English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

12:00 AM

After I did all that, not one but two people on that page called the tremolo a "tremelo" a total of four separate times.

And a third guy added that you can't do it in MuseScore.

My question is thus.

What the actual fuck is wrong with people.

skullpatrol

12:40 AM

10 hours ago, by BLACK LIVES MATTER

@RegDwigнt flagged as offensive

Robusto

12:57 AM

Robusto

1:15 AM

tchrist

1:51 AM

Air yucky again.

Xanne

2:33 AM

AQ is 138 here. The Glass fire, this time.

skullpatrol

2:47 AM

did you get a chance to watch Polya's video @tchrist?

nvm

CowperKettle

4:26 AM

Lenin was a mushroom

Lenin was a mushroom (Russian: Ленин — гриб) was a highly influential televised hoax by Soviet musician Sergey Kuryokhin and reporter Sergey Sholokhov. It was first broadcast on 17 May 1991 on Leningrad Television.The hoax took the form of an interview on the television program Pyatoe Koleso (The Fifth Wheel). In the interview, Kuryokhin, impersonating a historian, narrated his findings that Vladimir Lenin consumed large quantities of psychedelic mushrooms and eventually became a mushroom himself. Kuryokhin arrived at his conclusion through a long series of logical fallacies and appeals to the...

- My country's government lied to me and tried to kill me.
- In Russia, we call this "Tuesday"

marcellothearcane

4:54 AM

You lucky bastard (Dungeon Scene) Monty Python-Life of Brian

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marcellothearcane

5:06 AM

A man goes to a funeral and asks the widow, "Mind if I say a word?"
She says: "Please do."
The man clears his throat and says: "Plethora."
The widow replies: "Thank you, that means a lot."

CowperKettle

> President Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus

4

skullpatrol

6:19 AM

in This Is Fine, 1 hour ago, by Stormblessed

> Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!

CowperKettle

Færd

6:45 AM

@RegDwigнt Yeah I had a hunch that I was not treading in uncharted territory.

Faheem Mitha

7:12 AM

@CowperKettle Here we call it Monday. :-)

That looks like a still from "Gemini Man". I think I watched it on Amazon Prime Video. An older and younger version of Will Smith fighting it out. Not as bad as one might expect.

Færd

In a NY accent (or one variety of it), it's talk with a diphthongish vowel (twalk), but stalk with a flatter ah, amirite? What causes the difference?

(I'm not sure about the latter example. Maybe I need to find better ones to illustrate the difference.)

Faheem Mitha

@marcellothearcane I wonder if this would seem quite so funny if crucifixion was still current.

marcellothearcane

@FaheemMitha It's classic British humour from the 70s

I.e. incredibly innappropriate

Færd

... It probably depends on whether the "normal" vowel was /ɔ:/ ,/ɒ:/, or /ɑ:/.

Faheem Mitha

@marcellothearcane Yes, I'm familiar with Monty Python. Some days I'd even count myself as a fan. Though I was quite shocked when I first saw "Life of Brian", many years ago.

marcellothearcane

7:20 AM

@FaheemMitha Which is the point, I'm sure

Faheem Mitha

I notice they don't do humor about the mass murder of Jews (and others) in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, though.

@marcellothearcane I was younger then, and much more shockable.

marcellothearcane

@FaheemMitha I don't consider myself an expert, you're probably right

They do Nazis in a big way though

Faheem Mitha

I recall being particularly taken aback by the song at the end.

Which is of course, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".

marcellothearcane

I think the whole thing is a stab at the establishment/Church

Faheem Mitha

@marcellothearcane Everyone does Nazis. They're like the go-to villain option for Hollywood. Even in the 21st century. Either that, or imaginary Islamic terrorists. That's being going on since the 1980s. See for example "The Jewel of the Nile".

Though I'd wouldn't recommend watching it. It's pretty terrible.

marcellothearcane

7:24 AM

Christianity is an easy target too

Faheem Mitha

Though if you're into inappropriate humor, it doesn't get bigger than "The Way of All Flesh". Which is a bit dated now, but still worth reading once.

@marcellothearcane Religion in general is a very easy target.

But don't try it in India. It won't end well.

marcellothearcane

Humour is mostly cultural I suppose.

