Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for June 22, 2009
Transcript:
Danae: I thought Mars was a barren, uninhabitable planet, Lars. Lars: You're talking about Mars 4.0, the red planet. Danae: Um... Mars 4.0? Jeffrey: Lars is from Mars 3.5. Lars: Our planets are in a synchronized orbit on opposite sides of the sun. Danae: Cool! So when will you let the world know about it? Lars: When your society is run by reason instead of fear and superstition. Danae: Oh, well... That should be right around... When? Half-past never? Jeffrey: Sigh. Lars: Oh, like having talk radio as your learning annex is our fault...
LordDogmore over 15 years ago
So which “Talk Radio” does Lars mean? BOTH ends of the political spectrum use the airwaves, don’t they?
madKanga over 15 years ago
@LordDogmore - and your point being??
Personally I think they are both as bad as one another.
glslightning over 15 years ago
Yes, both ends of the political spectrum use talk radio, but which relies most on fear and superstition to frame their arguments?
Anthony Moats Premium Member over 15 years ago
Identical orbit, other side of the sun? Okay. That’s doable. Might have fooled the ancients, but orbital perturbations of other planets (inc. Mars 4.0) would readily have been detectable by and understandable to astronomers, post-LaGrange, who knew a little of celestial mechanics.
madKanga over 15 years ago
@Vote: Doable but not stable; if I remember correctly, the stable points are 1/3 ahead and behind the planet. But let’s not be too picky - its still fun!!
pbarnrob over 15 years ago
@madKanga: There are several more-or-less stable ‘balance’ LaGrange points; IIRC, L1 is along the line, between primary and satellite, L2 behind satellite, L3 behind primary; L4 and L5 are the 60o ahead and behind, along the satellite’s orbit of primary. Vote’s point is, the perturbation would be detected from the presence of another satellite, affecting everybody else’s orbits. What does a celestial mechanic keep in her toolbox?
Varnes over 15 years ago
glslightning, very good point!
Mikey8 over 15 years ago
Rush to grudgement.
DesultoryPhillipic over 15 years ago
And which side uses invective and sheer lunacy?
Northwoodser over 15 years ago
Wiley, you just can’t help yourself can you? You have to keep tweaking every political know-it-all.
lewisbower over 15 years ago
Wait till the Church hears about this. Someone is going to be excumuinicated
GROG Premium Member over 15 years ago
Half past never sounds about right, now more than ever
navion over 15 years ago
Speaking of hot air, perhaps we should include the “mainstream” media and the disciples of Rather.
jimeguess over 15 years ago
Nope. Not talk radio. Government Schools! THEY are the ones that have one fourth of a page on Abraham Lincoln and SIX pages on Marilyn Monroe in the history books!
prasrinivara over 15 years ago
You ever read John Norman’s “Gor ” (aka “Counter-Earth”) novels, Vote?
yyyguy over 15 years ago
there was an old movie called Journey to the Far Side of the Sun which dealt with a landing on an exact copy of Earth located at the opposite point in our orbit.
Nighthawks Premium Member over 15 years ago
rush to judgement
JonD17 over 15 years ago
I am in agreement with MadKanga and doctortoon; doesn’t seem to matter which end of the “spectrum” the talk radio is coming from, it’s all dedicated to stir the pot and fomenting agitation. My feeling is that the talk radio (and television) people are dangerous in the ideologies they set into motion. Too many people are naive enough to take what they say as gospel and thereby shape their actions accordingly. If the have to exist, let’s please remember; IT IS JUST ENTERTAINMENT!! TRUTH IS AN OPTION IN THAT WORLD.
Wildmustang1262 over 15 years ago
Talking about UFOs and the aliens are full of B S!
