Grrl Power #393 – Deus uses “Develop Country” It’s super effective
Alternative page title: Who will rid us of these turmulent living conditions?
I like the word turmulent. Sure you could say turbulent, but turmulent is perfectly cromulent.
It occurs to me only after posting this page that the main gag on it requires knowledge of this strip from 3 years ago, so for newer readers, there you go.
Deus may well be playing fast and lose with those statistics, it’s not like anyone was really doing a lot of census work before he took charge. Besides, what’s the expression, Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics? A woman gets pregnant and has a girl. 50% chance of that. She gets pregnant a second time. Does she have a 50% chance to have a girl, or a 25% chance to have another girl, or a 50% chance to not have a girl, or a 75% chance to not have another girl?
Yes.
(Ignoring the possibility of twins, miscarriages, intersex and Kwisatz Haderachs* obviously.)
Of course it’s entirely possible he’s only massaging those numbers a little. You take a war torn strip of land like that, and one day all the warlords wake up next to their own heads, and any group that attempts to interfere with roads, power plants and hospitals being built gets taken apart by invisible assassins, and yeah, life expectancy is going to trend upwards.
I’ve updated the vote incentive, but it’s only partially colored unfortunately. I’m trying a new coloring style with it. The end result is only slightly different and it’s not really faster, but trying new things is the best way to learn. I’ll try and have it finished in time to swap it out for the Valentines Day one.
This page colored by Keith.
*Who had to be male since females couldn’t venture into a specific region of prescient knowledge after drinking the water of life.** A weird bit of cosmic sexism in that particular story.
** Yes, technically Paul was probably a proto-Kwizatz, and Leto II was the real one.
Here’s the link to the new comments highlighter for chrome, and the GitHub link which you can use to install on FireFox via Greasemonkey.
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Vale. Her Eyes should be blue. or is this her Power?
They’re kind of aqua and glowy.
I note a lot of people seem to have problems with blue and green eye colors and sometimes telling them apart… Having blue eyes of my own and knowing people who do, I’ve observed and heard observed of me that sometimes they can look greenish, sometimes bluish.
This may or may not have bearing on Vale, but still, thought it an interesting observation to note.
There’s also the fact that Japanese (and I assume other languages) has a hard time distinguishing blue and green, at least as far as etymology of colors is concerned; in most cases blue is considered a ‘shade’ of green, or something like that?
If you go back to the first scene with the thunder (the one Dave linked to), you will see that Vale has quite an… interesting reaction to Halos truesight power and (succubus) glamours. Seeing how restrained she normally is, her reaction is almost an outburst of emotion. Which brings me personally to the conclusion that she might not only have some history with succubi, but that she may be in disguise herself.
Which in turn might be an explanation for changing eye colors.
Which in turn would be a truly awesome way to insert a tiny hint into the art!
Or she might just be wearing special contact lenses to enhance her fighting abilities. Light conditions in a studio can be tough. ;)
Damn. Bad timing and entirely too much headcannon, apparently. Feel free to steal anything you like, Dave. ;D
I would like to wish everyone a happy Groundhog Day.
Funny, when I tried to post that comment the server kept giving me the same error over and over again.
Or did you only post it once, multiple times. Welcome to the movie lol
**** The Force Awakens Spoiler Alert ****
So, speaking of the vote incentive, I’ve finally seen The Force Awakens. I liked it as far as being an action movie goes, but there was a lot I didn’t like, also. Like how anyone who picks up Luke’s light saber is suddenly an expert with it and able to hold their own against a jedi master. (And don’t try the “Well, Kylo Ren was injured” bit, it’s not like they were able to pull all those fancy saber maneuvers only because the guy was shot…) Like how Rey is suddenly able to use the jedi mind trick on a storm trooper. And I totally called Han’s death… “I’m conflicted, can you help me?” was a total goofball line with but a single possible outcome.
Well I’ve already wasted enough of my life defending that film, might as well waste some more!
Right first of all let’s discuss competency, Finn is a stormtrooper (if you even type janitor I will find you) and as seen from TR-8R the tonfa trooper they are all trained in CQC. Rey has been beating sand out of other scavengers with her staff since she was a child, in a nice touch you can see this in her reliance on stabs in the fight.
