Help us fix old issues

[Sanctaria]

It looks and sounds awful though. Surely there is a way to make the sentence understandable?

It is understandable.

You get the reference, right?

[Trackeendy]

Does anyone know what this issue was called and the choices?

[Trotterdam]

That's really beyond the scope of this thread and you could easily find it yourself in the spoiler thread, but: #446 In The Land Of Milk And Money?.

[Gnejs]

The second choice for the breastmilk issue (Can't think of what its called) has this as the end result: "breast milk is being redistributed from each according to their ability to each according to their need". Obviously the wording needs to be fixed here.

As the responsible editor for this particular issue, I felt like I should respond to your comment. But between Sanctaria, Trotterdam and Frisbeeteria I think you've got about as good an answer as I would've been able to provide. Probably better, in fact. All I can really add is that combining Marxist theory and breastmilk was such an appealing opportunity for silliness that I couldn't resist it. I hope you enjoyed the issue, despite this particular aspect.

[Celseon]

Issue 458, Option 2:

"All this talk about race is divisive," says Officer Kenny's attorney. "Try to put yourself in a policeman's shoes for a minute. Cops need to make quick decisions in hostile situations, and that means they have to use the professional instincts they learn while on patrol. The Bigtopian boy fitted the description of someone for whom there was an arrest warrant, and he was wielding a baguette - which on a dark night can easily be mistaken for a shotgun - in a threatening manner. This tragic mistake was an isolated incident, and Officer Kenny shouldn't be held responsible for a single error on the line of duty."

I think that's supposed to be "...fit the description...".

[Luna Amore]

It's an American/Canadian vs the rest of the world difference.

Weirdly, it was edited by an American...

[Sanctaria]

It's an American/Canadian vs the rest of the world difference.

Weirdly, it was edited by an American...

I ended up fixing it - fitted the description isn't correct on this side of the pond either

3 of us went over that with a fine tooth comb and still missed that!!

[Trotterdam]

3 of us went over that with a fine tooth comb and still missed that!!

You mean a "fine-toothed comb".

You don't comb your teeth, nor is there any distinction between combs that themselves have teeth and combs that do not have teeth (largely since the latter would not be combs). It's just that this particular comb's teeth are unusually fine.

[Sanctaria]

3 of us went over that with a fine tooth comb and still missed that!!

You mean a "fine-toothed comb".

You don't comb your teeth, nor is there any distinction between combs that themselves have teeth and combs that do not have teeth (largely since the latter would not be combs). It's just that this particular comb's teeth are unusually fine.

I speak Hiberno-English, it's perfectly acceptable to do whatever I want to the English language outside of the issues. Yes often means no here.

[Sedgistan]

Trotterdam, this is a thread for suggesting corrections to existing issues. Correcting people's posts here is a waste of our time.

[Outer Sparta]

Issue: Colosseus with Feet Of Clay
"The area is perfect for what I have in mind" exclaims Mr. Bump, showing you some incredibly detailed concept art."
After mind, there needs to be a comma pluged in.

[Sanctaria]

Issue: Colosseus with Feet Of Clay
"The area is perfect for what I have in mind" exclaims Mr. Bump, showing you some incredibly detailed concept art."
After mind, there needs to be a comma pluged in.

Thanks!

[Mesoland]

I think I've found a spelling mistake in the issue Out of the Royal Frying Pan.

"...only to elect an aggressively anti-a Meso leader."

Is the '-a' supposed to be after 'anti' or am I missing something?

[Phydios]

I think I've found a spelling mistake in the issue Out of the Royal Frying Pan.

"...only to elect an aggressively anti-a Meso leader."

Is the '-a' supposed to be after 'anti' or am I missing something?

Look in your Settings. My guess is that you have "a Meso" in one of your demonym custom fields. That makes the macro in that issue produce bad-looking output.
Edit: Yep, your nation's page reveals the error. Change the custom field.

The frighteningly efficient a Meso economy...

[Mesoland]

I think I've found a spelling mistake in the issue Out of the Royal Frying Pan.

"...only to elect an aggressively anti-a Meso leader."

Is the '-a' supposed to be after 'anti' or am I missing something?

Look in your Settings. My guess is that you have "a Meso" in one of your demonym custom fields. That makes the macro in that issue produce bad-looking output.
Edit: Yep, your nation's page reveals the error. Change the custom field.

The frighteningly efficient a Meso economy...

Huh. Thanks.

[Tharse]

Issue 462 implies that only young and attractive people get raped, which is simply not true. The text of the second option should be changed to remove references to age and attractiveness.