I probably wouldn't 'get' niche Indian jokes

European humour is confusing sometimes

Faheem Mitha

Speaking of religion, here's a good quote from "The Way of All Flesh".

> Nevertheless there haunts him an ill defined sense that life would be pleasanter if there were no sick sinners, or if they would at any rate face an eternity of torture with more indifference.

Chapter 16. See gutenberg.org/files/2084/2084-h/2084-h.htm

That probably doesn't sound very funny in isolation, but it's quite funny in context. In a grim kind of way.

Butler was English too.

That's on the topic of Hell, of course.

marcellothearcane

Attacking religion was in vogue in Victorian Britain

Faheem Mitha

@marcellothearcane If one was to make fun of Indian things, it wouldn't be very subtle.

@marcellothearcane Really? I wasn't aware of that.

"The Way of All Flesh" was published after Butler's death, in 1903, because he feared repercussions.

marcellothearcane

7:37 AM

@FaheemMitha Scientists like Darwin, Lyell, etc were disputing traditional creationist theories, and there was a trend towards Bohemianism I think

Faheem Mitha

Most of it was written in the late 19th century, but it's interesting to note how little the language has changed since then. There is scarcely a word in the book that differs from standard modern usage.

@marcellothearcane Oh, from a scientific point of view, you mean. Ok. I'm not aware of Darwin or Lyell's views in religion. Actually, I don't know who Lyell is.

marcellothearcane

> The Origin of Species that suggested that man evolved from a lower species of an animal instead of being created by a divine god.
> This idea devastated many Victorians as it openly contradicted with their Christian ideology and belief in creationism. It was then feared that this might ultimately lead to the Victorian crisis of faith.

@FaheemMitha Language stopped changing after the printing press

@FaheemMitha Lyell was a geologist

Faheem Mitha

@marcellothearcane I thought it stopped changing after the publication of Johnson's dictionary.

@marcellothearcane Ok.

@marcellothearcane Right.

marcellothearcane

The printing of KJV of the Bible had a massive impact on language development

It was in English, as opposed to Latin, so people could read it and learned spellings from there

Faheem Mitha

Actually, the language has probably changed a bit. Consider, for example:

> I fell desperately in love with Alethea, indeed we all fell in love with each other, plurality and exchange whether of wives or husbands being openly and unblushingly advocated in the very presence of our nurses.

I'm not sure what "plurality and exchange" in this context means. Probably he means polygamy and partner swapping. But it wouldn't be expressed like that today.

marcellothearcane

7:42 AM

The tone is slightly different to modern constructions, but it's all there

Faheem Mitha

@marcellothearcane Yes, I suppose so.

Still more comprehensible than Chaucer.

Are you English, then?

marcellothearcane

I think that direct speech is the weirdest aspect of old novels.

@FaheemMitha Correct

Faheem Mitha

@marcellothearcane Ok. I hope you're doing ok.

@marcellothearcane Direct speech?

marcellothearcane

> Direct or quoted speech is spoken or written text that reports speech or thought in its original form phrased by the original speaker; in narrative, it is usually enclosed in quotation marks, but could be enclosed in guillemet. The cited speaker is either mentioned in the inquit or implied.

Faheem Mitha

@marcellothearcane How does that differ from modern usage?

marcellothearcane

7:47 AM

> “some boys are born stupid, and thou art one of them; some achieve stupidity—that’s thee again, Jim—thou wast both born stupid and hast greatly increased thy birthright—and some [...] have stupidity thrust upon them, which, if it please the Lord, shall not be thy case, my lad, for I will thrust stupidity from thee, though I have to box thine ears in doing so...”

Nobody would talk like that nowadays

Faheem Mitha

@marcellothearcane That's true, nobody would. Still quite comprehensible, though.

Perhaps I misunderstood you. You're not saying that direct speech doesn't exist in modern fiction, just that it looks very different. Is that correct?

marcellothearcane

@FaheemMitha Sorry yes, that's right

Faheem Mitha

I suppose people talked a lot more about God back then. Mercifully, that seems to be dying out. Well, except for American politicians, sometimes.

marcellothearcane

I struggle to believe people actually spoke like that in real life in Victorian times

Faheem Mitha

@marcellothearcane Perhaps they didn't.

marcellothearcane

7:57 AM

I expect @tchrist would know...

