Mailbag: Giant Bomb Mailbag: Mikes, Malts, and the... Mintendo 64

The video seems unnaturally fast also - really strange.

The brightness changes are unbearable.

I don't know who Mike Rowe is.

Global Warming Must Be A Hoax Since We Still Have Snow.

Hi I'm from Exxon, I'd like to give you 10 million dollars to continue your global warming research.

He's the dude that did the Dirty Jobs show a couple of years back.

I like how there's a cut at 8:20. Everyone needed to take a moment to recover from seeing Mario Party.

Man Jan's beer looked really good there.

Yea this led me to read mike rowe’s facebook posts about climate change and NOPE.

Dude seems to think it’ll be fine living in a mad max wasteland as long as we’re plumbers, his brand of skepticism is rotten, you might doubt a theory on climate change but you still operate given the best data that is available.All the best data says that fossil fuel use is massively inflating the greenhouse effect.

I wonder how many photographs Ben ruined before digital cameras became the norm.....

Climate change deniers are perhaps the type of person I hate the most. It either means you follow "the line" and lie to yourself about an overwhelming scientific consensus in a topic. Or you have the capacity to believe in worldwide conspiracy theories. What a bummer because Mike Rowe had a very entertaining show that I watched the hell out of, and is right that we all don't need art degrees. Trade skills are good and we should promote them too. (Although yes in a perfect world I would love to see everyone who is able to go to a place of higher learning and be more exposed to critical thinking, reflection, and different people.)

The mailbag is great too.

the couch!

I believe the science, global warming is real and I'm doing everything I can to expedite the progress. I welcome the end.

I know this is just a bit but just to be clear Exon are the ones paying for the denial of global warming, not research of it.

IF you know it's a joke then why clarify that it's a joke? lol

At the risk of being a wet blanket its because I don't take for granted that someone would actually take what they said seriously. There are crazier ideas being defended in this comment section.

This site is getting ridiculous. Mike Rowe is a good man.

Mike Rowe is using the Mac defense.

@thallium: Brad suggesting to someone they might want to inform themselves about Mike Rowe's questionable opinions and statements is hardly hateful. It's called due diligence when you live in a world filled to the brim with fast talking, science twisting/dismissing, idiots that are shamelessly using politics to fight a culture war.

Mike Rowe's role has changed since he was just a seemingly likable TV Show host. He has since inserted himself into politics. He politicized himself. Brad did not politicize him. Brad was just making sure that before anyone puts that bobble-head on their desk to represent the Mike Rowe of old(the one most of us are familiar with), ya better take a look at the new Mike Rowe to see if he still jives with you.

How does that incite defensive comments? Are you trying to politicize something?

@archer88: i don’t know if you just meant to bring up a funny video (it’s hilarious btw) but macs arguments are presented in the same manner as the one on rowes facebook page. “I’m not a scientist, but...” is basically how he starts and he talks about how they used to think one thing and now scientists think another so it must all be krap!

I know art imitates life and all but now i’m sad. I’ll go rewatch some always sunny and take my mind off things. AP bio is pretty good too if you like always sunny!

I've been thinking about this often lately. I've followed these guys for like 12 years (since Gamespot) and have always enjoyed them, and I think if if I met them at a bar, we'd get along great. But if they started asking me about my views and opinions on "hot button issues" they'd write me off instantly. It's pretty fucking pathetic. And again, just to reiterate, I've followed these guys for 12 years and heard all of their views that they've been willing to share, and I still happily pay them for my premium subscription.

Try being a little more accepting of other people.

@thekramer89:

The imaginary GB crew is so unfair about the beliefs you didn't extrapolate on.

I don't really know what you're trying to say, but I'm not going to write a thesis about beliefs, and my opinions on other's beliefs on a comment. Please stop trying to pick fights.

- You can like somebody's work without liking them as a person.

- Public figures aren't normal people, their views and opinions transcend them and have real impacts on society as a whole. I don't care what Mike Rowe believes, what bothers me is him using his platform to peddle actually harmful pseudo science.

@garwalk: half of the stuff I see big global warming believers spout is just as unscientific. Like the thought that everyone thinks global warming is as/will be as bad as some of the more severe "models" of it's potential impacts. Actually, that is NOT a consensus and the only thing scientists seem to agree upon is that the earth is warming, and humanity has some impact on that.

So do cows. And most organisms on this planet. And the passage of time.

