explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1607: Supreme Court

2023-06-25T18:45:23Z

162.158.146.203:

Made some additions, since I'm the first person up at this ungodly hour. Well, it's ungodly in my time zone, anyway. (Why is it that the time changes depending on where you live, but the months don't?) I am a first-time editor, so please correct any mistakes in formatting. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.5|05:32, 23 November 2015‎}}

:I'm awake, it's 11:26 PM. PS, you forgot to sign, but IDK how to fix. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 05:36, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
::I do - I've added a signature. --[[User:Sophira|Sophira]] ([[User talk:Sophira|talk]]) 06:11, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
:The months change. Currently, it's November in Europe and the Americas, Kislev in Israel, Safar in Islamic countries, etc.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.56.191|162.158.56.191]] 04:53, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

He just might be... THE LAW! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.41|108.162.221.41]] 06:17, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Isn't the joke that xkcd people are stick men, so the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libra_(constellation)#History_and_mythology libra] could just be a man with a tiny head carrying two buckets..? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.159|162.158.91.159]] 10:00, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
:What? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.203|162.158.146.203]] 18:45, 25 June 2023 (UTC)
Currently there's nothing in the explanation of the titletext that addresses that Justice X is claiming to be ''either'' of two individuals, not even trying to properly impersonate a specific individual. Of course, logically, if they claimed to be a specific person then this specific person they claimed to be could so easily counter-claim. So that approach shouldn't work. But being vague would ''also'' be strange. Unlike a game of Mafia, when there might (occasionally) be reasons to be vague in this manner about one's role (and yet accept that this can look utterly Scummy, if this approach is directed at the Townies) to try to offset targetting by the opposing camp, this should ''still'' not work in a group where everyone already knows each other. So who knows how 'relatively illogical' the two approaches are, to each other... ;) But can anyone explain this better than me? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.5|162.158.152.5]] 11:32, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Although there are nine justices, 10 votes were counted... it is possible that the mysterious tenth person voted along with the majority, and one of the original justices has voted against. The supreme court rarely votes unanimously on anything regardless of how reasonable the majority seems.[[User:Swordsmith|Swordsmith]] ([[User talk:Swordsmith|talk]]) 11:50, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
:Not sure where you're getting your information. For the 2014 term, fully 2/3 of the decisions decided were unanimous 9-0 decisions. The most common splits are 9-0 and 5-4. Most unanimous decisions are on smaller, less widely important matters. Larger more important and notable decisions are more likely to be concerned with a disagreement of law or interpretation and therefore to not be unanimous. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.48|108.162.216.48]] 14:32, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Just a guess, but it could be in reference to [http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/11/20/obama-administration-appeals-immigration-ruling-supreme-court/76103084/ this article], where the nine represents the actual justices and the single is the President. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:35, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

In my opinion, "this guy" is the picture in the background. It looks like an emoticon with eyes/eyelids, eyebrows, and a nose. It seems to have two sides in balance, which could explain the Alito/Ginsburg reference.
[[User:Tlane|Tlane]] ([[User talk:Tlane|talk]]) 20:20, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
:That is the "scales of justice", a symbol of the weighing of arguments or the weighing of justice vs mercy, depending on the viewpoint. [[User:GonzoI|GonzoI]] ([[User talk:GonzoI|talk]]) 02:35, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

This is slightly funnier knowing there should be only nine on the panel. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.32|198.41.238.32]] 21:05, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Also, the thing in the picture is a symbol representing justice. So it is "justice," but it is not "a justice." [[User:Tlane|Tlane]] ([[User talk:Tlane|talk]]) 23:16, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

[[User:Atreides]] has mentioned at [[1600: MarketWatch]] that identifying the newsreader as [[Ponytail]] is questionable, but if she is there, she should be here too. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 00:19, 24 November 2015 (UTC)
:It is not Ponytail either places, and I have corrected [[1600]]. She has no tail! But it is interesting that he uses the same appearance for a news presenter/newscaster in two comics so close. Maybe he has used her before? New character? We already have blonde character [[Miss Lenhart]]. But she was a teacher not a presenter... If anyone can find and collect more of these presenters it could be interesting. So far [[1607]] and [[1600]] are two very similar comics with same presenter! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:58, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

It may be worth noting somewhere that not only are Alito and Ginsberg different genders, they also have very different judicial philosophies. A "surprisingly compelling" argument that the interloper could be either would make an interesting read simply because the two write very different opinions. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 23:08, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

I feel it's very shady still. "The supreme court ruled 9-1 ..." -- isn't that an admission that the 10th IS a justice? Because if he's not his vote should not be counted at all. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.129.101|199.27.129.101]] 01:30, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:Pretty sure that's the joke.

