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I generally try to avoid doing consecutive comics about the same topic, but last week, a few polls taken after Snowden’s NSA whistleblowing show that Americans support the snooping, especially when it’s falsely framed against terrorism.

The same country that accepts thousands of gun and traffic deaths, for the sake of personal freedom, cowers in a corner, pisses their pants, and hands over their privacy whenever the authorities whisper “terrorism” into their precious little ears.

Fifty years or so from now, when books are written about us, we’ll be labeled “The Scaredest Generation,” if books are still around in 2063.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGq3XkLct6I

Matt Bors and I just wrapped up our weekly Google Hangout. And like most of the news, it was dominated by the overreaching of the NSA and the Obama Administration.

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Last week, Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden confirmed that the NSA is running a gigantic domestic surveillance program. So much has been written and said about it that I don’t have much to add except that I agree with what Matt Bors said.

Besides the actual spying, the people defending it are the most noxious. From Dianne Feinstein, who presumably knows a lot about the program(s) as Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to the general public, who are still pissing their pants nearly 12 years after 9/11, this country’s still in the throes of an epic freakout over terrorists.

If terrorists killed 30,000+ Americans a year, I MIGHT be inclined to think this program was anywhere near justifiable, but that’s guns. Guns kill 30,000+ Americans a year, and we can’t even collect data on who’s buying them. Our security priorities: They’re fucked up and bullshit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-chOjtAB4s

I forgot to post last week’s because the heat wave made me temporarily stupid. In addition to this week’s cartoons, Matt and I talked about the economy, FLOTUS heckling, and whether there’s any merit to rape jokes.

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The big economic news last week was a rise in housing prices, and that women are now the main breadwinners in 40 percent of families. Combined with the other indicators commonly used by the government and the media, the anemic recovery looks like it’s finally gaining some steam. But anyone with eyeballs can see unemployment has been insanely high for five years while those lucky enough to be employed have seen their wages stagnate or go down.

This “recovery” is fueled almost entirely by record corporate profits. I’m not sure what’s so great about rising housing prices anyway, since that’s what caused the last bust. And I couldn’t afford a house when prices were at all-time lows. As a lifelong renter, I’m essentially a non-entity as far as economists are concerned.

I personally won’t feel like the economy’s healthy until I can buy a boat. Right now the Brian Boat Index is at a pathetic 0 Boats. Thanks, Obama.