Grrl Power #1150 – Up the chain
Maxima: YOU do NOT get to cast aspersions on Dabbler. That is MY JOB!
Honestly, naming a baby Deus Superion is only slightly weirder than naming yourself Deus Superion. Like one of “those rap people.” BTW, that senator isn’t supposed to be anyone specific, just representative of one of those typical mummies that have been sitting in their seat for about two decades longer than their ability to comprehend the modern world allows for.
You know, rappers get the occasional bit of grief for using pseudonyms, but you know who else uses made up names? Actors. Half the actors whose names you think you know changed them when they started getting real roles. Olivia Wilde? Actually Olivia Cockburn. Okay, I definitely don’t blame her for that one. Natalie Portman? Neta-Lee Hershlag. Joaquin Phoenix? Joaquín Rafael Bottom. Again, can’t really fault him there. Hell, if I was just some first grader with the last name “Bottom” I’d want to fucking change it too. Jamie Foxx? Eric Marlon Bishop. Alexander Siddig? His full name is Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi. Honestly if I ever cast him in something I’d beg him to use the full thing in the credits just cause I think it’d be funny to have the whole screen taken up by his name.
Anyway, hooray for action packed… I’d say Senate hearings, but this is classified and there’s only one senator there. The meeting itself isn’t classified, just the topics discussed, since they’re being candid about stuff like alien tech and the fact that Dabbler is a demon, which hasn’t been revealed to the public. Only that she’s an alien. With horns and hooves, granted, but anything not from Earth would technically be an alien. There’s a huge amount of online discussion about everything superheroes in the Grrl-verse, because of course there is. Plenty of speculation about Dabbler being a demon even before they said she was an alien. I mean, there’s a lot stupid people out there, and you don’t need to look remotely like a demon for some people to legitimately think you are one or are at least possessed by one. As soon as Dabbler switched to her “battle form” and started swinging around her sword with the pentagram guard on it, speculation accelerated. At some point I should mention in the comic that there are protesters who think the US government is in bed with Satan (there’s definitely already people who think that in the real world, so it’s hardly a stretch). I don’t like dwelling on humanities crappier attributes in the comic if I can help it though. It would be star-eyed optimism to think that kind of stuff isn’t happening, so my excuse is that the PR people are generally doing their jobs and mostly keeping the team from interacting with the average dumbass on the street whenever possible. Maybe before being allowed into signing events, people have to fill out a questionnaire that reveals their thoughts on the moon landing, whether they are pro or anti-vaccine, the general shape of the Earth, and other conspiracy theories. I imagine most celebrities don’t want to hear their fans’ thoughts on that sort of stuff anyway. Even people who are deep into that sort of stuff probably aren’t interested, because if your version of their dumb thing isn’t exactly the same then they, I assume, get just as annoyed as a non-dumbass would. “Oh you think the Earth is flat, but the moon is a sphere and it’s hollow and that’s where all the dinosaurs went? Well that’s one thing too far for me!”
Sorry, went off on my own little tear there. You know, all that said, Cooter was fun to write. Maybe he should make another appearance soon.
The April vote incentive is up! As promised, it’s a Sydney pinup. Not airplane bathroom selfies, but hopefully her cuteness will satisfy.
Variant outfits and lack thereof over at Patreon, as well as the semi-usual bonus incentive related comic.
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We pray that Cooter’s next appearance will NOT be the May vote incentive. #575 was already enough for twelve shots of tequila.
Speak for yourself buddy! :)
*shudder* Although I am hoping Cooter/Wymril do turn up again. Maybe they’ll stumble along when the next Sciona arc eventually crops up.
There’s actually quite a few interesting characters that have been sidelined for a very long time, wish Dave had a colorist or some other help so he could do more writing & outlining. Say a page a day to cover all the secondary story lines.
I remember the dark times when he was only able to produce one page a week. Be grateful with what you have.
Cooter is pretty awesome. Despite being a straight up redneck stereotype, he’s hilarious… plus as far as being a villain, he’s definitely a very sympathetic and tragic one based on his supposed backstory. Plus his being dumb as a bag of rocks and being able to irritate Wyrmil makes for even more hilarity.
Spelling, panel 6: “principals” should be “principles”
Indeed, PrinciPALS are executive managers of schools, while PrinciPLES are physics properties that explain how something works.
PrinciPALS! Would be a great name for a school themed superhero group!
“Principals” also indicates partners (owners) of a professional firm, such as doctors, lawyers, or CPAs, and as well is used to represent the persons hiring an agent or negotiator. A real estate person might refer to the “principal” that she has to discuss an offer with.
