0787: "Orbiter"

[Jedifreak]

Occupied North Texas has been having some nice weather this year, it's barely gotten over 100⁰F (To be more scientific, 43.3⁰C)

We'll free Oklahoma from the oppressors one day.

I WILL END YOU

[pandroid]

I laughed, but partially because my husband occasionally gets wistful about the amount of Texas that was given away. He'd like to go skiing in the Rockies and be able to say he'd never left Texas.

[Cathy]

The waters south of Iceland? You mean the occupied British cod-fishing territory?

You almost made me laugh in class! D:

[newxkcdfan]

The International Space Station is inclined at slightly over 51 degrees. Hence, all recent Space Shuttle missions, e.g., going to the ISS, have routinely overflown both areas referred to in this comic.

As for Texas, it did originally include areas now belonging to other states. But Texans, remember, if they cut Alaska in half, Texas would become the third largest state....

[neoliminal]

"I'm sure glad I live in America, where we are free to make these kinds of joke."

"Don't you mean The United States of America."

"How about just U.S.A.?"

"You mean you're a U.S.A'ian?"

"Look, I'm American and proud of it."

"No doubt, but you realize that America is a continent, right? Not a country. I think you were implying something about the 1st Amendment right to free speech, meaning you were refer to the States which United in America under the name The United States of America."

"Never-mind, I'm from New York."

"Don't you mean New Amsterdam?"

[kingworks]

I hate the Outer Banks, if only for all those annoying OBX stickers (and the knockoffs) they are responsible for.

>_>

[The1exile]

You think that's bad, try latitude: 54° 21' 0 N, longitude: 18° 40' 0 E.

[existentialpanda]

Couldn't he have just said, "over the West Bank?"

Yeah, but then the joke wouldn't make sense.

[kpmelomane21]

As a North Texan going to school in Oklahoma I love this comic.

"Out of state" tuition is ridiculous. I wonder if I could get in-state tuition if I argued that Oklahoma is really just occupied north Texas after all...

[Teletheus]

We'll free Oklahoma from the oppressors one day.

Over my dead body.

Sounds simple enough.

[DavidRoss]

Hmm. You visited the West Bank eight years ago, with a GPS device, took a picture of the device at exactly 32.0 N, 35.5 E and saved it for eight years in hopes that some time, some where, it would be useful for a commentary? THAT is farsighted.

[DavidRoss]

At coordinates 32.0N 35.5E is the town Rujm ash Shara'irah, a suburb of Amman, and capitol city of the Hashemite Arab Kingdom of Jordan.

I don't know anything I didn't learn from the Internet. Google Maps puts 32.0N 35.5E west of the line. The town you are thinking of is actually closer to 32.0N 35.8E. (I would tell you exactly how far it is between those two points, but Google Maps can seem to tell me the distance or give me directions from 32.0N 35.5E to Rujm ash Shara'irah. Oh wait, never mind - there is no way to do it.)

[alexh123456789]

We'll free Oklahoma from the oppressors one day..

Living under oppression is better than living in Texas, so no thanks.

[Alero]

Hmm. You visited the West Bank eight years ago, with a GPS device, took a picture of the device at exactly 32.0 N, 35.5 E and saved it for eight years in hopes that some time, some where, it would be useful for a commentary? THAT is farsighted.

Nailed it.

[SpringLoaded12]

Occupied north Texas? There are people in Oklahoma?
Kidding

I'll bet NASA uses coordinates only and just ignores location names, similar to the way size measurements and such will be given under the metric system or the, uh... the one with the inches. SI? Imperial? Something like that.

"Occupied north Texas" is kind of unwieldy for a punchline, but the comic is overall good; and it made a good job of touching the Middle Eastern problem without making an ugly mess out of it.

At coordinates 32.0N 35.5E is the town Rujm ash Shara'irah, a suburb of Amman, and capitol city of the Hashemite Arab Kingdom of Jordan.

Ooh, the next meetup site. No time or date, so I guess it means ASAP.
TO THE BATMOBILE!

I say we mashup this comic with the GPS vs. directions one.
NASA Operator: Alright, aim the shuttle towards Florida.
Astronaut: What? Uh, can you just give me the coordinates for where to land?
NASA Operator: Nah it's okay man, just head towards Florida for now, and we'll help you out more from there.
Astronaut: That's great, but the navigation system uses coordinates to guide the shuttle, so if you could just give me the coordinates...
NASA Operator: No, it's better this way. Tell you what? I'll guide you down step-by-step.
Astronaut: I don't want to be guided down, this isn't a friggin' manual steering shuttle, I need to plot the course for descent, so if you could please give me the coordinates!
NASA Operator: Whoa, stay calm. Plotting an automated descent might run you into some unexpected air traffic, and you don't want to collide with a plane or anything...
Astronaut: There are no planes in -- wait, I just had a thought. I'm playing a geohashing game and I need the coordinates of the airfield where the shuttle is supposed to land. Could you give me the coordinates for the airfield?

That's what the rules thread is for... it's this forum's only stickied thread.

