Comic Strip of the Day

CSotD: Hysterical Blindness

Skip to comments

Mike Peterson Published: April 24, 2014 1 minute 4 comments

Matt Bors on the guy who peed in the reservoir and the town that drained it, a story that gets funnier and funnier the more it goes on.

The bottom line on all this is that people believe the science that bolsters their opinions and are blind to the science that doesn't, and even independent, free-thinking rebels pretty much follow the line carved out for independent, free-thinking rebels.

Nothing new in that, of course. There were a kabillion paisley-painted VW buses plying the highway, looking for America a half century or so ago, each one of them driven by someone who refused to follow the crowd, and you couldn't walk across a college campus without hearing the soundtrack of "Hair" blaring out a dorm window.

And a generation earlier, all the rebels showed their independent streak by dressing and talking like Marlon Brando and James Dean.

Which is a helluva lot more amusing than eating kale, but now eating kale is a thing, and there's nothing wrong with eating kale. Kale is good for you.

But so are mustard greens and turnip greens and collards and all sorts of other greens. But, no, it's kale, dammit. Not those other things. Kale.

Which is okay, I guess. Probably. It won't kill ya, anyway.

Meanwhile, Jenny McCarthy is an idiot for saying that vaccinations (can? might? do?) cause autism, and people are morons if they question global warming, but it's totally okay to fear genetically modified foods because, well, because it's totally okay.

I find it interesting the way people teeter between their perception of the natural world as good and pure — the raw milk fad, to use an example from Matt's cartoon — and their utter fear of natural processes, as seen in Facebook postings.

Al Jazeera America's TechKnow program had a segment about eating insects, which is a concept other news organizations have covered, usually pointing out that other cultures regularly scarf them down, and that they have a significant protein content.

The TechKnow reporter, however, also noted how squeamish Americans are about the "insect parts" provisions of our health laws, but he did it in a kind of off-hand "you're already eating them anyway" manner that I thought was pretty amusing.

And it's pretty well accepted that kids who play with animals in the dirt have fewer allergies than those who are confined to clean-room environments.

The fact that birds not only poop into open-air reservoirs but occasionally drown in them shouldn't be all that upsetting, but the gov't is forcing towns to cover their reservoirs. Portland, which is now draining 38 million gallons of water to get rid of a pint of pee, apparently fought that regulation.

But there's no point in looking for logic in any of this.

People are squeamish about whatever they want to be squeamish about, and whether it's insect parts or trace amounts of pee or anything else, they're capable of becoming totally hysterical over just about anything that appeals to the "ewww" factor while remaining utterly indifferent to things that just maybe might matter.

Saw a link to this story a couple of times last week that tells you what beers you should avoid because they might/do utilize GMO grain, which is kinda funny if you take a moment to consider the potential, unproven hazards of trace amounts of GMO in a beverage which is somewhere between 5 and 12 percent a known, proven poison.

It also warns that Guinness uses fish bladders, so, y'know, you should drink something else with your sushi.

Anyway, that above linked story about Portland's reservoir suggests that Bors and other cartoonists face a lot of competition for humor, in that Portland is apparently not going to actually discard the pee-water but divert it to another uncovered reservoir which, unlike the uncovered reservoir that drunks and ducks pee into, is not used for drinking water.

"It's partly an experiment," (City Commissioner) Fish said Tuesday, calling it a "no brainer" to maintain the historic feel of the reservoirs.

(Water Dept Spokesperson) Cuti said the decision also gives the bureau the opportunity to "see how water does for long periods of time" in the static reservoir.

The chief way to do that is to keep water in them. "I think that's going to be one of the ideas," he said.

Reservoir 6 has a fountain, (Commissioner) Fritz said, and could be activated in the future.

She said it's unclear how long the "contaminated water" will remain. "But certainly for a while," she said, "so that the visitors can enjoy it at no additional cost to the ratepayers."

Having changed the diapers of a number of very young boys, I don't need to travel to Portland to experience the joy of a pee fountain, but I think I understand now why so many cartoonists live there.

Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.