explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

896: Marie Curie

2024-02-21T14:28:42Z

Jupitah: Undo revision 335440 by TheusafBOT (talk)

comic
number = 896
date = May 9, 2011
title = Marie Curie
image = marie curie.png
titletext = Although not permanently.

==Explanation==
The comic begins with [[Ponytail]] stating that her teacher told her that if she worked hard (applied herself) she could be the next {{w|Marie Curie}}. But then a distorted {{w|zombie}} Marie Curie (drawn as zombie [[Hairbun]]) walks in and informs Ponytail that she is not the only influential woman scientist, and would wish people would get over her "as the only important female scientist". She then mentions two other important women in science.

Marie Curie was a pioneering research scientist, most famous for her work with radiation, and in isolating {{w|Radium}}, and {{w|Polonium}}. She died from {{w|aplastic anemia}} contracted from exposure to {{w|radiation}} from the extremely radioactive isotopes of Radium and Polonium that she would carry around in her pockets. She ends up warning Ponytail against exposure to radium, stating that ''it kills you'', although as the title text points out, obviously not permanently as she came back as a zombie.

The conversation between [[Ponytail]] and Zombie Marie Curie refers to the fact that Marie is often singled out as the only significant female scientist. Marie points out that this is a poor version of the truth, for two reasons. Firstly, there have been many other significant female scientists, and secondly, Marie asserts that the most significant events in {{w|theoretical physics}} and {{w|mathematics}} do not arise because of an individuals desire for fame, but from passion for the subject and a great deal of dedication and hard work.

As examples of important women scientists the comic mentions {{w|Lise Meitner}} and {{w|Emmy Noether}}.

Lise Meitner was one of the major contributors in the discovery of nuclear fission for which her male colleague {{w|Otto Hahn}} was awarded a {{w|Nobel Prize}} in 1944. In the process she proved that {{w|Enrico Fermi}} had made some wrong assumptions, but he also got a Nobel prize whereas she only got a {{w|National Press Club (United States)|National Women's Press Club}} award as "Woman of the Year" in 1946. As a somewhat late consolation, the element {{w|Meitnerium}} was named after her in 1997 almost 30 years after her death. (She is later mentioned again in [[1584: Moments of Inspiration]]).

{{w|Noether's Theorem}} is widely considered one of the most beautiful and significant theorems used in physics, and its repercussions are still being widely explored to this day. She had to learn mathematics by taking {{w|Academic audit|auditing classes}} at {{w|University of Erlangen}} since she was [https://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/noether.htm refused the opportunity to take classes because she was a woman]. And later she had to teach without getting paid and under male colleagues' names, meaning that students would only take the course if they thought some "real" male teacher was guiding Emmy. Much later Emmy was referenced in the title text of [[2595: Advanced Techniques]].

Marie asserts at the end that Ponytail is not alone, meaning that there are many important female scientists out there, and also many young women wanting to become scientists. But could also be a reference to the fact that, as mentioned, female scientists might be less likely to receive medals or other tokens of support and encouragement.

Zombies are a [[:Category:Zombies|recurring theme]] in xkcd, particularly zombie scientists, which has also occurred twice before with {{w|Richard Feynman}} in [[397: Unscientific]] and {{w|Paul Erdős}} in [[599: Apocalypse]].

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is looking up at a picture on the wall showing Marie Curie with a white hair bun. She seems to be standing in front of a laboratory table with samples strewn over the surface. Her arms are in front of her like she is working with these samples. A voice comes from off-panel (and is revealed in the next panels to be Zombie Marie Curie.]
:Ponytail: My teacher always told me that if I applied myself, I could become the next Marie Curie.
:Zombie Marie Curie (off-panel): You know, I wish they'd get over me.
:[Inserted panel mainly inside the first panel, but extending a bit it, with a close up of Ponytail who turns her face around swiftly towards the zombie, as indicated by two speed lines curving around her head, even breaking the panels frame.]
:Ponytail: Zombie Marie Curie!

:[Ponytail has turned towards Zombie Marie Curie, drawn as Hairbun, who is walking towards Ponytail in typical zombie fashion both arms stretched out, with a battered and weathered look Stuff is falling off behind her, presumably mainly earth from when she dug herself out of her grave, and she is leaving a trail of this behind her, and it keeps falling from both of her hands and her body.]
:Zombie Marie Curie: Not that I don't deserve it. These two Nobels ain't decorative. But I make a sorry role model if girls just see me over and over as the one token lady scientist.

