# Random adaher thoughts **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 14, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-adaher-thoughts/759868 "2016-07-14T01:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-adaher-thoughts/759868/21 "2016-07-14T22:07:11Z")
> [@TipTapTwo](#): > > I see your point, the movie as a medium allows for a greater variety of comedic interaction with the audience; while reading a highly funny author, such as Douglas Adams writing The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy, mostly is stuck writing with a dry sarcastic English wit, as that is best conveyed through text. To be fair, have you seen the movie Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? it is much worse than the book. I guess compressing thousands of pages into 2 hours and replacing our imagination with cheap props/makeup sours the experience for me. > [@adaher](#): > > I saw the movie, liked it, but the book was better. Having originated as a\* radio script\* – that was then expanded into two novels (from which was made a short TV miniseries) and then continued into the “five-volume trilogy” – that does translate well to an expansion into print. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2016, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-adaher-thoughts/759868/22 "2016-07-16T01:25:13Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > What a ridiculous list. There are strong facts to support a mainstream liberal position on every one of those issues (yes, even GMO opposition, although in this case the facts involve disruption to economic structures and monopolies on GMO technology by companies instead of government-funded research). Claiming that liberals that care about empiricism agree with conservatives is absurd. Because the empirical evidence points in our direction, that’s exactly why many liberals do side with us on these issues. THere are solid POLITICAL reasons to take the lefty side on these issues(cartels are valuable sources of campaign cash), but few or no empirical reasons. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-adaher-thoughts/759868/23 "2016-07-18T06:13:41Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Because the empirical evidence points in our direction, that’s exactly why many liberals do side with us on these issues. THere are solid POLITICAL reasons to take the lefty side on these issues(cartels are valuable sources of campaign cash), but few or no empirical reasons. I’ll give you free trade, which pretty much everyone agrees on. But not the rest. GMOs are not a left/right thing at all. And the rest the liberal position is definitely different from the conservative position. And, on some, I find it more likely to find a conservative with a liberal position. And I do not agree that the conservative position is necessarily any more empirical. I do admit that they have some arguments on their side. But, for example, price gouging could be handled with government subsidies, rather than making those who can’t afford the much higher prices go without. Fracking does have its downsides. The government can fuck things up, but can also be the best way to handle things. Also, when natural competition can’t happen, well-regulated “cartels” can work. The thing is, if you are a critical thinker, then you always think the empirical evidence is on your side, and that what supports your side is more important. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-adaher-thoughts/759868/24 "2016-07-18T06:46:36Z")
In the case of occupational licensing, cartels are always a bad idea because they are not the government’s intention, but the intention of rent seeking individuals trying to keep their income high. Some occupations genuinely need licensing, but many calls for licensing come from the professionals themselves and usually only apply to new entrants into the market, which means public safety is not actually a concern. As for government screwing things up, sure, there are some things government should do that the market can’t. While acknowledging that government bureaucracies tend to function poorly and there’s no accountability when things go wrong. President Clinton recognized this problem and started the Reinventing Government Initiative, which he put VP Gore in charge of. Republicans have some ideas as well, such as requiring anyone who initiates an enforcement action to sign their own name to it, which you’d THINK would be standard operating procedure but apparently is not. Plus of course cost-benefit analyses, which Republicans have championed for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-adaher-thoughts/759868/25 "2016-07-18T07:24:51Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Trump is the worst candidate for President ever. I think Lyndon LaRouche was worse > [@adaher](#): > > Hillary Clinton is not actually the second worst candidate for President ever, but sometimes it sure seems like it. She’ll probably end up being a very good President, all things considered. But it sure is hard to like her sometimes. The Queen of the Harpies will win because she is Not Trump. Yeah the presidency is fine but Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize only because he is not George W. Bush so I think he came out ahead. > [@adaher](#): > > The facts have a liberal bias, but sometimes they don’t. Examples: free trade, fracking, anti-gouging laws, GMOs, occupational licensing, local cartels(such as taxi companies), education reform, and