FORUM COMMUNITY OMNIBUS AMA THREAD

[H. Ross Peron]

What denomination were your parents?

[Sopranos Republican]

What denomination were your parents?

They are actually non-denominational evangelicals.  They were both raised Catholic in Massachusetts, however. Mom being Italian and dad being Irish, but they now are both kind of anti-Catholic now, which kind of bothers me to be quite honest.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

What's the best pain remedy for someone who just got their wisdom teeth removed? Alcohol, cannabis, or other?

[Хahar 🤔]

Well I have a question, too- what was being on the football team like? I still can't wrap my head around that. Not in a bad way, no, but I just can't see it.

It was fun! I'm very glad I did it. That said, it was a lot of work, and if at this stage in my life I had to go through that again I probably wouldn't. Being in the weight room from 2 to 3 and having practice from 3 to 6 every Monday through Thursday was exhausting (particularly during Ramadan) and it occupied a lot of my time, but Friday nights made it absolutely worthwhile. I've been telling my brother that he should do what I did, although I'd be surprised if he did.

I wasn't particularly good at football and I rarely saw the field except on special teams, but I was good enough to belong on the team so that wasn't an issue. It helped that probably half the team was composed of kids I had been playing baseball with since I was ten years old; it was an environment where I felt very comfortable. I miss being on a team. Things aren't the same now.

If The Obamanation was a Pokemon which one would he be?

The easy answer is Magikarp, but Magikarp evolves into Gyarados so that's not right. I'm going to go with Jynx, because his presence makes everyone uncomfortable.

[Antonio the Sixth]

No more questions?

[H. Ross Peron]

Who are you supporting in the 2016 Democratic primaries besides Bernie Sanders?

Would you support Hillary Clinton if as is probable she is the Democratic nominee for President in 2016?

[Sopranos Republican]

What's the best pain remedy for someone who just got their wisdom teeth removed? Alcohol, cannabis, or other?

I'd recommend a sh**tload of bourbon, mixed with whatever pills the doctor gave you. You'll wake up in a few days, when the pain has somewhat subsided.

[MaxQue]

No more questions?

What someone can do in France with a political science degree if he is not a political party hack?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I have a friend who interrupted coitus for Ingress. Is that considered normal behavior?

Ha, probably not. I've yet to hear of it at least.

Why do you think we care about Ingress?

Obviously not everyone does. Some people do. Some have asked me questions or info on the iOS release (which just came out by the way.) I figure people who don't care can just not read the threads on them, just like I barely read about the World Cup.

Are you a Boy Scout? Because you tie my heart in knots

No, and I'd never join that homophobic POS organization. If I had been one as a kid I'd renounce any affiliation.

Sneakers O'Tool vs Jesus?

Obviously Jesus is better than any fictional character. But comparing the real Jesus to Sneakers O'Toole is kind of pointless. It would make more sense to compare him to Jesus the Family Guy character. In which case he's a great character but come on, this is Sneakers O'Toole he's up against. No contest.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Opebo vs. Ingress?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

top 5 films/top 5 90s indie bands

Good one. I'll have to think about this for a bit for films. The only ones I know for sure that'd be on the list are Donnie Darko and Mean Creek.

For 90s indie bands let's go with Superchunk, Mineral, Jawbreaker, Rainer Maria and Sunny Day Real Estate.

In the KY senate race, who will win Magoffin County and Pike County?

Tough one. Normally I'd expect any Democrat to win those in a close race, but they flew against Obama so badly he might actually taint all Democrats there. But Grimes is white, and it's really hard to imagine a Democrat losing those in a close race in Kentucky. So I'll say Grimes for both, but this is a really tough call and I look forward to seeing that map.

opinion of suburban irish catholic metalheads who watch south park

HP

What's Minnesota like to live in?

I find here wonderful. One of the best things about Minneapolis is it's one of the most affordable big cities with comparable cultural amenities to places like San Francisco. Also the state is well educated and not dysfunctional in general, and as a state pretty interesting, even rural Minnesota isn't very homogenous and can be interesting to visit. The biggest complaint most people have is the weather. However people forget that's only a couple months of the year, and right now I'm very glad I'm in Minnesota instead of th Sun Belt. Even the brutally cold temperatures and really bad snowstorms (which never happen together by the way, everyone needs to remember their middle school science classes about what causes snow. It can't happen in subzero temperatures) are only a couple days out of the year. Now compare that to the Gulf with the hurricanes...yeah I'd much rather be here. 20F isn't really that cold anyway if you have an appropriate jacket and adjust properly, which anyone here does.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Opebo vs. Ingress?

Which has amused me more? Probably opebo, but I had 10 years from him as opposed to one of Ingress.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

How would you vote for in an election between The Obamanation and Marine Le Pen?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Who are you supporting in the 2016 Democratic primaries besides Bernie Sanders?

I really don't know, tbh. I fear the election is going to be fairly depressing for me compared to 2008 and 2012... I guess I could get myself behind someone like Gillibrand, or O'Malley. Schweitzer seemed great before his remarks about Cantor.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Unless Sanders runs as a third party candidate, yes, I will obviously support the democrat. Though to be honest I wouldn't mind a half-sane Republican (like Jeb Bush) winning, as this could give the Democrats enough time to rebuild themselves and take back many governorships and State legislatures in time for the 2020 redistricting cycle.

