Valsuelm

We already had this discussion before. Oh sweet sweet vampire metaphors.... wherefore art thou? Flying over heads? Of course, of course...

That's ass-backwards logic. "The right of a person to ruin a discussion is more valuable than the desire of others to see the discussion un-ruined" is putting the cart before the horse. The principle is what it always is- there's a right (or 'right' since the forums are private property) to freedom of expression within certain rules. If the rules aren't infringed then if you don't like what the other person is saying you need to build a bridge and get over it or buy a pack of cards and deal with it. If the rules don't facilitate constructive discussion, I'd argue the rules are at fault, and saying "well he didn't break any rules" misses the point entirely. Someone running around crying 'zomg the rules here suck! Somebody safe space me!' isn't exactly facilitating constructive discussion. Congrats on successfully derailing the thread. Worry not though, I'll put it back on track or start another, as the subject matter is too oft amusing and of some import. SJW's are the modern gift that keep on giving.

True story: I consider 1989 to be the best pop album in over 20 years. So do many others who aren't the stereotypical teeny bopper fan.. Eh. I'm more of a Pink guy myself... Pink's great! She's an amazingly talented artist. I especially like this video. But see, I'm a Taylor Swift, Edvard Grieg, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Pink, Pink Floyd, Phish, Billy Joel, Grateful Dead, Alison Krausse, Alan Jackson, Talking Heads, Birthday Massacre, Shakira, Dixie Chicks, Counting Crows, Van Halen, Bob Marley...... and the list goes on and on..... guy myself. Good music is good music.

Splitting threads is generally worse than closing them, and closing a thread should just about never happen (if there's really a too many pages bug, jesus @)#$ did Obsidian buy the worst forum software I've ever seen). At best, interruption and confusion generally results from both. This thread has been effectively hijacked the last few pages, and... well, so what? If someone was intentionally trying to hijack it, repeatedly, then some moderation should probably be done. However, a thread goes off topic just due to the normal course of conversation, there's nothing really wrong with that. As for the Trump problem..... lol.

The 80s were the best. The prevailing culture put a happy positive spin on just about everything, including incredibly dark stuff.

Now there's some wishful thinking. You'll have a better time wishing yourself some millions. I hope you succeed on the latter. The danger of Republicans losing both at this point isn't much more than marginal, the danger of them losing even one isn't much higher than that. While the importation of Democrats has been in high gear for the last decade, for the most part they're just reinforcing already very blue areas. And while that may make a difference in the Presidential campaign, it won't make much of a difference in the locals. In other words, there's very few toss up races. Places that are traditionally red are very likely to vote red this election and places that are traditionally blue are very likely to vote blue this election, for the locals. And if either party has any momentum or is motivated this election, it's the Republicans. Though the big story of this election is just how sick and tired average Joe/Jane are of both of the major parties. Punting the Presidential election would be retarded, and it's not the whole thing works anyways. It's not like they have to make much of a choice where to allocate resources, as it's not like there's any lack of any, for either the RNC or the DNC.

@ Bart Sadly the Eternal September and the AOL invasion is now long in the past. The days of being able to hop on a BBS or the Interwebs and find intelligent conversation almost everywhere you went are so long gone that many here reading this never experienced those halcyon days of yore, nor even know to what I'm referring without perhaps 'googling' it. I feel you on the wanting to have serious discussions without the children or unintelligents constantly making noise. It's a complaint I have as well, however it's not one that really can or should be addressed by mods on a forum such as this. Perhaps on a forum where it's explicitly stated that the purpose of the forum is to have intelligent conversation, but that place is not here. There are some people worth engaging here, despite the nonsense (I think you know this). In general, it's best to just ignore the others. ie: I stopped responding to X a few pages back as he's seemingly incapable of an honest conversation. I have A and B on ignore as I've found them to both be insane and very rarely offer anything of quality to a conversation. I rarely response to Y (who thankfully hasn't yet posted in this thread) because all they spout is unintelligent and uninformed vitriol. But I do look forward to what C, D, and E have to say, because even though I may often disagree with them, they almost always have an informed perspective. Echo chambers are not my thing, and those who prefer them disgust me. And yes, it does suck that the conversation can't be taken to a higher level due to some others here. But, go have those conversations outside this forum. I do. The best we can probably accomplish here is to /shoo and ignore the rabble (with varying degrees of success), as well as carry some conversations into the private realm where those who can't handle a subject for whatever reason are not (something I've done with a few here). Imagine the forum as a neighborhood block party of sorts. You've got a few adults (maybe even a kid or two) capable of intelligent conversation, who are almost invariably outnumbered by some drunks wandering around, total idiots yabbering about nonsense, thin skinned wussies who go out of their way to be offended, kids running around screaming, some fuddy duddies yelling at the kids to get off their lawn, etc. Just converse with those you wish to. Gently /shoo or ignore the others. Don't call the cops (mods in this case) unless you see someone getting murdered, and even then think at least thrice about it because the result of calling them might be worse than not.

