# Obfusciatrist, can I make fun of your wife? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 8, 2002, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023 "2002-06-08T22:46:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/21 "2002-06-09T03:56:05Z")
Rilch, I suspect that you and Mr. Rilch reaaaaaaaaally don’t understand the Enron situation, and if I were either of you I would refrain from speculating further on it. Here’s an important clue: The story didn’t break until after 9/11 **because the goddamned quarter didn’t end until after 9/11**. As a publicly traded company, Enron was legally obliged to report its earnings to the public and shareholders at the end of each fiscal quarter, and to file (at least) four 10-Q (Quarterly Report) filings and one 10-K (Annual Report) filing with the SEC each year. Enron published their Q3 earnings release via PR Newswire on 10/16/2001. **That is the earliest the public could possibly have seen the $644 million loss**. (Although word could have trickled out via the street if they were providing behind-the-scened guidance to analysts prior to 10/16, and they probably were.) Once that release went out, the story was out, with analysts and advisors asking how Enron could have gone from a $650 million income to a $444 million loss in one quarter. Bush’s campaign finances have **nothing to do with it**. The breaking of the Enron story was a result of that Q3 earnings report, a legal obligation per the Securities Act of 1934 that all publicly traded companies are subject to. (With a few exceptions.) A company can get five calendar days of relief for a 10-Q filing by filing a 12b-25, but that’s it. So the very earliest the public could have heard of this is 9/30/01 and the very latest is 10/21/01. Unless and until you understand these things, it isn’t wise to go incorporating words like “Enron” into your theory. As to the rest, well, there’s several hundred thousand people around the world that believe homepathy works, but it doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/22 "2002-06-09T04:13:18Z")
**Rilchiam:** While I don’t agree with your husband’s perspective, I definately agree with what **CatLady** said. I’m happy for you that **Mr. Rilch** did something that made you proud. I’m sorry that **Obfusciatrist** tainted the experience for you, but I appreciate your desire to stand by him and defend SO. I always like to see it it when people can share their joy with others. Keep it up! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/23 "2002-06-09T04:49:22Z")
**Nouveau Bozo** : Thank you! **pldennison** : All right, I’ll leave Enron out of it. FTR, that’s **my** hypothesis, not Mr. Rilch’s. He was speculating about India and Pakistan. It seems that you’re right when you say I don’t know much 'bout Enron. ☹ I thought I understood Enron better than I actually did, but I see now that I should have done more research. I haven’t, because I’ve been busy analyzing the efforts of the War on Terrorism[sup]TM[/sup], and the pre-9/11 knowledge scandal. 🙂 I hereby retract my hypothesis. **Antimatics** : What did I expect to happen? Oh, something along the lines of “I don’t like Art Bell…but if you’re happy…”. Or “Where does he get **that** theory? Seriously.” Phil’s response is, in fact, the kind of reaction for which I was prepared. I don’t resent him for calling me out on the theory: he didn’t do any name calling. I posted in MPSIMS because I had a bit of happy news to share. I’ve tried more than once to get on Art Bell. No one’s ever picked up, or they did pick up, only to tell me there was already a backlog and did I want to try again tomorrow night. Whether or not anyone thinks that I should have been proud and excited when Mr. Rilch did get through, and got on the air, I was, and I posted about it in the forum designated for **sharing**. If I’d wanted to put the theory itself up for discussion, I would have posted it in GD. But if I had done that, I would still hope people would have refrained from slagging someone who’s not a member of the community. Again I ask, has anyone ever denigrated a friend or relative of a poster, unless the poster started out doing that? I’m really curious: it may have happened in a thread I didn’t read or have forgotten. I posted in MPSIMS about the fact that he got on the show, not about the theory. I summarized the call because I wanted people to know what he **did** say, not speculate on what they thought he **probably** said. I don’t mind if people disagree with the theory, as long as they know what it is. Also, (blush) I was hoping someone might have been listening and would say “Oh, yeah, I heard him!” ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/24 "2002-06-09T05:06:24Z")
Never met him IRL, but in all of Rilch’s threads Mr. Rilch comes across as a sweetie, and if he wants to believe that Little Green Men allowed 9/11 to happen, then hey, more power to him. It’s a free country. Can I have the recipe for the Steak Marinade now? 😃 Was that enough ass-kissing? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/25 "2002-06-09T05:43:53Z")
