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2 Questions


Mod.

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Question 1:

 

 

If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion?

 

Read the next question before looking at the response for this one.

 

 

Question 2:

 

 

It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts.

Here are the facts about the three candidates.

 

Candidate A:

Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists.

He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 Martinis a day.

 

Candidate B:

He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

 

Candidate C:

He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never committed adultery.

 

 

Which of these candidates would be our choice?

 

Decide first... No peeking, and then scroll down for the

response.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Candidate B is Winston Churchill.

Candidate C is Adolf Hitler.

 

 

 

 

And, by the way, on your answer to the abortion question:

If you said YES, you just killed Beethoven.

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to be fair winston churchill was a terrible prime minister and the UK voted him out at the earliest possible opportunity after the war was over

 

also i'm not sure what any of this is supposed to prove

 

also also does the fact that beethoven made a bunch of good music mean we have a right to force someone to give birth to him? does that mean we'd also be justified in raping a woman, if we somehow knew in advance that this would cause her to give birth to the next beethoven?

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Originally Posted By: Darth Ernie
for the times churchill was the best warleader around. the squeamish british voted him out in an effort to forget the war


oh yeah, winston churchill sure was a great military leader. that is why he masterminded such brilliant victories as Gallipoli and Dunkirk

(pro tip for the unaware: those were neither brilliant nor victories)
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Originally Posted By: Lilith
to be fair winston churchill was a terrible prime minister and the UK voted him out at the earliest possible opportunity after the war was over


He was also openly incredible racist, even for the time.

And as funny as some of his drunk retorts were, it's also clear that he wasn't a nice guy at all, and would probably be downright unpleasant to know or be friends with.
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Oh, and re Beethoven, I'd be pretty OK with him not coming and taking one of the three ubiquitous "composers everybody knows" slots (the other two slots belonging to Bach and Mozart) away from somebody who actually deserves it, like Wagner, one of the most prolific composers and writers of all time, or Liszt, who is widely regarded as far and away the greatest pianist of all time.

 

I mean, what pieces is he famous for again? Symphonies 3,5, and 9? The Egmont Overture? Moonlight Sonata? Fur Elise? I really can't think of any more...

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Originally Posted By: Mod
...

Hey! Keep your glurge off the message boards I hang out in. If you want to post nonsense, at least post a meme. At least memes have the potential to be funny (if usually brutally beaten out of them early on), while glurge has no potential to be insightful.

Dikiyoba's vote for world leader would be to write-in for Bambiraptor. As an absurdly adorable dinosaur, it is capable of encouraging people to behave better. But is it also a raptor, which means it can easily maim any dissidents or troublemakers. It's win-win!
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Originally Posted By: Lilith
Originally Posted By: Dantius
Wagner, one of the most prolific composers and writers of all time


of course you'd be a fan of wagner


One genocidal dictator liked Wagner! One! And Wagner was dead decades before the fact! Why do his fans still have to take crap about this sixty years later? You don't see German Shepard owners having to defend the honor of their breed of choice because of Blondie, so why does "liking good opera" automatically get me lumped in with Hitler?
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Originally Posted By: Dantius

You don't see German Shepard owners having to defend the honor of their breed of choice because of Blondie, so why does "liking good opera" automatically get me lumped in with Hitler?


I actually had to once, at school. So put that in your pipe, good sir, and smoke away.
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Originally Posted By: Dantius
One genocidal dictator liked Wagner! One! And Wagner was dead decades before the fact! Why do his fans still have to take crap about this sixty years later? You don't see German Shepard owners having to defend the honor of their breed of choice because of Blondie, so why does "liking good opera" automatically get me lumped in with Hitler?


hahahahaha way to take the bait dude
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I ended up not killing Beethoven, because I think it's a female's right to decide such things. And, of all the things to impose my opinion on, I don't think that would be a good one; now, if she asked my opinion, that's a different matter.

 

I also ended up voting for Churchill, because I wagered he got kicked out of office for being too much of a liberal radical. I guess I got a surprise.

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Originally Posted By: Lilith
oh yeah, winston churchill sure was a great military leader. that is why he masterminded such brilliant victories as Gallipoli and Dunkirk

(pro tip for the unaware: those were neither brilliant nor victories)

In fairness, the BEF constituted a pretty small fraction of the Allied forces in France in 1940, so it's hard to blame anyone in the UK for that loss. This goes double for Churchill, who wasn't even PM until after the battle was lost. And the evacuation of Dunkirk was arguably a victory, in that its objective (get the BEF across the Channel before it was destroyed) was accomplished.

Still, for all the credit Churchill gets, nobody has ever explained to me what he did that Eden, Macmillan, Halifax, or any other possible choice for PM at the time couldn't or wouldn't have. Sure, he made some excellent speeches, but nobody ever tales the next step and explains how speeches won the war.

