2875: 2024

2024-01-03T09:32:09Z

162.158.129.243: /* Explanation */ 8 justices vote 9-0

<noinclude>:''This page refers to the comic named "2024". For comic #2024, see [[2024: Light Hacks]].''</noinclude>
{{comic
| number = 2875
| date = January 1, 2024
| title = 2024
| image = 2024_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x553px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It wasn't originally constitutionally required, but presidents who served two terms have traditionally followed George Washington's example and gotten false teeth.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by OBAMA'S TEETH - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This [[:Category:New Year|New Year comic]] starts off almost like a "[[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|doesn't time fly?]]" scene, the unstoppable progression of the calendar is observed, as [[Ponytail]] points out that it's now 2024. This is though the only reference to [[#Trivia|New Year]] in the comic.

[[Cueball]], in response to Ponytail mentioning 2024, notes that they are now in an election year, in this context a {{w|President of the United States#Election|US ''Presidential'' election}} year, which occurs every four years and has (in one form or other) since 1788. Ponytail then replies in some form of exasperated tone that they "keep on happening", which is true but (normally) unsurprising, even/especially with other major elections happening every two years, presumably not compared to how [https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/youre-joking-not-another-one/ some other democracies] might be less predictable/more frequent.

On top of this, Ponytail seems to have not been aware (or maybe has chosen to forget) the passing of two whole election cycles (and two newer incumbents) as the discussion focuses upon {{w|Barack Obama}}, the ''former'' US President. Ponytail seems to be quite behind the times as she asks if Obama is still president (he left office January 20th, 2017, which was 7 (!) years ago, a fact that Cueball cannot quite believe Ponytail is ignorant of). Ponytail states that she liked him, and wonders if he'll be up for taking on the position again. But Cueball states that he ''can't'' be made President again, having already served two terms, which Ponytail confirms by checking for herself the details of the {{w|Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution}}.

The humor deepens in the second half of the comic; Cueball and Ponytail discuss whether Obama is even the same person seven years after he was last president. Like the mythical {{w|Ship of Theseus}}, mentioned by Ponytail, where all parts was replaced during it's journey, most of Obama's constituent cells have been replaced since he was last president. Ponytail is thus looking into the possibility of Obama's re-election based upon philosophical/biological technicalities (as applied to the Constitution's words), rather than as legal/political convention might normally suggest.

Cueball questions if the cell replacement isn't a myth, and at least some cells, especially those making up the enamel in the teeth, which he believes has a half-life of over 30 years, meaning that even after 30 years only half or the cells in you enamel have been replaced.

But even when Ponytail's approach is seen to be wanting, requiring a wait significantly exceeding 30 years, Ponytail suggests negating that issue by having all of Obama's teeth removed and replaced with false teeth.

In order to facilitate the latter goal, Ponytail announces her intention to consult a dentist (for getting the teeth replaced) and a lawyer, to make sure that Obama could then run for president again.

Seeing where her current misplaced, and {{w|Dunning–Kruger effect|less than informed}}, zeal might be leading her, Cueball gives his prediction that the {{w|Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court }} will not only be rejecting her plan, but will even be unanimous in blocking her phone number, so she cannot even contact them again, after they hear her proposal. This is given special emphasis by claiming the vote would be 9-0 despite there being currently and traditionally only eight justices at the US Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court being unanimous on any issue is now a [https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/07/as-unanimity-declines-conservative-majoritys-power-runs-deeper-than-the-blockbuster-cases/ comparatively rare event].

Although Cueball (and thus [[Randall]]) seems to think the suggestion has no merit, it is public knowledge that Randall did [https://blog.xkcd.com/2008/02/25/fruit-opinions/ Endorse Obama] and in [[1756: I'm With Her]], he again showed that he prefer Democratic Presidents at least over [[Donald Trump]]. That he is not happy about Trump has been obvious in many comics ([[2220: Imagine Going Back in Time]] for an example), and Trump might be running for president again, in this election year. So it is not unlikely that Randall would wish that it was possible to get Obama back as president if in any way possible. (He is 15 years younger than Trump, so it is not an age question).

The title text combines two {{w|George Washington}} references. The first part of the sentence is the beginning of the mundane but true claim that "It wasn't originally constitutionally required, but presidents who have served two terms have traditionally followed George Washington's example and not sought a third term." However, the title text veers off-course to the subject of {{w|George Washington's teeth|George Washington's (in)famous 'false teeth'}}. Washington's dentures are often falsely claimed to be made of wood; in truth they were ''real'' teeth procured from other sources. Regardless, this would have likely resolved the rather specific philosophical/legal problems established in the comic, were they real. However, since Washington only ran for president twice, even if the 22nd amendment had been in effect, it would have been unnecessary!

It goes almost without saying that no one has yet even ''attempted'' to carry out this plan. Only one President has exceeded the 2-term limit; {{w|Franklin D. Roosevelt}} died in office during his ''fourth'' term, but he served prior to the 22nd Amendment and was thus unaffected by the rule, which was enacted six years after his death. (FDR did have a partial denture, but given that he retained some of his natural teeth, he did not engage in Ponytail's proposed scheme.) Presidents since then have definitely tried various schemes aimed at securing a second term, with both successes and failures, but nobody has yet attempted ''this particular plan'' to achieve a third or beyond. Or at least one can assume that those that perhaps did (including, as noted, all those who were not yet 'required' to go to these lengths) failed to attain their goals for entirely different reasons.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail and Cueball are walking.]
:Ponytail: So this is 2024.
:Cueball: Yup. Guess it's an election year now.
:Ponytail: Again? Man, those just keep happening, huh?

