I’ve been watching the disturbing rise of conspiracy theorist and Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene with horror. Just yesterday, another baseless theory of hers was unearthed — about Jewish space lasers starting the California wildfires. (Did I ever think I’d be writing these words, about a congressperson, no less? No, dear reader, I did not. )

Here’s the story: On Thursday, a 2018 Facebook post written by Greene, who represents Georgia’s 14th district, was unveiled. In it, the future congresswoman blamed California’s wildfires on the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, in conjunction with the Rothschilds — the Jewish family that’s been prominently featured in antisemitic conspiracy theories for about two centuries. Apparently, according to the congresswoman, “Rothschild Inc” started the fires using a space laser, and their goal was to clear the way for a high-speed rail project.

You can read the entire, truly bonkers tirade on Media Matters. But also: if you value your brain in its current, unexploded state, maybe don’t.

Since the news broke, Jewish Twitter had a field day — because, of course! Making jokes out of virulent antisemitism has been our shtick for time immemorial. Humor, after all, is a classic Jewish coping mechanism. And this particular theory, well, it seems perfectly tailored for so many Jewish jokes. I mean, it’s like Mel Brooks’ “Jews in Space” segment from History of the World: Part I has just been lying around for four decades, just waiting for this moment!

Also, it provided a great opportunity for some Lazar Wolf/Fiddler on the Roof references:

is this the space laser u guys have been talking about pic.twitter.com/baqSavugqp

The story also elicited a slew of Jewish mom jokes that were truly excellent. After all, if we had space lasers, would Jewish moms be unable to not spill the beans about the amazing project their daughters were working on? Or would Jewish moms’  paranoia about lasers (and all things potentially lethal) lead them to push their kids away from such intergalactic endeavors?

Twitter couldn’t decide:

This Jewish space laser thing makes no sense to me. Because, as every Jewish mother knows, you could put an eye out with that.

— Ruth Marcus (@RuthMarcus) January 29, 2021

pretty hilarious that marjorie taylor greene thinks any jewish mother would ever allow her child to go to space

— Jess (@jesstweetss) January 29, 2021

However imagine the Jewish mother whose son made said moon laser. Mine would be foaming at the mouth trying to tell her friends. https://t.co/7wCv8j7Fjq

Ok but for real anyone who thinks Jews are keeping a space laser a secret… have you met a Jewish mother? No one would ever hear the end of “did you know about my daughter’s space laser? We’re very proud!”

— Gabby Tropp (@getropp) January 29, 2021

My Jewish mom was concerned the DVD player would blind us all when she found out it had a laser. So…#JewishSpaceLasers

— Citizens For Progress 🇺🇸 (@Citizn4Progress) January 29, 2021

I think the most absurd part of this absurd thing is that no Jewish mother would give up the opportunity to tell everyone that her son is working on the space laser pic.twitter.com/CCEHnPXKUm

— Grace “Short Squeeze” Kelley (@GraceFacesPlace) January 29, 2021

So yes, the space laser jokes were good. (Also, as a Jew with an irrational fear of lasers — seriously, I would cover my eyes every time someone played with one of those laser pointers we all had for a while — I find them very relatable.)

Yet, there is no denying that Greene’s words are very, very not funny. More than that: they are incredibly upsetting. Not just because these despicable beliefs are rampant across our nation — they have have now been elevated to one of the highest offices of the land.

As I said before, I’ve been upset about Greene’s politics for a while now. So when I heard of the latest unveiled conspiracy theory, I felt sad and scared — but not for a moment was I surprised.

You see, this 100 percent tracks with Greene’s many terrible beliefs that we already knew about; she’s a known supporter of many antisemitic and Islamophobic conspiracy theories. A recently resurfaced video shows her attacking Parkland survivor David Hogg and claiming that he is getting paid by George Soros — yet another popular modern antisemitic canard. Greene believes that the Parkland, Newton, and Las Vegas shootings were staged. She also believes that 9/11 was an inside job, and that “former secretary of state Hillary Clinton murdered a child during a satanic ritual and drank her blood.” She is a supporter of QAnon — another trove of antisemitic conspiracy theories. Basically, she’s a callous bigot who hounds shooting survivors, and  I haven’t even made it to the part where she helped incite the deadly riots in the Capitol on January 6.

