Skip to content

Late Night Political Humor

“In a big meeting of the Republican National Committee, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal told the GOP to ‘stop being the stupid party’. Then Texas Governor Rick Perry gave the rebuttal.” – Jay Leno

“The U.S. Postal Service raised the price of a stamp yesterday. Stamps are something that the pilgrims used before we had the Internet.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“The price of a stamp goes up a penny today, to 46 cents. To make sure everyone received the news promptly, the U.S. Postal Service announced it by email.” – Craig Ferguson

“It will now cost you 46 cents to mail a letter. Some people are complaining about the price even though it’s a penny more than the old price. You’re not allowed to spend $4 on a cup of coffee and complain about a cent.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Last week Iran launched a monkey into space, and it actually returned to Earth alive. It was great news for the space program and terrible news for the monkey who thought he’d finally gotten out of Iran.” – Jimmy Fallon

“In Iran last week, the government successfully launched a live monkey into space. I like that they specified it was a live monkey as if there was a chance they would send a dead monkey into space.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Iran has successfully sent a monkey into space. Iran is calling it a huge advancement in not letting women drive.” – Conan O’Brien

“Last night President Obama and Hillary Clinton appeared on ’60 Minutes’ for their first joint interview. It was a little awkward when they both showed up wearing the same suit.” – Jimmy Fallon

“If I seem a little woozy, it’s because I’m wearing a pair of those Hillary Clinton double-vision glasses.” – David Letterman

“Women serving in the United States military will now be serving in combat. Finally there will be somebody in the tank who will stop and ask for directions.” – David Letterman

“A Secret Service dog died during a fundraiser where Vice President Joe Biden was giving a speech. The dog is being described as ‘lucky’.” – Conan O’Brien

Share

The US Gang Problem

Business Journals seem to be publishing articles that are downright liberal recently. One interesting example is this article — “The four business gangs that run the US

No, two of them are not the Democratic and Republican parties. We’re talking about the gangs with real power. Here they are:

  • Military-industrial complex – Fifty years ago Dwight Eisenhower tried to warn us about this one, but did we listen?
  • Wall Street-Washington complex – That’s right, the “too big to fail” Wall Street gang. We cry out that we are out of money and that we have to fight deficits, but no check is too big to write to these masters of our universe.
  • Big Oil-transport-military complex – the folks that brought you two stupid wars (at least) in the middle east, suppressed most public transport and non-oil energy sources, got us to ignore climate change, filled our world with plastics that never degrade, invented planned obsolescence, and got the government to build one of the most socialistic things they’ve ever done: the federal highway system.
  • Healthcare industry – the people who swallow up an enormous 17% of our GDP and in return give us some of the worst health results in the developed world, and still somehow manage to convince a large number of Americans that this is a good thing.
Share

Late Night Political Humor

“Already the Obama administration has been rocked by scandal. Beyonce lip-syncing; or at least we think she was lip-synching. Manti Te’o said it sounded very real to him.” – Bill Maher

“Lip-synching – let that be a lesson; if you are in Washington DC and you open your mouth and another voice comes out, it better be the NRA, an oil company, or a bank.” – Bill Maher

“President Obama delivered his inaugural address, which set a more liberal tone for his second term, especially the part where he showered the crowd with birth control pills.” – Seth Meyers

“New Rule: The media must give President Obama a few more days before they start covering the 2016 presidential race. They’re already speculating about Biden and Hillary. Come on, even Taylor Swift gives a guy a little more time than that. And why is she America’s sweetheart? She’s 17 and she’s gone out with more men than Joan Crawford.” – Bill Maher

“This year marks the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr’s historic ‘I Have A Dream’ speech. As well as the 1 year anniversary of my girlfriend’s ‘I had the weirdest dream’ speech. Guess which one was longer.” – Seth Meyers

“The Pentagon lifted the ban this week on women being able to serve. Yes, women can now serve in front line combat positions, proving that women will follow gay men anywhere.” – Bill Maher

“Tom Tancredo, who was a congressman from Colorado and ran for president, made a bet that his state would not legalize marijuana. And of course, he lost that bet. And you know what he has to do because he lost that bet? Yes, he’s got a suck on a joint. I just hope in the next few years he loses a bet on gay marriage.” – Bill Maher

“New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is getting big-time financial support for his re-election campaign, a fundraiser hosted by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. That means the creator of the world’s largest social network is raising money for the world’s largest governor.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Why does Mark Zuckerberg need to raise a fundraiser worth $12 billion. Write a check and be done with the whole thing.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Did you know when you poke Chris Christie on Facebook, your computer giggles like the Pillsbury Doughboy?” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana said ‘we must stop being the stupid party’. Good luck with that. When Sarah Palin heard that, she demanded an apology. She said, ‘How dare he insult hard-working, patriotic, idiotic Americans like me’.” – Bill Maher

Share

The Difference between Voters and Dirt

Jen Sorensen
© Jen Sorensen

Well, it looks like it backfired. Republican plans to “reform” our electoral college voting system to make it even more unfair – and to boost Republican chances of winning the next presidential election, even if they lose the popular vote – couldn’t stand up to the glare of attention it received.