:[Close up of Zombie Marie Curie holding a hand up. She clearly has two large pieces of earth stuck to her face, and her hair is in disarray even with the hair bun keeping it in place.]
:Zombie Marie Curie: Lise Meitner figured out that nuclear fission was happening, while her colleague Otto was staring blankly at their data in confusion, and proved Enrico Fermi wrong in the process. Enrico and Otto both got Nobel Prizes. Lise got a National Women's Press Club award.
:Zombie Marie Curie: They finally named an element after her, but not until 60 years later.

:[Zoom out to both Ponytail and Zombie Marie Curie both with their arms down.]
:Zombie Marie Curie: Emmy Noether fought past her Victorian-era finishing-school upbringing, pursued mathematics by auditing classes, and, after finally getting a Ph.D, was permitted to teach only as an unpaid lecturer (often under male colleagues' names).
:Ponytail: Was she as good as them?
:Zombie Marie Curie: She revolutionized abstract algebra, filled gaps in relativity, and found what some call the most beautiful, deepest result in theoretical physics.
:Ponytail: Oh.

:[Close up of Zombie Marie Curie.]
:Zombie Marie Curie: But you don't become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process.

:[Zoom out to both Ponytail and Zombie Marie Curie.]
:Zombie Marie Curie: So don't try to be the next me, Noether, or Meitner. Just remember that if you want to do this stuff, you're not alone.
:Ponytail: Thanks.
:Zombie Marie Curie: Also, avoid radium. Turns out it kills you.
:Ponytail: I'll try.

==Trivia==
*Marie Curie was later drawn in similar Hairbun style (but not with the zombie decay) in [[Thing Explainer]] in the article ''The pieces everything is made of'' (about the {{w|Periodic table}}), since she discovered two of the elements and had one element named after her, just like Lise Meitner.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Zombies]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:sh*t]]

896: Marie Curie

2024-02-21T14:26:48Z

Jupitah:

193: The Perfect Sound

2024-02-09T14:09:24Z

Jupitah: Undo revision 334630 by TheusafBOT (talk)

creeps.com

193: The Perfect Sound

2024-02-09T14:08:24Z

Jupitah: not spam

creeps.com

2084: FDR

2024-01-24T13:43:04Z

Jupitah:

{{comic
| number = 1
| date = January 1, 1
| title = 1
| image = 2.png
| imagesize = 1x1px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our investigation into whining-based remedies became the first study to be halted by the IRB on the grounds that the treatment group was 'too annoying.'
}}

==Explanation==

The United States Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was {{w|Attack on Pearl Harbor| attacked in 1941}}, and is credited with starting the United States' involvement in World War II. The then US president, {{w|Franklin D. Roosevelt}} (FDR), issued a speech to the American people which begins with the line "Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, {{w|Infamy Speech| a date which will live in infamy...}}". Whenever [[Randall]] writes "December" he feels compelled to complete the line, a mistake which is visible in this comic.

This may be a parody of a more common type of error in which people writing dates during January (particularly early in the month) accidentally write the previous year instead of the current one because the previous year number is an established pattern while the new one is a recent change.

The title text confuses the date of the northern hemisphere summer solstice (June 21st) with the date of the {{w|365 Crete earthquake}} that happened on July 21st 365AD. The earthquake had a magnitude of at least 8.0 which caused widespread destruction across the Eastern Mediterranean. Then it mentions {{w|Guy Fawkes Night}}, the anniversary of the famous failed attempt to bomb Parliament on the night of November 5th, 1605. The latter event is immortalized in the rhyme "remember remember, the fifth of November, the gunpowder, treason, and plot", the former event less so.

Randall also may be suggesting that Roosevelt implied the degree of "infamy" of an event can be measured by how long its date is remembered. Pearl Harbor resulted in 2,458 deaths and obviously extensive damage to a military base and fleet. It has been remembered 77 years, thus far. The earth quake of 365AD resulted in an estimated 230,000 killed and numerous cities severely damaged or destroyed. Randall states it was remembered for a few centuries. The Gunpowder Plot resulted in the death of a couple of conspirators and no notable damage. It has been remembered, at least in song, for "over 400 years".

