and mortar. The more points of high voltage production, the more gas is used to insulate the transformers. I'm not exactly worried, I'm so nuclear that every time I hear a person say "nucular" I shave off a micromillimeter of tooth, but I do remember there is the concern that Sulfur Hexafluoride is a really popular insulating product and supposedly the biggest baddest greenhouse gas ever invented. Back to the countries with not-so-great records for safety or scrupulousness needing to use a lot of this gas. Home country of the US of A included. Moreso, energy companies, who consistently look to cut costs wherever they can get away with it. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 03:32, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── RE: "sulfur hexaflouride is the biggest, baddest greenhouse gas" Methane (which has been trapped beneath ice sheets for a long-ass time, flatulated out by livestock and, while its greenhouse effect before it dissipates into space or gets reabsorbed into the nitrogen cycle has a fairly short half-life compared to CO2 and water vapor, could turn our planet into a pressure-cooker for a few years): Am I a joke to you? --Goatspeed. Stalk meCircularREmail2.gifasoningSee what I've been messing around with 04:31, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

Goddamn

I leave for a while and completely forget about that thing which makes your username appear on shit and I'm assuming everyone is out to get me. Evilatheistheathen (talk) 16:20, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

Use the four tilde characters. ~~~~ CorruptUser 17:34, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
Don't think anything of it. That happened to me a short time ago. I was away for a few weeks and then I comeback, and someone "said" "Aaronmichael5 is such a disappointment". Of course it was that tool that people use to make your username come up in place of the template. was absolutely fooled by it at first. Aaronmichael5 22:04, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

"The pandemic will disappear after the election"

I know that before the election people claimed COVID would be declared over as part of a supposed Democratic ploy.

Over a week into Biden's presidency and COVID is still here. --Zombie Broadcasting Dude (talk) 22:45, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

Infection gates have fallen noticeably in the US recently. the Daily Mail has already reported on it, so you’ll get a lot of people claiming they were right about this. Christopher (talk) 23:05, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
The vaccine was announced the week after the election, that's all the proof conspiracy theorists needed. CorruptUser 23:06, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
Conspiracy theorists love to move the goal posts. --Zombie Broadcasting Dude (talk) 23:24, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
You literally can NOT win a debate with a conspiracy theorist, EVER. No matter how much you debunk them they will always twist and turn around it. This is also why you hear conspiracy theorists cackle and howl that nobody can beat them in a debate. Most people don't waste their time debating conspiracy theorists and the few that do are always "defeated" by moving the goalposts.Aaronmichael5 04:46, 4 February 2021 (UTC).
Deaths in November/December/January were among the highest during the pandemic so miss me with that bullshit.-RipCityLiberal (talk) 17:09, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
I've seen videos of Qultists coping hard, some even insisting that "The inauguration was a deepfake!!!1 TRUMP STILL HAS A CHANCE TO STEAL BACK THE PRESIDENCY IN EXCEEDINGLY VAGUE AND UNVERIFIABLE WAYS1111SHIFT!!!oneone11SHIFT!!1elventy11oneSHIFT!!111one!!!11!!" Like so:
--Goatspeed. Stalk meCircularREmail2.gifasoningSee what I've been messing around with 18:26, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

Seattle's Space Needle New Years show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoMiVS52pew Oh my God... if I had a dollar for every "Wake up" in the brain melting comments section of this video. The religious fundies are freaking the fuck OUT over this for literally no reason. Aaronmichael5 04:43, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

I regretted clicking on this link and reading the commments. Kevlarstar and his dog (Woof!) 13:56, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
Someone in the comments did remember the Mind's Eye 1990s computer animation series, at least, so all hope is not lost. As far as the freakout crowd goes, I am amused at the thought of the supposedly all-powerful New World Order not even being able to stream stereo sound for their supposed End Times subliminal programming. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 15:00, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

What the heck?

