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Public Safety

Tom Tomorrow
© Tom Tomorrow

Humans are notoriously bad at evaluating risks. We seriously overreact to some risks, while sticking our collective heads in the sand for far more dangerous risks.

Between the years of 1959 and 1994, 3239 people were killed by lightning strikes (roughly the same number that were killed by terrorists since 1970). In the case of lightning-related deaths, we simply increased education about lightning safety, and as a result, the number of people killed by lightning was halved. But in the case of terrorism-related deaths, we went absolutely nuts, ripped up our constitution and preemptively invaded foreign countries that had nothing to do with 9/11.

Do you feel any safer?

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Late Night Political Irony

“Senator Tom Coburn has introduced a new gun background check plan that would allow people to perform self-background checks before buying a gun. The way the plan works is, it doesn’t.” – Seth Meyers

“A poll taken this week said that 44 percent of Republicans believe that armed rebellion may be necessary in the next few years to protect their liberties. You know what, I wish these fuck-ups would start their armed rebellion. I just want to see the look on their face when they walk out of the Waffle Hut and get smoked by a drone.”– Bill Maher

“So… 44 percent of Republicans think an armed rebellion might be necessary in the next few years. So if you say most Republicans are fucking nuts, you’d be off by 7 percent.” – Bill Maher

“The NRA this week elected a new president, choosing Alabama lawyer Jim Porter who recently referred to Attorney General Eric Holder as ‘rabidly un-American’ and still calls the Civil War the ‘War of Northern Aggression.’ He’s known around the NRA as ‘Reasonable Jim’.” – Seth Meyers

“70,000 gun nuts are meeting in Houston, Texas because the NRA is having their big convention down there. Which is actually good economic news for the city’s hotels and restaurants, and also the hookers who generally prefer men with smaller penises.” – Bill Maher

“You people sound like you’re all ready for Cinco de Mayo. I hate it when every holiday gets so politicized. Like today, the NRA said piñatas should be allowed to carry guns to defend themselves.” – Jay Leno

“Unemployment is at the lowest rate in four years and the stock market hit 15,000 for the first time, or as FOX News put it ‘Fucking Obama. Always undoing George Bush’s greatest accomplishments.'” – Bill Maher

“Yesterday President Obama warned Congress not to delay the immigration reform bill. You can tell he’s getting tough because if they keep delaying the bill, he says he might even warn them again.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Investigators are saying that on the night Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s picture was first made public, one of his college friends who was arrested on Wednesday texted Tsarnaev joking that he looked like one of the suspects. You know, when they say ‘if you see something, say something’, they don’t mean TO the terrorist.” – Seth Meyers

“There’s a new summer camp for adults where using cellphones and computers is banned. The camp has an interesting name: North Korea.” – Jimmy Fallon

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Why is Benghazi still news?

Fox News keeps beating a dead horse:

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Late Night Political Humor

“Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in trouble. He was arrested this week for threatening to expose some sensitive government secrets. And you can tell it’s serious. His bail was set at 200 goats.” – Jimmy Fallon

“That’s right. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was arrested. He claimed that he had evidence that their elections were rigged. When authorities asked him to prove it, he was like, ‘Uh, I’m president, aren’t I?'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Today former Pope Benedict is moving back into the Vatican. He is going to be mad when he sees that Pope Francis took down his Metallica posters.” – Conan O’Brien

“That’s right. Two Popes now under one roof. Can you believe that? Yeah, they’re just one-half Pope away from being a sitcom on CBS.” – Conan O’Brien

“Russia has announced that, for the 2014 Olympics, it will send the Olympic torch up to the International Space Station. They’ve also announced a new Olympic Event— ‘Watching Six Astronauts Have All Their Oxygen Used Up By a Burning Torch.'” – Conan O’Brien

“President Obama is in Mexico. He’ll be on hand to celebrate Mexico’s economic successes over the last few years. See, that’s how it works now. If President Obama wants to celebrate an economic success, he actually has to leave the country.” – Jay Leno

“While in Mexico, President Obama plans to promote his immigration policy. Is that really necessary? Seems the last place you have to promote immigration is Mexico. I think they’ve got it down. That’s like going to San Francisco to promote gay marriage.” – Jay Leno