To build on this Kylo Ren is not a “Jedi master”, he’s an apprentice who’s always been stronger in the force than whoever he was beating up. His practical saber experience in limited to a bunch of apprentices he took by surprise though his force talents are quite developed. In the scene in question he is overconfident, emotionally fragile, is trying to take Rey alive and has a GAPING HOLE IN HIS ABDOMEN!
He then goes on to say the closet thing he could to “Use the force Rey.” and is then beaten after a very close fight. I’m not sure what about this scene upsets people beyond them not having paid attention.
The mind trick thing I will give you but I have heard form some of my sources that of the almost thirty minutes of film on the cutting room floor there is a scene where Han is reminiscing and tells an anecdote to Rey about how Luke used to use it. Not very helpful in the theatrical version it must be said and I will be very glad to see it corrected in the inevitable extended cut.
I’m not a fanboy, so all I can go on is what the movies have shown. And I suspect that there are a vast wealth of other people whose exposure to Star Wars is also only through the movies. So if your knowledge of just how good Kylo is comes from expanded universe or other sources, you’ve already lost the argument and should stop defending the movie.
That said:
Have I mentioned lately how much I hate the lack of an edit feature?
I’m not a fanboy, so all I can go on is what the movies have shown. And I suspect that there are a vast wealth of other people whose exposure to Star Wars is also only through the movies. So if your knowledge of just how good Kylo is comes from expanded universe or other sources, you’ve already lost the argument and should stop defending the movie.
That said:
You can’t prove this by the movie. All we’re told is that he turned and then killed every other apprentice Luke had. We don’t know how “strong in the force” they were, or how good they were with a light saber. We just know that he won every single fight. The duelist who wins one fight might be lucky. The duelist who wins a few dozen fights can’t be said to be merely an apprentice. By your logic Darth Vader was also “just an apprentice.”
On taking Rey alive, he certainly didn’t have that disadvantage when fighting Finn, so he should have cut him in half in about 5 seconds.
I already covered the injury, so that is an already lost argument. Kylo could have been in a coma, that does not explain the immediate familiarity, nay mastery, of an unfamiliar weapon by both Finn and Rey. I don’t care how much training you have with a quarterstaff or with a blaster, a sword is a completely different weapon. A sword made out of energy would be more dangerous to the novice than to their opponents. And since all the stormtroopers were not armed with the tonfa-thing I think it’s a fair bet that they are not all trained with it, or it would be standard issue just like it is for all police forces which issue them.
And that reminds me of another thing I didn’t like about the movie. That whole fight scene seemed to be just an excuse to let a stormtrooper last more than 5 seconds against Finn and his light saber. Why the hell wasn’t it cut in half the first time the weapons made contact? It wasn’t showing any kind of energy field, and we have seen light sabers cut through all kinds of things across 6 and now 7 movies, so it made zero sense and just seemed to be poorly contrived.
By the way, I had to Google TR-8R, and learned a few things. I have no idea if they are canon, but regardless they are not shown in the movie and so are irrelevant in a discussion of whether the movie was good or bad. But it seems that TR-8R is called “a riot control stormtrooper,” which further illustrates that the weapon he used was not commonly trained in by all stormtroopers. Or Finn would have been “a riot control stormtrooper” and not a janitor. There, I said it. :)
On to emotional instability. Um, yeah. This is a huge part of being a Sith master. We know this from everything we learned about the Sith in 6 prior movies. Rage, hate, all the negative emotions make them strong, not weak. So citing it as a disadvantage is a lost cause.
And another thing I disliked: Han constantly using Chewies crossbow blaster, and always acting so surprised about it. Even just on-camera in the first 3 movies he’s seen Chewy use that damn thing quite often, and we can assume that off-camera he has also seen it used since Han and Chewy are always getting into trouble. So why has he never used it before movie 7, and why was he always so surprised about how good a weapon it was? It made zero sense, and again seemed to be very poorly contrived.
