[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting and comprehensive article. BBC had this story a couple of days ago and I noticed some interesting things. The BBC article stated that he "had access to Top Secret documents, the highest level of classified information in the US government", which stood out to me because Top Secret is only the highest general category, but the military.com article does mention "sensitive compartmented information". Another detail in the BBC report is that only the title of the Word document is in Chinese characters. The rest of the document is in English.

Anyway, it is still interesting to me to see how different news agencies selectively include or ignore details, and it isn't always political. Maybe it isn't the authors of the derivative stories, but the editors. Who knows?

[psmith2.0]

Sounds about right, and I’d expect no less.

These people have one job and continuously botch it. Whether it’s the actual writers/reporters or their editors, it doesn’t matter. I should never read or watch a news story and immediately wonder “okay, what really happened? What’s being omitted? What facts/info are being “massaged”/tweaked?”, for whatever reason(s)?”

And yet…

And to pay to get bullshitted/lied to is the ultimate insult. I hope they all go out of business. I'm not propping any of them up. None get my ratings, clicks, subscriptions, etc., and haven't for many years.

Sorry, but, at this point, I put "journalism" at about the same level as I do billboard lawyers.

At least billboard lawyers know they're full of shit, and will occasionally cop to it.

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by kscherer I put it on my list. If the silly politickers can get their respective acts together and stuff doesn't get shut down …

Never made it there, but we're back from vacation and here’s the rundown.

Flew out of Boise at midnight and flew over Paul’s house around 5am his time. Landed in Atlanta around 7am, then flew out around 8. Landed at Washington Dulles at 9:30-ish, got our rental car, and set out for Ocean City. Oddly enough, it was cheaper to rent a fancy BMW X4 than a normal 4-door sedan, so we had us a nice ride!

Drove to Ocean City and spent the weekend. Apparently there was a giant-sized music festival that I had no idea existed, so it took us 3.5 hours to drive 120 miles.

Ocean City is just 10 miles of hotels and condos, a gigantic souvenir shop every 10.3 feet, and over-priced food that wasn’t very good. On Saturday we drove north into Delaware just to say we did.

On Sunday, we went back north to a place called Bethany Beach and decided we want to live there when we get old and rich. Best beach town I’ve ever been to.

Sunday evening we drove back to Washington, but went the northern route through Delaware and decided we could live anywhere in that gem of a state.

Got into D.C. pretty late, found our hotel in Alexandria, and settled in. That’s when the fun began:

Monday: Arlington (and we got to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at exactly 11:00 for the changing of the guard); the Marine Memorial; Lincoln Memorial; the wall; Korea; the capital mall; Washington Monument; and dinner at Mia’s Italian in Alexandria and it was so damned good we went back on Thursday.

Tuesday: The Capitol building (and we were in the gallery for the initial bits of the oust Mike McCarthy scene); The Library of Congress; the Capitol Wheel in National Harbor; dinner at Gordon Ramsey’s Fish and Chips (!!!) in the Wharf district of D.C.; then we took ourselves on a self-guided tour of D.C. at night, including the White House and the WWI memorial.

Wednesday: The Holocaust Museum; the Spy Museum; the National Archives, then dinner at Hell’s Kitchen and one of the best meals I’ve ever had, but $$$$!

Thursday: Air and Space; American History, Natural History; and dinner at Mia’s again.

Friday: Gettysburg and a guided bus tour with one of their National Park tour guides. Best tour I’ve ever been on; then a bit of time in downtown Gettysburg and then the Gettysburg War Memorial.

Saturday: Rest day (and boy did we need it); a quick drive to Mount Vernon; Dinner at the hotel because we were exhausted.

Sunday: Came home and almost flew over 709’s house (our layover was in Minneapolis, and Detroit was right off the right wing, so I waived ).