And the difference? Voters sometimes speak out.

Share

Trigger Happy

The media gets distracted by a non-issue, and puts their foot in it:

So the White House calls their bluff:

Obama Shooting Skeet

Share

Late Night Political Humor

“House Speaker John Boehner said that President Obama’s focus is to annihilate the Republican Party. Do Republicans look like they need any help from President Obama? They’re doing a hell of a job themselves.” – Jay Leno

“The Pentagon has allowed women to serve in combat. Yeah, the hope is that we can now finally defeat the Taliban by giving them the silent treatment.” – Conan O’Brien

“Women can now serve on the front lines in combat. I believe up until now, the only woman who had ever seen action under a general was of course Paula Broadwell.” – Jay Leno

“Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was grilled by Congressmen about the attack on Benghazi. Then out of habit she grilled them about where they were last night, and who’s this Megan?” – Conan O’Brien

“A scary moment at John Kerry’s secretary of state confirmation hearing. One of the senators had taken his Ambien the night before and combined with the stuffy room and Kerry’s boring speech, he slipped into a coma.” – Jay Leno

“North Korea said it will test a rocket that they hope will hit the United States. In other words, watch your back, middle of the Pacific Ocean.” – Conan O’Brien

Share

Vaguely Disturbing by Calculation

Ruben Bolling
© Ruben Bolling

Yes it’s true, federal laws against computer crime are so vague and overreaching that pretty much everyone is guilty of violating them. Of course, these laws are invoked only when you piss someone powerful off, like Aaron Schwartz did.

I have a friend who discovered that some computers at the company where he worked as a system administrator were improperly secured. This embarrassed the VP responsible so much that he called the police. The crime? Breaking into a computer, a felony. Even though there was no intent to steal anything, damage any computers, or do anything else nefarious, he was convicted.

Share

Seems Apropos to Me

In one of the largest academic scandals in recent history at the school, as many as 60 students have been forced to withdraw from Harvard University after they were found cheating on a final exam.

Why is this ironic? Because the class was “Introduction to Congress”.

Share

Late Night Political Humor

“There’s a photo from the Inauguration in which Former President Bill Clinton appears to be checking out Kelly Clarkson. Clinton said, ‘That’s not true, I was checking out Beyonce and Kelly Clarkson got in the way’.” – Conan O’Brien

clinton-new-interns

“Beyonce is remaining silent about charges that she lip-synched the national anthem. However, the charges are being strongly denied by a recording of Beyonce.” – Conan O’Brien

“Yes, lip-gate. Beyonce-gate. The crisis in Lip-ya. Beyonc-gazi … If Beyonce lip-synced at Obama’s inaugural, do you know what that means? If so, please write in because I’d love to know why I’m so angry!” – Stephen Colbert

“Steven Tyler defended Beyoncé after she lip-synced at President Obama’s inauguration. Tyler said, “I know how she feels, I did the same thing at the Harry Truman Inauguration.'” – Conan O’Brien

“Joe Biden made another one of his famous gaffes on camera Monday, saying he was proud to be president of the United States. I guess he forgot he wasn’t at home standing in front of the bathroom mirror.” –Jay Leno

“Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed on to a new ‘Terminator’ film. Due to his age, this one features the catchphrase, ‘I’ll be back right after ‘Wheel of Fortune.'” – Conan O’Brien

Share

Glenn Beck’s Utopia

Glenn Beck reveals his vision for Utopia, and Jon Stewart points out the obvious flaw – that it looks more like a fascist tin-pot dictator’s home-owner’s association, which controls what you can and cannot do even more than the government Beck professes to hate:

Share

Late Night Political Humor

“I’m still reeling from yesterday’s inauguration disaster. First off, where was security? The Secret Service is supposed to protect the president and first lady, but in the middle of a kiss, they were viciously photobombed. Enjoy Gitmo, Malia.” – Stephen Colbert

malia-sasha-photobomb

“The president gave a brief but powerful speech. He did not shy away from the many challenges he faces: a massive federal deficit, a conservative majority in the House, an aging population, runaway entitlements, humongous ears.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Actually, you know who gave the shortest inauguration speech in history? George Washington. It was only like three minutes long. Well, sure. George Washington couldn’t tell a lie.” – Jay Leno

“Where did we go wrong? The Republicans had everything going for them – a terrible economy, an unpopular incumbent, and a positive message for the American voter: ‘less than half of you are parasites’.” – Stephen Colbert

“At the inaugural ball, President Obama was caught doing some very stiff and awkward dance moves. In other words, Obama is already reaching out to Republicans.” – Conan O’Brien

