Grrl Power #723 – Attraction distraction
“What I said wasn’t what you heard me say, what I said was the thing I’m saying now. I just said it, so it was definitely the thing that I said. Memory is fallible, and if you recorded what I said, it was probably recorded incorrectly because of solar flares.”
Of course these days, politicians and their spokespeople don’t even bother coming up with excuses. They just lie to everyone’s face and journalists just don’t call them out on it – at least not to their face. It certainly makes Arianna’s job easier, because you can say literally anything. Sure, your ideological opponents will gleefully ding you for each and every mistake, but the majority of the public obviously doesn’t care about boring stuff like “facts.”
This is among the many reasons that aliens have never contacted us. At least not in the real world. In the comic world, the Alari had a damaged space carburetor or something that forced them to land here. Whether or not they decide to vamoose the instant they can, or decide to take over the world while telling us they’re doing no such thing is another matter.
“I’m not drinking your president’s brain and gaining all his knowledge” (stick straw in president’s head) “Such accusations are wild fabrications and have no basis in reality.” (slurrrrrrrrrp)
So… as a journalist, you’d practically be obligated to go on a date with an interested alien party, right? I mean, the lifestyle piece you could write about it would be instant Pulitzer material, even if you just had Italian and kept the hanky-panky strictly above the waist. Assuming that’s where they keep their hanky-pankables, I guess. The very first article written about the dating lives of alien race X would be pretty incredible stuff.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like.
The Woof Man isn’t the only one allowed to get some….
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I ship it
yea me to.
Make it so number yorp
*asks Sydney to have a word with DaveB about the shipping*
well, that’s likely an unexpected reaction.
Distraction complement for the win
“Distraction Complement” is a great name for Cora’s crew – or a band name.
His compliment is likely very distracting as well given his physique and sheer size.
+10 …for using those two words correctly!! <3
VOTE
Hmmmmmmm……….it looks like a red headed reporter is having a close encounter of the Altus kind….
-squints- Oh wow! That is supposed to be red hair! It always looked pink to me.
Agreed.
well pink is a shade o red so….
Yeah it’s lightish red.
Are you SURE? :D
Darn it! You beat me to that punchline.
Well, Ship Happens…
Better use the link to the original posted by the artist herself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCeFbK-WEVE
Whoops, I just grabbed the first one that popped up. Also, I messed up, was trying to reply to codebracker. >.<
“You will meet a tall dark stranger.”
Well they don’t get much taller and stranger then that!
And that IS a fairly dark shade of crimson that Altus displays. Almost sanguine.
Seems a certain lady reporter is about to have a “Close Encounter of the 3 metre Kind”…..
Wait till she finds out that his suit is just hard light and he’s essentially naked right in front of her…..
I don’t see much difference to normal clothes. EVERYONE you ever meet is naked under the clothes, all the time. What about hardlight malfunction? Nope, wardrobe malfunction is a thing too.
No difference at all.
“Close Encounter of the 3 Metre Kind?”
That almost sounds like the title for an animated Hentai Horror movie.
(Now try to unsee that)
So… are we just going to ignore the refugees in the cargo hold, or what? I thought they would be part of the plot or something.
I’m pretty sure they will be. Especially ones Arie gets a chance to get the lowdown she’ll spend it somewhere along the lines of upon finding out the Ataris horrible situation Ark SWAT took it upon themselves to investigate and that Halo while being sequestered brought in a few more refugees whose ship has broken down in transit.
give it a second Sydney’s been back for all of 5 minutes so far, just let some awkward situation develop and they’re show up in time to make it worse
Yeah that would break my mind temporarily as well. Tall imposing girl showing up from out of nowhere saying that I’m attractive and me not even being able to accurately place her species lat long nationality yeah mind break territory.
Bit of a trope, but it does transcend language, cultures, and common sense..
*thank you* for posting a *good* comic strip I hadn’t read yet ! :)
The comic is awesome but the Rachel Peng novels (a side-branch of the same story) are even better. I gobble those up every time she releases one :D
^^ Indeed, Rachel’s stories are awesome, one of the few series I willing to actually buy (libraries are awesome). The Hope series is also quite good but a very different feel, wasn’t sold on them initially. Not much of a fan of Josh and haven’t read those, but everything else in that ‘verse has been very enjoyable.
What is Arianna going to do with Sydney?