> If Maxima picks off the president and flies off with him, will she become Air Force One?
No. Maybe she will become Archon One though.
Depending on the landing the President receives she may become Public Enemy Number One, by at least half of the population. The rest will think she is a hero.
I was going to argue. But you have a point, she is not Air Force anymore. Archon is a separate branch, so the President carried by Max, Sydney, or an Archon aircraft would properly be Archon One.
The silly thing here to me is that we already know how to make force fields in the real world, we just don’t know how to make them super tight. Like, we can easily make a forcefield that will protect an interstellar craft from colliding with micrometeorites, dust, and charged particles at high velocities, but it has to be in constant operation and begin working on it a long ways away. We can’t confine the forcefield to a thin wall that immediately disperses incoming stuff upon attempting to cross a thin threshold.
A forcefield that is concentrated in a small space like that instead of essentially being spread out with like what we can do IRL would likely require far more power as it has to impart a lot more energy a lot faster to make up for all the tens of thousands of miles worth of distance it didn’t spend already gently deflecting it.
That’s not to say the power requirements are the only issue, but it is to say that reverse engineering the forefield emitters is the easiest part. The power source for the forcefield on a motorcycle sized craft would probably be enough to power a city. We just don’t have that kind of power miniaturization… And I’m not sure we’d want it either. The more dense you make your power sources, the more explosive they are simply by virtue of what happens when that much energy in that small of a space is suddenly released.
Forcefield is a generic term for any projected barrier. Given we are in the realm of science fiction here we can consider convergent technology in which different civilizations reach the same concept by different means, and some will indeed be stronger, more energy efficient, or better suited to the craft in question than others. A kinetic dispersement field projected by one device and magnetically bent by a receiver to form a kinetic windshield will have issues with concentrated force on a single point effecting a surge protector or two in the actual craft. Meanwhile a hard light projector forming free floating but position to craft bound will have it’s internal strength and the energy to reinforce or reform a new hard light barrier when the previous was broken. And those are just two examples.
Some have theorized Sydney’s bubble given the tech level could be a selectively permeable multidimensional membrane forming a pocket dimension inside and forming a projection on the outside of what is inside and on the inside of what is outside to give the illusion of being clear.
Kinetic fields, psychic fields, laser/plasma grids relayed/reflected using nano machines, magi tech mana barriers, hardened sub space fields, plasma curtains, etc..all can qualify for the term force field.
I forgot to mention the relevance of pointing that out.
The forcefield the US already has in this series comes from a little shuttle given to them via the Xevoarchy as a trade for not fighting them to take the Fel ship and the bounty there of. The Xevoarchy however has rules on who can access what technology, so a pre-FTL civilization like Earth would likely be given something from a just became FTL civilization and joined the Xevoarchy or they brought up some antique ship schematics and built a ship from those to give to Earth.
So the FTL is likely *just barely* and can be assumed the rest of the craft is the same way, just barely neccessary for deep space flight alloys, engines, and force fields.
Meanwhile the Alari are a militaristic interstellar empire *one making enough of a name for its self to be on the Xevoarchy watch list, and the suspiciously Fel looking kaiju’s hit list*.
Chances are their idea of an adequete forcefield is going to be significantly better than that on the antique *here you go young civilization something we think is closer to your level* forcefield.
(and that is just in-universe reasoning, we the readers know Deus went and snuck behind everyone’s backs and bought some high end Xevoarchy goods, which we granted don’t know what specifically, but if he got better forcefields or matter fabricators could be using that to help keep even the Alari interested in what he has to offer).
I wouldn’t be surprised to find out Cora didn’t bother getting approval from the Xevoarchy or anyone else, just grabbed the first cheap little FTL ship that was available on galactic Craigslist and dropped it off.
Problem is there is an upper limit to efficiency. It can never surpass 100% efficiency.
That is if you want to impart X joules of force onto an object, or counteract X joules of energy weapon, you must spend more than X to do so. The necessary joules rack up REALLY fast as well.
Perhaps I wasn’t clear in that part of it… You simply can’t get more work of a system than you put in.
Not entirely true
You can’t get more than 100% efficiency through direct action but you can spend a certain amount of energy to get more than 100% return on it in some situations
Reverse cycle air conditioning allows you to get multiple times the heating energy you consume in electrical energy (or cooling to remove multiples of what you spend in electrical energy)
If you could open and control a portal to a high energy dimension it’s possible you could get far more energy from that than you expend
more realistically there’s nuclear fusion although we haven’t solved that yet
I don’t think Max would qualify as a craft, but Sydney is a spaceship so a ride in Mr Bubble would definitely count.
