User talk:RWRW/Archive2

Nice

I liked your trolling of that faux-socialist server. "What is your political ideology"? "#Trump2020." Nice. — Oxyaena ^{Poke me} 14:29, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

Result: Immediate ban XD —RWRW (talk) 14:38, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

B& — Dysk (contribs) 15:49, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

Admitting when you're wrong is hard

I was absolutely 100% sure you'd be a terrible moderator. Given evidence to the contrary, I need to reform my views. You've done fine. And I wish to apologize for being wrong, too. ikanreed ^{🐐Bleat at me} 19:32, 12 March 2019 (UTC)

Well thank you, that was very nice to hear :D --RWRW (talk) 19:38, 12 March 2019 (UTC)

I won't say that I disagree with @Ikanreed, however I do still find some things about your behavior disturbing: you have made no significant mainspace contributions despite my repeated encouragement (e.g., Draft:Philippe Pétain went nowhere), you seem to have a knee-jerk support for conservatives that I've seen on (I think) two occasions, and your logical disjunction vis-à-vis Brexit and human rights (above). Bongolian (talk) 20:31, 12 March 2019 (UTC)

Wait, RWRW, you're doing a Petain draft? Damn, I was going to do that. Mind if I try to work on it? RoninMacbeth (talk) 20:32, 12 March 2019 (UTC)

@Bongolian to be fair I did watch The Sorrow and The Pity after you recommended it and I am still intending on working on it, but yeah my work ethic is somewhat questionable.

@RoninMacbeth Go for it, it might motivate me to help out as well. --RWRW (talk) 20:57, 12 March 2019 (UTC)

Petain

Alright, so I added a little bit more information. I won't have much time over the next week or so to help, but I hope it should be a solid enough base to work with. RoninMacbeth (talk) 05:06, 13 March 2019 (UTC)

Its looking pretty good. I'll see what I can add over the next few days. --RWRW (talk) 12:34, 13 March 2019 (UTC)

@DuceMoosolini I moved the article to mainspace. It seems fleshed out enough. Bongolian (talk) 18:17, 6 May 2019 (UTC)

@Bongolian Okay, but why are you pinging me about that? I don't remember ever having edited that draft. DuceMoosolini^{Your friendly RW dictator moderator} 21:02, 6 May 2019 (UTC)

You made a small edit in April. I should have pinged @RoninMacbeth. Bongolian (talk) 00:22, 7 May 2019 (UTC)

)

"Logged in everyday since attempting this 'break'"

Don't worry, you're not the only one. I tried to do two breaks in late 2017, both were over relatively quickly. RoninMacbeth (talk) 16:10, 9 May 2019 (UTC)

Ha ha that is good to hear. I just accepted my fate that I wasn’t going to be able to stay away for 2 weeks. —RWRW (talk) 17:29, 9 May 2019 (UTC)

EU

@UnlicensedThinker what's your thoughts on the EU, if you don't mind me asking? --RWRW (talk) 14:13, 12 May 2019 (UTC)

It's a too broad question for a straight answer. Oversimplifying, traveling is a bit more easy (like having a passport was something difficult...); you don't have to change your currency in every state (but unless you live in Germany your currency has lost a lot of value...); bureaucracy and regulations are growing exponentially for being constantly disregarded; citizens have less and less control on how their taxes are spent; every state leader is pro-immigration as long as the migrants goes to another EU state. Thinker^(unlicensed) 19:19, 12 May 2019 (UTC)

Fair enough. Seems like a rational view of it. I've always been of the view that the good (easy travel etc) is outweighed by the bad. --RWRW (talk) 11:45, 14 May 2019 (UTC)

I read your essay and yes, although it is focused on UK, most of what you have written applies to the other EU countries. Thinker^(unlicensed) 19:48, 14 May 2019 (UTC)

Why not just wipe the slate clean with nukes and start over? It would do humanity a lot of good. — Dr. Ox ^{quack specialist} 20:57, 14 May 2019 (UTC)

Ha all of humanity or just Europe? --RWRW (talk) 10:57, 15 May 2019 (UTC)

All of humanity would be a good start. — Dysk (contribs) 11:37, 15 May 2019 (UTC)

and theres me thinking brexit was insane. i hadnt realised nukes were an option AMassiveGay (talk) 11:54, 15 May 2019 (UTC)

Nomination

You've been nominated to the RationalMedia Foundation election. Please accept or decline here; if you accept, you may wish to campaign.

