Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

No Justins, No Peace

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

This fight is for everything.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Let there be snark.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: PopCult Celebrity

Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: PopCult Celebrity

by | 135 Comments

This post is in: ,

ETA, per TPM (h/t multiple commentors):

… But for QAnon followers, the second half of the caption speaks to a central narrative in the conspiracy theory, which is based on years of cryptic online posts from an anonymous self-purported insider whose legion of fans pore over the posts like Talmudic scholars.

Trump, the theory posits, is engaged in a behind-the-scenes war against evil forces intent on his destruction. The unknown “Q” has used the phrase in several unsigned, largely inscrutable missives.
The phrase is meant to convey that mass arrests and a “great awakening” are inevitable no matter what the “deep state” or mainstream media do, said Travis View, co-host of the “QAnon Anonymous” podcast.

“It’s very fatalist,” View said…

So I guess the rest of us are left hoping for Heaven’s Gate, as opposed to Jonestown, climax for the cultists.
 

You have been warned…

Reader Interactions

135Comments

  2. 2.

    The Dangerman

    Fiddler on the Roofies?

    ETA: I mean, how else does he miss the Nero thing other than incapacitated?

  5. 5.

    Jerzy Russian

    I am curious (but not curious enough to click on any links):  is/was Scavino making fun of Trump (something along the lines of Nero fiddled while Rome burned) and Trump is/was too stupid to know?

  6. 6.

    dmsilev

    @Jerzy Russian: Scavino is Trump’s social-media director, so he’s more likely to be flattering Trump than undercutting him.

    I’ve seen some people speculating that this is a reference to more QAnon lunacy.

  8. 8.

    Morzer

    Maybe Grimes is trying to tell us that Elon Musk is a self-aggrandizing poseur with a self-destructive streak that’s going to lead him to ignominious failure?  Doesn’t seem like news to me, but maybe she doesn’t spend much time on social media…

  9. 9.

    catclub

    @Jerzy Russian: Actually Scavino was making a shout-out to QAnon with the ‘nobody knows what comes next’ and probably did not think of Rome and nero, either.

  13. 13.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Sister and husband still in Morocco. Her kids remain thoroughly unhappy with their decision and as I said to her in a conversation the day before they left: “Next Wednesday is gonna look a lot different from today.”

    At least you’re home.

  15. 15.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    The Senate had an opportunity to remove this President from office, and every Republican but one declined.

    They have blood on their hands. McConnell will probably lose his seat over this in November, if he doesn’t become infected and die first

  17. 17.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @catclub:

    I’m so glad the WH communications director is making shout-outs on Twitter to conspiracy cults /s

  18. 18.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    I’ll probably regret asking this, but what is Q-Anon’s take on COVID-19, anyway? Chinese bioweapon escaped from a lab?

  19. 19.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jerzy Russian: No he wasn’t. The bottom part of Scavino’s meme, “nothing can stop what’s coming” is a QAnon phrase referencing the “coming storm” that Q has foretold. That storm is when the President turns Attorney General Barr loose to arrest the Clintons, the Obamas, Soros, the Romneys (minus Rona), everyone at NBC/MSNBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, PBS, The NY Times, WaPo, Comey, McCabe, Brennan, Clapper, Pelosi, all the Democrats in the House and Senate, Huma Abedin, all the NeverTrumpers, a bunch of other people, and most likely my boss and I for attempting to overthrow his administration beginning a year before he was ever elected, and for being involved in a Deep State led Satanic pedophile and child trafficking ring and one world government conspiracy.

    Scavino spends a lot of time interacting with the Chan kiddies, as well as the loons at Gab, Q twitter and /k/ (which is sort of a Q version of 4Chan), r/TheDonald, etc. This is who this message was for. It’s coded so that everyone who doesn’t pay attention to this bullshit are all like “what the hell does that mean” and the people it was really intended for have their stupid delusion confirmed that the President is actually in on their secret and working to bring it to fruition. The President retweeting it, which may have actually been Scavino who also tweets from the President’s personal account, is further confirmation that the President is in on it.

