Good afternoon. Today’s Gene Pool is almost fully infected with Covid, but before you depart in eye-rolling boredom and scroll right down into the questions and answers and comments, please know that some interesting stuff happens below. Based on my unusual experiences with the virus, I will propound a unique theory that might encourage some vacillating people to get their damn shots, I will have a surprise interview with an international celebrity, and I will gleefully spank a highly respected conservative New York Times columnist right in the tuchus.
This business of Scott Adams and "Dilbert" again raises the pretty much intractable issue of whether we should separate the artist or creator from their work. Creatives are generally very good at describing life. Often not so good at living it. John Steinbeck was reportedly a sadist and serial womanizer. P.G. Wodehouse made regular broadcasts from Germany at the behest of the Nazis (he was naive and foolish, but the broadcasts were eventually not deemed treasonous). He also put Bertie Wooster in blackface, if you may remember. Then, of course, most recently there are "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling’s transphobic Twitter posts. Et sic porro. In Adams's case, the marketplace clearly made the decision. If, as Adams points out, 20% of the newspapers which carried "Dilbert" accounted for 80% of his income, then you can easily figure out these are papers in major urban areas. Areas certainly with large Black populations and no doubt, purely from a statistical standpoint, a significant number of non-African-Americans who took offense at Adams's racist rant. So, it really boils down to enlightened self-interest by the syndicate/newspapers, and Adams's publisher who dropped a forthcoming book. Although we might prefer to ascribe these reactions to altruism.
They can do the Wordle on more than one device until they discover the word by process of elimination and then do it one last time with a perfect score to brag with on social media...
Can you say "Incognito" or InPrivate" mode ? Can you say crossword solver ? The question is not how, my good fellow, but why ? I suppose if you have the vocabulary of an armadillo and wish to impress your friends or a FB group, then cheating is the way to go. Of course, the discouraging thing about something like 20% of Wordle players cheating, is that the US doesn't even rank in the top 10 internationally in solving the puzzles. What does that tell you about incompetence ? Or rather, being able to cheat competently.
This was in a question above: "Q: The conundrum for me about Scott Adams is he is always talking about how communication is important and, for example, how Trump, wiocaHa,..."
Yep, that was my question. And I've used "wiocaHa" since Gene proposed it. I'm amazed how few questions I get on that. I always wonder if it's because most people know it or people are afraid to ask because they're afraid they'll look dumb.
Re the possessive of "Adams": For a singular name ending in S, like Adams, you can show the possessive in either of two ways; different publications have different styles (i.e., arbitrary rules for consistency): Some publications, especially newspapers of yore, did it in the shortest way: Adams', as if it were a plural, like "books." But most have come around to adding " 's " for any singular name, even if it ends in S.
Which makes sense to me. So "Adams's vile comments."
Meanwhile, the person above who wrote " Adam's' " -- that's just a typo, right? You KNOW that you don't add an apostrophe into the middle of someone's name.
By the way, the PLURAL of Adams -- the Adams family, as it were -- is Adamses.
On Pence's "bravery"... I posit that regular people like us, if not EVERYONE, chooses to say no to illegal things every day. Like, not running red lights, not crossing in the middle the street, not tearing the little tag off the mattress. So, if EVERYONE makes those kinds of choices every day, does that make us all "Brave?" And if so, doesn't that make Pence just, average?
Pence has the feral instincts of an experienced politician. His job is to get elected and re-elected, period. Had Dan Quayle, with whom you may remember he consulted or, former federal judge, Michael Luttig, who advised him, given him even a snowball's chance in hell to block the certification --- cynical cuss that I am --- I believe he would have taken it. However, he apparently no longer believes in doing the "right thing," even if he had no choice before, by refusing to honor the 1/6 special counsel subpoena to testify.
I'm torn. He did the right thing when most of us expected that he'd do the wrong thing. He'd been doing the wrong thing for four years. Should we expect everyone to turn in a wallet full of cash? Yes. But whenever it happens we fall all over ourselves congratulating the person who did it. I go back and forth on this one.
Franken and Zelensky were mentioned as people who overcame comedy-related pasts to win public office, but nothing was said of Representative Fred Grandy of Iowa, TV's beloved Gopher from the classic situation comedy, The Love Boat.