71.3.195.138 (talk) 23:15, 8 July 2019 (UTC)

Are you thinking of forming an exploratory committee to run? nobs^{I'm all yea'res} 18:13, 9 July 2019 (UTC)

Lol @Nobs maybe, but before then I'm going to get me a beer.

@71.3 I appreciate the nomination, and I'll ponder on it for a couple of days, but I very likely won't run. I don't think there's much I could offer the Board and I don't think I would enjoy it. --RWRW (talk) 20:57, 9 July 2019 (UTC)

Oddly, it was that video that caused me to turn on Warren. Don't trust anybody who drinks alone (learned that as a child), and certainly somebody whose own husband won't drink with her. nobs^{I'm all yea'res}

Does....

....your pendulum wobble to and fro? — Oxyaena ^Harass 18:27, 3 September 2019 (UTC)

Maybe. We shall see if Boris keeps his promise or whether a return to the Brexit Party is necessary. Fake Conservatives such as Phillip Lee have defected to the Lib Dems meaning the Conservatives have lost their majority, Its going to be an eventful few weeks in British politics. --RWRW (talk) 18:46, 3 September 2019 (UTC)

Wikibreak

I’m on holiday and will have limited internet access for the next week. —RWRW (talk) 14:30, 8 September 2019 (UTC)

Have fun! DuceMoosolini^{Your friendly RW dictator moderator} 14:33, 8 September 2019 (UTC)

@DuceMoosolini Thank you! It was a good week. --RWRW (talk) 15:51, 15 September 2019 (UTC)

.

Thanks for paying attention to what I was saying on the mod page. It's kind of interesting that the people who are doing these blocks call a moderator a concern troll when you have specifically been asked to weigh in on something as a mod. Aceⁱ⁹ 19:33, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

Yeah, I don’t think GC likes me very much. To further clarify my position, I tend to agree with you that blocking/binning users for first time offenses, editing tests, ignorance of Wiki rules etc is inappropriate. But I’m not in favour of taking no action against socks of banned users. --RWRW (talk) 20:32, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

But there is an issue there - how do you know they are socks. Yes some are obvious but Oxy in particular likes to block users stating it's a sock without any real evidence. Is there a check user or is it the abusefilter extension at play here? Otherwise "evading ban" is broadly used when it really shouldn't be. And who gives a fuck who GC likes or doesn't like. Aceⁱ⁹ 20:50, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

There is no Checkuser and, to my knowledge, no editfiler. But certain ban evaders are easy to spot. Wikipedia uses the duck test and that can be applied here. For example if someone is spamming 'Videos For People' stuff then its going to be Logicnsuch, if someone is complaining about Oxy and Dysk and creating pages of alt-righters he's had a Twitter feud with then its going to be Oliver Smith, if someone is vandalising Enchanted13's talkpage its going to be Elvis is King etc. --RWRW (talk) 21:14, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

I can understand that but the contribs I pointed out were examples of that logic taken too broadly. Secondly - are the techs or mods able to see and match IP's? Aceⁱ⁹ 21:21, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

Checkuser is not installed on rationalwiki's server. Purposeful choice. ikanreed ^{🐐Bleat at me} 21:28, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

I know that - I have been here since the start. The question I asked was are the techs or mods able to check/match IP's? Aceⁱ⁹ 21:30, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

That's what checkuser does. And as a tech, I'm telling you, no. ikanreed ^{🐐Bleat at me} 21:33, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

