Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for May 26, 2024

Let it all go to hell and start all over again.

I think, for the American government, the disaster has already occurred: South Park revealed all their “secrets” in the new special released on may 25(twenty-fifth)th!!!! Dan aka…

For all of those people that claim green energy would hurt business too much, think about how much climate change will hurt the economy.

Actually, it’s already begun.

The fact that Rat had those cards ready shows that some people do plan ahead. Now if only they’d do it for things that matter . . .

To me this is backing Ukraine, republicans want to go the long way around and desert Ukraine and face Putin in the future and it will be expensive both in deaths and $$$$$….BUT trump doesn’t care

The sad truth is that too many people are convinced that just because that is the way we have always done things in the past, then we should continue to do them that way in the future. This applies to what Rat is saying about how we approach problems, and the way we live that create the problems in the first place.

There is probably a better way to do everything. Take a chance, try something new, become the change that will change the world.

Has Rat lost his voice?

The American Way to solve a problem is to monetize it.

This is so true. Infrastructure is a classic example.

A serious campaign donor is getting rich off a side-effect of the problem, so no one who has to get elected listens to anyone else, you see. They donate to everyone.

Rat nailed it!

The four stages:

1) It doesn’t exist.

2) It exists but we can’t do anything about it.

3) We can do something about it but it’s too expensive.

4) We could have done something about it but it’s too late now

Be afraid because we tell you to and give us more money!

There is a huge difference between a “problem”, and a “disaster”, as a disaster refers to something that has already occurred, whereas, the vast majority of the “problems” that the MEDIA so loves to get so worked up about, are merely the MEDIA’s proven method of sensationalizing, and hyper-ventilating over almost everything, and since sensationalism and embellishment attract viewers, and viewers attract advertisers, the MEDIA is able to bring in that badly needed revenue.Remember that those in the MEDIA are NEITHER ‘scientists’, or "experts’, and those they cite as being so, might well be fellow members of their ‘profession’. After all, these aspiring young ‘journalists’ and ‘reporters’ were undoubtedly told on their first day of journalism school, that their degree would make them “EXPERTS ON EVERYTHING”.

We like to make new things. We like to destroy things. We don’t like to maintain what we have. That’s boring.

That’s about it!

Erongi.

Are you sure that Rat isn’t running the country?

No nation like the US. When we see a problem, we face it, roll up our sleeves…and do nothing!!

Best example of the point in the comic is the Federal spending. We are on a course that leads to hyperinflation and still spend on things that are worthless at best and harmful at worst. Abolish all Federal nonmilitary spending.

What we do is vote for the other side. Then, when they screw it, we vote for the other side. They eventually screw it again, and we vote for the other side. From time to time, we realize that both sides suck. So, we vote for the independent, who is going to screw things up. And then we think “Well… maybe we have to go back to basics…” and the cycle starts again.

Old saying: “Americans will always do the right thing after they’ve done all the wrong things.”

Because historically, the panicked response ends up causing more damage than the disaster itself.

Rat, you’ve kind of got it about right on this one.

7b: discover the problem wasn’t nearly as bad as predicted. 7c: Enshrine the squeakiest wheels at high salaries and wait for them to invent the next problem.

Before disaster: “Government can’t tell us what to do!” After disaster: “Where’s FEMA?”

It’s getting kind of crowded under this rock…..

Aw, Heck. Now I’m jaded.

How Texas manages its energy grid. Over and over.

Ignore countries problems send money over seas as foreign aid, but line politician’s pockets with money instead.

“This problem will take a little sacrifice from every American”…translation: my fellow Americans, YOU’RE paying for this, not us rich people and politicians…

………….or, waste $TRILLIONS in a futile effort to stave off the problem and make not one iota of difference because some “neighbors” keep on increasing their pollution emissions.

Sounds like the upcoming election

does Al Gore still have a pulse? or did Karl Rove kill the messenger as well as his presidential term?

I think how we deal with problems is we argue about them instead of solving them.

