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#81 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 23,090
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"Your argument is wrong because you're dumb" is a textbook example of an ad hominem. Quite literally:
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I don't trust atoms. They make up everything. |
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#82 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Leicester Square, London
Posts: 6,463
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#83 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Puget Sound
Posts: 12,482
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To survive election season on a skeptics forum, one must understand Hymie-the-Robot.
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#84 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 23,090
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I don't trust atoms. They make up everything. |
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#85 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 23,090
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I don't trust atoms. They make up everything. |
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#86 |
Self Employed
Remittance Man Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 15,903
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This is what I'm talking when I said the "Blue Wave" was never really about the numbers.
"Dems take the House, GOP holds onto the Senate, no real massive change eitherway in Governships and State Houses, voter turnout only has a small spike at most" is what... everyone was saying was going to happen and it did happen. Now both sides are trying to spin a forgone conclusion into a win for their side by trying to pin a narrative on it where every vote in America was a rejection or re-acceptance of Trump despite... that not being what this election was about. As to all the "Well you see the data shows that if the Whig Party beats the No-nothing party in the Midterm election by a margin of more than .5% that translates to a .07% increase in the probability that a Whig will take the White House in the next election unless Ohio votes against Riverboat Gambling..." at a certain point that stuff just turns into trumped up astrology. |
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- "Ernest Hemingway once wrote that the world is a fine place and worth fighting for. I agree with the second part." - Detective Sommerset - "Stupidity does not cancel out stupidity to yield genius. It breeds like a bucket-full of coked out hamsters." - The Oatmeal - "To the best of my knowledge the only thing philosophy has ever proven is that Descartes could think." - SMBC |
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#87 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Puget Sound
Posts: 12,482
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To survive election season on a skeptics forum, one must understand Hymie-the-Robot.
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#88 |
الشيطان الأبيض
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Posts: 7,680
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Most governors were Republican and now most will be Democrat, because of R→D flips in at least 7 governors' races (possibly up to 9 depending on the latest updates). The Democrats flipped almost 400 State legislative seats in one shot, compared to the loss of a thousand that's always said to be such a disaster over Obama's entire Presidency. They gained 6 state trifectas (governorship plus both legislative houses), took away 4 Republican trifectas, still flipped 2 more state houses elsewhere, and that's not even counting how many supermajorities they gained, whether as flips or just growth of previous majorities (2 of which happened in the same state). The Democrat pickup in the HOR was bigger than any in the last few decades, some others of which were called "waves" before without denial. Estimates ahead of time were putting it in the low 30s and it ended up about 40. Compared to previous elections, vote numbers swung an average of 10 points toward Democrats even in places so red that they still lost (like Beto gaining about 40 in Texas), and 21 points where they won. And pretty much every direct ballot measure went the left's way, from gun control to marijuana legalization to minimum wage increases to renewable energy to voter registration & voting rights to housing for the homeless to Medicare & Medicaid. And that was with more Democrats than ever putting themselves at a financial disadvantage by not accepting PAC$.
Even in the Senate, the only point for Republicans to cling to as going their way, the map of who was up and where heavily favored the Republicans, as did the fact that several of their "Democrat" opponents campaigned on "look how Republican I am and the Republicans are right about a lot of things", so a neutral average year should have given them 4-6 new Republican Senators, but they still only picked up 2, which is a blue-wave-year failure under the circumstances. There's a reason why most Republicans & the commentators on their side have mostly been so silent on the election results and Trump has been on even more of a rampage than usual. It's because they know they lost. If the isolated pockets of denial to be found here & there were true, the entire right would all be reveling in it together, not mostly hiding from it. The right's own behavior exposes their own denialist enclave's dishonesty about what happened. For that matter, even ignoring the silent/rampaging ones, even the deniers are exposing it themselves whenever they feel the need to resort to harping on "he's still there" as if that had anything to do with anything; that kind of desperation to find something to call "positive" only affects people who know things are really mostly negative for themselves. And this was all while some on the right were claiming it would be not just "no wave" but a red one. |
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#89 |
Self Employed
Remittance Man Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 15,903
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The governorship isn't like the House or Senate where a majority means anything. State Governors don't work as a collective. A minor shift in power in governorships isn't all the meaningful.