Probably debrief her because Arianna figures that Sydney deserves to get spanked for this kind of PR nightmare.
Yes, there is double entendre intended here, but for the sake of the PG-13 rating for this comic, we’re likely to only see the “Official Debriefing Dialogue & Sydney getting verbally berated” version.
At least we are finally about to learn if there was some time dilation and how bad it was if there was any.
Well we are missing some time… who was talking about Dabbled on the previous page?
Can’t say I blame him… Redheads is awesome & stuffs
The prime directive has been cancelled!
Altus’ presence is so strong, it turned off the lights in front of her.
Party supplies… and chocolate cake. It’s so delicious and moist. All you have to do to have some is stop asking me questions… ᵧₒᵤ ₘₒₙₛₜₑᵣ
> the Alari had a damaged space carburetor or something
Clearly they needed a new interocitor.
Nice ‘This Island Earth’ reference.
I didn’t know where it was originally from until I looked it up, I just knew it was a fictional engine part that showed up in a bunch of futuristic/sci-fi stuff. (I think the first place I heard it was ReBoot.)
Would it be one with a Volterator or Astroscope?
Perhaps someone stole the Irridium P-36 Explosive Space Modulator before the initial take-off?
I bet they blew out the drawn reciprocation dingle arm on their Turbo Encabulator. Once that goes you just can’t get the sinusoidal repleneration under control.
Who says aliens don’t probe willing volunteers? Granted the probe will likely be organic in this case…
Still better than a mechanical one.
A mechanical probe just tells you depth, the organic one at least gets you texture and temperature too (for whatever dubious use that is).
“as a journalist, you’d practically be obligated to go on a date with an interested alien party, right? I mean, the lifestyle piece you could write about it would be instant Pulitzer material”
Worked for Lois Lane
Well, Lois also did the alien horizontal mambo, so there’s that.
Girl…
You got an opportunity.
GRAB IT!!!!!!
If a giant muscular red skinned femalien hit on me I would certainly be tempted.
Well, if said femalien is as attractive in her femininity as Altus is in his masculinity, I would not hesitate even as much as a picosecond to tap her. If she looked a lot like Altus does however, I wouldn’t hesitate even as much as a picosecond to run away.
Well, death by snu snu doesn´t sound bad.
Would a amazonian beauty similar to Anvil be feminine enough?
If only those manlyness lengthening pills worked, but for total physical length.
I’d take them to have a chance with Anvil
Yeah, I’d have to check out those pills too. I think part of Anvil’s problem is that, population demographic-wise, there are far too few Hammers for her. Still worth the risk though.
“Tale as old as timmmmmeeeee…..”
“Song as old as Rhyme”
Certainly not a surprise party!
Probably more publicity training / torture
“I’m not drinking your president’s brain and gaining all his knowledge”
Pretty sure that would end in a net loss.
You remember who the President is during the time that this story takes place, don’t you?
It’s a truism which is equally accurate for all times and places.
The only difference (period) is which people are fooled.
Hasn’t the President been in a panel or two already?
Yes, but the author’s comments are in the here and now.
The aleins would end up with less intelligence than they started with
yeah, kinda like eating raw celery
I see Ariana adheres to the TV cop trope about people looking to their left when telling a lie.
No, she doesn’t.
One instance of looking to the left when telling a lie is not sufficient for adherence to that trope, especially when the person she’s talking to is on her left.
“I guess Altus has a thing for redheads.”
Well, who doesn’t?
Redhead men get the worst end of it.
is selling ear protectors as prophylactics for alien sex.
I’m curious what will be his reaction when he will see Anvil.
I’m curious what Anvil’s reaction will be when she looks at him. Is he as tall or taller than her? If I remember, that was one of her criterias, but the ones in the past that fit turned out to be jerks. He can cook and she’s a well-toned redhead who likes to be treated like a lady. Yes, I would totally ship them, even if it’s for a brief time.
So, Altus having a thing for redheads, does that probably mean he dyed his head?
Politicians, presidents and people of power don’t lie to you or say they didn’t say what you thought you heard from a live event, as clear proof here that is all just fake news sent to confuse you.
You know how to tell if a politician is lying?
His lips move.
… and not even that is a requirement …..
Tweets, press releases, leaks, rumours, informed opinions, spin, propaganda, marketing … It’s lies all the way down.
Politics: A word derived from “Poli”,meaning many; and “ticks”, meaning blood sucking parasites.