I wonder how many others have him on ignore. I would wager he wins the 'most ignored award' on Obsidian forums (at least in recent times).

This is a very good post, I support the last line emphatically My experience as a moderator is that there are some users who have no discretion. My experience as a moderator is that while those folks exist, they are actually quite rare on most forums (4chan, reddit, youtube, et al being notable high profile exceptions). I personally have not seen such on WoT. Also, my response as a moderator to all this would be something along the lines of what Meshuggar posted here, though probably a bit more blunt in it's delivery.

True story: I consider 1989 to be the best pop album in over 20 years. So do many others who aren't the stereotypical teeny bopper fan..

Hillary is only loyal to herself. She'd burn the democratic party in a heartbeat if it benefited her to do so. It currently does not as it comes with millions of at best barely informed mindless zombies (Shadyhands post above is sadly not an exaggeration, the woman could be caught on film raping her dead grandma and most of the people voting for her now would still vote for her) , so it's in her interest (and the interest of those who would anoint her) to play the blue game.

I really don't like Ted Cruz, but his world looks more fun.

The world's most fabulous gay man and the U.S.'s toughest sheriff talk Trump and other things...

I'm offended on behalf of the Nazis that you continually lump them in with SJWs. This is disturbing and ill conceived. Where are the moderators? What's up with these weak forum rules?!!?! I need my safe space!!

They will? I hadn't heard he made that campaign promise.

#1 60 years ago this week:

Occasionally I check the 'Billboard #1 hits' from 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45... years ago when I'm in the mood to listen to some music and want to hear something I haven't heard in awhile. Sometimes I post what I find here. Today, as I often do, I started out with the 30 years ago date (as I generally like the mid 80s music). Somewhat coincidentally.... 30 years ago this week this song was the #1 song in America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDTE4uPAAlM

Both excellent documentaries. The former I have linked on these forums before, and if I made a list of ten documentaries I think every human should see 'The Century of the Self' would be one of them. Curtis's work in general is really good, though I do think 'Century of the Self' is his best.

Good video. I posted this in another thread. It has related relevance here. I do wonder just how many have read Orwell or someone like him, let alone someone like Bernays, and realize just how steeped our modern culture and media are in doublespeak, and as a result doublethink and/or cognitive dissonance (though there is a degree of chicken and egg going on as the 'speak and 'think/cd tend to feed each other). And if they do realize it (by way of Orwell, Bernays, or some other), have they put any significant thought into it. The whys, the hows, especially. Methinks that on a society-wide scale, the answer sadly is not many, hence the relatively few very successful puppeteers pulling the strings of so many, and to the many's detriment ('Diversity is strength' is just one example). However on a hopeful note, I think a growing number do perceive the increasingly blatant danger of 'diversity' instinctively, if not consciously. Then again, if it's only ever instinctually perceived, that could ultimately portend disaster. It is certainly safe to say that for Joe/Jane SJW, Orwell and Bernays are beyond them. One can hope that at least for some of them, that will one day not be true. Perceive or not though, grave dangers not seen in some time in the western world are ahead for a large number folks no matter how you slice it at this point as a number of Rubicons have been crossed. Potentially on an unprecedentedly dark scale, as the 'diversity' we've got growing in Europe and North America is not peaceably tenable in the long run, no matter how many times 'lalalalalalalalala!' is lullabied.

Typical you.