I know what checkuser is but that isn't the only way so I want to know if the techs and/or mods can see or match IP's. Aceⁱ⁹ 22:21, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

If you already know the IP then you can probably use some external geolocation tool, but there is no way of doing that to an account unless they reveal their IP. --RWRW (talk) 22:37, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

So no one user, tech, mod or otherwise, is able to see my IP (for example)? Aceⁱ⁹ 23:14, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

Yes. That's one advantage to having an account rather than editing under an IP. --It's-a me, 🎄LeftyGreenMario!🎄 23:18, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

You fuck

You've been nominated in the upcoming moderator elections. See the nomination at RationalWiki:Moderator elections/Nominations.

DuceMoosoliniYour friendly RW dictator moderator 02:26, 2 November 2019 (UTC)

Oh boy, here we go again--RWRW (talk) 10:56, 2 November 2019 (UTC)

Nomination

We need more old guard. Thanks. Aceⁱ⁹ 21:07, 2 November 2019 (UTC)

No problem --RWRW (talk) 01:30, 3 November 2019 (UTC)

Milton Friedman

Hi. I dropped the category "authoritharian wingnuttery" from Milton Friedman article, but the user GrammarCommie reverted my edit. I was trying to argue with him, but he just made a buch of scarecrows (he even accused Friedman of being an ancap!) and said he won't drop his edit because "everyone who endorses capitalism is a wingnut". Is there something you can do? Thanks 2804:14C:5B72:8664:19DC:5A8B:4A6D:F004 (talk) 02:09, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

Hi BoN professor! I see you're still dishonest/intellectually lazy! Please stop being either! Bye!! ☭Comrade GC☭^{Ministry of Praise} 02:16, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

And for the record, you removed the "Libertarian Wingnuttery" (not the Authoritarian Wingnuttery category as you've just now claimed) I argued that anyone who supports Privatization and strong deregulation is a wingnut. Mainly because those are the types of people who support those policies. You know, sort of like how left wingers tend to support workers rights, unionization, and egalitarian social polices... Also, it's kind of telling that you went from complaining to someone who's mid-left to the farthest right person you could find... ☭Comrade GC☭^{Ministry of Praise} 02:27, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

Wow, you're really pissed, huh? I didn't even know he was a right wing, I just saw his name on the sysop list. You know you didn't say that, stop lying, you listed a lot more about Milton Friedman that isn't right. We both know you said he would even privatize the fireworking.

You know, sort of like how left wingers tend to support workers rights, unionization, and egalitarian social polices...

So, does that mean everyone endorsing these is a wingnut? No, there are many good arguments for them (Even Hayek said that egalitarianism is a best argument for government intervention, not that you have read anything about him, or Friedman or any other author, of course). Stop being a fringe and a crank, let those who studied the subject have a serious opinion, or at least read a book. I don't know if you work, but see this pandemic as an opportunity to learn a bit. 2804:14C:5B72:8664:19DC:5A8B:4A6D:F004 (talk) 02:55, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

So, you came in here and whined to a moderator instead of bringing up your arguments on the article's talk page? Strike one. So, you continue your whines on the moderator's talk page, and toss in some irrelevant nonsense about a pandemic? Strike two. Accusing another editor of being a fringe and a crank? Get lost. Cosmikdebris (talk) 03:17, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

I mean, I would let you have your delusions, but you're kind of lying about me so... ☭Comrade GC☭^{Ministry of Praise} 03:24, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

And I'm not angry, I'm amused. I also just brought up an easy example of privatization that I suspected you'd argue against, which is why I made several other examples which you ignored. So, yeah. You're dishonest. I have the edit logs to prove it. Um... Hmm... *Checks own user privileges* oh! I'm a SysOp too! Did you perchance mean Moderator? Because I'll confess I was that at the time too. Now I'm not. Hmm... Anyway, where was I? Oh yes!! Have fun being dishonest, just quit strawmanning me. That shouldn't be too hard should it? ☭Comrade GC☭^{Ministry of Praise} 03:29, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