“Archon is a separate branch, so the President carried by Max, Sydney, or an Archon aircraft would properly be Archon One.”
I understand entirely what you’re saying and you’re probably right… but I believe the moniker is that ANY aircraft carrying the President is designated “Air Force One” – although it used to just be any Air Force aircraft. I could be wrong though and I’m basing this mostly on the movie with Harrison Ford. :) Like how after Harrison Ford is moved to the other plane and the pilot says “Renaming our call sign Air Force One” :)
It’s any AIR FORCE aircraft that is carrying the president. Aircraft not belonging to the Air Force don’t count. The other branches follow the convention, so if the president boards a Marine helicopter (which happens a lot) it becomes Marine One, and so on for Army One, Navy One, and Coast Guard One. Presumably Archon will have a similar rule, and if the President is on board the Osprey it will become Archon One.
… so the real question is, does Max count as an aircraft for ATC purposes?
Definitely Archon One.
Since I know DaveB checks the comments from time to time but I didn’t see it acknowledged or updated last page.
The ‘updated skill tree’ image is not up-to-date.
Page #181 shows that the PPO started with two pips.
Page #510 has Sydney buy a PPO upgrade.
Page #659 shows the PPO has three pips.
It was pointed out to him on the patreon comments as well, and he responded there. He hasn’t indicated how he intends to handle it yet.
I thought I read, in one of DaveB’s posts that he was going to follow the Douglas Adams Principle and set the records straight, or at least firmly crooked with the splash image of the orb upgrade tree.
Not forgetting #511 where rapid fire & the aperture were used…
You’d have to be in the senate for at least two years after you’d died of old age, to accumulate the political clout to be put on the oversight committee for the fledgling super hero agency.
I disagree. All you’d need is the most clout of anyone in the senate. I seem to recall hearing at one point, that had been achieved by someone who had a Senate tenure that was less than 50 years. Admittedly, that still probably meant they were in their 80s, given the minimum age to be a Senator combined with what is usually meant when one says “tenure that was less than x years”.
I would use the most expendable of the least politically dangerous person from my own party whom I could steal the credit from, if the project somehow turns out good results.
Alright, I’m on my last nerve about this…
What is Maxima’s rank? I know they call her “Lieutenant Colonel” here but… Listen…
So, there are rules for fraternization in the military. There are peer groups among various ranks and a general rule of thumb of “One rank above or below.”
So, there’s been some angst about a possible relationship between LtCol Maxima and Major Hiro. Maxima gently postpones the possibility by telling him he should pick up rank and then they can talk.
Except with military rank structure, a LtCol (O-5) is only a rank above Major (O-4). Maxima’s comment only makes sense if she’s a Colonel (O-6).
On top of that, a unit like Archon would want to have a Colonel in charge of its primary operations team, not a LtCol.
Lieutenant Colonel is not higher than Colonel. Colonel is the one with the full bird insignia. Lieutenant Colonel is the one with a silver oak leaf. If she’s full bird, you’re calling her by the wrong rank. If she wears an oak leaf, you’re misapplying relationship angst between her and Hiro, unless she’s just walking on eggshells on that issue and doesn’t want to start anything until they’re of equal rank. Also, she’s under-rank for the billet she’s filling, but that often happens in the military, just not so often in this sort of situation. Typically, a LtCol Commanding Officer would be in place for a smaller unit that is under the jurisdiction of a larger unit, but even in that situation, there’s still an expectation the LtCol would be gaining rank to Colonel SOON.
Just something that scratches at me every time I see Maxima’s rank mentioned.
It’s possible Max’s promotion is tied up with politics (because there’s almost certainly going to be politics all over that post), but she knows it’s going to land eventually, so she’s being careful about starting anything that might have to be put on hold at that point (until he catches up, which she couldn’t encourage without justified accusations of favoritism). Entirely aside from sexist political BS, Max has made a few enemies in her career, so political holdups are to be expected.
Well, that still doesn’t explain the relationship angst subplot. A prior-established relationship is still allowed in the circumstance that she gets promoted but he doesn’t. In fact, if she’s keen on dating Hiro, starting the relationship BEFORE she gets promoted would be the way to go.
These things are not always just about rank. They are more centered around chain of command. Having a relationship with someone who directly reports to you is generally problematic. Difference in rank in separate chains of command is workable…But there is always the chance of “politics” affecting the relationship. Say the significant other transfers to another command which is headed by one who “hates your guts”, yah relationships in the workplace are just fraught with problems. Face it, people can be just downright mean and unprofesional.