[Luna Amore]

Issue 462 implies that only young and attractive people get raped, which is simply not true. The text of the second option should be changed to remove references to age and attractiveness.

The proponent in one of the options says that. Option speakers are usually biased towards their way of thinking.

[Tharse]

Right. A woman who is described as middle-aged and unattractive complains that she will be raped because she is young and attractive, making it look like one of those "this person is clearly being disingenuous and doesn't have a point" options (which, don't get me wrong, are fine as options), making it seem like she really won't get raped because she is neither young nor attractive. The issue itself is reinforcing this belief.

It could actually be changed in one of two ways:

a) Make the woman actually be young and attractive. Then the argument is ridiculous specifically because it assumes that only young and attractive people get raped, not because she's complaining about something that won't happen.
b) Remove all references to age and attractiveness in the option. Now it's a slightly less ridiculous option, but there are plenty of other issue options that are slightly less ridicuous.

Either way, it won't be promoting misinformation about rape anymore.

[Christian Democrats]

Issue #457 -- In the description, I would hyphenate "well known," making it "well-known."

http://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2009/07/a-wellknown-problem-well-known-.html

[Sanctaria]

Issue #457 -- In the description, I would hyphenate "well known," making it "well-known."

http://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2009/07/a-wellknown-problem-well-known-.html

Only because I'm too lazy to do anything about it right now, it's fine. If I'm ever fixing anything else in that issue, I'll do it, but it's grand. It's correct.

[Luna Amore]

Issue #457 -- In the description, I would hyphenate "well known," making it "well-known."

http://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2009/07/a-wellknown-problem-well-known-.html

Only because I'm too lazy to do anything about it right now, it's fine. If I'm ever fixing anything else in that issue, I'll do it, but it's grand. It's correct.

I already changed it like a half hour ago. Mostly because I was the one that threw 'well known' in there.

[Sanctaria]

Only because I'm too lazy to do anything about it right now, it's fine. If I'm ever fixing anything else in that issue, I'll do it, but it's grand. It's correct.

I already changed it like a half hour ago. Mostly because I was the one that threw 'well known' in there.

You're just trying to one-up me

[Aibohphobia]

and needless I say attractive female

"I say" should be set off from the rest of the sentence, like so:

and needless, I say, attractive female

---

Wild eyed, eccentric

"Wild-eyed" bears a single meaning and should therefore be hyphenated.
"Wild-eyed" and "eccentric" refer to different attributes, so the comma is unnecessary:

Wild-eyed eccentric

---

The last option doesn't take into account leaders' names potentially starting with an article, so what I personally get is this:

dear the Dark Inquisitor

Another thing:

until, well forever

"Well" is a parenthetical word in this case and should be set off by commas:

until, well, forever

[Aculea]

Option 4 claims: It's been scientifically proven that more light means a happier, healthier population, reduces crime, and there's no need to worry about the night shift any more - you can work from dawn until, well forever!

None of these are proven. It's known that extended nighttime use of artificial light above a certain brightness triggers a number of health problems, one of which is breaking circadian rhythms. This leads to depression more often than mania, and mania usually occurs as a part of a manic depressive disorder. There's debate over whether street lights are bright enough to cause this effect, or only the indoor lights people have a lot more exposure to, but debate is the opposite of proven, and even the debate is slanted against the idea that the lights are healthy.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2627884/

It was believed for a long time that lights must reduce crime, but doubt has crept into that conclusion as well, meaning "proven" has degenerated again into "debate."

http://www.citylab.com/housing/2014/02/ ... bate/8359/

As a follow up to that, the last paragraph is rather rosy about the feeling of safety and sense of community street lights create, but you'll note there's no citation for it. That's because it, too, is under debate. I can't find the original research, but if you'll permit indirect evidence, I have an article about the importance of green spaces (with lots of places for thieves to hide) to the health and well being of a neighborhood's residents. Key point three is that barren spaces are frightening and green spaces are comforting. It's not called out in issue 462, but strategies to increase safety through street lights are usually coordinated with large, barren areas just underneath the street lights, in order to create more line of sight. Hence, street lights as implemented in many places have a frightening aspect.

https://www.planning.org/cityparks/brie ... rhoods.htm

It's true that exposure to light in excess of 3000 lux can improve the mood of people performing shift work, despite not preventing shift work disorder, but the discussion above should show that a street lamp is dimmer than normal indoor artificial lighting, which is around 250 lux.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9009500

The simple solution would be to replace "scientifically proven" with "everyone knows," but I think the best solution would be to find a better justification for this option.

[Sanctaria]

Issues are not realistic.