  21. 21.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    The Hoarse Whisperer @HoarseWisperer
    Wouldn’t suck to have a president who was overprepared right now. Now would it, Chuck Todd?

  22. 22.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Adam L Silverman:

    That storm is when the President turns Attorney General Barr loose to arrest the Clintons, the Obamas, Soros, the Romneys (minus Rona), everyone at NBC/MSNBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, PBS, The NY Times, WaPo, Comey, McCabe, Brennan, Clapper, Pelosi, all the Democrats in the House and Senate, Huma Abedin, all the NeverTrumpers, a bunch of other people, and most likely my boss and I for attempting to overthrow his administration beginning a year before he was ever elected, and for being involved in a Deep State led Satanic pedophile and child trafficking ring and one world government conspiracy.

    Do these Q-Anon nutcases actually understand that we all outnumber them and that we have agency too?

  26. 26.

    Major Major Major Major

    Thread

  28. 28.

    Martin

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Oh, that is way the fuck too mainstream for them.

    I think they believe it’s more of a Rapture kind of thing. That the deep state deliberately released it, but Trumps people are buying up all of the emergency supplies and will invite the QAnoners into their secret bunkers while we all perish on the outside. They also say that QAnoners should drink bleach to protect from it, so y’know.

    I’m still of the view QAnon is just a couple of anarchists grifting the Trump folks for T-shirt sales.

  32. 32.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I don’t know how to feel about that hand sanitizer produced by NYS prisoners.

    However, I am impressed with Cuomo’s handling of this. I hope this makes you feel a tad better living in NYC

  33. 33.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Water finds its own level, my old man used to say

    Aaron [email protected]
    Here’s Glenn Greenwald on Tucker Carlson’s show accusing Obama of pulling strings behind the scenes to impose “creepy-like discipline” in getting Democrats to “snap into line” behind Biden.

  35. 35.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I am actually at my deep ocean lair for the duration.

    I basically keep two weeks worth of emergency supplies because of hurricane season. And since I didn’t have to use any last year, I have two weeks worth of bottled water. I’ve got enough non perishable food too. And if worse comes to worse I’ve got the extra special, I’ve run out of everything else, no sugar added protein pudding (blech!). I picked up a few things over the past several days just to make sure I had it. My field medic kit is stocked as I’ve never had to use it. I’ve got about three months of dog food. And a month of doggie treats. I just renewed my prescriptions, so I’ve got between 60 and 90 days of that stuff. And since I work from home, unless I’m needed somewhere on site, I basically only go out to the store or the gym. And if this gets really bad, I can just hook my TRX up at home. I’m about as prepared as I can be.

  37. 37.

    Fair Economist

    @Adam L Silverman:

    referencing the “coming storm” that Q has foretold.

    And been wrong, and foretold again, and been wrong and… It’s like the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Unfortunately, that seems to include surviving in spite of being wrong on every possible prediction.

  38. 38.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Martin:

    Oh I’m sure “Q” is a fraud. But that’s insane. At least the bioweapon conspiracy is semi-plausible (in the sense that such a thing is actually possible).

    I’ve heard that China has been trying to deny that the virus originated from within their borders. Which is weird. We know it did. We know exactly where it came from. Why deny it now?

    NVM: the CCP objects to COVID being labeled “Wuhan virus” or “Chinese virus” which is fair enough

  39. 39.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Martin: I don’t know, those knuckleheads don’t make much sense to the Elders, so I have no official statement on the matter from our glorious leader, the Supreme Babka, at this time.

  43. 43.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Fair Economist: Millerites. Started off peacefully. Prophecy failed and they morphed into the Seventh Day Adventist. That ultimately couldn’t contain some of the extremists who split off into a branch sect led by a guy named David. You’ll know them as the Branch Davidians. And we know how that ended.