==Transcript==
:[Close-up of a form. Each field has a label (the first is assumed) and a handwritten entry. The name and country are each half visible. The numeral "4" has been only partially written before being scratched out.]
:[NAME]
:Randall Munroe
:DATE
:Dec <s>7, 194</s> 12, 2018
:COUNTRY
:United States

:[Caption below the frame:]
:FDR was so good at speeches that I spend a whole month each year writing the date wrong.

{{comic discussion}}

1451: Background Screens

2024-01-24T13:42:32Z

Jupitah:

{{comic
| number = 1
| date = January 1, 1
| title = 1
| image = 2.png
| imagesize = 1x1px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our investigation into whining-based remedies became the first study to be halted by the IRB on the grounds that the treatment group was 'too annoying.'
}}

==Explanation==
Plot and characters are generally the parts a movie that most people presumably pay attention to, as the story, the emotional connection, and character development are generally the things most people find enjoyable about particular films{{Citation needed}}.

On the other hand, [[Cueball]], likely representing [[Randall]], pays particular attention to what's on the computer screens shown briefly in the background. Generally speaking, these screens are shown to the audience for a short period of time, and at a low-level of detail, just to dress a set and make a scene feel more realistic or high-tech. They may contain endless columns of gibberish or miscellaneous data flashing by in an eye-blink (only visible by freeze-framing), or cross-hairs zipping across maps.

Often the contents of the computer screens are so unimportant or hard-to-read that the filmmakers do not bother to spend much time (if any at all) ensuring that what is shown on the screen is accurate or even relevant to the film. They may be designed by artists not fully aware of the details of the plot, and as a result, their content (where it is intelligible, such as in a map) can have little to no connection to the dialog or other story events going on in front of them. They sometimes even contain jokes. It is rare, if ever, that important information would be communicated to the viewer through background computer screens. Hence, Cueball's spending most of his time watching the screens seems counter-intuitive to understanding and enjoying the film.

{{w|Greenland}}, a large island east of Canada, is 80% covered in ice up to several kilometers in depth, and has a population of fewer than 100,000 people. Depending on the aliens' priorities (and the plot of the movie) there are myriad reasons both for and against wanting to land in such a remote area. In the title text, Cueball suggests investigating how a list of coordinates from another background screen relates to the location of the alien craft in Greenland, suggesting that Cueball thinks the filmmakers may have intended the viewers to record the information early in the film and analyze the data to learn relevant plot information - something that is very unlikely (and in the rare instance it is true, is intended to be superfluous). Most of the time, filmmakers take efforts to ensure the audience can easily follow plot points by making them more obvious than they might be in reality.

==Transcript==
:What I pay attention to in movies:
:[A pie chart with a small piece (5%) in the upper right part labeled:]
:Plot, characters
:[The rest of the chart (95%) is labeled:]
:Computer screens shown briefly in the background

:[Below the chart Cueball, sitting on the floor, and Hairy, sitting in an armchair, are watching a movie on the TV. Cueball points the remote at the TV.]
:Cueball: Hang on– That blurry map behind the general shows one of the alien ships is in ''Greenland''! Why '''''Greenland?!'''''
:Hairy [quietly]: Can we ''please'' just watch the movie?

==Trivia==
*There are a number of websites which specialize in documenting computer screens as seen in movies, including: (partial list - please expand/improve)
**[http://www.reddit.com/r/itsaunixsystem Reddit] - It's a Unix System I know This!
**[http://waxy.org/2013/07/screens_on_screen/ Waxy.Org] - Screens on Screen.
**[http://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2014/jan/10/computer-code-in-film-movie-terminator-girl-dragon-tattoo The Guardian] - Computer Code in Films.
**[http://moviecode.tumblr.com Moviecode tumblr]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Pie charts]]

2714: Cold Complaints

2024-01-24T13:41:08Z

Jupitah:

{{comic
| number = 1
| date = January 1, 1
| title = 1
| image = 2.png
| imagesize = 1x1px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our investigation into whining-based remedies became the first study to be halted by the IRB on the grounds that the treatment group was 'too annoying.'
}}

==Explanation==

When people are ill, they will often complain about the symptoms that they're suffering from. A common stereotype is that men will revert to infantile behavior when miserably sick. This can be annoying to the people around them, but they typically tolerate such behavior out of compassion. The joke in this comic is that [[Hairy]] spoke via a {{w|telehealth}} appointment to [[Ponytail]], a medical professional who explicitly advised him to act out, since his condition has no effective medical treatment. He takes her advice to "act like you're the first person ever to have a cold" literally, stating it specifically when his companion asks about it. Given xkcd's humor in the past, this may be supposed to trick the cold virus into thinking that it has not had a lot of time to evolve to infect human cells effectively so that it does not infect Hairy's cells as effectively.

