Is not the central theme of The Straight Dope and its message board the locating of rather obscure information, not easily findable elsewhere, which information is typically in areas of knowledge that are quite practically inapplicable to important issues of the participants’ lives or the welfare of their society? As an aside, this sort of endeavor is, of course, most congenial to operations depending on commercial advertising and the like, because it tends to avoid serious controversy and legal battles.
Involvement here in other types of questions, I have noted, tends to ruffle administrative feathers, and can get the resident politically correct gender to powering up its pervasive network infrastructure.
A (self-labeled ‘humble’) administrator here, not generally to be condemned, has taken issue with the above thesis of mine. In fact, that is why this post does not appear in About This Message Board. Well, it’s actually not just “about this message board;” it’s about the whole Straight Dope thing. I’ll also ask this question directly of His Most Straightest Essence, not really expecting an answer.
Ray
“The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless.” – Steven Weinberg, Physicist
Here I’m thinking that it’s all “Test – Do Not Open” threads and TubaDiva snoozin’ down at the ol’ Fishing Hole, line tied to her toe and bobbin’ in the pond, straw hat over her eyes…yet it’s a MAELSTROM of anti-medical and anti-legal ferment! Melin and Majormd circling with their claws out! At any monent Nano may be taking aim at Bankers, and Bootmakers, and Engineers, and Certified Public Accountants, and – dare I say it – even EDITORS?
Perhaps you missed NanoByte’s earlier posts where he explained how police create crimes by enforcing laws. Granted, I’m summarizing a bit from his original ten thousand word series of posts which was spread out over at least three seperate threads, several dozen posts, and was illustrated with graphs.
Ray;
Ain’t retirement a wonderful thing? You can get stoned all you want, and can’t nobody say nuthin’ 'bout 'nuthin.
I’m looking forward to it.
Peace,
mangeorge
I only know two things;
I know what I need to know
And
I know what I want to know
Mangeorge, 2000
A school of sharks who haven’t gotten their daily deference has been seen circling in these waters. Can it be we have found the true active chemical in The Straight Dope?
Do not feed the sharks what they’re after!
Repeat,. . .oh, throw them a dead rat, or even a little of your cat’s tunafish once in awhile. . .what the hell.
Jezus… my first response to this post was “huh”? But since I noticed aha responded in kind, I felt that my posting was redundant. And then, I made a mistake! I clicked on the link (just one click too!) and read about poor Ray’s double click problem… and the tantrum that soon followed.
Usually, I read Nanobyte’s postings because they amuse me… they ramble with a sort of pseudo-intellectual speech which reminds me of Diane Chambers. “I’ll babble with big words and people might think I’m smart.” His resentment of people with advanced degrees seems odd, since he’s constantly trying to impress the board with his vocabulary. His snapping at Sue (in the above-mentioned thread) especially bugged me since I’ve read numerous posts of his that add nothing to the OP other than his weak attempt at a humorous comment.
<sigh> Since I’ve added nothing of substance to this thread (which should be permitted in a Nanobyte post, since he does it so often), I’ll sign off.
I think TubaDiva said it best when she said “someone’s got his panties in a wad.”
Clancy (I think I’ll start a thread in the BBQ Pit… I’ll call it “Hey Nanobyte Me”)
Can’t remember what Wiggum ever posted before and his profile indicates unoccupation. Probably one of those “real” intellectual humanity types that dote on obscure trivia with true “intellectual” value. Never heard of Diane Chambers.
No, no cat, Mangeorge.
My OP was a quite appropriate legitimate question, given the then current administrative questioning of the assumption one would logically make after reviewing the SD column. It clearly relies on a large supply of amusing innocuous questions that don’t interact with the active world much at all, like a column on word origins or whatever. Like a lot of such columns, it used to seem to have a more interesting range of questions, but for several years now, it has catered to more of the run-of-the-mill pop questions. But I wasn’t knocking this choice of specialty and I thought its nature, as stated, was accepted here.
At this point, this thread is threadbare, and I do agree with the Chief – that he’s added nothing of substance here. . .except a plug for whoever DC is.
One theme tht does tend to be reinforced in this thread by some posts here is that the notion that the US and some other countries once put value in principles, rather than individual leaders and common-interest gangs, does not much exist here. A great affinity for gang formation seems easily triggered here, along with a great fear of offending established, but less than well individually bullwarked, sources of traditional authority.
Take this to The Pit, but I’m not going there to hear the works of some brand of true barbecued intellectuality from writers, lawyers and other abusers of words. There’s a surplus of that in newspapers and magazines.