  46. 46.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Chinese influence operations are subtle. It is intended partially for internal consumption, partially for use in the Belt and Road Initiative. Which is why this influence operation blames it on the US and our maple lackeys the Canadians.

  49. 49.

    Morzer

    @Major Major Major Major: I’ll take minimal Chinese food safety standards and low air quality plus a government trying to stop any discussion of the issue and so compromising people’s ability to understand and react.

  50. 50.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I’m glad to hear that. I have stocked up some with canned foods, a bag of pasta, a package of 16 fruit cups, a package of 24 ramen noodle packages and frozen meats. I also have a case or two of bottled water, but I think the utilities should still be working fine. Even in Wuhan, the water still flowed

    I am worried about my older family. It’s going to be impossible for me to avoid being infected given the nature of my job (cashier) and nursing school. I just hope my 85 y/o grandmother can be safely isolated for a year. She lives alone.

    On top of that, my 58 y/o father is overweight, takes statins for cholesterol, has hypertension, etc. Even younger people are at higher risk. There’s a 32 y/o doctor in NJ who is infected who has no underlying conditions and he says he’s getting worse and worse.

    Oh and my cat is diabetic. What’s going to happen to insulin supply. Cat food is shipped via Amazon too and he only can tolerate canned Turkey and Rice

    This virus is upending everything

  51. 51.

    CaseyL

    @Adam L Silverman: And you live…where exactly? (*gets car keys*)

    I’m good for the rest of this week, but will need to go out at that point.

    Also today was my first day working from home, and I was busier than I usually am at the office!

    Though a bit of that was trying to get the remote access thing working correctly on my laptop.  And then there were the merry hours spent trying to get web-based Outlook to not suck donkey balls, then giving up and installing MS Office onto my computer so I have a desktop version of Outlook rather than the web-based, which (did I mention this?) sucks donkey balls.

    So, I spent a lot of the day emailing IT, then talking to IT, and finally letting IT take control of my computer.

  52. 52.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    (((Yair Rosenberg))) @ Yair_Rosenber
    Basically every wave of late California ballots has been more and more favorable to Biden, and Bernie actually got very lucky that no one pays attention to the count after primary night, or his collapse there from his polling would have been a big story.

  54. 54.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I do have to be honest, if I was designing a bioweapon, I’d want something similar to COVID-19. It’s mild in the majority of cases and symptoms are often indistinguishable from the flu/cold. It’s perfect for that. However, this is probably a naturally occurring disease of zoonotic origin. Though it is technically man-made; the Chinese have set up the conditions for creating deadly zoonotic diseases

  55. 55.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Major Major Major Major: I think the explanation that we have is the most plausible one as it is in line with how every other coronavirus seems to have developed. It started in wild animals, mutated so it could jump species, mutated again so it could jump species into humans, who got it from contact with infected animals in a wet market in Wuhan. Unless the PRC had identified the disease early and had it in a lab for testing and someone broke containment, I don’t think that the actual components of China’s influence operation are telling us very much other than they’re trying to shift the blame to the Maple Peril of the North!

  56. 56.

    L85NJGT

    The count continues to roll:

    Biden has picked up three points since election night, and booked 2 more California delegates today.

    Biden spent all of $4000 in CA television ads. There is no conspiracy, the man ain’t keeping him down, and far too many sane progressives are still giving Bernie a pass. He and his campaign fucked a clear path to the nomination straight into the ground.

  57. 57.

    Morzer

    @Major Major Major Major: Compromised immune systems, for one thing. We aren’t talking about a phenomenon with one cause or where all the causes directly link to each other.  Lots of factors have to come together to make something like the coronavirus as potent as it has been.

  58. 58.

    dmsilev

    @Martin: My campus just sent out this notice:

    Earlier today, a Caltech graduate student was tested for COVID-19 by the Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD). The student, who has exhibited mild symptoms, is currently self-isolating in off-campus housing pending test results.

    At this time, there are no confirmed cases on the Caltech campus, and no other community members are undergoing testing.