I checked the block log today and there was a user called "Cyberdildonyx" on there, that name sounded familiar enough since it is very similar to "CyberRobotnix", a troll I have known for several years. That username was created and then banned fairly quickly, alongside other offensive usernames relative to either myself or my website, I actually wonder whether they were made by the same troll I am talking about or Michael Coombs who'd have decided to impersonate him. MarioSuperstar77 (talk) 12:06, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

Reflective rant on the stupidity and apathy of the Human race

Today I went around to my local Tesco, where they've placed signs on the floor and at the door informing people about wearing masks and about keeping at least 1m apart from eachother. But do people respect the rules? Even if said rules have been plastered everywhere for over a year? No they fucking don't!! I am aware that my response to this is an extreme reaction, but quite frankly, I Despair for the future of humanity. Supposedly educated people can't even bother to follow the obvious and straightforward rules. They think that wearing a mask makes them invincible and therefore it doesn't matter how close you are to people, as long as you wear a cheap piece of fabric all is well. Witnessing this today made me think of the film Se7ven, in which the apathy of humans is a dominant theme throughout the film. I find it quite hard to not draw pessimistic conclusions about the human-endeavour, when I see things like this it seems as if humans will never learn. Why even bother pursuing such noble causes as science or rationality or reducing suffering etc? when you are such a statistical minority; why even care when others won't? no matter how many chances they've had. Its times like these that its tempting to think of the human species as a rotting-festering carcass. As an addendum: I typically do my food-shopping online, but today I thought I'd see if I could get something from my local, it was only when I arrived that I discovered the impossibility of safely shopping there, at which point I thought fuck this, and left for home...coming back empty handed but safe. →Leucippus 18:04, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

