# Take you opinion, your skepticism, and your tragic excuse for reason and shove em. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 9, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187 "2009-06-09T05:12:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/81 "2009-06-09T19:29:12Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Dipshit, he said “Was it more or less unlikely that all those things would happen on the same day” he won the lottery. Read for comprehension, if that’s possible. Oh yeah, extra fuckhead points for your fictitious quote. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/82 "2009-06-09T19:29:51Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The part of the story I find most bizarre is the idea of burglars breaking into a HoJo after hours _with fully automatic weapons_. Talk about overkill. What were they expecting to find, HoJo paramilitary forces guarding the tills? > > I can believe that once upon a time someone broke into a HoJo’s through a skylight. However I doubt that the full story would have made a good star vehicle for George Clooney and Brad Pitt. The fully automatic weapons surprised the hell out of me too. I readily acknowledged that detail might be family embellishment. It’s irrelevant to the overall point which I was trying to get back to. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/83 "2009-06-09T19:34:19Z")
Did we ever establish what city this occured in? That’s not asking for a whole lot is it? Your friend doesn’t want to give details and doesn’t care who believes him or not fine. But doesn’t it throw an immediate flag up when you can’t even get the most basic piece of info of the event? Friend: “I just saw a UFO blow up a Wal-Mart. Then they took all the surviving customers as captives. Except those driving Chevys.” Me: “Really? Where was this at?” Friend: “Details?!! You want fucking details??!! Fuck you for not believing me. I don’t have to prove nothin to no one. My point still stands though, drive a Chevy or get abducted.” ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/84 "2009-06-09T19:37:49Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > The fully automatic weapons surprised the hell out of me too. I readily acknowledged that detail might be family embellishment. It’s irrelevant to the overall point which I was trying to get back to. Which is that if you fail to kill bad guys who drop through skylights carrying machine guns while staying at a HoJo’s, bad MoJo’s bound to happen. Got it. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/85 "2009-06-09T19:38:10Z")
**woodstockbirdybird** , where’d ya go? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/86 "2009-06-09T19:41:10Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > Care to show how you established I assumed that? I didn’t. This is one more example of you reaching bogus conclusions with insufficient evidence. That’s the kind of faulty reasoning I’m talking about. You established pretty well what you thought of my calling bullshit on your bullshit story in the OP and in your reply to my first post in this thread when you said > [@cosmosdan](#): > > **You, asshole, have no fucking idea what you’re talking about** and are just spewing shit. Made the news? Did I mention a time frame or claim it was recent? Violent crimes happen in every major city in the US almost daily. Do you read about every one of them? Of course you don’t dickwad, so your lame point is obviously ridiculous. > > Well gee, I didn’t hear about or or read about so it must be made up. Of course I have no fucking idea where or when it happened but that doesn’t matter, I must be right. > > **You shut up you ignorant clueless fuck. Stop embarrassing yourself by demonstrating your lack of reasoning ability.** > > A simple “I doubt this is true” is fine and understandable but going further to, " I’m sure this is bullshit" when you have no fucking way of possessing such knowledge is just a stellar display if being a dipshit. > > I have nothing to prove to you or anyone else so a big “blow me” is all the cite you deserve. I related a story I have good reason to believe on a discussion board and I don’t care who doubts it. I understand that. For like you who go the extra mile to piss all over it, this thread is sufficient. And in the thread about Mr. Ersland you went off: > [@cosmosdan](#): > > IMO imagining you can logically decide whether this is plausible based on so few details is in itself illogical and unreasonable but hey. I did google for the story with the details **you** provided, and there’s nothing. Zero. Zilch. But you didn’t give me the benefit of the doubt that I tried to find a verifiable source, you just started calling me illogical and unreasonable, then you jaunted off to the Pit, where you continued to froth at the mouth. In fact, you’re still frothing at the mouth about this, rather than just find a fucking cite for your bullshit story. Shit, you prolly made up having a friend too. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/87 "2009-06-09T19:48:24Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Skylights are noramlly in public areas where ther is nothing to steal (lobby, hallway). Hey, don’t underestimate Asia’s lucrative lobby black market. It’s got tiger parts beat a mile. Always make sure your lobby is well-secured with a quality lock. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/88 "2009-06-09T19:49:45Z")
> [@jimpatro](#): > > **woodstockbirdybird** , where’d ya go? Fuck off, bitch, I’m not sitting at the keyboard awaiting your instructions. Let’s look at the quote again, since you actually posted it again without reading it: “If I win the lottery (highly unlikely) is it more or less likely that a relative would die, leaving me a large inheritance, Elizabeth Banks would bump into me at the mall and fall madly in love, and my terminal cancer go into spontaneous remission, all on the same day?” Obviously, retard, he’s saying is it more or less likely that all that other shit would happen _on the same day he won the lottery_, especially since he’s using it to illustrate the idea that the OP’s unlikely scenario has way too many other unlikely elements than just the basic premise. Now let’s look at his response to your question, which you seem to think proves the exact opposite of what it does: “Of course I can. But winning the lottery and all of those other things happening on the same day is much less likely than winning the lottery alone. Being in a highly unlikely category doesn’t mean that other highly unlikely things suddenly become more likely.” He spells out for you _right there_ that he’s talking about those things occurring on the same day as winning the lottery. As with most fools, you read things in a manner that confirms your own beliefs, rather than logically surmising what’s clear from the text. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/89 "2009-06-09T19:50:41Z")