A few things I learned:

1) If you ever visit D.C. for an extended tour, get an Uber. Driving in that spaghetti mess, 80-mile-per-hour-until-a-120-MPH-cock-in-an-Audi-cuts-in-front-of-a-confused-old-man-going-50-sends-the-whole-damned-mess-into-gridlock-for-like-seven-hours is just an absolute stress pit that left me with incredible tension and anxiety that is still with me. Won’t do it again. Driving someone else’s 60,000 dollar car in hell was too stressful.

2) Hell’s Kitchen is so good I’d go back again.

3) Mia’s Italian Restaurant was the best in-U.S. Italian I’ve ever had.

4) Schedule everything in advance. Tickets are required for a lot of stuff and if you don’t have them you might not get them. We were lucky at the Capitol, and just happened to be there at exactly the right time to get a walk-in tour and tickets to the gallery (we had to contact our Representative for that).

5) Apple Maps rules (mostly) in D.C.

6) If you do drive, use D.C.s parking app to find parking and pay remotely. I forget what it’s called, but it’s on all the meters.

That’s it for now.

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by kscherer Never made it there, but we're back from vacation and here’s the rundown. Flew out of Boise at midnight and flew over Paul’s house around 5am his time.

I thought that was you!

Originally Posted by kscherer On Sunday, we went back north to a place called Bethany Beach and decided we want to live there when we get old and rich. Best beach town I’ve ever been to.

Ah, interesting. I used to watch a show on HGTV/DIY called "Big Beach Builds" and it was set in and around the Bethany Beach, DE area, and featured a cutie pie named Marnie Oursler who was a fourth-generation home builder and she'd repair/update various homes in the area, due to age or just years of the salt air kinda slowly having its way with them. I liked it because it was about the only show of its type devoid of ginned-up drama, horseshit, "deadlines for drama", people crying and melting down and bickering, etc. It was just her and her crew doing the work, which is what I want to see on such a show. "Oh, 8x10 joists on that deck? Cool..." and so forth, and no drama queen housewives bawling/wigging out because they didn't get something they wanted ("I needed the kitchen island to be 30 feet long because we occasionally entertain." Yeah, STFU. You wanted it to be 30'. It's 27' long which is probably 20-feet longer than any normal person would ever need, "entertaining" or not. So pick your battles, Jennifyr. Why do you think hubby is walking away from you, out of frame/scene? He's tired of your shit too.

I've absolutely had it with people crying on TV. Knock it off, people. When did this become the big ratings getter?

Anyway, the establishing shots of Big Beach Builds, showing the Bethany Beach area, were always gorgeous. It's the first time I've ever found myself wanting to live in such an environment. I'm not a beachy guy, but those scenes/footage made me wanna be. It looked like a clean, charming little town that just happened to be right on the Atlantic Ocean. I'm sure it's expensive as can be. And, you know, hurricanes.

[kscherer]

It was an amazing place. Beautiful beach with course sand, gentle surf, amazing little shopping district with the best soft-serve chocolate ice cream I've ever had. I was blown away with the place. And the price of real estate was well within my dream budget (gasp!).

Delaware as a whole was just gorgeous. And only about the size of three small shoe-boxes.

[psmith2.0]

If you run into Marnie, tell her I said hello. And "rawwwrrr".

[drewprops]

What a great trip! I have second-hand happiness from your ventures.

...

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 The professional handwringing/“do better”/“delete your account” bedwetters wil always outnumber the “I’m high” crowd. And they’re louder/more vocal. Potheads don’t get spun up about much. It isn’t in their nature, and Mother Nature only helps with that.

Can confirm.

[Frank777]

Originally Posted by kscherer Never made it there, but we're back from vacation and here’s the rundown....

Thanks. Been meaning to make a trip to the (fairly) new Museum of the Bible. Never been to D.C. before. This helps greatly.

[709]

There wouldn't be any 'races' left in that scenario.