Mmm…I’ll have to ask him! ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/26 "2002-06-09T10:02:49Z")
Nup. Sorry. I’ve been following this thread all day now and I CANNOT go with the ’ Mr Rilch is entitled to his quaint world-view and we should be condemned for saying he’s a kook’ line. Rilchiam, your partner is a nutter. I thought this board was about FIGHTING IGNORANCE not about,‘Well, you’re a long-time poster so we have to accept that anything you propose is OK’. It’s not. I appreciate that you are feeling proud as punch about him getting on the airwaves, and I accept that YOU believe that HE believes what he said there. But it doesn’t make it TRUE, and seeing you’re in the pit, I can say what I bloody-well like…Mr. Rilch needs a bit of reality testing dontcha reckon??? I’m with Obfusciatrist all the way on THIS one. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/27 "2002-06-09T11:20:48Z")
You know, if Mr Rilch wrote to Cecil Adams about his theories, I’d consider it almost certain that Cecil would be a little sarcastic with him. Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/28 "2002-06-09T11:34:05Z")
Well, it’s all well and good that someone can come up with an interesting idea about the way the world works. People in India used to believe the Earth was a bowl supported by elephants on a turtle on a snake. It’s very creative and amusing to think about. Unfortunately, while you ask us to accept the possibility that it might be true, we also ask you to accept the possibility that it might be complete fiction. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/29 "2002-06-09T11:37:14Z")
Rilchiam, I’ve now had time to look at the original thread (thanks for the link). I agree with Moderator Coldfire that your husband should not have been called names in that forum. I don’t think he should be called names here either (but then I’m too polite. :o ) But I am concerned as a poster ‘dedicated to fighting ignorance’ what evidence you both have for these theories. - posted by Rilchiam \* > [@](#): > > For instance, I notice that Libya has gone smarming up to the families of the Lockerbie victims, offering them a 2.7 billion settlement. 9/11 may have been their impetus to be bigger than Al-Quaeda. The Lockerbie tragedy has been going on for nearly 14 years. There have been various theories (including a Palestinian terrorist group based in Syria, paid by Iran) and recently there was concerted international pressure on Libya to send two suspects for trial by an International Court. An magazine here in the UK has published the results of its extensive investigation into the case, which suggests that the verdict was incorrect. ‘Lockerbie - The Flight for Justice’ is available for £2.50 (approx $4). See: > **[Private Eye Magazine | Official Site - the UK's number one best-selling news...](https://www.private-eye.co.uk/)** > > BORIS FLIES OUT I think you are wildly misinformed to suggest that alien intelligences are somehow benefiting us over Lockerbie. It has been a complete tragedy from start to finish, and it’s not clear we even caught the right person. (Indeed if Libyans weren’t to blame, the payment of billions looks like blackmail…) As I said, show me evidence, and I’ll believe anything. But please do your research first before making such claims without any evidence. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/30 "2002-06-09T11:43:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE \* > Well, it’s all well and good that someone can come up with an interesting idea about the way the world works. People in India used to believe the Earth was a bowl supported by elephants on a turtle on a snake. It’s very creative and amusing to think about. Reading Terry Pratchett’s books has clarified that for me. Obviously the Indians were receiving telepathic messages from teleporting aliens who had first visited the Discworld. Erich Von Daniken (I have to mention him here apparently). I don’t know where the snake came from, and Men in Black have sneakily removed the evidence, but it’s all true (I think). ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/31 "2002-06-09T12:23:19Z")
The OP in the original thread is another data point (or two, actually) supporting my theory that many people hold the media to be a higher level of reality. The important thing seems to be the act of breaking through to this realm where what you say is heard by millions. How unimportant or totally idiotic the content of your message is, is of no matter. Jerry Springer’s show is also a pretty good source of raw data here. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/32 "2002-06-09T13:10:38Z")
