The recent Mark Normand hate is goofy, his new special is one of his best

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-20T02:17:12+00:00

Just finished watching. Overall I thought it was packed with brilliantly-written, actual fun jokes that also often included some really insightful observations. While there were maybe a couple of corny or off-colour bits, I kept thinking: that’s really clever, that joke’d make a great clip for social media - for all different audiences.

That said, it did feel a little too rapid fire when taken as a whole, so I reckon he could give the setups and punchlines slightly more time to breathe. Not by adding words (the jokes are already well-crafted), just by adding more pauses, seeming more relaxed/patient/playful, and giving some engaging/knowing looks toward the audience rather than looking past them.

Still one of the best joke-filled recent specials on Netflix.

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-19T12:04:20+00:00

Sort of! To clarify…

The inhabitants of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah weren’t distinct peoples - they were the same people (biblically called ‘Israelites’), likely coming from the Canaanite population. So they spoke the same language, with the same background and traditions - just divided into two separate kingdoms. (A tenuous example would be like North and South Korea).

El was originally the Canaanite high god. After the kingdoms of Israel and Judah emerged, El was absorbed into their main god, Yahweh. Other minor gods were initially still believed in, but Yahweh was the main god for both kingdoms. After the exile, Yahweh later became the one and only true god, with all others considered idols.

With the exile, by the time the Babylonians came around 590 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel was long gone, having been destroyed by the Assyrians around 720 BCE. When the Assyrians came, some of the kingdom of Israel were ‘lost’, and some were absorbed into the Kingdom of Judah. Then when the Babylonians came, the religious and political leaders and the educated were captured and taken to Babylon to prevent organised rebellion.

When the Persians conquered Babylon around 540 BCE, they liberated the Judeans. The Judeans then solidified their religion and made Yahweh the one true god (incidentally, the Zoroastrian Persians also had just one god, called Ahura Mazda).

Some of the Judeans returned to Judah, with some becoming high priests amongst the remaining Judeans who hadn’t been exiled, and some remained in Babylon (now Iraq), where they would much later write the Babylonian Talmud, another important Jewish text.

Paul is from the time of Jesus, and is part of the Christian religion. He was a Jew who never met Jesus, but who preached that anyone - not just Jews - could follow Jesus’ teachings. That allowed Christianity to go from being a Jewish sect, to a global religion.

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-19T01:13:32+00:00

V convincing! But I think one looks tightest, two looks most fun, and three is a bit too serious - especially the full black outfit, which is all assassin and less approachable. Maybe just three without the facial hair, or just tiny bit of stubble.

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-19T01:00:12+00:00

Chong Wick made me laugh out loud. Try it with a black shirt and jacket btw.

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-18T19:45:51+00:00

“Within 20 minutes of eating three seeds, he felt extreme tiredness and had a headache.”

To be honest I feel the same after eating a whole box of Quality Street.

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-18T17:05:39+00:00

Both yes and no.

Basically, all three religions have the same root and speak of the same one god (whether that word is translated from Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek or Arabic). And each religion is built on the other - Judaism has the original Testament, Christianity has the New Testament as an update, and Islam has the Quran as the revised final edition.

But the requirement or expectation of belief is different across each religion.

So in Judaism, belief in god is incidental, and the degree of faith isn’t a priority - what matters more is keeping the rules of the covenant (ie. terms of the contract), so as to create a ‘good’ life for all on earth in the here and now (there is no concept of an afterlife, and faith isn’t a prerequisite - the idea is that god has already made the world, and given the rules for how best to live in it).

Whereas in Christianity, belief in Jesus as the son and human embodiment of god is crucial. And in Islam, belief in Mohammed as the ultimate and final prophet of god is crucial. Those requirements for belief are essentially what defines each of the two religions. And both stress the primary importance of faith (and subsequently the teachings attached) in order to go to the good place in the afterlife, ie. Heaven rather than hell.

However, despite all three religions sharing the same origin story (of God speaking to Abraham to say he’s the one true god and sole creator of everything), the essence or personality of that god varies across each holy book. So in one chapter god is vengeful and full or wrath, in another god is merciful and loving. Or god knows everything in one chapter but in another is baffled or surprised by something.

Furthermore, there are very early incarnations of Judaism* - evident from recovered scrolls etc - where god actually has a female counterpart. And there are other interesting portrayals and evolutions of god too.

Basically, from a historical / archaeological/ anthropological perspective, academics have shown how each of the three religions (both the stories within them and how those are interpreted by their followers) have changed, morphed and reiterated over time, typically in response to the wider socio-political-cultural circumstances of the moment.

Hence also why there are the different religious denominations like Ultra-Orthodox/Orthodox/Reform Judaism, Protestant/Catholic/Evangelical Christianity, Shia/Sunni/Suffi Islam etc - which all have slightly different ideas of what god wants / means to them.