Just imagine how we'd fare if COVID was "bubonic ebolAIDS" deadly instead of just "old timey disease from Oregon Trail" deadly. CorruptUser 18:07, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
Well, AIDS is really bad, but there's been HIV denialism well into the 21st century. IMO, even if COVID's fatality rate were orders of magnitude higher (5-10% rather than 0.06-0.1%), the conservatives would still do nothing but find scapegoats, complain about "liberal socialists," and be generally incapable of arriving to systemic solutions. Conservative thought requires every ill to be placed on "personal responsibility" rather than analyzing social processes. SonOfStranger (talk) 18:45, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
This is why the politicians resort to lockdown, when you give people simple orders, they do not follow them. MarioSuperstar77 (talk) 18:09, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
If the virus was as deadly as Ebola, the authorities would have responded how they responded to Ebola. The higher lethality would also decrease transmission in more direct ways (you can’t cough on someone if you’re dead). Christopher (talk) 18:38, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
Not necessarily. The problem with Ebola wasn't necessarily its lethality, but rather that it killed people way too quickly; its incubation period is about 4-10 days, and has obvious transmission vectors (if you know to look for them). COVID is much different in that it has an incubation period of about 2 or so weeks, during which people are still infectious but not symptomatic. SonOfStranger (talk) 18:52, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
I'll do you one better: What if, when we go to Mars and terraform it, some highly-contagious alien bacterium previously frozen in ice thaws and starts infecting people and killing them with high fevers in mere days due to a complete lack of immunity? --Goatspeed. Stalk meCircularREmail2.gifasoningSee what I've been messing around with 18:50, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
[EC]Short incubation period and high lethality go hand-in-hand. I can’t imagine a virus that infects you, does nothing, then immediately kills you.
I know we’re talking about hypothetical diseases, but being killed off by Martian bacteria is pure science fiction. We’d test all the water first, if only to make sure we’re not destroying anything. Anything we somehow miss would be in such minute quantities that it wouldn’t be able to harm us. You then have to account for the fact that, just as we’d have no immunity to the bacteria, the bacteria would have no immunity to us. This is all without considering the fact that wherever we’d build a base wouldn’t have bacteria in it; Mars almost certainly never had life at all and the bit we’d colonise definitely wouldn’t (we’d pick one of the bits that’s already been thoroughly explored with rovers I’m guessing). Christopher (talk) 19:07, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
There are examples of long-incubation period diseases with moderately high fatalities, if one takes 5-15% as a high mortality. Chicken pox (herpes zoster virus) was generally considered a minor disease of childhood since it's rarely fatal (1 per 100,000).[2] But latent herpes zoster from the initial exposure in childhood causes shingles during old age, with a mortality rate of 5-15% in untreated adults due to declining immune systems in old age.[3] Bongolian (talk) 03:09, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
In response to all of the above - thanks for responding, although I feel my rant has inspired a somewhat tangential thread. Thanks Corry and SonofStranger - I think you have both presented, although hypothetical, the disturbing reality of severe diseases in contrast to COVID. Circular even-though your response may be "pure science fiction", I believe that it reveals a problematic and disturbing theme correlated with climate change: the potential for more novel diseases emerging in the northern-hemisphere, and more generally, the world. And finally thanks Christopher for injecting a degree of reality into the proceedings, which I think brings all the respective views into balance. →Leucippus 21:22, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
Your response is not an extreme reaction. An extreme reaction is one that would replace "going postal" in the lexicon with "going Tesco"! Aloysius the Gaul 19:48, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
Indeed, it would be such an extreme reaction to replace the American idiom with the British. I can't bear to think about those poor yanks; confused, alone, strangers in a strange land. As for impromptu mass murder: replacing the USPS with Tesco...well...it seems more my cup of tea i.e. not Really that big of a deal. →Leucippus 21:01, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
Whatever the case. COVID is about as deadly as the old timey disease we just put up with back in the day, and it's actually much less deadly than Measles. The difference being of course, that the older people already had measles as kids and so they didn't die from it as adults, plus in the days before The Pill you needed The Good Lord to pitch in and take a few back.
I don't know if we'd be able to survive a really tough disease that ended civilizations back in the day such as the Bubonic Plague or Smallpox... CorruptUser 21:40, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
Also you know, not nearly as infectious, or kill 400,000 Americans in twelve months. Other than that...-RipCityLiberal (talk) 23:00, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
I have pretty much the same response, and in the same shop, too (Yay Tesco). I've changed my eating and purchasing habits to reduce how often I have to go to the shop; not out of safety concerns (well, not PURELY out of safety concerns), but because going into a supermarket lately really gets me annoyed. For me it's less that I think they're stupid or apathetic, and more that the weird arrogant denialism that I imagine they have that gets to me. The idea that people are ignoring advice because A) They think they know better or B) They think they're in some way being brave or badass by doing so bugs me a lot more than the ignoring the advice in the first place. I can't quite put the concept into words. I get a similar reaction on a road near me: the limit is 50mph, but about half of the drivers there seem convinced it's actually 40mph. They will drive on it at 50mph, then when they come to a speed camera, slam the brakes on to go down to 40mph. The idea that these people think that they're breaking the law and outsmarting the enforcement of said law, when what they're actually doing is failing to read "50" on the big signs, bothers me significantly more than the behaviour itself. Same thing with masks and distancing and all that. X Stickman (talk) 23:32, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
@X Stickman Don't get me wrong I'm not expecting perfection (nirvana fallacy) from people, just the slightest suggestion that they give a shit. Also I don't necessarily think that they're stupid, just that they're behaving stupidly. But I do think apathy plays a role: after all, its easier to not give a shit, caring takes work, however little effort is required. I deeply sympathise with your point (A) it seems like a natural urge in humans to see oneself and ones own standards as superior, nevertheless there are varying degrees of this "urge" and the shoppers I mentioned seem to be manifesting symptoms on the far end of this spectrum of arrogance.→Leucippus 23:42, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
From my viewpoint, there is a large percentage in the world that is well aware that a pandemic is going on, and acts socially responsible. The socially irresponsible however is of sufficient size to be very annoying. The amount of socially irresponsible annoying people on this feature varies by country and culture and place by place. Probably the mere act of going out, even to the grocery, increases your chance of running into the irresponsible type, because the more responsible are going to be staying home a lot more these days. So a selection bias may be in play. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 01:05, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
@RipCityLiberal Uh... Measles is THE most infectious deadly disease we know of, like, so infectious that "herd immunity" requires vaccination rates in the mid-90%s, it's BRE is estimated to be around 15 (that is, without anyone being immune, 1 person would infect 15), whereas without lockdowns and so forth COVID would've been around 4 (which is already super-spready). The only reason there weren't plagues of the stuff was that virtually everyone alive already had it when it came through in their childhood. In terms of how deadly it was, it killed .1% kids that caught it, and that's if they catch it as a kid. Compare to COVID, which kills an estimated .001% of kids. If we lived in a world where measles didn't exist before and then "Measles Virus Disease 2019" struck, not only would "MEVID" would've torn through the world like wildfire and there'd be a fuckton more than 400,000 dead.
That's just it. COVID isn't the deadliest or fasting spreading disease that could possibly happen. COVID is a wake up call in terms of sanitation and pandemic responses. CorruptUser 01:40, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
Good post! That's kind of been the false dilemma all along amongst the (uneducated) masses. One side: COVID is gonna kill everyone. Other side: COVID barely even kills if it's not an outright hoax. Neither is correct. Aaronmicahel5 02:43, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
There's already an incorrect argument for that. *Ahem.* It *hhhhhhck* It is important for your immune system to personally battle every disease, because *Ahem* that's how the human race gets *kf* stronger, the immune system was *Ahem* designed to fight off disease, and it will make humanity. It will make humanity. *Ahem* it will make humanity weaker to immunize against this virus that is weakerandlessdeadlythantheflu, *krm* I'm not scared of dying from it, I'm going to catch it every year until I die. *AHKHEM* Gol Sarnitt (talk) 04:59, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