Paudil over 15 years ago
glslightning, one side uses fear of terrorists, the other side uses fear of global warming…
rheckman1 Premium Member over 15 years ago
So this implies we should make the NY Times our ‘learning annex’? Or even public schools, with their stellar results? How about blaming the real reason - millions of apathetics that think everything should be rosy and take no responsibility for their own life. Too many people expect and now demand government largesse to make up for their own shortcomings. I help the helpless - I refuse to help the clueless.
gopuppy over 15 years ago
glslightning said, “Yes, both ends of the political spectrum use talk radio, but which relies most on fear and superstition to frame their arguments?”
Ha ha ha - trick question, right? Question should be: “who uses it explicitly and who uses it implicitly?”
prasrinivara over 15 years ago
No Rick, you don’t need to make NY Times the learning annex: you can always use sci-fi (such as Lin Carter’s Green Star series, or aformentioned Norman’s Gor set), Dianetics, or phoren sites (such as BBC, IndiaTimes, Globe&Mail, Canoe, …) instead.
Shikamoo Premium Member over 15 years ago
I thought Talk Radio refered to Orsen Wells’s famous Mars broadcast. Had everyone scared!
jsprat over 15 years ago
wow…I thought comics were entertaining and frivolous…silly me.
Sternvogel over 15 years ago
pbarnrob said, about 9 hours ago
“What does a celestial mechanic keep in her toolbox?”
A crescent (moon) wrench?
Star Tools?
http://www.macraesbluebook.com/search/company.cfm?company=403936
prasrinivara over 15 years ago
Actually, a monkey-wrench is ok for celestial mechanics. See SuperFriends which included “Wonder Twins and Gleep” (Gleep was the twins’ Exxorian monkey, who was “a real expert with monkey-wrench”).
ZetaZeta over 15 years ago
This isn’t necessarily a zing at talk radio, but that other forms of media (television, specifically) are not annexes of learning at all. ;P
B0B_E over 15 years ago
And the democrats don’t spread fear and lies? And Ed Schultz and Thom Hartman don’t spread hate?
ccmills over 15 years ago
Interesting comments - I didnt try to uncover the hidden meaning - I just enjoyed the “surface” humour.
jamadison4 over 15 years ago
, All is an ILLUSION……….
Don’t touch the Horizonal, and don’t touch the Veritical………DAMMIT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
,
Kerovan over 15 years ago
Counter Earth has been used many times, including a TV series about an astronaut trapped on it. He broke free from the totalitarian regime’s imprisonment only to see three moons in the sky. Spent the series on the run and trying to find a way home. It’s also been used extensively by Marvel comics, numerous books, movies and at least one other TV series.
LawofIdentity over 15 years ago
The alien in the third panel makes an astute observation.
This particular comic strip issue illustrates that many people do not use their reason; their only tool of cognition. They rely instead on faith (the willful abdication of one’s mind) or emotion.
And the influence or non-influence of talk radio has nothing to do with it. It is a non-sequitur.
What is critical here is that many people do not understand the difference between thought and emotion and they do not realize that emotions are products of one’ s thinking or of one’s non-thinking.
To more fully understand what I am saying I suggest you read Ayn Rand’s greatest novel, Atlas Shrugged.
rhutch436 over 15 years ago
Wow…All this from a comic strip that’s not even an editorial…Surely you must expect the writers to make a comment now and then meant to degrade the right. That’s what is expected if you want to be accepted by the “intelligentsia”. Don’t expect people to think . That’s not likely to happen. It’s a comic strip. I love “Get Fuzzy”, but I know the author disagrees politically with my views. Nonetheless, he’s a genius when coming up with material. Enjoy the strips and save the rancor. Use that energy for the next election and actually insist on a meaningful candidate who is positive and believes in core values instead trying to placate the media. You can’t “out-liberal” a liberal, and if you try, you’ve already lost. President Obama ran a great campaign. Get over it and don’t waste your life being angry ( talking to both sides here). I’ll be praying for our President and Nation.
Me_Again about 14 years ago
…
I think I need to move to Mars 3.5.