We know Kyla is just an apprentice because at the end, Smokey Joe told that other twatling to retrieve Kyla’s carcass and bring it to him so he could complete his training
Still pisses me off, that the Trooper who remained loyal to The New Order is being called TR-8R (or ‘Traitor’), but anyway, FN-2199 and Finn were part of a four-man squad (one of the others was that one who got killed in that village at the start of the movie)
The Riot Stick he was using didn’t show any kind of energy field? What did you think was causing the blue sparkly light? (damnit! Do you know how difficult it is to find a clip of that scene that hasn’t been butchered? very. damn. difficult!!!)
He was the Riot Control member of the squad, we don’t know what role Finn had (he could have been the healer for all we know)
About why the Z6 baton didn’t get cut in half? Look it up (there are plenty of items that can’t be cut by a lightsaber)
Smokey Joe was not Sith (but it doesn’t matter seeing how Kyla wasn’t a Master anyway)
Look it up only makes my point for me. Most people only have the movies as a source, they aren’t “looking things up,” they are forming a view of how things work by watching the movies. We see the light saber cut through trees in this movie, and cut through lots of things on the prior movies. I do not recall anything except another light saber that one has failed to slice through with ease in the prior 6 movies.
And I didn’t see any “blue sparkly light” surrounding the mega-tonfa, either. (and the fact that you can even refer to it as “the Z6 baton” shows that you have a much greater interest in the lore behind the scenes than most movie goers will have. The subject is “things that suck about the movie”, not “who knows the most Star Wars trivia”) Maybe I’m just unobservant, but if I didn’t see it then there are bound to be a lot of other people who didn’t see it, either.
In episode 5, Luke tags Vader on the shoulder, and Vader’s saber bounces off a railing. Neither of which is any worse for the wear
Actually, only looked that information up to reply to your post (took all of 2 minutes, maybe less)
Oh, and if “Smokey Joe” isn’t a Sith, then exactly how is he going to complete Cee Lo
GreenRen’s training? I’m assuming you’re referring to the guy who appears as a huge projection who gives a lot of orders, exactly like how The Emperor appeared in the first trilogy. If he is not Sith then maybe not having him do the exact things that The Emperor, a Sith, did would be a good way to differentiate him from being presumed to being a Sith.*coughs*
“Cee Lo Green”? Thanks, Oberon. Now I’ve got Dr Pepper dripping down my LCD. I’ve also got a mental Polaroid of Cee Lo Green with a red lightsaber. You actually made me laugh out loud (once I got done choking on Dr Pepper, anyway). Well done! xD
P.S., and he’s swinging his lightsaber while singing his song “Forget You”. Makes the mental Polaroid even funnier, at least for me. “Well, forget you” *stabs* “and forget him too” *slashes*
P.P.S., for those who are unfamiliar with that song, “Forget you” is the radio version. The uncensored version uses a much more vulgar word.
Maybe you should do some reading about the Star Wars universe, Sith and Jedi are not the only Force Users, they are simply the (currently) most known
But hay don’t take it from me take it from a historian and fencer!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOws3DgdxPY
That was a very well spoken run-down on the fight, basically explaining everything involved
Unless the unfamiliar weapon familiarity on the part of Finn is a nod to George Lucas’s original plan to have lightsabers be part of the stormtrooper arsenal for his first ever Star Wars movie. Later turned down as being unfeasible.
Well the thing is, anyone can use a lightsaber if they are familiar with sword-play, Force Users have an advantage as they can subconsciously(?) keep the blade from hitting them because if it does, it’s gonna do a hael lot more damage than cold steel
original intention was to have the jedi just be that much better at saber fighting as well as have the force.
Yup, their connection t the Force is what gives them the advantage, plus they are the ones who make them (not actually too sure if anyone can make them, but the Force users at least are needed to find the stone crystals, or at least pick out the correct ones)
It really is great to talk to people complaining about Star Wars only to find out they know nothing about it. You want to talk about what we never seen in the movie? Kylo winning a sabre fight, bar Finn!
