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Freeway
Scrapple
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#41 Posted on 12.9.02 1744.09
Reposted on: 12.9.09 1757.11
Dubya graduated from Yale in 1968, then joined the Texas National Guard and learned to fly fighter jets...but was never actually called to Vietnam.

So, it's just like Will Hunting (Matt Damon) said in Good Will Hunting...he hit the pipe and joined the national guard. Only in America can a guy like that be President. My province has an alcoholic with a tenth grade education for a leader, and my country has a barely-literate Frenchman with a strange speaking disorder he got from nearly drowning when he was a kid. Strange, eh?

AS FOR 9/11: I just went along with my life and we observed a moment of silence at our school just around 11am. Nothing too amazing. Oh, and the school provided free Calgary Herald [Calgary's Finest Daily Newspaper] copies.
Jubuki
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#42 Posted on 12.9.02 1830.37
Reposted on: 12.9.09 1840.21
Is Godwin's Law the one where you know a thread has gone bad once there's mention of Nazism or Hitler talk? Or is it a completely different one involving world leaders?

As for Bush's speaking skills saying something about his intelligence -- I would say "misunderestimated" kind of does the trick all on its own, especially when one considers that Clinton was able to weasel out of jail by saying oral sex isn't sexual relations - I mean, COME ON. Which person would YOU think is more intelligent??
MoeGates
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#43 Posted on 12.9.02 2015.14
Reposted on: 12.9.09 2029.01
From what I understand, Godwinn's law says the first person to invoke Hitler or the Nazis automatically loses the discussion and the thread is over.

However, I think it's more meant to cover comparing someone else or their views to Hitler/Nazis, not actually using Hitler/Nazis in a historical context to prove a point.
chazerizer
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#44 Posted on 13.9.02 0110.58
Reposted on: 13.9.09 0114.57
Wow, it really amazes me how a thread manages to turn. Someone could probably write a pretty good Psych paper just reading the threads on this board.
Bizzle Izzle
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#45 Posted on 13.9.02 1306.42
Reposted on: 13.9.09 1315.17
What amazes me is that there's something called "Godwin's Law" that's about internet threads. I think it's kinda sad that people take the internet so freakin seriously and actually spend the time creating a "law".
Grimis
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#46 Posted on 13.9.02 1342.17
Reposted on: 13.9.09 1359.04
When I first heard of "Godwin's Law" I thought it was some sort of stipulation concerning Hogpen Matches...
vsp
Andouille
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#47 Posted on 13.9.02 1539.54
Reposted on: 13.9.09 1553.42

    Originally posted by Bizzle Izzle
    What amazes me is that there's something called "Godwin's Law" that's about internet threads. I think it's kinda sad that people take the internet so freakin seriously and actually spend the time creating a "law".


(good-natured history lesson begins; those who know the story can move on now.)

It's not so much a "law" as it is a longstanding guideline about Internet discourse -- a general rule-of-thumb, if you will. It predates the Web by several years, originating in the Usenet discussion groups.

The original "Godwin's Rule" stated that any off-topic mention of Hitler or the Nazis indicates that the thread has lost all relevance and will quickly grind to a sputtering halt. The longer a thread goes, the more likely that such an invocation will occur. (A corollary to the original rule stated that the probability where the topic involved Robert Heinlein or homosexuality was equal to 1, but there are many other hot-button topics likely to bring it about. Likewise, there are some topics where Hitler and the Nazis are quite pertinent and Godwin need not be invoked.)

Generally, whoever brings up the Nazis is considered to have run out of other ideas and to have lost the argument -- which may continue on, but most sane posters move on quickly once the thread reaches that level of vehemence.

The catch (Quirk's Corollary) is that one cannot use Godwin's Law to INTENTIONALLY end a thread. That'd be too easy...

The other catch is that Godwin's Law is not at all binding on anyone -- who would enforce it, even if it was? It's simply a general rule of good sense when posting.