“Hanky-Pankables” sounds like a great name for a line of sex toys.
The drinking brains with a straw sounds so familiar, but I can’t remember where it’s from.
Starship Troopers
Thought it was “Mars Attacks!!”
ACK! Now I remember! It was an episode of Star Trek: TNG where Data was having weird dreams because intangible aliens were draining some neurotransmitter from the crew’s bodies. One of the images was Riker with a straw coming from his head and Dr. Crusher drinking from it.
Mmmm, cellular peptide cake, with mint frosting… Um, does the ‘cellular’ bit there just mean it’s not from a virus, or is there some other significance to that?
The writers after the first season were well know for grabbing technical terms and molesting them.
So the significance is that the writer had no clue what the words meant but they sounded cool and “tech’y” or “science’y”.
I guess a few hundred years and a few thousand alien planets from now they found other kinds of peptides ;)
It comes from half of the cheesier sci-fi “B” movies and a large number of TV shows.
The obvious ones have been accounted for, But I think there was an episode of Buffy that had someone stealing brains for knowledge, I know DC did something stupid (but I can not recall the details).
Hmmmm, It is a common enough troupe, I will take a bit to think of some more…………….. There must be more than that.
It’s not brains, but I do remember there was a Doctor Who episode where he and Martha Stewart had to find a (blood) plasmavore. Said plasmavore preferred using a straw on her victims.
Finally a guy for Anvil.
Taller than she is and NOT an a$$hole. Hmmm. Hey Kenya! Got a blind date for ya!
How do we know he’s not an asshole? He has only had, what, four or five lines and maybe as much ‘screentime’?
Am I the only person who feels uncomfortable reading the last panel?
I guess the way I look at things is shaped by personal experience, but attractive strangers are still strangers to me. And I don’t like people I’ve never met before getting that close to me :|.
I know the title suggests there’s an attraction on the reporter’s side, and the way I’m reading things is likely not the author’s intention. I think that being approached in an intimidating way by a person who then says ‘You’re very pretty.’ is really territory a comic called ‘Grrl Power’ might want to be careful about though.
A part of my mind imagines that someone is going to respond to this with ‘I bet you wouldn’t mind if it was the other way around.’ You seem like good people, so I’d really like to hope that’s not the case. In case someone is thinking of writing that comment though, please don’t. I would mind, and making light of the subject is not cool.
If it makes you feel better, everything was written by @DaveB. Your interpretation of it is 100% your own. They may not be the same, but there’s nothing that either of you can do about the current interpretation. It is nobody’s ‘fault’. If you are made uncomfortable by those facts, if is up to you to change those ideas within yourself. I have no idea why you made your original comment other than you seem to think that the place for the change is outside of yourself.
To be frank, I have no idea why you just said what you said either.
I guess we must really be worlds apart in terms of perspective.
To be Frank, I’d have to change my name.
Haha XD.
I wonder if you aren’t reading a lot of our culture into the interaction. He could also just be stating a fact. He is larger than the average alien size we’ve seen, and he isn’t making any other untoward movements to her (yet).
Yes, in our culture this would be quite forward and indeed intimidating. Women in our culture have to deal with so much crap all of their lives, it boggles my mind. Especially when I become aware of one more nuance as a male I hadn’t considered. (For instance, Shrodinger’s Rapist, or a guy’s guide to approaching strange women without being maced.
And no, I don’t think the other way around would be any less intimidating, although men, in general, haven’t been as conditioned to be wary since childhood.
As it is, I think the next panels (if addressed at all) would be useful for someone to say, “Psst. Back off until you read some culture notes for Earthicans.
And you are perfectly within your rights to object. I’m not saying your view is invalid, I just think it’s a little early to judge actions based upon two panels.
You might notice that I didn’t actually mention Altus’ intentions in my comment, because we don’t know what they are at this point. I’m not trying to paint him as a bad guy, mainly because I trust DaveB not to write him that way.
The main gist of my comment was to broach the subject and talk about why my feelings reading this page clashed strongly with how other people seemed to have interpreted it in the hopes of then having a conversation.
So, to be clear, I’m not trying to judge Altus’ actions. I just wanted to make it clear that this page can read in a way that is quite contrary to the values the comic seems promote. And that I think it’s worth avoiding sending mixed messages in that regard.