“By your logic Darth Vader was also “just an apprentice.”” – You certainly have a unique sort of logic, we see Vader kill Ben who we know is a Jedi of wisdom and skill and Ben has told us about Vader’s part in destroying a ancient order of Jedi Knights.
“I already covered the injury, so that is an already lost argument.” – This is not how it works you bringing it up and saying “I don’t care” does not a good point make.
“On taking Rey alive, he certainly didn’t have that disadvantage when fighting Finn, so he should have cut him in half in about 5 seconds.” – What part of gaping abdomen hole didn’t penetrate?
You’ve also illustrated that you know nothing about sword fighting because much of what you learn in staff fighting is directly applicable to swordsmanship. You think this because video games have taught you that putting points into something gives no related knowledge or skill.
“But it seems that TR-8R is called “a riot control stormtrooper,” which further illustrates that the weapon he used was not commonly trained in by all stormtroopers.” – So let me get this straight you think that a scene with two stormtroopers displaying CQC training against one another undermines the idea that stormtroopers receive said training? You’re not very smart are you?
“On to emotional instability. Um, yeah. This is a huge part of being a Sith master. We know this from everything we learned about the Sith in 6 prior movies. Rage, hate, all the negative emotions make them strong, not weak. So citing it as a disadvantage is a lost cause.”
– And you know know all of nothing about the Force cool this is really fun. Yes, dark-siders use their strong and negative emotions to direct the force but they have to have foucus to do this constructively. Kylo thought that killing his father would eliminate the conflict within but in fact it only intensified it spoiling his focus. One more thing Kylo’s not a Sith, neither is Snoke for that matter because the Sith are extinct (you did watch the other VI right?) they are not part of that Force tradition.
You are a funny, funny man.
You make my point for me. I am not a fanboy, I only watched the movies. And I am not alone in this, as most people who watch the movies do not devour the expanded universe and other trivia. Making an argument based on trivia not available to the average movie goer is a self made failure.
First, you are ignoring the fact that we are told that CeeLo Ren killed all of Luke’s other apprentices. I covered this already, do you not read? And then you simply reinforce my point by correctly citing CeeLo’s win over Finn.
Wow. How is this even a hard thing to convey? As someone who has only seen the movies (plus a little Googling about a few things here and there), it is quite clear that Vader did not kill Ben. The stomp on the empty robes made that clear to even a child who watched the first movie, so I am astonished that a fanboy such as yourself can be so deluded on the subject.
What didn’t penetrate is your reading comprehension lessons in grade school. I quite clearly pointed out that CeeLo Ren could have been in a coma, his injury is no part of the position that anyone who picks up Luke’s light saber in this movie is an immediate expert.
You fail yet again. I have a decent knowledge of sword fighting techniques. I have trained in Kendo and in a taekwondo style with swords as a weapon. I am no expert, but I learned enough to support my position that training in a quarterstaff or a pistol (blaster) does not convey instant expertise in sword fighting techniques.
And by the way, in GURPS putting points into one weapon skill gives you a lesser skill in any related weapon skill. :)
And really, is the average movie goer supposed to conclude neither CeeLo nor “Smoke” are Sith? Talks like a duck, walks like a duck… “With your training I will prevail.” “Bring him to me so that I might complete his training.” What training is that that is being referred to? Hotel management? If this is not Sith training then the movie fails yet again!
Ow, now my ribs hurt. First it was CeeLo Green, now it’s this. Now I’m stuck with a mental picture of Darth Vader working a reception desk. I worked a hotel reception desk briefly about 25 years ago; I can confirm that “stress is the desire to strangle the crap out of someone who desperately deserves it”. But Vader has the Force, and he’s not shy about using it to Force Choke people who annoy him. In the mental picture, there’s a string of dead guests all the way to the door…
“Wow. How is this even a hard thing to convey? As someone who has only seen the movies (plus a little Googling about a few things here and there), it is quite clear that Vader did not kill Ben. The stomp on the empty robes made that clear to even a child who watched the first movie, so I am astonished that a fanboy such as yourself can be so deluded on the subject.”
