RationalWiki:Saloon bar/Archive378

How do I put a link to my contribs in my sig?
I want to put it in my sig.--Ms. OliviaUse Chatter here 12:07, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Title you want to use Any styles or colors you want to define go before the Title. 13:14, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Dammit, you replied first. ElectrosPardon? 13:18, 15 December 2020 (UTC)


 * At least I got a fancy schmancy sig out of it. Electros [ gold  swords  ] 13:36, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Start your own business. DocYankemRent This Space!22:14, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Looking pretty good! More of us should start making stylish sigs! -- Goatspeed. 23:39, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

It's finally over
In the style of that lovely little BoN who loves to do this: Trump still has a chance!!!. Gentlemen, I hate to do it, but I declare victory! IveBeenFrank (talk) 16:26, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I can't wait till Trump is brought out of the White House in handcuffs. Bet the FBI director has been dreaming of that day for a while. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 18:29, 15 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Wait, the BoN actually said the very words "I hate to do it but I declare victory"? Then it's not the same aussie BoN we rangeblocked who also likes spamming my and GC's talkpages with yuuuge pictures of Cadet Bone Spurs; it's 🇰🇪. He practically copy-pastes that sentence on his talkpage spam. -- Goatspeed. 20:27, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * No, the BoN didn't say that. It's just that I find Ken's and his argumentative styles (if you can call it that - they just spam links/quotes with a trite little phrase attached at the end) to be so incredibly similar. I suppose once you've heard one hard right-winger talk, you've heard them all. IveBeenFrank (talk) 20:47, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I was here posting that I expected faithless electors to cultishly follow Trump and didn't believe a Biden presidency was actually going to happen. I suppose I must find a hat to eat now... MirrorIrorriM (talk) 13:30, 18 December 2020 (UTC)

Reality show idea that would make a lot of money
RationalWiki Ghost Hunters! We get a bunch of RationalWiki users together, say an abandoned house/church is haunted, set up some cheap movie props to fit the narrative, sell it to SyFy and make plenty of cash off of our bullshit claims! --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 18:23, 15 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Hmm... if we did that then we wouldn't need to hold our fundraisers for years! And also, methinks we should make a pointless poll out of this. -- Goatspeed. 20:23, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * "We get a bunch of RationalWiki users together…" It would be like herding goats who act like cats. Bongolian (talk) 21:07, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * more like trying to get cats to try and make goats herd cats who are herding goats, tbh. Twodots (talk) 23:57, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The Pointless Poll has been created! --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 00:31, 16 December 2020 (UTC)

Problem with a show like that? It would be less than... well, enjoyable television.
 * "And here we have the RationalWIki team, who are--"
 * "We didn't find anything. 'Course, that's to be expected, because ghosts and crap like that are bullshit anyhow."
 * "And that's the fifth episode in a row that... look, ratings are crashing as we speak. I knew we should have gone with that latest pack of rednecks instead."  Kencolt (talk) 09:15, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The fact that 50 billion of those TV shows exists just goes to show how stupid and gullible most people who watch TV truly are. But on a side-note I think the shows about finding Bigfoot are funnier. Every episode, a bush moves, it MUST be Bigfoot, but JUST before they can get a photograph of him "Oops, Bigfoot got away. Ol' maybe next time!" (Which of course is just their excuse to run the series for nine fucking seasons). Aaronmichael5 21:51, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The point of my idea: These people who make half assed shows can make plenty of money off stupid people. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 22:47, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * This would be really terrible television. We went to this place, set up all this equipment, then sat around for a few hours and nothing happened.Bob"Life is short and (insert adjective)" 16:38, 18 December 2020 (UTC)

Holistic Medicine Sales are Skyrocketing!
Jesus, I just wanted to go to the mall to buy a gift card, and all of a sudden, everyone is lining up at a GNC to buy some homeopathy tablets. Expect them to think that they won't get COVID-19, not be socially distant, and die as a result. Stupid is as stupid does. — Jeh2ow Damn son!  18:46, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Oddly I found plenty of placebos I mean "nutritional supplements" at Dollar General today: plenty of them. Maybe nobody noticed them. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 19:07, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * We have a store called Life here. They mostly sell herbal stuff and organic crap. One thing they sold claimed it was more effective than placebo.--Ms. OliviaUse Chatter here / Fossils my Zilla dug up|undefined 10:19, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Don't go buyin that crap, I have the real biz, the real deep herbal dosh. Oh, wait, you're getting your stuff from the GNC?  Dammit, I coulda sworn I was gonna score commission today, but those absolute units they hire at the GNC, just, fuck.  How do you compete? At least they're keeping the malls alive. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 05:54, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Belief in ghosts is up 13 points in the USA. It's no suprise that homeopathy sales are up.PeterC (talk) 07:43, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

Zellig Harris and Socialism
Zellig Harris understood fully what a scientific worldview could offer society. He fully appreciated the importance of rigorous methodology and clarity in science, and for any developments in socialism. This is in sharp contrast with Chomsky's puerile mentalism, and the obscurantist charlantry of postmodernists and marxists; it saddens me to think of how the word 'socialism' has been tarnished by these anti-intellectuals...it really is for shame! On the other hand, Zellig Harris is one individual, who's work offers a chance for redemption, a chance to illuminate the real virtues of the left. Post modernism and marxism were conceived in sin: science is their redemption. Leucippus (talk) 19:13, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * And there was me thinking post modernism and marxism were dialectally opposed to each other, apart from in the fevered minds of Jordan Peterson and his ilk. Me thinks Arkell vs Pressdram sums it up nicely Cardinal Chang (talk) 22:17, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Anti post modernist nonsense noted. — Oxyaena Harass  23:51, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Anti-rationalist nonsense noted. IveBeenFrank (talk) 14:02, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * As a non-marxian socialist, what? RationalHindu (talk) 13:35, 16 December 2020 (UTC)

- You seem to be missing my point: it doesn't matter if they are "dialectically opposed to each other," they are both intellectually bankrupt. At any rate, the concept of the "dialectic," while useful for ordinary language interactions, is too vague for serious science and philosophy; classical first-order logic is the model student in this regard. As for Jordan Peterson I have no interest in that quack. As for your concluding sentence...very good, been dying to hear that joke for some time now. - Do you not think that your intellectual positions, including your apparent socialism, could be bolstered by engagement with actual science and scientific philosophy as opposed to the wagging of wooden tongues. Ultimately Hume was right, when it comes to postmodernism or marxism, about committing such aberrations to the flame. Leucippus (talk) 02:07, 16 December 2020 (UTC)

why have you introduced your man Harris here? There is no discussion of him anywhere else in this wiki. Marxism and post modernism are certainly incoherent. That hasn't stopped special people from claiming to be both. Chomsky may well be a puerile mentalist ( I am not offended for him), yet I think you have not made your meaning clear and I have the sense of having walked into a room in the middle of an ongoing conversation. I don't feel all that smart today, or any day, so, really, what are you getting at and why are you trying to get at it here?Ariel31459 (talk) 04:30, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Marxism is rather outdated at this point in history and Post-modernism is an umbrella term for a rather broad range of philosophical positions, so... I'm not sure what the point is. 14:58, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I see this attack a lot but never really any specification, as what is outdated about it? Or as the previous post even more harshly asserts, incoherent? I think much of his critique is still relevant but can't really respond to arguments which are not made OrangeJuiceCabal (talk) 17:20, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * My point is that there are salvageable aspects of marxism: principles worth defending, areas that are rational and amenable to science, and areas that ought to be regimented using the tools of science i.e., first-order logic. I mentioned Harris as an example of someone who has pursued socialism whilst maintaining rigorous intellectual standards, that is, without falling in to the typical sloppy-reasoning of traditional marxism; Russell is another individual who fits this mould, even Popper recognised there were areas that were salvageable. Postmodernism, on the other hand, albeit a broad term, is a confused irrational mess, that has no right to be called philosophy. Clarity, simplicity, symmetry; the list goes on; these are all cannons of science and rationality. Leucippus (talk) 17:52, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Why do you keep using religious terminology? It makes it hard to take you seriously. Postmodernism is a philosophic branch, it doesn't matter if you like it or not. Finally, science is not clean. It's tentative models which expected to be eventually overturned. 18:34, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * - The only religious phrases that I have used are, as far as I can tell, are "concieved in sin..." and a comment I made on the naturalism talk page - "trinity"; now, I was using these phrases for their metaphorical poetry, and in a tongue and cheek manner. I am not a man of religion! I think you misunderstand my point as subjective, when instead, I'm making the case, albeit informally, that postmodernism is objectively incoherent. I am in complete agreement with your last two sentences. Science is messy, science is tentative. Science is always potentially revisable in the light of experience. Leucippus (talk) 22:59, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * - Science has no canon, anything can be overturned with enough evidence. The term is certainly religious in origin. I also hope there's no cannon involved. 104.159.112.162 (talk) 14:22, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * 'Canons' and 'Cannonical' are terms used throughout science, as a figurative term, not to be taken literally. I've already stated that anything can be overturned this is a basic facet of fallibilism. I hope this clears things up Leucippus 15:53, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Yes. The term "cannonical" appears in many areas of academic studies including Boolean and other kinds of abstract algebra, in chemistry, physics etc. See CanonicalAriel31459 (talk) 17:29, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Gentlemen of a certain website that starts with an R!
Your war against Christ is failing, NZ will be fully desecularized in the 21st century! Atheism always will be a feeling of emptiness and despair while Christianity will prevail.

There is no true form of evidence that atheism is true or correct, while there is plenty of proofs that Jesus Christ is the truth as the Bible foretells! As a true warrior says: "The battle is only over if the enemy sees it first!"

Deny this and your remaining credibility will plummet.Rockford the Roe (talk) 18:02, 16 December 2020 (UTC)


 * I'm actually doing an assignment in theatre class where I have to make up a character and a voice for it. 🇰🇪 was obviously my inspiration so I'm basing its personality out on him but replacing some of the evangelical bullshit. Rockford the Roe (talk) 18:06, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * My friend! This will surely give Conservapedia top page results on a certain search engine starting with "G". Twodots (talk) 18:10, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Man, Ken could be a character on a comedy TV show. I've known many crazy evangelicals, but his mannerisms, style of talking, and obsessions would (with a proper actor) put him on the comedic level of Archie Bunker and Basil Fawlty. IveBeenFrank (talk) 18:11, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Just read "Ponies vs. atheism". Most bizarre essay I've ever seen and had to remind myself it wasn't satire several times. Looks like one of our fun section entries lmao. Above post is spot on, never seen someone have the grammar of a 6th grader while simultaneously putting random Big Words™ for, idk, situational irony? On his page the link wasn't working, so for the unenlightened: https://conservapedia.com/Essay:_Ponies_vs._atheism_-_Ponies_win OrangeJuiceCabal (talk) 20:47, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Us evil atheists are out to destroy the Christian faith bwahaha! We won't stop until churches have statues of Richard Dawkins and Charles Darwin put in them. All Bibles will be destroyed! Nothing can stop out plan of superevil!

Well no, I personally don't care if you are Christian. Your choice. That said: Many of us atheists don't want to be discriminated by Christians and other religions. Sorry, I misunderstood. Please ignore what I initially said --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 18:17, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm Catholic and we don't agree with anything Ken has to say about his misinterpretation of the Bible. I just wrote it because I felt like writing like him is a waste of time and braincells. I have absolutely no problems with other religious beliefs because it's not my duty to decide the lifestyle of others. Rockford the Roe (talk) 18:22, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Looking good! You should make an essay about that here, and put it in this category. I also put some of my parody essays in there. -- Goatspeed. 19:48, 16 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Here's one randomly-generated parody of 🇰🇪:

-- Goatspeed. 19:54, 16 December 2020 (UTC)

That is fucking pure brilliance! Shabi DOO  19:58, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * What the.. Nebuchadnezzar7658 (talk) 20:12, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Ken would never address anyone here as "Gentleman/Lady". The sexist arsehole doesn't believe women are capable of editing wikis. He thinks all women are gfood for is growing "long luscious hair", looking attractive and demonstrating their Christianity by doing sexy dances. Spud (talk) 01:41, 17 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Not to mention as yet another single-purpose weapon of orchestrating some badly-defined "fall" of The Atheist Movement™ (which is also badly-defined) from within- along with the fact that his religion and Islam both agree on gays, suppression of "blasphemy", and abortion/birth control. Other than that, he pretends that enough women are incapable of atheism that we'll die out. -- Goatspeed. 02:30, 17 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Oh, and I agree about the allegedly Christian Bollywood dancers; a few months ago he was writing a few unhinged essays about what they supposedly think of Indian-American (although Ken's so racist he leaves out the word to the right-hand side of the hyphen and would never admit that this person- or any Asian-American, for that matter- is, well, American) atheist Hemant Mehta, who aPoLoGiZeD tO fFaF; a SURE SIGN THAT iNdIa iS dEsEcUlArIzInG -- Goatspeed. 07:40, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Why am I mentioned in the parody?--Ms. OliviaUse Chatter here / Fossils my Zilla dug up|undefined 11:01, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's an auto fill script. Revolverman (talk) 11:41, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I feel honouredMcUrist (talk) 12:13, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Ken's personality is unknown. RationalWiki only knows his internet persona. Do you really think Ken uses mannerisms in off internet life such as Olé/gentlemen/search engine that begins with a G/Operation XYZ/as much as I hate to say it, I must declare victory on behalf of all Christendom/etc.? I seriously doubt it. All of it is obviously designed to taunt atheists/leftists and help cause obssession (And there are RWians who are definitely obsessed). And I have seen no evidence that Ken is racist.

Christian/Islamic/Jewish/Hindu fundamentalism is rising in the world in terms of their numbers and influence. And religious fundamentalist are emigrating to the developed countries and many of them are resistent to secularization. And atheism does have a "women problem" and it is shrinking in terms of its market share of the world's population.Keane (talk) 19:59, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Honestly, I would buy that Ken behaves similarly offline. As for demographics, I'd like to see a citation for the claim that religous fundamentalism is becoming more widespread, rather than more overt. 20:09, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I'd argue that, regardless of whether or not atheism is shrinking/growing, distaste for religious extremism is growing. I mean, think of how many places it's no longer a crime to be gay or an atheist in! I imagine that trend will continue. Twodots (talk) 20:24, 17 December 2020 (UTC)


 * I agree. Britain and Sweden are atheist/unaffiliated majority even though they have official state churches headed by each of their respective monarchs. And Turks are becoming increasingly embarrassed by Erdogan's wannabe theocratic regime that thinks it's the Ottoman Empire, as well as having become less religious in general. -- Goatspeed. 20:30, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Twodots, gay bashing is up in Europe. In the UK, police recorded 14,491 crimes committed against people because of their sexual orientation in 2018-19. France reported an increase of physical attacks against homosexuals recently. Muslim fundamentalism and right-wing violence against homosexuals are both increasing in Europe.


 * In Poland, 80 municipal or local governments proclaimed themselves to be "free from LGBTI ideology" in 2019. NBC reports: "ILGA-Europe found "growing official hate speech" on behalf of government officials in several other European countries as well: Albania, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey." Government officials in Armenia, Hungary and Poland banned gay events in 2019.DunnM (talk) 00:13, 18 December 2020 (UTC)

Delusional Theorist says all of US History is fake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrViAyNEaW8 A direct quote. "I've come to the belief that all of US History is fake."

I fucking FEAR for the future of humanity right now.... Aaronmichael5 21:44, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Ugh, this dude. There's no such thing as coincidence, apparently. All those historians and archaeologists are being deluded by fake evidence, somehow. Of course, there's no way to prove what he says wrong, which is the biggest tip-off. IveBeenFrank (talk) 21:56, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The lies go back to the Revolutionary War, which contrary to the liberal wise guys, was won by the British. Smerdis of Tlön, wekʷōm teḱsos. 22:06, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * You know the popes? The center of Catholicism, the dominant Christian religion for more than a millennia? They never existed. Don't tell the Catholics that Pope Francis is an actor and the Catholic church never actually existed. IveBeenFrank (talk) 22:10, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * North Macedonia, Greece, Albania and Egypt don't exist because the Ottoman Empire never collapsed. WAKE UP SHEEPLE!!!!! --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 22:44, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Honestly, what scares me more than anything are all these STUPID sheep in the comments section who are eating that shit up like Bran Flakes. "THIS IS THE GOD HONEST TRUTH ....THE TRUTH UNDER AND BEHIND ALL THE LIES" "Always spot on... Zach u should do a gematria dictionary", "Some of the most profound information you’ve posted this year." These are ACTUAL FUCKING QUOTES from the comments section. Dear GOD, that's a horror story premise right there. Aaronmichael5 22:45, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's hard for me to weep for the future of humanity for a video with 4,868 views though. We're talking about a view count beaten by relatively obscure jazz pianist. Relatively obscure old school funk gets 50x, and indie jangle rock bands with a strange name get 100x the hits. I mean, even Joe Rogan's most popular videos ain't nowhere near a 1980s 2010s synthpop song by some French guy (60,000x more popular then Mr. Gematria.) And M83's big hit is nowhere near the top of K-pop (200,000x more popular than Mr. Gematria). My conclusion: If BTS starts spouting gematria, worry, but the stans seem happier trolling Donald Trump, so there is hope. 72.184.174.199 (talk) 02:09, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Been there already

All history is a lie!
 * Bongolian (talk) 07:55, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * All of history is fake, yet the conspiracies are synchronized to modern day events. Which is why we get the Gematrinator constantly claiming a centuries old solar eclipse is marvelously synchronous with that big professional wrestling match a few hours ago.Antigem (talk) 13:54, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The Gematrinator weirdo did not like the comment I put in the comment section. His response was hilariously bad. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 19:22, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I'll bet he also believes that Jesus was riding a velociraptor 5000 years ago, and denies that the holocaust happened, and was just a myth cooked up by tEh jOoZ... -- Goatspeed. 19:28, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Which comment was yours Channel 48? I went looking for it but I don't think I found it (was it deleted?). And CircularReasoning, you're at least 80% correct. He flat out denies the Holocaust, and while I don't have any evidence he endorses Young Earth creationism, he believes that Charles Darwin was an Illumanati shill to spread the lie of evolution. Even Ken Ham would laugh his ass off at THAT one. Aaronmichael5 22:35, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

I checked and my comment is still there. I commented on the video as Channel 48 (my YouTube channel). --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 00:32, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I just went and looked and this time I found it: oh my GOD. I actually laughed out loud when I read his God-awful reply. "You have no evidence for your claims." LMAO speak for your fucking self Hubbard. The man who says literally everything from the construction of the Egyptian Pyramids to hurricanes to a fucking baseball score is all sacrificially scripted in synchronization has no business criticizing others for having no evidence. And he couldn't even get THAT right because everything Channel 48 said can actually be verified, unlike Hubbard's kindergarten number bullshit. Aaronmichael5 04:20, 18 December 2020 (UTC)

Shit from Sievert
According to Mercian and Ace McWicked, dehumidifiers can reduce coronavirus in buildings. But the science indicates it is humidifiers that can reduce coronavirus in a given area. Dehumidifiers would increase the coronavirus death toll!

I suggest that Ace McWicked and Mercian study some reading comprehension material before they read content at Conservapedia.

If only Anthony Fauci told people that increasing humidity in an area could reduce coronavirus.