Good points… Except that has not been the expressed concern at all. This is an extremely unusual situation, as these are a very few individuals at a very high level of power who have a very slim dating range as it is. It is simply unfeasible to start going “Section A, Paragraph 13 of the blah-blah-blah…”
Unless we’re just supposed to start shipping Maxima and Deus.
Why not both?
She’s hung out with Xuri enough to have lightened up on monogamy.
Hiro is currently her direct subordinate.
Off topic, but I explored your link, and I didn’t know DA did literature too! Though the formatting is … less than ideal.
Depending on how you feel your writing is going there, might I suggest Royal Road? It’s just about writing there.
I agree that this billet is full bird (from my VERY limited experience in service). But there might well have been time in grade limitations on her promotion, not to mention the politics. I also know that being posted to a billet one rank above is not even rare.
And yes, I don’t care if you are the same rank. Fraternizing with a direct report is stupid in any organization, and the military is NOT going to take such a situation well.
Thinking a bit more… Falk is a 1-star. That means that this X-O should be a Col. I am pretty certain that Max is NOT his X-O. Which means the maximum rank for her position would be LTC.
But really, 1 star for Falk’s position is _clearly_ insufficient.
You can argue what ranks *should* be, but I’ve always had the feeling that Archon is still pretty much slapped together ( it *is* very new compared to the other branches…), with peeps simply placed based on competence and capabilities, and equivalency ranks assigned on the basis of the minimum necessary to be taken seriously for any given position.
It is, no doubt, an eyesore to the bureaucrats, pen-pushers, and career politicians, but them’s the rubs.
General Faulk is a two star general, not one star.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-777-salvage-rights/
(Panel 1)
I see your two, and raise you one… https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-87-i-can-see-why-this-might-be-cause-for-concern/
Of course, today’s panel #4 looks very 1-ish, which is why I went with one…
DAVE!!
I dont see ANY stars on his uniform today. Everyone, including Maxima and general ross wannabe seems to have the edges of their shoulders glowing a bit tho. None of it looks like stars here.
Btw we could both be right. Your link is from MUCH earlier than mine. He might have been a one star general during Sydney’s interview, then months later, by the time of the Fel ship argument, he could have been promoted to two star.
Given Dave’s stated lack of familiarity with military uniforms, I’m going with “oops”. Prove me wrong. :D
I can’t prove you wrong. You might be right. I’m just basing what I said on the fact that, back during Comic #777, we had a whole debate in the comments section over General Faulk’s rank. You could definitely be right that DaveB is just inconsistent on military uniforms or simply forgot, since he’s human (as far as we know). :)
If nothing else, it looks like Archon’s uniforms don’t follow in line with other branches. I can’t tell if Faulk’s epaulets have stars on them, but neither lieutenant colonels nor generals use gold in their insignia. If they use the same insignia in the Navy for captains as the Army and Air Force for colonels (they do), then they probably wouldn’t reinvent the oak cluster.
I once as a Private First Class temporarily had the role of Battalion Signal Officer ( Lieutenant) due to expertise in the subject and the SIGO officer being away. I was the highest ranking member of the digital operations department.
Her rank badge appears to be gold, not silver, so she is wearing the rank appropriate for being a Major. Unless it has changed in the last half-century. Assuming it is an Army rank.
“Oh you think the Earth is flat, but the moon is a sphere and it’s hollow and that’s where all the dinosaurs went? Well that’s one thing too far for me!”
Dang straight! Everybody knows that the dinosaurs ain’t in the moon! They’s hidin’ in the back rooms of the gub’mint buildings, secretly running things!*
*I have been told this by someone I suspect actually believed it.
Just put the Flat-Earthers and the Hollow-Earthers in a room and let’em fight it out
Watch season 2 of Inside Job. :)
I knew Dr McNinja was secretly a documentary! Of course dinos can’t be on the moon, that’s where Dracula’s base is.
I thought the moon was an egg.
for the record that was a horrible episode.
Honestly, you could probably claim that Deus named himself when he was born (Anos Voldigoad style) and I wouldn’t immediately dismiss it.
Sydney’s middle name is Trouble, so Deus Superion isn’t entirely out of the question. The only reasons that isn’t Sydney’s name is her Dad didn’t think of it, and her Mom would have put her foot down.
Let us not be ridiculous now.
Sydney’s first name CANT be ‘Trouble’ because she could not then say ‘trouble is my middle name.’