    As soon as we learn the outcome of the testing, we will inform you of the results and of any campus impact. In collaboration with and under the guidance of PPHD, we are continuing to operate within the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s established guidance for campus activities.

    We’re not closed so far, but I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time and probably not much time at that.

  59. 59.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): As long as you all take appropriate sanitizing actions before and during visits with your grandmother, she should be fine.

    I can’t really speak to your father or that doctor’s conditions as I’m not that kind of doctor.

    As for your cat, see if you can find an alternative source of her food, order some extra if you can afford it, and talk to your veterinarian about the insulin.

  60. 60.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Okay, people, this may sound a little crazy at first but bear with me…. I think there is a real possibility that the Italian reaction to this is completely over the top in order to distract from the Italian side’s dismal performance in the Six Nations Tournament. Now I am not saying that they engineered the whole crisis and released a virus in various parts of the world in order to distract from a poor rugby result. Even I am not that crazy – they’d only do that over a poor footie performance. But closing down the country for a few months? I wouldn’t put it past them.

    PS. I am not a crackpot.

  63. 63.

    Morzer

    @Adam L Silverman: Right. China/Xi is much more concerned with not looking like the bad guy (especially after the Hong Kong clusterfuck) than it is with anything else. They also have a domestic population that is not too happy with the ways things have gone recently.  Most of the blame-shifting is probably aimed at them, rather than a wider world.

  65. 65.

    Eolirin

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Weapons are only really useful if they can be directed at targets. This is so uncontrollable and indiscriminate that it’d only be useful if the goal is messing up humanity in general.

    Are you secretly a robot planning a revolution?

  67. 67.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: I texted a friend earlier today that apparently it is the Five Nations Tournament now. The first weekend of play, during the game, the commenters, who are, of course, not Italian, were suggesting that perhaps Italy should be dropped from the tournament after this year and a more competitive nation invited to replace them.

  69. 69.

    Morzer

    @Omnes Omnibus: I would very much like to subscribe to your weed deal… er… newsletter.  Italy have been pretty much awful in the Six Nations every year.  So it was, so it is and, apparently, so it always shall be.

  70. 70.

    Adam L Silverman

    And on that note to O2, I’m going to go watch one of the two Six Nations games they actually played this weekend as I haven’t had a chance to watch either of them yet. So NO SPOILERS!

  72. 72.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Adam L Silverman:

    As long as you all take appropriate sanitizing actions before and during visits with your grandmother, she should be fine.

    Good advice, but it does primarily spread through droplets. I have 30 surgical-grade dust face masks. I reserved them for my household if/when we get sick to cut down on transmission if/when having to leave the house.

    I’m considering leaving a box of 10 at her house for any relatives to put on just in case

  73. 73.

    Morzer

    @Adam L Silverman: People have been muttering about dropping Italy for several years now.  I think the mutterers intensified their campaign when Japan did so well in the World Cup, while Italy remained a turkey-shoot for the other teams.

  75. 75.

    Martin

    @dmsilev: You guys can probably operate for quite a spell. You’re smaller than most high schools in student population, and your largest classes are about that size as well.

    It’s our 400+ enrollment classes that really terrify us.

  82. 82.

    Fair Economist

    @Adam L Silverman: That would be a very plausible future course for QAnon. Perhaps not even that future given how many times they’ve already been wrong.

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    There’s a 32 y/o doctor in NJ who is infected who has no underlying conditions and he says he’s getting worse and worse.

    One thing that the media has not reported at all is that “mild” cases are not generally mild. It means, roughly “can survive without supplemental oxygen”. Many “mild” cases report being so weak they can barely stand up for week or more. He may well have a “mild” case.

    @Adam L Silverman:

    who got it from contact with infected animals in a wet market in Wuhan.

    Sequencing and the likely ancestral state are suggesting (though not proving) that it did not hop at the market itself but a little bit earlier, with the market being its first superspreading event. My hypothesis is that the actual hop happened in a smuggler with business at the market. Extended hypothesis is that is why Iran got it so bad – Iran is a major player in smuggling animals to China. It might have gotten the virus early.