Anyways, our schoolchildren are being traumatized right here at home: Homicidal Winnie-the-Pooh Movie Shown to Miami Springs Schoolchildren

In Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, the once-lovable, honey-obsessed bear turns feral after his bestie Christopher Robin leaves for college. Enraged by Robin's abandonment, Pooh and Piglet develop a seething hatred for humanity and go on a feature-length killing spree during which they slay a group of female university students who have the misfortune of renting a cabin in the Hundred Acre Wood.

It's been in my queue for a while, but this nudge has made me put in on my weekend viewing list. 🐻🐷

[kscherer]

Israel/Hamas BS moved over here.

[psmith2.0]

Thanks. Makes it super easy to know which thread(s) to avoid like the plague.

[turtle]

Yes, thank you!

[psmith2.0]

Hmmm...I just saw where Suzanne Somers has died from cancer at 76. That's not an old show (Three's Company) but two of its main stars are now dead (she and John Ritter). I didn't know she was sick. I think I saw her on some vitamin supplement infomercial thing a few years back and hawking a clothing line on QVC or one of those channels).

[turtle]

Originally Posted by 709 There wouldn't be any 'races' left in that scenario. Anyways, our schoolchildren are being traumatized right here at home: Homicidal Winnie-the-Pooh Movie Shown to Miami Springs Schoolchildren It's been in my queue for a while, but this nudge has made me put in on my weekend viewing list. 🐻🐷

Holy crap! I didn't realize it was actually shown to the kids!

Counseling was offered to fourth-grade students after a teacher showed them a slasher flick depicting the beloved children's book characters Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet on a murderous rampage.

That teacher needs a beatdown, just just being fired.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Hmmm...I just saw where Suzanne Somers has died from cancer at 76. That's not an old show (Three's Company) but two of its main stars are now dead (she and John Ritter). I didn't know she was sick. I think I saw her on some vitamin supplement infomercial thing a few years back and hawking a clothing line on QVC or one of those channels).

I had pretty much forgotten about her, but I recall watching reruns of that show as a kid. Shame cancer took someone else.

[drewprops]

I count Suzanne Somers and Loni Anderson as treasured personal developmental milestones, notably for the recurring appearance of nipples pressed against fabric. Now I realize this diminishes their work as actors, but in my defense I was a kid of a certain hormonal age and had very specific chemically-induced points of interest at the time. For those who are younger, Three's Company was a delightful program in its time, and was enormously popular. Like, for a brief spell, Swiftie huge. Rest in Peace, Suzanne. You fought a long battle.

...

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by drewprops Now I realize this diminishes their work as actors, … ...

I beg to differ. It takes a great deal of talent to train those things.

[psmith2.0]

I was always a Janet and Bailey guy.

On Three’s Company, there were two eras/phases of Chrissy Snow (Somers’ character). In the first, earlier seasons (I’m really not even sure how many), Chrissy wasn’t “dumb”/played for laughs. She was sweet, soft-voiced, a little naive, but more “cute”/girl next door. Her hair was a more natural yellow blonde, just worn in a casual style, no bangs, etc. At some point, after a season or two, they retooled the character. Her hair was fully bleached to a more white blonde, she was given bangs and that single large ponytail coming out of the top/side and they made the character actively, obnoxiously STUPID, really running away with the whole “dumb blonde” shtick, with an obnoxious snort laugh and every single line of dialogue from her played up the “ditzy bimbo” thing. Even as a kid viewing, I could tell the difference, and much preferred the earlier, original version of the character, a more sweet, naive and soft-spoken character whose whole character description wasn’t “airhead”. That latter persona/version became bigger and more what people think of/remember from the show, but I can’t stand it. I thought it was obnoxious, over-the-top and “sitcom funny”, which, to me, means “not funny”.

I honestly only watched/enjoyed the show for Jack Tripper, thinking John Ritter’s portrayal was a riot. I never really cared much for either of the female leads. And obviously neither did the writers/network, making the brunette a complete wallflower and the blonde a sad, one-note joke, while Ritter carried the show on his clumsy shoulders, with all the great physical comedy, plot lines, dialogue/lines, etc.