Geeze... Some of y'all are totally overthinking this. [[User:WaltG123|WaltG123]] ([[User talk:WaltG123|talk]]) 05:45, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I've never done this before but tell me where I'm wrong. A newscaster is reporting on the Supreme Court. She has the scales of justice in the background. She is talking about "this guy" who is apparently a tenth individual in addition to the nine justices. Normally a newscast would show the person being described, perhaps in the background behind the newscaster. In this case the scales have an emoticon-look with eyes/eyelids, a nose, and eyebrows, so they are like a face. That represents "this guy." The scales are in balance between two opposing sides, and as it turns out Alito and Ginsburg represent two opposing viewpoints on the court. Interestingly, the scales represent "justice" but the newsletter declares that they are not "a justice." There are other plays on words: how did "justice" get in here (to the Supreme Court), the Court does not know who justice is, all of the regular members seem to be voting against justice. [[User:Tlane|Tlane]] ([[User talk:Tlane|talk]]) 16:42, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:Or it's just a joke about someone infiltrating the court & the USSC voting to determine if the person belongs there, with the scales pictured because Randall knows that:
:1) they're they symbol of the court
:2) there'd be no picture of this individual, as nobody knows who they are & cameras aren't allowed in the courtroom

:Anything can be complicated if you make it complicated. To quote Randall on this general subject: [http://spectralbovine.livejournal.com/184852.html "It was just the penis joke"] [[User:WaltG123|WaltG123]] ([[User talk:WaltG123|talk]]) 17:38, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I would bet almost anything that the 10th justice was [[Black Hat]]. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.60|173.245.55.60]] 20:21, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:And I'd put a small side-bet on it being [[Beret Guy]]. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 08:44, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

978: Citogenesis

2023-03-03T19:53:37Z

162.158.146.203:

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617: Understocked

2022-05-03T23:36:33Z

162.158.146.203: Undo revision 233060 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number =617
| date =July 31, 2009
| title =Understocked
| image =understocked.png
| titletext =My biology grad student friends tell me that different types of alcohol don't actually have different effects. I trust their expertise, not because of the 'biology' part, but because of the 'grad student'.
}}

==Explanation==
On July 16, 2009, Harvard University professor {{w|Henry Louis Gates}} was {{w|Henry Louis Gates arrest controversy|arrested at his home}} in Cambridge, Massachusetts by police officer Sgt. James Crowley, after the police department received a call that Gates and another man were breaking and entering into the residence. Returning home from a visit to China, Gates had found his front door jammed, and tried to force it open with the help of his driver.

Arriving at the scene and finding the front door forced open, Crowley (a Caucasian) asked the African-American Gates to show his ID or other proof that he lived there. Gates, feeling persecuted, responded with belligerence. He presented identification, but continued to talk back to the officers. Sgt. Crowley arrested Dr. Gates and charged him with disorderly conduct. The charges were dropped on July 21, but the incident sparked a national debate about ''{{w|racial profiling}}''.

On July 22, U.S. President {{w|Barack Obama}} criticized the arrest, saying that the Cambridge police "acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof he was in his own home." He also commented on the racial undertones of the incident, saying that "there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact."

The president's remarks were furiously criticized by the law-enforcement community, and President Obama apologized two days later, saying that he could have chosen his words better, and it wasn't his intention to malign the Cambridge Police Department or Sgt. Crowley. He also invited Gates and Crowley to discuss the situation over beers to air out their differences and come to an understanding about the situation.

This comic explores a hypothetical situation in which President Obama found he was all out of beer, and chooses to share {{w|tequila}} with Gates and Crowley instead. In pop culture, tequila is frequently represented as the "let's-get-trashed" alcohol of choice, and so in the comic, President Obama, Professor Gates and Sgt. Crowley all get trashed on tequila, take a White House limo on a joyride, and ''all'' end up behind bars.

The title text goes back on the suggestion that drinking tequila rather than beer would cause this kind of behavior. It also jokingly implies that biology grad students are authorities on the effects of alcohol because they drink a lot, not because they understand how the human body works.

==Transcript==
:[A bald bearded man with glasses standing in his open doorway outside his house and a police man wearing a black peaked cap with white emblem standing on the stoop at the top of the stairs leading down from the house are swearing at each other]
:Both: *$@#!

:[The bearded man is in prison sitting on a bench behind bars.]

:[Cueball, as the president of the United States, is standing behind a lectern with the Presidential Seal (eagle and all) on its front.]
:President: To defuse this misunderstanding, I've invited both men to have a beer with me at the White House.

:[A policeman is standing left and looking left while the bearded man is walking towards the president both with their hands stretched out towards each other. They are in the oval room in the White House with a couch and an oval carpet and two large windows.]

:[The president has opened cabinet on top of another cabinet. He is looking into it with a hand on his chin.]
:President: Actually, it seems we're out of beer.
:Voice (off-panel): Is there anything else?

:[Zoom in on the back of the president's head viewing the shelve in the cabinet with a single labeled bottle:]
:Tequila

:[The black Presidential Limo, with grayed out windows in the rear is being driven at high speed by the president who can be seen through the regular windows in the front of the car. The bearded man has his arms up and the policeman is waving his hat and holding the bottle of tequila are standing up looking out of the sunroof.]
:All: ''WOOOOOOOOOOOO''

:[The policeman, the bearded man, and the president are sitting on a bench behind bars in the same prison from panel two.]

{{comic discussion}}

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