EDIT: also, this:
Originally Posted By: Dikiyoba

Hey! Keep your glurge off the message boards I hang out in.
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1. I am not in the business of recommending abortions. But I'd be liberal with antibiotics and keep a close eye on those ultrasounds. For the record, without familiarity with Beethoven's family, I'd suspect malnutrition and illness more than congenital defects, too.

 

2. None of those are political qualifications. You know that, right? I'd be leery of A and B for their poor health decisions, but they also lived in a different era, and it's not exactly correct to judge them by modern standards. C sure has nice personal habits; it's a shame his policies didn't live up to them.

 

—Alorael, who dislikes Wagner because his music is bombastic and largely not terribly good. This is coming from from someone who would gladly give that last spot to Handel.

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Originally Posted By: Note to Self
2. None of those are political qualifications. You know that, right? I'd be leery of A and B for their poor health decisions, but they also lived in a different era, and it's not exactly correct to judge them by modern standards. C sure has nice personal habits; it's a shame his policies didn't live up to them.


also, if we are being scrupulously fair about describing each of the candidates, neglecting to mention Hitler's criminal history (for a coup attempt, at that) seems like rather a serious omission
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Originally Posted By: Mod.
Hey, I didn't write this, I found it somewhere and thought it was rather interesting, considering the way some people think and opinions they have, at least the people I know. Not at all meant for serious discussion.


for future reference: A Thing You Found Somewhere On The Internet is probably less interesting than you think it is, not least because everyone else has seen it before
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If you want to be fair, decorated war hero Hitler got his medal on the recommendation of his Jewish commander because the officers had to give out a certain number of medals every period. Hitler had what was considered a cushy job during World War I.

 

Churchill spent much of the Boer War disobeying orders in order to gain publicity for himself.

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Originally Posted By: Lilith
Originally Posted By: Note to Self
2. None of those are political qualifications. You know that, right? I'd be leery of A and B for their poor health decisions, but they also lived in a different era, and it's not exactly correct to judge them by modern standards. C sure has nice personal habits; it's a shame his policies didn't live up to them.


also, if we are being scrupulously fair about describing each of the candidates, neglecting to mention Hitler's criminal history (for a coup attempt, at that) seems like rather a serious omission

Or for that matter that he never "had an affair" because he didn't marry his mistress until right before their suicides. Hitler didn't even have particularly good personal habits, at least with regard to women. He treated Eva Braun with a certain degree of dismissive disdain, frankly.
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Beethoven isn't remembered for writing a great volume of music: he's remembered for being influential.

 

When my younger brother was born my father thought he looked like Churchill, so my brother's middle name is Winston. My dad must have been implying he was an ugly baby.

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Originally Posted By: The Turtle Moves
I suppose the fact that the Beethoven question is complete nonsense has no bearing on the issue?


I've usually seen the question phrased in such a manner that it's Tim Tebow that you would have recommended be aborted.

On a broader note, this probably came from an e-mail, and when e-mails like this get passed around, they tend to create a sort of echo-chamber like effect where they're only sent to people who would already agree with them, and so the sender tends to overvalue how deep and meaningful the contents are when he or she gets back 10 responses of "Yeah!" or "Damn straight!" without ven factoring in that those people already agreed with the sentiments within.
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Originally Posted By: Dantius
Originally Posted By: The Turtle Moves
I suppose the fact that the Beethoven question is complete nonsense has no bearing on the issue?


I've usually seen the question phrased in such a manner that it's Tim Tebow that you would have recommended be aborted.

On a broader note, this probably came from an e-mail, and when e-mails like this get passed around, they tend to create a sort of echo-chamber like effect where they're only sent to people who would already agree with them, and so the sender tends to overvalue how deep and meaningful the contents are when he or she gets back 10 responses of "Yeah!" or "Damn straight!" without ven factoring in that those people already agreed with the sentiments within.



Damn straight!
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Originally Posted By: Triumph
My heart bleeds for History. Poor, poor History, being trampled and abused in this thread.


DID YOU KNOW THAT HITLER SURVIVED WWII AND IS NOW HIDING IN A [FLYING SAUCER IN THE MOON/SECRET BASE INSIDE THE EARTH, WHICH BY THE WAY IS HOLLOW AND HAS A SUN INSIDE]?!!!??111!1!//?/???

Those are my favorite crazy conspiracy theories. Ever.
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Originally Posted By: Darth Ernie
i also believe a jewish doctor talked hitlers mother out of getting an abortion
I can't find a reference to this; citation please?

But yeah, even as someone who's against abortion, I find the "what about Beethoven" question objectionable, because it insinuates that aborting someone who will grow up to be famous is worse than aborting someone who won't. Which kinda goes against one of the central premises of the argument against abortion.