I'm not going to get into the scientific side of the debate because there are studies out there that will support anything. A few of em speak to consensus in a very misleading and dishonest way, for example. My point is mostly that the guy hasn't really done anything all that shitty and yet here we have the staff acting like he's a bad guy, an unsavory type who shouldn't even be spoken of. I get it when the staff make jokes loosely alluding to folks like Trump, there's at least something there to react to. Dude has said some gnarly stuff. Rowe is at worst some guy who believes in some nutty conspiracy, but doesn't really have some evil ambition behind it.

Doubting popular science, even if it legitimately is that, doesn't make someone an ass or a bad person or deserving of the kind of knee jerk response made by the staff. All too often the staff hears one person say "I hear x is unsavory" and immedietely even sometimes clearly ignorant of the context for that statement their reaction is "oh well I don't like that!" It comes off as people who are more interested in appearing progressive and liberal than they are in acknowledging the truth.

There was similar stuff when the beastcast had a lengthy discussion around various allegations in the gaming industry/community. They seemed to prefer to react to the social reaction to nasty behavior rather than the facts at hand.

You spoke about doing your own research and too often these guys make comments that clearly show they have no interest in speaking after gaining context and assembling facts.

Like every goddamn time guns or cops are mentioned as being problematic topics.

It's just frustrating because I see so many people in general these days speaking from a place of ignorance. Their opinion on cops comes from heavily edited .mic videos that fail to show or mention or communicate in any way the context revealing details widely available but never circulates. Their opinion on guns comes from a place of ignorance and emotion. Their opinion on race comes from Starbucks closing down for a day to discuss race relations because two guys were trespassed in a textbook, everyday manner.

Oh, and skeptics aren't the only ones who need to do their research. Believers do too. If you put the burden of proof only on those who oppose something, you get very lopsided discourse. What studies have you performed? Do you expect everyone with an opinion to form it based on independent research?

Mike Rowe isn't a scientist and very little of what he puts out into the worls has anything to do with global warming. Him expressing his opinion isn't immoral. He's not saying he thinks rape is okay, he's saying he doesn't believe the yarn being spun by media and society regarding the changing climate of the world. Even if he's dead wrong on the issue, it doesn't define him nor does it take away the very substantial amount of good he does and says.

I don't care nearly so much if he is right or if he is wrong. I care about the mentality the staff is increasingly fond of when such topics come up. I really don't want this place to turn into Polygon or to go the way of the McElroys.

@dpep56: He's a conservative. My guess is the staff gets most of their political reactions from their curated San Fran Twitter-sphere. And I doubt many people in that crowd are fans of white Christian gun owners who believe in hard work and grit and still think there is value in being a man's man.

I am so glad I got out of the liberal horde before it got as bad as it has, and managed to keep from slipping too far into the conservative horde in the transition. I just assume anyone who behaves that way does so because of conditioning. When all you see are people posting hate filled shit against Christian beliefs, fake racism, police "brutality" etc it probably rubs off pretty heavily.

@dr_mel: There are a lot of people who stand to gain basically nothing from doubting or denying global warming. Also most who fit in that camp just don't think it's the end of the world like the UN seems to think it is.

I don't think Rowe's livelihood is tied up in fossil fuels or anything like that, and he isn't exactly living some crazy lavish lifestyle either.

I don't think any of the staff members thought it through enough for that to even occur to them before they hopped on the bandwagon. I could be wrong about that though.

Speaking of financial motivation: a scientist who tells you scary shit is going to find quite a bit of work if people start believing them. Not saying that most or even any climate change types are like that, but they certainly could be and there are examples of it throughout history.

@fatalbanana: the reaction from the entire staff was clear. It wasn't "that guy said something dumb!"

The underlying message was pretty clear. It's not like his likeness was tossed in the trash or anything.

@elite49: it all depends on your views. He checks pretty much all the boxes for "people liberals will be offended by." White, Christian, works very hard to further education alternatives to college, supports the second ammendment, believes it's okay to be the stereotype of a manly man. The worst he's done is make fun of a pretentious "real men are -insert Huff Post stuff here-" article.

Also everyone forgets that he's kind of a mischievous type and takes some of his shit way too literally and they fail to pick up on the fact that sometimes he plays into their nonsense.

People disagree with him, whatever, but he's a good guy who does a ton of great charity work and lives life no more comfortably than the Bernies of the world. Definitely nothing worth the reaction made by the staff.

@eazeapeazea: as someone who's been on tinder and who has occasionally texted younger coworkers, it seems to be either a cause or a symptom dog.

How does an appreciation for beautiful language and lamenting eggplant inuendos make someone bad these days? Damn, I get not agreeing with him. But he's an idiot because he likes to read and write actual english? Appreciation of prose and poetry makes him an idiot? That seems harsh.