:[Ponytail and Cueball stops walking and Cueball has turned to face Ponytail.]
:Ponytail: Who's the president these days, anyway? Is it still Obama?
:Cueball: What? No? He hasn't been... How do you not...

:[Ponytail and Cueball standing.]
:Ponytail: Darn, I liked him. Is he running this time?
:Cueball: No, he's not allowed to.
:Ponytail: He's not? Why?
:Cueball: Constitution.

:[Zoom in on the upper part of Ponytail who checks her smartphone held up in one hand. The text she is reading on her phone is shown in a square speech bubble above her head, with a jagged thin snip from the speech bubble extending from it down to above her smartphone.]
:Phone: ''Amendment 22''
:Phone: No person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice
:Ponytail: What?? C'mon...

:[Ponytail has raised her hand palm up towards Cueball.]
:Ponytail: Don't all your cells get replaced every seven years, Ship of Theseus-style? Is he even the same person?
:Ponytail: Maybe "no person shall be elected more than twice" isn't a prohibition, it's more of an observation, like "you can't step in the same river twice."

:[Zoom in on the upper part of Cueball.]
:Cueball: Isn't the cell thing a myth?
:Cueball: I think tooth enamel has a turnover half-life of 30+ years. His teeth molecules are probably the same.

:[Ponytail has turned around and walks away from Cueball with a finger raised high.]
:Ponytail: So if Obama just gets false teeth, he can run again! I need to talk to a dentist and a lawyer!
:Cueball: The Supreme Court is about to vote 9-0 to block your number.

==Trivia==
*This is the first [[:Category:New Year|New Year comic]] using the year as the title since 2018.
**That was a break of six years after having [[:Category:Comics sharing name|used this kind of title]] for all even years between [[998: 2012|2012]] and [[1935: 2018|2018]] plus also in [[1779: 2017|2017]].
**So five times in seven years and then five years in a row without doing so.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:New Year]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|2024]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

Talk:2874: Iceland

2023-12-30T23:26:36Z

162.158.129.243:

As someone with friends in Iceland, I can confirm that Iceland is actually not a real island, and was actually created by a team of 8000 workers that happened to be carrying bags of sand, ice, and grass. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'">[[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]<sup>([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]])</sup></span> 00:33, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
:Ooh, can you get some of them to state that online where we can cite it for the Wiki entry?
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 20:10, 30 December 2023 (UTC)

With all due respect to the first editor contributing to the Explanation ... my take was that the comic has little to do with mission creep within projects but has to do with the fact that Iceland contains such a confluence of strange geographic features that it defies logic that they should all be collectively present in a single location. For example, you don't find islands on top of a mid-ocean ridge, or a glacier on top of a volcano, or a mild climate (because of the Gulf Stream) in the polar regions where the Aurora Borealis could be seen. The only logical explanation for such a bizarre jumble of features was that it must have been created by a committee of diverse scientists who wanted their pet feature to be included in the formation of Iceland. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 02:42, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
:Agreed. Also "More fjords!"-Slartibartfast [[User:L-Space Traveler|L-Space Traveler]] ([[User talk:L-Space Traveler|talk]]) 03:55, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
:That's how I took it, too. Get your editing shoes on and fix it. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:09, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
: I just changed the explanation on the first paragraph based on your comment, much thanks! [[User:AT-RexEatingAnAirplane|AT-RexEatingAnAirplane]] ([[User talk:AT-RexEatingAnAirplane|talk]]) 06:22, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
::Actually, I think "mission creep" is also one of the subjects which should be mentioned... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.129.243|162.158.129.243]] 23:26, 30 December 2023 (UTC)

By the way, Iceland and Greenland have names that are contrary to their actual geography. Iceland is actually much more habitable suitable for cultivation because of the geothermal warmth and Gulf Stream effects. While Greenland is suitable for agriculture on only 1% of its territory. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 02:42, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
:I don't know if it's apocryphal or not, but I heard that this happened because the inhabitants of iceland didn't want to encourage immigrants who would gentrify the place. So they gave it a name that didn't sound appealing, and gave Greenland an attractive name. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:08, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
::While Greenland was indeed 'upsold', Iceland was at least twice ("snow land", prior to "ice land") described for what its respective new arrivals actually saw and identified as its main features (compared with their Scandinavian expectations, even)...
::Of course, those arriving at any of the actually 'useful' margins of Greenland perhaps weren't to know how much actual icecap there was beyond the fringes which ''were'' somewhat farmable. And one could imagine that arriving at Iceland at the wrong place/time of year could leave one ignorant of the actually surprisingly copious fertile soils, even after first climbing a handy nearby mountain to get a bigger picture. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.79|172.70.86.79]] 10:15, 30 December 2023 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2875: 2024

Talk:2874: Iceland