-He puts a sabre right on through, yes Ben transcended but only because he knew he would lose. Googling! You mean you have to look outside the film? Well I guess A New Hope isn’t a very good film then is it?!
“What didn’t penetrate is your reading comprehension lessons in grade school. I quite clearly pointed out that CeeLo Ren could have been in a coma, his injury is no part of the position that anyone who picks up Luke’s light saber in this movie is an immediate expert.”
-Okay let’s make it about you, why do you have such an issue with competence? Why does the idea of our hero not being useless repulse you so much? Did you just not like Rey? Did you not want her to win? That’s fine you don’t have to like her but don’t dress it up as something else. You bring up Luke and his hero’s journey in some of your other posts but once again because you know nothing about Star Wars you don’t know that A New Hope was not expected to get a sequel, it was a stand alone title till it made the creator more money than God. So sticking to your method of argument I’ve now covered that and you can never bring it up again right?
“Kendo and in a taekwondo”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Stand back boys we’ve got a fucking master marshal artist in the house here to tell us what the fictional characters he knows nothing about are capable of!
I’ll wreck you with the real expert again shall I?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=PaG_cSB0Zek
Feel free to continue your crusade against reason.
You really fail on so many levels it is hard to describe.
I said I was no expert in either keno or taekwondo , and yet this is your focus?
You lose.
“I’m not going to address any of your points or look at your sources because I can’t handle the idea of being even a little bit wrong. I’m just going to keep saying that you’ve failed but not why (because I know nothing about debate) and hope the nasty internet man stops replying because I certainly don’t have the impulse control to stop.” – Oberon, 2016, still knows nothing and proud.
Every moment of your life you waste making you stupid point feeds me, this is almost erotic.
Because I already wrecked them. All you do is continue repeating yourself. That doesn’t make you right, it makes you a broken record.
Me: Instant expert in light saber is a movie failing.
You: But CeeLo was injured!
Me: His injury has nothing to do with how good his opponents were.
You: But CeeLo was injured!
Me: He could have been in a coma, that doesn’t have any significance to their instant expertise.
You: But CeeLo was injured!
Repeat this scenario for any point you’ve tried and failed to make.
Oh yeah baby work the shaft!!!
You have rejected the idea that Finn is trained in CQC (he is) and Rey knows how to use a staff which translates well into sword fighting, which is a view supported by the historian and HEMA practitioner I have linked you to. Which you have not addressed beyond some amateur experience with Kendo of all things, these are points that you have abandoned not succeeded in disputing.
Exactly! He hasn’t finished his training, so how can he be a Master? o_O
Only wise Oberon knows, truly his mastery of of debate and rhetoric is unmatched in the civil end world. He’s certainly not an utter pleb who barely paid any attention.
Rey is a Jedi, and the daughter of Skywalker
Rey was ‘suddenly able to use the jedi mind trick’ because Kyla forced her powers to awaken (what, did you really believe the title referred to Kyla and The New Order? o_O ), remember, prior to her commanding that Trooper, Kyla attempted to poke around in her brain-sack but she was not only able to keep him out, she mentally kicked him in the nut-sack
You know, at no point does the movie state that Rey is anyone significant’s daughter. That’s purely speculation on part of the fanbase and not an official statement. If this argument is going to have to be a thing, please try to rely only on official material rather than fan material or what you hope to be3 true.
She’s also not precisely a Jedi. She’s force-sensitive, as a Jedi would be, but considering that the Jedi Order no longer exists…she’s just a person with a lightsaber and an affinity with the force.
Thank you.
Luke got hit with the training droid’s blasts. He failed to lift his X-wing out of the swamp. He lost a hand to Vader. And he wasn’t able to suddenly use the Jedi mind trick on any mook necessary to advance the plot.
The first movies were about the creation of a hero. The Force Awakens was about how hero’s always win.
Finn is a sudden light saber expert. Rey is a sudden light saber expert. Rey is a sudden mind trick using jedi master.
“How the heroes won the day” is a fine story, but “How the dirt farmer became a hero” is a better story. In my opinion.
