Today's subject: xkcdsucks.blogspot.com/2010/09/comic-787-still-lost-still-in-space.html
Let me start out by applauding Carl on not getting the joke. Yes, Randall is drawing attention to middle-east peace talks, but that doesn't mean he's taking a specific side. He is, instead, saying that the whole argument is irrelevant, and he'd much rather avoid it (not that I speak for him). This is actually very obvious. You'll notice, for instance, that Head-set guy ends up siding with neither Left-of-screen guy by calling the area in question the state of Palestine nor Right-of-screen guy by calling it Israel. Instead (now follow close or you'll miss it) he literally avoids the area and moves the shuttle to Oklahoma. See what he did there?
Secondly, I'd like to say that at no point does Randall mention the fact that he worked for NASA. In fact, I can't remember any xkcd comic that points this out explicitly. I was actually unaware of this fact until you mentioned it in your post. Your argument that he's bragging is just a stupid stretch to make fun of a guy much smarter than you. Are you actually surprised that a guy that worked for NASA chose space exploration as the template to point out the triviality of arguing over the name of a tract of land? If you are, then you're a fucking idiot. But in my opinion, you don't actually believe your own shit. Instead, you just couldn't find enough wrong with this comic, and stretched as far as you could at anything that crossed your mind so you could make a rage post. What's that? The alt-text says something technical about the shuttle? Yes you're right, it does. That would be because Randall is a fucking nerd, and nerds point shit like that shit out.
Finally, your "ideas" about how the comics punch-line should be delivered hold a grain of truth. But the comic isn't fucking perfect, and never proclaims to be.
Fuck you, asshat.
Ian