When someone substitutes words for a single tap of some dumb face, it kinda bums me out too. Guess I'm just a dumb idiot who grew up writing poetry and reading Tolkien and Tolstoy before the 6th grade. Guess I better start using that B emoji for... whatever reason that was a thing.

Maybe it's just because you don't get his shtick and don't get that a lot of the stuff people use to show how dumb he is is intentionally playing into those people's desire to see him be "an idiot" but that seems harsh for such a harmless opinion.

@nightguy as a puerto rican this gave me so many feelings thank u

oh also mike rowe is bad

@grondoth: my rights to own firearms, serve God, and speak my mind are in varying levels of decay. Yet it's okay for someone to refuse service to someone wearing a dumb red hat. After a business was successfully sued for refusing to take part in a ceremony that was against their beliefs.

The media is overwhelmingly in support of liberal ideals. Even Republican representatives can't deliver on true conservative values. This very site melts down half the time a thread or conversation goes up about owning a gun with people insulting and cursing someone just for owning a damn gun.

I'm happy with my life and have absolute confidence in protecting my way of life, but come on dude. Laws get passed to end gun violence that literally covers like half a percent of actual violence. Police are gaining unprecedented power to confiscate private property without following previous conventions that exist at best in a constitutional grey area. Banks are refusing to do business with companies in the firearm industry. Protests take over cities any time a non-white gunman gets shot by police.

Speaking out against this dumb crap isn't playing the victim it's standing up for what we believe is right.

If you go to a free speech rally because the government outlawed whispering, are you now just playing the part of the persecuted?

I used to live and work in Seattle. The number of times someone would say shit like "I hope you didn't vote for that idiot -blank-" or "I think all those gun owners should be -blanked-" was a huge part of why I got the hell away from there.

Never going to stop supporting liberty and reason in the country I love.

On this site, and in real life I've had people say some genuinely shitty things just for expressing conservative values. I've heard those values degraded without prompt.

People are assholes and this country has a real problem with liberty, and it comes primarily from the left side of the aisle, which unfortunately also includes half or more of the GOP.

@opusofthemagnum:

its*

So far the only comments we've had to delete in this thread are from people complaining about the comments in this thread.

One person posting a controversial opinion isn't as disruptive as the 20 people who then complain about the entire comment section. If you're only stopping by to say "these comments suck!" then don't; However bad you perceive this thread to be, you're making it worse.

If you see a post that you believe is in violation of the rules then flag it. If you see someone posting an opinion you don't like then either engage with it civilly or walk away.

Thanks.

@opusofthemagnum: you should run for president

@opusofthemagnum: I'm not a conservative or a religious guy, but I like the way you roll. Most people here don't realize that not everyone is living in the same bubble as they do. So I want to thank you for stating your opinions and views.

I appreciate the staff expressing their opinions. They shouldn't have to avoid their stances just to appease to people's ignorance.

I'm still confused what malt is. I've had many beers that claim to be very malty beers, but I can't remember what makes them taste different from normal beers

Brad was being kind toward Mike Rowe with what he said. Mike Rowe's a tool of the highest magnitude and a scary, scary person.

I can't believe people are defending the inventor of Mike Rowe Transactions.

@opusofthemagnum: Look, you believe what you believe and I respect your ability to come here and freely speak your truth. I disagree with 99% of things you say but I respect someone who is really upfront about who they are. I would like to have a genuine conversation with you on politics through private messaging so we don't run the risk of locking down these comment sections or getting comments deleted. I think you would come to notice you have more in common with a lefty like me than you think and not all of us are the caricatures I often see you paint us as. And I'm sure there is more to your identity then the standard conservative messages I see you echo on this website.

feel free to message me if you want to have that talk I doubt we will become best friends out of it but it would at least be interesting.

Sin & Punishment is a fantastic fucking game!

Bobbleheads are apolitical, and should all be thrown in the trash

"Mike Rowe is entitled to his actively harmful beliefs but Brad Shoemaker is not allowed his benign opinions! Boo!"

I'm actively amazed that super conservative people are on this site and surprised that the people who work here are not. How did you not figure it out?

Also the "SF LIBERALS" stuff is just ridiculous. I'm in Texas and I think Mike Rowe is a fucking tool. Is he a nice dude and a good man? Sure! Does he espouse actively harmful beliefs? Yes absolutely. Those things aren't mutually exclusive.

The fact that this blew up cause Brad said he didn't care for a dudes opinions is just insane to me.

Also,

MINTENDO