I hope this clarifies matters.172.107.246.133 (talk) 02:17, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I swear to motherfucking Cthulhu! First citation is to CP, which means shit source. Second citation is 9-10 years old, which means it risks being out of date! I stress this because it's bloody fucking important you fucking dolt! Would you use medical textbooks from the 1800s? Of course you bloody fucking wouldn't! Gods damnit, this is basic information evaluation. 03:44, 17 December 2020 (UTC)



—cosmikdebris talk stalk 04:09, 17 December 2020 (UTC)


 * I thought Sievert was a RW troll. He got blocked for inserting neo-nazi shit into articles. nobsHell to the Thief! 18:51, 18 December 2020 (UTC)

Will there be a third Red Scare?
With all the hysteria from the right about how the Dems are "socialists" who are working with the CCP to create a one-world socialist state or whatever, is it possible we're in the opening stages of a third Red Scare? I get that the GOP has called the Democrats socialists since at least FDR, but it seems that the appeal of these attacks has increased sharply as of late, especially with progressives gaining increasing prominence within the party. What do you folks think? 174.97.172.77 (talk) 15:13, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Possibly. However, there doesn't seem to be nearly enough concern over the rise of the alt-right, many of which are openly fascist. I don't normally complement the far-left, but at least they thoroughly shun tankies. IveBeenFrank (talk) 15:42, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * In my opinion, no. Typically today's conservatives kiss Vladamir Putin's ass these days. The rising power America seems to be worried about these days is China, not Russia. Currently, distrust of China is bipartisan, with there being no significant "let's emulate Xi Jingping!" movement that I know of (as noted, the fascism of the alt-right is more worrisome). Both Russia and China are more a kleptocracy than communist. Ironically (as seen by the Putin ass kissing, the nepotism and corruption in the Donald Trump presidency) many so-called "conservatives" in my opinion would be happy to point the United States in the kleptocracy direction, particularly those in the "libertarian asshole" wing of the GOP (you know, the ones that actually fund the populist rube-stirring media). "Socialism" is a convenient snarl word for populist movements that target boomer audiences with long memories of US vs. USSR days (in polls, about a quarter of respondents don't even know why they think socialism is good or bad, they just think it is). Socialism is less of a snarl word for millennials and younger, no surprise given that the USSR dissolved almost 30 years ago. 72.184.174.199 (talk) 15:57, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Wow, that was an excellent post. You should make an account, Mr. BoN. Twodots (talk) 16:33, 17 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Maybe. I am not looking forward to religious fanatics taking advantage of the situation and using it as an opportunity to perpetuate atheophobia and introduce more divisive references to their particular version of a god into every aspect of our government and national identity through the backdoor. -- Goatspeed. 17:35, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Biden/Harris will have the economic wind at their back due to a surge in the economy in 2021. But the world's governments have even more debt than in 2007/2008 so a post 2021 recession if it were to occur during a Biden/Harris administration could hit hard.  And with a deep recession calls of Bidenomunism or Harrisomunism could easily occur (Given that Biden is 78 years old, actuarially he has about a 4 to 6 percent chance of dying in any given year of his presidency). Trump could even be reelected in 2024 if a difficult recession occurs.Keane (talk) 18:52, 17 December 2020 (UTC)


 * aThEoPhObIa!!!!! Lmfao. — Oxyaena Harass  19:38, 17 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Lemme guess... it's now politically incorrect to admit that atheophobia exists? Next you'll be saying that secular values are now "centrist liberal bunk"- OH WAIT YOU ALREADY SAID THAT. -- Goatspeed. 19:42, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * They are when they're used as an excuse to oppress a minority. — Oxyaena Harass  19:44, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * What minority is being oppressed whenever CR mentions the existence of atheophobia? Twodots (talk) 19:48, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Atheism isn't on most people's radar. But distrust of atheists is widespread in the world.Keane (talk) 20:03, 17 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Wait a minute Oxy... when did liberals suddenly become evil? -- Goatspeed. 20:14, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Oh, she has some kind of weird "viva la revolution" thing going on and doesn't like the moderate left cause they don't wanna kill the rich and set shit on fire. Twodots (talk) 20:19, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * And she knows that accounts for just about everyone here (and elsewhere, by the way). She's like the opposite of nobs.Ariel31459 (talk) 20:25, 17 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I've kinda noticed how she just seems to be deliberately trying to disagree with literally everything we say. -- Goatspeed. 20:26, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's less of a "I'm a troll" thing and more of a "I legitimately believe this" kinda thing. She's almost certainly a genuine far left anti-capitalist wannabe revolutionary. Eventually (I hope), she'll realize that centrists and the moderate left are her allies and not her enemies. Sigh. Until then, she'll probably keep using "liberal", "Western", and "centrist" as insults and stick to the ad hominem attacks. It's important to keep in mind that the far left (read: anarchists) are helpful allies in the fight against the far right. Hopefully we can get them to realize that we are, too. :p Twodots (talk) 22:38, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I mean I somewhat understand where she's coming from. She's American and the moderate left in U.S. (the mainstream Democrats) are fairly awful. I'm a pretty staunch leftie even as Finns go, and from my point of view there isn't really a left wing party in U.S. Truly progressive people like Bernie and are a tiny minority that gets run over by the corporatist establishment.
 * And I tried to defend her a lot earlier this year, but her open hostility towards most of the people here has soured my attitudes towards her. As far as I see it, she's actively trying to make everyone resent her and doing a bang up job at it. 22:53, 17 December 2020 (UTC)


 * I think part of why she's rude to everyone these days is because she's angered by this wiki's relatively recent shift to the center (and just to clarify for those too new to remember, we used to be a lot more partisan and reluctant to call out bullshit on our side of the party line, and thus a lot of our articles used to imply that Islam ought to be handled with kid gloves and given a special exemption from our skepticism that no other ideology maintains- especially when a certain Mona and her cronies took it upon themselves to push their POV onto here; I'm still finding and cleaning up some of their whitewashing.) -- Goatspeed. 23:14, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Yeah, I can totally see the connection... Twodots (talk) 23:32, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Because Islamophobia is okay apparently. — Oxyaena Harass  00:18, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Um, fuck to the motherfucking no? Islam and it's practitioners are fine. I have absolutely no problem with them. I do have a problem with DAESH and other terrorist organizations. Not because of their religion, but because they fucking murder people. Twodots (talk) 01:32, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * No, because there is a difference between Islamophobia and criticizing Islamic doctrine, just like we do with any other religion. As well as decrying terrorism that's done in the name of Islam just like we have decried Christian terrorist attacks against abortion clinics or far right/Nazi attacks against immigrants or leftists or jews. Or fucking Likud and IDF for that matter. I denounce all of them.
 * Some of us don't have fucking double standards on religion and terrorism at least. Some clearly do. 00:30, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * You know, to be fair, I never said anything you're saying that I said. Stop putting words into my mouth. I do have a problem with unnuanced ways of looking at the world. "Secular values" are fine, but they stop being fine when they're used as an excuse to oppress a minority, as is being done in France. I said nothing about criticizing Islam, nor criticizing terrorism. Try actually listening to what I have to say for once. I say that you should learn about what you're talking about, and stop spreading lies and misinformation and blatant editorializing as fact. — Oxyaena Harass  00:37, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Oh my fucking goat, Oxy. Look, I respect you as a person, but I really hate it when you go on these batshit insane rants about people who disagree with you needing to "read more". You are a smart person. Stop using that argument. Twodots (talk) 01:32, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I tried to listen to what you were saying for months. But all I've heard so far is generalized attacks against "every one of you damned liberals here at RW". Have you ever tried listening to anyone yourself? Like I'm not even a liberal, but even I know that not every liberal agrees with Macrons new policies about Muslims. Or the older ones by him and his predecessors for that matter. And I certainly don't, yet you sum all of us here as Islamophobes for whatever reason. Wonder why you lost me...one of your few defenders at the time you were sysoprevoked. 00:57, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Everyone here is sympathetic to oppressed minorities, except maybe nobs, so what do you hope to accomplish by constantly talking about generic oppression? People can be button holed and reasoned with. France is a freaking country. You can't embarrass France. The Brits have tried for centuries. The French don't give a fuck. They like using the guillotine remember? The Chinese know how to oppress minorities too: first the Tibetans, and now the Uighurs in China's Xinjiang Province. Honestly you could spend a life time chronicaling the crap they do in China. But who cares right? Everybody has their favorite villains. Ariel31459 (talk) 01:13, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Trust me, I hate the CCP just as much as, probably more than, you do. And yes, I acknowledge I`m a punk. I`m sorry. Will try not to be as much of a dick in the future. I guess you could call this a bad relapse. — Oxyaena Harass  02:28, 18 December 2020 (UTC)

It's fine, dude. Nobody will hold it against you. I certainly won't. Twodots (talk) 05:15, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * As much as I'll have a go at anyone who says I shouldn't think being pressured into wearing a hijab, being tortured and killed for apostasy, or having your fucking clit/foreskin cut off is oppressive because of "muh cultural differences", I don't hold it against you. Just don't take it personally when people describe themselves as "centrist", "liberal", "rationalist", or "anti-communist". -- Goatspeed. 07:26, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I bet you're having fun strawmanning me, eh? — Oxyaena  Harass  17:41, 18 December 2020 (UTC)


 * I think Joebamunism is the word you're looking for.  nobsHell to the Thief! 22:05, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Oh look, stupider J. McCarthy has an opinion.-RipCityLiberal (talk) 00:21, 19 December 2020 (UTC)

lmao

 * Just checked out Conservapedia for the first time. They're stupid as fuck. Apparently, YouTube is communist Or something. Oh, and for no apparent reason, the account I made like two months ago that had a grand total of zero edits was banned by Karajou for "Inserting lies". Wtf does that even mean? I didn't even make a userpage. The account's name was a string of random numbers and letters. I did literally nothing. Twodots (talk) 17:10, 17 December 2020 (UTC) `
 * Apparently cowtowing to advertisers and trying to maximize profits is communist. They do what makes the most money, i.e., what is the most popular.  Turns out "let companies abuse people and fuck the poor and rest of the world" is unpopular, and they can't accept that their opinions are socially unacceptable.  MirrorIrorriM (talk) 17:30, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I always thought it was interesting that the same people who bellow "Free association" when gays want to be treated like the rest of the population are up in arms over "control" and "oppression" when Youtube or Spotify decides they don't want to associate with them and decides to demonetize them. IveBeenFrank (talk) 17:33, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I was also blocked there on account of name alone once. I hope Karajou didn't recklessly range-block and leave the entire site unable to edit for another two weeks. (Because then Ken and Sievert'll come back here to spam and troll us, respectively.) -- Goatspeed. 17:39, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * As if we'd care if they did. Oh no! Easily reverted vandalism! Whatever shall we do? Twodots (talk) 18:46, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Good point, TD. I'll bet that Ken will quote-mine the first sentence of your above comment next lol -- Goatspeed. 19:09, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I mean, it'd be a big deal for a new little editor like me to be noticed by a senior CP dipshit! I'd be so proud, almost as much as I was when my userpage was vandalized by a Nazi troll. The way I see it, if I'm pissing off Nazis and fundies, I must be doing something right.Twodots (talk) 23:28, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I agree. I'll never stop being proud of that one time someone created an account name that triple-parenthesied me, and that time ANK, in a love note on my talkpage, said "I hope you die and then suffer from cancer for four years" like how can I suffer from cancer if I'm already dead? -- Goatspeed. 00:48, 18 December 2020 (UTC)

Maybe the maggots infesting your corpse are getting tumors? Or something? Zombie cancer? Twodots (talk) 01:23, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * This thread has inspired me -- Goatspeed. 07:33, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * lol, awesome. Twodots (talk) 15:00, 18 December 2020 (UTC)

Two YouTube channels I recommend

 * Wow Such Gaming
 * Roanoke Gaming

I recommend these YouTubers because they apply science to video games and movies. Wow Such Gaming has a PhD in Physiology and Roanoke Gaming has a PhD in Microbiology. Bet Creationists would hate Roanoke Gaming because he pretty much stated in a video that he does not like religion. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 00:49, 18 December 2020 (UTC)

Intelligence breach
This is pretty concerning... Twodots (talk) 01:25, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * 'Member Helsinki, when Trump said he wanted to collaborate with the Russian's in regard to cyber security?-RipCityLiberal (talk) 00:20, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Oof. Oh, interesting thing about this potentially massive security breach: His Lordship, the Orange One, is still ignoring it even happened. Twodots (talk) 02:12, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Well it is an #intelligence# breach. Anna Livia (talk) 00:11, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

Gin
I just downed some gin. Ugh that was some strong ass shit. Went down my throat like a razorblade, it did. — <font color="Purple">Oxyaena <font color="Red">Harass  02:24, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Lol If you want drinking advice, you should just hit up Ace’s talk page. 02:59, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The smell and taste of gin is rather foul and medicinal (it actually started as a Dutch and Belgian liquor that was originally considered a medicine). But if one actually enjoys the taste of fermented juniper berries, Baeckeoffe ('Laundry Day Stew') does the trick with 1 teaspoon of juniper berries. The stew has the flavor of old socks. Bongolian (talk) 03:35, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * If you try to drink to all the Kenposts praising Islam for supposedly having a 100% retention rate (when in reality its high birthrates have also been mass-producing potential future ex-Muslims in Britain and Turkey- but then again, most people often forget that they even exist), RIP your liver. -- Goatspeed. 07:44, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Whisky, specifically Bourbon, is a better choice. Don't mix it with anything except maybe an ice cube.-RipCityLiberal (talk) 05:30, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * In general, I’d say that most gins aren’t really made to be drunk straight up, but for various cocktails. I have tried at least one gin that I did consider enjoyable on its own (Cadenhead’s Old Raj 55%), though, even if I’m not a huge gin fan, but I regard this as kind of the exception that proves the rule.


 * By contrast, I have been trying out various gin cocktails and its herbal/medicinal taste does complement certain other flavours well, at least to my palate. Similarly, while I developed a loathing for tequila in my teens that I still haven’t quite surpassed when it comes to drinking the stuff neat, I have founded that I quite enjoy tequila as a cocktail ingredient. ScepticWombat (talk) 07:32, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Obviously I prefer scotch and generally single malt at that. But that can get rather expensive, at least at my consumption rates, so this week I've switched to some blended Islay stuff (Islay Mist) that you can get at half the price of decent single malt and is pretty good.
 * As far as gin goes, I occasionally drink Gin n' Tonics. And at Towel Day every year I drink absolutely unhealthy amounts of | these, which have some gin in them and other stuff. Though besides the liver, they're probably really bad for your teeth, considering the amount of sugar in them. 10:32, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Rum, hard cider, and mead. 15:05, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I enjoy mixing Vespers, which require 94 proof gin minimum (and 100 proof vodka); Old Raj 55% does well in those. Oppenheimer martinis are good with most gin, it's 4 oz of gin, a splash of dry vermouth, shaken, and the glass rimmed with honey and lime juice. And Bombay Sapphire tastes great on its own. But you definitely don't want to overdo it. As for whiskey, I'm partial to Japanese whiskey, which is Scotch in all but name; expensive, so I only get a bottle a year, but worth it. The Blade of the Northern Lights (<font face="MS Mincho" color="black">話して下さい ) 15:14, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * This is extremely classy, and normally I'd make a joke about elitism; but in a global pandemic, self-car is primary. Salud!-RipCityLiberal (talk) 00:19, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I logged in just to post this song, which is related to gin. Because the name of the song is "Gin". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFZcO_YhxFY X Stickman (talk) 20:11, 19 December 2020 (UTC)

Fermi's Paradox
It occurred to me that the number of planets in the universe is incomprehensibly vast, uncountable even. There are more planets than there are stars by multiple orders of magnitudes, and there are a *lot* of stars in the universe. It also occurred to me that life on earth started as soon as it possible could, and it only took a few hundred million years to do so.

We now know of multiple places in our solar system alone that could potentially harbor life. Is the answer to Fermi's Paradox simply that we haven't looked hard enough or for long enough yet? — <font color="Purple">Oxyaena <font color="Red">Harass  16:38, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I will never understand why people want to contact space aliens. What's the point? Once the initial novelty wears off it doesn't really improve our pathetic and self-destructive plight. 16:45, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The answer is something called The Great Filter. Basically, at some point between "lifeless planet" and "galactic empire", something makes the journey all but impossible.  Abiogenesis itself might be an astronomically unlikely event, as could be mitochondria, and then multicellular life.  Sexual reproduction could be a prerequisite for intelligence to emerge, we don't know.  Humans are the only species in Earth's multi-billion year history to have intelligence, culture, and the biology capable of technology, and even then, our intelligence is the result of runaway sexual selection rather than anything else.  But we aren't a galactic empire yet, we've barely even been to other planets let alone expanded there.  What if intelligent life is common, but going from "intelligent species" to "galactic empire" is all but impossible?  Does every species develop a super-LHD that destroys their own planet?  Or perhaps every species invents the perfect virtual reality, and they let their infrastructure collapse as they finally get their Orc Battlesorcerer up to level 99?  We don't know, but we do know we aren't seeing any dyson swarms or matryoshka computers out there. CoryUsar (talk) 17:00, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Alternate theory: They've been eaten by Cthulhu. Twodots (talk) 17:18, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Animals have intelligence, and some animal species possess rudiments of culture. That's a lot of anthropocentric assumptions you have there, Cory. — <font color="Purple">Oxyaena <font color="Red">Harass  17:40, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * None capable of smelting metals. CoryUsar (talk) 17:59, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Fire-breathing penguins. Qworty (talk) 18:12, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The 'giant fungus under the forest' (which is the real reason why the silicon trees failed).
 * Six months after first contact is made the principal topics of communication will be (1) sport, (2) porn, and (3) the weather. Anna Livia (talk) 20:03, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * What the hell are you talking about? Silicon trees? Twodots (talk) 20:44, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I know what Anna's talking about..... — <font color="Purple">Oxyaena <font color="Red">Harass  21:26, 18 December 2020 (UTC)

I don't. That's why I'm asking. Twodots (talk) 02:07, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * A combination of a and a very silly conspiracy theory I guess? 72.184.174.199 (talk) 23:56, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I was thinking of this and the 'wood wide web' - silicon-based life forms (if such exist) would not be able to make use of the fungus-linkages. Would us 'individual entities' recognise a symbiotic or composite entity as being sentient (and vice versa)? Anna Livia (talk) 00:06, 19 December 2020 (UTC)

Ah, that makes a helluva lot more sense. Thanks. Twodots (talk) 02:07, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * - we don't actually know that the dinosaurs didn't have a space program. We do know they didn't have a successful one. ;) A whole lot of Earth's history is buried by the weight of all that has come since, and there has been some speculation that we couldn't identify our civilization if we were archaeologists 100,000 years in the future, let alone 65 million. There are also a lot of unknowns about the formation of planets. My personal pet hypothesis (which has never actually seen the light of day) is that we are among the 1st generation of space-capable species', (relatively) simultaneously coming up wherever there are life-bearing worlds. Self-analysis of my reasoning to get there is that I'm reaching though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ — 104.159.112.162 (talk) 23:39, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm a firm believer in space dinosaurs. Twodots (talk) 02:07, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * If every one of us were to drop dead, future archaeologists millions of years from now would not find much in terms of the ruins of cities. What they would find, from the fossils that remain, are unusual bits of metals where our cellphones used to be.  They'd find unusual layers of rock, shaped in a manner that natural causes could not explain.  They'd find a sudden disappearance of numerous species from the record, a massive extinction event.  They'd find metals and minerals and oils missing from locations from where the science says they should have been at some point in time.  They wouldn't be able to piece together exactly what happened, but they'd know something unusual happened involving our species.  We don't see oil and other minerals "missing" from when the dinosaurs dug it all up, there is no evidence of mining or smelting or drilling from some progenitor species.  We really are the first species on this planet with industry and science capable of producing spaceflight.  The question is what prevents a planet from producing an interstellar species.  We already have the technology to send probes on missions to other stars, but not arrive until about a thousand years just to the nearest one.  In another century, we should be able to send probes that will only take a couple of generations to arrive.  But regardless, at some point, a species should be capable of reaching other stars, and once they do so, they should theoretically become immortal, and continue to spread until they visit and expand into every single star in the galaxy.CoryUsar (talk) 05:35, 19 December 2020 (UTC)

SETI@home is going into hibernation.

It's just a matter of time before the Seti Institute is defunct.PeterC (talk) 07:34, 20 December 2020 (UTC)
 * That's probably way too premature about SETI. "'It’s really difficult to overstate how much the field has been transformed' in the last few years, says Andrew Siemion, director of the University of California, Berkeley’s SETI Research Center.


 * Bigger and better telescopes are probing deeper into the night sky. Sophisticated computational tools are poring over massive datasets on increasing numbers of stars and at a wider variety of frequencies." Bongolian (talk) 08:11, 20 December 2020 (UTC)
 * What would the maximum size for space-going dinosaurs be? 'It's not rocket science' to know that fuel consumption and g-forces would impose constraints (as would teleports 'should such ever become feasible'). Anna Livia (talk) 21:01, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

'BIDEN IS A SOCIALIST AUTHORITARIAN'
AS SUCH THE ONLY ANSWER IS GOD-KING TRUMP USING THE INSERRECTION ACT (of 1807) TO ENSURE THAT THE "REAL AMERICANS" LIVE FREE FROM AN OVERREACHING GOVERNMENT! -MAGACHUD6969

Hypocrisy aside, seems bad for Biden thinking he will be able to work with the GOP in any way. Also Senator-elect Tubby (R-AL), has suggested he will challenge the counting of electoral votes on Jan 6, joining Mo Brooks (R-AL) to prove that Alabama is represented by Fascist sympathizers.-RipCityLiberal (talk) 17:22, 18 December 2020 (UTC)


 * They probably won't succeed though; in the words of the recently range-blocked aussie BoN shitposter, THE TRUMPSTER STILL HAS A CHANCE!!!!!!111!!one!!!oneeleventyone!!!!!1111!1 -- Goatspeed. 17:44, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * How do you know they're Australian? Qworty (talk) 17:56, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Probably something to do with IPs. Twodots (talk) 18:34, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * RipCityCommie, I think you're misreading Tuberville's threat; he might just be negotiating with Moscow Mitch for a good committee assignment. Of course we'll have to wait til Jan. 6 to see what the real story is. If anyone is going to object, it would be Ron Johnson, if he doesn't, he's just pissing in the wind right now with his hearings. nobsHell to the Thief! 18:42, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * They're a liberal, not a communist. The two are very different. Twodots (talk) 20:46, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * But don't you know, all liberals are commies! And remember, you can't say that all conservatives are fascists because that's over-generalization, and the Nazis were socialist! /s IveBeenFrank (talk) 21:15, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I wonder if all Franks are sausages? Cardinal Chang (talk) 22:06, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Just so you know, I was being sarcastic. IveBeenFrank (talk) 22:56, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Jaysus, do you ya think? Sarcasm, wow, you're the wurst. Seems you can't spot sarcasm yourself. :d Cardinal Chang (talk) 13:54, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * In nobs world, anything left of Christian Fascism is Communist. Much like Hawley (R-MO) thinks market principals is socialism. Also Tubby doesn't know how to negotiate, considering he thinks American was freeing France from the CCCP and lost to FBS Div-I UCONN. Pretty sure that's a sign of severe mental deficiencies.-RipCityLiberal (talk) 00:16, 19 December 2020 (UTC)

Come on, guys. Theocracy or Stalinism. Fucking choose. Twodots (talk) 01:51, 19 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Took the words right out of my mouth. -- Goatspeed. 02:08, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Of course I did, dude. That's what us evil commie liberals do. Twodots (talk) 02:10, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * O vile and perverse generation, how long must I bear? If Tubby doesn't follow through with his threat on his third day in office on January 6, then you know he's a sellout to the globalists, multinationals, and the U.S Chamber of Commerce shipping American jobs to China. nobsHell to the Thief! 06:12, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Considering that during his final two seasons at Cincinnati he was 11-14, he'll be right at home holding a huge fucking L to start his career as a Senator.-RipCityLiberal (talk) 00:56, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

My grandma died of covid
I've been suppressing it for now but it's starting to really get to me. — <font color="Purple">Oxyaena <font color="Red">Harass  02:04, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Oh, Oxy, I'm so sorry. That's awful. If you don't mind my asking, when was this? Twodots (talk) 02:08, 19 December 2020 (UTC)


 * I'm so sorry for your loss. Yet another dead because of this horrible disease. As if this already goat-forsaken year couldn't get any worse. May she live forever in your heart. :( -- Goatspeed. 02:10, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * My condolences Oxy. My paternal grandma, the last of my grandparents to survive, died few years ago and it was hard for me. All my other grandparents died before I turned 10 and I didn't really understand the permanence of it back then. Or maybe I just hadn't had time to get familiar enough with them, my grandfathers died when I was 4 and 6. I barely remember them.
 * Losing someone so close when you're grown up yourself though is really painful. You have my sympathies.
 * It's a terrifying thought though, that nearly 1 in 1000 Americans have died of this horrifying disease by now. Almost everyone over there must know personally someone who has succumbed to it. 02:29, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * On a happier note, I personally haven't lost anyone. My cousin got it a little while back, but she's fine. Twodots (talk) 02:33, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * There is a guy on YouTube that I am subscribed to, he was in tears while recording a YouTube video. His aunt died of COVID. Just seeing that real emotional reaction broke my heart. It just angers me that people wrap themselves in conspiracies and blame victims. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 02:39, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * My best friend was one of the first to officially get it in Finland in the spring. He's a healthy guy in his mid 30s and he got two weeks of high fever and has said to me that absolutely no-one should take the disease lightly. My mid 70s Christian mum just cancelled any form of family Christmas yesterday because she's afraid (mostly for my mid 70s agnostic dad who also has a heart condition). I truly can't blame them. 02:44, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * My family (who are very Christian) did the same. Twodots (talk) 02:53, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * That sucks. Resident nihilist here, but your gandma is dead, that sucks. Grief is personal.  For me, Grief makes me want to kick a hole in the sky.  When my grandpa died I bought kendo sticks and made everybody fight me.