Forget it, not feeding the troll any longer
Dave, I’m a little worried about when the book comes out. Are you not a little worried that DC and Marvel will get on your case? Maxima and Halo are character names in DC comics, and Anvil is a c-list villain in Marvel Comics. I would hate to see you get C and D’s from these guys.
I think that by now it would be very difficult to come up with a superhero name which hasn’t been used by Marvel or DC. Or even other comic houses, although they might not have the same legal resources or even be still in business.
You forget the biggie: Halo is a very successful game franchise
And, of course, Halo is the name of one of Beyonce’s songs… and the name of a company that makes health products for pets… and the name of a series of LED lights made by Cooper Industries… and the name of a company that makes motorcycle wheels… and the name of a British non-profit that specializes in the removal of landmines… and the name of a company that designs luxury furniture… and a brand of e-cigarettes… and another nonprofit that supports orphaned and at-risk youths…
and so on, and so forth. The short version is that DC has no grounds to complain, unless Sydney starts wearing a black, red, white, and blue skintight costume, loses the orbs, and gains light-based powers instead. You can only trademark a specific representation of a word or concept. It is not a “blanket” trademark that prevents anyone from ever using the word.
A good example of this is when TSR made figurines based on Indiana Jones, and had a trademark stamped on their Nazi figurine. People thought that TSR had trademarked the word Nazi! No, they didn’t. They trademarked that particular representation of a Nazi… so that nobody else could make a figurine that looked exactly like that one.
Another good example would be the lawsuit that Todd McFarlane filed against Palladium Books over their use of the word “Nightspawn” for one of their role-playing games. McFarlane would actually have lost that case; there is no chance that anyone is going to confuse an RPG named Nightspawn for McFarlane’s antihero named Spawn. Palladium, however, decided not to waste their time in court and simply changed the name of the game to Nightbane instead.
So, neither DC nor Marvel nor any other comics company has any legal standing to challenge the names of any of DaveB‘s heroes, unless they’re similar enough to a trademarked hero that there is a reasonable chance of confusion with one of DC or Marvel’s characters.
Thank you for explaining it MSpears
It’s similar to what happened when “Spinnerette” started: Spinny initially wore a slightly modified version of Spidey’s black costume (with added arms) until she got a C&D from Marvel
You’re welcome, of course. My explanation may be a little oversimplified, and my understanding of trademark law might be incomplete, so I’d imagine that Pander might add her two cents, if she feels she needs to. She has a legal background; I don’t, beyond what I need to know as a computer programmer.
This is quite correct in theory. But in practice things often work out differently. The company with the higher legal budget often wins, regardless of who is actually right or wrong.
See this for just one example:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/going-out-guide/wp/2015/02/09/red-bull-wants-to-rename-an-ashburn-brewery-because-an-ox-looks-like-a-bull/
Bottom line: Red Bull company has a lot of money for lawyers, microbrewery does not. So Red Bull wins even though their claim is farcical.
I can’t find any further news regarding the case between Red Bull and Ox Brewery. All the articles I can find are from last February (and one casual mention in a December blog). However, the “court of public opinion” was obviously against Red Bull. I’m not a gambling man, but I’d lay odds that this is one of those cases that will be quietly settled and/or just dropped.
And just having money for lawyers doesn’t always mean you’re going to win. I’m reminded of the case of Howard Johnson vs. Howard Johnson. The short version is that a couple of HoJo’s lawyers were cruising down the back roads, and found a small mom-and-pop motel named “Howard Johnson” (which was the owner’s name). Of course, they immediately filed a lawsuit.
When it got to the court, however, the judge practically laughed the plaintiffs out of court. “You’re trying to sue him for the use of your name. However, as it turns out, he opened his motel two years before Howard Johnson opened its first hotel. So you owe him money because you’ve been using his name for the last 18 years.”
Bit of exposition: Howard Johnson’s started out as a restaurant chain. Their first motor lodge opened in 1954. The man they sued opened his motel in 1952. The case in question occurred in 1972. Ironically, out of over 1,000 restaurants at their peak in 1971, only two of the restaurants remain open, and the Howard Johnson chain is now a subsidiary of Wyndham Worldwide.
