Busted!

"A shlemiel is somebody who often spills his soup, a shlemazl is the person the soup lands on."..................................Somewhere on the internet.
Scott Aaronson, an apparently mild mannered computer science prof at MIT, somewhat improbably managed to get himself arrested in the Philly airport.    His crime seems to have been the ultimate absent-minded professor case of accidental theft - but if you want the details, you'll have to go to his linked version of the story.  It's a bizarre one, demonstrating an almost unbelievable amount of cluelessness from a truly brilliant guy.

I sometimes think of Aaronson as the kid who walked around the school with the "kick me" sign taped to his back.  For some reason, despite his evident but naive sincerity and often painfully  earnest rationality, he seems to attract the attention of small bore internet thugs like Amanda Marcotte and Arthur Chu (whoever the heck he is).

I often find myself wanting to say to him "Stop trying to be such a nice guy." 

But don't take the tip jar money.

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