This comic was published during a "tripledemic" in the U.S., involving {{w|COVID-19}}, {{w|influenza}}, and {{w|respiratory syncytial virus}} (RSV, a frequent cause of common colds) infections, the latter of which do not have readily available effective treatments, other than to wait them out with plenty of rest and fluids (provided that symptoms do not require hospitalization). It expounds on the finding that "talking about troublesome events, including events with which one is dissatisfied, may ... result in improved physiological health." (Kowalski, R.M. (2002) [http://people.uncw.edu/hakanr/documents/whining.pdf "Whining, griping, and complaining: positivity in the negativity"] ''Journal of Clinical Psychology'' '''58'''(9):1023–35.)

The title text describes a similar study, but where the {{w|institutional review board}} (IRB) halted the study because the participants were too annoying. This is ironic since they were supposed to whine annoyingly for the sake of the experiment. IRBs are expected to review the ethics of a research project, with particular attention paid to the well-being of the subjects. Whining is not usually considered dangerous,{{citation needed}} but in this case it was presumably so intolerable to the Board (or perhaps the control group, who were presumably forbidden from whining while sick) that they had to put a stop to it.

==Transcript==

:[Hairy sitting on a chair in front of a computer screen, with unkempt hair, and a line of figurative bubbles emerge from the back of his head to indicate a muzzy feeling in his head. There is an image of Ponytail on the screen, speaking.]
:Ponytail: Well, it's not COVID or flu. Probably one of the other viruses.
:Hairy: Ughh

:[A zoomed out version of the image, Ponytail cannot be seen]
:Ponytail: There's not much you can do to speed up recovery other than rest, hydrate, and whine and complain and be a gigantic baby about it.

:[Same as previous panel]
:Hairy: Whine and complain?
:Ponytail: Yeah. You need to act like you're the first person ever to have a cold.

:[Hairy lying on a couch wrapped in a blanket, with a lot of paper tissues around]
:Off-screen voice: Are you '''''sure''''' that's what she said?
:Hairy: Unbelievable. Here I am, the only person ever to feel bad, and you're '''''doubting''''' me?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Doctor Ponytail]]
[[Category:Medicine]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]

2114: Launch Conditions

2024-01-23T13:49:12Z

Jupitah:

{{comic
| number = 2114
| date = February 20, 2019
| title = Launch Conditions
| image = 2.png
| titletext = Though I do think the tiny vent on one of the boosters labeled "O-RING" is in poor taste.
}}
{{citation needed}}
==Explanation==

An image of a rocket (presumably a {{w|Long March 5}}) with a progressively larger white cloud around it is shown, but no external object for scale is visible until the third panel.
It is then revealed to be a model or miniature when Ponytail walks into the shot.

The dialog reveals the miniature rocket is a domestic {{w|humidifier}} appliance, using its plumes of water mist to mimic the appearance of the exhaust plume of a full-size rocket.

Modern rocket launches are backed by a ''Sound Suppression System'' avoiding damages to the rocket itself, the payload, or humans inside. This system drops vast amounts of water into the exhaust of the rocket engines and the water vaporizes immediately. This vapor mainly interrupts the sound reflections from the ground. This reduces the sound to a level the rocket can withstand but also produces a big cloud of water mist. The cloud at the ground consists mostly of water and not the exhaust of the rocket engines. This article shows how the system works: [https://interestingengineering.com/nasa-sound-suppression-system-prevents-rocket-from-exploding NASA's Incredible Sound Suppression System Prevents Rockets from Exploding (interestingengineering.com)].

Some rockets use liquid hydrogen as a fuel, especially for upper stages, so steam is the combustion product.

This comic was posted the day after the death of Peter Cosgrove was reported. He was known for photographing many Space Shuttle launches.

