748: Worst-Case Scenario
| Worst-Case Scenario |
 Title text: To get serious analyses of hurricanes and oil slicks, see Jeff Masters' blog. To get serious discussions of worst-case scenario thinking, see Bruce Schneier's blog. To get enough Vitamin D, don't read any blogs and go outside instead. |
Explanation
This comic is a reference to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that happened in the Gulf of Mexico. Top Kill is a reference to a procedure used as a means of regaining control over an oil well that is experiencing an uncontrolled eruption of crude oil. Michael Bay is a American film director known for his over the top special effects and plots. This comic is a commentary on the state of broadcast journalism and how they are always looking for speculation and voyeurism rather than facts. The title text has a reference to Jeff Masters, who is directory of meteorology at Weather Underground and Bruce Schneier, who is a world-renowned security expert and has a blog and several books.
Transcript
- Two reporters, a man and a woman, point microphones toward a scientist.
- Female reporter: Dr. Scientist! The "Top Kill" has failed! What's the worse-case scenario for the gulf?
- Dr. Scientist: The worst-case scenario is what's happening now.
- Reporter, out of frame: Yes, but is there any way it could get worse?
- Dr. Scientist: Sure, but there are real disasters happening now, and you're substituting speculation and voyeurism for the investigative journalism we--
- Reporter: Screw this! Let's ask Michael Bay.
- The reporters, now joined by a camerawoman, approach Michael Bay with their microphones.
- Michael Bay: The worst case? A hurricane tracks into the gulf, whipping the surface of the spill into a frothy mix of oil and air.
- An alligator-filled conflagration atop a massive ocean wave approaches land.
- Michael Bay, narrating: As the storm surges through the bayous, sparking power lines ignite the fuel
air mixture into a roiling, alligator-filled wall of flame.
- A map of the gulf coast of Louisiana and southwest Mississippi is depicted with the current routes of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers highlighted. An arrow indicating a new primary flow of the Mississippi's waters into the Atchafalaya points toward southern Louisiana.
- Michael Bay, narrating: Plowing northward, the fire hurricane destroys the Old River Control Structure in Concordia, rerouting the Mississippi westward and sweeping Morgan City and the heart of cajun country out to sea.
- Michael Bay: James Carville emerges from the conflagration riding a burning alligator...
- Reporter, out of frame: Will this affect the midterm elections?
- Michael Bay: Massively.
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"frothy mix" is a reference to Rick Santorum. 75.60.27.102 03:17, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
- The comic was published on June 2, 2010. I strongly doubt it was a reference to Santorum. 166.182.3.247 17:36, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
The original "frothy mix" incident occurred in 2003 and came back into the news during Rick Santorum's Presidential primary campaign in 2013. So frothy mix could still be a reference to that incident. Dawfedora (talk) 21:40, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
- But probably isn't, given that fluids being agitated forms a froth. So it's just the correct word for the situation. -Pennpenn 108.162.250.162 03:31, 10 December 2015 (UTC)
Isn't this tantamount to blackmail: "In 2010 Savage said he would take the site down if Santorum donated US$5 million plus interest to Freedom to Marry"? -- Weatherlawyer (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- No, blackmail is the practice of withholding information that may be damaging to a person's reputation in return for money. Putting that "information" up on a freely accessible website is pretty much the opposite of withholding it. Maybe it's coercion, but it's a "threat" to leave something up that is already there. I'm not sure if there is a word for it, but "blackmail" isn't it. -Pennpenn 108.162.250.162 05:45, 14 January 2016 (UTC)
- The word is "extortion". -- The Cat Lady (talk) 16:30, 19 August 2021 (UTC)
The link to Jeff Masters's blog is down, apparently due to some restructuring of the website. The only current blog written by him I could find on that website is Category 6 (co-authored by Bob Henson): https://www.wunderground.com/cat6 162.158.89.23 19:37, 16 January 2021 (UTC)
- Good catch. Found the relevant article to the comic ("What would a hurricane do to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill?") in the WunderBlog archives and changed the link to that; but the pictures are still broken, so also added a Wayback Machine link to the original from when the comic was published. – Yfmcpxpj (talk) 14:34, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