Over the weekend, I had mild upper respiratory/headache. I have avoided a positive COVID test over the last three years (and being vaxed to the max), Mostly slept it off with a single Sudafed and by late afternoon wanted a Sunday paper from across the street. Sadly, while I am still a digital Post subscriber, the bulk of a New York Times reminded me that we are left with only one national Sunday paper. RIP WaPo Magazine, Arts, Sports, Lifestyle. Thanks for the Pool!
I think the more important story (than Dilbert), which you raised in your Sunday Gene Pool edition, is The Rasmussen Reports terrible survey about whether "it is OK to be white" in a context suggesting there could be no other purpose for the question than to create a factoid which could be used to arouse race hatred for political gain. Even before you wrote this, I sent an email to the Post reporters asking them about this, but have heard nothing from them.
Have you seen anyone else in the media picking this up? If not, is there an expose you can write that will get a wider audience than the Gene Pool?
Phillip Bump (I think) wrote a WaPo article on this very subject. Eugene Robinson also tore into Adams and the poll in his op-ed published on line yesterday (27 Feb)
And the thing is, Rasmussen didn't ask if people thought it was okay to be White. They asked for a yes/no response to the statement, “It’s okay to be White.” A significant difference.
Talk about a coincidence. No sooner do you let us know of your mild COVID symptoms, then I coin the phrase "Immaculate Reception" to cover just such a phenomenon. Wow! And btw --- you may want to write the doubtable Mr. Stephens back to inform him that whether or not you have ideological blinders on --- when you talk about a mask mandate, you are, in fact, talking about the benefits of a mask. But that does tend to deflect from his misguided point.
'He also once said it was an outrage that he pays for dinner, opens the doors for her, and then the woman alone “controls access to sex.”'
Ridiculous. I can imagine any number of items found about the house with which Adams is free to go fuck himself.
This business of Scott Adams and "Dilbert" again raises the pretty much intractable issue of whether we should separate the artist or creator from their work. Creatives are generally very good at describing life. Often not so good at living it. John Steinbeck was reportedly a sadist and serial womanizer. P.G. Wodehouse made regular broadcasts from Germany at the behest of the Nazis (he was naive and foolish, but the broadcasts were eventually not deemed treasonous). He also put Bertie Wooster in blackface, if you may remember. Then, of course, most recently there are "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling’s transphobic Twitter posts. Et sic porro. In Adams's case, the marketplace clearly made the decision. If, as Adams points out, 20% of the newspapers which carried "Dilbert" accounted for 80% of his income, then you can easily figure out these are papers in major urban areas. Areas certainly with large Black populations and no doubt, purely from a statistical standpoint, a significant number of non-African-Americans who took offense at Adams's racist rant. So, it really boils down to enlightened self-interest by the syndicate/newspapers, and Adams's publisher who dropped a forthcoming book. Although we might prefer to ascribe these reactions to altruism.
How does one cheat at Wordle? The entire point of that game is its simplicity and straightforwardness.
They can do the Wordle on more than one device until they discover the word by process of elimination and then do it one last time with a perfect score to brag with on social media...
Can you say "Incognito" or InPrivate" mode ? Can you say crossword solver ? The question is not how, my good fellow, but why ? I suppose if you have the vocabulary of an armadillo and wish to impress your friends or a FB group, then cheating is the way to go. Of course, the discouraging thing about something like 20% of Wordle players cheating, is that the US doesn't even rank in the top 10 internationally in solving the puzzles. What does that tell you about incompetence ? Or rather, being able to cheat competently.
I don't know. On twitter I block every single person who posts their wordle scores.
This was in a question above: "Q: The conundrum for me about Scott Adams is he is always talking about how communication is important and, for example, how Trump, wiocaHa,..."
What does "wiocaHa" mean here?
Yep, that was my question. And I've used "wiocaHa" since Gene proposed it. I'm amazed how few questions I get on that. I always wonder if it's because most people know it or people are afraid to ask because they're afraid they'll look dumb.
"who is, of course, a Huge a-hole." During the 2016 election, Gene suggested that Trump should always be identified this way.
Thanks!
I am sharing the mask video widely. Thank you. I am relieved the "scientist" didn't have the spray can blow up in his hands.
I'm sharing the video too.
Re the possessive of "Adams": For a singular name ending in S, like Adams, you can show the possessive in either of two ways; different publications have different styles (i.e., arbitrary rules for consistency): Some publications, especially newspapers of yore, did it in the shortest way: Adams', as if it were a plural, like "books." But most have come around to adding " 's " for any singular name, even if it ends in S.
Which makes sense to me. So "Adams's vile comments."