At the very least, given I got creepy vibes from the interaction I can’t help but wonder how if anyone else was picking up the same thing or if it was just me.
That said, I think what’s important here isn’t so much the cultural context that Altus is coming from so much as how he is making that person he is talking to feel. If you run into someone by accident you still apologize to them, and similarly if you give someone a scare by acting creepy you say sorry once you realise what you’re doing.
If she feels unsafe (and I would in that situation), then I expect the story to recognise that in some way. Otherwise I have to wonder if DaveB is aware of the context he’s writing about and what it feels like to be in that situation (particularly as a woman).
To be absolutely clear I don’t mean that judgementally because just as the article you linked suggests there’s a whole list of things I wasn’t aware of myself until someone (usually a woman) told me about them. I think it’s really important for us to share that kind of information though. Partly because I wish I’d known earlier, but also because life would probably be better for all of us is those kind of concerns weren’t so prominent.
I hope I’ve communicated reasonably here and not too verbose!
Let the scene or its results play out before deciding how uncomfortable this is.
Cora runs a ship on complete mutual consent.
If she even shows a hint of hesitation, he will not press the issue
I mean, I’m saying I’m uncomfortable because that’s how I feel and I wanted to know if anyone else understood where I was coming from.
Whether the interaction depicted is uncomfortable is a different question. As you’ve said, we’ll see how it resolves in the next page.
Oh, he’s totally being a creeper. Imposing, alien (in multiple ways- the skintight bodysuit s perhaps more unnerving here than his skin color or horns), and with a rather predatory leer while delivering a superficial compliment. It remains to be seen how she takes this (whether as a sign of confidence and thus attractive and to be reciprocated, or as a threat and thus to be avoided). Luckily, both this gentleman’s Captain and a whole posse of superheroes are around, so she _should_ be alright, either way she reacts.
Given what Cora said about them I suspect he’s gentleman enough to accept her response without it even needing to get to the level of an out-right stated no (if that’s how she responds). But her knowing that backup is around should help with the “implication” side of things on how she’s feeling.
Yeah, I don’t believe any harm will come of it. And it something untoward were to happen I have confidence it would be adressed properly.
I’m glad to hear people get where I’m coming from though. Sometimes I wonder how much there is even guys who are relatively on board with what is OK and what is not OK aren’t aware how they come across.
Particularly I find men writing female characters is interesting. I tell stories myself through roleplaying games, and I always try to get feedback. The people I play with are mostly male though, so I feel like there’s probably information that would help be improve that I’m just don’t hear in that space.
Yeah he’s invading her personal space there. Lots of people (me included) would be uncomfortable by that even if they were interested in him ‘getting closer’ so to speak.
I’m not sure the title does indicate attraction on her part. Someone is attracted and distracted, and I think he’s clearly sufficiently both of those to count for the page.
It also seems like he recognized the height issue and bowed, but didn’t properly gauge the distance and got a bit too close. I’d expect he’ll note her fear response and back way the heck off on the next page, and then we’ll get to find out if the attraction is one-sided or reciprocated.
Yeah, I questioned that myself when writting my comment.
I guess the tone I took was trying to play Devil’s Advocate for myself because I anticipated that other people would jump at the opportunity if I didn’t.
I didn’t consider leaning over as closing the height gap though, that’s an interesting point. I’m someone who is very tall IRL and I’ve got mixed reactions from that kind of thing. Sometimes it’s appreciated but other times people seem to feel that it’s condescending, or that I’m making fun of them.
These days I tend to just talk the way I would to anyone else and it works fairly well. I do get people telling me to lean down if I want a hug sometimes (family members or close friends). They all pre-empt me and reach up before I can react though! ^^
The response of the press representatives seems remarkably tame in this circumstance.
Action: Alien space ship lands in the US and aliens emerge in front of a bunch or reporters whose main goal in life is to find that ‘big story’ that will make their name and boost their career.
Reaction: Well, OK. We see you have a party to set up for in the cafeteria. We will let you get on with it and head on home.
Minutes after the ship set down there would be an army of news choppers circling the area trying to either get video of the proceedings or drop off reporters to press gang the nearest alien into an exclusive interview.
If this had happened in New York you know that J.J. Jameson would be yelling “Parker! Get down there this instant and get me photos of those aliens!”
It is a high security government building so I highly doubt any news chopper pilots would put their license at risk.
