Comments

  5. Richard Harris says

    The best laugh in ages! Just one thing, though. Thomas the Tank Engine is nice.

  6. clinteas says

    //Just one thing, though. Thomas the Tank Engine is nice.//

    And dead,too….Hail,Carlin !!

    Image is hilarious…:-)

  11. Anon says

    @Clinteas, #8–

    Only partly dead–or are you trying to tell us something about Ringo?

  16. clinteas says

    //-or are you trying to tell us something about Ringo?//

    I read Pierce Brosnan will narrate in the future….so yeah,partly dead..:-)

  17. Scott L says

    That one image is from Fark.com, where, just a couple of days ago, the Fark community went all out and made quite a few of those. If you want to check out the other ones, click here.

  19. TripMaster Monkey says

    Priceless, PZ.

    Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some coffee to clean off my keyboard. ^_^

  20. Doug says

    And remember, those Thomas tank engines have a coat of lead paint on them.

    Yesterday my friend from Arizona who is a McCain supporter switched her vote to Obama because of Palin. McCain is such a maverick, picking a VP that would cost him votes.

  22. Dave Godfrey says

    …but I like steam trains. I’ll just have to think of Obama as the Mallard instead then… Which makes McCain “Puffing Billy”.

  23. Phillip IV says

    I can’t completely agree with the choice of the 500 series Shinkansen for Senator Obama, though. The 500 series, while unquestionably an awesome design, was something of a white elephant – replaced in production with the nearly as capable but much cheaper 700 series after only 9 sets had been built.

    The newer 800 series, or the experimental Fastech 360, would have been much better choices, IMHO.

  26. Larry says

    Funny, how ever, I think the train wreck scene at the beginning of the movie The Fugitive better summarizes the entire McCain campaign. Like scene, this campaign just goes on and on and on and…

  27. says

    A line is about to be crossed…

    But Thomas the Tank Engine is widely enjoyed…
    …as a former beauty queen was in high school

    We now return you to your otherwise civil discussion already in progress

  28. David W says

    The problem with the train metaphor is that all of the trains run on the same tracks and end up in the same place…

    …wouldn’t a bit of inventiveness be novel?

  29. Jake says

    This is indeed rather funny, however P.Z. how did you get this? did you… appropriate this picture from it’s ‘sauce’ or did someone send it to you?

    If you indeed get this picture yourself from the source, I have so much more (weird) respect for you.

  30. Jake says

    This is indeed rather funny, however P.Z. how did you get this? did you… appropriate this picture from it’s ‘sauce’ or did someone send it to you?

    If you indeed get this picture yourself from the source, I have so much more (weird) respect for you.

  31. Neil says

    @28 The problem with the train metaphor is that all of the trains run on the same tracks and end up in the same place…

    No, I am sure that there is a difference in the gauge of the tracks that European trains run on, different to those that the steam train from the ‘old west’ would have been running on. I think it comes down to metric and ‘imperial’ measurements……

  32. clinteas says

    Scott L ,@ 17,

    thanks for the link !
    Im still scrolling through them,there’s like a million !

  33. Eleanor says

    Hey how . . . Thomas the Tank engine is a treasured childhood memory. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, is going to get put in charge of child-related policies for some inscrutable reason.

  34. SteveM says

    No, I am sure that there is a difference in the gauge of the tracks that European trains run on, different to those that the steam train from the ‘old west’ would have been running on. I think it comes down to metric and ‘imperial’ measurements……

    Nope, rail gauge is pretty much standard the world over regardless of imperial/metric. There are of course exceptions for various narrow gauges or very specialized applications, but generally american, japanese, british and european rail gauge is the same. And there was no change in guage in america from steam to diesel.

  38. Lago says

    Hahahah..

    I just came from debating the Catholic League (Wow, are they batshit crazy, or what?) .. all night on Bill Donohue’s Youtube video, and I needed a good laugh…

    Thanks to whomever came up with that..

  40. Janine ID AKA The Lone Drinker says

    Instead of Thomas The Tank Engine, I think the photo that was use as the cover of Scrabbling At The Lock by Tom Cora And The Ex is more apt. Yes, this is one of my favorite albums. As an added bonus, check out the name of the site.