  83. 83.

    Martin

    Sacramento just stopped 14 day quarantines. You only need to quarantine if you test positive.

    It’s endemic there. Changing strategy.

  85. 85.

    Adam L Silverman

    @frosty: It’ll be the last thing I do. I have a clean 40 gallon barrel that I’ll fill from the garden hose if it comes to that.

  88. 88.

    Martin

    And Apple is giving employees, including hourly, unlimited paid sick leave if they need to quarantine/get sick.

    Gauntlet thrown down. Let’s see who else is ready to step up.

  89. 89.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Morzer: The thing with the Italian national team is that the pieces are clearly there, but the sum doesn’t exceed the parts. This may be the result of coaching or something else, but as we’ve seen with Wasps over the past three weeks, which had the same problem in the English Premier League. Then Dai Young stepped aside as director of rugby for what has been described as personal reasons, his senior coach stepped in as acting, and it’s like watching two different teams.

  90. 90.

    frosty

    @CaseyL: So, I spent a lot of the day emailing IT, then talking to IT, and finally letting IT take control of my computer.

    And in my line of work, none of it billable,

  94. 94.

    Fair Economist

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): This is certainly not a designed bioweapon. It is *extremely* obviously evolved, with hundreds of irrelevant changes, a spike protein that shouldn’t work according to theory, and 2 proteins under positive selection we don’t understand at all.

    What worries me is that this provides a framework for a bioweapon by a nihilist group. Not useful for a normal government but until a vaccine if available anybody could cause tremendous damage by a planned release. Even after a vaccine is out a group with access to gene engineering could probably create a resistant strain and then we’re back to a potential for powerful bioterrorism.

  97. 97.

    L85NJGT

    The Morandi replacement bridge will be open before the report on the cause of the former bridge’s collapse is released.

  99. 99.

    sfinny

    @Major Major Major Major: I have received several emails from my legislators in Westchester County that are informative and provide good information.  Which is somewhat comforting.  Then again, my neighbor is a nurse for the county and she called me to make sure I was staying at home because I am immunocompromised.

  101. 101.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Major Major Major Major:

    This goes for everyone here, but I want to say I deeply value the friendship (at least I hope) I’ve built here with you. You’ve always been very kind to me, not to mention patient. I hope you and your husband as well as your folks stay safe

  104. 104.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    John Harwood@JohnJHarwood
    new Quinnipiac national poll on prospective Trump vs Biden matchup:
    white men Trump 58%, Biden 34%
    everyone else Biden 60%, Trump 32%

    whenever I see numbers like this, I wish they gave a geographic breakdown

  105. 105.

    A Ghost to Most

    Well that sucks. Son fell off the wagon big time, turned nasty to the point we had to call the cops to haul him off for a psych hold. Maybe a ride in a cop car will open his eyes. Alcohol sucks.

  107. 107.

    CaseyL

    @frosty:  Well, my IT folks are part of the department, and therefore UW employees. Salaried. And we were working during regular office hours, though both of us were working from home, which I thought was kind of funny.

    What kind of work do you do that you wouldn’t bill for the tech help? The one time I worked with a truly outside contractor (way back when, helping me set up a WordPress blog for work) he did charge by the hour, including consults with me.

  109. 109.

    Redshift

    Usually I have the sense not to respond to random people on Twitter, but for some reason I decided to try to disabuse a Berner of the idea that they’re the only activists on the Dem side.

    Basically, they were trying to pivot from “the billionaire establishment saved Biden”/”but Biden spent hardly anything, and only had a few campaign offices,” by claimiing that winning without offices and a ground game meant “they” were telling activists “haha suckers you thought you would make something happen.”

    I was nice, because I want people to be activists. I asked who were “they”, and how did “they” make all those people vote for Biden? I talked about how I love being involved in campaigns, but there’s plenty of poli sci research showing that it doesn’t have much effect. So if you’re going to be an activist, you have to accept that you’re working for those close races where it can make the difference.