government performance(as in, generally laughable unless things are kept really simple). > > Since liberals actually care about empiricism, there are many liberals who agree with conservatives on the above issues. I think I misunderstand you. The facts are very clear on issues such as fracking and GMOS and they support the liberal viewpoint. But they are obfuscated by Big Business > [@adaher](#): > > The governor of Minnesota said that Philandro Castile would probably be alive today if he was white. Why? The cop that shot him was Latino. Do Latinos give whites the benefit of the doubt more than they do blacks? Because I am white and when a cop saw a CWP in my wallet he put his hand on his gun and let me know to only reach for my wallet. See, us anglos actually get a fair warning. And for cops there is no white, black, Latino, Portuguese or any other ethnicity. Their only color is blue. > [@adaher](#): > > What does it say about me that I think Michael Bay is one of the greatest directors of all time? You go to movies to be entertained. > [@adaher](#): > > Is it wrong that I still love and watch re-runs of the Cosby show despite knowing what kind of man he is? Can’t I still love the character of Cliff Huxtable even if I can no longer love the actor, Bill Cosby? I still enjoy watching Chris Benoit wrestling matches, and seeing OJ Simpson in movies too. It’s because characters are just that, they don’t represent the real person. > [@adaher](#): > > It seems to me that the best preparation for being a successful politician is to be an actor, comedian, or professional wrestler. All three involve a lot of public speaking and a lot of pretending. Has there ever been an actor, comedian, or professional wrestler who has been a poor politician? I guess Arnie qualifies, but then he’s not exactly a great actor to begin with so that could explain that. You pointed out three professions that realize that Americans base reality on perception. And it’s a goddamm shame Roddy Piper was not an NBC. > [@adaher](#): > > The next best preparation for politics IMO is to be in the military. The military teaches you when to be diplomatic and when to be blunt. I find that most politicians who haven’t served either are never direct or shoot from the hip all the time. Maybe it’s just my perception, but it seems to me that ex-military folks always pick the right time to just lay it on the line, and are thus taken more seriously when they do. Just remember the most realistic moment in Forrest Gump was when when the Drill Sergeant asked Forrest why he put his rifle together so quickly and Forrest replied “You told me to Drill Sergeant”, that the Drill Sergeant thought Forrest was the most brilliant person in the Army. > [@adaher](#): > > Is there any point to watching the first three quarters of a basketball game? When is a basketball game ever won early? Hell why watch the first 46 minutes (38 in the NCAA). The only exciting time is the last 2 minutes when the refs refuse to enforce any rules and let them play jungleball. > [@adaher](#): > > I think managers/coaches get fired far out of proportion to the actual blame they deserve. If a coach is good, and he seems to be doing his job the way you expect, then he’s probably not the problem. And I think teams prove it by hiring coaches that have been fired again and again. Look, these guys are either good at their jobs or not. If they are good, they should keep their jobs even during the down years. If they are not, they shouldn’t be hired a second or third time. Colleges seem to get this better than the pros. Once a coach has proven he can run a program they stick with him even when he has a few bad years. In the pros, hall of fame-caliber coaches can get fired for losing in the playoffs. It’s to make up for all the senior managers in business that never get fired despite how bad they mess up. It’s always the innocents that get canned. > [@adaher](#): > > Books are awesome but they never seem to be as funny as movies. I hear that movies often hire professional comedians to “punch up” a script. Authors perhaps should do the same. There are some comedic authors who are actually very funny, but they specialize in it. Fantasy and scifi authors tend to be rather poor at including comedy in their stories. It’s all about the delivery of the line. Speaking of that, have you ever noticed that it is easier for comedians to do serious roles than serious actors to do comedy? > [@adaher](#): > > Supernatural horror sucks. The movies always have great buildup but the payoff is usually lame. Has anyone ever actually watched a supernatural horror and been blown away by the revelation of what’s really going on or how it was resolved? The only supernatural horror movies I’ve ever truly enjoyed are Poltergeist and Paranormal Activity. Yet I always give new ones a chance to impress me because I know if someone gets it right, it’ll be AWESOME. It’s because supernatural horror tries to do blood and guts. Could you imagine one as a psychological thriller? That would be bad-ass. > [@adaher](#): > > Wrestling sucks. Yet it’s another thing I watch because I just know that if someone ever figures out how to do wrestling right that it will rule. So I keep hoping, and I do savor the moment when it’s actually awesome. But I have to sit through about 100 hours of suck to get to one moment of cool. Someone needs to just break away from all the traditional tropes and create something totally new. It seems like they are using all the stuff that worked when