Suitable normal first names would be stuff like Action, Dutch, Kincaid, Snake, Ash, Buckaroo, Beatrix, Foxy, Casey, Tequila, Gator, Chance, Maximilia, Ace, Benson, Maverick, Dolemite, Bob, and Indiana.
I mean cmon … this is common knowledge, sheeeeesh! :)
I have a once-removed cousin whose legal middle name on their birth certificate is “Awesome”. The parents nearly went with “Danger” but decided that wasn’t really the right direction to push a kid, or the kind of leverage to give their peers during the formative years.
Your once-removed cousin SOUNDS awesome.
every time there a full parental interrupt. (the one where they say the kids full name.)
“My name is Indiana!”
“We named the DOG Indiana!”
:)
It occurs to me: what happens if Sidney gets a hand cramp while transporting others (flight/shield combo)?
She’s been seen to use duct (not duck) tape in the past.
Duck is a brand of duct tape.
Likewise, Elbow Grease is a brand of detergent.
Oh, the Duct tape you get the stink-eye for even suggesting to use around most of the guys I know who install HVAC. Yeah… you want the aluminum tape instead for anything that’s not a plastic tube. (Or the duct sealant in a tub you paint/putty knife on- but that’s a level higher than residential. There’s also some kind of noise reduction stuff in a tub they call Bear Shit… but I can’t remember if that was ever a brand name.
Would think Deus would call the kid Thrice?
Nah, is kid is going to be named “Opus”.
“Deus” means god. I suspect you’re thinking of Duo.
You’re right that deus means God, but I’m pretty sure they’re thinking of deuce. Which has the same etymology as duo, but is far easier to mistake for deus, to the point that if one knows of deuce but not deus then it’d be easy to even mispronounce deus as deuce.
Yeah, you’re most likely right.
Kami: So he named himself ‘God’. How pretentious…. Nale! From now on, I shall be known as… Super Deus!
Nale: Yes, Super Deus!
Kami: No, wait! Super Deus Guru!!
Nale: Can I just call you ‘Guru’ for short?
Kami: Super Deus Guru… allows this.
Technically with the name being Deus Superion, he named himself Super God… what’s Lord Guru going to do about this?
I do love Maxima protecting Dabbler without a single bit of hesitation. That is peak professionalism right there. Sorely missing in today’s society.
Not that Dabbler wants protection, but yeah definitely calling him out on the objectification. But I think it’s just as much Max being pissed that he’s a) focusing on the sex part, and therefore b) not recognizing the expertise of the team’s foremost technical and cultural authority on galactic matters.
Bonus points to the guy in panel 5 who picked up on it and managed to correct himself.
If we’d had a girl, she would have been Jade Satori, so I don’t find Deus Superion that much of a stretch. I mean, it’s at least all letters, and capable of being pronounced, which is more than you can say of some names people give their kids.
That they can’t even find anybody who knew him way back when who’d say, “Oh, you mean Bob?”, does suggest that it’s a real name. Unless the records say he’s a orphan from one of those towns where a massive disaster destroyed all the public records, which in itself would be evidence his background is fake; Those places apparently had insanely huge populations…
Heh, I think the first time I read that trope was in Heinlien’s “Friday”. Ah, nostalgiac flashbacks.
I thought Deus and Maxima were classmates in school. That was the impression I was getting since around the time Sydney got her air tank.
They dated. Although neither seems to want to admit it.
It was a (series of?) business meeting(s) at a nice restaurant, Deus just brought her some carefully-chosen merchandise samples for her personal use. Max would have known if he meant it to be a date!
Using Deus’s (praise be his name) own arguments against me is a brilliant debating strategy, sir.
Well played.
Actually, if they can’t find anyone who knew him as a child, regardless of the name he went by, it’s still evidence suggesting his background is fake. Deus is supposedly “too good” to do the massive disaster destroyed records department trope. In fact, he seems to strive to such apparent perfection, I would expect him to fake his own background records if he came from such a town, orphan or not, even if his assertion of his name was actually correct.
But I suspect that an exhaustive check will find people who knew Deus back in the day. Specifically, Opal, Vesper, and several other people in his employment. And they’re the only people who knew each other back in the day also. This is an oddly tight solution, but it’s really hard to say it’s entirely wrong.
Hey Cora, we just got a email dump from Dabbler for all of us.w
Awwoooo yip yip whine (heard in background)
Cora: Oh dear, Sydney’s gonna tease him THAT way huh?
Oversight committee
Is the J Jonah Jamison in the right portrait?
I thought it was a youngish Nikola Tesla.
One of the best Starcraft 2 progamers in the US is Astrea who has the real life name “Max Angel”.