Is Greene a fluke? Or is she a harbinger of a new reality? Will the GOP rein her in, as Nancy Pelosi urged them to? Why are there so many tweets about her — and funny tweets, at that — and yet so few of her colleagues are calling her out for her dangerous ideas?

The fact is, antisemitism is on the rise in this country, and a lot of it is fueled by baseless theories like the ones Greene espouses. It’s a jarring dissonance that the state that elected its first Black and its first Jewish (Democratic) senators also gave us this, a reflection of the most dangerous forces in our country. Are Greene’s disturbing theories worthy of our mockery? Oh, yes. Yes, they are. But we should also not forget how heartbreaking and dangerous they are; the ideas that she peddles have been used to persecute us and other minorities for centuries.

Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Membuat review makanan di sesebuah tempat makan baru menggunakan cara ‘prank’ sememangnya sudah biasa kita lihat.

Cara tersebut kadangkala berhasil untuk menarik perhatian netizen namun bukan semua dapat menerima perlakuan seperti itu.

Makan penerajang sekali

Menerusi perkongsian yang tular di TikTok dan Facebook semalam, seorang pelakon yang memang biasa dilihat melakukan ‘prank mengamuk’ di media sosial telah melakukan review dengan cara tersebut di sebuah kedai makan.

Disebabkan tindakannya yang bising serta terjerit-jerit, datang seorang pengunjung memberikan penerajang kepadanya.

saya selaku restaurant manager streeto pizza cawangan kulim mohon maaf kepada semua cust yg hadir ke streeto pizza kulim dngan berlakunya insiden pergaduhan ptg semalam🙏 #streetopizzakulim #streetopizza

Tindakan tersebut membuatkan pelakon terbabit naik angin dan meminta pengunjung itu melihat sendiri kamera yang sedia maklum ada dinyalakan di hadapan mereka.

Menurut pengunjung lelaki itu, dia dan keluarga berasa terganggu dengan pekikan pelakon terbabit yang melakukan konten ‘prank’ di kawasan tempat makan pelanggan-pelanggan yang lain.

Replying to @gemini_8405 maaf lambat respond,tngah krja #streetopizzakulim #streetopizza #izuanrazali #kesgaduh

Tindakan pengunjung lelaki tersebut telah mendapat komen daripada netizen apabila beberapa page di Facebook seperti Tok Singa berkongsi semula video yang dimuat naik di TikTok itu.

Kalau ada sakit jantung silap2 pingsan

Kebanyakan mereka berpuas hati dengan ‘penerajang’ yang diberikan kerana ramai akui terganggung jika konten-konten kurang cerdik seperti itu digunakan untuk mempromosikan sesebuah kedai.

Kalau jumpa orang yang terkejut kan bahaya

Hormat orang lain tu penting

Gaduh sekejap je

Pergaduhan mulut telah berlangsung beberapa detik di kedai makan terbabit dan berlanjutan di luar sebelum masing-masing meminta maaf. Mereka juga dilihat bersalaman sebelum masuk semula ke dalam kedai tersebut.

Buat konten jugak ke?

Walau bagaimanapun, ramai yang merasakan tindakan pemuda berbaju biru itu juga termasuk di dalam skrip ‘prank ‘tersebut.

Pelakon berkenaan yang juga YouTuber turut berkongsi kejadian itu di saluran YouTubenya dan ada komen mengatakan pelanggan yang menendang pelakon itu juga seorang YouTuber.

Harap yang bagi penerajang tu bukan dalam skrip jugak la

Prank dalam prank ni

Setakat ini belum ada sebarang penjelasan khusus berkenaan video-video yang dikongsikan.

Namun melihat dari apa yang mereka paparkan, jelas sekali ia sudah dirancang dan menjadi sebahagian daripada konten ingin mempromosikan kedai makan tersebut.