Why is the military so strict about their uniforms?
To minimize casual tees!

@FaheemMitha what's your favourite joke?

@FaheemMitha actually, most dialogue from the Sherlock Holmes novels is fine.

I think it must be just the authors being pretentious

M.A.R.

8:28 AM

@CowperKettle !!!

Faheem Mitha

9:02 AM

@marcellothearcane I don't think I have one.

Færd

> roving eye
A tendency to flirt or be constantly looking to start a new sexual relationship.
‘if his wife wasn't around, he had a roving eye’

That's me rn, but only because I've been single for too long. Damn you COVID.

CowperKettle

10:24 AM

M.A.R.

> I got gas for 1.19$ today. Unfortunately, it was from Taco Bell.

Xanne

12:03 PM

The Roving Kind (Snader Telescriptions) - The Weavers - (Lyrics)

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A Roving Kind

October Surprise

tchrist

12:43 PM

AQI is 70 here and getting worse; just NNW of me in Laramie it's 372 and that's what's heading this way. Not going outside today. Pretty congested.

Robusto

1:22 PM

@tchrist Shit.

> I volunteered for a vaccine trial. The vaccine is one that was created in Russia and I I received my first shot yesterday at 4:00 pm. I wanted to let you all know that it’s completely safe, with иo side effects whatsoeveя, and that I feelshκι χoρoshό я чувствую себя немного странно и я думаю, что вытащил ослиные уши.

2

@tchrist Now Laramie shows 394. WTF?

That's just one monitor, though, right? The others are under 200 there.

We have 55 here.

Lotta fires up in Idaho now. Idaho and eastern Washington. Those weren't there last I checked.

tchrist

@Robusto I can't see the foothills a few miles due north of me this morning. There is visible smoke everywhere, and the sun is an angry shade of orange, dimmed by shade.

Smells like an asstray outside.

Robusto

@CowperKettle He should be required to take hydroxychloroquine now.

@tchrist That sucks.

tchrist

And this is only 72, too. But I...feel unwell. Head was streaming pre-sudafed, breath foreshortened.

Mandatory N95 day every time you step outside today, if at all.

Robusto

Good luck with that.

Cerberus

1:38 PM

Are the fires getting somewhat better yet?

We're definitely in the second wave.

First graph is the number of positive tests (average per week?), which is rather meaningless.

Second one is (weekly?) deaths.

The large graph has people in hospital and people in intensive care.

At least the second wave seems to have a much flatter curve.

Matt E. Эллен

1:59 PM

Yeah, UK is in the thick of it, too. far worse than the first

On the upside, I found cycling with a mask makes breathing easier, not harder!

Robusto

@MattE.Эллен What planet are you from?

Matt E. Эллен

@Robusto venus

Robusto

Figures. All that phosphine.

Gotta wear a mask on Venus.

Matt E. Эллен

Yeah.

Robusto

My problem is it fogs up my glasses here on Earth. If I can't see, I can't ride. So I go maskless, even though technically we are supposed to wear one.

Matt E. Эллен

2:07 PM

Some say it's too hostile, but they've never been overtaken in rush hour.

@Robusto I thought that would be a problem, but my glasses only fog up when I stop

Robusto

I've tried them all, regular mask, neck gaiter, vented mask ... still get fogging.

But on my rides I can go 50 miles and never get closer to anyone outside than about the width of a road.

Matt E. Эллен

:D

Robusto

And if I go somewhere to get coffee I have a mask I put on.

Matt E. Эллен

yeah, I didn't wear a mask for ages, when cycling, but then I forgot to take it off the other day and I didn't even notice until I got home

I don't know how this one works, because I've tried the ones with the metal strip you bend to your face and those fogged my glasses up all the time

maybe I cycle slower, so I don't breathe as hard?

:shrug:

Robusto

Who knows. I do know that people seem to ride wearing a mask with no trouble.

It just doesn't work for me.

@MattE.Эллен What kind do you wear?

Matt E. Эллен

2:15 PM

@Robusto it's a fabric one with elastic straps. I bought it years ago as a souvenir when I visited a friend in Taiwan. I don't know if it's n95-like or anything

Robusto

Maybe it has to do with the shape of one's face.

Matt E. Эллен

could be

Robusto

Which way your mouth vents or something.