Watching coverage of Somers’ death earlier this evening, every outlet (CNN, etc.) all played the dumber, annoying, later version of the character, which I figured they would, as it was during the real height of the show’s success/popularity.

Anyway, was just something I hadn’t thought about in decades, until tonight and being like “hey, show some clips of the earlier, far more likable, appealing Chrissy! These are obnoxious and overbearing”

[drewprops]

Very good point. Ricky Gervais touched upon the drive for catchphrases in Extras. Laugh tracks and catchphrases make it tough to go back to some sitcoms.

...

[psmith2.0]

I despise most sitcoms. Especially all the cookie-cutter formulaic ones that truly aren’t funny and whose laugh track (or actual audience track) is overused/sweetened. There’s a cluster of CBS ones - “Everybody Loves Raymond”, “Two and a Half Men” and “Big Bang Theory” that, to me, fall under that. I’ve never laughed at one of these. In fact, I’ve laughed more at shows that aren’t comedies/trying to be funny (“The Sopranos”, being the best example) than any sitcom. Well-written, out-of-nowhere comic relief in a drama often gets to me more than all the stuff designed from the ground up as “comedy”. That scene in “Goodfellas”, following the big airport heist, with idiots showing up at the Christmas party with conspicuous new items vs. laying low/not calling attention to themselves (pink Cadillac, big fur coat), and De Niro’s growing frustration/anger, always makes me cackle like a fiend. “What did I tell you? What did I tell you?!” “Bring it back! I don’t care where youse got it, bring it back!”

Fact: Robert De Niro is funnier in any Scorsese mob/crime movie than any of the “Analyze This” or “Meet the Parents/Fockers” type “comedy” fare he’s been in. Weird but true!

I might just be weird: stuff I’m supposed to find funny, I rarely do. But dumb, bumbling people in dramas, and the anger/frustration they cause others, will lay me out.

[chucker]

I watched the entire TBBT and… it was very hit and miss, and overall ran too long.

It ranged from actually funny to "haha those nerds am I right" unfunny. It went from characters being absurdly unable to interact with each other to everyone getting married because… I guess CBS mandates that people in sitcoms get married? But, especially the plot arc of Raj didn't really make sense to me.

I do think the writing and acting of Sheldon Cooper was overall quite good. (Jim Parsons is 50??? what)

[Matsu]

The Sopranos is hilarious. It elevated malapropisms to high art.

[psmith2.0]

Yeah, just the idea of these Jersey thugs trying to do anything competently was a hoot. I would’ve watched a Paulie and Christopher spin-off.

My first exposure to the show was the heavily-edited syndicated run on A&E some years back. The language and nudity were toned down, much of the violence and mayhem seemed to be left intact (a perfect little capsule of the culture; don’t let me see a tit or hear the f-word, gunshots and strangulation? No problem!). But I digest…



Yeah, Paulie was a hoot. Silvio too. Every time I’d see him, with that wig and all, I could never picture him playing guitar on stage with Bruce Springsteen. That was a great bit of casting!

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by chucker I watched the entire TBBT and… it was very hit and miss, and overall ran too long. It ranged from actually funny to "haha those nerds am I right" unfunny. It went from characters being absurdly unable to interact with each other to everyone getting married because… I guess CBS mandates that people in sitcoms get married? But, especially the plot arc of Raj didn't really make sense to me. I do think the writing and acting of Sheldon Cooper was overall quite good. (Jim Parsons is 50??? what)

I watched 2-3 episodes the other night. Some channel (TBS?) was playing them back to back as I was waiting for the Braves/Phillies game 4. First off, what a miserable presence Mayim Bialik(?) and her character are on the show. This is a comedy? That's who they finally settled on to host Jeopardy!? This mope? No wonder I haven't watched regularly since Alex died.