Yesn't. — Oxyaena ^Harass 09:36, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

There are worse things to be called than a wingnut. Being called a moonbat, for example, is quite a burn. And yeah, this should probably be settled on the Milton Friedman talkpage, not here. --RWRW (talk) 21:16, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

This

Was pretty responsible clarification. ☭Comrade GC☭^{Ministry of Praise} 23:24, 26 June 2020 (UTC)

Thank you. ☭Comrade GC☭^{Ministry of Praise} 23:25, 26 June 2020 (UTC)

Still, nothing Trump has done comes anywhere near to being as bad as OBAMAGATE, the greatest scandal any of us have ever seen. --RWRW (talk) 23:33, 26 June 2020 (UTC)

I thought it was you, Nobs! Bongolian (talk) 01:15, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

I guess I'm busted. --RWRW ^{Free Roger Stone!} 02:20, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

Your favorite song

— Oxyaena ^Harass 02:32, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

Yeah, it is pretty good. I don't know about favourite though. I've always been pretty fond of Africa by Toto. --RWRW (talk) 09:39, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

You fuck

Nominated you for Board. Chef Moosolini’s Ristorante Italiano^{Make a Reservation} 00:58, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

Thanks, @DuceMoosolini, but I don't think being on the board is for me. --RWRW (talk) 13:30, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

Email

Thank you for the heads up. I'll have the election results posted shortly. —cosmikdebris ^talk stalk 19:40, 24 August 2020 (UTC)

No problem. --RWRW (talk) 20:31, 24 August 2020 (UTC)

For anyone else reading this, User:Ze won’t be acting as a returning officer in the RMF election and Cosmikdebris will be doing it alone. --RWRW (talk) 20:31, 24 August 2020 (UTC)

Voting

There is no rule against proxy votes and its been done before. That user is eligible to vote so it's legitimate. — Z 21:22, 2 September 2020 (UTC)

Coop vote

RWRW, I think you have to fix you vote in the coop, it looks like you voted twice. nobs^{Black Guns Matter} 02:08, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

I fixed it. Bongolian (talk) 02:42, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

Thanks. --RWRW (talk) 10:24, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

What was the coop result?

See title.--Hedvigsen^{Skreonk here} 08:54, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Ban failed. Topic ban for me, Oxy and GC succeeded. — Godless Raven ^talk_stalk^walk_balk 🌹 08:56, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Topic ban? What is that?--Hedvigsen^{Skreonk here} 09:28, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

This is the vote on the proposal to ban GR, GrammarCommie, and Oxyaena from reverting or making edits to articles related to far-left politics and ideology. — Godless Raven ^talk_stalk^walk_balk 🌹 09:30, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

^ --RWRW (talk) 12:44, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Mod nomination

Nominated you. Techpriest ^{(I am Alpharius! / / / )} 17:24, 2 November 2020 (UTC)

Thank you, @Sirius, I accept. --RWRW (talk) 22:50, 2 November 2020 (UTC)

Congratulations

Congratulations on your demotion to RationalWiki moderator on 2 December 2020. Thank you for your service to the wiki, and good luck the goat herding voyage on which you have embarked.

—cosmikdebris ^talk stalk 03:01, 2 December 2020 (UTC)

Thank you! --RWRW (talk) 04:31, 2 December 2020 (UTC)

Congrats on winning a third term, Mr. Moderator! --Goatspeed. _{Happy Holidays!}🎄CircularRasoning🎄^{Prototype lab} 05:44, 2 December 2020 (UTC)

Thank you, and congratulations on your win too! --RWRW (talk) 07:20, 2 December 2020 (UTC)

Good luck man!

