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Thursday, March 22, 2007

That damned Uncle Billy

What's Mallard raving about today?

The Canadian National Curling Team, Uncle Billy, scientists on the payroll of the energy industry, the mainstream media.

I feel like I need to pace myself, because we're going to have to go through this all over again in 2-3 weeks when "Al Gore testifies" panels start appearing.

So I'll just say two things:
1. Whatever one may think of scientific consensus, insulting Canada and Curling is just a low blow.
2. There's a Fillmore Foundation? For what? The advancement of mediocrity in combined visual and written media?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like that Mallard unintentionally implies that "scientists who remain open-minded about whether global warming is man-made" are about as newsworthy as "my Uncle Billy".

But seriously, what exactly is the joke here? The comic actual would work as a Doonesbury parody of conservatives if read right-to-left.

Maybe Tinsley has a liberal alter-ego that's into manga?

Anonymous said...

Billy Fillmore?
Wasn't he a famous musician from the 60's?

Anonymous said...

Again, a year ago he'd have phrased it "scientists who remain open-minded about whether global warming exists," so there's progress.

I think the "Fillmore Foundation" is likely to be a dark and mildew-smelling basement room with cinder-block furniture and a drain in the floor. And a very sticky and crusty photo of Ann Coulter on the wall.

bjorn black said...

My God, pmf is right. The comic is actually funny if read right-to-left. That has to mean something. I wonder if this works with all MF cartoons.

Kaitlyn said...

Luke, someone put random Family Circus captions in his speech bubbles and it made much more sense.

I think I saw it here -
http://community.livejournal.com/mf_roasted

Who has an Uncle Billy? I have relatives with the last name Williams, but no William in my extensive set of cousins, second cousins, and uncles. I do have an Uncle Bob who's my mom's big brother, and an Uncle Bob who's my dad's big brother, and they both live in West Coast states and have no kids - Mom's brother is in Alaska, and Dad's is in Washington.

I read it right to left and upside down and it still wasn't funny.

And it doesn't even make sense!

I don't watch TV news (Daily Show and Colbert Report), but I do read the paper and a lot of blogs. This week, the paper had an article - not on the front page - about how some scientists think Gore's full of crap and even those that support and believe in reality, said he exaggerated some things.

And you know the kerfluffle over his electric bill for Nashville house?

He lives in one of the richest neighborhoods in the country, and like all rich neighborhoods, they have a lot of limits on what can go on or near your house, and they would not let him put solar panels on the roof. Now he can, but it must be on a part of the roof where it can't be seen from the street.

I didn't see Gore's movie, but I did see Happy Feet, which was an animated inconvenient truth. (The only similarities between the two - humans can affect animal habitats in negative ways.)

The penguins didn't overfish their waters, man did.

Which is the same as saying cow farts didn't make the hole in the ozone layer, man did.

Or something.


And the Fillmore Foundation? Yet another unbiased thinktank financed by conservatives that gets no media coverage, except for the "approximately 400-450 newspapers across the United States"* that carry it.

*the internet**

**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallard_Fillmore