P.S., the lawyers were promptly fired. ;)
In hindsight, I feel compelled to add that the HoJo case happened 43 years ago. It was definitely a very different time back then. So if Red Bull’s case makes it to court, they might very well win… unless the judge decides it’s farcical enough to dismiss it outright.
However, I will say that because of all the trademark trolls and patent trolls in the last few years (many of which were possibly even more farcical), the courts are viewing trademark and patent cases with a much sterner eye. So we’ll just have to wait and see how it goes, I guess.
I can’t exactly boycott Red Bull in protest (there are some people who did boycott them), since I’ve never drank their product. Every energy drink I’ve ever tried, tasted like a mile of scorched ass. Though maybe it’s just the taurine or some other ingredient common to energy drinks that my taste buds are reacting to.
I’ve never bought their product, but when I worked in DC a few years back they had reps who would walk the streets handing out samples. Good work if you can get it, I guess. And since their product comes in a small bottle, a “sample” in this case is the product itself. The one which claims to be flavored like pomegranate is pretty tasty, I don’t care for any of the others I’ve tried.
I will say that naming the new state Galytin, a near-word to Gallatin, is an interesting choice considering the career of Albert Gallatin and his prominence in a libertarian science-fiction world. I wonder if its an Easter Egg?
Note the newly added power button on the dramatic lightning controller. Love the attention to detail.
I rather like Deus as a character. Sort of True Neutral rather than overtly evil. He’s got his goal and he’s working towards it with everything he has, but playing whatever cards he needs to use to get there, from spying on the ARC divisions to improving an impoverished country, if that’s really what he’s doing and not just the official story.
Deux is massaging the figures a lot. Doubling the lifespan in a decade is out of the question, even if we assume the late, unlamented, ruler was conducting a bloodbath and there were several easily cured epidemics happening. But for any realistic situation situation, that sort of improvement just takes time. 40-50 years at least. The US needed about 200 years. Deux can beat that figure, but the guy you save from one disease often dies from another just a short distance down the line. And often enough that 2nd disease is incurable by current medicine. [Cancer deaths used to be rare because you died of something else first.] Then you have complications like the birth rate. It takes a generation or two to learn that you no longer need 5 kids to result in 2 adults. In the meantime, there are all these extra mouths to feed. And building those factories takes time too. Deux [in theory anyway] can do a lot in 10 years, but nowhere near what he is claiming.
He’s talking about the AVERAGE livespan in a country, which can be quite low, if you factor in infant and child death, as well as deaths due to non disease factors.
Give a human a stable, safe enviroment and adequate food, as well as medicine and living past 50 is not that hard.
A war torn country, child soliders, epidemics and starvation.. you’re lucky to make it to 20.
If there was extremely high infant mortality rates, and he managed to get the to levels that developed world has.
Then projected life expectancy could easily double without all those 3 day to 3 week deaths messing up the score.
If there was a “like” option for individual strips, I’d do so purely for the Jade Empire reference. And now I have to wait for next strip, vibrating in anticipation, because I know it’s going to be AWESOME.
*JB voice* COME ON, KYLE. BRING THE THUNDER!!!
Deus is now my favourite character as I totally agree with his political views and like his huge arsenal, both weapon-wise and super-wise.
I think you mean “turbulent”.
*reads commentary* Oh. You knew that. Okay, fair enough, it was a joke, but I assume the interviewer wasn’t saying it for a joke. Does *she* not know that it’s “turbulent”?
Apparently turbulent and turmulent are interchangeable grammatically. It’s also maybe a portmanteau of turbulent and turmoil
Well, “turmulent” isn’t in my dictionary, so I’ve been operating under the assumption that it’s not even a *word*, much less grammatically interchangeable with “turbulent”.
It is both in spoken use and in print. Albeit in pretty rare usage. However I am sure your dictionary will catch up, in due course. It probably has difficulty keeping up-to-date in these turmulent times, after all.
I just love the angle on the final panel. Masterfully done.
Airconditioning in a sweat shop is actually more modern and safe than most sweatshops.
It actually begs the question how he still makes profit.