> [@jimpatro](#): > > C’mon! You were comparing winning the lottery against the other things combined. No, I wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/90 "2009-06-09T19:52:54Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Fuck off, bitch, I’m not sitting at the keyboard awaiting your instructions. > > Let’s look at the quote again, since you actually posted it again without reading it: > > “If I win the lottery (highly unlikely) is it more or less likely that a relative would die, leaving me a large inheritance, Elizabeth Banks would bump into me at the mall and fall madly in love, and my terminal cancer go into spontaneous remission, all on the same day?” > > Obviously, retard, he’s saying is it more or less likely that all that other shit would happen _on the same day he won the lottery_, especially since he’s using it to illustrate the idea that the OP’s unlikely scenario has way too many other unlikely elements than just the basic premise. > > Now let’s look at his response to your question, which you seem to think proves the exact opposite of what it does: > > “Of course I can. But winning the lottery and all of those other things happening on the same day is much less likely than winning the lottery alone. Being in a highly unlikely category doesn’t mean that other highly unlikely things suddenly become more likely.” > > He spells out for you _right there_ that he’s talking about those things occurring on the same day as winning the lottery. As with most fools, you read things in a manner that confirms your own beliefs, rather than logically surmising what’s clear from the text. More or less likely? Than what? Give up on English, try pig latin maybe. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/91 "2009-06-09T19:54:43Z")
> [@jimpatro](#): > > More or less likely? Than what? Give up on English, try pig latin maybe. More or less likely than simply winning the lottery, moron. I think I already said it twice in my previous post. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/92 "2009-06-09T19:55:08Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > No, I wasn’t. When you say “more or less likely” you are comparing two situations. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/93 "2009-06-09T19:55:35Z")
\*\*Red Fury’\*\*s newpaper link gives good (but not conclusive) evidence that the pharmacist is a nutjob. Or irrational. Or a fanatic. That was the majority opinion in the various threads about the shooting, and seems to be increasingly validated as the story unfolds. **Cosmosdan** ’s story about rape and gunplay was treated as being very likely a fantasy by most posters. In this thread a search of crime archives reveals no supporting evidence. ## So, I have to say that it’s looking like **Cosmosdan** and **Jimpatros** have some problems recognizing reality on the issue of self-defense with guns. I’m sorry that your friend is unwilling to provide a city and and approximate year of the occurrence. Maybe he doesn’t want people on an internet board knowing his brother’s name (from the articles about the crime.) I can understand that, because while someone might be brave enough to stand up to multiple criminals with fully automatic weapons, they might not like publicity. “The spirits will not manifest themselves, because they sense your skepticism. Mr. Houdini” ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/94 "2009-06-09T19:56:13Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > More or less likely than simply winning the lottery, moron. I think I already said it twice in my previous post. Yeah, right. Uh huh.:rolleyes: Dumbshit, you made up a quote to support your ignorant stance. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/95 "2009-06-09T19:56:34Z")
> [@jimpatro](#): > > When you say “more or less likely” you are comparing two situations. No shit. He’s comparing the situations of winning the lottery AND winning the lottery plus all that other stuff. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/96 "2009-06-09T19:58:01Z")
> [@jimpatro](#): > > Yeah, right. Uh huh.:rolleyes: Good one. Have a couple more beers and maybe you’ll work yourself up to “You suck!” or “Show me your tits!”. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/97 "2009-06-09T19:58:47Z")
> [@jimpatro](#): > > Yeah, right. Uh huh.:rolleyes: > > Dumbshit, you made up a quote to support your ignorant stance. Holy fuck you’re stupid, **jimpatro**. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/98 "2009-06-09T20:00:36Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > \*\*Red Fury’\*\*s newpaper link gives good (but not conclusive) evidence that the pharmacist is a nutjob. Or irrational. Or a fanatic. > > That was the majority opinion in the various threads about the shooting, and seems to be increasingly validated as the story unfolds. > > **Cosmosdan** ’s story about rape and gunplay was treated as being very likely a fantasy by most posters. In this thread a search of crime archives reveals no supporting evidence. > > ## So, I have to say that it’s looking like **Cosmosdan** and **Jimpatros** have some problems recognizing reality on the issue of self-defense with guns. > > I’m sorry that your friend is unwilling to provide a city and and approximate year of the occurrence. Maybe he doesn’t want people on an internet board knowing his brother’s name (from the articles about the crime.) I can understand that, because while someone might be brave enough to stand up to multiple criminals with fully automatic weapons, they might not like publicity. > > “The spirits will not manifest themselves, because they sense your skepticism. Mr. Houdini” You’ve got to at least acknowledge that the left wing press is against guns. It’s rare that they report on the legitimate use of guns in self-defense. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/99 "2009-06-09T20:02:06Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Holy fuck you’re stupid, **jimpatro**. Thanks, dewd. Run off and get stoked or something. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187/100 "2009-06-09T20:02:36Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Good one. Have a couple more beers and maybe you’ll work yourself up to “You suck!” or “Show me your tits!”. Show _us_ your tits. The ignorant imbecile is never alone. Even when he is. Hence the vernacular. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-you-opinion-your-skepticism-and-your-tragic-excuse-for-reason-and-shove-em/499187.md?page=6)