What someone can do in France with a political science degree if he is not a political party hack?

Research, I guess. Actually, almost all the research spots are taken as well, so I have very little ideas what I will actually do once I get my PhD. But I've always considered every step at its time, so at this point I can only focus at finishing my Master's and getting admitted to Berkeley or Stanford. That's already not going to be too easy...

How would you vote for in an election between The Obamanation and Marine Le Pen?

I'd immediately leave the country (which is something I already plan on doing) if presented which such a choice.

[Mechaman]

Cos seriously, this sh*t is more irritating than havings AIDS.

[Dr. Cynic]

More Westman timeline! I didn't ask anything

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

I just recently noticed you've gone from centre-left to staunch left, going from your PM score. And when you joined this forum, you were on the centre-right. How have your political views been shaped over the past couple of years?

Well, I must admit part of it would have to do with the influence of my upbringing. See, a few short years ago, (something I rarely talk about on here) I was Homeschooled, (and even before this attended Christian schools) and thus because of the instruction my parents gave me, along with the curriculum which was based on fundamentalist evangelicalism, I became extremely conservative in my younger years.

I guess even when I left homeschooling in high school, those views sort of stuck with me for awhile. Now, by the time I joined Atlas, being exposed to many different types of people in public high school, I had certainly moderated from when I was in middle school (I was practically a little Sean Hannity back then ) and became more of a socially moderate/fiscally conservative Republican, but still considered myself a conservative overall. Then sometime around last spring I started identifying more as a libertarian Republican, with a strong distrust of the Tea Party/Fox News element of the Republican Party. I believed that while most conservatives were good people, there was a dark element of bigotry within that faction of the party. Then sometime around last summer I started identifying as a liberal Republican, but with many libertarian leanings, which is why I loathed the label: "Rockefeller Republican" because I viewed Rockefeller as a sort of Michael Bloomberg of the past, someone who wasn't a champion of individual liberty, or even someone who valued liberty.

My economic views continued to become more left wing, and ironically that had something to do with the very thing that made me conservative in the first place: my upbringing. Last fall my family was beginning to fall apart, my dad was out of the house, and my mom was working extremely hard while my dad struggled to find a job. There was only one thing saving us at this point: my father was receiving social security payments to help provide for me and my brother. To me I finally started to think: "If government can be do this for us, it can also be used to help people in a far worse hole than us." I began to identify as a Democrat, not because I believe that conservatives are evil, (I still have many conservative friends and loved ones), but because I believe in the principles of populism, and in some aspects, socialism.

Now, in many ways I still think of myself as a libertarian, and identify as a civil libertarian, and most of the time I don't identify as: "liberal" but rather as a progressive or left-libertarian.  The fight for personal and individual liberty is probably still the most important fight to me, because what good is receiving: higher wages, assistance for living,  and Healthcare if you aren't free to enjoy your life the way you want to. For instance,  I oppose most forms of gun control, smoking bans, prayer bans and religious reading (Bible, Quran etc.) among individual students, bans on public intoxication, junk food and soda bans, bans on the purchase of games and movies for youngins etc. Things that many liberals seem to have no problem with.

So yeah, that's kind of how I feel about things, sometime I might write up something longer, but for the time being this is what I've got.

Thanks for that, it's always interesting to hear how political views, and general attitudes to life for that matter, are shaped. In some ways, I'm the opposite of you, having a liberal (in the US sense of the word) upbringing, but obviously I'm very conservative, although I did go to a public high school.

[J-Mann]

Grumps welcomes all girlfriend/boyfriend questions......we don't discriminate around here.

Apparently you do ... what if I have a boyfriend/boyfriend question!?

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

I find here wonderful. One of the best things about Minneapolis is it's one of the most affordable big cities with comparable cultural amenities to places like San Francisco. Also the state is well educated and not dysfunctional in general, and as a state pretty interesting, even rural Minnesota isn't very homogenous and can be interesting to visit. The biggest complaint most people have is the weather. However people forget that's only a couple months of the year, and right now I'm very glad I'm in Minnesota instead of th Sun Belt. Even the brutally cold temperatures and really bad snowstorms (which never happen together by the way, everyone needs to remember their middle school science classes about what causes snow. It can't happen in subzero temperatures) are only a couple days out of the year. Now compare that to the Gulf with the hurricanes...yeah I'd much rather be here. 20F isn't really that cold anyway if you have an appropriate jacket and adjust properly, which anyone here does.

Most people where I live would think you're crazy, but then again, 100F days in summer, which summers in Western Australia often consist of, are terrible. Also, I'm guessing Minneapolis is much more affordable than say, SF.

[politicus]

Why did the chickens come home to roast?

[politicus]

Why did you chose your username?

[politicus]

Have you ever done it with a raccoon?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

How do you find your soulmate?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

What are your opinions of Pope Benedict XVI, sex-negative feminism, and teetotalers?

[Miles]

Geaux!