Somebody ought to do a study.

Matt E. Эллен

yeah. we need masks that don't fog up glasses!

Robusto

Probably it just means that the handsomer you are, the more likely you are to get fogged glasses. ^_^

Matt E. Эллен

2:19 PM

:D that'll be it

Cerberus

2:32 PM

@MattE.Эллен Worse than the first, really? By what metrics? Deaths?

You have only 312 people in intensive care, it says?

Surely you had thousands during the first wave?

Matt E. Эллен

3:03 PM

@Cerberus yeah, deaths isn't so bad, but number of cases is thousands more, meaning people at risk are far more at risk

CowperKettle

@Xanne Good! I'll download them to my mp3 player to listen while jogging

Cerberus

@MattE.Эллен But is it really? Are you sure?

The number of people tested positive doesn't tell you much.

We have about five times as many positive tests now compared to March/April.

But the total number of infected is estimated to be much lower than in March/April.

Matt E. Эллен

:shrug: going by the numbers

Cerberus

Those are the numbers.

Relevant numbers are: hospitalisations, intensive care, deaths, and estimated number of infected.

Positive tests are much less relevant.

CowperKettle

Ballad Of The Shape Of Things To Come

►

Completely square is the little box he said my ring would be in
Completely square is the envelope he said good-bye to me in
Completely square is the handkerchief I flourish constantly
As I dry my eyes of the tears I've shed
And blow my nose which turns bright red
For a perfect square is my true love's head
He will not marry me, no
He will not marry me

Cerberus

3:09 PM

@MattE.Эллен ↑.

But your medical services will also have estimates of the number of people infected.

Like this.

But that graph is of course a month old.

Matt E. Эллен

3:31 PM

being thousands more cases per day reported seems pretty significant to me. It's a sustained increase over last time. last time the numbers were not as high and subsided quickly. this time it is obviously worse

skullpatrol

btw, ourworldindata is a great source for graphics, I've devoted an entire Twitter account to ourworldindata and its related sources

Faheem Mitha

@marcellothearcane There has still been some slippage since then. Consider:

> It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.

CowperKettle

> You don’t know that,” she argued. “It could be the reason Forkle won’t tell me, because it’d bring too much scandal to the family. Or because Fallon used to be with the Council or—”

“Fallon?” Keefe interrupted. (“Wow, you’ve gone deep, deep conspiracy on me.”)

What is the meaning of “Wow, you’ve gone deep, deep conspiracy on me.”?

Faheem Mitha

One would not use "capital" in that sense now, at least not in casual conversation.

I suppose it's used in the sense of "serious" or "grave", from context. Possibly the same usage survives in the term "capital punishment".

CowperKettle

How can one "go conspiracy on someone"? A strange unclear phrase.

skullpatrol

3:41 PM

Conspiracy theories

Faheem Mitha

I see that that usage is listed in MW, however, without comment.

merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capital

tchrist

@Robusto More than doubled now. 158 close to me. Lots of CSS problems (can't see shit).

Faheem Mitha

Capital sure is a word that has a lot of different meanings, depending on context. Must be horribly confusing for non-native speakers.

skullpatrol

You've gone all Covid conspiracy theories on me @CowperKettle

Faheem Mitha

Anyway, my point is that one doesn't come across that usage nowadays. At least I haven't. Personally I'd consider it borderline archaic.

@CowperKettle That's casual usage.

skullpatrol

3:44 PM

You've gone all trump sympathy on me @CowperKettle

CowperKettle

@FaheemMitha But I don't understand the meaning.

"You are trying to make me believe in a conspiracy theory"?

skullpatrol

Sorta

Your views are shifting

Faheem Mitha

@CowperKettle Ok. That kind of terminology is usually used in a context to indicate that someone has gone "off the deep end".

CowperKettle

The woman journalist was badgered by Putin's regime for her oppositional stance. In the morning her house was raided by Putin's goons, and that was the last straw. She had been arrested before. Horrible.

Faheem Mitha

In this particular case, someone has become obsessed with "coinspiracy theories".

CowperKettle

3:47 PM

"You have become too enamored of these conspiracy theories of yours, and I see you are continuing with it".

Faheem Mitha

Not a phrase I'm fond of, because conspiracies are perfectly real in the sense of people planning together, if that is what is meant. It's not a clear term.