Some of the other infamous Usenet Rules (that might well apply to boards like this one) include:

Rule #nonumber: There are no hard-and-fast Rules on UseNet, only Guidelines, which are more or less strictly enforced (and differ) from group to group; this is why it's generally wise to read any group for a bit before ever posting to it.

Rule #9: It's *always* September, *somewhere* on the Net.
Dave Fischer's Extension: 1993 was The Year September Never Ended [so far, there doesn't seem to be much evidence he's wrong...]

(Explanation: Once upon a time, the greatest peril to rational discourse on the Internet was each September's wave of incoming college freshmen. They'd start up their computer science/engineering classes, find this neat new toy called Usenet, and run rampant for a couple of months until they were flamed into submission and taught the finer points of netiquette. Most quickly grasped the idea and became fine, upstanding posters... and then another September would bring a new batch, and the cycle would begin anew.

Then came September 1993, when America Online started offering Usenet access to its members, providing a never-ending and exponentially-growing base of newbies. The rest, as they say, was history.)

Rule #17: Go not to UseNet for counsel, for they will say both `No' and `Yes' and `Try another newsgroup'.

Rule #2 (John Gilmore): "The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it."

Rule #7-B: There is no topic so thoroughly covered that no one will ever bring it up again.

Rule #90120: Applying your standards to someone else's post *will* result in a flamewar.

Rule #1: Spellling and grammer counts. So do grace, wit, and a sense of humor (the latter two are different), as well as a willingness to meet odd people, but these are lesser considerations.

Rule #x^2: FAQs are asked frequently. Get used to them.

Rule #547 (Arne Adolfsen): When people know they're wrong they resort to ad hominems.

Rule #37 (Faisal Nameer Jawdat): Read the thread from the beginning, or else.

Rule #5 (Reimer's Reason): Nobody ever ignores what they should ignore on Usenet.

Rule $19.99 (Brad `Squid' Shapcott): The Internet *isn't* *free*. It just has an economy that makes no sense to capitalism.

Rule #3 ("Why 3?" "Because we felt like it"): For every opinion there is at least one equally loud and opposing opinion; sometimes stated as:

Rule #27 (Gary Lewandowski): "In cyberspace, *everyone* can hear you scream."
Jubuki
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#48 Posted on 13.9.02 1608.43
Reposted on: 13.9.09 1617.09
Quite a nice list of stuff...and a good example of Godwin's Law NOT holding true, now that the discussion has moved almost entirely away from 9/11 talk and President-bashing (NTTAWWT) to old Usenet stuff. I like the bit about 9/93 - funny.
vsp
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#49 Posted on 13.9.02 2214.40
Reposted on: 13.9.09 2229.02

    Originally posted by Jubuki
    Quite a nice list of stuff...and a good example of Godwin's Law NOT holding true, now that the discussion has moved almost entirely away from 9/11 talk and President-bashing (NTTAWWT) to old Usenet stuff. I like the bit about 9/93 - funny.


Actually, it's a good example of Godwin's Law WORKING. Hitler was mentioned, Godwin's Law was invoked... and the conversation quickly shifted away from the original, relevant topic and to meta-discussion of Godwin's Law.
chazerizer
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#50 Posted on 14.9.02 0012.38
Reposted on: 14.9.09 0028.49

    Originally posted by vsp

      Originally posted by Jubuki
      Quite a nice list of stuff...and a good example of Godwin's Law NOT holding true, now that the discussion has moved almost entirely away from 9/11 talk and President-bashing (NTTAWWT) to old Usenet stuff. I like the bit about 9/93 - funny.


    Actually, it's a good example of Godwin's Law WORKING. Hitler was mentioned, Godwin's Law was invoked... and the conversation quickly shifted away from the original, relevant topic and to meta-discussion of Godwin's Law.



Brain ... hurting ... with ... paradox ... of ... non-imposable ... rules.

Oh wait, thats just the crack.
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