Deus Superion doesn’t seem that outlandish to me, given that context. :)
I think I have to agree with you. I personally know someone whose real name on his birth certificate is “Covert Beach.” Apparently it’s some kind of family name thing. No, he never changed it, and no, he’s not a spy. . .that we know of.
So the GP universe also has dangerous conspiracy theorists who think Dabbler is a demon.
Anybody else notice the portraits on the back wall? I understand George Washington, but why is Nicolai Tesla up there? (not objecting, just curious)
It’s an advanced technology subcommittee?
Because Tesla is god.
And by the way, Doesn’t Nick also look like one of those Rap Persons?
Some actors do change names for aesthetic reasons (ie, marketing or sounds better). Some work under an alternate name because SAG rules require unique name entries on the membership list. Michael Keaton is actually Michael Douglas because there was already a Michael Douglas on the list. As often as I’ve been unable to use my name as a username because someone else already signed up under it, I can sympathize.
What’s really weird is when you go to use your goofy username fallback and someone has already used it.
Even then, there should be records on what you name was before the name-change.
In this instance there is no such record found as it is explicitly made clear they can find no other name.
It’s Deus we’re talking about…
If he couldn’t manage to erase every single trace about his background that might point to any weaknesses, he wouldn’t be Deus.
Not that you’d expect the hairy-eared fossil to even understand what he’s dealing with..
He’s probably inserted an approrpiately-aged original birth certificate in the relevant county records office.
Yes.! if she picks up / flys off with the president,. then yes, she becomes ‘Airforce one.’!
But she is not in the air force, so no
There is a “Marine One” that serves a similar tole to “Air Force One”. It’s normally? a helicopter operated by the Marines. It’s whatever aircraft they field to carry the President, so if they decided to drag a Huey out of mothballs to ferry the president around, THAT would become “Marine One”. Likewise, “Air Force One” isn’t a particular airplane, but whichever aircraft the Air Force is CURRENTLY using to give the President a lift.
So, no, Lt. Col. Leander, not being a current member of the Air Force, would not be Air Force One if she became the sitting president’s mode of transportation.
I think the suggestion someone else made, that she would be dubbed “ARC-Light One”, or maybe just “ARC One”, for the duration of her flight, is the most likely.
Better yet: ARCraft One
the ‘i’ is implied (giggles maniacly)
look it up. because of an incident (2 aircraft with similar call sign.) any aircraft carrying the President is known as “Air Force One”,, with a few exceptions, (security, Marine One, Navy One, and Executive One.).
Is that a painting of Nikola Tesla on the right in the first panel?
“Is that his really his name”
think thats a typo
Max, have you seen some of the names parents are slapping on their babies in the last 20 years? ‘Deus’ fits right in.
Future scene: Terrorists hijack Air Force One to steal the tech, and the President himself must fight them off.
Haven’t seen it yet. But in Dues Superion’s defense.
Musk named two of his children:
– X AE A-XII Musk and Exa Dark Sideræl Musk (https://pagesix.com/article/elon-musk-children/)
Then you have these 50 whoppers:
https://bestbabylullabies.com/50-weirdest-baby-names-ever
(Including Stephen Spielberg’s child (Destry (meaning War Horse); Ashlee Simpson’s child (Bronx Mowgli); and Nicolas Cage’s son (Kal-el (aka, Superman’s birthname)).
So yeah. Dues Superion in the face of real world names that are much, much worse, isn’t so difficult to accept.
That is only one of the reasons that none of his children will speak with him.
Yeah, but that’s Musk failing at pulling a “Bobby Tables”
Though some of the others Really need to think of their time in primary school.
Musk only thinks he’s clever and funny, but his humor starts and stops at the kind of sex jokes a 12 year old would come up with. He isn’t even an insignificant fraction of a troll enough to pull off Bobby Tables
I laughed at them complaining about a $2 billion price tag. That is less than 40% the (January 2021) cost of the new Air force One, which isn’t even built yet. It is a investment in protecting everything.
Yeah, in 2001 Rumsfeld announced that the US Department of Defense lost $2.1 **trillion** dollars. $2 billion is couch cushion change.
It also has me wondering why they are meeting in a hearing room. A small group meeting like this is better handled as a conference room meeting. This should be a “let’s talk to someone who was there before we pull the trigger on this purchase.” meeting. Unless General Concrete Chin is feeling the need to make sure that Archon knows their place. Regarding the price, $2 billion would be chunk change for any reproducible alien technology. It is, probably, a big enough amount to require a public accounting, thus establishing Deus’ legitimacy in dealing with the U.S. government.
