The Kids Are Okay
Thelma called me this weekend and told me that there’s a whole new conspiracy theory that birds aren’t real. Yea, that’s what it’s called – the Birds Aren’t Real conspiracy theory.
And it’s got to be true because it’s on a billboard and the internet machine.
The theory goes like this: birds are being replaced with drones by the government and they are spying on you.
Yep. And the sad part is that it’s not even the most outrageous conspiracy I’ve heard this week. I think the far left is just that crazy.
However, come to find out – it’s satire. And the kids made it up. Because they are brilliant.
You can read about it here. And yes, it’s the New York Times and I do not want to hear that you don’t subscribe because the only answer is “I can’t afford it.” That’s caca del toro. Right now you can subscribe for $4 a month. At the end of the year, it goes to $17 a month however, if you call the number to unsubscribe and tell them that you’re over 65 and you love the NYT but can’t afford that much, they will extend your $4 a month for another year. So shuddup and support journalism.
The Washington Post offers the same deal and it’s even cheaper. Give yourself a damn Christmas present.
The NYT cooking section alone is worth $4+ monthly but Alexandra Petri’s satire in the WAPO is priceless.
1rofl Ms. JJ! Those kids are making a noble effort to resuscitate satire. But if they’re betting on constructing a whopper of a conspiracy that the Qcumbers won’t swallow, they that is a bet they cannot win. Seriously kids, save your money. Don’t look now but Gunny Boebert and Empty Greene are about to shoot pigeons from their office windows, while Louie Gohmert fires up the barbecue. Poor Louie. He ran out of Koch funds and has resorted to panhandling in the House cloakroom to support his barbecue sauce habit.
2I can afford $4 a month, or even $17. What I can’t afford is contributing to the salaries of Maureen Dowd, Bret Stephens, David Brooks and Ross Douthat. I couldn’t afford the antacids and tranquilizers I would need.
3Well, Buttermilk, if you can’t deal with the gentle conservative musings of those four without meds, you’re just waaaayy too far left for civilized conversation.
4I’m on the 4 buck chuck (as they say about Trader Joe’s wine) NYT subscription and read it selectively, usually from the selection sent to me by email. I’ll need to try that senior discount thing at the end of my 1st year subscription because it will save me enough for 3 bottles of Trader Joe’s Chardonnay a month.
5I’m all for tricking the conspiracy theory suckers, which isn’t hard to do.
I still believe the Facebook group “Christians Against Dinosaurs” is one of the very best out there. I’m thankful that – finally! – someone is stepping up to the threat of “Big Paleo” and their dinophile comrades!
6AlanInAustin….that’s one I didn’t know about. Thanks! Personally, I’ve always liked the Pastafarians, invented to keep ‘creationism’ out of Kansas science books.
7I went on line to renew, and when it said my new cost was $17/month I opted to cancel instead. The website immediately offered to let me continue at the $4 level. The only downside is the lack of access to their recipes, you can read the recipe articles but not see the actual recipe. No big deal as almost every recipe in the world is somewhere else on the innertubes.
8I missed the last line about The Washington Post. I just can’t go there. I stopped shopping Whole Foods when Bezos bought them and I won’t give him a dime in any form. And, I really enjoy reading The Post in as much as possible for free. I support Journalists everywhere, but if Bezos wants to own a paper he can damn well fork out his own money as a way of giving back.
9I’ve been following Birds Aren’t Real for some time now, maybe a year? They’re more convincing than anything Trump et al have put out in half a decade.
10Had anyone noticed the line of birds perched on top of the billboard?
11Glad that I can afford NYT and WaPo and keep some good journalists employed. Bret Stephens, David Brooks and Ross Douthat make me think at the cost of raising my blood pressure. Still worth it to keep actual reporters stationed around the world looking under rocks and asking hard question.
12My Gen Z teenager loves this conspiracy theory. They use it to mock Q people.
I’m a digital subscriber to both the Times and the Post. I love reading the newspaper. I try to do it every day. I just read it on a screen now instead of at the breakfast table.
13Katherine: those birds aren’t real.
14Katherine, slipstream –
15Yes, there’s obviously a charging strip along the top of the billboard.
Spare money I have for journalism goes to Mother Jones magazine, ProPublica, and a couple of other “far left wing organizations”. NYT can get by without my money, and they play the game of access journalism way too cozily for me to support financially. Like Buttermilk Sky I don’t care for their choice of opinion writers. More importantly, over the years it has spent far too much time and effort propping up the unspeakable (Reagan, Bush parts 1 and 2, “enhanced interrogation”, etc.).
It’s not like I feel they need to be burnt to the ground like, e.g., the Wall Street Journal. Just that I won’t contribute to their GoFundMe if a fire breaks out.
As for the original topic, a year ago students in one of my classes tried to crank me up about the Birds Aren’t Real thing. My response: “You think power lines are real? You must be truly gullible ….” It’s always fun to counter a bat-quano crazy conspiracy theory with one that is even more insane.
16Y’all, I’m going to suggest a subscription to your local newspaper. That’s about the only way to keep an eye on local doings and misdoings. And they need your support! Our paper is down to 5 days a week.
17I subscribe to the New York Times and receive the Sunday paper here in Oakland, CA. That means that I also have access to all of the NYT online. However, there is a very, very, very steep cost to maintaining this subscription, as the fee is over $15 for each Sunday paper, while it is $6 on news stands. I have considered dropping the subscription because I just got notice the price is increasing yet again. I subscribe to the Washington Post online version only for $99/year. If I changed my subscription to the NYT to only online, it would mean that they limit my access to the full paper. They appear to be forcing me, a senior on Social Security, to drop the subscription because it is becoming a budget item that I can no longer ignore. I have been mulling this for a while now.
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