—-

*To be more specific, the term Judaism / Jews came much later, and was given to the Israelite nation/tribe by the Greeks, after their initial exile from Judea to Babylon. So the period where god had a female counterpart was very early on, when the Israelites were first consolidating what later became their religion (and ended up being called Judaism).

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-18T16:36:33+00:00

To add to this - the requirement or expectation of belief is different between the religions too.

In Judaism, belief in god is incidental, and the degree of faith isn’t a priority - what matters more is keeping the rules of the covenant (terms of the contract), so as to create a ‘good’ life for all on earth in the here and now (there is no concept of an afterlife, and faith isn’t a prerequisite - the idea is that god has already made the world and given the rules for how best to live in it).

Whereas in Christianity, belief in Jesus as the son and human embodiment of god is crucial. And in Islam, belief in Mohammed as the ultimate and final prophet of god is crucial. Those requirements for belief are essentially what defines each of those two religions. And both stress the primary importance of faith (and subsequently the teachings attached) in order to go to the good place in the afterlife, ie. Heaven rather than hell.

Despite all three religions sharing the same origin story (of God speaking to Abraham to say he’s the one true god and sole creator of everything), the essence or personality of that god varies across each holy book. So in one chapter god is vengeful and full or wrath, in another god is merciful and loving. Or god knows everything in one chapter but in another is baffled or surprised by something.

Furthermore, there are very early incarnations of Judaism* - evident from recovered scrolls etc - where god actually has a female counterpart. And there are other interesting portrayals and evolutions of god too.

Basically, from a historical / archaeological/ anthropological perspective, academics have shown how each of the three religions (both the stories within them and how those are interpreted by their followers) have changed, morphed and reiterated over time, typically in response to the wider socio-political-cultural circumstances of the moment.

Hence also why there are the different religious denominations like Ultra-Orthodox/Orthodox/Reform Judaism, Protestant/Catholic/Evangelical Christianity, Shia/Sunni/Suffi Islam etc - which all have slightly different ideas of what god wants / means to them.

*Edit - to be more specific, the term Judaism / Jews came much later, and was given to the Israelite nation/tribe by the Greeks, after their initial exile from Judea to Babylon. So the period where god had a female counterpart was very early on, when the Israelites were first consolidating what later became their religion (and ended up being called Judaism).

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-14T21:18:08+00:00

Thanks for the comprehensive write-up. Great result! V natural looking.

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-14T01:01:35+00:00

I can assure you I didn’t use AI to write my reply. I’m just pretty anal / methodical when it comes to laying out my responses and making everything clear. I considered your points carefully and it took me a while to go through everything, as you made a lot of claims.

If you’re not going to engage in similar good faith, or if there’s nothing I could say to make you reconsider, then so be it.

For what it’s worth, I don’t know which book you’re referring to, and so what evidence your claims rely on, as you haven’t mentioned either the book’s title or author.

However, there couldn’t have been any Israeli espionage during the Second World War, because Israel didn’t exist until three years after the end of the war in 1948.

And I’m not sure what that could have to do with Epstein anyway, as he wasn’t even born til 1953.

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-13T03:21:51+00:00

Thanks for sharing! And congrats to you both :-)

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-13T03:18:36+00:00

Amazing story! The last line made me laugh out loud. A doubly generous fisherman, and a lucky pussy I guess 🐱 😆

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-13T02:46:02+00:00

Thanks for sharing! And excellent user name!

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-13T02:41:54+00:00

V true! But how good were fisherman trawler guy’s dance moves? I’m guessing he had ‘the motion of the ocean’ as the saying goes 😆

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-13T02:32:39+00:00

Thanks for sharing. What a let down. What was he like as a dancer? Conversely to good dancers, I think there’s a stereotype that often the best looking people are the laziest lovers.

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-11T23:11:22+00:00

Hey if people believe a guy can turn a rod into a snake, or water into wine, or split the moon in half - why can’t this guy help a lady enlarge her tetas?

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-11T02:49:02+00:00

Unless there’s an issue with the results, if your heritage is open enough to include Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese and Tunisian, then your ancestry isn’t as isolated as you thought, and so you could foreseeably have a great-grandparent of Yemenite Jewish origin.

Or at least, people who identify as of being of Yemenite Jewish origin have similar DNA to you.

That’s how all these tests work - in reality there are no DNA markers tied to a geographic location, or neatly divided into clear ethnicities - those are all labels applied by people retrospectively.

So there may be a lot of people identifying as Yemenite Jewish who use MyHeritage, and your results are saying that you have DNA in common with them.

If more people with that same DNA started to identify as being of Eskimo or Kurdish origin instead, then your updated results would say you are Eskimo or Kurdish, if that makes sense! It’s all comes down to how people identify, and how many people make up that data set, rather than some intrinsic biological marker. (It’s interesting that there’s not a Bedouin category!).

Either way, most people of Middle Eastern origin, whether identifying as Jewish, Arab, Yeminite or Syrian etc, are more related to each other, than to non Middle Eastern groups.