It should be noted that the rule thread does not actually list all the rules, which I'd call a bit of a serious issue. I'm not sure if it lists the rule about placeholders, but last I checked it was missing a few de facto rules, such as not posting on a spam thread, which I got in trouble for once.
But has the race to be the first one to create the thread grown so competitive that it has official rules now? It's not the friggin'... um... important horse race thing. Kentucky Derby or something.

[The Scyphozoa]

Orbit? You mean the Outer American Territories?

[rcox1]

Most of Oklahoma is not occupied Texas, and to paraphrase quote Nanci Griffith "my aunt would be afraid to fall asleep at night because the wind might blow so hard she might end up in Oklahoma and she by god did not want to live in Oklahoma", so pretty much there is no desire to occupy it.

Other the other hand, much of New Mexico and Colorado is occupied North Texas, since Texas stole it fair and square from Mexico. Most things west of occupied texas is simply occupied north Mexico, a situation which Arizona, unlike Texas, seems to want to fight instead of profit from. Which of course is the issue. Occupation can be profitable, if only the fundamentalist would let go of their costly and unproductive dogma. Just imagine how much poorer Texas would be if we wasted all our money on fences and embargos, and denied hard working people the opportunity to better themselves.

[Singulaire]

The Metric system is part of the SI. Inches occur in several unit systems (british, english, imperial, maybe others) and tend to mean different things in different systems. Just one of the many reasons real scientists use the SI

Occupied North Texas has been having some nice weather this year, it's barely gotten over 100⁰F (To be more scientific, 43.3⁰C)

Don't scientists use the Kelvin scale?

On topic: That's what mission control is there for- solving serious problems. Also silly ones like political arguments, ostensibly.

[SEE]

Other the other hand, much of New Mexico and Colorado is occupied North Texas, since Texas stole it fair and square from Mexico.

Except -

1) Texas didn't actually steal most of it from Mexico. Texas claimed the land, sure, but the Mexican government had active occupation of large swathes of the territory until the Mexican-American War. Indeed, Mexico administered New Mexico from the provincial capital at Santa Fe, which had a Mexican army garrison . . . on the side of the Rio Grande Texas claimed. It was pretty much all taken from Mexico by US forces, not the Republic of Texas.
2) Texas's weak claims were then sold to the US fair and square; the United States assumed the obligation of the Republic of Texas's national debt in exchange for Texas transferring its claim.

[dysprog]

If your forum explodes into vicious debate over whether GPS owners should get addresses or directions,

But barely wakes up for a comic about the Israel-Palestine situation,

Youuuuu might be a geek.

[Quizatzhaderac]

"I'm sure glad I live in America, where we are free to make these kinds of joke."

"Don't you mean The United States of America."

"How about just U.S.A.?"

"You mean you're a U.S.A'ian?"

"Look, I'm American and proud of it."

"No doubt, but you realize that America is a continent, right? Not a country. I think you were implying something about the 1st Amendment right to free speech, meaning you were refer to the States which United in America under the name The United States of America."

"Never-mind, I'm from New York."

"Don't you mean New Amsterdam?"

I've actually got a simple solution if anybody argues this.

"America" means a particular set of continents in many languages (mainly Spanish), not including modern English. "North America" and "South America" are proper names only; just as New Jersey isn't in the English channel and New Zealand isn't on the "New Sea".

Americans agree. Canadians are offended if called American. I've met English people who actually think South America is where Disney World is. I'm betting most of the rest of the anglosphere is similar.

[mistapotta]

Had you actually given coordinates in Greer County, you would have gotten extra credit for awesomeness.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greer_County,_Texas:

"The dispute resulted in a lawsuit, which eventually wound up before the Supreme Court—no lower court having jurisdiction. The Court's opinion, in United States v. State of Texas 162 U.S. 1 (1896), issued on March 16, held that the land of some 1.5 million acres (6070 km²/2345 mi²) belonged to the United States. Following that ruling, on May 4, 1896, the land was officially assigned by Congress to Oklahoma Territory."

[Me321]

We'll free Oklahoma from the oppressors one day.

Over my dead body.

Sounds simple enough.

You don't know me.
Also the only part of Oklahoma that was ever part of Texas is the "panhandle" or No-Man's-Land and as I recall no one wanted that, not even Oklahoma.

[s0merand0mdude]

oh hey look an XKCD that I thought was funny those are rare these days. thanks, randall.

[Pfhorrest]

"Occupied north Texas" is kind of unwieldy for a punchline, but the comic is overall good; and it made a good job of touching the Middle Eastern problem without making an ugly mess out of it.

Who are you and what have you done with SirMustapha?

[lsdigit]

"Occupied north Texas" is kind of unwieldy for a punchline, but the comic is overall good; and it made a good job of touching the Middle Eastern problem without making an ugly mess out of it.

Who are you and what have you done with SirMustapha?

seconded. for a minute or two I wondered whether or not the seroquel had finally kicked in, then I realised mustapha has moved the game to a whole new level. (be afraid)

*snap* of course, a comic about conflict is the cure for conflict. (Randall homeopathised SirMustapha with dilute arguments)

[melladh]

If your forum explodes into vicious debate over whether GPS owners should get addresses or directions,

But barely wakes up for a comic about the Israel-Palestine situation,

Youuuuu might be a geek.