It was really ok, I really wanted to buy kendo sticks and I really wanted my grandpa to be ok with me. And really, I think he just really wanted to know I loved him. That was my biggest failure. But I did love him. I do love him. Not much else I can do. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 06:31, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm sorry for your loss. I know how painful and disheartening it feels since my grandpa died from it as well. If you ever need someone to talk to about it, you have my Discord. Rockford the Roe (talk) 07:10, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * So very sorry to hear of your loss. An uncle of mine died of it a week ago; but he was in a nursing home and in his case it was a mercy.  Smerdis of Tlön, wekʷōm teḱsos. 17:12, 20 December 2020 (UTC)
 * My deepest sympathies Oxy. Adam Warlock (talk) 02:28, 22 December 2020 (UTC)


 * How can one be sure you aren't making this up like the last time you announced the death of someone in here (your boyfriend or something)? Zaber (talk) 04:34, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Zaber, you can find out without being such a fucking insensitive asshole. In case Oxy is telling the truth you can enquire indirectly by asking details of the actual death like when did it happen and when the funeral is etc. Jesus fucking christ. Shabi  DOO  08:28, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

Adopt a Stub (Week 5)
Well, what's the craic everyone? Another Saturday is upon us, which means that it's time for another Stub of the Week, brought to you by yours truly.

This week's one is actually kind of interesting. Most of our crappy, unreferenced stubs leave me feeling a bit meh, and make me want to use my powers of deletion. This little stub, however, introduced me to a new conspiracy theory that I have never heard of before (though I guess I shouldn't be surprised that this is a thing). This week's stub is ISIS beheading conspiracy theories. Yep, you read that right. Apparently, all the beheadings carried out by this Middle-Eastern jihadist group were false flag operations, staged by evil, oil-hungry Western powers who need the propaganda! Fascinating.

Usually I tell people that if this thing isn't touched for 4 weeks I will attempt to assassinate it, but after some brief googling I ran into some interesting news articles on this topic and decided that I will do some work on it. So this isn't my usual bitching about stubs, but more a case of me telling y'all that I'm gonna do some reading in the next few days, then insert some references into our article. Unless I fall asleep. Which I might, but I don't think so. If any of you have some good sources on this thing (be it the ones that promote these views or the ones that refute them), feel free to chip in.

Sayonara! - Rairyu75  ( Talk ) 13:17, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Remove it please. I am afraid of fish.--Ms. OliviaUse Chatter here / Fossils my Zilla dug up|undefined 08:28, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

Question about Roswell
The history channel is doing a thing about Roswell again which was sure to make my damn mind go into paranoia mode. Anyway, whilst searching for skeptical analysises of Roswell I stumbled across this and I just wanted to ask you guys if this has any veracity to it.

"Problem: there was no Mogul launch during the period of the Roswell debris finding. We have the records of Albert Crary, who was assistant to the head scientist on the Mogul project. There was supposed to be a launch, launch 4, but it was cancelled.

Mogul also wasn't secret. Pictures of Mogul launches had been published in the press.

It seems odd that the army officers at Roswell who were familiar with the highest level of secret US technology would not recognise the Mogul scraps.

Mogul was the last in a line of sundry explanations for Roswell by the USAF. The stories changed several times over the decades and I'm not convinced I should believe them on this one.

Other than that, I have no further comments, as I feel Roswell has become a big red herring." Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/2avipn/what_do_you_think_of_this_post_about_roswell_on/

Everywhere I look I see that MOGUL was launched so am I crazy or what?--WMS (talk) 15:09, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * was a nuclear sensor system used by the US military (The Soviets had their own version). One of the Mogul balloons crashed in Roswell New Mexico in 1947. The military came up with a shitty cover story of a "weather balloon" and from what I know a few of the troops on site speculated that it could be aliens. Thus we've been plagued with "UFO researchers" who likely neither know what the anagram "UFO" stands for, nor .  15:43, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Why do you post about aliens all the time? 15:52, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * That makes sense, however what I don't understand is the user saying that no flight was launched at the time as flight 4 was cancelled which doesn't make sense as anywhere I look I find that flight 4 was launched in June of 1947 but it was unaccounted for "Only two flights launched in June were unaccounted for, i.e., flight nos. 3 and 4. Flight no. 3, most likely would not have had the "unorthodox" configuration of corner reflectors devised by Moore, who did not arrive until June 1, three days after flight no. 3 was launched." so I just don't understand what the user it talking about as it seems clearly incorrect as it looks like flight 4 did take place leaving me confused.--WMS (talk) 16:11, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Why I post about aliens all the time is a very good question and a bit of a long-winded explanation. Basically, after speaking to my doctor, turns out I have OCD that has been left untreated for the past (at least) 4 years, my obsessions mainly focus around doomsday and end of the world predictions. One thing that really screwed me up was that Area 51 alien interview "documentary" which had a doomsday prediction there. Now, I pretty much got over it and I realise it's bullshit, but back when I was still very much afraid of it, any UFO sighting or any anecdote about aliens would scare me because, due to confirmation bias, my stupid brain would assume that that is evidence for the veracity of the doomsday prediction in the area 51 alien interview film. Oddly enough, through repeated exposure I have conditioned myself to be fearful of the topic because, somewhere in the crevasses of my mind, a connection is made that the frivolous alien evidence somehow proves the doomsday prediction. I know it's stupid, it's bizarre as I feel like I'm a prisoner inside my own mind and it causes more problems than I would like (relationships, education, work). I have requested to be put on a waiting list for treatment of this however it does take a long time, it's been like 2 months and I've still not heard back. But yeah, that's pretty much why I post about this, I don't trust my own judgement because I know how fucked my brain is so I take to rationalwiki as people with much more robust critical thinking skills can weigh in on these posts. I do apologise about such frequent posts.--WMS (talk) 16:11, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's really not stupid, and fuck anyone who says it is. Don't be so hard on yourself. — <font color="Purple">Oxyaena <font color="Red">Harass  16:48, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * +1 for what Oxy says here. I grew up in a fairly religious home, and the past 4 years have made it hard to keep my brain from sliding into apocalyptic prophecy crap. Fortunately my upbringing was pro-science and left-leaning, so there's some crazy cognitive dissonance, but enough rationality to pull me back from the edge. Keep workin at it, it takes practice! —104.159.112.162 (talk) 17:24, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you guys a lot for the words of encouragement, it really means a lot, I guess why I'm hard on myself is because I see that my fears are unfounded but I still let them take control which doesn't make sense. I'm also makes me feel more comfortable to hear I'm not alone in having such irrational thoughts. My upbringing was the opposite, it was very pro-religion and right-leaning, and recently I even found out my mother is very into conspiracy theories so I wouldn't be surprised if that had an effect on the way I process information. I am glad though that somewhere along the way I decided to take up a more skeptical world view, whilst it doesn't completely dissolve all my irrationalities, I'm sure with practise and time (like you said) I will be able to have a better grip of my thoughts :).--WMS (talk) 19:07, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Just a little update on this, I did a bit more research and turns out that the comment from reddit is just an incorrect assertion made by true believers based on cherry picked information as opposed to the whole... So nothing new there I suppose :P.--WMS (talk) 19:23, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm glad people are helping you out. I have my own eccentricities as well, and I'm glad people on the wiki are helping you. 03:18, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

Carbonation grimace
Hello, you seem like some rational folk, so I was wondering if you had any commentary on a matter of great importance to me.

You may or may not be aware that the migraine medicine Topiramate is known to cause a grimacing aversion to carbonated beverages. I've become fascinated with this "carbonation grimace" as I call it, because I was born with carbonation grimace and I am completely immune to migraine headache pain (I enjoy alcohol hangovers). I've gotten myself a serious concern that this unrecognized symptom is an unrecognized link to glutamate hypofunction and/or deficiency, and I believe that there may be thousands of children who experience carbonation grimace who haven't been informed that they have glutamate hypofunction (which I'll tell you, is a big deal). There even seems to be a link to coprolalia.

Think about your own kids, if you have any. Suppose they couldn't drink soda. You'd never have thought anything of it, but here I am to warn you.

Doctors simply decline to comment on the matter - so I'll ask you, do I seem to have a rational basis for my concerns? Henstepl (talk) 19:13, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * In my not-a-physician opinion, nope. No rational basis. Why? On Google, the first sources I find about carbonation grimace are reddit and kiwi farms. Not authoritative! In the medical literature there is one case report published about carbonation dysgeusia (the fancy term) and that's with topimirate. One article about one patient. That's a profound lack of evidence. That doesn't mean that your concerns are false. It just means that there is ABSOLUTELY ZERO current evidence. So, no, no rational basis. DerFluchtPlan (talk) 20:30, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Er, no.
 * The medical term for the phenomenon of altered taste perception is . I suspect that the OP's case, though, they might have gotten the (cough) "bitter" end of being a, which means that this person has an unusually sensitive palate for this particular food. The Harvard Crimson has noted that some "supertasters" "find the bubbles in carbonated drinks especially irritating." The cause of supertasters is unknown but appears to be genetic. For reference, current science as far as I can tell suggests that the enzyme is responsible for the "taste" of carbonated beverages. Topiramate falls in a class of drugs known as , so it's not surprising that this drug alters the taste of carbonated drinks in some people to be honest. Topiramate is not well reviewed for this phenomenon (one paper), but another carbonic anhydrase inhibitor,  (used to treat glaucoma and altitude sickness, primarily) is well known enough for its carbonated drink changing properties that there is a paper suggesting it be used to help soda-addicted people lose weight. I honestly don't think there is a connection between this phenomenon and glutamate, though. 72.184.174.199 (talk) 20:34, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Twodots (talk) 21:35, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * BoN (PharmD?) - <me, holding your beer> DerFluchtPlan (talk) 20:44, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I am aware of the KiwiFarms thread, because I posted it. I posted myself. I've cultivated a strong belief that there is some indicator in carbonation grimace, for which a formal term might have been "oral hypoaesthesia". I believe my friends when they say Topamax gives them carbonation grimace, and I believe those several individuals I've interviewed who were born with carbonation grimace linked to coprolalia. And we're all immune to migraines!
 * And when I say I believe these people, I'm not voting against some mass of literary evidence that has determined there to be no link to coprolalia or glutamate deficiency. I'm making my own field, I know, and from the confines of what I've seen, I am convinced. And I sincerely wish that I'd been told, when I was a kid, you have carbonation grimace - so you've got no glutamate.
 * Our carbonation grimaces are reversible through facial exercises. We can restore the ability to drink soda. That's not consistent with an enzyme - unless I'm reversing inhibition of every one in my mouth? Henstepl (talk) 22:42, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Ok, well then, you've got a challenge ahead of you. Do science. Your initial evidence of belief, anecdote, connections that could seem improbable, and an intervention that doesn't obviously pair with your hypothesized cause all add up to unpersuasive evidence. So, yeah, go do science, but in a way that other scientists would find persuasive. DerFluchtPlan (talk) 00:12, 20 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Wait, hold on a minute... you posted this on Kiwi Farms? As in, the ableist hate-site? Won't they just harass you for having this inability to handle fizzy drinks? (Just ask ; he's an ex-KFer.) -- Goatspeed. 01:52, 20 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Let me begin by saying I've had one of my personality changes. Yesterday I was what I would call deficient, to say the least. Now I'm capable of standing up again, and it's pretty great.
 * Topiramate will always have a place in my heart as the drug that made me notice there was a connection between carbonation grimace and glutamate hypofunction - because there is. It doesn't matter if the carbonic anhydrase inhibition explains the aversion that drug causes, I have spoken to several people with born carbonation grimace, and there is a link to coprolalia - one of the great misfortunes of my life, which I consider myself successful now in apologizing for.
 * I have written seven great theses for psychiatry, which you can find on the KiwiFarms thread I can't link here. One of them is the mechanism of action of Topiramate, which I feel stands uncontested though my personal link to the drug is diminished.
 * I'm so glad to interface with you when you point out why topiramate does what it does. I'm not delusional - and I do still believe the kids, through explanation rather than your mystery, will be saved. Henstepl (talk) 19:51, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

New COVID strains
New variant of COVID in the UK.. Nebuchadnezzar7658 (talk) 01:39, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * You'll be relieved to know that even this new strain still responds to the Pfizer vaccine (at least); however, it is remdesivir-resistant. -- Goatspeed. 03:38, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * That is somewhat reassuring. Although, we haven't been dealing with COVID long enough to understand how mutagenic it is. I am optimistic about the vaccines though. Nebuchadnezzar7658 (talk) 03:57, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * This is still the damn anti-maskers fault. All these dumb fucks talking about herd-immunity, not realizing that if you wait long enough for most of your population to get a disease, then the disease also has a chance to mutate into new strains, some of which will have herd immunity against your herd immunity.  If herd immunity worked to stop disease, then every disease in history before vaccines would have already died out millions of years ago.  MirrorIrorriM (talk) 10:58, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The flu exists because of reservoirs of sorts in bird populations. Ducks generally don't live very long and basically replace their population every year, there's so many uninfected birds replacing everyone that they can't ever acquire herd immunity so there's always some sick duck somewhere that spreads it to humans.  The reservoir for stuff such as the common cold is small children; if we stopped having kids for a few years, the common cold would disappear too.  Though if we stopped having kids for longer, eventually all diseases would disappear... CoryUsar (talk) 20:51, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Neo-Malthusianism intensifies Nebuchadnezzar7658 (talk) 01:39, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

Autopatrol
How do I give a user autopatrol? The user in question is, I believe, a good faith editor, and has made quite a few helpful edits. Twodots (talk) 04:05, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Go to their user profile, then click "User Rights Management". There you can tick the "autopatrolled" box. After that it's considered polite to make a new subject on their talkpage congratulating them with their newfound power (there's a substitution template available in the Talkpage section of the markup box.) 11:11, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Okie dokie, and thanks. ^-^ Twodots (talk) 21:06, 21 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Oh, and please note that it is not recommended to demote someone to janitor sysop unless they meet the following criteria:
 * They aren't an obvious troll/wandal
 * Their account is at least two months old
 * They have made at least thirty edits
 * Also, only autopatrol a new user if they have been making consistently good edits for at least a week. -- Goatspeed. 21:26, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * As it turns out, I'm too stupid to figure out how to do it anyway, so, no worries, I guess. The user is . Twodots (talk) 03:40, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

For someone whose first language is American English, how difficult would it be to learn Macedonian
I find the language fairly interesting to be honest. Hell I am a fan of linguistics. Not going to stop learning Spanish though.

On a side note- should we add the growing extreme nationalism to the article on Greece? --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 19:03, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's a typical South Slavic language, though somewhat less analytic and more inflected than Bulgarian. No obvious reason it's be more or less difficult than other South Slavic languages. The Blade of the Northern Lights (<font face="MS Mincho" color="black">話して下さい ) 19:21, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * My understanding is that Macedonian has lost most of the Slavic noun cases. Like other languages of the Balkan area, including the Romance language Rumanian, it has a definite article that is a noun suffix, rather similar to what the Scandinavian languages do.  All of the southern Slavic languages are one big dialect continuum, so if you were to study on the big language there - Serbo-Croatian - you would probably find materials easier to get a hold of and be able to get by in all of those places - rather like Scandinavian again, where if you need one, you're best off with Book Norwegian, which puts you in a good place for understanding Danish and Swedish. Smerdis of Tlön, wekʷōm teḱsos. 19:47, 21 December 2020 (UTC)


 * NO YOU IDIOT, IT'S NOT MACEDONIA!!!1SHIFT!!!!!1 IT'S CALLED FYROM /s -- Goatspeed. 20:10, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I do find the whole naming dispute to be childish. Do Greek nationalists ignore that fact that population exchanges happen? Then again many of them using arguments similar to Nazi arguments.
 * As for the Macedonian language, it is a cool language and the country of North Macedonia is beautiful. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 20:38, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

Macedonian should be the easiest Slavic language to learn. It has mostly dropped its case system (slavic languages have a lot of cases where the noun changes depending on its grammatical role in the sentence. Imagine if in English subjects took the suffix -sub and direct and indirect objects took -ob then sentences would look like this:

Johnsub talked to Markob. Marsub is writing to his friendob. Theysub see Usob.

It's even more complicated because adjectives and articles also take endings:

Thesub bigsub mansub is talking to theob oldob ladyob.

And its a billion times more complicated because those endings all change based on gender, number, grammatical function and several totally arbitrary paradigms plus there are tons of irregular ones. So not having to deal with all of that shit would considerably make it easier (that would cut down on at least 100 hours of learning...quite likely a lot more). Macedonian has lost most of those declensions and has remnants of two cases. The other big bonus is the lack of palatalised consonants. Most slavic langages have two ways of pronouncing almost all of the consonants. English only two examples being "n" and "l" though I don't know of any examples where substituting one with the other would create any confusion if you just pronounced an i afterwards but anyways. Palatalised n is like onion and palatalised l is something like million (many European languages distinguish them). But most slavic languages do this with most of the other consonants too, even at the end of words which can be fiendishly difficult to detect the difference (piet vs. pietj) until you gain a lot of experience. Macedonian has lost most of the palatalised consonants unlike its cousin Bulgarian which has retained some. So you also don't have to deal with that headache either which should reduce a lot of learning hours too. So if you really want to learn a relatively easy slavic language and don't care that it is one of the least spoken slavic languages offering the fewest opportunities to speak it with one of the smallest treasures of cinema or literature to enjoy, then Macedonian would be your language. Of course learning Bulgarian would be super easy if you know Macedonian and there would be a few more opportunities there. Why the interest? Do you have a crush on someone from Macedonia? Shabi DOO  22:39, 21 December 2020 (UTC)  Shabi  DOO  22:36, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I just find the language interesting. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 00:55, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * There are also the English 'ghost letters' - the two ways of saying 'th'. I recall seeing in some bilingual dictionary that there are 42 sounds in the English language (this was probably referring to Standard Received Pronounciation - there are many more in the several varieties used in the UK alone). Anna Livia (talk) 17:45, 22 December 2020 (UTC)


 * As a fellow learner of an uncommonly-studied language, I wish you luck on learning!
 * To answer your question (and as others have said), Macedonian is more analytical than other Slavic languages; it relies more on word order, just like English. It even forms the past perfect just like English; it conjugates “to have” and adds a participle. And while Macedonian is analytical, it still is more inflected than English. Slavic languages are very synthetic on a whole.
 * I’m currently learning Kiche (a Mayan language), which has a similarly sized speaker base. While our target languages are different, I thought I’d still mention my studies because I’m curious as to how you’ve been able to find speakers. This is one of my main challenges in learning languages with small speaker bases.
 * Ourdearbenefactor (talk) 22:18, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

Macedonian, briefly:
 * Virtually identical to Bulgarian, to the degree that Macedonian delegations don't bother to bring their own interpreters to EU/CoE conferences and simply borrow the Bulgarian interpreter instead. The only real differences are the accent, which sounds slightly funny to Bulgarians in much the same way Austrians sound funny to Germans, and a few verbs that have inexplicably acquired an extra syllable or two.
 * Easy for English users to understand. You will start recognizing word boundaries and common roots fairly quickly. There are no weird pairs of phonemes you'd have trouble telling apart from each other. Spelling is completely and consistently phonetic. With the sole exception of wordfinal а/ъ, each letter always denotes the exact same sound in all contexts.
 * Somewhat hard for English users to fluently speak. Declension is trivial but conjugation is very involved by English standards. The lexical aspect and the subjunctive mood will be challenging and remain challenging for quite a few months. GR Kraml (talk) 05:24, 23 December 2020 (UTC)

