The WTF? Thread

[ad hoc]

I think it means that Americans think carrying a sword or a knife is "unarmed" because it's not an AK47

[Satchmo Distel]

Well, yes, even the most deluded American must know you're not going to beat a lion or gorilla with your hands and feet.

Even Tarzan needed a knife to beat a crocodile.

[ursus arctos]

There is a significant USian internet subculture of self-identified tough guys who think they can beat up bears.

I wish more of them would try.

[ChrisJ]

There is a significant USian internet subculture of self-identified tough guys who think they can beat up bears.

I wish more of them would try.

This prompted me to try a Google search: do americans think they can fight bears? I've just spent a very entertaining, if slightly open-mouthed, 15 minutes.

My favourite suggested searches are, "What animal is bulletproof?" and "What happens if you poke a stick at a grizzly bear?" I think the answer to both must be "It said unarmed!"

[S. aureus]

I think people are underestimating how hard geese are there.

[Hot Pepsi]

Americans consistently overestimate their fighting prowess and people on both sides of the Atlantic are vastly underestimating how hard geese are. Rats too, come to think of it. Street fights come down to who is angrier, and any goose that has chosen to accept the challenge rather than fly away is definitely angry enough to win.

[San Bernardhinault]

Geese are terrifying. Rats are pretty terrifying on the face of it, but have the added terror of killing you with disease if they don't gouge your eyes and heart out in the immediate conflict.

[Hot Pepsi]

I'm not sure rats are any more likely to carry a dangerous disease than any other wild mammal, but in certain circumstances, they can proliferate rapidly and they're pretty fearless about sharing spaces with humanity so they're more likely to spread diseases to people than, for example, raccoons or woodchucks or other species that are a bit more cautious.

[San Bernardhinault]

Oh, I'd fancy my chances against a rat or a goose, even a cobra, and possibly a lion, before I fancied my chances against a raccoon.

[caja-dglh]

I really should run one of the twitter feeds that recycles this chart every couple of years.

[Levin]

https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC/status/1599999640165879808?t=5Y5MOESCI081m3BT02vMIg&s=19

[ursus arctos]

Nef jposted that on the Capitalism thread a few minutes earlier, and I think it works better there because it isn't a great shock to anyone in this country who has been paying attention.

[Nefertiti2]

Nef jposted that on the Capitalism thread a few minutes earlier, and I think it works better there because it isn't a great shock to anyone in this country who has been paying attention.

Paying attention to what?

Why would anyone rent a car from a company where the chance of being locked up for theft when you return it is not zero.

I suppose the only comparison is the Post office scandal in the UK.

[WOM]

Paying attention to what?

To the story...it's been in the news here.

[Levin]

Yeah, it probably does belong there. I assume paying attention to corporate governance, lawsuits and fines with no admission of guilt.

[ursus arctos]

Yes

And to the broader capture of police forces by corporate interests

[ad hoc]

https://twitter.com/fichtner_jan/status/1600381293921206272

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

I see from some of the replies to that thread that German language Twitter is as afflicted by right wing shitposters as Twitter in the anglosphere is.

[ursus arctos]

The behaviour is not subject to language barriers

[Patrick Thistle]

Everyone needs a hobby... apparently

[Patrick Thistle]

https://twitter.com/Caus3s/status/1601191260974632965?t=E2xjemEk4Y05m4Dng5x1pA&s=19

[Balderdasha]

I had a crush on Dave Lister as a young teenager (the original series ran from when I was 6 to 17). Mostly because he made me laugh.

This was an early indication that I was unlikely to end up married to someone white, upper class, or particularly neat, tidy and fastidious.

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/paularcurtis/status/1608146988511690753?t=om2HNA2nlf4YJ7QWBIEfrw&s=19]

[S. aureus]

Wow

[Satchmo Distel]

Rossi, the plagiarist, even claimed to have copyrighted a method that consists of using the wayback machine. Peter Kidd, whom she plagiarized, is chronicling the affair brilliantly on his blog.