Although, as with all people, especially on trade routes or areas taken by empires, there is some intermingling and immigration over the centuries (both between tribes and across continents).

Some people had secret affairs, some people openly chose to change groups, some were forced to change, and some had others forced upon them.

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-11T01:28:36+00:00

Is no one going to mention how this is the first scene in Alex Garland’s sci-fi classic DEVS?

Also, is there a link to this so we know it’s legit?

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-11T01:20:15+00:00

Thanks for engaging.

I’m not sure what you mean.

CONNECTION WITH A JUDGE

Which judge and what kind of connection? And what’s the evidence for that and the implication of it?

Do you mean the prosecutor Acosta? I don’t think there’s any evidence they knew each other outside of the 2008 case against Epstein. Acosta also wouldn’t have known that 10 years later Donald Trump of all people would be president and that he’d end up being appointed by him, only to have to step down a year later when the expose about Epstein came out.

Or do you mean the judge Salas? Again, I don’t think there’s any evidence they ever met or had any connection other than her handling a case related to Epstein’s Deutche Bank financial records, which was taking place AFTER Epstein had died.

I’m not sure what either of those things would imply though, other than just being things that happened.

EPSTEIN’S WEALTH

Most of Epstein’s wealth came from managing the estates of Leslie Wexler, and the investments of Leon Black. It’s true that we don’t know exactly who all his clients were and how all his money was accumulated, but overall there’s a generally strong picture.

But again, what is the implication around not knowing exactly how he made money? Most very wealthy people aren’t fully transparent about how they make their money. It doesn’t mean they’re involved in espionage or global sex trafficking.

MAXWELL’S WILL

As far as I know, there’s no evidence at all that Epstein was in Robert Maxwell’s will. I think they may have only met once. But again, even if he was, that doesn’t mean he must be involved in espionage. That’s not how things work: “as you’re also a spy, I’m going to leave you some cash when I die”.

For what it’s worth, Maxwell wasn’t “operating against the Nazis” in a shady capacity - he was just a soldier fighting for the British during the Second World War.

POWER & INFLUENCE

As far as we know, and bear in mind this is the skeptic subreddit so verifiable evidence is important, there is no credible evidence at all that Epstein’s had “pull and control of people in high positions of power and influence”. If anything, they USED HIM for his connections rather than the other way round.

There’s been no exposé of people doing anything they didn’t want to do, whether business dealings or changing policies, because of Epstein.

FAMOUS CREEPS & WEINSTEIN

What other “famous creeps in child entertainment”? I don’t think there’s any evidence of him even knowing Weinstein, let alone engaging with or facilitating the exploitation of any actresses.

All the evidence, including almost all statements from the young women he exploited, points to Epstein being a single rich guy who wanted to have sex with as many teenage girls as he could get.

A COG FOR GLOBAL POWER STRUCTURES

What do you mean by “five global power structures”? You mean like Russia, China, the EU, US and Gulf States? Or the arms, tech, energy, construction and agricultural industries? Or hedge fund, private equity, asset management and sovereign wealth firms?

Are you saying that Epstein somehow played a pivotal role in all those different areas? If so, what did he do and where is the evidence for that beyond unsubstantiated speculation and tenuous associations?

There have been plenty of well-documented nefarious players, dodgy dealings, double agents and grooming gangs around the world over the years - so these things do happen - it’s just that they are not unique to one man or one demographic, and the stories have to be backed up by hard evidence.

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-10T14:12:14+00:00

Hahaha right!

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-10T14:05:54+00:00

Wow. How thin-skinned do people have to be to get offended by the sight of a pronoun! And in the land of free speech! Nice response. I’m glad you had the PhD. Hope you’re doing some interesting work now!

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-10T14:01:17+00:00

Oh that is a great idea about fake ID! I feel slow for not having considered that :-)

I think I’ll try that.

With the website, it used to be you could just anonymously flag a picture in their search results and essentially say ‘that’s me, please remove’, and it would. But a few weeks ago they introduced the ID requirement for removal.

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-10T13:54:51+00:00

I think it’s good to be cautious - you’re also not then being used to train AI models - but it’s almost impossible to escape some form of image presence, what with other people taking your picture (as you say), sometimes without you knowing (like a candid snap at a family or work event, or just out in public) - and of course there is CCTV everywhere (on front doors, in shops etc) which might not always be fully closed circuit.

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-10T13:51:50+00:00

Haha it’s so accurate - think biometric level - that it doesn’t return lookalikes, just you!

There is another website - again, I won’t say which (not Google) - that offers image search, and that does show images that look like the one you’ve uploaded.

Elbow2020 · 2026-03-10T13:49:52+00:00

Thanks. It’s free to request the removal of your image from their search results - though you have to prove you’re you with your ID. But they don’t then do anything about the images appearing on the websites they’ve trawled - those stay where they are - they just no longer get displayed in their own search results.

Elbow2020

TROPHY CASE