Getting back to real life? I'm a bit envious, so I am. (Having a hobby besides this place... maybe I SHOULD move out of my mother's basement?) Take care, RWRW. - Rairyu75 (Talk) 19:46, 20 August 2021 (UTC)

It’s still not quite as good as before. I used to find myself at the pub almost every week, but I think I’ve only been twice since ‘freedom day’. But it’s a start. Eh, I can think of a few benefits of living in your mothers basement, like not having to pay council tax. --RWRW (talk) 08:39, 21 August 2021 (UTC)

In case you wanted it

You've been nominated in the upcoming moderator elections. See the nomination at RationalWiki:Moderator elections/Nominations.

CorruptUser 19:39, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

Appreciate it, but I’ll sit this one out. Perhaps I’ll make a grand come-back bid next year. --RWRW (talk) 10:40, 3 November 2021 (UTC)

Your beliefs seem confusing.

How do you reconcile a support for the UK Monarchy with Libertarianism? - Only Sort of Dumb (talk) 04:41, 9 April 2022 (UTC)

I don’t think it’s particularly contradictory. The fact that it’s a constitutional monarchy is key, I would not be in favour of any absolute monarchies. And I respect the fact that The Queen is able to command far more respect and affection from the public than any elected ceremonial president ever could. You should have asked me about my prior support for lockdowns and mask mandates, issues that seem far more incompatible with libertarianism and frankly something I have no real answer to. --RWRW (talk) 17:15, 9 April 2022 (UTC)

That doesn't address government funding for the royal household. Does the household actually need these funds to perform its duties? The Crown Estate's finances are largely opaque, so the public may never know, but indications are that its profits have always far exceeded government funding. The likelihood is then that the royal household is a form of government welfare for the rich. Bongolian (talk) 18:15, 9 April 2022 (UTC)

As I understand it, all Crown Estate profits goes to the Treasury, with about a quarter of it coming back to the royals in the form of the Sovereign Grant (which funds the upkeep of palaces, pays its staff, pays for entertaining foreign leaders so is useful with diplomacy etc etc).

Would it be cheaper to become a Republic? Unless the republicans want to bulldoze Buckingham Palace and other estates (which I don't think they do), then these places will still need money for upkeep (old building like these often need work). Minus from the equation the money the royals generate through tourism, I don't see any substantial economic benefit for abolishing the royals. But assuming abolishing the royals would save us money, all estimates I have seen show that keeping the royals costs everyone in the county between 60p - £1 per year. I would rather be £1 worse off per year than have some failed ex-politician or some celebrity serving as our head of state. --RWRW (talk) 17:06, 10 April 2022 (UTC)

I thought you’d enjoy this—you old Tory (my tongue just pierced my cheek)

Leucippus^{Salva veritate} 03:26, 22 April 2022 (UTC)

That's the guy who mocked Harold Macmillan to his face, right?

Hey, the Conservatives don't need to hypnotise people into forgetting about the cost of living crisis when the media and opposition MPs only want to talk about Partygate. I want to hear people ask Johnson what more he can do to bring down energy prices, but all I ever hear is people saying "Are you going to resign, Prime Minister?" --RWRW (talk) 13:03, 22 April 2022 (UTC)

Yes, Peter Cook did it in a Beyond the Fringe performance, one which Macmillan had come to watch. From what I’ve read Macmillan was a good sport and took it on the chin.

I put “tongue in cheek” in parentheses because: (a) I don’t believe that someone who is conservative would actually fit the straw man presented in this sketch nor do I believe that you RWRW fit into the confines of such a straw-man, (b) the sketch that appears in the video is (I think) intended to be tongue-in-cheek, with certain simplicities made in order to emphasise the comedy aspect; and in addition Peter Cook did not subscribe to any straightforward political position (I believe he once branded himself, somewhat ironically, as a “Tory Anarchist”)—he certainly didn’t pursue the heavy-handed satire we now see on Mock of the Week or Have I got News for you.