    No response, sigh.

  110. 110.

    Yutsano

    @Martin:  There is talk in the federal government that if an employee gets the virus they can take unlimited administrative leave. I’m uncertain if this is IRS specific or if it’s government wide. But it’s out there right now.

  112. 112.

    frosty

    @CaseyL: Consulting engineering. I get paid, but it’s overhead and I can’t bill any clients. I’ve got a billable target to hit and in some cases, I work OT so I can hit the target and write off the overhead, unpaid.

    Same as lawyers, really.

    ETA: IT help works for the company, they get paid for 40, but not for OT. I’m one of the grunts that brings in the revenue to support IT, HR, accounting, and the rest of the overhead.

    ETA2 Or was one of the grunts, since I just retired and went to intermittent part time if any of my clients need me.

  114. 114.

    L85NJGT

    Pence was wearing a black suit jacket and red, white & blue tie. Trump was wearing a Mountain Dew yellow tie.

    Tan suit? Really??

  117. 117.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @A Ghost to Most: Ouch, I’m so sorry to hear that. Alcoholism is the devil. I hope treatment helps and that you are doing OK and have the resources to take care of yourself as well as him.

  119. 119.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @L85NJGT: Those whom the gods would destroy they first make nasty & arrogant. (A proposed epitaph for the 2020 Sanders campaign.)

  127. 127.

    Morzer

    A nice bit of news for Fightin’ Mad Joey B. :

    https://www.newsweek.com/republican-mayor-drops-donald-trump-joe-biden-key-swing-state-michigan-1491355

    With Tuesday’s Democratic primaries hours away, former Vice President Joe Biden has found an unexpected supporter in Sterling Heights, Michigan Mayor Michael Taylor, a Republican.

    “Since announcing my endorsement of Joe Biden I have received an outpouring of encouraging messages and believe even more strongly that Joe Biden is the candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in Macomb County and the State of Michigan,” Taylor said in a statement to Newsweek on Monday.

    While Taylor, a life-long Republican, voted for President Donald Trump in 2016, he said he would cast his ballot for Biden this year because Trump is “deranged.”

  132. 132.

    Tony Jay

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    Well he did marry Talulah Riley (twice?), so I guess slender, pale brunettes are his type.

    Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Apparently their type is heavily worked-on megalomaniac billionaires so everyone got lucky.

  133. 133.

    Anne Laurie

    @NotMax: Real rebel cells use a Gestetner.

    Back when I was joint owner of both an A.B. Dick mimeograph machine *and* a spirit duplicator (Ditto) machine, we considered Gestetners as a subcategory of mimeos.

    And knew that real rebels used Ditto, because you can’t get more than a hundred or so readable copies from even the best waxed master, so ditto’d manifestos are much more exclusive than their mimeo’d counterparts.

    (Also, it was possible to get masters in colors other than the common purple — red, green, blue, and the rare cherished yellow — so ditto artists had that much more scope.)

  135. 135.

    J R in WV

    I always loved Big Bang Theory, mostly. They, like all comic show biz, were over the top sometimes, but that’s what the show was all about, crazy smart people going over the top. Sorry it wasn’t to your taste, Goku.

    As an IT geek and science hobby person, I thought it was pretty accurate. Once I was attempting to manage a programming shop, that personal history helped me realize just how accurate TBBT was as a photo of American science geeks. My employees, brilliant, mostly, but no more common sense than an ass in the pasture.

    One guy developed a system for his client group, and asked me to ask the networking guys to give his test server under his desk access through the firewall. I asked him to migrate his new system to a production server, not to try to make his test server into a production server. He was so offended he found a new job… he was one of the more sane developers!

    Regarding the BBC piece about spaghetti trees, NPR once did an excellent April 1 story about the Fond du Lac in Wisconsin being rapidly depleted by the adoption of fondue eating by large numbers of people. It made a lot of sense if you didn’t know how fondue was made!  ;-)

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