“Yesterday, President Obama met with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in the White House. The treasury secretary meets once a month with the president – and he meets twice a month with the Chinese president.” – Jay Leno

“A man arrested for shooting at the White House says he was upset over U.S. marijuana laws. Man, if only there was some way to mellow that guy out.” – Stephen Colbert

“Here’s the week’s only good news: Anthony Weiner is running for mayor of New York City. He announced it earlier today in his underpants.” – David Letterman

“Martha Stewart signs with Match.com to find her Mr. Right. She’s getting tips from the CEO there. Wait, isn’t that insider dating?” – David Letterman

“The other day, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer had shoulder surgery, for an injury he received after falling off his bike. Fox News reports the accident happened when the Justice drifted a little too far to the left.” – Conan O’Brien

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It’s OK to be a bad Christian, as long as you’re a good liar

What a great rant by John Fugelsang on newly reelected scumbag Mark Sanford:

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Slave to the Past

And while we are picking on the poor Texas Governor, yesterday Rick Perry spoke on the “Stand with Scouts Sunday” program by the anti-gay Family Research Council. Perry applauded the Boy Scouts for taking a “principled stand” against gay membership and leadership, and called the gay rights movement a passing “flavor of the month” fad.

But here’s the really ironic part. He compared the Scouts’ stand against gay rights to Sam Houston’s stand against slavery and against Texas joining the Confederacy, a stand which cost Houston the governorship. “That’s the type of principled leadership, that’s the type of courage that I hope people across this country on this issue of Scouts and keeping the Boy Scouts the kind of organization that it is today.”

The video is even more bizarre:

Tina Fey did an amazing caricature of Sarah Palin, but Perry seems to be cutting out the middleman and doing an outstanding caricature of himself.

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Blame Game

Jen Sorensen
© Jen Sorensen

The full quote from Rick Perry, along with a response from the editor of the paper.

Here’s the original comic, and the cartoonist’s blog entry defending the comic:

Jack Ohman
© Jack Ohman

If you have any doubts that better regulations and enforcement of current regulations could have prevented this disaster, read this full report.

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Late Night Political Humor

“An elementary school here in New York City has become the first school in the country to serve only vegetarian food. Apparently the school board wants to give kids a head start in being difficult at restaurants.” – Jimmy Fallon

“That’s right. A school is serving only vegetarian foods, like tofu. Now when bullies say, ‘Give me your lunch money’, students are like, ‘Here, take it’.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Mitt Romney gave a commencement speech where he advised graduates to start a family before they turn 30. He also advised them to pay for it by inheriting millions of dollars.” – Conan O’Brien

“The FDA has just ruled that girls as young as 15 can now obtain the contraceptive Plan B without a prescription. Before that, most teenagers’ Plan B was getting a show on MTV.” – Jimmy Fallon

“So they’re handing out hussy pills to 15-year-old girls like Chicklets, but I still need to show my passport and provide a DNA sample to buy some damned Sudafed. How am I supposed to make my meth?” – Stephen Colbert

“It’s been two years since the SEAL team busted in and got Osama bin Laden. On the night of the raid, the guy never knew what hit him. It’s like being married to a Kardashian.” – David Letterman

“Vice President Joe Biden’s plane is apparently stuck in Arizona because of problems with its engine. Officials say they’re trying to fix it as fast as they can. But Obama was like, ‘No rush’.” – Jimmy Fallon

“The U.S. government apparently spent millions of dollars in cash to fund various dubious government projects in Afghanistan – including solar panels and wind farms that never work. No, I’m sorry. That’s what we did here. I had it backwards.” – Jay Leno

“Researchers now believe the first settlers who settled in America, in Jamestown, resorted to cannibalism. The first settlers ate each other. Good thing that didn’t catch on. That would have changed Thanksgiving, don’t you think?” – Jay Leno

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Late Night Political Humor

“Yesterday President Obama said that the prison at Guantanamo Bay needs to be closed. To make sure it closes quickly, they’re turning it into a Blockbuster Video.” – Conan O’Brien

“President Obama held a press conference today. He said he still wants to close the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, but he doesn’t know how to do it. He should do what he always does. Declare it a small business and tax it out of existence.” – Jay Leno