It's just so broad. That tall, dorky guy with the Green Lantern T-shirt, everything out of his mouth sounds "written". Nobody talks that way. He's annoying as can be, such a caricature. The curly hair guy with glasses is just a hapless schmo. Those are the only two who really stuck out to me, as they were both in nearly every scene. Although, the curly hair guy was bummed about something and FaceTimed his mom, who, to my delight, was the lovely and vivacious Christine Baranski, a few years younger and with brunette hair. (disclosure: Not gonna lie, I've had a thing for her for YEARS, and will always enjoy seeing her pop up on my TV...saw her in an old 90's Law & Order rerun a few months ago and damn near fell off my couch into the floor! ). Sorry, I've just always thought she's got it going on, like the hot mom of a boring girlfriend you stay with just for the weekly peeks/hangouts with mommy. Guilty!

There was a blond girl on the show too, who was quite pretty. And I just don't see her hanging around this bunch. A bit too unrealistic for me. She's on Priceline(?) TV commercials, I think.

As for the marriage thing, every show in existence - sitcom, drama, firehouse/hospital drama, forensic/crime investigation dramas, etc. - HAS to have characters getting hitched. I always appreciate it when shows (Moonlighting, The X Files) hold out/resist this approach for as long as they can, understanding that platonic, flirty aspect is one of the major draws that people enjoy watching. Every time two major characters on a show who are platonic partners/co-workers wind up going at it, it almost always spells doom for the show, and it's off the air in 1-2 years (with dramatically lower viewership/ratings in those final years). It's different if a show, like Melrose Place or any number of others, starts out with everyone fucking all over the place. That's the tone/vibe they're going for. But it rarely works in the other direction, when writers/network "give in" to viewer input/demands and have the leads "get together". The show immediately loses about 80% of its appeal/watchability, which is why I don't watch such shows, knowing they're gonna get ruined eventually.

With workplace protocols and sexual harassment policies as they are anymore, no guy is ever gonna put the mooch on a co-worker in 2023 and risk wrecking his life. Again, realism. I can't buy into shows that I know just couldn't reasonably reflect real life. I'm not gonna watch two police detectives or crime lab workers "meet cute" and spend all season building to unzipping each others' pants on a "very special episode" at Christmas..."'Tis the Season Where Flaherty and Jenkins Finally Go At It". I hate that stuff. I don't do rom-com movies, so I certainly wouldn't tune in to the prolonged, nudity-free TV-based take.

TV shows are just weird. All I ask is that the comedies be funny, and the dramas be engaging. That's all you gotta do, and I'll give it a watch. But I can tell, 10 minutes in, if something's gonna click with me or not.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 I despise most sitcoms. Especially all the cookie-cutter formulaic ones that truly aren’t funny and whose laugh track (or actual audience track) is overused/sweetened. There’s a cluster of CBS ones - “Everybody Loves Raymond”, “Two and a Half Men” and “Big Bang Theory” that, to me, fall under that. I’ve never laughed at one of these. In fact, I’ve laughed more at shows that aren’t comedies/trying to be funny (“The Sopranos”, being the best example) than any sitcom. Well-written, out-of-nowhere comic relief in a drama often gets to me more than all the stuff designed from the ground up as “comedy”. That scene in “Goodfellas”, following the big airport heist, with idiots showing up at the Christmas party with conspicuous new items vs. laying low/not calling attention to themselves (pink Cadillac, big fur coat), and De Niro’s growing frustration/anger, always makes me cackle like a fiend. “What did I tell you? What did I tell you?!” “Bring it back! I don’t care where youse got it, bring it back!” Fact: Robert De Niro is funnier in any Scorsese mob/crime movie than any of the “Analyze This” or “Meet the Parents/Fockers” type “comedy” fare he’s been in. Weird but true! I might just be weird: stuff I’m supposed to find funny, I rarely do. But dumb, bumbling people in dramas, and the anger/frustration they cause others, will lay me out.