Planning together secretly and illegally, even.

CowperKettle

In Russia, a lot of people believe that the USA is trying to "destroy" Russia covertly. Conspiracy theories are idiotic usually.

skullpatrol

It signals a chance in opinion

A shifting of your opinion

CowperKettle

A lot of people believe that the so-called "color revolutions", i.e. democratic protests, are created and controlled on a deep level by the USA.

And basically it's a conspiracy theory that you cannot disprove, because it's totally moronic.

skullpatrol

You've gone all haywire on me.

Faheem Mitha

3:52 PM

@CowperKettle Sometimes they might be true. It's hard to say. But mostly they tend to be about wicked plots govts are hatching and/or executing. And, as many have pointed out, it's a bit redundant to theorise about wicked things they govt may be doing when there are plenty of horrible and well-documented things that they have done.

skullpatrol

Haywire = nutty

Faheem Mitha

A classic example being 9/11.

People focus a lot on that. And it's interesting that they do, because it's an indication of what some people think of the US govt. But it's also a bit redudant, because the US govt does and has done plenty of horrible non-theoretical things. So why not talk about those instead?

CowperKettle

There are people who talk about real horrible things done by the US. But these people are not as shrill and salient as conspiracy theorists.

skullpatrol

As your quote states: there are different depths of conspiracy theories

CowperKettle

4:26 PM

skullpatrol

lol

CowperKettle

4:42 PM

2

M.A.R.

@CowperKettle yeah I love this one

Don't you use "smart" with him!

CowperKettle

> By 1888, The Washington Post reported that as a result of dementia the 77-year-old Stowe started writing Uncle Tom's Cabin over again. She imagined that she was engaged in the original composition, and for several hours every day she industriously used pen and paper, inscribing passages of the book almost exactly word for word.

skullpatrol

4:59 PM

she obviously was deeply affected by Lincoln saying she started the civil war

CowperKettle

She probably developed Alzheimer's. A tragic disease. It's good that she tried to retain the faculties by at least repeating the effort.

skullpatrol

yup

Faheem Mitha

5:35 PM

@CowperKettle I echo the caption. What the hell is that?

marcellothearcane

5:59 PM

@Robusto try putting a really thin layer of soap or oil on your glasses lens?

@FaheemMitha I might, but I'm weird!

Faheem Mitha

6:12 PM

@marcellothearcane Oh?

At any rate, I wasn't aware that usage was still around. Though since a dictionary lists it, I guess I was wrong.

M.A.R.

6:26 PM

@CowperKettle too lazy to type "theorist". "Wow, you've gone completely conspiracy theorist on me!"

Robusto

@marcellothearcane That just messes up your glasses.

M.A.R.

@marcellothearcane or windshield wipers while we're at it

If anyone knows how to stop glasses from fogging behind a mask without two hours of adjusting please inform your local ~~dentist~~ social media.

Robusto

@M.A.R. Apparently there are several wipe varieties you can try. I just got some new glasses today and they put some of the OptiPlus product on them. It works a little bit, but not really enough to suit me.

Plus they're kind of expensive: 35 cents a pack when you buy a box of 100.

I get ordinary Zeiss lens wipes much cheaper than that. But probably these are expensive because of the coronavirus—they know they can get that price.

M.A.R.

6:43 PM

@Robusto Oh, that rainforest shopping website isn't available here but I think I've seen some of those myself

But it'd require that I get my lazy ass to go buy stuff.

Robusto

@M.A.R. Yeah, there's that.

The Order of Operations is Wrong

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I've been saying this for years.

Whenever I saw code that assumed an order of operations (usually operating right to left) I would figure out what they were trying to do and add parentheses just to make it explicit (and obvious).

M.A.R.

@Robusto This is one of the things that I fantasized would ruin my code if I were ever to become a programmer

Robusto

@M.A.R. It was always in the back of my mind. I hate anything in code that looks ambiguous. Or unclear for other reasons.

M.A.R.

"It is an MA in counselling psychology in a North American university," And it's widely believed (by the rest of the world) that Americans don't understand irony! — alephzero yesterday

Robusto

7:00 PM

@M.A.R. I find that ironic.

Færd

Robusto

That's frightening.