  44. Epinephrine says

    Nope, rail gauge is pretty much standard the world over regardless of imperial/metric. There are of course exceptions for various narrow gauges or very specialized applications, but generally american, japanese, british and european rail gauge is the same. And there was no change in guage in america from steam to diesel.

    Actually, in North America alone there were several track gauges, in part top prevent the use of the railroads for invasion purposes. Newfoundland had a narrow gauge rail system (and this lasted a long time, the “newfie bullet” ran until at least the 60s). Canada and the USA had different (and non-standard) gauges until the late 1800s. Even in the USA, there were differences in gauge between the north and the south.

  46. MikeJ says

    Wait, I see that her “Thomas” is off the track! Where is that pesky Breakdown Train????

  48. withheld says

    That’s not entirely fair. That steam engine is AT LEAST five years older than McCain.

  51. Brian D says

    Anyone who’s followed McCain’s energy policy should agree that this represents him better.

    Yes, that contraption is a nuclear-powered engine. Unlike McCain, it was recognized as a Bad Idea and retired around the same time he should have retired.

  53. says

    The narrow gauge technology (it generally required a different approach to locomotive design) was first developed in Wales to provide a feasible method of delivering minerals from mine to port over extremely hilly terrain.

    Brunel’s Great Western line (London to Bristol) initially adopted a broad gauge (7 ft 0¼ in) but adopted standard gauge increasingly after Parliament standardized on 4 ft 8½ in.

  54. Mark says

    Did anyone notice that both the McCain and Palin locomotives have derailed? Very nice touch IMO :)

  55. David Marjanović, OM says

    Anyone who’s followed McCain’s energy policy should agree that this represents him better.

    Yes, that contraption is a nuclear-powered engine.

    ROTFLMAO! TSIB!

    I can’t stop laughing… :-D :-D :-D

  56. David Marjanović, OM says

    I’m still laughing. I just can’t grasp that such monumental stupidity really existed. :-D :-D :-D <headdesk> :-D :-D :-D

  57. Quiet_Desperation says

    For coders:

    Obama = C++
    Biden = Pascal
    McCain = COBOL
    Palin = Visual Basic

  58. Quiet_Desperation says

    For movie lovers:

    Obama = “A martini. Shaken, not stirred.”
    Biden = “There’s no place like home.”
    McCain = “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”
    Palin = “Toga! Toga!”

  59. BK says

    Those of you that think that Obama is going to make any difference in the big picture are wrong. It’s a one party system.

  60. says

    BK: Those of you that think that Obama is going to make any difference in the big picture are wrong. It’s a one party system.

    That’s right, BK. It’s completely obvious that it doesn’t matter who the president is. We all know that President Al Gore would have suspended the Constitution and created interment camps at Guantanamo. He would have ignored the warning that Osama wanted to fly planes into buildings. He would have invaded Iraq on trumped-up charges (and my cousin would still be dead from an IED near Baghdad). He would have appointed Roberts and Alito to the Supreme Court. Yep, presidents don’t matter at all.

    Go screw yourself, BK.

    P.S.: I just did my own version of the Obama/Biden/McCain/Palin poster. It’s math!

  61. Rey Fox says

    At the Fark page, the Chicago Bears-themed one made me laugh the most, and it’s mostly because the guy who made it somehow found a Cade McNown poster. I just couldn’t believe that existed.

    Uh, nothing to see here, read on, talk amongst yourselves about non-sports-related stuff…

  62. cubefarmed says

    Just because it irritates me to no end, and it’s marginally related…

    Does it surprise anyone that conservative blowhards are calling it ‘exotic’ and ‘ostentatious’ that Obama actually prnounces Pakistan correctly? Seriously! What a bunch of ignorant shitheads to try and mock him for it. I know it /shouldn’t/ surprise me, but dammit – just a *little* intelligence from the wingnuts? Just a teeny bit???

  63. Quiet_Desperation says

    BK: Those of you that think that Obama is going to make any difference in the big picture are wrong. It’s a one party system.