Florida is facing what is predicted to be the worst hurricane season ever. We’ve had Republican rule in Florida for the past 25 years. They’ve done nothing to address the coming crisis,. When Rick Scott was governor he wouldn’t even allow the words “climate change” to appear in any government documents. Republicans have done nothing about the property insurance crisis either. BUT our current Republican governor is now recognizing the issues Florida is facing. He has mandated that no public bridge or building can be lit up in any colors EXCEPT red, white and Blue from Memorial Day through Labor Day proclaiming this is “Freedom Summer” ! Wow! This means in June, during Pride Month, no snowflake will have to be horrified at any rainbow lights. THANKS GOVERNOR DESENSELESS!!! I feel so much safer now…

Unfortunately so true.

The problem is (and I experienced this MANY times during my career) that you don’t get credit for averting problems. While I was working, I never did learn that you only get credit for SOLVING problems. One coworker actually, sneakily and intentionally contributed to the creation of several problems just so that he could get credit later for solving those problems.

These days, it’s let the disaster happen and still claim it doesn’t exist.

I find this hilarious because this essentially how I explained it last year when my grandson asked me why we haven’t already started moving coastal cities further inland in anticipation of the rising seas. He took notice when that apartment building collapsed in Florida due to liquefaction of the ground under it and found out that parts of south Miami is uninhabitable due to permanent flooding. All because of rising seas.

The joys of a Capitalist Oligarchy.

Climate Change

Tied for strip of the day with Wizard of Id.

Americans are guaranteed to do the right thing. After exhausting EVERY other possibility.

Rat finally reveals the GOP political strategy.

Rat forgot “Blame it on ‘them’”.

Don’t blame me, I voted for Ross Perot.

He predicted all this. With charts and graphs and timelines and cost estimates and plans to prevent most of it. Back in 1992.

Measure twice; cut once. Prior preparation prevents poor performance. etc.

Or, that great inspirational verse: “When in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles; scream and shout.”

You should always do your best to solve a problem before it becomes a crisis. Better yet, help people more responsible for themselves to the best extent they can be so you don’t have huge societal problems anyway.

Can you say Francis Scott Key Bridge? After the Sunshine bridge in Tampa Bay was hit by a freighter in 1980 the new bridge is protected by multiple dolphins, piling barriers. They should have nationally mandated the instillation of these dolphins on all bridges that are in heavy traffic harbors.

It really doesn’t matter. Nobody makes it out alive. When it’s your turn…your leaving.

Don’t Look Up

There’s the more frequent technique:

1. Invent a “problem”

2. Convince people it’s real and imminent

3. Spend billions on a “solution”

4. Put the money in your bank account.

Well, we are war mongers and have plenty of hydrogen bombs. We could go back to the gold standard … one gold bar is worth a billion-trillion dollars.

Make up a problem, cover it to death as long as it sells papers, belittle and call names to those who don’t agree with you, increase taxes because only the government can fix it even when they can fix little else.

I guess it’s better to pay billions for something that may not happen or may not be a huge problem so we can enrich a few people.

Not to worry. It’ll go away when the weather gets warmer, maybe April.

5) Find a group of people with less political power than your tribe and blame it on them. Because nothing can be your fault.

Yep.

Sadly accurate :-(

don’t forget “thoughts and prayers” and “it’s too soon to talk about it” before doing absolutely nothing about it. Oh, maybe add in a “it was unavoidable” for good measure too.

The template for our healthcare system

All problems become political issues and never get solved.

It’s the “American way”

after the lesson of fukushima, it’s really comforting that our government is spending billions of yen on building a larger breakwall for the mothballed nuclear power station nearby. fortunately, there’s little likelihood of a tsunami in our area… ☺

It’s worse than that.   We rampage in all directions doing everything we can to make the situation worse .

I’m sorry Goat, but Rat is totally right.

I do wonder what we as a country are going to do when all the homes in Florida that don’t have home insurance get wiped out in a hurricane. I mean I know what DeathSentence is going to do—Nothing but scream at DC to bail everyone out despite him hating the federal government and wanting to end it completely like every other Republican. And it’s going to happen soon. Home insurance only works as long as the companies make money off of it, and thanks to climate change which Republicans still refuse to admit exists, it isn’t profitable anymore.

Spring disasters fuel our economy.

Goat really knows how to be hilarious…

When the aliens invade, we are going to be kicking ourselves for not destroying the rest of the universe pre-emptively.