Lastly, with regard to your point about Partygate: would you not agree that a Prime Minister who has violated Parliamentary codes and has broken the law (who is a criminal!) has made his position untenable, and cannot dutifully serve his constituency and country. Yes, it might appear that some mps are obscuring important issues such as energy prices, but Johnson needs to be held to account, if we don’t address his violations now it will likely offer him more opportunities for deadcatting and misdirection, and thus it makes it more likely that he will evade justice. Granted, Johnson’s stance on certain issues, for example green issues, is better than the insane Tory backbenchers such as Steve Baker (who is a very dangerous individual, if you ask me), but Johnson’s stance pales in comparison to the policy advanced by the Labour party—and, indeed—other western nations such as Germany, France, and the US.

Addendum: I do find the current Conservative party odd, particularly in their calling themselves “conservative”. Their politics is quite alien (and insulting) to the conservatism of the 20th century, even to Maggie’s flavour of conservatism, they instead practice something that I think Hitchen’s summed up nicely as “socialism for the rich”; they forego caution, moderation, a respect for complex institutions such as the NHS, Universities (see letting foreign investors flood in dirty money into our top unis, and even, most recently, the Church of England!), UK business (Thatcher obviously; allowing countries like Russia and China to pursue projects in the UK, see nuclear power, whilst contributing very-little out of what they could contribute, to our economy), science (see the UK’s exclusion from research grants which are conferred upon European researchers, plus see Patel’s pathetic policies for encouraging “the best and brightest” whilst systematically making immigration incredibly difficult, and providing nothing that is salient-enough to attract scientists away from their current research and grants offered by the EU or the US)—and principle.Leucippus^{Salva veritate} 16:19, 22 April 2022 (UTC)

EC thing is parties on lockdown should be a distraction. a misdemeanour warranting a slap on the wrist dont do it again. legally speaking is a misdemeanour. pay the fine get back to work. it should be nothing but bojo and co and really made sure its significant. really made sure its not about office parties. holding parties are trivial but not so trivial that bojo and co felt the need for denials. repeated denials. fined by the police and still denying any knowledge. lying to parliament is a big deal btw. lying to the general public is par for course these days, but its just contemptuous is this case. lockdowns saw businesses go under. jobs lost. it impacted mental health. schooling was disrupted. but we all put up with it for the greater good. xmasses cancelled. weddings postponed. funerals banned. for the greater good. bojo said it needed to be done. sacrifices have to be made. i hadnt seen any family for two years towards the end. i have dead relatives i didnt even see buried. for the greater good. while the public had to grieve for lost loved ones, alone, its was party time at number 10. the hypocrisy was bad enough. but to continually lie about it. lie about and tell us we are over reacting and lie about it some more. the sheer fucking contempt they have for us. the sacrifices people made and they cannot even come clean over some drinks at the office.

this just the latest in the hypocrisy of this government and the contempt they show us. you want to talk about about the cost living living crisis? the chancellor of the exchequer tells us we gonna have to suck it up while his billionaire missus avoids millions in taxes.

or lets talk about the time bojo's pal was about to be suspended for being a crooked piece of shit and bojo thought that would be a good tine to set up a committee investigating the disciplinary process for MPs and delay his good pals suspension. “I believed that there would be cross-party support for the idea,” says boris, so convinced was he of that the vote was a 3 line whip. he seemed genuinely perplexed at the outrage.

or why paterson was being suspended in the first place - lobbying to get lucrative ppe contracts for his firm. and he werent the only one. 60 percent of all covid related contracts were directly awarded, avoiding any tendering process. companies run by tory donors. with no experience in supplying ppe awarded contracts worth 100s of millions. reminds me of way back in may's government when Seaborne Freight had won £13.8m contract despite never having run Channel service.

sheer fucking contempt. this is the tip of the iceberg. and they cant even be honest about some illicit piss ups. of course they cant. that would set a very dangerous precedent for bojo and his cabinet AMassiveGay (talk) 17:16, 22 April 2022 (UTC)

@Leucippus that is Peter or Christopher Hitchens? I know Peter Hitchens thinks the Conservate Party is just a social democratic party pretending to be conservative (and he cites their support for same-sex marriages, no fault divorce etc etc).