    For BK:

    Obama = Biden
    Biden = McCain
    McCain = Palin
    Palin = 1

    (For all values of 1)

  64. Brad D says

    “For coders:

    Obama = C++
    Biden = Pascal
    McCain = COBOL
    Palin = Visual Basic”

    Now hold on a second… You can still write good useful code in VB. I have written lots of excel VB macros to deal with routine LC/MS sample lists and data.

  65. Brad D says

    Zeno,
    I like your math poster, Mc Cain being an irrational number and Palin being devision by zero, but is Pi (Obama) better than e (Biden)? Seems to me they are both very important numbers. Or is that the point?

  67. tsg says

    Does it surprise anyone that conservative blowhards are calling it ‘exotic’ and ‘ostentatious’ that Obama actually prnounces Pakistan correctly?

    I always find it a bit pretentious, myself.

    And that’s ignoring the idea that there is only one correct pronunciation of a country’s name, especially when it’s in an entirely different language than the one it’s being spoken in.

  68. Tracy says

    Unfortunately I watched and listened to the darned bloody thing and although I agree with the images with regards to our “general impressions” of the Fab 4, last nights’s debate was nothing like that… McCain attacked Obama mercilessly, knocked him down on several points except taxation, and Obama went on and on with his sempiternal:
    “I agree with McCain”!!!!!!! It’s as if the Dems are trying all to loose this election. Obama let McCain set all the frames, consistently ran over his time limits, and repeatedly begged for even more time from the hopeless mediator, blaaaaahhhhh. Last night was a disgrace for the Dems. The country, I would hope, deserves better than that. The Dems must be so infiltrated by GOPs that it’s a hopeless affair…

  69. Tracy says

    Unfortunately I watched and listened to the darned bloody thing and although I agree with the images with regards to our “general impressions” of the Fab 4, last nights’s debate was nothing like that… McCain attacked Obama mercilessly, knocked him down on several points except taxation, and Obama went on and on with his sempiternal:
    “I agree with McCain”!!!!!!! It’s as if the Dems are trying all to loose this election. Obama let McCain set all the frames, consistently ran over his time limits, and repeatedly begged for even more time from the hopeless mediator, blaaaaahhhhh. Last night was a disgrace for the Dems. The country, I would hope, deserves better than that. The Dems must be so infiltrated by GOPs that it’s a hopeless affair…

  70. twincats says

    The robot one was nice, too:

    Obama = Hal

    Biden = C3PO

    McCain = Dalek

    Palin = Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons

  74. David Marjanović, OM says

    Zeno joked:

    That’s right, BK. It’s completely obvious that it doesn’t matter who the president is.

    “This is a dark chapter in our history. Whatever else happens, our country’s international standing has been frittered away by people who don’t have the foggiest understanding of how the hell the world works. America has been conducting an experiment for the past six years, trying to validate the proposition that it really doesn’t make any difference who you elect president. Now we know the result of that experiment [laughs]. If a guy is stupid, it makes a big difference.”
    — General Tony McPeak (retired), member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War

    I have written lots of excel VB macros to deal with routine LC/MS sample lists and data.

    Where LC/MS of course means “liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry”, as in “big science with big machines and big oodles of cash”.

    The robot one was nice, too:

    Nothing against the two Star Wars ones:

    Obama = Luke Skywalker or Han Solo
    Biden = Han Solo or Obi-Wan Kenobi
    McCain = the Emperor
    Palin = Jar-Jar Binks

  75. Jadehawk says

    I’ve just looked at those, and they get boring and formulaic real fast (obama = flashy, biden = tried-and-true, mccain = old, palin = children toy), so I was hoping for some good republican ones, but it seems the repubs don’t have a good sense of humor. Or imagination, since Palin is mostly either Lara Croft or Joanne d’Arc.

  78. Rey Fox says

    “Or imagination, since Palin is mostly either Lara Croft or Joanne d’Arc.”

    Thank heaven I can keep my libido separate from my higher mental functions. Most of the time, anyway.

  79. says

    Obama = Luke Skywalker or Han Solo
    Biden = Han Solo or Obi-Wan Kenobi
    McCain = the Emperor
    Palin = Jar-Jar Binks

    That was brilliant!