Meanwhile, the person above who wrote " Adam's' " -- that's just a typo, right? You KNOW that you don't add an apostrophe into the middle of someone's name.
By the way, the PLURAL of Adams -- the Adams family, as it were -- is Adamses.
Thanks for the clarification, Pat.
Is the demo with the face masks and sprays invalidated because the guy was drinking a LITE beer? C’mon, you gotta’ have some standards.
On Pence's "bravery"... I posit that regular people like us, if not EVERYONE, chooses to say no to illegal things every day. Like, not running red lights, not crossing in the middle the street, not tearing the little tag off the mattress. So, if EVERYONE makes those kinds of choices every day, does that make us all "Brave?" And if so, doesn't that make Pence just, average?
Pence has the feral instincts of an experienced politician. His job is to get elected and re-elected, period. Had Dan Quayle, with whom you may remember he consulted or, former federal judge, Michael Luttig, who advised him, given him even a snowball's chance in hell to block the certification --- cynical cuss that I am --- I believe he would have taken it. However, he apparently no longer believes in doing the "right thing," even if he had no choice before, by refusing to honor the 1/6 special counsel subpoena to testify.
I'm torn. He did the right thing when most of us expected that he'd do the wrong thing. He'd been doing the wrong thing for four years. Should we expect everyone to turn in a wallet full of cash? Yes. But whenever it happens we fall all over ourselves congratulating the person who did it. I go back and forth on this one.
Also, when you're about to cross in the middle of the street, you don't say to yourself, "This might cost me a chance at the Presidency . . ."
Maybe YOU don't.
I knew my question about submitting questions would be of strategic value... that's why I sent it. I can read between the lines. HA!
Franken and Zelensky were mentioned as people who overcame comedy-related pasts to win public office, but nothing was said of Representative Fred Grandy of Iowa, TV's beloved Gopher from the classic situation comedy, The Love Boat.
Does Sonny Bono count as a sometimes comedian?
No! He was as funny as an aneurysm.
hahahahaha. [Laughing at him doesn't count.]
Over the weekend, I had mild upper respiratory/headache. I have avoided a positive COVID test over the last three years (and being vaxed to the max), Mostly slept it off with a single Sudafed and by late afternoon wanted a Sunday paper from across the street. Sadly, while I am still a digital Post subscriber, the bulk of a New York Times reminded me that we are left with only one national Sunday paper. RIP WaPo Magazine, Arts, Sports, Lifestyle. Thanks for the Pool!
Wordle Cheaters? What the hell is a wordle cheater?
In my mind, you use a source other than your brain. Google counts
Maybe you do it twice, so on second try you get it in one? Hi, bro.
Once you do it, it doesn't let you do it again. Although, maybe there's a way to do it on some other platform?
You could do it on your computer and then your phone, say.
Not on MY phone: I have an old-time flip phone with no data.
Gruntled also complained in the Petri chat.
I think the more important story (than Dilbert), which you raised in your Sunday Gene Pool edition, is The Rasmussen Reports terrible survey about whether "it is OK to be white" in a context suggesting there could be no other purpose for the question than to create a factoid which could be used to arouse race hatred for political gain. Even before you wrote this, I sent an email to the Post reporters asking them about this, but have heard nothing from them.
Have you seen anyone else in the media picking this up? If not, is there an expose you can write that will get a wider audience than the Gene Pool?
Phillip Bump (I think) wrote a WaPo article on this very subject. Eugene Robinson also tore into Adams and the poll in his op-ed published on line yesterday (27 Feb)
And the thing is, Rasmussen didn't ask if people thought it was okay to be White. They asked for a yes/no response to the statement, “It’s okay to be White.” A significant difference.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/02/28/rasmussen-poll-scott-adams-dilbert/
Excellent. Thank you Pat!
As you might be able to tell, I'm on the West Coast, looking at the Gene Pool before reading today's Post.
Talk about a coincidence. No sooner do you let us know of your mild COVID symptoms, then I coin the phrase "Immaculate Reception" to cover just such a phenomenon. Wow! And btw --- you may want to write the doubtable Mr. Stephens back to inform him that whether or not you have ideological blinders on --- when you talk about a mask mandate, you are, in fact, talking about the benefits of a mask. But that does tend to deflect from his misguided point.
Happy birthday, Nan!
Happy birthday, Tiger, meant to be said in a quiet and surreptitious manner!
Gorgeous, Nan. I've been following your Invitational career with admiration for years.
Sing the fucking shit out of this, Nan! :)