Don’t think of the setting’s objective as the efficiency of the meeting, it’s really the aggrandizement of (some of) the attendees.
If anything, the conversation they’re having really should be taking place in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility.
It could have cost a million and they would have complained about it anyway. The point is that they’re paying, and as silly as some government purchases have been, wrestling money out of the system has, is, and will always be a hassle.
You have NO IDEA how many stupid kids names are out there. I worked for my state’s Vital Records office, filing these kids, and some of the parents have scarred their kids for life.
Besides the PUNS (baby named Crystal Chandra, last name Lier), there’s “Princess Americus”, there’s the dad who gave his son the middle name “Trouble”, and there’s the woman who named her child “Sha9C” (sha nine cee).
Add in the Luke, Anakin, Han, Leia, Loki, plus all the other kids named for actors/actresses/favorite characters, Zeus is not that far a stretch.
I dunno, I like the parent giving their child the middle name “trouble”
It’s not like there aren’t 500 ways to make that cool.
But yes, parents should name their kids with an eye towards *not* making their school days a living hell. Everyone needs one “normal” name, ideally first name.
Tiberius
Wait, Kirk’s middle name *is* Trouble?
@DaveB Cooter prattling on about conspiracy to worm.
Eventually worm find a pattern and clues, (he’s/it’s hooked, pardon the pun)
Cooter wakes up to find walls ceilings, doors all hooked up by string and pins…
And worm mumbling about why is the answer always 42?
Personally, I like that there’s an alcohilic drink sold in a 43 ounce bottle that’s just called ’43’, it’s as if someone was setting up an elaborate dad joke: ‘Well, alcohol isnt necessarily the answer, but it’s awful close’
I mean, would it really be humanity’s crappy attribute if they were right though? I mean about Dabbler being a demon. I am very positive the US government in your setting isn’t in bed with any Satans. Unless Thoth wanted to get involved, and I think he would probably count.
Tim Allen’s real last name is Dick. Not Richard or Richards or Richardson. Just straight up Dick.
We know there is a lot of online discussion and speculation on the Supers in the Grrlverse. Hope Corrigan was able to make use of it in “Astra Gets Grrl Power.”
In a world with supers and magic, Mind Readers are findable. You get one unassuming one to stand in the background looking for legitimate threats. Then you get an ostentatious Stage ‘Psychic’ in a lot of Spandex to stand out front and deal with the rubes and the tin-foil hats.
None of the crappy sort are willing to risk their brains being scrambled…
“Air Force One” is only designated as such when the POTUS is onboard that particular plane and there are two of them. But no, Max wouldn’t be considered Air Force One, because there are other modes of transportation (by air and ground) that The POTUS uses. Marine One as an example is a VH 3D Sea King or VH 60N Whitehawk. Like Air Force One, they only use the Marine One callsign when the president is aboard. There was also another aircraft that used the callsign “Navy One” but that was only used under a single president when George W. Bush was transported to a carrier. In that case it was a Lockheed S 3 Viking.
As the vehicle holding the president is given the flight tag AF1, it’s not a military or political reference. So, supposedly, if the president flew on a commercial flight, it’s flight tag would change from whatever the air.I’ve had it as to AF1 as soon as he stepped on board.
I like that Archon1, though, that others are putting forward.
No, when Nixon flew on a United Airlines DC-10 back in 1973, the callsign was Executive One.
Cool parents of course would name their child Dues Superion. There are countless names that are associated with characters and series that people just name their kids. Deus Superion is not on of the more troublesome names i have seen people have.
Brain transplant. The X is a scar of a brain transplant.
Believe me, that’s about the last place you’d do the cut if you were transplanting a brain.
Infinitely more likely that it the scar left by the one, early days foe that almost succeeded in killing him, because he was cocky, and he kept it as a reminder against future hubris.
The President is still probably Obama lmao
My last name is Solomon and I do in fact have one cousin whose parents decided to name him King.
Dang, shoulda gone with Grundy :P
So many different angles to rant about with disconnected politicians. The one sticking out to me here is the literal sex demon line. As you will have politicians slip up in these situations where they will point out a gender, ethnicity, vocation, etc…in such a way that you can tell they think that disqualifies a person from speaking or having a valid opinion.
This isn’t even a situation where being a sex demon might present a conflict of interest or introduce bias. The assumption is either that a sex demon would not have the intelligence or relevant knowledge, or is inherently untrustworthy.
Like I mentiomed elsewhere, it questions, in legal terms, her reliability and/or motive, not her competence.