wrestling shows just went from town to town, but now wrestling is on for 12 hours a week! You can’t just keep doing the same things week after week. I saw Bobby Heenen stuffed into a weasel suit at the LA Sports Arena. Just sayin’. > [@adaher](#): > > I lived through the evolution of home video games and I don’t get what people saw in 1st person shooters in their early years. Nowadays, when first person shooters are incredibly immersive, I see the appeal. But when I first played Doom or Quake I thought it was pretty lame. I thought 3D games in general were lame due to the difficulty without the benefit of immersion. The only games worth playing up until 2000, at least for me, were 2D games. Nah, they were awesome. > [@adaher](#): > > Why do they call video game RPGs “RPGs”? I see no role playing. I played D&D in the 80s and 90s, that’s roleplaying. There’s no roleplaying element to video game RPGs. I do enjoy them, don’t get me wrong, but it’s more like a typical adventure game with RPG stats. I guess they just call it that because of the use of stats and a combat and levelling system? It’s a language holdover like “butt-dialing” from the days phones had dials or “roll up the car window” when there’s no rolling involved. > [@adaher](#): > > In modern society, people really need to figure out what will make them happy. I think a lot of people just assume that they are supposed to have a career, get married, have kids, etc. And even with our more modern sensibilities of what constitutes a family, we still seem to see the path to happiness as impossible without a mate of some sort. But some people are better off on their own. But that’s one norm that society still can’t seem to wrap their head around. If you’re single and happy that way, your friends will still try to fix you up and your parents will want to know when you’re going to “settle down”. And as for careers, what if you don’t have any real interests? What if you are one of those people who can live comfortably on very little money, so you just want to drive part time for Pizza Hut, rent a room somewhere, and spend the rest of your time doing whatever? Society seems to consider such people “losers” even though they place no burden on society and do no harm. No, a loser is a guy who fathers 8 kids out of wedlock, supports none of them, but somehow manages to afford a nice car and jewelry and big screen TV. The guy who works 20 hours a week and watches TV and sleeps the rest of the time isn’t a loser, he’s supporting himself just fine in the manner he desires and isn’t bothering anyone. Same goes for trust fund kids who just want to play video games all day. Their parents left them enough money to live on and they have no ambition. I got no problem with that. They aren’t picking my pocket and that’s what makes them happy. Despite only having one college class in psychology I can answer this. People think everyone else thinks the way they do. Seriously. Do you know that person that always lies or tries to get out of their fair share of work?. Don’t they think everyone else does the same? It’s always the honest people that believe others are telling the truth. So someone like me that believes that a college degree is an important life goal believes the same for everyone. If you are more happy married than you were when you were single, you believe everyone will be happier when married. > [@adaher](#): > > I am an atheist and yet the people I like the best are people who are very religious. My wife is very religious and it’s often frustrating not being able to do certain things with her, like watch R-rated movies or talk about science, but I’ll never find anyone more loving or faithful or serene. And that’s gone for most of my friends too. I got no problem with watching R-rated movies alone in any case. Question: do these people force their religion on you like verbally disapprove when you eat frozen yogurt because eating cold dairy is a sin when it solidifies (Romans 3:17)? > [@adaher](#): > > I have finally learned enough Spanish to find out that English speakers are not the only ones who do violence to their own language. I had the privilege of trying to decipher an email in Spanish today where I understood every word but none of it made any sense. Grammatical errors, spelling errors, wrong tenses… Argh! It’s gotta be so challenging to learn a foreign language when no one anywhere seems to know how to write properly. The universal language is functional illiteracy. > [@adaher](#): > > In that vein, there are signs in my bathroom at work in English, Spanish, and Kreyol. The English and Spanish ones say, “Please keep this bathroom clean, it is everyone’s responsibility” approximately. My wife is Haitian so I know some Kreyol(I have about a 4-year old’s vocabulary at this point), and although I don’t know what the Kreyol sign says, I know it doesn’t say anything close to what the Spanish and English signs say. WheN I asked a Haitian employee to translate it for me, he read it, chuckled, and said, “don’t worry about it.” Now I’m really curious. There was some government FHA pamphlet where “Haitian Creole” was the English version phonetically transliterated as if spoken by someone doing a bad/racist version of a creole accent. > [@adaher](#): > > What is going through someone’s head when they play music so loud the whole area can hear it? Is there any world in which that is not rude? Sharing is caring. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-adaher-thoughts/759868.md?page=1)