Nov 20 2004
Algebra’s Threat
At New York’s Kennedy Airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule, and a calculator. At a morning press conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft said he believes the man is a member of the notorious al-gebra movement. He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. He also said he thinks the man was out to “teach somebody a lesson”.
“Al-gebra is a fearsome cult,” Ashcroft said, “They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value.
They use secret code names like ‘x’ and ‘y’ and refer to themselves a ‘unknowns’, but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, ‘there are 3 sides to every triangle’.”
When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, “If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes.”
(via Unca Harlan’s Art Deco Dining Pavilion)
Every comic genius knows that puns actually make jokes less funny.