Spotify
What’s ur top songs for the year. I’ve had a SHITHOUSE year this is apparently my number one (1) song. Thank love You’ll and whatnot. 00:21, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * My top song on Spotify was Metropolis by The Church. It's very soothing-Hastur! (talk)  00:30, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Holy FUCK my dad used to see them live all the time in the 80s. Pretty good band nice. Also slightly less sad song but still a banger. 00:37, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Their "Under the Milky Way" is a friggin classic. RoundeTheeHorne (talk) 01:10, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Dodge the dodo Cardinal Chang (talk) 13:48, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Oh and Pluvius Aestivus. Think they're always my top two. For some reason Unconditional by Touch Sensitive got a fair bit of play this year too. Cardinal Chang (talk) 13:50, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Mine is Digital Onslaught by Dan Terminus. This surprised me, because I thought it would be Angelus, also by Dan Terminus.  MirrorIrorriM (talk) 21:53, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Very nice tbh making a playlist with all these rn 03:36, 23 December 2020 (UTC)

Some More News released a new video
Watch it. It's great. — <font color="Purple">Oxyaena <font color="Red">Harass  17:16, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I find Cody Johnston to generally be funny, however I find he misses the forest for the trees often when attacking people who agree with him.RipCityLiberal (talk) 20:27, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I miss the old cracked-Hastur! (talk) 20:32, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I like this one better. — <font color="Purple">Oxyaena <font color="Red">Harass  20:35, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Cracked stopped being funny many years ago. I also remember and miss the times when they were good. 21:16, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * They laid off a bunch of their staff and a bunch quit too I think, Cody Johnston included-Hastur! (talk) 19:17, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

$600 is too paltry says God King Trump
This video is delusional, but $600 is not enough. I'm sure many of us could put $2000 to good use.-RipCityLiberal (talk) 20:26, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Now if only we could get Trump to support M4A.... — <font color="Purple">Oxyaena <font color="Red">Harass  20:28, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I'd prefer these stimulus packages to take measures to offset inflation. I'm very liquid right now and I'm not thrilled that they don't include a tax on the rich, who, if I've read correctly, got richer during this pandemic-Hastur! (talk)  20:31, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * We could defund the TSA.......they are pretty damn useless. While we are at it we should prevent corporate tax breaks. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 22:15, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Corporate welfare, and taxes on the rich aren't likely until Biden, but the amount of money and the number of multi-billionaires did increase during the pandemic.-RipCityLiberal (talk) 01:00, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I very much doubt Biden will go after corporate tax breaks and wealth inequality. Those aren't really his priorities. We might get some much needed labor and criminal justice reforms though. 03:55, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Nah, turn the TSA into a giant phone-sex service. Spammers call random numbers, those calls get rerouted to the NSA.  The NSA stays on the line for half an hour, and charges $10/minute.
 * The way phones work, when you call someone else, your phone connects to Telecom A, who connects to Telecom B, who connects to C, then to the person you called. Telecom C doesn't know where the call originated from, only where Telecom B says it came from, which is how Spoofing works.  But let's say the person you called is a phone-sex line that charges by the minute.  They don't bill you, they bill Telecom C, who bills B, who bills A, who bills you.  All along the way, the Telecoms collect fees from that bill, and IIRC, they pay those fees regardless of whether YOU pay in the end.
 * So the NSA sends the bill to Telecom A, who then passes it to B, then to C, then to the spammer. If the spammer doesn't pay, C has to eat the costs, so eventually C will disconnect the spammers or put in basic safeguards to prevent spammers from using their services.  If C refuses to pay, then B refuses to connect any calls from C and that entire local service goes down, and spammers end up wrecking their own community, who then take matters into their own hands. CoryUsar (talk) 20:50, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

You aren't your personality?
http://aiokoa.com/you-are-not-your-personality/ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/you-are-not-your-personal_b_639774 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1WswcS4uFI

Short version, is it just a mask that we wear?Machina (talk) 05:39, 20 December 2020 (UTC)
 * All the world's indeed a stage, and we are merely players, performers and portrayers, each another's audience inside the gilded cage. Seriously, just ask yourself if you have a personality, it's a straightforward yes/no. The Blade of the Northern Lights (<font face="MS Mincho" color="black">話して下さい ) 17:41, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

Was hoping for something more substantial in terms of comments.Machina (talk) 02:51, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * There honestly isn't much I can say. Much of the above honestly strikes me as a very Buddhist (in a "life is an illusion" sort of way) viewpoint of personality and self. It is religious oriented. (Edit: Nope, not Buddhist. One link is from a devotee of, one is a devotee of , and one is a psychologist who seems to write self-help books with a mishmash of Buddhist and Hindu concepts, which usually I would describe as part of the New Age movement. There will probably be significant differences on the perception of self if one dives deeper into each individual belief.) At any rate, you either believe or you don't. The Buddhist type outlook does have the advantage of seeing personality as not a fixed data point, but something more fluid, which is probably true. The problem is more exact science is poorly understood. There is certainly a neurochemical side to personality (we know medications can alter such), but holistically science just doesn't have a great picture. Same with genetics, brain structure, etc. The more exact sciences know only bits and pieces here and there. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 14:13, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Nobody has this science. People are attempting this science but it's not that binary.  Like, what is the concept of talking about something before exactly knowing it?  The Overton window, you don't have to know the answer, but if the conversation can be had within the Overton Window, it would be better understood.
 * So, I'm willing to ask, what do you, Machina... Ahem. The fuck you mean? You can or can't change your personality is the important piece?  Or what, you can't stay you if your personality changes?  Is this a Ship of Theseus question, because it's sounding like a Ship of Theseus question.  Gol Sarnitt (talk) 01:13, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kKVWknupeI you are asking a really important question. You're asking it first and foremost by yourself. That's fucking cool. Some people have asked similar questions. That shouldn't take the wind out your sails. Fuck it up, Machina. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 04:23, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Something that make no logical sense
Me and my family went to Dollar General today where we saw something strange. For a 16 ounce bottle of Coca Cola is a $1.90 yet for a 2 litre of Coca Cola also a $1.90. That makes no logical sense! Why would a small amount be the same price as the bigger amount? Can somebody explain it? --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 21:20, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I think it was mislabeled. -- Goatspeed. 21:22, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Actually it is like that at the other branches. At Wal-Mart the 2 litre of Coca Cola is cheaper than the 16 ounce. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 21:27, 23 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Probably because the people who labeled the price tag couldn't be arsed to actually do the conversion calculation, and just assumed that since 2 is way less than 16, the amount must also be less. People have become very stupid now. -- Goatspeed. 21:29, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's the same in Europe. In Madrid in an express shop you'll have a cold 500ml for €1.50 (or even €2) and a room temperature 2L for €1.25. Last minute convenience really...for people who need to quench their thirst now and don't want to chug in the street from a 2L warm bottle. You could get a 335ml can for €1 but it doesn't have a lid and it's a little trashy drinking from a can in the street here. I think the better question is: why are we paying anything for carbonated sugar tap water? Shabi  DOO  00:03, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Because it is, to the tastes of many, very refreshing and quite tasty carbonated sugar tap water that, simply put, we cannot make for ourselves. This is called commerce-- trading for stuff we can't (or at least don't know how to) make ourselves, but someone else can. Kencolt (talk) 03:16, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Or perhaps because people are hooked on a mediocre overpriced product that is which is endlessly and relentlessly marketing-blasted to them? It's sugar water after all. Shabi  DOO  09:06, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I personally really like the carbonation aspect of soda. I drink straight club soda as a healthier alternative to soda.  :p  The fact that soda is sugar water doesn't seem like a problem to me.  Just because something is simple doesn't mean it isn't delicious and the best tasting drink short of Thai bubble tea.  MirrorIrorriM (talk) 09:51, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's possible to make your own soda.
 * To do it from true scratch requires some upfront costs to carbonate the water in some way (eg make seltzer). Those who already have pursued the kegerator route for having a bar inside your house with taps for beer are lucky in this regard -- all they need to do is take one of their Cornelius kegs, fill it with water, hook it up, and presto -- seltzer. (Correction: Club soda is apparently seltzer with a few additional mineral ingredients.) Add additional ingredients for other styles. (Kegerators involve a fair bit of upfront costs though, most people who have one have it for beer.)
 * A cheaper, more self contained alternative would be a "soda siphon" -- these are small fancy containers that use small CO2 chargers to carbonate the water. Seems like several brands exist here.
 * Another option would be a carbonator cap. This is a device the homebrew beer folks came up with to attach a CO2 tank to a 1 or 2 liter soda bottle. This involves more upfront costs than the soda siphon (you would need a CO2 tank, regulator, tubing+hose clamps, ball lock valve) but probably involves the least waste, as more things here are "recycleable" or not one time use. (Someone else on the Intertubes is using this process to make seltzer.)
 * Honestly, though, for a lot of soda recipes, the cheap alternative is to just get seltzer (provided there's no extra flavorings), which is indeed cheap enough and make your own stuff from there. For a simple soda like, say, lemon lime sodas like Sprite, 7-Up, etc. it's probably a fair bit better for you to mix seltzer with the juice of real lemons and limes, and a better tasting sugar, compared to commercial soda with all those unpronounceable preservatives. Fancier soda recipes ("cola" style for instance) exist on the Internet but I'm not sure how good they are.
 * I will say that I've had a few homemade "old-timey" style sodas (root beer, cream soda) and they usually are better than most commercial stuff. (A few "craft" root beers are pretty good, though). PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 18:26, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's actually an old marketing trick.
 * You sell newspapers. You offer...
 * A) The Paper subscription for $100
 * B) The Internet subscription for $100
 * C) Both for $150
 * Virtually everyone chooses A.
 * You offer
 * A) The Paper subscription for $100
 * B) The Internet subscription for $150
 * C) Both for $150
 * More people choose C than in the first scenario. Why, when virtually no one was getting the internet one in the first scenario?  Because in the second scenario, people think they are getting one over on you.  The shopper sees the 2 liter for the same price as the 16 oz, and thinks they are getting one over on the store, but that 16 oz only exists to get people to buy the 2 liter.CoryUsar (talk) 20:37, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * is soda stream still a thing? my aunt had one when i was a chiid. it seemed like a marvel of the age. we were never allowed dizzy drinks as kids - we only drank coke in a holiday camp or at christmas. and my aunt could make her own coke whenever she wanted. off brand cola, not as good as panda cola, so off off brand cola, but we are quibbling, she could fart bubbles into any drink you could think of which is in reality just cola and squash. they werent very good, but goddamn it bubbles - my little mind was blown. i only ever saw it the once dont think my aunt ever used it again. i figure if you drink enough coke to justify arse and expense of my making your own you probably got diabetes. i suppose you could be drinking diet coke, but thats like non alcoholic beer - whats fucking point? AMassiveGay (talk) 21:11, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

I have seen them at Wal-Mart. I know that they sell it. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 01:53, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Yeah, Sodastream still exists. I didn't mention them because I personally think the point of making your own soda would be more "this is my recipe" (which means it's going to be more expensive, but the expense isn't a big deal as the point is that it's more a cooking type hobby) and Sodastream to me was very much a hand-holding, relatively expensive deal where they provide a fancy thing that makes bubbles and give you pre-concocted syrups and yay, there you go. Meh. Not much room for creativity there. They should license the syrups from Big Soda Corps if that's the angle they are going for (most commercial soda these days that you get from commercial dispensers is seltzer mixed on the fly with a portion of sugar syrup bags anyways). I will say that "naturally (*cough* sort of) flavored" seltzer is pretty big over here for some reason in the States and it seems like that Sodastream's current angle per the above Amazon link is kind of like that: "hey, you can make your own Bubly style flavored seltzer and help the environment by not using x cans". I don't care enough to investigate if that is bullshit or not, to be honest... PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 02:23, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Happy Holidays y'all
And say hi to the Hogfather Goatfather for me! You fucking punks. 01:06, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Merry Christmas, you dirty animals. Twodots (talk) 01:15, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Have a happy holiday! For Christmas I hope that I a better grasp on sanity as a gift. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 01:52, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks, I'll try. I am participating in the war on Christmas as an athiest, nihilist, and blossoming absurdist.  I recognize all holidays are simultaneously valid and made up.  Tomorrow is Christmas, which doesn't correlate to much else.  Have a good and easy Christmas tomorrow, specifically, tomorrow. Everybody else is doing it. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 01:53, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Merry Christmas and whatnot. Very Sad time of year for me but I will survvive. I hope your Christmases are less sad than mine. 03:07, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Tangentially tying a bit into the referenced, one of my personal "off the beaten track classical" favorite toonz to play around this time comes from the quintessentially English, "cheerfully agnostic" Ralph Vaughan Williams -- "Fantasia on Christmas Carols". I personally think RVW (and to be honest, Pratchett too) got more of what this Christmas solstice style celebration deal is about than American culture warrior blowhard types like Bill "War On Christmas" O'Reilly, to be honest. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 03:27, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's not hard to get anything better than O'Reilly, but yeah. I absolutely adored Pratchett (especially some of his latter books like Thud, Truth and Monstrous Regiment) and I legit cried when he passed away. The Hogfather tv-movie is surprisingly decent too and I make a habit of watching it every Christmas. 14:22, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Merry Christmas and happy holidays Neiltyson1fan (talk) 16:21, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 *  H a  p  p  y  H  o  l  i  d  a  y  s  !  -- Goatspeed.  19:47, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Cao Cao
'I would rather betray the world, than let the world betray me.'

Discuss. Anna Livia (talk) 19:58, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * He lived during quite a turbulent time, in the Three Kingdoms years between the fall of the Han dynasty and before the Sui and Tang. Said attitude kept him and his son alive and powerful in what was largely a power vacuum. The Blade of the Northern Lights (<font face="MS Mincho" color="black">話して下さい ) 21:48, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * So what would 'betraying the world' be now? (Assuming that 'the world' was used in the sense of the time, not necessarily the modern usage.) Anna Livia (talk) 16:17, 26 December 2020 (UTC)
 * To be honest, when it comes to badass things that superb military leaders have said, I prefer Scipio Africanus' "Ungrateful fatherland, you will not even have my bones". 16:30, 26 December 2020 (UTC)

Identifying of an anomaly from a video?
I came across this video, I've been trying to pin point the origin of it however that proved difficult, I found this video through a meme account on snapchat and it completely perplexed me, I didn't even know what to search to find something about this (search red line explosion in the sky, red streak zooms across the sky etc.) I've got no clue what this, do any of you guys have any clue?--WMS (talk) 22:44, 12 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Meteors strong enough to cause a sonic boom is my best guess (a possible candidate here would be the in 2013, which actually was strong enough to blow out windows, and was seen all over Russia). 72.184.174.199 (talk) 00:50, 13 December 2020 (UTC)
 * That would explain the noise, I know little about meteors that can cause sonic booms, would that explain the red streak that seems to fly across the sky? Maybe pieces of the meteor? Would a meteors cause such brightly red streaks?--WMS (talk) 01:24, 13 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Fireworks, maybe? A low-flying plane? A drone? Twodots (talk) 01:31, 13 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Fireworks or Meteor seem the most applicable (based on my very limited understanding). I don’t think it’s a drone or a plane, it seems a more volatile than intelligent in its manoeuvrability. I originally thought it was a rocket that exploded. The things that perplex me most are the explosion/siren, the redness of it and the streaks/thin red lines.—WMS (talk) 01:47, 13 December 2020 (UTC)

Send that to Metabunk. https://www.metabunk.org/forums/Skydentify/ 04:41, 13 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Yeah I wanted to post this in Metabunk, just having a friend look over my draft as I am very bad at posting there lol. Asked a friend about it and he says it’s a Phalanx CIWS, that looks compelling (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KsVUISS8oHs). I even asked the person who uploaded the video and he said “water gun” (which is what Phalnax CIWS effectively is). So what do you guys think? I’m fairly certain that it’s that and now I feel stupid for obsessing over what it is.—WMS (talk) 09:32, 13 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I like that answer as well honestly after rewatching the video. If not the Phalanx, at least another piece of military tech. 72.184.174.199 (talk) 18:08, 13 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's really hard to tell when bright burning objects like meteors can look a lot closer than they actually are, and if it's pushing in hard with a lot of spin, it CAN ricochet off of different pressures in the atmosphere, but the speed and noise looks like it was close. No self-respecting weapons testing government would TEST weapons in plain view, or fire a rocket that traces red on the whole trajectory, so it would have to be an actual successful bounce, which, I agree, would make this a wild and cool video.  Gol Sarnitt (talk) 05:20, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Are you saying that this is probably an actual defence against an incoming rocket or are they shooting at a meteor?--WMS (talk) 21:08, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's probably a defense test, tracer kinda rocket aimed at nothing. Somebody probably filmed it when they weren't supposed to.  That's my guess.  Gol Sarnitt (talk) 23:52, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Yeah sounds about right.--WMS (talk) 01:01, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

If Trump were to be visited by the Three Ghosts from A Christmas Carol..........
The Ghosts of Christmas past and present would likely give up. The Ghost of Christmas future visits Trump and shows him the chain that is the weight of his sins, said chain would likely be miles long. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 21:06, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I think a vital part of A Christmas Carol is that Scrooge is capable of understanding the point of A Christmas Carol. 82.46.167.158 (talk) 21:31, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Yeah, tRump notoriously did not understand the film Citizen Kane, so he would not understand A Christmas Carol either (What's in it for him, after all?). Bongolian (talk) 21:41, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * This is, let me tell you, let me tell you about this, without a doubt, the biggest hoax in American history. Huge hoax, very unfair to me, many people are saying the same thing, y'know. And the- you know me, you know what I'm talking about- the ghosts are Antifa, all the ghosts, you know the ghosts are working against me. Ghostbusters, stand by. Stand back and stand by, ghostbusters, we're going to need you. We're going to build a very big spirit-removing instrument, a yuge ghostbusting instrument, absolutely big. And the Cratchits are going to pay for it. We're going to make the Cratchits pay for it, mark my words. Twodots (talk) 22:54, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * A bigly beautiful, beautiful spirit-removing instrument. *sniff* Believe me. -- Goatspeed. 23:13, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * id imagine ghosts tasked with reforming trump would adapt their approach from the one they use with scrooge. showing him ruined relationships and the hardships his greed and selfishness have caused, not going to cut it. tiny tim would not survive this story. his disability would like disgust trump would and probably have cratchtt fired and his family evicted. trump wont be swayed seeing happy families rich with love despite being financially poor. trump got trumps family - anyone would take money over love of that family. shown to be depised wont make trump mend his ways in hope a better legacy, hes so driven by spite hed likely try to think up more ways to fuck every one of us.
 * hes a irredeemable cunt - he has no better self to appeal to. best bet would be to make clear every financial fuck up he has ever made, every failed business venture burned into retinas, seared into his soul that hes a failure at business and politics, and that real business men like bezos are richer than him and laugh at him as do real world leaders - particularly putin, that'll make him ball his eyes out. and never let him forget his hair is shit and the chinese know he cheats at golf. as for his legacy, just show him whatever arse jr and eric are posting on twitter. he probably already despises them both, but just a reminder - he sired those two twats. for a real heir, ivanka's a girl so thats a non starter, maybe theres still a chance for barron to run the trump empire or just be something other than a prick,
 * this will achieve nothing of course, and trump would be at mar lar go at first light grumbling about how persecuted he is. no merry christmas one and all, and no lessons learned, but a dreadful old man might have a bit of a sulk on a golf course. its the best we could hope for from a ghostly intervention based on seeing the error of his ways. a christmas carol would be a very different bookAMassiveGay (talk) 23:42, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The three ghosts wouldn't help Trump advance his political agenda and he'd probably suck them into a ghost-buster trap and send them off to a "shit hole" country. I think a better question is: will Trump maintain his orange make-up once he leaves the white house? Shabi  DOO  23:58, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * For Pence and the Three Ghosts, he would be more likely to realize the error of his ways and change. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 01:42, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Actually, none of the above. As far as Trumpy is concerned, Ghosts are Fake News. (Holy shit. Something we actually have in common with the twit.  It's a Christmas Miracle!) Kencolt (talk) 11:15, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * "They don't use the term Christmas because it is not politically correct... Well, guess what, we're saying Merry Christmas again." - Donald Trump.DanB (talk) 13:51, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

Is this cognitive dissonance?
I’ve been looking for what this is called that I’m experiencing and was just wonder if it’s classified as cognitive dissonance. Basically, it’s just so bizarre to me that I’m a sceptic, I don’t believe in paranormal stuff and I’m a firm believer in scientific rigour yet for some reason (granted, mainly due to my mental health issues) I get freak out, sometimes obsessively so, by the stuff I don’t believe in. I mean, at one point I was paranoid I’m going to hell despite not believing in an after life and being an agnostic atheist. Just wanted to know if this is cognitive dissonance or something else. Thank you. —WMS (talk) 21:51, 26 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Perhaps. But seasonal depression disorder is also likely.Ariel31459 (talk) 00:45, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * True, my fucky wucky head does seem to get worse around September-December time.--WMS (talk) 01:02, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * New Scientists: Why almost everyone believes in an afterlife – even atheists. "A survey compiled in 2014 by The Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture (AISFC) reveals that 32 percent of Americans who identified themselves as agnostics and atheists believe in an afterlife of some kind."