M.A.R.

20

A: Can bacteria be killed by purely physical trauma?

My (limited) understanding is that it is quite hard to avoid killing some bacteria even with very gentle physical manipulation. On the other hand, it is quite hard to use physical force to achieve reasonable level of sterilization. Let's bring some examples with a few (hastily found) references. ...

Worthy fact nugger of the day

Færd

There's this book on the history of political crises in the US called Four Threats: The Recurring Crisis of American Democracy, whose thesis is that these crises have been caused by four types of threats: political polarization, democratic exclusion, economic inequality, and executive power. The author argues that this is the first time that all the four factors are at play simultaneously.

But maybe this is what America has to go through in order to shake off its fundamental flaws? (Electoral College, misallocated Senate seats, Filibuster, etc) Maybe things can't change for the better before coming to a head?

.

Anyway. What do you think about the possibility that Trump contracting COVID is a lie?

Robusto

7:19 PM

@Færd I can't rule it out. But if it is, it's a lie that hurts his political chances, which makes me doubt that it's a lie he would deliberately tell.

Færd

Maybe it could help too? To dodge the next debate and come through victoriously?

"Look how strong I am. I beat the deadly virous."

M.A.R.

It could help with 1) dodging debates 2) coming out asymptomatically victorious later to call it a hoax (a few politicans have already done this) 3) victimizing himself

Færd

Victimizing himself how?

M.A.R.

Ofc he wouldn't victimize himself, but the fanbase would. Silencing any criticism because he's sick, what's wrong with you?!

Færd

Ah. 2 and 3 are exclusive then.

And 3 is not likely to help him.

M.A.R.

7:25 PM

@Robusto if he'd hidden his "income" for this long, it shouldn't be too hard for him to imagine faking having Covid and coming back healthier than ever whenever it'd suit him

Robusto

@M.A.R. You could be right. But I still doubt it. It doesn't make him look good, after all the bullshit he's been spouting about how it's not a real threat.

M.A.R.

But it's all conjecture anyway

4) distracting from his embarrassing tax returns and other shortcomings

Robusto

@M.A.R. This is a man who has no shame.

M.A.R.

Shrug replace "embarrassing" with "not good for business"

It's a common tactic in politics, no?

Robusto

@M.A.R. But he'd have to be smarter and more subtle than I give him credit for. All he is is a bully, really.

In any case, there's no chance that he's going to be in the next scheduled debate now. No way he gets over this (if it's true that he has it) in two weeks.

If he were to announce in one week that he's "had the China virus and it was easy to beat" then we'll know it's all a lie.

My City Was Gone

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Færd

7:41 PM

@CowperKettle I for one have the Southern twang, the New York twalk, the British non-rhotic r, and my own quirky squawk. How's that for an accent?

M.A.R.

And for the shitpost of the day, I present Fruit Ninja kitty reddit.com/r/AnimalsBeingDerps/comments/j3tvip/fruit_ninja_cat/…

Færd

Are you active on Reddit?

M.A.R.

@Færd nah, just lurking from time to time

And today I don't feel like being productive these final hours

Robusto

Fact-Checking the First 2020 Presidential Debate | NowThis

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marcellothearcane

@FaheemMitha Not always, mind you. Maybe when I'm feeling grandiose.

@M.A.R. true, how do doctors cope?

Robusto

7:55 PM

These days the political situation is changing so fast I don't even look at a news item if it's more than a day old.

marcellothearcane

@Robusto if Trump rallies cause coronavirus spikes, what is the problem exactly?

Isn't that what democrats want?

Robusto

@marcellothearcane No. Democrats don't want people to get sick and die, if for no other reason than this: what goes around comes around. The more illness in the country, the more it hurts everyone.

marcellothearcane

Well I suppose it wouldn't be (lowercase) democratic...

Also, it mentioned voting fraud by voting on behalf a dead person - in the UK there was a court case where some person had done that, and the law says it's illegal to impersonate someone eligible to vote. The person was found not guilty because dead people aren't eligible.

Robusto

@marcellothearcane That's the UK, not here.

Are you in the UK?

marcellothearcane

Yeah, I just thought it was funny

@Robusto I am

Judges can take literal interpretation, even if it is absurd

@Robusto what is your prediction for the 2020 election?