News drones would be summarily rendered no longer flight capable and their operators attempting to outrun security personnel.
Regular news hounds wouldn’t even make it past the gates and those attempting to circumvent security would get a very shocking reminder of just how tight security is. [flashback to intruder being tasered]
As for J.J.J., he would be getting a visit, which would lead to an escalation, he is a hotheaded bigot after all, that would end up with him in a federal holding for an indeterminate period of time. [homeland security is not-nice]
um… i thinking you have the wrong location for that level of security… the location of note for Archon is a high-rise that is part MALL that has a cross between Hooters and Starbucks, a Militant WaffleHaus, and a Scoville-Magnet restaurant Fusion… ALL of which are open to the public… and the Archon portion that has the Taser-nets etc… which as per this strip they are NOT in… they seem to be outside the building entirely, on the steps leading up to i’m assuming the public-facing entrance of the Archon side of the building.
Those restaurants are open to the public when the building gets opened to the public.
Just like eateries on military bases.
People don’t get to go when the base is secure.
I don’t know where you’re at, but here in the USA you do not get to just “walk onto” a military base of any kind and go eat lunch, unless you are IN the military, and even then there are restrictions on when and who can do so… also, panels 2 and 3 on this page imply that there IS a difference between the Archon side of the building, and the Public Access side of the building, in which the Luftwaffles restaurant resides, that as per Peggy: “they do 24/7 breakfast” which basically makes them a themed Denny’s… and i hate to bring out the big guns of WOG… but in the write-up under the comic on this page Dave flat out says that it’s a mall… a mini mall, but a mall none the less…
I believe the reporter’s reaction is fear or anxiety, not attraction. Look at her eyes. Pupils dilate when you experience pleasure, but constrict in fear, anxiety, anger etc. To the contrary, he has drawn her with pinpoint pupils with the iris completely missing.
Even if she feels an attraction to him, at this point her fight or flight instinct is in control of her. She may, in a few minutes realize the attraction, but right now, that part of her brain isn’t running things.
That’s about my take on this scene as well. Look how he towers over her. Not very reassuring for someone who doesn’t know him. That Altus looks a lot like the traditional image of a devil doesn’t really help, either.
There’s no doubt that she’s feeling intimidated in the here-and-now – but that’s an understandable knee-jerk reaction, because the fellow is VERY big and VERY close. He also has horns and tusks, which, even if he’s otherwise attractive, would be very distracting on first glance. Since we know that he’s a gentleman, it really all depends on whether the reporter is able to regain her composure. If she doesn’t, and flees, she’s going to be beating herself up later over the missed news opportunity. If she does, she’ll likely soon find out that the guy is pretty charming.
> If she does, she’ll likely soon find out that the guy is pretty charming.
Charming but rude. I’m sure he’s a generally a good guy, but a lot of generally good guys do things that are not respectful to women. Most of us don’t even realise that what we’re doing is disrespectful. We don’t intent it. Doesn’t change that effect it has though – which is (whether intentional or otherwise) disempowering.
That was kind of how I felt.
I don’t know what was intended, but Eep sounds like the kind of thing you say when you’re scared.
Could just be shock or surprise, but I couldn’t help wonder if Altus is trying to help Arianna out by being acting a bit like a bouncer. Which would be fine IMO, except that comment feels really out of place in that context.
It’s a ‘meep’, not an ‘eep’
That’s true. It reads the same way to me, but you are correct.
The reporter’s reaction was fear, fear and surprise. I mean, the reporter’s two reactions were fear and surprise, and an unholy arousal. Three, the reporters three reactions were fear, surprise and an unholy arousal along with glee. Among the reporter’s reactions were fear and surprise… never mind. Nobody expects the Altus Distraction.
One half of Earth’s religious fundimentalists: OH NOEZ! DEMONZ! WE’RE DOOOOOOOOOMED
The other half: Demons!??! That mean’s there really is a [INSERT DEITY OF YOUR CHOICE]! YAAAY!!
Oh, hush, I can make these jokes. I’m a protestant.
I was protestant myself last week. Govt did something stupid again, so I got my pitchfork and my cardboard sign and took to the streets!
“I’m not drinking your president’s brain and gaining all his knowledge” (stick straw in president’s head) “Such accusations are wild fabrications and have no basis in reality.” (slurrrrrrrrrp)
would you really want to drink trumps brain?