Without commenting on the OP, or Mr Rilchiam, I feel the need to rant. Art Bell is one of the single dumbest human beings alive (I hear about the last 15 minutes of his show every morning. He irritates me enough to get out of bed to turn down the radio) I despise him and I can’t believe people listen to him for any purpose other than pure mockery. The most recent stupidity I’ve caught was last week when he said (in an attempt to prove that ancient martians existed–no, I don’t see the connection either) "Y’know, they’ve found so much ice on Mars that if you melted all the ice they’ve currently, it would flood every inch of Mars to a depth of 1500 feet. Um… Art? Ever heard of Mons Olympus? Big volcano. Very famous. Mons Olympus is something like 6 1/2 miles above sea level. It sticks out of the _atmosphere_. He’s saying there’s enough water in that one ice sea they’ve found to raise “sea level” to about 7 miles high over the ENTIRE GLOBE. And we all thought the “water canopy” idea was stupid. Y’know Art…water EXPANDS when it becomes ice. If you _melt_ the ice there will be a SMALLER volume of water than there was ice. In other words the ice ocean they’ve found would be LOWER if it was water. This is kindergarten science here. :rolleyes: Why is this cretin still on? Why do people listen to him? JERRY SPRINGER has as much intellectual integrity than this ass Bell is the anti-Cecil, a black hole of dumbness. Can’t we lock him up in an institution somewhere? Fenris ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/33 "2002-06-09T13:14:35Z")
rilch, I’m sorry, but there is no way that Mr Rilch could have done any research on a higher power’s influence on world events. i would not call him a kook, but I would say his theory is kooky. Can you see the difference? That being said, anyone who calls him a kook, but who’s church, synagogue, mosque (or which ever they go to) has ever discussed “Why do Bad things happen to good people” is pointing out a splinter while ignoring theie own plank. Obfus: as an aside, How is Bagkitty? she never posts anymore, and I for one wish she still did. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/34 "2002-06-09T13:40:03Z")
Fenris, 7 miles is about 37000 feet, not 1500. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/35 "2002-06-09T13:52:17Z")
I think that Fenris meant that if Art was saying the water would flood _every inch_ of Mars to 1500 feet, then that ought rightly to include Mars’ highest point, Olympus Mons, which is 6 miles high. 6 miles plus 1500 feet is round about 7 miles. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/36 "2002-06-09T14:11:15Z")
Thanks **Tansu** , that’s what I was saying! ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/37 "2002-06-09T14:55:10Z")
I don’t think Mr Rilchiam’s a kook at all. Probably as rational going about his business as the rest of us. The issue here, IMHO, is how people have tried to justify and/or explain 9/11 to themselves (both the horror of it and the way their own comfortable world’s have been changed) – I suspect it’s the hunger to _understand_, have it all make sense, that’s at the root of this. That he decided on what seems to be a non-rational _emotionally_ focused justification/explanation puts him in a very similar place as those accepting of the Administrations 'eveil-doers/‘Axix of Evil’ line, IMHO – it denies (or seeks to curtail) the purely rational argument (that people are so hateful of US Foreign Policy they’re driven to extremely radical actions) and replaces it with something we don’t really understand but may accept exists (in one sense or another) eg “Bad people did this. Period” I guess people reach for an emotionally driven explanation when reasoning fails them. If Mr Rilchiam doesn’t want to acknowledge real world cause and effect, it’s a shame, if he doesn’t have a particular interest in non-US domestic affairs that’s a shame too but I wouldn’t pillory him for it. Finally, he wants to see good come out of all of this and that, to my mind, is healthy. Just don’t know how a degree of ignorance or denial is going to help him deal with the fact that some people hate (what they perceive the US has done to them) so much. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/38 "2002-06-09T15:16:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TwistofFate \* > \*\*Obfus: as an aside, How is Bagkitty? she never posts anymore, and I for one wish she still did. \*\* **Baglady** is the nom de board of his sweetie. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/39 "2002-06-09T16:32:51Z")
I haven’t actually read the thread so I am sure I’ve been thoroughly ripped a new one. But yes, you may ridicule my wife till cows start dropping off from old age for all I care. Neither of our feelings will be hurt none. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023/40 "2002-06-09T16:51:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*Either way, it was pretty nasty to call her husband a kook and imply he should be laughed at. At the very LEAST he should have done it in the Pit. > > However, I’ve witnessed in the past that **Obfusciatrist** can be pretty damn cold-hearted. \*\* I’ve been reading the thread. Yes, you have observed this before. I’ve also observed that you are overly emotional and thin-skinned. Are we both right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obfusciatrist-can-i-make-fun-of-your-wife/113023.md?page=3)