Robusto

8:11 PM

@marcellothearcane I don't have a prediction, other than I am certain Trump will lose the popular vote. But that may not be enough, since he operates the levers of power, the Justice Department, and so on.

The 6 Most Revealing Moments From the Presidential Debate | Robert Reich

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marcellothearcane

Also, if Trump is incapacitated, what happens to the election?

What happens if he dies?

Robusto

Then he's still on the ballot.

Pence would be the obvious replacement.

marcellothearcane

@Robusto I'm still confused from last time about what the popular vote is (I assume "all the votes added up in the whole country"?) and how someone wins without that (the votes are counted in such a way that more states are Republican than Democrat?)

I have a feeling Trump'll win

@Robusto Yep okay

Does Biden get to campaign in the meantime?

Robusto

@marcellothearcane Of course.

United States Electoral College

The Electoral College is a body of electors established by the United States Constitution, which forms every four years for the sole purpose of electing the president and vice president of the United States. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, and an absolute majority of at least 270 electoral votes is required to win the election. Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution requires each state legislature to determine how electors for that state are to be chosen, and it disqualifies any person holding a federal office, either elected or appointed, from being an elector...

@marcellothearcane Is that an outcome you would like to see?

marcellothearcane

@Robusto I don't honestly know

I'm not sure what each candidate's policies are

Robusto

8:23 PM

Then you haven't been paying attention.

marcellothearcane

@Robusto Interesting, thanks

Robusto

Are you a Boris Johnson Brexit fan?

marcellothearcane

@Robusto No, I haven't

Brexit such a massive faff and I wish it was over

And I wouldn't mind if it never happened

Robusto

Did you vote for it?

marcellothearcane

No, I didn't

But it was voted for

So just get it over and done with now

Robusto

8:25 PM

Well, if you wish the US ill, then hope for Trump to get another four years.

marcellothearcane

It was a silly idea by Cameron to try to get more support or something

I don't hope he will, I just think that it is quite likely

Voters seem to choose whoever makes the most noise

I.e. Brexit

And Trump is first and foremost a TV personality

Robusto

I absolutely am depending on him to lose. For our country, my sanity, and the world's health.

marcellothearcane

How many days till we find out?

Robusto

November 3rd is the election. That may not be when we find out, though.

marcellothearcane

Can we have some things for the politicians to do that aren't so polarising?

I stayed up last time and watched Trump get counted in

That was a "what the hell happens now" moment

Thankfully we've been too busy stressing about Brexit over here</sarcasm>

Robusto

8:30 PM

@marcellothearcane And what happened then was terrible.

marcellothearcane

I try not to get too involved in politics personally

Though it is very important

Robusto

We don't have that luxury at this point.

marcellothearcane

Why does America only have two parties?

How is a false dichotomy democratic?

Robusto

That's a different question. Right now we're working on saving the country from dictatorship—and that is no exaggeration.

marcellothearcane

Isn't he threatening not to go?

Dictators confuse me - they are mortal after all

Robusto

8:35 PM

To ask that question now is like being in the middle of a school fire and suggesting we work on a better fire control system when the only thing that makes sense at that point is to get out of the damn building.

marcellothearcane

Dictators can still fall down the stairs

Robusto

Dictators come to the same end we all do. The just make things worse for everyone else while they're here.

marcellothearcane

Arrogant bunch

Whatever happens, this election will probably be close enough for Trump to throw his weight around if he disagrees

The chances of a landslide for Biden are very small given how much intense support Trump has in some places

Correct me if I'm wrong - after all, I haven't checked any news in the last couple of days

Robusto

8:50 PM

At this point for Trump, I think dying of Covid-19 would be a career move.

marcellothearcane

Think of the accolades! First president EVER to die of coronavirus

RegDwigнt

10:05 PM

@marcellothearcane yeah you wish. Johnson survived it, and his support skyrocketed. Bolsonaro survived it, and his support skyrocketed. Berlusconi survived it, and his support skyrocketed.

Trump will survive it, too, and then you do the rest of the maths.

tchrist

10:18 PM

@RegDwigнt Hope killer.

Hope caused all of this mess.

Robusto

11:49 PM

@RegDwigнt That's right. Light up a room and leave.

skullpatrol

Never underestimate the power of the sympathy vote.

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