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PaperclipPerfector  9hr ago (text post)   415 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for October 30, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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the government’s appeal pointed out that the ruling might encourage Americans to produce 200 oz. golden steers.

The US government is a jealous god and will permit no idolatrous worship.

And 2,000 years later we’re still producing the golden calf. No wonder God left the temple.

I love this phrase.

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A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

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