If you say that, I guarantee you, I have a lot more experience and knowledge regarding 'special needs' children than you do. It's like saying you're an experienced mountain climber who is bothered by heights and the discussion of rappelling. Sure, you can still climb some mountains, but you're going to be missing quite a lot of them. Without going into great detail, I grew up with the 'special needs' kids and adults all around me (and to avoid the obvious incoming joke, no I wasn't one, quite the opposite). That said, it really shouldn't matter in regards to the argument at hand. I only say this as you're trying to pull some experience card in regards to something near everyone can experience and has experienced to some degree, though they may not realize it. It's like when you play the 'I'm a teacher' card to poopoo others observations about the school/education system, as if most people didn't spend at least ~12 years in a western public school system themselves, nor intimately knows others who did and do, nor knows some teachers on any kind of personal level, nor has taught anything themselves. I could go on. If you're truly disturbed, you've either got really thin skin or you're blind to what you see when you work with your 'special needs children', if they are even mentally retarded in any meaningful way, as it's been a growing habit in recent years of no small number of schools, parents, and psychologists/psychiatrists to label some otherwise normal kids as 'special needs'. This is done for a variety of reasons but almost invariably ends up ultimately causing the very thing that was never there to begin with (more often than not with the help of drugs). In other words, otherwise normal kids are getting seriously mentally (#@*ed up in a very real sense by incompetent and/or evil adults. That is somewhat another subject, however in some ways it may not be as it's very possible that the aforementioned in this thread whackaloons are a sad symptom of this phenomenon. Frankly, while I do think it's certainly a factor, possibly even a primary one, I do not think it's the only factor.

Sure, if you have no idea what the term means. *sigh* First: Online dictionaries often fail in so many ways. At the top of my list of complaints of what's not available on the internet but should be is a readily available unabridged quality English dictionary. Anon. Second: Do yourself a favor, and look up what 'retard' and 'mental' mean. Even the online dictionaries should suffice. Unless you yourself are mentally retarded, you should realize that.... Third: It is the correct term for whom I was applying it to. Edit: and Fourth: Given that you wrote this post, please be a bit more honest when you quote or paraphrase me, as I in fact did not say proclaim 'SJWs to be mentally retarded' (though I would say (yet I didn't) that it's safe to say that most if not all SJWs are either mentally retarded and/or insane). If you're more honest, logic and reason will better be your friend. Also, there was never any hyperbole in what I wrote (the only time I use hyperbole (which is quite rare) is for satirical or comedic effect, and I was not engaging in satire or comedy in the post you replied to). You just choose to pretend spades aren't spades, perhaps because some spades say or do things you like, or perhaps because you don't understand what a spade actually is, I don't know.

My money is on that conversation happening in book six, given where certain characters are heading and the direction the plot has gone. 'Winds of Winter' is looking to actually be out later this year or at the latest next. Book seven however, I'm guessing we will never see, as I frankly expect GRRM to croak before he finishes it at the rate he writes, and he's already said he's against anyone else writing anything in his world, so that precludes anyone else finishing it for him, a la Sanderson finished for Jordan.

That was my initial thinking as well. 'Wait, this perennial tabloid coverboy, and 'reality TV' talk show host has all these evil/moron folks up in arms? Really?!?!?' 'AND he's coming out against the sacred evil cow 'free trade' and 'illegal immigration' in at least a lipserviced meaningful way?' Then I spent some time listening to him beyond the soundbites and out of context 'news' 'quotes', and discovered he's not all that bad (which I've found is the story of almost everyone ever demonized by the mainstream media). That, plus the fact that he does piss off evil/moron group A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L...... has me closer than ever at this point to downright saying 'woohoo Trump!', and I'm at least as anti big government as you are. I'm still waiting for the VP announcement before I commit 100%, which is aways away still, but Mickey Mouse just might not have my write in vote this go around after all. Lately I've been pinching myself, but I can't shake the idea that: Well poop, worst case scenario with Trump is he lies about everything to get elected and we're going to have more of the same evil poop and continue accelerating down the path of self destruction to ultimate disintegration we've been on for decades. Something that is 100% guaranteed with all of the other candidates, save maybe Bernie to a small degree. But at least even in the evil lying Trump scenario there's a serious promise of amusing antics aplenty, so our ride to hell will at least be more entertaining than it has been. And then the big ugly fact that if Trump does turn out to be a lying **** like the rest of them and breaks all his promises to the millions of already seriously disillusioned in the government (and that have just about truly had enough of it) who voted for him , those millions are going to be that much closer to affecting some real change hardcore and outside the ballot box style. So, I'm thinking a vote for Trump just may be a win win on a couple of different levels (with the Trump is actually a good guy scenario much preferred of course).