Peter Wohlleben isn't a scientist any more than I am. He's a forest ranger. Stefano Mancuso is one guy, and plant neurobiology is fiercely controversial amongst plant scientists, largely because it's extremely difficult to make the leap from the evolutionarily efficient behavior of signaling and response to costly…

There's a cladistic distinction between pain and other types of responses. Plants don't have complex central nervous systems, opioid receptors, or basal ganglia. Pain is evolutionarily costly and is really only present in motile organisms. Plants do not have the biological capability to suffer.

Not borderline: yummy, yummy, non-motile, non-feeling oysters.

I like the flavor. Plus, veggie patties are lower in calories and saturated fats, don't touch your colon cancer risk, don't leak all over your hands (portability!), and have more dietary fiber.

Hey! You can't say Dick Wolf on television!

Extra secret spoiler: Al Pacino is excellent in both. (Look closely!)

I just cackled quite loudly, but I'm blaming that partially on the wine I'm drinking.

Basically pointless addition to the conversation (sorry) but I was an affluent *boy* in an affluent white community and head shaving because of lice was totally a (class) thing—amongst boys, at least. I remember at least one horrifying incident of related bullying. Rich whites! We learn douchebaggery at home!

Don't you dare. Don't.

The whole point of the show is that it's a deconstructive expansion of those 90 minute Amblin movies. The charm of Stranger Things is entirely in its long-form nuances: setting stock 80s characters and plots breathe with a little more complexity, grounding, and resonance; expanding a scope which might naturally run…

My polling, My Polling is Dropping, is dropping.

And movies from the 80s are riddled with cigarette continuity errors. Cigarettes and liquids in a glass are about the two worst props to use.

not really? you don't have to believe a thing is correct to not respond snidely to it while pretending not to understand it?

Counterpoint, you're probably capable of enough nuance to realize that there's a broader point being raised, namely, a certain kind of reactionary pabulum being enabled by the Republican candidate which threatens to boil over into all-out European-style right-wing nationalism and racial loathing—the open expression of…

Dude, checking Snopes is not that hard. http://www.snopes.com/polit…

Just because it's stupid doesn't mean it's true!

it's pretty clear that she scoped the audition space beforehand. it takes a lot of work to look that nonchalant.

Two world wars…and one World Cup.

Win some thrones, lose some kids. When you play the game of thrones, you meh or you die.

I'm not sure she's canonically fireproof, or if the fireproofness simply extends to moments of magic or personal crisis or symbolic rebirth. She's certainly heat-resistant in everyday life. Either way, the fireproofing is magical, so I'm not sure it'd extend to banalities like gut flora or intestinal worms—her…