Mainly because Galytn, via Deus, employs a demonic army, and the US is at least partially relying on the expertise of aperson who is a sex DEMON who is in a master/slave sexual relationship with the leader of that demonic army working for Deus. It is a fair enough thing to bring up as a possible concern, even if ultimately incorrect.
I doubt the relationship to Thothogoth was the aspect the senator was calling attention to, or he would have mentioned it specifically.
He literally only said four words. :)
“The Literal Sex Demon”
We don’t know what’s been in Maxima’s report, but Thothogoth was likely in it as well. Maxima basically cut off the characterization of Dabbler’s reliability and motive by emphasizing her competence in the area of alien science.
And like I said a few times, determining credibility via character is separated into three elements:
1 – Competence – which is where Dabbler’s description of being one of, if not the most, intelligent people on the planet comes in.
2 – Reliability – which is where the characterization of the word ‘sex’ comes in. Because it’s an attack on her character (as are most attacks on people if they have a history of being lewd and/or lascivious, as an attack on if they are serious in their discipline).
3 – Motive – which is where the characterization of the word ‘demon’ comes in (which is where her association with Tom would come in, given Tom works for Deus, and this hearing is about a proposal made by Deus, which could color Dabbler’s opinions, as far as the Senator may be concerned).
Obviously it could also just be the senator is an old fuddy duddy who doesn’t like how these new kids nowadays are all about their sex demon friends with their hula hoops and transistor radios who won’t get off his damn lawn, but I’m just going at this from legal reasoning.
My head canon is that Earth-sourced hula hoops and retro boomboxes are the new craze among the galactic community of succubi.
I approve of this.
“I’m just going at this from legal reasoning.”
Ah, there’s the disconnect. You tend to speak as if it’s reasonable to assume that other people will also use whatever legal reasoning you can come up with in making their decisions. That a particular line of reasoning exists is not itself evidence that a particular person used it to come to a particular conclusion.
It’s funny that this comes up in a discussion about evaluating a person’s character, because the internal mechanisms they use to come to conclusions are the “character” we are generally evaluating, and thus our evaluation is going to depend on what mechanisms we attribute to them.
“You tend to speak as if it’s reasonable to assume that other people will also use whatever legal reasoning you can come up with in making their decisions.”
Well… yes. I mean you have got to have realized that about me by this point. I tend to try to use a legal reasoning framework. It’s pretty much what I bring to the table on the forum, aside from an annoyingly encyclopedia knowledge of comic books and a fairly well-read knowledge of modern pop culture and etymology. :) Also an appreciation for the glory that is Deus (all praise Deus amen) and an intense hatred of bad puns with a swift resolution via ninja hit squads. It’s my thing.
I tend to assume that a legal framework should and would be used in legal and political settings. I also try to give the benefit of the doubt that people making a decision or questioning a witness are at least somewhat competent in how they question or make decisions.
When it’s not, it’s quite frustrating because it means the people who are running the legal or political proceedings are either being intentionally stupid, or being intentionally corrupt and WE are being stupid by letting them get away with it.
If I go at an evidentiary hearing with an ‘anything goes’ mentality, then there’s almost no point in HAVING an evidentiary hearing or discussing it. It might as well be a random number generator as far as coming to decisions. I’d rather use some form of logic (and CONSISTENT logic at that) for people to use when coming to decisions, and if a panel is not set up like that, then it’s basically a kangaroo court or a day time talk show/reality TV show. :)
“It’s funny that this comes up in a discussion about evaluating a person’s character, because the internal mechanisms they use to come to conclusions are the “character” we are generally evaluating, and thus our evaluation is going to depend on what mechanisms we attribute to them.”
‘Character’ tends to be a pretty major part of evaluating credibility in a setting where witnesses are involved. You need to be able to know if you should trust the witness’s judgment and that tends to involve more than just evaluating a person’s competence in a field, because being competent does not necessarily mean you will use that competence when advising someone on a course of action or your opinion. Ideology, being influenced by other sources, etc can lead to the witness being deemed untrustworthy (as a matter of cautious and judicious decision-making) or not operating in the best interest of the person/company/nation for whom/which the judge/panel/arbiter is needing to decide.
And that’s exactly why some of us are so angry and frustrated at the world. Because people quite frequently do not do things the right way. Corruption is rampant, and indeed, the average person is complicit in it.
I’m guessing these are special sneak cameos of General Ross and grumpy puppet Walter…
LOL you’re right. The Senator DOES look like a fatter version of Walter (from comedian/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham’s stand-up routine).