The title text references the failed o-ring that led to the {{Wikipedia|Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|disintegration of the ''Challenger'' Space Shuttle}}.
This disaster was a focal point of controversy, which Richard Feynman played a key {{w|Rogers_Commission_Report#Role_of_Richard_Feynman|role in piercing}}. The o-ring in question failed to expand at freezing temperatures, resulting in a leak of gas around the edges that was visible as a small vapor plume on the recording. The launch was pushed to a day with lower temperatures than the engineers had planned for. For the humidifier to vent the water mist from this opening is indeed in poor taste, even though the model does not resemble a shuttle.

==Transcript==
:[A rocket sits on a launch pad and the tower to the left has retracted its access arms. The engines seem to have just started firing and a small cloud at the bottom is visible.]

:[The rocket still sits on the pad but the cloud is growing and extending to both sides on the ground.]

:[Ponytail's head, much larger than the rocket, appears above the rocket on the right. The cloud covers the full ground and hides a bigger part of the rocket.]

:[Zoom out. Ponytail stands behind a pedestal with a rocket model on top and the cloud is all around the bottom of the rocket and below.]
:Off screen: It's still pretty dry in here.
:Ponytail: I love the new humidifier, though.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Space]]

1712: Politifact

2024-01-22T13:43:29Z

Jupitah:

{{comic
| number = 1712
| date = July 27, 2016
| title = Politifact
| image = politifact.png
| titletext = "Ok, I lit the smoke bomb and rolled it under the bed. Let's see if it--" ::FWOOOSH:: "Politifact says: PANTS ON FIRE!"
}}

{{incomplete|Created by THE CEO OF POLIFACT.COM - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

==Explanation==
The website [http://PolitiFact.com PolitiFact.com] rates political claims based on how true they are. The rulings from the Truth-O-Meter™ at PolitiFact are:
*True
*Mostly True
*Half-True
*Mostly False
*False
*Pants on Fire!

This comic presents a woman wearing a white hat with a {{w|press pass}} in the hat's band. She is calling herself "PolitiFact" - either pretending to come from PolitiFact.com or she is representing a personification of the website itself. She is obviously annoying [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] by first {{w|breaking and entering}} and then rating everything they say on the Truth-O-Meter. (She is using the official logo of PolitiFact as her name, and since they write their name PolitiFact her name should also be written like this, even though [[Randall]] has named the comic Politifact with all lower case letters and also uses it like this in the title text.)

When Megan, apparently just having gotten out of bed, says she had trouble sleeping, the PolitiFact.com woman (henceforth simply PolitiFact) appears at an open window and observes that Megan is telling the truth with the rating of "''Mostly True!''" (So according to PolitiFact she did not sleep well most of the night, but may have slept OK for some parts of the night.)

Megan appears distressed, which is not improved when PolitiFact enters their house through the window. Megan gives chase to PolitiFact, passing by Cueball, whose comment ''Not again'' makes it clear that this is not the first time PolitiFact has annoyed them in this way. Megan swears that she had locked the window, though PolitiFact gives that claim the rating of "''False!''" as PolitiFact herself demonstrated. Although entering someone's house against their wishes is illegal, regardless of how entry is achieved, Megan's failure to secure the window means that PolitiFact cannot be charged guilty of breaking and entering - and, more pressingly, has made it easier for PolitiFact to annoy them.

Cueball asks her to leave as Megan chases her through the house. After the chase, PolitiFact ends up hiding under the couple's bed; Cueball's claim that PolitiFact "can't stay under there forever" is promptly rated "''False''". Megan's remark, however, that no one likes PolitiFact, is rated "''Mostly True!''" This exchange is likely metaphorical just as much as it is literal — Randall's PolitiFact acknowledges that what she does annoys people, but she keeps on doing it anyway.

As for metaphors, Megan is likely commenting on the popularity of the website, which Randall's PolitiFact is no less correct about. People become very defensive when claims they make in political discussions are debunked by PolitiFact.com. There is a phenomenon where the people most influenced by an erroneous claim are the least likely to believe a fact checker. For example, ''The Washington Post'' [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/12/18/what-was-fake-on-the-internet-this-week-why-this-is-the-final-column/ shut down their internet rumor fact checker] because, "institutional distrust is so high right now, and cognitive bias so strong always, that the people who fall for hoax news stories are frequently only interested in consuming information that conforms with their views — even when it's demonstrably fake." Simply put, people like the idea of a fact checker until they disagree with it.