“Conservatives like me know that in a budget crisis, everything nonessential has to go — whether it’s food for kids who aren’t mine or some other stuff for people I don’t know.” – Stephen Colbert

“There’s now talk here in California of letting noncitizens serve on juries. The bad news: If you’re ever on trial for underpaying your nanny, you could get the death penalty.” – Jay Leno

“New reports say New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will not run for president in 2016 if Hillary Clinton does. In a statement, Hillary said that she appreciates the decision and the support. Then she added, ‘Because I would crush him’.” – Jimmy Fallon

“New York City is testing a new plan that would make the average school day longer by over two hours. Parents haven’t commented on the plan yet because they’re busy high fiving everyone they know.” – Jimmy Fallon

“A new study found that the air quality in New York City subways is actually the same quality as the air in New York streets. Even crazier, that’s supposed to be good news.” – Jimmy Fallon

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The Sequester Sequestered

The sequester is slashing and burning all branches of our government. So which one solitary thing is so important that Congress actually fixes it?

Matt Wuerker
© Matt Wuerker

Ruben Bolling
© Ruben Bolling

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Late Night Political Humor

“Washington Wizards center Jason Collins just came out of the closet, making him the first pro athlete in a major sport to be openly gay. While the first openly gay wizard is still Dumbledore.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Today Jason Collins, center for the Washington Wizards, announced he is gay. He said, ‘I don’t know what’s been tougher on my family, announcing I’m gay or announcing that I play for the Washington Wizards’.” – Conan O’Brien

“Collins is getting credit for being the first openly gay pro athlete. Or as Martina Navratilova put it, ‘Hello!'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Washington Wizards center Jason Collins has become the first American athlete in a major team sport to come out as gay. Do you know what a breakthrough this is? Finally an NBA player who won’t have any illegitimate kids.” – Jay Leno

“They are now reviewing prisons on Yelp. Although you do get your standard restaurant gripes, like ‘service took forever, was there for 25 years.” – Stephen Colbert

“There’s a trend now of prison inmates reviewing their prison on Yelp. The downside is that people are now committing crimes just to get the amazing fish tacos at Rikers Island.” – Conan O’Brien

“Supreme Court Justice Steven Breyer had shoulder surgery for an injury after he fell off his bike. It happened when the justice drifted a little too far to the left.” – Conan O’Brien

“We all know that if you look up Congress in the dictionary it says, ‘Do-nothing fucktards who couldn’t solve a problem if it was eating them alive anus first.” – Jon Stewart

“Congratulations to Gwyneth Paltrow. She’s the most beautiful woman alive, according to People magazine. I thought to myself, ‘Wow. Thank god, finally some hope for good-looking, thin blondes.’ Gwyneth, by the way, still has to be confirmed by Congress.” – David Letterman

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Rigging the Whole Game

It’s Friday. Sit down. Relax. Then read the latest article written by hero Matt Taibbi “Everything Is Rigged: The Biggest Price-Fixing Scandal Ever“.

Not only are the biggest banks “too big to fail” and “too big to jail”, they are even “too big to even give a shit”. Bankers were recorded illegally manipulating world interest rates in exchange for some day-old sushi.

Who’s paying for all this illegal price fixing? You are. You’re being cheated every time you pay interest, like for your home, or collect interest, like on your retirement. Or even if you never pay or receive any interest you’re being cheated, because the city where you live is being cheated, or the business who has to charge you more for their products because they were cheated.

Or as one lawyer put it “It’s now evident that there is a ubiquitous culture among the banks to collude and cheat their customers as many times as they can in as many forms as they can conceive. And that’s not just surmising. This is just based upon what they’ve been caught at.”

Banks simply lied in order to line their pockets with trillions of dollars of your money. Or they held back the announcement of interest rate adjustments to let their friends make insider trades before the general population had the same information. They made so much money that the bankers who controlled the interest rates nicknamed the unit where they worked “Treasure Island”.

Or as Taibbi summarizes: “When prices are set by companies that can profit by manipulating them, we’re fucked. … It’s not just stealing by reaching a hand into your pocket and taking out money, but stealing in which banks can hit a few keystrokes and magically make whatever’s in your pocket worth less. This is corruption at the molecular level of the economy.”