 * It's not unusual for agnostic atheists to have cognitive dissonance.DanB (talk) 14:05, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

Concern trolling/shitposting
Valid question. Accept no substitute. 2001:8003:59DB:4100:49CC:A368:C7DC:4396 (talk)


 * Adding my signature here so that the topic doesn't linger forever. 11:07, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Happy God totally exists and reincarnated himself into a God-baby...
...and then enjoyed a couple days of super sexy torture and didn't doom the planet to centuries of religious war and horror day! Shabi DOO  23:35, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * But let's all stuff our gullets and get drunk in his honor, just like the good old days. Bongolian (talk) 03:26, 26 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Honestly, Modern Christmas is more of a "Let's use the vaguest notion of a patchwork of religious holidays to part you from your money and sell you cheap crap day" than anything truly religious. 03:31, 26 December 2020 (UTC)
 * 'It has been said' that you get the most presents on the day of your birth (and 'the point when you stop believing in Father Christmas is the point at which you start receiving clothes for Christmas).
 * What would a religion of 'all the best bits of other religions' contain (so artworks, feasting, showing goodwill to all, doing Good Deeds etc are included). Anna Livia (talk) 16:22, 26 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Now GC, that's the commercial view. If you don't believe in the Christian myths, that's what it looks like. Some people are actually happier this time of year. Don't begrudge them the alacrity to be happy. I hope the idiots have a great time.Ariel31459 (talk) 23:07, 26 December 2020 (UTC)
 * You're kind of missing my point. There are Christians outside of wingnut moral panickers who are kind of disgusted by the commercialization of their religious holiday. Like, to the extent that they kind of hate the "war on Christmas" narrative as they find the idea of their religion being used to sell stuff disrespectful and degrading. 23:35, 26 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I don't mean to be tedious. Religious people don't despair because merchandisers are profiteering. I am guessing that most serious Christians love Christmas anyway. Only we infidels see it as you described it.Ariel31459 (talk) 00:43, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Don't fucking gaslight me. One two Christian newspapers. Here's Catholic paper reporting on the Pope complaining about Christmas consumerism. Can I have a fucking apology for your fucking ignorance? 03:16, 27 December 2020 (UTC)

(outdent) Happy holidays to my once-favourite shmendriks :) I hope that science and rationality wins and we get control of this pandemic, I hope that we can put an end to needless deaths and the intolerable hurt and suffering and poverty will end sooner rather than later. I hope Biden will begin the healing that the US desperately needs; I hope Sir Keir Starmer is UK PM next year not the year after; I hope that people will start to be kinder to each other, that the agony of 2020 will be seared deeply in their memories and they will strive harder in 2021 to be better neighbours; I hope Donald Trump dies in a freak golf buggy accident, that the most dangerous man in the world, Putin, dies in an accidental nerve-agent-underpants incident, and that Die Antwoord finally get a number 1 in the hit parade. I hope you all have a happy and healthy 2021. Love and kind wishes from your most-reviled and ridiculed shikker, Fox xx TheOriginalFox (talk) 18:04, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * And you are? 18:19, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * לא עניינך TheOriginalFox (talk) 18:33, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I agree with Ariel.


 * There is a lot of bitterness posted above. Christmas is a great time of year and even many non-Christians like the festive/cheerful spirit surrounding Christmas. If you are an atheist, it doesn't make much sense being a wet blanket during the Christmas season. It just reinforces the antipathy that many people have towards atheists.DanB (talk) 14:15, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Eh, making fun of the commercialization of Christmas was not only fair sport in the 1950s math nerd humorist crowd, it was a major theme of (circa 1965). And, as seen in a recent Saturday Night Live sketch mocking those godawful pretentious Lexus Christmas ads, it's a tradition that continues today. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 15:38, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Aye. Not to mention that there are plenty of people that believe Christmas is inseparable from Christianity, so atheists and other religions cannot participate it. IveBeenFrank (talk) 15:49, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Firstly Fuck you and your tone argument that completely ignores my point. Seriously, fuck you. I gave the effing receipts to my point when I was being borderline gaslit. Don't like it? Tough shit. Secondly,the idea that pointing out the commercialization of traditions and cultures is being a "wet blanket" is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Oh, and thirdly I was pointing out that it was Christians who were doing it. I guess the pope isn't a "serious" Christian now. Or maybe he's a "wet blanket atheist". Or maybe some of you need to get your heads out of your asses.  I'm still waiting for that apology.  16:02, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * -- Goatspeed. 21:17, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

Christian Science Monitor:

"But in early modern Europe, it also had its roots in Christmas begging. At that time, Christmas bore little resemblance to the family-centered holiday celebrated today. During the holiday seasons, bands of young men, often rowdy, would "wassail" from home to home and demand handouts from the gentry, says Stephen Nissenbaum, author of "The Battle for Christmas." Christmas involved an exchange between the social classes.

But when Christmas was domesticated in the 1800s in the United States, the recipients of gift-giving shifted from the lower classes to children, given by versions of Santa Claus. It was then that a marketing opportunity was created, bringing us to the Santa-in-the-shopping-mall phenomenon that we recognize today."

Getting upset that kids get a bunch of gifts during Christmas seems excessive.

Atheists are highly distrusted in the world. And criticizing religious holidays isn't going to make the situation better.

The Philippines is one of the most Catholic countries in the world and it is the "Rome of Christmas". Christmas is very important in the Philippines and no country celebrates Christmas more than the filipinos. Many Filipinos stay awake all night into Christmas day.

I would also point out that Pope Francis has many Catholic critics and many critics in Christendom as a whole.DanB (talk) 00:16, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm going to assume you don't actually have anything worth saying, otherwise you would have said that instead of falling back on handwaving and tone arguments. Also, in case you hadn't noticed in the original discussion, I was only pointing out the existence of theists who dislike the commercialization of Christmas, not actually speaking to the merits of their case. Speaking of which, I'm going to keep pinging you like this until you own up and apologize.  00:26, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

I wish Santa Clauss and the excessive commercialization of Christmas would disappear.

But its largely a problem that will solve itself. Retailers are the biggest promoters of the commercialization of Christmas. Retailers are losing market share to online sellers. More and more malls are closing up shop due to Covid-19 and online competition. Malls are seeing way less foot traffic. Children meeting mall Santas is becoming less and less common. American consumer spending is going to dry up in the coming years thanks to the spiraling national debt eventually causing an economic crisis.DanB (talk) 01:17, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Since others are doing the same with their new drafts: Help needed with a draft I've been working on
Hi all,

I have spent the past month working on 's recently-created draft on the monolith things that have been popping up in random places. While you will find that I've already made quite a bit of progress on it, I need help completing it so it can be moved to the mainspace since I haven't the energy to do it all by myself. Thanks. -- Goatspeed. 21:23, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Sure, will do. I hope my edits are helpful. ^-^ Twodots (talk) 00:54, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Christmas was very bittersweet for me
I know it's been a while since I logged in, but I just wanted to share how was since I don't wanna get any impressions that I'm inactive. My Trump bootlicking relatives decided to invite us to a superspreading event to "own Pritzker" on Christmas but we declined, the first time we haven't seen them for Christmas. My mom's friend who I'm close with got COVID and can barely walk, talk, or breath. We got multiple gifts relating to my grandpa that really killed my mood during the season. But in the end, I got to build a new computer with my dad and had Asian takeout on Christmas Eve for the first time (Damn, why haven't we copied this other Jewish tradition yet?). Anyways, I hope everyone had a great holiday and I'm looking forward to monitoring this turdblossem for another year. Rockford the Roe (talk) 08:26, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Finally created draft about racism and police brutality in the US!
I made a draft for an article about racism and police brutality in the US. I unfortunately don't have the energy right now to substantially add to it, so I left a bunch of headings for things we should cover since we've needed this article for a long while and I thought that might make it easier for people to contribute. I'll add to it when I can, but I'm not sure how much time I'll have in the near future. Quantumgeek333 (talk) 04:02, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Science journal Nature: "White officers dispatched to Black neighbourhoods fired their guns five times as often as Black officers dispatched for similar calls to the same neighbourhoods."


 * According to Rudy Guliani, recruiting more black policeman worked in NYC to diffuse public/police tension. Guliani also said, "More police officers are shot and killed by blacks than police officers kill African-Americans."


 * Pete Buttigieg claimed it was hard to recruit and retain black police in his city.


 * Maybe Black Lives Matter with their anti-police rhetoric make it harder to recruit/retain black police.DanB (talk) 23:56, 28 December 2020 (UTC)


 * It doesn't seem that the problem is the race of police officers (though I would be curious to compare the rates of shootings of people of color among different police forces with different demographics). Rather, law enforcement are trained in a way that causes this disproportionate victimization of Black people. PBS Frontline has a really good documentary called Policing the Police that exposes this. Also, I would be wary of any claims that Guliani makes or statistics that he brings up.


 * Also, I'm hoping that you're just discussing this instead of claiming that we shouldn't write an article about it, since this is definitely a prominent issue that writing about would also further our mission. Forgive me if I misinterpreted your comments. Quantumgeek333 (talk) 00:36, 29 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Irish-Americans used to be thrown in the back of paddy wagons because they brawled and drank too much. But the American-Irish reformed themselves.


 * There is a lot of fatherless families in the African American community. This helps breed criminality. African Americans need to do what the Irish Americans did and improve themselves.DanB (talk) 01:06, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * There would be a lot fewer fatherless families if the fathers could actually get an honest job that paid a decent amount instead of working the streets and ending up in box one way or the other... CoryUsar (talk) 01:28, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Yuck...the racism just made me throw up in my mouth. Additionally, that sounds a lot like blaming the victim. Quantumgeek333 (talk) 01:43, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Innocent Irish people were also discriminated against for no reason but that went away as Irish people as the relatively light (though still terrible) racism against them subsided as they were accepted into the rest of white society. Black racism never went away and despite decades of effort they have never fully been allowed into white society as the Irish were hence why they have a hard time acquiring the education, jobs, housing and not being pointlessly messed with by the police over trivial matters...necessary to accomplish what the Irish did because of their white privilege. Irish didn't dust themselves off purely by hard work, the white ruling class slowly gave up on their prejudice and racism (and clearly directed it to Black people as their numbers grew in New England). If systemic racism ended today and police stopped their pointless brutality and arresting black people for trivial offences...then there is no doubt black communities in hard hit areas would parallel what happened in white marginalised communities. One need only look north of the border in Ontario where black people who suffer a little less racism and discrimination have a notably lower level of poverty and social problems in their communities. However in the province of Nova Scotia there are much higher levels of discrimination and racism against black people (long standing) with vile police brutality and it shows in the level of suffering in the black communities there. Shabi  DOO  12:30, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I agree with you but a couple things I just wanna mention.

1. For at least a century Irish people weren't considered "white" in America.(or in a lot of places for that matter) White Irish-Americans in America today benefit from white privilege but not back then. 2. I imagine it also helped that Irish people historically went into the police in the cities we went to. Evilatheistheathen (talk) 21:02, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Moreover, public perceptions are entirely out of black people's control. Using the Irish as an example, people still think of them as drunks and alcoholics. It doesn't matter whether it's true or not, as even if the majority of Irish people aren't drunks, they'll be dismissed as "outliers," while the occasional drunk will be called a "true Irishman" or something similarly demeaning. Also, the whole "betterment" thesis is seriously flawed. While betterment can be useful, it by itself does not end discrimination. Irish and Asians improved in social standing just as black vs. white issues moved to the center stage of American race politics. Seeking allies, whites slowly accepted Irish, and ignored Asians (that is, instead of actively trying to discriminate against them, they just did it passively). Irish have a major advantage: they look "white." It doesn't matter how educated, intelligent, or well-mannered a black person looks, they will never be white. IveBeenFrank (talk) 12:38, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The interesting counterpoint the DanB argument is that there is an argument to be had that the massive incarceration of Black men in America, which by many accounts is heavily driven by racial disparities, has devastated the African American nuclear family structure. Indeed it would be great if African Americans who run into unfortunate troubles were allowed redemption, and not imprisonment, if the circumstances were right, as is the case with many other countries with less institutional racism and a much less punishment oriented criminal justice system. Perhaps this would give more African American men an opportunity to stay in a family structure, as indeed there is evidence that a stable family structure helps reduce crime. It's hard to parent behind bars. But the current preferences of the American justice system, and particularly of conservatives who love to complain about African American single parent households (or, as seen in the Breitbart commentary section, virtually everything else that has to do with Blacks), is punishment, punishment, and more punishment. Such an attitude enables the American police system that too often acts like they are "the military" (in a way that suggests many of them would flunk the, but never mind that), which in my opinion, is a strong root cause of the excessive police brutality in the United States.
 * (Anecdotally, my experience is that this punitive American justice system style is quite heavily supported by a lot of working class whites. However, although Black people do get massively screwed by this system, the system is rather rough on poor people overall, no matter what your skin color. More or less, marriage is in decline among *all* of those of lower incomes, so tut-tuting about fatherless African American households is kind of silly when that's increasingly the norm in working class white households too. The Southern strategy is sure great at getting a lot of people to vote for and support the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party.) PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 15:38, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Florida Maquis
There's been a delay in my meds so my rationale somehow has been substantially worse. I came across the Florida Maquis channel who seems to talk about bible prophecies, reptilians, aliens and shit like that. Would it be possible for someone to just skim the channel and just to clarify if it's just another conspiracy theory channel that can be dismissed. He's been saying that the bombing in Nashville has been a "prelude" to an "Alien invasion" which, what, I don't know how you even jump to that. Thank you.--WMS (talk) 16:10, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * If this channel doesn't have a page, here's an idea for one. I haven't had time to watch any of these videos yet but I just noticed this video has 4.9K likes and only 117 dislikes. Humanity is in deep, DEEP trouble.... Aaronmichael5 19:21, 28 December 2020 (UTC).
 * This guy predicted "DONALD TRUMP WINS *LANDSLIDE VICTORY OVER BIDEN IN NOVEMBER!" in August and I'm sure in his mind he still believes this happened. He also sells face masks with the traitor battle flag "Confederate flag". Accurate predictions are not what you will find here.
 * Another note is the prominent promotion of the "Guy Fawkes mask" at the beginning of the Donald Trump landslide video. Now, if you recall, the current masks in popular culture are really "Guy Fawkes masks as visualized by and  in the graphic novel ". Alan Moore (anarchist, occultist) has a nifty quote about conspiracy theories on his Wiki page: PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 20:12, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

"The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory, is that conspiracy theorists believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is actually chaotic. The truth is that it is not The Iluminati, or The Jewish Banking Conspiracy, or the Gray Alien Theory. The truth is far more frightening - Nobody is in control. The world is rudderless."
 * What I'm learning more and more is that conspiracy theorists who believe in things like the Illuminati/NWO, etc, believe that everything bad short of stubbing your toe in the middle of the night can be traced back to a single source. This is comforting because if that's true, all you gotta do is unite all of humanity against them and dethrone them: next thing you know, POOF! Utopia!! Seriously, conspiracy theories are for people who want to believe we can get rid of everything bad and create a perfect life. Never gonna fucking happen in a million years, get over it, find a fucking job. Aaronmichael5 23:05, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I think creating a page for him could be beneficial as, like you pointed out, he seems to have a legion of drones that believe all the bullshit he puts out. With that quote, I really do find it ironic how so many conspiracy theorists wear the mask so proudly to push their agenda. And yeah, it seems to be a comfort thing like you said, I just think it's difficult for some people to accept the chaotic and random nature of the world. On a separate note, I learned that the guy is a Pentecostal Christian due a time he "spoke in tongues" which suspects me to believe that his conspiracy theories are religiously motivated a la The Vigilant Christian. He's also against social distancing because... Jesus is the answer?--WMS (talk) 18:12, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I saw that you started a drat but later deleted it, how come?--WMS (talk) 18:15, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I reinstated it as it's a really good starting point, if you want we can work on it together :).--WMS (talk) 18:22, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Didn't realise it was in mainspace... Still, I'll add to it when I have some more time :)--WMS (talk) 18:26, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Yeah so I originally wrote it as a draft, but then I moved it to main-space. If anyone wants to re-list it as a draft and work on it some more, feel free. Aaronmichael5 20:21, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Hello. I have been on holiday.
How was everyones Xmas? Does the site need more Ace? Was I missed? What the fuck has been going on? I'm drinking scotch some woman gave me. Well, gave me is the wrong word. She broke into my house while I was away on holiday and left the bottle on my bed. I love that - definitely a keeper. It's not every day an attractive woman breaks into your house to deliver you a bottle of single malt whisky. Any way - what's up fuckers? Give me some news. Or ignore me, either position is a valid to take. Hugs. AceModerator 03:52, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I got my hands on some Czech beer. Reputation well-deserved.  Wiki-side things are pretty ordinary-Hastur! (talk)  04:01, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * There were a couple incidents of trolling today. Apart from that, not much has happened. That I know of, at least. And yes, I missed you. Twodots (talk) 05:33, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Well that sounds terribly exciting. I have seen a lot of sun over the last few days and the distant, yet noticeable, Tahitian blood that runs through my veins expresses it self as a deep mahogany colorization to my skin.Summer here in New Zealand and I have two and half weeks of leave before I need to be back into the office. Ho ho ho... what a dramatic few weeks it will be. I'm already drinking far too heavily but we carry on nonetheless. Liver be damned - you'll take your medicine like the good organ you are. Selah you mother fuckers. Grapple with 2021 like you would an angry bull - taunt that fucker, dodge the horns and walk off like a victor. Our time is now. AceModerator 05:43, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I have recently got rather enthusiastic about fermentation-- as in fermenting my own veggies. Not for the woo reasons, mind you-- I just find it fun and the stuff I make can taste a lot better than most of the stuff in a jar.  (I may never eat store-bought sauerkraut again.)  Anyhow, my brother and his wife dropped by with a slightly late Xmas gift yesterday-- an onggi, or Korean earthenware pot for the purpose of making kimchi, which is a wonderful thing to... well, make kimchi in.  Might well have my next pickling project (And it's damn well one thing that I honestly would not have thought to get for myself).  Kencolt (talk) 07:34, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The site wasn't the same without you, Ace. With you gone, we have been denied the amusement of having to ban Ken for his performative shitposts designed to get your attention.
 * I spent this Christmas with my parents, brother, grandparents and uncle. And I helped the anti-Christmas war effort by buying wrapping paper that had "Happy Holidays" on it (gasp!), and suggested that my mom use it for the presents to my conservative dad (double gasp!), just to mess with him. -- Goatspeed. 19:38, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Documenting an instance of trolling
Hi,sorry to bother everybody, but I need/want some help in documenting a troll who invited me to get fucked by a donkey. I'd like to add it to my troll gallery (which I just created), but don't know how to link to a previous edit. Can I get some help? Twodots (talk) 20:03, 29 December 2020 (UTC)


 * When you click the "diff" link of the trollpost you're trying to document, it takes you to a permalink. Copy the URL, and in this gallery you can include it like this: [(diff URL here) (link label here)] . -- Goatspeed. 20:06, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * (EC) You can always link to the fossil record. Just be sure to click on "compare~" so the HTML generates. CoryUsar (talk) 20:07, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Honestly, most trolls aren't worth the bother. None of the ones who have shown up on this site are Boaty McBoatface tier. 20:10, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * You haven’t been really trolled here until Mikey Boy had vaguely threatened to kill you with his totally-not-imaginary group of Nazi friends. 20:18, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Or until our good friend Ken from the most trusworthy site on Earth has written 46 essays on your talkpage about how atheism is going extinct or something. Evilatheistheathen (talk) 20:49, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for the help, chums. Unfortunately, I'm stupid and don't understand what you're talking about. "Permalink"? "Nowiki"? What sorcery is this? Twodots (talk) 20:21, 29 December 2020 (UTC)


 * "You haven't been really trolled here until Mikey Boy (as well as that dipshit little WN runt who thinks he's Alden) has vaguely threatened to kill you" I have. And I've also had Mikeypoot blank my talkpage and replace its content with "SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIT" at least thrice, as revenge for all the times I renamed him to a joke username starting with "Mr. Poot..." -- Goatspeed. 20:27, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It didn't seem to work for you. I had the same problem when trying to link to a diff in the past. If I gave it a written description, it linked to the current version of the page instead. I think I ended up writing the description in plain text and put the link behind it as a direct link like so: [URL].
 * I don't know about the permalink stuff, but     is just code that lets you write wiki code so that you can read the code directly without going to edit screen. I hope I'm explaining it in anyway understandable way.  20:34, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Don't worry TwoDots, you'll learn all the coding once your neckbeard grows in. CoryUsar (talk) 20:36, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * This is not true. I've been hacking a neckbeard for more than five years (after I got tired of shaving) and I still understand little of the arcana of HTML that's not entirely HTML. Kencolt (talk) 23:01, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Oh, joy. Twodots (talk) 20:38, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * If memory serves a permalink is what you get if you click permanent link in the left margin. Scream!! (talk) 20:40, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Kencolt: And I can't even really grow a neckbeard, though I can pull a halfway decent goatee. Though I really don't know all that much about wiki code (yet) anyway, so maybe I'm a proof that neckbeard is required. 23:14, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

An old friend of ours
Has ended up exactly how we would have expected him to-Hastur! (talk) 03:00, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * What does this wiki know Larson from? 03:16, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I'll DM you to avoid breaching our d0xxing ideals-Hastur! (talk) 03:22, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Well, that's not surprising in the slightest. 03:25, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Wait, wtf, this guy used to be on this website? I'm relatively new here (14 months) so this was probably before my time. Aaronmichael5 03:31, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Dates back to 2012. I won't do anything save for linking you to Nathan Larson. (Thanks to Hastur for looping me in on Discord) 03:49, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Was that that Tisane guy? Boy, I remeber when we tried REALLY damn hard not ban people back in the day.... Revolverman (talk) 05:26, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Lock the monster up and throw away the key. Maybe he will land in a prison cell with a guy who hates pedophiles? --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 01:48, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Oh yeah - he was here for a while. AceModerator 06:01, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Is it wrong to wish death upon people like this? 71.208.110.67 (talk)|