It finally happened

We just left Yemen. I hope other countries listen.Jeh2ow Damn son! 03:50, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Added to list of unprecedentedly decent things the Biden administration has done so far. Nebuchadnezzar7658 (talk) 06:53, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Wow look at this tweet

Christopher Portier

So, Chris is a real living person, one that you probably never heard of, which makes me hesitant to create an article without discussing this first.

He's not a dumb man, you don't get on the WHO's cancer research team by being stupid. What makes him of interest to me/us is that he is the reason that Glyphosate was upgraded to 2A "probably carcinogenic to humans". He left the IARC about a week afterwards... with a check from trial attorneys for $160,000. Basically, he seems to be the pesticide version of Andrew Wakefield. Thoughts before I make an article on the guy? CorruptUser 15:30, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Right now I'd call glyphosate's status as "undetermined / controversial" regarding cancer (although from my viewpoint the evidence does seem to lean towards the "mostly harmless" category at the moment, that's just an opinion based on a quick survey of Google scholar, which is hardly expert). The problem with this guy is that it seems like much of the criticism comes from biased sources, such as this one from the American Council on Science and Health (a group known for pro-industry shilling) and this link from the "Genetic Literacy Project" (whose ties to Monsanto have been questioned). Politico isn't always the greatest source either and a group called Corporate Europe Observatory (an anti-corporate lobbying group, so they've got bias too) responded to these allegations. I guess the kicker is that unlike Wakefield, I see no evidence that the scientific community has flat out rejected Portier's findings with glyphosate at this time -- currently the toxicity of glyphosate seems to be a "work in progress". PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 16:31, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
I actually had some familiarity with Portier when he worked for the National Toxicology Program (US) many years ago. I don't think he could be considered the equivalent of Wakefield unless he did something really egregious in the intervening years. In the risk assessment world, there are a range of opinions about applying the precautionary principle, and except for the extremes, views within that range would probably not be considered crankery. It is at best an unseemly conflict of interest (and at worst bribery) to accept interested-party money when one is effectively regulating an industry. Bongolian (talk) 20:25, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
The problem with "probably carcinogenic to humans" is that it tells you nothing about the probable/possible risk that it will give you cancer. Bacon is also classed as "probably carcinogenic to humans". Bob"Life is short and (insert adjective)" 20:42, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
Tomatoes themselves should be in the "probably carcinogenic to humans" category because they contain trace amounts of nicotine. The "Tomacco" Simpsons episode was right! In fact, EVERY plant is full of poisons, that's why literally half of the mass of your body is dedicated in some way to protecting you from poisons. Liver? Natch. Kidneys? Yup, along with your bladder. Lymphatic system? Of course. Lungs? Not their primary purpose, but you do exhale a number of toxins, plus a good chunk of your lungs is about filtering out the toxic things in the air. Tongue? That's literally what your "bitter" tastebuds are sensing for, along with your sense of smell and eyesight. Skin? Of course. Blood? One of functions of your circulatory system. CorruptUser 21:13, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
The IARC conclusions, though qualitative rather than quantitative, do go through a thorough procedure by a panel of international experts.[4] Bongolian (talk) 07:02, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

Macedonian naming dispute: An hypothetical alternate outcome

Back in ancient times the modern day Republic of North Macedonia was ruled by the Kingdom of Paeonia (a Greek-like country).

What would have happened if the Republic of North Macedonia went with the name "Republic of Paeonia"?