  80. says

    Brad: OOPS, I meant imaginary number for McCain = (sqrt(-1))

    It obviously means that McCain is not real.

    As for Obama and Biden both being irrational (as has been pointed out to me), I note that they’re transcendental! (Oh, oh. That sounds like Obamamania.)

    I did think of having Palin’s math be something like 1 + 1 = 3, but that was a little too obvious. Division by zero is a definitely better choice for her.

    [Candidate equivalencies]

  81. bk says

    I think I have stumbled into a freshman political science class. Obama will make NO DIFFERENCE. He can’t. The system is the problem.

    I’m surprised that the crowd around here has fallen for a guy who uses “hope” as a campaign slogan.

    Just what the hell is “hope” supposed to mean? One mans “hope” is another mans “prayer.” Equally ridiculous.

    Obviously Obama/Biden is preferable to the other side. But it won’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

  82. Ray says

    Bit of a correction concerning Thomas the tank engine. George Carlin and Ringo Starr played Mr. Conductor in the series I think, not Thomas and Alec Baldwin played Mr. Conductor in the movie. My Boys used to watch it all the time so I was steeped in it for a while.
    Carry on.

    Cheers,
    Ray

  83. Ray says

    Also (as may have been pointed out) Thomas was really useful, Sara Palin… not so much.

    Cheers,
    Ray

  84. says

    bk: Obviously Obama/Biden is preferable to the other side. But it won’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

    In the grand scheme of things the sun will explode and eradicate life on the planet. Thanks for putting things in context, BK. Now run along and go try to do something useful instead of berating people who are trying to improve things. Do you think we’re all starry-eyed idealists who think the angels will sing when Obama is sworn in on January 20? Get a clue. If incremental change is good enough for evolution and speciation, it’s good enough for me.

    I’m just not as patient as evolution because I don’t have as much time. Making Bush policies go extinct is a nice start, though.

  85. Fernando Magyar says

    bk @ 81,

    I think I have stumbled into a freshman political science class. Obama will make NO DIFFERENCE. He can’t. The system is the problem.

    Yesss, the sssystem isss the problem my preciousss…

    However here is a good bedtime story from a biologist no less!

    The Borg: A Financial Allegory

    http://www.theoildrum.com/node/4611

  86. LTerminus says

    Just for reference, credit for that image goes to Anonymous on 4chan.org’s /b/ board.

  88. David Marjanović, OM says

    ¡¡¡Viva la evolución!!!

    (Mer-deux. I should have gone to bed long ago.)

  89. Fernando Magyar says

    bk @ 81,

    I think I have stumbled into a freshman political science class. Obama will make NO DIFFERENCE. He can’t. The system is the problem.

    Yesss, the sssystem isss the problem my preciousss…

    However here is a good bedtime story from a biologist no less!

    The Borg: A Financial Allegory

    http://www.theoildrum.com/node/4611

  91. Azkyroth says

    Unfortunately I watched and listened to the darned bloody thing and although I agree with the images with regards to our “general impressions” of the Fab 4, last nights’s debate was nothing like that… McCain attacked Obama mercilessly, knocked him down on several points except taxation, and Obama went on and on with his sempiternal:
    “I agree with McCain”!!!!!!! It’s as if the Dems are trying all to loose this election. Obama let McCain set all the frames, consistently ran over his time limits, and repeatedly begged for even more time from the hopeless mediator, blaaaaahhhhh. Last night was a disgrace for the Dems. The country, I would hope, deserves better than that. The Dems must be so infiltrated by GOPs that it’s a hopeless affair…

    You know, it seems like pretty much no one who watched the debate last night agrees with you…

  92. truth machine says

    I think I have stumbled into a freshman political science class. Obama will make NO DIFFERENCE. He can’t.

    Uh, right … like Bush and Cheney made no difference. Or John McCain and Phil Gramm, for that matter.

    Obviously Obama/Biden is preferable to the other side.

    Well then there’s a DIFFERENCE, isn’t there, moron?