Section 230
I've been wanting to start my own website with a forum dedicated to talking about pen and paper games, but all this talk about repealing Section 230 scares me. Would I be liable for things people say on my forum? Like if some user slandered Joe Shmoe could I be sued? MirrorIrorriM (talk) 03:35, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Hey let's see the positive side of that matter, it will make Encyclopedia Dramatica illegal. TAOB (talk) 10:58, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Most likely, it's flabbergastery and petty shit, like when they were going to shut down Twitter over the New York Post, that rag, ooohhh big deal. It's being blown up.  If they did do it, though, it wouldn't take long for conspiracists to get every single platform taken down.  I think your forum would be safe with massive moderation. Joe Shmoe, on the other hand.  Libelist, plagiarist, and all around sourpuss.  Gol Sarnitt (talk) 03:52, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's definitely possible. It would depend on a lot of factors. If you moderated comments at all, then you'd make yourself more liable because you were specifically curating the content. It would also depend on where you were sued and what the courts wanted to do in those circumstances (i.e. would it be governed by circuit court precedent or not, and if not how would the courts rule?). Although long story short, if Section 230 were repealed, you'd potentially face a legal battle if this scenario were to happen, whereas in the current setup you'd be fine as long as you weren't the person defaming Joe Schmoe. You could, of course, get around this by either requiring comments to be approved before going up and just being extra cautious about what might be defamatory, or by just not allowing comments at all.
 * Of course, there are a lot of huge "ifs" hanging over this. If Section 230 were repealed entirely, with no sort of replacement. I'm highly skeptical, despite all of the talk from idiot politicians on both sides of the aisle, that Section 230 would actually end up being repealed wholesale. And the current iteration (the Senate's 2k check, 230 repeal, plus 2020 investigation) isn't going to be passed, so it's still safe for a good while longer. Mabian (talk) 06:52, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

Chipotle vs Jack in the Box vs Taco Bell
Okay so I know this is gonna be off topic as fuck, but out of those three, Taco Bell is my least favorite. Jack in the Box tacos are AWESOME, though greasy, while Chipotle is great if you're in the mood for real ingredients. Taco Bell is just... meh. Aaronmichael5 22:09, 22 December (UTC)
 * Personally, I love Chipotle. Taco Bell is garbage. Never had Jack in the Box before, though, so I might try it. :p Twodots (talk) 00:35, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * As someone who survived on taco bell for 3 years of my life, I think it is alright. Chipotle is better if you want "real food".  Never had jack in the box.  MirrorIrorriM (talk) 01:26, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I think people forget that Jack in the Box has tacos, since it's not a "taco" restaurant like Taco Bell and Chipotle. Which is great since Jack is a great place to eat if you don't want hamburgers for the billionth time. I find it ironic that the one place with "Taco" in their name has the worst tacos out of the three, lol. Aaronmichael5 04:13, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * To me, the real problem with Taco Bell isn't it's mediocre food. I'm never surprised at mediocre food from a fast food joint.  No, it's the unacceptable prices they charge for that food, because those are some darn small tacos for what they charge.  I can eat six at a sitting, and they'll cost nearly nine dollars for that.  Thank you, no... Kencolt (talk) 15:18, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Why, this food sucks! … and there's not enough of it. Bongolian (talk) 20:28, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Essentially, yes. And I wish I'd thought of putting it that way. Kencolt (talk) 06:10, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Taco Bell is a good place to eat if you're broke and hungry. -- G Man (talk) 17:17, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

There's too much Taco Bell hate in this thread. 07:34, 27 December 2020 (UTC)

Chipotle is fine. Never had tacos from Jack in the Box. Taco Bell is utter garbage. The last time I ate there I got food poisoning. The constant nausea and vomiting (sorry for the disgusting description) gave me costochondritis for a week. Had to take pain medication to dull the pain. Never again will I ever go there. But in all honesty, I'd rather go to an authentic Mexican restaurant to get tacos. Very tasty! Crazymantis91 (talk) 23:18, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

Happy Kwanzaa!
Be sure to light your Kinara, today until next year is the festival of Kwanzaa! First celebrated in 1966, this ancient tradition began when, umm, actually I don't much about it beyond that, so I guess you can make stuff up and I won't be able to say otherwise. It's celebrated by, umm, drinking and feasting like any proper holiday, with a bit of sex at the end. Also I guess there are presents? Presents always make a holiday good. CoryUsar (talk) 03:22, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * That's pretty disrespectful of you, but not surprising, considering who you are. — <font color="Purple">Oxyaena <font color="Red">Harass  16:17, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Why is this disrespectful, and not the Christmas-bashing not three topics above? Oh, I know: anything "African" has to be handled with kid gloves. IveBeenFrank (talk) 16:24, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Yeah, it seemed like a nice post for Kwanza. 16:25, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Stop strawmanning me. It's culturally insensitive, you asshole. — <font color="Purple">Oxyaena <font color="Red">Harass  17:49, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Could you please explain Oxy why it isn't culturally insensitive to trash the shit out of Christmas but a silly post about Kwanza is culturally insensitive? I don't understand. You are clearly pissed off enough about this to call someone an asshole so please explain this...cause I don't get it. Shabi  DOO  18:49, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I don't put up with Oxy's BS, therefore everything I do must be the result of Dunnig-Kruger Liberalism.CoryUsar (talk) 18:53, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I really don't see what was objectionable about the original post. It was irreverent, but RW is always irreverent about religions and traditions. 20:32, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Oxy kind of has this whole ultra-PC/viva-le-revolution-with-me-or-against-me phase going on right now, and is just being prudish as usual. I'd just ignore her. -- Goatspeed. 20:36, 27 December 2020 (UTC)

seriously, chill. You seem to have some serious anger issues. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 22:33, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * i dunno, it seems like a generally good idea to have some clue to what something is before you start ragging on it. and considering the times we live in, the theme of kwanzaa as something to celebrate africa-american culture and identity seperate from the dominant culture, the one that had enslaved and cast them culturally adrift in the first place. just to declare your ignorance on the subject then revel in your ignorance might be a little tone deaf. this is the internet remember, we cant see you wink.


 * is it political correctness gone mad, to maybe google it first?


 * i am very happy to rag on christmas btw, or at least aspects i feel it appropriate to. i, like the majority of users here, am in locales where christmas is rammed down our throats whether we are christian or not. gives us a little bit more licence to criticise, and we've been informed enough to be able pick our targets more justly.


 * its also probably good practice to allow someone to explain a statement one finds it disagreable. perhaps you can correct their misunderstanding or maybe you'd see what they mean and agree. or it might have a bland enough statement to ignore, and pick your battles a little better? AMassiveGay (talk) 18:00, 28 December 2020 (UTC)


 * makes some good points. Respectfully, Kwanzaa can certainly be fun, but above all it's a really meaningful holiday about celebrating Black people and Blackness. Here's the official Kwanzaa website: https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/index.html Quantumgeek333 (talk) 20:03, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Oh here's a pretty informative video about the holiday. (Futurama song) CoryUsar (talk) 20:10, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The unfortunate side of Kwanzaa is that it was the creation of a 1960s black nationalist named . "Your mileage might vary" on how you view Kwanzaa depending on how you view his role or non-role in the UCLA 1969 Black Panther slayings, his later conviction for assaulting two women in 1971 (he maintains innocence), and whether this matters to how this impacts your viewpoint of the holiday. He was also rather hostile to Christianity in his early years, another "your mileage may vary" tidbit. Nothing wrong with recognizing harvest / solstice festivals around the world, of course. Unfortunately, my perception is that Kwanzaa is too tied to the 1960s black power movement and is fading in younger generations. In contrast, holidays like (which celebrate the exact emancipation date in Galveston, Texas, but this date seems to have spread as a national emancipation and Black culture celebration over the last several years) seem to be on the rise. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 03:20, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I think most modern Black kids realize the whole Holiday is one elaborate joke. It's kind of like Jedi-ism.  If someone wants to throw a Star Wars themed party, sure, why not.  People are allowed to have fun, and if the theme is one of self-reflection and brings families together, it can actually be more meaningful than the commercial hell that Christmas currently is for most of us.  If they insist that this Jedi religion is not some fantasy cooked up by George Lucas and associates, at that point they've crossed a line somewhere and are worthy of a sardonic Rationalwiki article.
 * Same with Kwanzaa. Want to have an Africa-themed party?  Sure, why not, just make sure you aren't doing anything that native Africans have a right to find offensive, cultural appropriation and all that.  Better yet, actually learn the history and actually base the thing on your actual African ancestors such as the Yoruba (the largest ethnic origin of African Americans), or perhaps the Mandingo (the second largest, though those poor women might disagree... ha!); virtually none of the victims of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade would've spoke Swahili.  Want to pretend Kwanzaa isn't a synthetic modern-day party?  Nope, at that point you are a twit and we shouldn't have to respect you. CoryUsar (talk) 16:35, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * i really couldnt tell you what black kids think of kwanzaa, im neither black nor american and as far as i can tell it hasnt really made it the uk.


 * but you are comparing it people who think jedi is a real religion and not a plot device in a sci fi fantasy franchise? really? thats dogshit right there. how is that comparable? for one thing no one is claiming Kwanzaa isnt a recently created holiday. being a recent creation does not invalidate it.


 * Kwanzaa is something meant celebrate African-amercian culture, a means to explore their history and create a shared identity. something of their own, not imposed on them by or an imitation of the dominant european culture. as the descendants of slaves forcibly transplanted from africa, their cultures suppressed and stamped out of them by the slave owners and by the society they were brought to, kwanzaa is a means to reconnect with african roots.


 * it is meant to bring people together under a pan-africanism, using customs from all over africa, swahili was used specifically so it would not seem to be a practice of one dominant ethnic group as it might if yoruba was used. created in the midst of the civil rights era, taking in the black is beautiful movement, and informed by an african aeshetic is general, it was to give african-americans a sense of their african roots but not specific to one group or another.


 * i dare say exploring ones roots back in 60s america was not an easy thing and creating such a thing as kwanzaa was necessary. i could not say what african americans think of it today or if its on the wan, and things like the internet make finding your roots a lot easier. is what was lacking then still lacking today? still the same old racial strife around today as there was in the 60s though.


 * i can say no, it is not like pretending jedi is a real religion. no it is not merely an african themed party. if you want to criticise kwanzaa, then base your criticism on what it is and not on some bullshit analogy.


 * i dunno about you, but im a little too white to be telling black people they are doing black wrong AMassiveGay (talk) 12:41, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Additionally, considering that African-Americans in the US are part of a diaspora and historically had their identities, among many other things, taken from them, it makes sense that Kwanzaa is a syncretic holiday. Quantumgeek333 (talk) 17:07, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I understand the desire to reconnect with your ancestral roots, and having a "Black" holiday is not any more wrong than the Irish celebrating St Patrick's Day, which I'd hazard a guess is at best only nominally related to how the Medieval Irish would actually celebrate the day. But I've already stated the issues I have with it. CoryUsar (talk) 20:45, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

Shit from Mr. Poot
Gentlemen, I have come to say the N word. Mr Facts (talk) 17:47, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's my constitutional right to scream the N-word. Mr Facts (talk) 17:47, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * And now you can reflect on the amazing things you've accomplished by doing that. Which...uhhh...are...? Shabi  DOO  17:50, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Fun fact, the first amendment has historically had exemptions for private enterprise. RW is a privately owned site, and as such your first amendment rights exist at our pleasure, not yours. Actually reading up on the law before trying to abuse it helps. 17:53, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * More than that, the first amendment ONLY applies to government and government-affiliated organizations, not private enterprises. This has been confirmed by countless Supreme Court cases and laws. One such example is Section 230, where internet bushiness may not be held liable for content produced by their users. IveBeenFrank (talk) 17:59, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * You can say "nigger" as much as you want. However, I too have the right to freedom of speech- and I shall use it to the full extent in response: You're a racist shitbag, go eat some magnets and/or battery acid. Twodots (talk) 17:56, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * You have the right to say what you want. You don't have the right to say it where you want.  We are not a publicly owned forum, we don't have to host you if we don't want to. CoryUsar (talk) 18:20, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

A sad irony of history-the American Constitution is one of the most hyped up and inspirational documents in world, constantly referenced and lovingly replicated...but so many people from its native society have no freaking idea what most of it means.-Flandres (talk) 18:26, 29 December 2020 (UTC)


 * How is that ironic? At this point it's a cliche.  The Bible, Communist Manifesto, Origin of Species, Wealth of Nations, all books that are hyped up by people who've never actually read them. CoryUsar (talk) 18:34, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * If you bothered to look up the sentences used above, you'd know he was joking, both of them are copypastas. Here's the source of the first copypasta and now the source for the second copypasta. TAOB (talk) 11:12, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Most of us here are not 13 year old boys who spend all day playing Team Fortress or Overwatch or whatever modern game that lets wannabe soldiers go pew pew pew at each other. (Young whippersnappers! Back in my day, we were going pew pew pew at each other on, modding the fuck out of it so we can go pew pew pew at Barney the Dinosaur or the Simpsons or something.) At any rate, because I am cranky old fart, this means I am old enough to have witnessed a generation of 4Chan devolve from the casual kinda racist lulz of "pool's closed" memes and "" (but in a way where cranky boomer shithole sites like Hal Turner and Conservapedia were fair game, too) to the full out alt-right insanity of Pepes and keks and full-on race war wishing shitposts on /pol/, where instead of striving to make sure a whale is named , one instead is ranting about cucks or red pills or . Be wary of dumb LOLracist memes! This could happen to you, too! (Besides, a tip: while no one, unless you are , is paid for shitty racist copypasta "jokes", plenty of people will pay you to implement copypasta from . Chose wisely!) PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 18:23, 31 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's incredible how much you're incapable of hiding your power level. You linked ED in your above post, and ED is run by 4chan's trolls. Also your name is a giveaway anyways LOL. TAOB (talk) 19:30, 31 December 2020 (UTC)
 * My power level isn't hidden, :p Douglas Adams is one hoopy frood, anyways, no shame there. What would actually be embarrassing is if you are a regular viewer of . Now that would be something you'd want to hide lest you bring shame on you and your family. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 21:02, 31 December 2020 (UTC)

Whaddup, dumbass? I see you've copied my motherfucking userpage; what's that about, chum? Twodots (talk) 19:51, 31 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Please shut up before you start another fucking argument via poorly thought out posts... 18:49, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Congrats, GC. You just did exactly what you were trying to avoid. Twodots (talk) 18:53, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Fine, "documents", not books. Whatever.  I think most people understood what my point was, don't harp on inconsequential details. CoryUsar (talk) 19:02, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * (given all the drama that can be seen in the edit logs...)
 * , OK, explain how my response to Flandres was "stupid" rather than simply "snarky" or "flippant" or any other adjective. My point is twofold.  First, that books/literature/documents that are generally held up to be "special", "sacred", or any other fancy adjective, are often promoted or invoked by those who have never read the whole thing.  Second, that people promoting these works without having read them is so common, it's no longer "unexpected" and thus isn't really ironic. CoryUsar (talk) 19:55, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * You know Oxy sometimes just posts something without warning or context and it sets off a huge fight where a lot of people talk out of their asses for weeks on end? Yeah, you did that. I'm collapsing it again because I really don't want to deal with that crap for awhile. 20:05, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I will say you are being slightly calmer than usual. CoryUsar (talk) 20:10, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Yeah, it’s just you GC. Nobody else has started shit here. 20:17, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Why should we concerned about the American Constitution (or any other constitution) on this international wiki? What is relevant are our own community standards.Bob"Life is short and (insert adjective)" 15:29, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Considering that the 1st Amendment is one of several reasons this site hasn't been banned in the US, I'd say that yes, we should probably care about it. Plus, all the gun-nuttery is definitely missional and that deals with the 2nd Amendment, the whole Freemen on the Land legal nonsense, term limits and rules about how a certain bloated baby-carrot with peanutbutter hair has to get lost in a few weeks, etc...CoryUsar (talk) 20:51, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

You have two cows
Was looking through this funspace article and holy fucking shit, there's a lot of stuff that needs to be cut. I mean, I know it's a funspace article and all, but there's some overt transphobia and misogyny in here. Oh, and it's horrifically bloated. To be honest, it just generally sucks. Should I bother improving it? Twodots (talk) 06:08, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Fun space never really needs "improving" - it's just stuff people have added to over the years. Most people just ignore it so I wouldn't bother putting any work into it. AceModerator
 * Allrighty. Twodots (talk) 06:42, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * There is a Category:Best of amusement, but even that has some not-particularly-funny stuff in my view. I think the best amusements can be briefly summarized as:
 * Fun:Clickbait
 * Fun:Didit generator
 * Fun:Irony meter
 * Fun:Not goat
 * Fun:Photo funnies
 * Bongolian (talk) 07:55, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * If something is blatantly transphobic or misogynistic, take it out. But, yeah. Apart from that, I'd agree that Funspace articles generally aren't worth worrying about too much. Spud (talk) 13:18, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Just because you don't find something amusing doesn't mean it isn't fun somewhere on the planet so why not leave it. Downright rude or very (very) non-PC stuff could (should?) be removed. Back in the old days this was one of my favourites. Scream!! (talk) 20:47, 31 December 2020 (UTC)

This shit year can finally end
And I can probably get a degree. Either way, the pandemic is far from over. Plus, I was thinking about making an article about a fallacy or something. Any ideas, cause I'm too lazy to do my own research. Also, is there anything you need? I can help you with that. — <font color="Red">Jeh2ow <font color="Blue">Damn son!  02:09, 31 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I am looking for some help with my draft Draft:Race and police brutality in the United States if you'd like to contribute. Quantumgeek333 (talk) 19:19, 31 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It was a leap year, because this year wasn't long enough... CoryUsar (talk) 17:21, 31 December 2020 (UTC)

Wisdom teeth
Gotta get those fuckers out but I HATE pain and am very Sensitive. How does the pain compare to getting ur tonsils? Also any pro tips on not abusing the pain meds? Thank u 03:52, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * When I had my wisdom teeth removed, I received powerful enough local anesthesia that I felt nothing at all. Well, I guess the anesthesia being needled into the gum stung a bit, but it was over quickly.
 * Next few days were shitty though. The lover right wisdom tooth was growing horizontally and had to be removed in pieces. As a result my right cheek swell massively and even walking was painful as it caused the swollen cheek to bounce around. Also, couldn't really eat anything except ice cream for 2-3 days, which was fine. Wouldn't worry that much if you don't have similarly fucked up teeth. All the other wisdom teeth of mine were growing in the proper direction and I didn't get any major side effects from their removal.
 * Don't know much about the pain meds thing. But you probably shouldn't use at least any pain medication that thins blood, like aspirin or ibuprofen or something, 'cause the gums are going to bleed anyway. I don't think I used any pain medication afterwards, just the anesthetic for the operation itself. 14:13, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Also, I had both my adenoids and palatine tonsils removed as a kid and that was much more painful afterwards than the wisdom teeth were. Also took significantly longer to recover from. I think I spent about a week in hospital then, whereas I got straight home after the wisdom teeth removal and just 3 days sick leave from work. 14:17, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * My experience was a bit better than KC. After the first couple of days (needed meds), pain was no worse than an ordinary headache unless I ate the wrong stuff. I found the missing-teeth sensation so odd that it distracted me from the minor pain. 2601:285:8380:1AC8:84AB:F17A:CA8:9F37 (talk) 14:23, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * wtaf, my second wisdom tooth is literally erupting right now — Leucippus 14:35, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I had the four wisdom teeth and three molars all pulled at once. I was gassed. Ate ice cream, yogurt, salmorejo and all-bran-porridge for three days. They gave me some low dosage tramadol but I only needed it for one day. Stung a little. Life went on. Do it before they get infected or break, otherwise you'll deal with worse pain in the future. Shabi  DOO  14:52, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Curiously, I was one of that minority who never had wisdom teeth-- healthy or otherwise. That was never a problem for me.  Of course, around 53 or so my gums and teeth went to hell in general and now I don't have any, wisdom or otherwise-- but dentures are, actually, surprisingly effective and are much eaiser to clean. Kencolt (talk) 15:03, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I've had some other weird dental issues too. Like I never got adult teeth for any of the 5s. I'm 40 and still have both upper 5th baby teeth. The lover ones had to be pulled off few years ago, due to their roots deteriorating. 15:57, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * dont remember any pain or discomfort before my wisdom teeth removal nor after. dont really remember much of it at all except i had a general anaesthetic - pretty much the only reason i remember it being a thing - and i got the day off school. AMassiveGay (talk) 16:45, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I've only had one wisdom tooth removed, top left, and I didn't feel anything. I was stressing about it because I hate dental work in general, and I'd heard all horror stories and stuff, but I can genuinely honestly say that after a local anaesthetic I had literally 0 pain during the extraction, and at WORST maybe a dull ache the day afterwards, kinda the same to what you feel a few hours after walking into a table. It CERTAINLY hurt a lot less than the reason I had it removed in the first place. X Stickman (talk) 19:56, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

UTC) Nice thanks everyone! Ok I’m glad it’s less bad than tonsils bc getting those out was H E L L in a bucket. I’m not sure how I’ll deal with pain meds, but I’m leaning towards just letting my friend whomst lives 2 minutes away hold on to them (assuming I get given the Strong Boys). Opiates are unfortunately something that destroys any self control I have, and also I’ve overdosed several times, and also also I’m got very bad mental health rn so I just gotta keep it “under control” 03:32, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * paracetamol and ibuprofen taken together is all i ever get given or told to take. especially by dentists. its actually a very effective combination. just disappointing if you were looking forward to some prescription floatiness but end up with something from over the counter that wont do anything fun. probably all that you'll need after a tooth extraction. here in the uk the pharmacist wont let you have anything fun unless you've got a bone sticking out or your arm is just hanging on by a thread. you are guaranteed to be told to take a couple of aspirin and denied anything stronger if you ask for it. they only dole out the opiates if you've been prescribed them, or actually in need of powerful sedatives. it takes all the fun out of abusing prescription drugs if you actually need them. this is why i source my meds from the private option - the guy in the alley behind the pub. so much more chill than trained medical professionals. bunch of squares. AMassiveGay (talk) 10:33, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * See I cannot take NSAIDs without vomiting and/or spitting up a lil bit of Blood. It is not so good. The problem is they give opiates to ppl who get a lot of Tooth surgeries, esp since mine are impacted and I gotta get all 4 out. They’ve already started completely reshaping my jaw. So it will be “Painful” but I’m just hoping they can give me something that kills the pain but doesn’t make me lose all control and do an Overdose lmoa. I am very very bad with opiates, they’re pretty close to having a suicide machine in my house. Gotta get that “self control” 03:06, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I had all four removed at once with only local anaesthetics. I don't recommend it. It's not like it's worse with, although I'd have no way to know, but The memories of the procedure are worse than the post-op pain. That sucked! Your situation is different, but, the wisdom tooth removal pain is only short term and, after the first couple of days, more annoying than miserable. Share you concerns with your dentist/doctor, but, if it's safe for you (and I'm not judging that) a day or two of milder prescription stuff is a good thing. Can't remember the name of what I had, but it was a mix of a gentler low-dose narcotic with one of the OTC variety. It worked well for me. DerFluchtPlan (talk) 00:09, 26 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Mind over matter helps when it comes to tolerating pain.