And still no Wall Street executives have been prosecuted.

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Late Night Political Humor

“Yesterday all five living presidents gathered for the opening of the George W. Bush presidential library in Dallas. Well, six living presidents if you count Hillary in 2016.” – Jay Leno

“They had a big opening of the Bush Library down in Texas. All five living presidents were there. It was a once in a lifetime event – a library in Texas.” – Bill Maher

“I kid Texas, but the last person in that state to get near a schoolbook was Lee Harvey Oswald.” – Bill Maher

“It’s not just a library, it’s a museum. The exhibits are breathtaking. There’s a map of the world dartboard which Bush used to decide who to invade after 9/11; there’s the pants he peed in when he was told we were under attack; the pretzel he forgot to chew that made him pass out. And there’s a weapons of mass destruction pavilion, but no one can find it.” – Bill Maher

“Dick Cheney was there, and the New York Times said he looked physically revitalized. So if you find any dead animals on your porch who have been completely drained of blood, you know why that happened.” – Bill Maher

“They asked Barbara Bush, the matriarch of the family, whether Jeb Bush should run for president, and she said, ‘We’ve had enough Bushes.’ Enough? How about at least one too many.” – Bill Maher

“The United States Treasury announced that they will put into circulation a newly designed $100 bill in October. Of course, by that time, it should be worth about 50 bucks, but that’s OK.” – Jay Leno

“Do we really need a newly designed $100 bill? Hey, in this economy, most people don’t even remember what the old one looked like, all right?” – Jay Leno

“[The Boston Marathon bombers] only had one gun between them. Talk about not assimilating; you are in the United States for ten years and you only have one gun?” – Bill Maher

“The issue dear to my heart that may be affected is marijuana reform because the younger brother apparently was a big pot smoker, which, could explain why he chose as a get away vehicle a boat, that was on land.” – Bill Maher (on Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev)

“After he got away from the big shoot out he was trapped on a boat in the darkness, lying in his own waste. Or as we call it here, a Carnival Cruise.” – Bill Maher

“A new poll found that former congressman Anthony Weiner only has a 15 percent chance of winning the race for New York City mayor. Although in his defense, he’s a grower not a show-er.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Plans are being discussed in California to let illegal immigrants serve on juries. Talk about doing the jobs Americans don’t want to do! It’s all yours. Thank you.” – Jay Leno

“It’s not a federal holiday but today you’re supposed to take your son or daughter to work. For a lot of people it’s take your son or daughter to where you used to work. In China, kids take their parents to work.” – David Letterman

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Reactionary

I guess I should not have been surprised by this one, but the clarity of it is pretty breathtaking. A study just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looked at attitudes about energy efficiency in liberals and conservatives.

First, they gave people a fixed amount of money and gave them a choice of buying an old-school (low efficiency) incandescent light bulb or a new (high efficiency) compact florescent light bulb (CFL). When the bulbs cost the same, and even when the CFL cost more than the incandescent, both conservatives and liberals were equally likely to buy the efficient bulb.

Now here’s the interesting part. When they took the same choice, but this time put a message on the CFL saying “Protect the Environment”, there was a significant drop-off in conservatives picking the CFL.

That’s right. The same choice, the same price, but labeling something as helping to protect the environment made conservatives (and even the more conservative moderates) less likely to buy it. So either conservatives love to destroy the environment, or (more likely) they are automatically against anything that liberals are for. You know, “them damn liberals are always trying to protect the environment, and I hate liberals”. Therefore, they will not buy the energy efficient bulb (even though it would save them money) because it might allow them to piss off some imaginary liberal!

Isn’t it ironic that once upon a time, the conservative movement stood for conserving things? Now I’m not sure if it stand for anything, but instead is just about being against things (in particular, anything that liberals like).

UPDATE: This definitely applies at the national political level. The Republican National Committee has released an ad attacking Obama for not passing gun control legislation. What is not mentioned in the ad is that it was the Republicans who filibustered it.

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Background Check Fail

Ruben Bolling
© Ruben Bolling

Good thing he wasn’t shopping for nukes!

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