“On the news they made a big deal out of the fact that four years ago there were twice as many people at President Obama’s first inauguration than there was at this one. That’s because four years ago, twice as many people could afford to stay in hotels.” – Jay Leno

“More than a million people gathered in our nation’s capital yesterday, and tens of millions more watched from home to celebrate the first lady’s new haircut.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Most people seem to like the hair style, though some Republicans are demanding further cuts. But bangs aren’t easy to pull off. As far as I know, the only other women who have done it successfully this decade are Jessica Biel and Justin Bieber.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“The CEO of Whole Foods is criticizing Obamacare, once again calling it fascism. He did this before when he called it socialism. And he said the problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people’s money. As opposed to shopping at Whole Foods, where you eventually run out of your own money.” – Jay Leno

“Video game-maker Atari has filed for bankruptcy. Atari fans are so upset they’re organizing a massive letter-writing campaign to President Reagan.” – Conan O’Brien

“The post office may sue Lance Armstrong for all of the money they spent sponsoring his team. In fact, after all these lawsuits, they say that Lance Armstrong could end up as broke as the post office.” – Jay Leno

Share

Colbert on North Korea

This is hilarious. Talk about co-dependency!

Share

Obamacare Saves Money

The Republican governor of Florida has claimed that implementing Obamacare in Florida will cost the state billions of dollars. But now, the first detailed study of the costs shows that rather than costing the state money, it will actually save money. $300 million in the first year alone.

Obamacare will be especially important in Florida, where 30% of non-elderly adults are uninsured, compared to 18% nationwide. Plus, the implementation of Obamacare will create 56,000 jobs.

Saves lives, saves money, creates jobs. No wonder Republicans are against it.

Share

Late Night Political Humor

“Today’s inauguration marked the first time ever a president used the word gay in an inauguration speech. It was the part of the speech where Obama pointed at the Washington monument and said, ‘Whoever designed that thing must have been pretty gay’.” – Conan O’Brien

“During the inauguration, Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos gave a shout-out to who he thought was Morgan Freeman, but was actually Celtics great Bill Russell. Stephanopoulos then went on to say he was so excited to be at Denzel Washington’s inauguration.” – Conan O’Brien

“During the inauguration, a teenage boy was spotted flirting with Malia Obama. At this moment, the boy is being flown to a remote location in Afghanistan.” – Conan O’Brien

“Vice President Joe Biden was also sworn in for his second term today. Biden swore on the Bible to ‘uphold the Constitution and to keep doing whatever it is I do’.” – Conan O’Brien

“In his inaugural address, President Obama said America’s possibilities are limitless. Unfortunately at that moment Lance Armstrong shouted out, ‘That’s what I used to think’.” – Conan O’Brien

“There once was a man named Barack,
whose re-election came as a shock.
He raised the taxes I pay,
and then turned marriage gay.
And now he’s coming after your glock.” – Stephen Colbert

Share

Patently Wrong

Finally! Score one (and a big one) against patent trolls.

Newegg, an online electronics retailer, has won their patent appeal against Soverain Software.

Soverain is a patent troll, a company that has never produced anything, but has managed to extort millions of dollars against companies including Amazon and The Gap, and was in the process of suing Nordstrom’s, Macy’s, Home Depot, Best Buy, Radio Shack, Kohl’s, Wallgreen’s, and many others.

How? They bought some patents from a defunct company that claimed to cover the online shopping cart, lawyered up, and sued companies in patent-friendly West Texas. Never-mind that taking an obvious and well-known physical concept and implementing it on the Internet isn’t even vaguely deserving of patentability.

Defending against a patent suit can cost many millions of dollars and depress the market cap of a company due to uncertainty. So companies are often willing to settle even bogus claims, and once a few big companies settle it gets harder and harder for other companies to defend themselves. Soverain was working their way to collecting a stunning 1% of the gross revenue of every online retailer.

But back in 2007, Newegg decided on a new strategy: they would not settle with patent trolls, ever. As Newegg’s chief legal officer put it “We basically took a look at this situation and said, this is bullshit. We saw that if we paid off this patent holder, we’d have to pay off every patent holder this same amount. This is the first case we took all the way to trial. And now, nobody has to pay Soverain jack squat for these patents.”

Kudos to Newegg!

Now, I’m a computer scientist and I even hold a few software patents, but I would be very happy if the federal government invalidated all software patents. They do nothing to encourage or reward inventors like me, and in fact cause lots of problems. Imagine you are trying to start an online shopping business, but nobody will invest in you because in order to sell anything online, you would run afoul of patents like those held by Soverain. Soverain could extort any amount of money they wanted from you, and could even refuse to license their patents and put you out of business. Just like that.

Other patent trolls hold patents on things as silly as drop-down menus. These trolls could basically sue the vast majority of websites and force them off the internet. Think about what that would do to our economy.

And because many judges don’t know obvious from a hole in the ground, especially in highly technical fields, lawyers can often get away with this crap.

It has to stop, and this is a great first step in the right direction.

Share