  93. truth machine, OM says

    It’s as if the Dems are trying all to loose this election.

    Yeah, because a debate performance for which the undecideds prefer the Dem 2:1 is “as if …”.

    And it’s “lose”, moron.

  94. Ichthyic says

    Or imagination, since Palin is mostly either Lara Croft or Joanne d’Arc

    a tomb raider (so THAT’S why McCain brought her along)

    or an insane person who was burned at the stake.

    tough choice.

  95. truth machine, OM says

    I always find it a bit pretentious, myself.

    You might as well have “ignorant shithead” tattooed on your forehead.

  99. Ichthyic says

    Obama=Ward Cleaver
    Biden=Wally
    McCain=June Cleaver
    Palin=The Beaver

    oh, wait, were we trying to make sense with these?

  100. BMS says

    Obama = iPhone 3G

    Biden = Nokia 6555

    McCain = EE-8 Military Field Phone

    Palin = Two cans and some string

  102. shonny says

    Uh, the no.3 train should have no smoke coming up, but the boiler exploding – I think.

    Posted by: BMS | October 9, 2008 2:44 AM
    Obama = iPhone 3G
    Biden = Nokia 6555
    McCain = EE-8 Military Field Phone*
    Palin = Two cans and some** string

    *with flat batteries
    **too short string

  103. Ragutis says

    Tracy, I don’t think even Pat Buchanan or Sean Hannity’s perceptions of the debate were that distorted. I’m all for the occasional mood-altering substance myself, but you should really give reality a try sometime. It’s not too bad. You might be surprised at how rewarding it can be to see things as they really are.

    Palin is really backfiring on McCain. I guess they were hoping she’d draw women and independents, but those seem to be the groups he’s lost the most appeal with in recent weeks. Toss in the credit shit hitting the global economic fan and that boat is about sunk. Unless they’ve got Bin Laden’s corpse on ice and stashed in one of those 8 houses…

    But don’t get too comfy. Regardless of what happens this election (and 26 days is a long time in politics), I really doubt they’ll give up on her. She’s been really effective with the religitards party base and I’d bet dollars to donuts that as of Nov. 5 they’ll be preparing to run her for President in 2012.

  107. tsg says

    You might as well have “ignorant shithead” tattooed on your forehead.

    Good idea. Where did you get yours?

    Twit.

  108. kk says

    Palin is certainly a train wreck; however, Thomas the Tank always strived to be a Useful Engine, which is a whole lot more than I can say about Palin. Thomas aimed his sights toward being better; Palin aims her sights toward being common.

  110. Ichthyic says

    Palin is certainly a train wreck; however, Thomas the Tank always strived to be a Useful Engine, which is a whole lot more than I can say about Palin. Thomas aimed his sights toward being better; Palin aims her sights toward being common.

    In defense of Thomas, the comparison DOES show him “derailed”.

    …which makes it a far better comparison, IMO.

  111. Big Al in MN says

    Of course what you don’t see is the bombs that Barrack Hussein would allow his terrorist cronies to take on the train. National security whats that?

  112. Nerd of Redhead says

    Gee little Al, all huff an puff but no substance. The usual lies and snide insinuations from the neocon crowd, and not even an original . Can’t you do something completely different and actually show some evidence that is real?

  113. Ichthyic says

    Of course what you don’t see

    I don’t see flying unicorns either.

    did you have a point to naming off things we DON’T see because they DON’T exist?

    nevermind, I can tell what caliber your response would be, and I’m already bored.

    *yawn*

    Big Al?

    as in Big Gay Al?

    not the argument I would expect from you though.

  114. says

    Of course what you don’t see is the bombs that Barrack Hussein would allow his terrorist cronies to take on the train

    Were you the guy at the McCain rally that’s becoming an internet sensation?

  115. Patricia says

    Ichthyic – You don’t see unicorns or dragons because only the god bothering christians can see them.

  116. says

    I see unicorns and dragons. When I have about 20 drinks, my dreams get really messed up. I see dragons, unicorns, aliens, dead people, living apparitions, monsters, and monsters. It’s like some Dali surrealist art has cross with reality as I see it. Fun stuff tbh