 * If you approach pain with a wimpy mindset, it is self-defeating.DanB (talk) 13:48, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * @DanB OK, Batman. I still have mine.  Only grew three and they don't impact/compact anything, I'm way lucky.  There's a myth that you can't keep them clean, but, uhh, I just brush them same as my other teeth?  I have a buddy that says getting his wisdom teeth out was the best time of his life, he was awake for the whole thing but they numbed it all, he got laughing gas, and he got painkillers afterwards and he just slept for 4 days.  I think you're probably right to give the opiates to somebody else.  That's a commendable level of self-understanding and accountability.  Gol Sarnitt (talk) 02:42, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

What should I pick for a username?
I've been meaning to get an account for awhile now, but I can't think of a good username to save my goddamn life. What should I do? 174.97.172.77 (talk)
 * How about The Pickle Baron? MirrorIrorriM (talk) 01:26, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * QueefSniffer666-Hastur! (talk) 02:26, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * BON174.97.172.77 Aloysius the Gaul 02:52, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Champion, the Wonder Horse Helena Bonham Carter (talk) 03:27, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Dr KFC. That’s what I always advise my brother to call his video game accounts but instead he comes up with things like “Epic Gamer 4 Life” 03:33, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Baby Fark McGee-zax Shabi  DOO  08:24, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Andalusia Pepperwhistle Maisie-belle Lancaster Thrype-Grinfeld the Fifty-second and a Quarter of Ulm. Kencolt (talk) 08:44, 23 December 2020 (UTC)

Goaty McGoatface. 08:49, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The Mighty Conch Shell. 138.207.198.74 (talk) 16:18, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I Can't Tell the Difference Between Whizzo Butter and a Dead Crab. —cosmikdebris talk stalk 17:54, 23 December 2020 (UTC)


 * A username similar to mine, like maybe ArgumentumAdHominem, Strawman666, or CircularReasoningWasTaken. -- Goatspeed. 21:26, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * User McUserface. Spud (talk) 05:17, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Urist McRational in the spirit of Dwarf Fortress (note; may be seen as a bit overly pretentious). 13:24, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Crabface, Cronche, Lord Sneebybopper, CWRT (doesn't mean anything, just looks cool), Littledog, Skippyjohn, or Blackbeard. Twodots (talk) 20:17, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Or you could go subtle. 192․168․1․42 (talk) 19:42, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * What if it's like...  MirroIrromiM.  No, that's not right.   More like Hastur.  No, that's not right.  Wait, Helena Bonham Carter!  No, that's not right.  Shabidoo?  No, that's not right.   I'm so, so sorry guys, I don't mean it at all, the joke was just sitting there.  BoN, KNOW THYSELF, NAME THYSELF. Put 420 or 69 in there if you want, you get to name yourself and that's pretty cool.  Did see a guy on Rocket League tonight with a 1488 though, woof, hard pass. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 02:59, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

CHECKMATE SANTA-DENIERS
https://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/kfk2dh/15_arguments_that_prove_santa_exists_and_destroy/ KEEP LIVING IN YOUR FANTASTY WORLD GUYS. I have found the absolute PROOF that Santa Claus is REAL. And it's even on REDDIT, so it MUST be REAL!!!!1111ONEONEONEONE.

Merry Christmas. Aaronmichael5 17:37, 24 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Of course Santa Claus is real. NORAD tracks him every year (so the Air Force can shoot him down if he tries anything funny). 18:11, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Explain THAT one, Santa-deniers. Someone made an entire website dedicated to tracking Santa. What, you think they're tracking a Santa that doesn't exist?! WAKE UP SHEEPLE!!! Aaronmichael5 19:06, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Is Santa the guy who violently knocked over money-changing tables, cavorted with prostitutes and enjoyed severe public masochism? Shabi  DOO  19:16, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * And who sees little girls and boys when they're sleeping, and knows when they're awake? And says "Ho, ho, ho!" when he sees your mother, sister, and aunt in the same room? -- Goatspeed. 19:26, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * All those others are fake. Queer Santa is real! Bongolian (talk) 19:35, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * When I clicked that link it said I need to pay $1 a month to read it... -- Goatspeed. 19:42, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Guys, the Santa at the shitty one-story mall near my house that literally always has an empty parking lot is the REAL Santa. Nevermind the thousands of other Santas at the other (larger and more popular) malls across America, those are just fakes. My local Santa is the REAL one. The others are just fakes planted by Satan/The Illuminati/The Jesuits to trick you. Truly SICK stuff. Aaronmichael5 19:55, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * So I watched the NORAD tracker for a bit and I noticed that Santa spent a suspiciously long time in central and southern Somalia. Guys, I think Santa Claus might be collaborating with Al Shabaab. I think Santa might be a terrorist! If you get presents, make sure to x-ray them! 20:23, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

We ought to put landmines in our chimneys. Twodots (talk) 20:27, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * We can't. Chimneys ain't land.  It's agin international law and stuff. Kencolt (talk) 20:32, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * If you don't want to pay Bezos $1, you can find an archive of the Queer Santa story here: Bongolian (talk) 20:34, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

i first spotted my parents delivering presents to our stockings over 40 years ago. ask your friends. their friends, ask everyone. no will be able to tell santa delivered any presents. because hes not real wes told ourselves. norad says he does. there can only be one reason for no presents. no presents means we are on the naughty list. he knows when we've been good and when we've, and someones been so bad we are collectively punished for it. on the naughty list for perpituity. judgement from the god of the bible is water of a duck back - he was a judgy prick and sociopath. santa turning his back on us is truly damning though. i dont know what we we did, but we are clearly inhuman monsters. thats why norad can pick up santa. he knows what we did and hes leting us he know hes not angry, just very disappointed. im sorry santa, im so ashamed AMassiveGay (talk) 03:14, 25 December 2020 (UTC)


 * For me it was a children's book I read when I was 9 that ruined it. For a few years after that I just played along with the charade, before finally admitting that I didn't actually still believe in Santa. -- Goatspeed. 02:47, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * When I was 4, on Easter, I was asking a lot of questions about the Easter Bunny. My parents sat me down and said no, the bunny isn't real, and that's OK, because I know about the Easter bunny, so I'm in the secret club now.  Which is special, you don't just tell your friends about the Easter bunny because they might not be in the club.  I asked if my brother was in the club.  They said yes.  At the time, my brother was always making sure he was way cooler than me, I wasn't allowed to like what he liked.  So I strutted up to my brother, and said with the most ha ha fuck you I'm an insane 4 year old that can't be stopped attitude "IIIII'm in the club now."  He, age 7, looks me dead in my bright little wild eyes and goes, "what, the Santa club?"  I may have embellished on the other stuff but that's a direct quote from Easter 1991.  I was so shattered I don't know if I've ever fully been put back together after that one. Every single kid who saw or said their parents saw Santa was not in the club.  Still got presents on Easter, but the egg hunt was over.  Gol Sarnitt (talk) 03:16, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

I work with some gun nuts
Today, yes I worked Christmas Eve, I had a guy say that the election is still undecided because there is some kind of one state one vote law in the constitution. I asked him what it was, he said he didn't know exactly, he just knew the basics of it. Told him he should probably know more about it before he started considering it a possibility. He said it was just a possibility. So we looked it up, slow day, and he was talking about an electoral tie. Not a possibility in the current election. He wasn't too worried, because like right then-after he checked a delivery he was expecting, and his drum mag for his AK got delivered.

Literally. And I say this next part very seriously.

I've worked with this guy for years. He's not a mean or scary person. He's just curious to see how a drum mag works. When he announced his drum mag was delivered, I said "Jesus, how many deer are you trying to fight off?" and he said "Who would hunt deer with an AK?" So a little bit of jibbing, I was comfortable saying "You probably need it because you couldn't hit the broad side of a school" and he laughed because he knows I think guns are dumb and he knows I know he's not an active shooter situation.

HOWEVER

I also know he harbors fears that democrats will enable anarchy, and antifa mob rule is a present reality in his worldview. He grew up on NRA propaganda. A few years ago he wore a "pink mist club" t-shirt to work, had to send a guy he would respect over to tell him that was not cool, he would have to join the military and shoot somebody in the head if he wanted to wear that shirt, and he... Kinda? got it? His "respect the fallen" and "thin blue line" shirts, no big deal.

What I'm saying is, this guy didn't learn this stuff from nowhere, he doesn't like this stuff because of nobody. He's a good guy, he's not like a "Oh these blacks and immigrants and gays" kinda guy, he really likes science and is a whip at math, but he's really heavily influenced by the people around him, even if he argues with literally everything he hears for no reason. Big love to the guy. Hope that drum mag quenches that thirst for rootin tootin trigger pullin never ending gun fun. But I'm not convinced it ends. A drum mag ends the same way as a regular mag, no more bullets. How is that more fun? Gol Sarnitt (talk) 00:43, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * My late grandfather was similar: Smart guy, bit of a gun nut. :p Twodots (talk) 00:49, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Something's amiss at HR if he's allowed to have gun parts delivered to work. Bongolian (talk) 02:57, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's a small business, you insult HR, you insult me. But yeah, for sure, guns and having guns and having gun stuff is actually coool there.  But also, no, dude had his gun stuff delivered to his home. He just got the update on his phone  the fuck you want from me? let me correct that, THE FUCK ELSE DO YOU WANT THAT ISN'T COOL BUTT IS ACTUALLY MJORALLY CONSIDERED COOOOOOOL? I work with these people, mind.  Gol Sarnitt (talk) 06:04, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Won't have it questioned, I WILL fight you, I am so surrounded.. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 06:09, 25 December 2020 (UTC)


 * I blame action movies, James Bond, and everything else that makes guns look "cool". CoryUsar (talk) 20:49, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
 * of all the possible hollywood created heroes that sell american gun culture, all the cowboy flicks, gangsters movies, and facist 'maverick' cop movies, of all the american icons shooting dead tyranny with bullets of pure freedom fired from guns made from real american justice, its james bond you use for your example - a stooge of british imperialism. thats probably treason in some states. AMassiveGay (talk) 12:58, 26 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Congratulations, you got the joke...
 * Also, Westerns would also work, considering, you know, "Spaghetti Westerns". American Gun-Culture isn't entirely home-brewed. CoryUsar (talk) 02:29, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * yeh, yeh it is. spaghetti westerns are just americana thats been exported, repackaged, and reimported. its mythologizing of the american west is the distillation of how the us was sold to world via hollywood. interestingly, leone's spaghetti westerns were influenced by japanese sumurai flicks, which in turn were modelled on hollywood westerns.


 * american values and propaganda has been spat back at you for years in this fashion. any non us film wanted to make a profit had to be made palatable to the the us market. it became almost a cliche to find american character inserted into film for no other reason than americans would not watch it otherwise. heres a spoof on the phenomenom


 * if there is evidence foreign film has influenced american culture in someway, chances are the influence is american to begin with. its funny when i hear criticism of hollywood for pandering to china in ways the rest of the world had to pander to america. thats evidence right there for the diminishing might of america when its no longer the american market where a film makes it money. not even for one produced in hollywood AMassiveGay (talk) 12:55, 27 December 2020 (UTC)

French and German cinema from the 60s and 70s had a notable impact on elevated cinema in the US, especially per absurdity, dark themes and fast editing (or awkward continuity). Monty Pythons UK films notably influenced US cinema after their debuts with more outlandish and intellectual comedy following in the US. Anime has influenced US animated films. And Hollywood films located in other countries incorporate local cinematic trends (Lost in Translation in Japan, Inglorious Bastards in France and Germany, Woody Allen's films in the UK, France and Spain). Almadovar, Iñárritu, Guillermo del Torro are just three examples of directors from the Spanish speaking world whose films have been influential, especially Pan's Labyrinth and Babel. It's more than extreme to say that international cinema's influence on US cinema doesn't include their own innovations. Currently in continental Europe there are tons of films that are played in one another's countries (Especially between French speaking countries, German speaking countries, Italy and Spain). Even at a cinema with the most popular titles available I see French and German films which likely will make next to nothing in the American market but are hits in continental Europe, have high budgets and don't give the slightest consideration to whether a US audience would like it. Shabi DOO  18:59, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Everything is intertwined to some degree, which is why I always viewed complaints of "cultural appropriation!!!" with a lethal dose of skepticism. Heck, one could argue that America's obsession with all things Japanese is really a form of cultural masturbation as well.  A Japanese Christian immigrant to California more or less made up Samurai mythology in the book "Bushido; The Way of the Samurai" 1899.  In English, based more on European "knights in shining armor" folklore than actual Japanese history, but Japan was in the middle of a wave of Hyper-Nationalism and a Japanese translation became a huge hit over there as well.  Initially, Anime/Manga was an attempt to copy the works of American animators and comic book artists, but eventually became their own thing, but even then, regularly borrows heavily from American culture.
 * But back to the topic, really, gun nuts exist because someone is making having guns look cool. That's actually why I'm upset that the new Looney Toons no longer has Elmer Fudd using guns, when he is the perfect poster-child for the anti-gun crowd.  Then there's Yosemite Sam, who again, is basically the butt of all the jokes as well.  Ah, Looney Toons, such timeless classics, with no need for editing and especially not any updates and... oh... there sure is a lot more blackface than I remember.  Oh look, they have some stuff set in Africa and... oh... CoryUsar (talk) 19:30, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * For contrast, here's a clip from The Looney Tunes Show. 192․168․1․42 (talk) 19:39, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Dafuq?! 21:57, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I remember when the last spark of Hong Kong cinema's golden age ('s stylized action movies -- which of course were influenced by American cinema directors like, but never mind -- and the trend in HK action movies at the time) influenced late 1990s action movie crowd in America,  and  being two very notable examples. And you only have to look at John Woo's HK movies to see that guns being "cool" is an international phenomenon. On the other hand, I can't think of an international example of the American  wave -- films like  and  where a lone misfit takes the law into their own hands. (Probably there is something similar, but I don't know about it.) At any rate, in the US these type of films have been on and off popular since the 1970s, and reflect a certain American psyche that is paranoid of all authority and trusts no one except their guns, which in the real world is about as sad and comical as it sounds. Various paranoid style organizations over the last decades in America have correctly predicted hundreds of the last 0 American Civil War IIs. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 02:27, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * for the record i am very much aware of how cinema from all over the world has influenced by the cinema from all over, i did not mean to imply the us cinema originated all the form and technique of us films have employed, with their influence only going outward or having nothing to learn from world cinema.


 * i was referring to the values that are being to sold to cinema audiences in the us and abroad. what do hollywood movies tell the world who americans are? what they tell americans who americans are? what does cinema from outside the us sold to american audience tell us about who they think americans are. i contend that american gun culture is the product of home grown american values and the influence of foreign produced movies is minimal as to be commercial in the us foreign produced movies often pandered to the us. the addition of american characters, an american star is cast, the motivations of historical figures presented as broadly familiar to an american audience. american values are essentially being sold to americans.


 * the spaghetti western is a shining example of this. american westerns influenced sumurai flicks influenced spaghetti western. some direct remakes for different markets. all involves lawless and savage lands being tamed rugged indiviualists. this is manifest destiny, the american dream. this is a founding myth of america. the japanese saw that transplanted well to sumurai flicks, probably helped heal wounds in post war japan. italian filmmakers saw these added their own spin and hollywood sees all this and gives their pot a further. they all influenced each other, innovated, and cribbed from each, but values they sold to american audiences were values then they were already familiar with, seen in american made westerns and taught in schools.


 * i dont believe action movies at home or abroad is that significant in the insane manifestions of gun culture. james bond is not about overt of displays of power, hes an amoral government assassin who wouldnt think twice of shooting you in the back. he doesnt strike me as a role model for the god ol boys in bum fuck arizona. if spaghetti westerns had influence on gun culture its not making guns look cool, but it reinforces they cowboy fantasies already burned into their psyche, no doubt seeing themselves as inheritors a land rightfully earned by clearing it of godless savages and bringing law and order all down the barrel of a gun.