I've never been more proud of the interwebs *sniff*

[maurovanetti]

I would post a link to a map of this orbit and the rest of the orbital parameters, but I registered just to say this and I can't post links yet.

Nonetheless, your contribution was highly appreciated.

[maurovanetti]

"America" means a particular set of continents in many languages (mainly Spanish), not including modern English.

You are right, if "a particular set" is an expression you can use when you actually mean "the whole set except for - maybe - one element".
BTW, in most languages (also those not included in the "particular set") the USA are improperly called "America". It's just because they are quite an important country in that continent and they do not have their own name, which is weird indeed. Since the EU was formed, we have a similar case in the Old Continent too, with many people using "Europe" as a shorthand for "the European Union".

"North America" and "South America" are proper names only; just as New Jersey isn't in the English channel and New Zealand isn't on the "New Sea".

LOL.
What about Central America (Mesoamérica)? I've been taught this concept at school, but it seems forgotten now, with Mexico etc. usually regarded as Southern North America. Is it just an Italian or Spanish thing?
BTW, sometimes Spaniards say "North American" when they refer to US people or things. In this way they avoid to offend Latin Americans but they still ignore the Canadians.

I'm betting most of the rest of the anglosphere is similar.

You shouldn't be implicitly calling a few hundred million people ignorant. It's mean.

[Dark Avorian]

Central America is a region, not a continent. The entirety of central america, with the possible exception of Panama south of the canal, is North America.

[BioTube]

The Metric system is part of the SI. Inches occur in several unit systems (british, english, imperial, maybe others) and tend to mean different things in different systems. Just one of the many reasons real scientists use the SI

They also occurred in the old French system; Napoleon wasn't actually short.

[SirMustapha]

seconded. for a minute or two I wondered whether or not the seroquel had finally kicked in, then I realised mustapha has moved the game to a whole new level. (be afraid)

*snap* of course, a comic about conflict is the cure for conflict. (Randall homeopathised SirMustapha with dilute arguments)

Actually, I'm just giving credit when it's due. Know Randall is not usually very skilled with separating comedy from opinion, and has caused pretty harsh feelings with his jokes on anthropologists and whatnot, I think it's wise to point out when he succeeds in telling a joke.

[b0b0]

If you had any idea of what's really going on in Palestine you'd be depressed and not amused.

[Zauderer]

You think that's bad, try latitude: 54° 21' 0 N, longitude: 18° 40' 0 E.

You mean West Prussia?

Also, "West Bank" is by no means uncontroversial. The official Israeli designation of that area is "Judea and Samaria".

[SEE]

What about Central America (Mesoamérica)? I've been taught this concept at school, but it seems forgotten now, with Mexico etc. usually regarded as Southern North America.

Geologically, Central America is the part of the Caribbean tectonic plate that forms an isthmus between the North American and South American plates. Historically, it's the five countries that used to be the United Provinces of Central America/Federal Republic of Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica). As a modern geographic term, it often includes Belize and Panama, and is often considered the southern part of North America. As a political term, it can be seen as encompassing the whole Central American Integration System (Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana), which is the previous seven countries plus the Dominican Republic, which is over on Hispaniola in the Caribbean. The SICA isn't so much a single body as a collection of institutions with varying membership (see Eurozone vs. EU vs. EEA vs. EFTA vs. EU Customs Union vs. Council of Europe).

Mesoamerica, in English, is an overlapping but distinct term that includes southern Mexico but stops somewhere in Nicaragua, referring to the Olmec/Mayan/Toltec/Aztec succession of states and cultures.

[RogueCynic]

NeoLiminal: "Look, I'm American and proud of it."

You mean your proud to be a maricone? I've always wondered why the two words were phonetically similar.

Me321: Also the only part of Oklahoma that was ever part of Texas is the "panhandle" or No-Man's-Land and as I recall no one wanted that, not even Oklahoma.

Why would anyone want any part of Texas?

[LordBritish]

Central America is a region, not a continent. The entirety of central america, with the possible exception of Panama south of the canal, is North America.

That reminds me of several commentators during last soccer championship speaking of Mexico of a "South American team" lolz

[aleflamedyud]

If your forum explodes into vicious debate over whether GPS owners should get addresses or directions,

But barely wakes up for a comic about the Israel-Palestine situation,

Youuuuu might be a geek.

Don't worry, post anything about Israel-Palestine in News & Articles and we'll explode into vicious flamewars just fine and tidy.

We'll free Oklahoma from the oppressors one day.

Over my dead body.

AND MY AXE!!!

[mmmcannibalism]

Why would anyone want any part of Texas?

Research on fundamentalists and their effect on the local environment.

[SpringLoaded12]

Why would anyone want any part of Texas?

Research on fundamentalists and their effect on the local environment.

Evidence indicates they invoke negative emotions -- such as irritation, rage, and depression -- in other local bioforms.
They still do not reach the national impact level of the Westboro Baptist Church.