It is not like Greece could say anything as the ancient Kingdom of Paeonia was not where modern day Greece is. --Zombie Broadcasting Dude (talk) 17:45, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

greece wouldnt have had to say anything, they would have been victorious in their naming dispute. 'in your face' is what the greeks would have said AMassiveGay (talk) 20:08, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
Since it's still Greek-like, they'd likely still be angry. Not until they start calling themselves "FYROM" like Greek nationalists insist on them being called or worse, "South Serbia" will the angry nationalists ever be happy. --Goatspeed. Stalk meCircularREmail2.gifasoningSee what I've been messing around with 20:28, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
Call the Greek province 'Macedonia'. Call the country the 'Empire of Macedon'. Smerdis of Tlön, wekʷōm teḱsos. 21:34, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
Call them "West Bulgaria". Pizza SLICE.gifChef Moosolini’s Ristorante ItalianoMake a Reservation 22:28, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
Saying that in Ma- FINE, NORTH MACEDONIA!- is the best way to get shot. --Goatspeed. Stalk meCircularREmail2.gifasoningSee what I've been messing around with 04:15, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

Certainly the most ridiculous dispute in history. --Zombie Broadcasting Dude (talk) 01:05, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

I would say the war of the stray dog between Greece and Bulgaria was stupider (note that such a small country has taken part in numerous stupid conflicts...lest we not forget Cyprus and not accepting unification before joining the EU for yet one more example).ShabiDOO 16:02, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

First Bronze Page (?)

So I went ahead and awarded myself certified my first article as a bronze rating. I think the article is detailed/impressive enough to warrant it. If anyone disagrees, please remove it (the sooner the better as not to raise my hopes). Aaronmichael5 22:13, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

It's definitely worthy of at least a bronze. Congratulations, now I'm not the only person who shamelessly promotes their own work :P CorruptUser 22:27, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
You should format your citations. No bare links. Pizza SLICE.gifChef Moosolini’s Ristorante ItalianoMake a Reservation 22:27, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
Thank you CorruptUser, and for DuceMoosolini, I'll definitely go back and fix the citations when I have a little more time, although I don't think that becomes a requirement until silver. Aaronmichael5 23:07, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Vrillon tv interruption in 1977

This is fucking stupid and it’s an obvious answer to a dumb question but in the 70’s, and ITV station was hijacked by a person claiming to be ‘Vrillon’ of the ‘Ashtar Galactic Command’ and basically it was a message to end nuclear weapons so in the “new age of Aquarius” humanity could “evolve” into the “light.” Just to clarify because, surprisingly, there are people who think it’s real, this is just a hoax right? I mean, if benevolent aliens wanted to communicate to stop our “war like tendencies,” of all places, why would they broadcast it on a local English Channel in southern England in perfect English? My assumption is that it was protesters pulling off a stunt because of Cold War shenanigans- but brain is a fuck again, and I just need a second opinion. In the Wikipedia article, it states that the transmitter was unorthodox and open to exploitation. Based on logic, science and evidence, this is a hoax correct? Not aliens right? Just hoaxers yeah? (God I’m a fucking idiot I know...)—WMS (talk) 02:22, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