Starving zombies wouldn’t.
But Jesus Christ would.
Well these quotes about past presidents can apply to this one or the two before him.
LBJ – “He tells so many lies that he convinces himself after a while that he’s telling the truth. He just doesn’t recognize truth or falsehood.”
Kennedy – “”The fellow has absolutely no principles. Money and gall is all he has.”
Bush – “If ignorance ever goes to $40 a barrel, I want the drilling rights on [his] head.”
Nixon – “He is a no-good lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he’d lie just to keep his hand in.”
Eisenhower – “He wasn’t used to being criticized, and he never did get it through his head that’s what politics is all about. He was used to getting his ass kissed.”
Obama – “The most transparent government of all time. As transparent as a block of lead.”
Clinton – “Being president is like running a cemetery: you’ve got a lot of people under you and nobody’s listening.”
Regan – “Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.’ And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.”
The problem with our Presidents for the past hundred years plus is the lack of beards. We used to have Presidents with these glorious eighteenth century beards. We haven’t seen a President with a proper beard since Benjamin Harrison in 1893.
Yep. The problem with our Presidents all comes down to beards.
Check out the latest presidential candidate!
The nice hat is also a plus for this candidate. That is another thing modern presidents lack. Back in the days they had glorious hats.
Well I’d vote for him. We haven’t had a good Scotty in office since William McKinley, and you got to love the facial hair.
Say what you want about him being president … but … you are aware he is a billionaire right?
Last time I checked I haven’t seen too many idiot billionaires out there if any at all.
I would not mind having the knowledge of how to own, operate, and build up a multi-billion dollar businesses and maintain them across multiple countries and industries.
Yeah I wouldn’t mind having that knowledge.
It’s my impression wealth has a much stronger tie to criminal behaviors than to intelligence. I’d feel awkward about saying this, except we’re talking about a guy who publicly admitted to performing actions that would get a poor black man incarcerated faster than that video clip made the rounds on Youtube, and openly attributed his ability to get away with them to the fact that he’s a rich white guy.
he calls himself a “billionaire” but never shows anything to back that up.
and if you haven’t seen “idiot billionaires” its simple because you haven’t bothered to look very hard. there is no correlational between intelligence and how much money a person has. most people become “rich” but starting with family money and hiring other people to manage that money for them. its the same reason most kings through out history have been retarded thank to inbreeding but the country still managed to get through it.
the fantasy that people get rich because they’re smart and work hard has never played out in any scientific study. the scientifically proven way people get rich is by having near or outright sociopathic tendencies, have access to people who are already rich and suck up to said people, take credit for work you didn’t do and at best be mediocre at the job. being born into a rich family helps because it
the smartest/kindest/ hardest working/ honest people will almost never advance to those levels of power because they’re to busy doing the real work the people getting rich take credit for.
bout the only billionaire i know of doing good is Elon Musk, but then that’s also because he’s actually funneling most of his cash back into the various tech companies he owns from the more successful ones. for instance, he actually owns Paypal, and that’s where a lot of SpaceX and such’ve been getting their funding from, though SpaceX is also funded internationally by a few space agencies due to privately resupplying the ISS as well.
point is, the guy’s a Billionaire who actually uses most of his money to improve stuff. pretty damn likely Elon’s name is gonna be remembered long after a lot of other billionaires’ve faded into history, especially if he manages to pull off that Mars Colony plan in his lifetime.
Yea, but only a sociopath would try to develop three-breasted womenin that way.
“Say what you want about him being president … but … you are aware he is a billionaire right?”
That’s being questioned, aas he refuses to release his Tax Records, which makes people doubt that he is.
So do the members of Congress.
What does any of this have to do with justice for Harambe?
He started out inheriting the money…
His properties in Vegas which he earned so much on… Was mostly because he slashed maintenance budgets and ran the buildings into ruin.
And his father made his fortune cheating the G.I. Bill (Officially the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944) and transferred the bulk of this wealth to his children through acts of fraud.
His own books mention how his business strategy including bullying subcontractors into settling for millions below then contracted amounts, because they couldn’t afford an extended legal battle. As others have mentioned, “rich” on its own is not a useful measuring stick for intelligence or morals.
When someone says they’ve made a small fortune, in whatever field…
Ask whether they started out with a big one.
Altus is already all on top of efforts to establish positive ‘interstellar relations’ with Earth… ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)