PolitiFact.com has been accused of being both [http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/03/14/mostly-true-ted-cruz-attack-proves-politifact-is-run-by-gigantic-assholes/ liberally biased] and [http://www.rifuture.org/politifact-ri-once-again-shows-right-wing-bias/ conservatively biased] at various times and has angered politicians on both sides of the aisle. The summary statistic "rulings" are especially troublesome; often the critics will agree that the information presented by the fact check is correct, and may agree that all relevant information has been included, but will disagree as to the importance of context omitted by the original speaker or the interpretation of ambiguous language.

The title text makes a play on PolitiFact.com's most untrue rating, "Pants on Fire!" - a reference to the childhood accusation "{{w|Pants on Fire|Liar, liar, pants on fire!}}"

In the title text either Cueball or Megan says to the other that they have lit the {{w|smoke bomb}} and rolled it under the bed near PolitiFact (seems they have discussed this first). When it goes off it apparently manages to ignite PolitiFact's pants - thus, PolitiFact's pants are ''literally'' on fire and she yells "PANTS ON FIRE!". Cueball has thrown smoke bombs before while in a relation with Megan, see [[486: I am Not a Ninja]], so it would be likely he had a smoke bomb on his person for immediate use.

Alternatively, either Cueball or Megan just says this as a threat (they could even roll a non-bomb object under the bed and maybe they have talked out loud about the idea of using such a bomb before) and they could try to make the loud ''fwooosh'' sound themselves to simulate that the bomb going off. Then they would be telling an outright lie that would be rated as "Pants on Fire!". The fact that the ''fwooosh'' is located outside of the "quotation marks", is no indication as the sound is not part of the quote. Also the fact that "PANTS ON FIRE" is yelled, rather than calmly delivered in the fashion of her other judgments, is not necessarily any indication that this is not the case, since a threat that is so blatantly a lie as to warrant such a rating should be proclaimed out loud.

It is also possible that PolitiFact's rating is a meta check of the title text ''itself''; because the scenario described is not illustrated as is the rest of the comic, it has not happened, and thus is blatantly false.

It may be a coincidence, but PolitiFact.com was {{w|PolitiFact.com#Reception|awarded}} the {{w|Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting}} in 2009 for work done in their first full year of work (after it was started in August 2007), and this comic was released right after [[1711: Snapchat]], which hinges on the existence of little-known {{w|Pulitzer Prize}} categories.

PolitiFact was later referenced indirectly with a fact check in [[1790: Sad]] which is rated ''mostly false'', and directly in the title text of [[2129: 1921 Fact Checker]], about, well... fact checking.

==Transcript==
:[Megan with messy morning hair is walking right and rubs her eyes.]
:Megan: I did ''not'' sleep well last night.

:[A woman with hair like Megan (but a bit longer) wearing a white hat with brim and a small white card attached to the hat's belt (like a press pass) crawls up on the pane of an open window. She begins all her sentences with the word PolitiFact. When she says this it is written in the color and style of the PolitiFact.com logo with blue ''Politi'' and red ''Fact''. Megan has just walked past the window and has turned to look at the woman. She is still holding one hand up and her hair is still messy.]
:PolitiFact: PolitiFact says ''mostly true!''
:Megan: Oh no...

:[In a frame-less panel Cueball is walking right, while Megan, arms stretched out and hair flowing out behind her, runs by him chasing PolitiFact who is running with a hand up to hold her hat in place, hair also flowing out behind her.]
:Cueball: Not again. Get out of here, PolitiFact!
:Megan: I '''''swear''''' I locked that window.
:PolitiFact: PolitiFact says: ''False!''

:[Cueball and Megan, looking downwards, are standing at the foot of a well made bed with two pillows, and the bedsheets drawn tight. PolitiFact's voice emanates from a starburst at the edge of the shadow under the bed.]
:Cueball: You can't stay under there forever.
:PolitiFact (voice from under bed): PolitiFact says: ''False!''
:Megan: Nobody likes you, Politifact.
:PolitiFact (voice from under bed): PolitiFact says: ''Mostly true!''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Politics]]