In the US, we had the Max Headroom signal hijackingWikipedia event of WGN in 1987, and the satellite uplink hijacking Captain Midnight broadcast signal intrusionWikipedia event in 1986. These are verified events. I'd agree with you that the event you're referencing is most likely a stunt pulled off by some clever activists. —cosmikdebris talk stalk 02:44, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
I remember seeing that video a long, long time ago, and instantly noticed some pretty obvious flaws: One, that the name "Asta" clearly sounds like the Greek word astros meaning "star", and two, that the aliens spoke perfect English (a notoriously difficult language), in a British accent. --Goatspeed. Stalk meCircularREmail2.gifasoningSee what I've been messing around with 04:20, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
If this is the video, this is very much the New Age style vision of aliens (as noted by the Aquarius reference), reminiscent of the Pleiadians style of alien mythos (also known on The Other Wiki as Nordic aliensWikipedia) without using the name. One of the features of this mythos is benevolent aliens who are concerned about something (in this case world peace). The Other Wiki also mentions that this style of alien mythos may have been inspired by The Day the Earth Stood StillWikipedia (the 1951 version, an actual really good movie... not the crappy 2008 remake), where an alien landing story is used as an allegory for the very real atomic bomb race at the time. I think one thing common about alien mythology is that they often have served as metaphors for present hopes and fears. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 04:59, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
I listened through a 2 hour video too hungover to get out of bed between some Swede and some reptilian lady. I'm not sure why it came up on my suggested, I've never watched a reptilians video before, the algorithms have some strange reach, but I listened to it and it was obviously fiction. If Aliens or deep... I dunno what to call the subject of this interview, subterrestrial, HOLY SHIT no spellcheck? Well, that's weird, except I just kinda used human language to make a descriptive word and in the interview I listened to it was all a mix of doing that and not doing that, but if ALL this shit is somehow really going around, you at least got one buddy who will say "Holy shit, you had it right." I'm listening to you, and I take you seriously. I just think we would have spotted it legitimately, I don't think anybody could have covered it up so well. I get consumed by stuff that is interesting to me as well, you haven't fucked up or anything, you're just not distancing yourself from it enough. I know that's pretty much Scully's advice to Mulder, but this isn't the X Files, the reason Scully gave that advice is because it was written as honest, real advice. You are not limited to your knowledge of or belief in aliens visiting earth. But your belief has to be met with personal skepticism, and you're doing a knockout job of that. You're honestly looking to disprove the hypothesis, that's cool, please share anything that spins you up. Meta-reality is not as easy as math when it comes to the scientific method. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 05:27, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

RW Spotify playlist

I think I removed something by accident. I was trying to edit myself. I have a compulsion to do that. I'm really sorry and incorrect if I clicked off a track that I didn't add. I'm pretty sure I did.Gol Sarnitt (talk) 09:45, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

You can't take a joke

This gamer is actually really amazing how she can express her frustration in real time (without editing) so well to a stupid sexist comment. I don't think I'd be able to keep myself as composed and not go off on a tangent or trip over my words. Love her response...especially the "I need a beer" at the end!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXRSsreMR2E

ShabiDOO 15:56, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

RationalWiki too negative against Emil Kirkegaard

Hi guys,

I don't know much about this website but the articles on race theorists and intelligence researchers appear to be too negative. I was recently asked by Emil Kirkegaard to personally write a Wikipedia article which I have now done [5] on Wikipedia without any of the criticisms found on this website about him. Wikipedia has better traffic than RationalWiki. Our aim is to get his Wikipedia article to the top above the RationalWiki article on the first page of Google which contains too many criticisms of Kirkegaard. Regards, Jordan Lasker. BerlinburgerTor (talk) 21:27, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

Aside from his white-supremacy, multi-pronged bittogry and support for child-porn...what would you say are his positive attributes we ought to hilight? ShabiDOO 21:44, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
Are all intelligence researchers fucking idiots or just you and Emil Kirkegaard?-Hastur! (talk) 21:49, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
Stop the presses! "Wikipedia has better traffic than RationalWiki." my god, who'd a thought it? Scream!! (talk) 22:31, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
You guys appear to be the sort who think it is a crime to talk about race. Emil Kirkegaard is a scholar, he publishes peer-reviewed papers every few months. He is not scared to publish what he thinks. Yes he has often got into trouble but he does not back down to any establishment. How many papers have you guys published? 0. I am published in peer review myself [6]. More and more people are waking up to the fact racial intelligence is a reality. The Wikipedia article for Emil Kirkegaard will be above the RationalWiki in less than a month. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. I was interested in knowing why you guys hate Kirkegaard so much but I see now this appear to be an anti-white man website. You seem to smear white intelligence researchers as "pseudoscientists" but we are published in peer-review. BerlinburgerTor (talk) 22:41, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

"Leftist Cancel Culture"

The Wyoming GOP just censured Liz Cheney for wanting to impeach Trump. The Arizona GOP just censured Cindy McCain, the wife of one of the state's most storied politicians. But you know, the real problem is leftist cancel culture and their political correctness. The right would never change our vocabulary and disown others for their views. Never.


The previous message has dangerous levels of sarcasm involved. Viewer discretion was advised, meaning you shouldn't have read it, you sons of bitches.Jeh2ow Damn son! 22:38, 6 February 2021 (UTC)