 * it not the whole story, and i present the above as my pet theory rather than objective truth. but in reading around i gather the proliferation and adoration of firearms didnt start in earnest till after the civil war. with the large slave population now freed i dare say there were many looking around with the hands on the gun at all times. and got distrust of government here too. seems like so much of today is unresolved seeds planted back then, and all the time since for to really bossom. AMassiveGay (talk) 06:33, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I wasn't aware that slavery didn't end until the 1960's. The NRA may have begun right after the civil war, but the NRA of the late 19th century is NOT the NRA of the late 20th century.  It wasn't until 1977 that the NRA itself got hijacked by a bunch of gun nuts and became a hyper-partisan organization in a coup known as The Revolt at Cincinnati.  Prior to this, the NRA was about gun safety and training, not unabashed proliferation of firearms.  One could argue this coup was orchestrated by the gun manufacturers themselves, but, conspiracy theories.
 * Bear in mind that in the late 70s, just about all the major American cities were basically hellholes of crime and drugs. NYC saw its murder rate double in this time, and while it's one of the safest cities now, it wasn't then.  Many cities were and are worse; Baltimore, for instance, currently has Venezuelan levels of murder.  No, seriously, that's not an exaggeration, both Venezuela and Baltimore have around the same (official) murder rate.  And DC at one point was far worse than that.
 * With the spike in crime, and the police unable to cope, the narrative among the public was that whole shtick of "when every second counts, the police are minutes away". The only defense the people had was to arm themselves, and this was the perfect time for the NRA to come in and promote the whole "self defense" shtick. CoryUsar (talk) 09:10, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Don't spend 10 bucks on ebay, I can mail you a copy of the February 2014 American Rifleman for the cost of shipping alone. I'll even discount it to free, since every page is more or less covered in 6 years of poodoo particulates.  But just look at that cover. Only by purchasing your proof of constituency will you keep those clammy reptilian claws off of your guns.  Gol Sarnitt (talk) 02:26, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Is it just scarier when you see how cartoonish the narrative is, or what? People, not a person, but PEOPLE I talk to on a daily basis have bought in to this, it's like the American holdout version of flat earth.  These people believe America is done, they believe in guns and gold and Jesus, and talk about the end of America like they want it. What will it take for me to convince you people that these nutso bonkers reactionaries are real, and they are getting ready for some kind of war?   I don't think they will start shooting, but if they do, they won't have a reason to stop. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 09:53, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Drug related science and broscience
Hey everybody. So if ur not as much of a druggo as me, you might not spend all ur time reading Erowid, peychonautwiki and drug-related subreddits. However, I’ve noticed something p interesting in these places. Since doing actual studies on drugs and how they affect you can be outstandingly difficult, and there is therefore not as much legit evidence to go on when talking about the effects of drugs, I’ve seen a couple of approaches to figuring out these issues. One of them is to actually attempt to form a sort of “ground up” sceptical/naturalistic/etc approach, by analysing the experiences of various drug users and the scarce amount of evidence there actually is to try to come to a conclusion. An interesting example of this is the realisation that lithium and psychedelics do not mix well. From my knowledge, there have only been one or two case studies about this and none that analyse why this might occur — however, every bit of anecdotal evidence confirms this happens, plus those one or two case studies. And like, I know the plural of “anecdotes” is not “data” or whatever, but I can say that I have seen someone combine these things and it was exactly like all the other experiences said (psychosis, anxiety, seizures, etc). However, there’s also a lot of broscience or I guess “folk science” because of this sort of thing. For example, there’s a lot of myths about how drugs work or about whether something can or can’t get you high which have no real evidence to back them up, but hey! I bunch of other druggos say it so it must be right??? And idk, I think this shit is fascinating, seeing a large group of people trying (and often failing) to understand the experiences of something that “real science” rarely touches. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Also another interesting thing to check out is the “subjective effect index”, bc that’s a pretty fascinating example of an attempt to analyse experiential/anecdotal evidence in a more sceptical and naturalistic way. Idk lol I’m neither a sociologist nor a scientist (yet) 09:58, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * (Also I wanna b clear that I’m not saying any of this stuff is as good as actual studies and evidence, nor am I saying that “anecdata” is actually legit or that doing drugs makes u an expert. I’m just trying to think about how this stuff might relate back to the scientific method like, philosophically or whatever, and I’m not claiming to be some kind of smart person. Please do not b mean even if u disagree, bc this is a very bad time for me and I cannot handle it right now thanks) 10:04, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * While "folk medicine" has a lot of bullshit, sometimes folk science can point to clues for paths for legitimate medicine. There is an entire discipline called and/or ethnopharmacology that is devoted to drug discovery using clues provided by traditional "folk medicine" plants, and might use "folk wisdom" at times to provide clues. Unfortunately for the psychonauts, medical science is more interested in medicines that heal, and subsequently pays little attention to recreational pursuits.
 * Legal recreational pursuits, of course, have large industries that can funnel R&D into scientific analysis, particularly if there is a lot of consumers with money fueling it. The rise of IPA as a popular beer style has corresponded with a massive explosion in scientific research on hops with better flavor characteristics in the last couple decades, for instance. As the (closely related to hops, actually) recreational cannabis plant becomes a legal industry, I expect more scientific discipline in this field (although things like cross breeding and some degree of chemical analysis already are pursued even now, the fact that recreational cannabis is an increasingly legal industry, combined with the legitimate medical possibilities the cannabis plant may have, means means that no one is going to bat an eye that a Journal of Cannabis Research exists these days).
 * Unfortunately, recreational psychedelics range in legality (with a few exceptions) from grey to illegal. Just from the little peaks you sometimes see (such as Vice's interview with the inventor of methoxetamine almost a decade ago), I do think that the fields stuck in these grey areas -- "research chemicals", nootropics, performance enhancing drugs -- are often backed by legitimate biochemists (some of which have actual altruistic motives on occasion, and some of which are just going for the cash grab). However, you aren't going to see the fruits of their efforts in fully peer reviewed journals. I'm guessing that some information is shared around between those "in the field", and that for all I know the "folk wisdom" of the Bluelights of the world may sometimes inform their work. However, not being an underground chemist, I can't say for sure. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 18:44, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * This is gonna trip some triggers, but Big Think Psychadellics actually has some things to say about which parts of the brain seem to relax during a psychedelic trip, and Sam Harris talks about taking MDMA. I think it would be stupid to not explore it. If you have something that's not toxic or lethal but can break up the ego, it would be cool in a psychiatric approach.  I've had two trips where I was like "Holy shit, I'm OBVIOUSLY either a time traveler or I've skipped dimensions" and after the trips were like, completely done, and my brain was working, I've been like "What the fuck was that about?"
 * It tracks with what I've experienced, but I never did the microdose approach, nor did I have the security to do it constantly. My first experience was with LSD after my friends were kinda burnt out on it and all the nonsense they had created.  They were finally done with it and I was finally done sitting them, I felt a little entitled to try it.  My best friend at the time, who had really had a couple bad trips told me "fine, if you want to do it, you have to go the whole way" so I ate 6 weak tabs, and hung out with everyone and it was pretty normal, except for the hallucinations.  But everyone I was hanging out with at the time knew how to handle somebody tripping, and I was so dedicated to not having a wild trip that it was just...  Normal.  The next day I went to work cutting lawns and felt, best I can describe it, fizzy brain more than fuzzy brain.  I tripped alone after that and it was nuts, at the peak I had to just lay down and go to sleep.  People don't believe me when I say that, but every time I've tripped since that first time, at the peak I have to lay down, close my eyes, and time dilates.  I don't trip casually, my first time I think was an attempt at casual, and it wasn't what I was looking for.  After a couple successful really intentional psilocybin trips, I had time to try and casually trip, like two years ago and it was bad.  I was suddenly horrified my roommate, who wouldn't have given a shit, would come home and see the me that was just trippin.  I got stuck on the bathroom floor with my eyes closed hallucinating I was in hell for somewhere between 30 minutes and a lifetime.  I eventually broke out and just laid in bed and watched Adventure Time.  The last time I tripped, which may be the last time I ever trip, was in the middle of July 2019.  I cleaned my apartment from top to bottom, made sure I would have my place to myself, nobody was gonna call on me the next day, planned some activities (including VR games,) stayed up late and ate 3 gel tabs right before I fell asleep.  Everything that happened the next day was quiet, calm, fresh, and interesting, but most importantly safe from social anxiety.  I'm not interested in tripping outside of those parameters.  I refuse to trip outside of those parameters.
 * I've never tried MDMA. Similar to what Sam Harris says in the video, I have watched people I have known for years act so incongruously with their personalities, opinions, behaviors that I immediately wrote it off as the dumb drug.  I tried cocaine once, hated it.  I don't smoke marijuana anymore because it sets off my anxiety.  I drink a lot a lot.  But I've learned, with the use of a breathalyzer, that I actually like to have, at the very least about 10 hours of 0.00 BAC a day.  I don't have a reckless abandon bone in my body (I have to gin myself up to it), I couldn't imagine taking ecstasy at a party. But I'm friends with a lot of people who did that every night.  And I'll say, some of them were way more interesting than the drinkers and teetotalers I've met.  But yeah, they needed breaks, I like big trips but I like it when it's a really strange/unique experience.  Nice place to visit, wouldn't want to live there, you know?  Anecdotes are valid as personal experience in my book, just difficult to sit through.  Gol Sarnitt (talk) 02:20, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

US Government: It makes a whole lot of sense
Recently a law was passed involving illegal streaming on YouTube. Does not sound that bad but here is the kicker: you cannot have any copyrighted material playing in the background of a live stream (even when not facing a TV) yet you can use TV clips in a YouTube video. For safe measure I deleted all live streams with the TV on.

Doesn't that make a whole lot of sense? Took me a while to delete all my streams. --Channel 48 WDEM-TV3 (talk) 18:33, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Just lobotomize the lyrics of the background music and then reupload, like I've seen many youtubers do. -- Goatspeed. 19:15, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * it already was illegal in pretty much all other forms of content. this just brings it in line with other existing legislation. nothing too suprising about this all. 22:10, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The difference is if mom streams a 5 minute video of herself while a kid is playing a video game with a song in the background, she can go to prison for 10 years. It is way too harsh and doesn't clarify when fair use is or isn't acceptable.  If you upload that same video, there is no prison involved and the video is merely taken down and you might be banned from the service.  MirrorIrorriM (talk) 10:40, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I feel it should be noted that the felony streaming (at least I assume that's what all of this is in relation to) bill would most certainly not apply to said mother. I agree that adding to the criminal code in this way is dumb, but "felony streaming" applies to setting up a commercial service with the purpose of streaming content you don't have the rights to stream. So said mother would not be captured by the law since she A) likely isn't setting up an entire service to stream video of herself, B) wouldn't necessarily be commercializing it if she was, and C) the purpose of the service (if she set it up) would not be to stream copyrighted material. There was a lot of hubbub about what it might mean for everyday people like Twitch streamers, but the law is much more narrowly tailored than was feared because of the very term "felony streaming." Mabian (talk) 03:55, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * So what you're saying is... I can still probably find it on the 3rd page of a google search when those eastern European sites hit, as long as I can resist the allure of bangin singles in my area and games I won't last a minute playing? Gol Sarnitt (talk) 10:15, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

The Plague Year
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/04/the-plague-year The New Yorker ran this piece. A must read for basically everyone here I'd say. Goes into detail how the US screwed up it's corona response during 2020. 15:36, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * holy shit that's a long read!! :O Aloysius the Gaul 05:21, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Funspace suggestion
'New Year's/Month's (other suitable point) Resolution Generator.

RW-ians
 * I will not feed the trolls high-Scoville peppers.

Trolls
 * I am not a masochist: RW is not an open-mic venue.

Creationists
 * I will not hunt crocoducks. Especially when they are fighting haggis going the wrong way round mountains.

Others? Anna Livia (talk) 19:58, 1 January 2021 (UTC)
 * As a certified goat, I will ride as many sheep as I can find. Bongolian (talk) 21:06, 1 January 2021 (UTC)


 * As a certified long-eared jerboa, I will ride as many goats riding sheep as I can find. -- Goatspeed. 21:53, 1 January 2021 (UTC)


 * I've just created the funspace article here! -- Goatspeed. 22:36, 1 January 2021 (UTC)


 * I approve of this. —cosmikdebris talk stalk 23:41, 1 January 2021 (UTC)


 * RW Resolution - to top 7500 articles this year?
 * Perhaps have different categories of resolution generator for various sorts of people. The 'resolution of the month' is something low key and potentially achievable by the time you get bored of it. Anna Livia (talk) 16:45, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

HUGE legal victory for President Trump!!!

 * JK, they lost again. This is never going to get old. 174.97.172.77 (talk) 05:43, 2 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Phew. At first I thought you were that shitposter BoN we inconvenienced a few weeks ago. -- Goatspeed. 05:52, 2 January 2021 (UTC)
 * So, this ruling establishes that sitting members of Congress lack standing to challenge any potentially illegal thing that Pence may do when counting the electoral votes on the 6th. Who is this supposed to be a loss for? 192․168․1․42 (talk) 16:37, 2 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Current incarnation of birtherism? Anna Livia (talk) 16:47, 2 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Well the ruling doesn't "establish" anything. It's just a dismissal, on the grounds that Gohmert and the fake electors didn't have standing. Which is built out of other precedent long before this case ever came forward. What it means practically is that the ECA is upheld and the VP's powers are limited by it to be nothing more than a glorified letter opener for the chambers as they count the votes, and that any disputes are to be settled by the chambers. If Pence tries anything funny, the chambers can essentially smack him down by the rules of the chambers and the ECA. If he refuses to open certificates, they can determine that he's not present and hand the letter opening to the next presiding officer. If he tries to only count the fake electors in the "contested" states, then members can challenge that ruling, at which point after the dust settles the official (i.e. Biden) electors will be put forward (unless for some reason Dems just completely screw the pooch). It's a loss for Trump's hopes of finding some way of staying in power. Mabian (talk) 20:32, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

Watching the 2018 Politicon debate between Hasan Piker and Charlie Kirk
Fuck it we're 10 minutes in and I've lost count of the amount of PRATTs Charlie Kirk has used. "ThE nAzIs WeRe SoCiAlIsTs" was the dumbest one though. Evilatheistheathen (talk) 23:57, 31 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Oh, you haven't gotten to the best part of that debate... LOL. .--

NavigatorBR (Talk) - 04:13, 1 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Yeah I saw that part lol. Fucking hell Charlie Kirk's one weird bastard. "I lIvE aS a CaPiTaLiSt eVeRy dAy CeNk" Evilatheistheathen (talk) 10:25, 1 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Why the fuck do people still bother with debates? They're pointless. — <font color="Purple">Oxyaena <font color="Red">Harass  07:18, 1 January 2021 (UTC)
 * I don't like Piker's content. He's boring.  If I needed a friend who agreed with most of what I said and got mad and told everyone to shut up when he didn't know what he was talking about, I'd watch Piker.  Piker is wrong or ignorant or misinformed like ALL THE TIME during his stream.  It's like watching Jeopardy but there's only one contestant and he's too busy housing phillies to buzz in when the answer is up.  Being said, who the fuck would expect Charlie Kirk to have a single point that could survive "my back hurts, lemme eat these nachos and you're wrong because you're obviously wrong dude" kinda scrutiny?  Kirk's position and rhetoric are old and tired.  Piker's content sucks, Rand Paul is currently Kirking it.   I would hope, since I'm commenting on a video from 2018, that Piker is working on Rand Paul's libertarian callouts. Gol Sarnitt (talk) 08:31, 1 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Oxy, Matt Dillahunty would like to have a word with you. Jokes aside, debates are actually pretty pointless. Almost nobody watching them ever changes their mind, in fact, most of the only watch to reinforce what they already believe. Aaronmichael5 19:00, 1 January 2021 (UTC)
 * I'd watch if only to see if Charlie Kirk's face shrinks every time he gets owned. The Blade of the Northern Lights (<font face="MS Mincho" color="black">話して下さい ) 04:20, 2 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Debate, safely moderated, is actually worthwhile. Which is not to say I am a Crowder "Change My Mind" fan of debate.  That's dipshittery at it's *mwah* just absolute finest.  But, if debate entails and includes ALL opinions and does not load an answer, it's good stuff, it's practice and needs not have a single answer or a definitive outcome.  So that requires, classically, two people to take turns making their points without interrupting each other.  Is debate dead?  I'd say the overton window is seeing my idea of debate as hipster shit.   Gol Sarnitt (talk) 06:20, 3 January 2021 (UTC)

Silly (but hopefully fun) scenario question
You just got out of your doctor’s appointment in DC/London/ whatever the capitol of your nation is, and your doctor says you only have a month to live. You approach a red light while driving an automobile, and suddenly the politician you hate the most steps into the cross walk. Which pedal do you hit? 2607:FB90:929A:2E6B:D0CE:83EE:1BBC:666C (talk) 18:09, 2 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Brakes. Using a car to ram someone is sloppy and inefficient. 18:17, 2 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Brakes. I will be dead in a month-why hate politicians anymore?-Flandres (talk) 18:19, 2 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Uhhh...is there a specific politician you would run over? Shabi  DOO  18:23, 2 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Neither. I'd be too damn confused as to why on Earth I'm driving an automobile when I don't own an automobile, haven't a license, and frankly can't drive.  Kencolt (talk) 00:39, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
 * I don't hate anybody enough that I'd wish death on them. And I wouldn't want to waste the last month of my life by spending it in jail awaiting trial for murder or attempted murder. Spud (talk) 09:03, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
 * I don't hate anyone that much; and also, I don't want to spend the last month of my life rotting in jail for vehicular manslaughter that is pretty easy to prove. Even the most scummy politicians like Moscow Mitch or a certain orange baboon don't deserve that IMO. -- Goatspeed. 21:05, 3 January 2021 (UTC)

MMT page and right-wing libertarian/Anti-semitic trolling, cannot keep up with it, and want to move on
Various RW people have added good contributions on the MMT page, which has been among the most active on RW this week. Since actively monitoring the page, it has been significantly improved.

However, I cannot keep up with right-libertarian monetarists on talk posing as neutral non-ideological observers (including them occasionally blurting out Anti-Semitic remarks, which were purged from the talk page), who also do not understand the topic, and have a poor understanding of rationality. They are now engaging in an edit war to add watered down, inaccurate right-wing monetarism based on a Milton Friedman concept. so if any other RWers want to jump in on the article through contributing to the talk page, that'd be cool. One thing to start off with is that the "quantity theory of money" is in general, inaccurate right-wing Milton Friedman garbage, which they will spend hours per day trying to force in through vague references and assuming it is accurate.

One method of dealing with this page may be if seeing if any of the anti-semitic trolls on talk were socks of IP editors on main page posing as just regular inaccurate right-wing monetarists. The topic of MMT is a hot-button topic because MMT, while it might have theoretical problems (some of which I added to the page) anti-austerity, and we are currently in a recession.Neiltyson1fan (talk) 19:00, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
 * I protected the page and blocked the dipshit in question. I would do more but I am limited by the sysop standards of conduct. — <font color="Purple">Oxyaena <font color="Red">Harass  19:10, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Awesome, thank you. Neiltyson1fan (talk) 19:16, 3 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Basically, you've lost a discussion and used force when you realized you're alone on the subject. My point is: Some mainstream economists (not monetarists, you don't know what it is) I adressed three independent critics: property rights, higher inflation and larger deficit. They are all independent and none of them are made only by monetarists (though even if they were, that would just be ad hominem). You said MMT has an answer for that. Does that mean the criticism ceased to existi? No, it doesn't. But since you disagree with the critics you don't want them on the article. Do you see how ridiculous this is? 2804:14C:5B72:856C:E4A5:71F4:2DF5:57FB (talk) 20:52, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
 * ~Wait, did you just called me an "antissemitic" because I'm a jew or did I say something wrong? 2804:14C:5B72:856C:E4A5:71F4:2DF5:57FB (talk) 21:03, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
 * You said it's Milton Friedman garbage though Friedman Monetarism does not have anything to do with Institutionalism. But supposing it does, does that mean the criticismo ceased to exist or just that you dislike their theories? 2804:214:81DE:615E:1:2:C299:18CC (talk) 21:19, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
 * From my perspective, you need much better references to support your argument. Many of your links (when formatted well, which unfortunately they often weren't) seem at first glance to not support the argument well, and the text ended up being editorializing based off concepts presented in other economic texts. There is nothing wrong with the criticism if it is noteworthy (and since MMT is fringe-y criticism should be easy to find), but I would much prefer to see these opinions, if there are similar, from noted economists, presented as one side of the argument as they should be (because economics is one profession that is a bit less disciplined then a hard science due to the impossibility of creating anything more exact then generalizations, and therefore there is often strong disagreements over broad theory). The original page was crap in part because it was heavily stubbish unsourced editorialized stuff, we don't need more of that. PanGalacticGargleBlaster (talk) 21:47, 3 January 2021 (UTC)

NYE activities to distract me from being sad that ideally don’t involve hard drygs
Hey there everybody! So this is a very very very bad time of the year for me, and I basically have to spend NYE alone while all my friends go to parties I wasn’t invited to (we don’t have the covid here). So basically, I need some way to distract myself on NYE from all the bullshit that’s happened and that I’ve done over the past year, and hopefully one that doesn’t involve copious amounts of alcohol, meth, benzos or heroin. Does anyone have any pro tips? Thanks very much 23:40, 26 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Play World of Warcraft. Hey, it works for me.  Sort of.  A bit.  EH, it's something to do. Kencolt (talk) 01:06, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Eh, NYE was always had the worst fun/cost ratio of any major holiday. There's a reason every show has a Halloween Special or Christmas Special, and often a Valentine's Day Special, but only a few have a NYE special. SockPup (talk) 02:46, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Yeah lmoa ive always had to go to huge parties to avoid being Sad As Fuck on NYE. U literally can’t be sad if ur on a shitload of 2cb and MDMA 09:33, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * the pressure to 'do' something on nye has always been a ball ache. dunno why exactly failure to attend a party of somekind on the night has such a social stigma, but with everywhere ticketed with few last minute options, its like a game of musical chairs and being left standing with nowhere to sit as deadline looms is quite stressful.


 * its a long night in front of telly for to contemplate when it was you became a social pariah. the fact that all there is on the telly is literally other peoples nye parties. pretty sure in the future, vans will be sent out to pick up people at home watching jools holland's hootenanny to provide the 'people' part of soylent green. people taste like failure it seems.


 * its even worse for me. i live five minutes walk from the thames and the london eye - where we do all the fireworks. with no plans i will be trapped inside watching other peoples parties on a telly drowned out by the sounds of millions of people shuffling past my window to party before midnight, then back again after. for hours after. good luck sleeping with those fuckers outside. i cant even see the fireworks, the union jack club is in the way. can hear em though. and the millions of party goers cheering. the socially inadequate will be made to suffer.


 * not me though, as is tradition, i will end the year as i started it - naked with a stranger(s). AMassiveGay (talk) 11:54, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Holy shit sticks how can you afford a flat 5 minutes from the London Eye? I had a flat in Bayswater (more than an hours walk from the eye) and I had to share my room with two other guys so we could afford it. It was basically 3 beds and our wardrobes. And collectively we paid £900 a month for the room...and that was 20 years ago.
 * That’s fair. I’ve never cared too much about the social stigma side of it but anything that causes contemplation has to be heavily avoided for me or else I feel like absolute garbage, especially in the whole “COVID, election, partner breaking up with me, getting addicted to meth” year lmao. The second I think about myself, my life, my relationships, etc., I basically get swallowed by bad memories, pain, self-hate and whatnot, and a day that basically says “yes this is a good time to look back over the past 365 days of experiences”? Bad shit. Luckily a friend says they might zoom call me, but the fact that I’m excited about it means it’s probably reasonable to expect it won’t actually happen, what with how this shit has been tending to go for me haha


 * Anyway this time last year, I was at my ex’s house in the US while they were sick and I had just found out they were also dating their ex/roommate at the same time (which they said they had already told me but I sure don’t remember that, and also I thought that our agreement was to ASK first if we could date someone else instead of just announcing. especially since they had insisted they wanted to stay mono with me for ages). The whole trip they were pretty cold and annoyed at me. Which I mean, all of this stuff was mostly my fault ig but idfk. A couple of weeks after I had got home, they told me they wanted a break bc of school stuff; then, bc the whole break thing made me pretty sad, they fully broke up w me via a single text message while I was asleep. That same week, I moved out my parents house and also the lockdowns started in my country. Aaa god and now I have to get even more drunk on goon to not remember that stuff. Oof and whatnot and also sorry for dumping this all on the Feed anyWay that’s my life 02:02, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
 * (do not ask how exactly it was my fault bc I don’t wanna talk about it rn and also I’ve kinda forgotten most of the relationship except for the ending bits, I mostly just remember that I was kind of a bad gf and you’ll have to take my word for that) 02:07, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

Good (?) News
I feel silly updating this to some extent (I’m after all not a Big User) but I do get guilty when ppl could theoretically b concerned. But anyway. I might actually have some LGBT fest thing, depending on if I have the energy and can find out info about it. If I do not, then there’s still a chance of me zooming my friend. And if that doesn’t happen? I saw my absolute best friend in person yester... idk some days (2?) which was nice, AND I have just enough clonazepam to not freak out while also not too much to get addicted. So while I still don’t think it’s the best time, some things are improving, and the benzos currently makes my memory to weak/apathetic to like. Notice if anything is hopening otherwise. 17:20, 30 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Oh, don't worry. You don't have to be as active as say, I am to regularly update barposts. I know I'm late, but I'm glad to hear that your celebration of the conclusion of the dumpster fire that was 2020 turned out somewhat better than you previously thought, if only slightly. -- Goatspeed. 00:36, 4 January 2021 (UTC)