For what its worth, I'm also angry with Johnson over Partygate. I never bought the argument that he didn't know it was against the rules, and I think it’s clear that he misled Parliament (ironically if he does get forced out over this it will be like Nixon and Watergate, it won't be the action that takes him down but the attempted cover-up). And I can't disagree with AMG's points about how insulting it is to all of us who obeyed the rules.

But I’ll be honest I’m torn on whether I want him to resign. Like I said above, Partygate has been a disaster and a mess of his own making. I now think there is so much baggage that I question whether he could win the next election.

On the other hand I still have a lot of fondness for Johnson. I like his persona and charisma, and I’ll always see him as the man who got Brexit over the finishing line. I also think he’s done a lot of good – we discussed Ukraine recently but think about the vaccine rollout last year. Look how Merkel and Macron demonised the AstraZeneca jab, calling it dangerous and ineffective. The end result was empty vaccination centres and tens of thousands of AstraZeneca jabs wasted. Johnson on the other hand managed to make it a patriotic act to get vaccinated and kept vaccination levels in the UK high, and frankly I can’t think of any British politician who could have pulled it off like that. --RWRW (talk) 01:26, 23 April 2022 (UTC)

@RWRW Sorry for not responding sooner. I intended to refer to Christopher Hitchens, albeit through paraphrase (as I can’t remember the exact quote nor its proper citation). As for the other Hitchens brother, Peter, I find him to be prima facie somewhat of a charlatan, and hence, I haven’t been interested in learning more about his views etc.

Yes, the parallels with Watergate are quite striking. It’s a very difficult situation for Boris, nigh insuperable, but, then again, any hypothesis can be saved with sufficient modification of background assumptions and auxiliary hypotheses—something analogous may be attainable for Bojo.

True, the UK had the best rollout in Europe. But was that due to Bojo or, as I recall reading, due to shrewd outside-advisers (i.e. politically neutral) working with SAGE.

I can’t compare Johnson to Churchill though, nor to other great prime-ministers of yore—indeed, I wouldn’t! As an aside, have you read Churchill’s Marlborough: his life and times, which was considered by the then Nobel prize committee to be one of his best books. Leucippus^{Salva veritate} 23:04, 26 April 2022 (UTC)

No worries, sorry for my very late reply. Fairs. I’m sort of the opposite, I’ve seen and read a lot more of Peter than Christopher (though I’m more often amused by many of Peter’s views than persuaded by them).

I wouldn’t liken him to Churchill either, though frankly I don’t think any of the present day-politicians can be compared to Churchill, Attlee, MacMillan etc etc. I haven’t actually read it but I’ll look into it for sure --RWRW (talk) 14:21, 5 May 2022 (UTC)

Nomination

You've been nominated to the RationalMedia Foundation election. Please accept or decline here; if you accept, you may wish to campaign.

Mod nomination

You've been nominated in the upcoming moderator elections. See the nomination at RationalWiki:Moderator elections/Nominations. Arcadium Trancefer (talk) 10:31, 2 November 2022 (UTC)

Mod

Nominated you. GeeJayK^{Where all evil dwells} _{Where every lie is true} 20:19, 8 November 2023 (UTC)

How about a bit of Tom Petty?

I seem to recall that you prefer the older tunes. But this one has risen from the grave because Rockstar used it for their new GTA trailer recently. It's kinda cool to see a lot of (I assume) young teenagers in the comments, saying how much they like this type of music. - Rairyu75 (Talk) 20:16, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

Yeah, Rockstar hit the nail on the head when they picked that song. And of course most GTA players probably feel as old as the average Tom Petty fans after waiting so long for the game to be released, --RWRW (talk) 13:18, 17 January 2024 (UTC)