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- "Ernest Hemingway once wrote that the world is a fine place and worth fighting for. I agree with the second part." - Detective Sommerset - "Stupidity does not cancel out stupidity to yield genius. It breeds like a bucket-full of coked out hamsters." - The Oatmeal - "To the best of my knowledge the only thing philosophy has ever proven is that Descartes could think." - SMBC |
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#90 |
Official Ponylandistanian National Treasure. Respect it!
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Ponylandistan! Where the bacon grows on trees! Can it get any better than that? I submit it can not!
Posts: 30,788
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Maybe everyone should simply agree it was more of a Blue Tide than a Blue Wave, and move on to more pressing matters.
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"Never judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes... Because then it won't really matter, you’ll be a mile away and have his shoes." ![]() |
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#91 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 23,090
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The only semantics I've been engaged in is whether people really meant "completely average and predictable result" when they were talking about a "blue wave". I don't think they did, and I don't really think that anybody actually thinks that they did.
Some examples: https://www.denverpost.com/2018/10/1...-be-a-tsunami/
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I don't trust atoms. They make up everything. |
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#92 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 23,090
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I don't trust atoms. They make up everything. |
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#93 |
Devilish Dictionarian
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: An elusive house at Bachelors Grove Cemetery
Posts: 19,950
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"You must not let your need to be right be more important than your need to find out what's true." - Ray Dalio, Principles |
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#94 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 23,090
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You might have to read past the headline. The article is about how taking control of the office of governor, the House, and the Senate would be a bad thing for the Democrats. It's not saying "there's going to be a wave, but it could be a big wave", it's saying "there's going to be a wave, but this could be destructive".
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I don't trust atoms. They make up everything. |
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#95 |
Scholar
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 66
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#96 |
Self Employed
Remittance Man Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 15,903
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It can, and I have said before Republican state houses okaying gerrymandering is largely what got the GOP so many wins in Congress. I'm not arguing that Governorships don't matter, far from it.
But my point was concepts like "majority" don't mean as much (or doesn't mean the same thing depending on how you look at) as a majority in a House of Congress. 51 Senators from the Pro-Widget Party can do a whole lot more than just 49 Senators from the Pro-Widget Party. 51 Pro-Widget Governors can only did a little bit more than 49 Pro-Widget Governors. |
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- "Ernest Hemingway once wrote that the world is a fine place and worth fighting for. I agree with the second part." - Detective Sommerset - "Stupidity does not cancel out stupidity to yield genius. It breeds like a bucket-full of coked out hamsters." - The Oatmeal - "To the best of my knowledge the only thing philosophy has ever proven is that Descartes could think." - SMBC |
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#97 |
Devilish Dictionarian
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: An elusive house at Bachelors Grove Cemetery
Posts: 19,950
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That's why I referred to the headline. Regardless, waves are not tsunamis. Waves happen, often periodically. It was a wave. It wasn't an ebb, it wasn't sea spray, it wasn't a deluge or a worldwide flood.
It was a wave. Just a wave. Enough of a wave. Enough of the discussion. |
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"You must not let your need to be right be more important than your need to find out what's true." - Ray Dalio, Principles |
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#98 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 6,709
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I agree: Enough. Who cares whether it was a 'wave', a 'tsunami', a 'tide', or a freaking ripple? The numbers are the numbers. 232-200 in the House with 3 seats still outstanding. Some people argue just to argue.
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#99 |
Merchant of Doom
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Not in Hell, but I can see it from here on a clear day...
Posts: 13,129
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But it must have the correct label! Reality doesn't matter, unless we can agree on what label we're using!
I mean, seriously, if you have to choose between the packaging and what's actually there, I think the only rational choice is clear. 9 out of 10 cats prefer the packaging to the product! |
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#100 |
Graduate Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: North American prairie
Posts: 1,367
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Best rakes ever! For stopping forest fires.
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Drain The Trump https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1819/...ee617b6aed.jpg http://karireport.blogspot.com/ |
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#101 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,821
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#102 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 18,015
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![]() It must be fun to lead a life completely unburdened by reality. -- JayUtah I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question. -- Charles Babbage (1791-1871) ![]() |
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#103 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,171
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Well, if you did it as a "layer" with 50% transparency, that would add together 50% of each layer, so you'd only get 50% of the total FFFFFF, or 808080 gray. I think white is the correct answer if you superimposed projected images, and black is the correct answer if you looked through stacked positive and negative transparencies.