Whole lotta these come from Chuck Lorre. He's churned out a number of unfunny sitcomes and both Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory are his.

IMO the best sitcom currently running is Letterkenny and it's spinoff Shoresy, which is essentially an updated version of Paul Newman's Slap Shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBWEOSyAktU

Give yer balls a tug, titfucker.

[psmith2.0]

Yeah, I recognized that Chuck Lorre name. He seems to have an "approach". I remember, a few years ago, when Charlie Sheen went completely off his nut, and how Lorre's name was in the news about every day. I just remember thinking "these people probably deserve each other. Hope they never work it out."

I saw a sequence of "...Raymond" one time, where the audience(?) was just chortling, endlessly, at nothing. It was Peter Boyle looking out his kitchen window. And there's all this cackling/guffawing going on from the audience/laugh track, and I thought "what the hell is funny here? Nothing's happening and nobody has said, or done, anything remotely amusing. What?! It's just some crabby old man, looking out into the driveway. Does he something funny (Raymond driving his bicycle into a ditch?) and the audience is in on it, because it's not there on screen."

When characters just walk into a room and pick up a newspaper and get huge "laughs", I know it's not my kinda show. Come on, CBS (they're the worst offender). And that show with Tim Allen where he works at/runs an outdoor sporting store. It's as heavy-handed on the conservative, right-wing stuff as every other show/sitcom is on the liberal angle. Meaning, to me, it's unwatchable. I don't tune in to be lectured to or indoctrinated/"educated". From either side. I'll turn that stuff off immediately, the minute anyone starts talking about whales, guns, the homeless, AIDS, war, immigration, religion, Africa, Nazis, kid-diddling/diddlers, etc.

Shows like Three's Company (see, I was building around to a point!) were silly and light/about nothing, but you could just kinda watch and enjoy, half-brained, knowing nothing too serious was headed your way. I like that in a sitcom/show. And that one excelled. All it was was T&A and misunderstandings...one character hearing/seeing something the wrong way, and the entire 30 minutes based on undoing that by the closing credits. And I loved Mr. Furley's wardrobe!

[chucker]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 He's annoying as can be, such a caricature.

Oh, definitely. I think that's kind of the charm of early episodes.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 It's different if a show, like Melrose Place or any number of others, starts out with everyone fucking all over the place.

👀

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 it rarely works in the other direction, when writers/network "give in" to viewer input/demands and have the leads "get together".

🎯

I think that's it — TBBT eventually got an audience that cared about the main characters' love lives, not what made the show… well… not like every single other sitcom.

[psmith2.0]

The "shippers". The worst, most annoying subset of fandom.

I partially bailed on The Walking Dead because I'd talk to friends/fellow viewers about it on Mondays, and so many of them were "ohmigod, I just really need to see Daryl and Carol get together!!!" like a bunch of junior high chicks reading Tiger Beat.

I'm like "they're in an awful world/situation with mindless, rotting walking corpses trying to EAT them at every turn/opportunity. How can you possibly care about the "relationship"/who's hooking up? angles in that scenario?"

I did learn which of my friends were bubbleheads and/or Hallmark Channel watchers...so that kinda came in handy, big picture.

[Ryan]

This is why the best Doctor Who seasons are the ones where the companion doesn't fall in love with him. I'd much rather watch Catherine Tate yell OY SPACEMAN every time David Tennant does something dumb than watch Karen Gillan give him sexy eyes.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Shows like Three's Company (see, I was building around to a point!) were silly and light/about nothing, but you could just kinda watch and enjoy, half-brained, knowing nothing too serious was headed your way. I like that in a sitcom/show. And that one excelled. All it was was T&A and misunderstandings...one character hearing/seeing something the wrong way, and the entire 30 minutes based on undoing that by the closing credits. And I loved Mr. Furley's wardrobe!

Frasier was a great example of this. A silly show about nothing that was still smartly written and didn't lecture to—or look down on—its audience.