While we're on the topic of odd world leaders in World War II, I'd like to submit WLMK for your perusal. However did we win the war? It couldn't have been those crazy Soviets.

Originally Posted By: Dantius
DID YOU KNOW THAT HITLER SURVIVED WWII AND IS NOW HIDING IN A [FLYING SAUCER IN THE MOON/SECRET BASE INSIDE THE EARTH, WHICH BY THE WAY IS HOLLOW AND HAS A SUN INSIDE]?!!!??111!1!//?/???

Those are my favorite crazy conspiracy theories. Ever.
Time Cube still wins.
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The Wikipedia entry on Beethoven records only that he had six full siblings, of which only three survived infancy. It seems, however, that his mother had had another child in a previous marriage, which also died as a baby.

 

I reckon the chances are very low that any evidence has survived to show that any of the five unfortunate siblings who died as infants had any handicaps. I'd also be surprised if we had any evidence that Beethoven's mother had syphilis. Syphilis is considered one possible cause of Beethoven's own deafness, but his deafness seems to be the only indication that he might have had syphilis. If his case is speculative, I doubt his mother's is more solid.

 

Now, one might still argue that Beethoven's case could have been as described, and so abortion is always liable to remove great talents from the world. But how many great talents have there really been, whose prospects at birth were so dire? This Beethoven example is speculative at best and quite possibly pure fabrication. If that's the best argument of this kind that can be made, it isn't a very good argument.

 

The one about national leaders seems more sound, if the point it makes is that strictly personal habits are poor indicators of political effectiveness.

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Originally Posted By: Superba
I noticed you all seem to soon left the idea to criticize the American candidate... is it a coincidence? As an European I do know much more about Churchill and Hitler rather than Roosevelt so, well, I expected Americans had more information about him, but I see it's not the case.


roosevelt wasn't perfect but as US presidents go he was pretty okay
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Originally Posted By: Superba
I noticed you all seem to soon left the idea to criticize the American candidate... is it a coincidence? As an European I do know much more about Churchill and Hitler rather than Roosevelt so, well, I expected Americans had more information about him, but I see it's not the case.
Roosevelt had his problems, but he did a pretty decent job as president. He helped the US cope with its worst economic depression. He can't take full credit for the end of the depression. World War II did that, but he enacted many programs that helped people considerably.
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Originally Posted By: Lilith
Originally Posted By: Superba
I noticed you all seem to soon left the idea to criticize the American candidate... is it a coincidence? As an European I do know much more about Churchill and Hitler rather than Roosevelt so, well, I expected Americans had more information about him, but I see it's not the case.


roosevelt wasn't perfect but as US presidents go he was pretty okay


Maybe people are just quicker to pick on the guy withOUT Polio is all.
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Originally Posted By: Dantius
DID YOU KNOW THAT HITLER SURVIVED WWII AND IS NOW HIDING IN A [FLYING SAUCER IN THE MOON/SECRET BASE INSIDE THE EARTH, WHICH BY THE WAY IS HOLLOW AND HAS A SUN INSIDE]?!!!??111!1!//?/???
Oh, and this reminds me. Am I the only one who's
for the
of
?

Pulp, glorious pulp.
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Originally Posted By: Dintiradan
Originally Posted By: Dantius
DID YOU KNOW THAT HITLER SURVIVED WWII AND IS NOW HIDING IN A [FLYING SAUCER IN THE MOON/SECRET BASE INSIDE THE EARTH, WHICH BY THE WAY IS HOLLOW AND HAS A SUN INSIDE]?!!!??111!1!//?/???
Oh, and this reminds me. Am I the only one who's
for the
of
?

Pulp, glorious pulp.
I have been excited about it since I first read about it a few years ago.
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Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and both Roosevelts are consistently ranked as the best presidents in popular and academic surveys. FDR additionally holds a position for liberals somewhat like Reagan's position for conservatives: despite having an agenda and enacting legislation that opposes common liberal goals, his New Deal is considered a triumph of liberal economic policy.

 

He also created much of the political structure that exists today, love it or hate it.

 

—Alorael, who is actually not excited for Iron Sky. He thinks it's likely to be like Snakes on a Plane: campy, but not actually good enough to live up to the hilarious hype.

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Momentarily back to the original topic:

 

I've seen those questions a few times before, though never on these boards. Therefore, I'll say no to the abortion, and vote for candidate A.

 

Originally Posted By: Sylae
Originally Posted By: Dintiradan
Time Cube still wins.
That reads like some of the Viagra spam I get in my inbox.
Worse, IMHO. That site's author is apparently, among other things, trying to give a migraine to everyone who simply clicks a link to the site with a layout like that. crazyeeksick
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