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"We're done! We're done! GET OUT!" |
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#104 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 23,090
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And still more semantic games. Read the post in context. Foolmewunz is questioning the terminology in the first sentence, and then saying what he expects to happen in the next two, not offering a definition of the term in the second two.
Seriously, people, if you have to pretend that headlines, articles, and posts say things that are different to what they actually say in order to try to support the notion that the term "blue wave" was meant to imply absolutely nothing unusual whatsoever, then perhaps it's worth considering that that view isn't built on as solid a foundation as you're trying to imply? This is exactly the kind of nonsense that the more fervent Trump supporters rightly get raked over the coals for on this board. |
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I don't trust atoms. They make up everything. |
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#105 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Puget Sound
Posts: 12,482
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So what? Those are more or less the same predictions as the experts. They predicted Dems would perform better than recent elections. That prediction was described as a blue wave. The results exceeded expectations -- slightly. So what?
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Add: I suggest you start a Blue Wave thread if you wish to discuss this further. We're off topic here. |
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To survive election season on a skeptics forum, one must understand Hymie-the-Robot.
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#106 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 23,090
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Yes, the best way to prove that you're being entirely reasonable is to straw man me in order to continue to debate something that you've already dismissed as being pointless to debate.
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I don't trust atoms. They make up everything. |
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#107 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Puget Sound
Posts: 12,482
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__________________
To survive election season on a skeptics forum, one must understand Hymie-the-Robot.
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#108 |
Graduate Poster
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,624
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Trump said he supports the pending prison reform bill.
That's all I got. |
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So I'm going to tell you what the facts are, and the facts are the facts, but then we know the truth. That always overcomes facts. |
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#109 |
Terrestrial Intelligence
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Terra Firma
Posts: 6,021
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He pronounces "Tanzania" correctly.
Considering his tendency to flub pretty much all geographical names, and the fact that nearly everyone mispronounces "Tanzania", it is kind of odd that he pronounces it as a native Tanzanian. Perhaps we should look up his birth certificate. |
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Perhaps nothing is entirely true; and not even that! Multatuli |
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#110 |
"más divertido"
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 19,249
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#111 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 6,709
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He's consistent. He unfailingly puts himself first. You can always count on that.
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#112 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 19,236
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He did have a couple of genuinely funny jokes at the turkey pardoning ceremony today.
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Science is self-correcting. Woo is self-contradicting. |
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#113 |
"más divertido"
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 19,249
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Hot wife complements him. Like a ying and yang thing, earth/sun, hideous/beautiful.
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#114 |
Graduate Poster
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,635
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#115 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: The Great Northwet
Posts: 19,973
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He thinks murdering enemies of the state/people (who work for WaPo) is fine, I think it's disgusting. Complementary!
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Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant. |
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#116 |
Muse
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Norvegr
Posts: 977
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Proud Dirtbag Leftist. |
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#117 |
Grammar Resistance Leader
TLA Dictator Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Pattaya, Thailand
Posts: 39,858
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I know others have noted, but couldn't we get the OP Title changed to compliment?
I have worryingly pleasant visions of something having to do with a certain Hannibal, fava beans and a nice Chianti. |
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Ha! Foolmewunz has just been added to the list of people who aren't complete idiots. Hokulele It's not that liberals have become less tolerant. It's that conservatives have become more intolerable. |
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#118 |
Devilish Dictionarian
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: An elusive house at Bachelors Grove Cemetery
Posts: 19,950
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"You must not let your need to be right be more important than your need to find out what's true." - Ray Dalio, Principles |
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#119 |
Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Waiting for the pod bay door to open.
Posts: 39,601
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Continually pushing the boundaries of mediocrity. Everything is possible, but not everything is probable. For if a man pretend to me that God hath spoken to him supernaturally, and immediately, and I make doubt of it, I cannot easily perceive what argument he can produce to oblige me to believe it. Hobbes |
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#120 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 6,709
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