http://smbc-comics.com/comic/capital
Alt text
The complex derivative guys are given AAA ratings then surprised that they still sink.
Bonus panel
Lol … all those religious idiots that twist and turn every line of the Bible believing that they are following the rules and outwitting a being they believe is all knowing, all aware and infinity more intelligent than anything in the universe.
Well, to play Devil’s advocate (ironically), I’ve spoken with some conservative Rabbis on this point when I worked in a Kosher kitchen at a Jewish summer camp, and their argument was that God, of course, knows about and intentionally inserted these loopholes into scripture and intended them to be found and used. However, the follow-up question of why bother doing that instead of just not disallowing the behavior in the first place did not yield a satisfactory answer.
I must admit they have quite some resiliance. Christianity came as hypocrites have twisted the word of God and infected the religious institutions of Judaism. That was 2.000 years ago. Albeit a lot of “Christian” institutions are hardly any better.
I’m sure the all-powerful, jealous, and murderously psychopathic Old Testament God loves people finding and looking for faith “loopholes” that very coincidentally are most likely to be noticed by Rabbis.
Absolutely apropos of nothing
Wait, aren’t decreases in the infant mortality rate a good thing?
I think part of the joke is that the high speed trading does not meaningfully lead to decreases in infant mortality, but the high speed trader is doing a lot of mental gymnastics to try to claim it does.
They are, the joke is that the guy is trying to weasel his way into heaven by claiming that the shitty things he did on earth were a net good via bad leaps of logic. St. Peter knows the guy is full of shit, but lets him think he’s getting into heaven for a bit.