Grrl Power #1010 – Apocalypse watch
Leon and Zephan are both thinking “just hire some fish researchers and slip one of our own guys in the group” or coral researchers or marine geologists or whatever. FYI, a “fish researcher” is an ichthyologist, but a guy who studies coral is just lumped in as a “Marine Zoologist” and that makes me wonder if research professions that have their own special title are hoity-toity and swing their big science dicks around and push more specialized scientists out of the line at scientist pot-lucks, or if the guys who research increasingly obscure subjects look at the ichthyologists and lepidopterist and act all snobby and barely regard them as scientists, and are like, “I was surprised he didn’t end his paper on the migratory habits of Skipjack Tuna by asking the reader if they wanted fries with that.” Murf murf murf murf! <-snooty laughter.
I mean, you gotta figure there’s some kind of hierarchy among scientists, right? There’s got to be some disciplines that “get all the chicks” and whatever. Like I assume the astronomers are the bullies to the astrophysicists, and everyone thinks the quantum particle theorists are like the chess club, but those guys get to look down on all the other disciplines as kind of remedial.
Anyway, what going on in this page? Oh, right, well, it’s possible Sydney went swimming where few other people did, but even if she drifted out of bounds a bit, it’s not like she would have been the first person ever to be near the area the orbs were found in. It’s safer to assume either they were recently uncovered by some event, or there’s just something about Sydney that attracted them.
And yes, Ma Scoville is the family enforcer. It’s probably been like raising two children for the bulk of her adult life.
Tamer: Enhancer 2 – Progress Update: Getting Proofed!
Still getting proofed. Finished two proofer’s notes, which makes checking everyone else’s harder because half the stuff they catch is already fixed. Still, it’s funny seeing some incredibly obvious error in the third guy’s notes and thinking “well that’s definitely already been fixed” only to realize that the first two (and myself) missed it. Hopefully by the time I get through everyone, the first “final” version will have fewer errors than the average pulp novel on Amazon. Well, fewer egregious ones, at any rate.
This month’s vote incentive guest stars Lana of Spying with Lana. One of my own secret agents, Pixel, is trying to assist, with various levels of success and… nudity. Well, in the Patreon versions. The Vote Incentive will give you a pretty good idea of what might go down. Here’s a dedicated post in case you want to comment.
Check out Spying with Lana. Their current vote incentive features a certain gold-plated glamazon. Also it’s a funny comic with tons of skin.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
wait i thought that was a dads whole job ……..
Jeez just fly down and put the eye on the place.
You fly and they will have their own publicly accepted super hero fly after you and ask questions you do not want answered.. They want to scout to look for more stuff like the orbs, but not admit that they might have stolen them form a nation that could sue… Or get other nations into a legal/political war over magic space artifacts.
Because if another nation finds out they will help Mexico more for an attempt to win it in a backroom deal or because they think it will be easier to steal from them instead of the golden woman who shot down a spaceship.
Easier solution:
Buy oil drilling permissions there. Just include it in the next list.
Every father embarrasses their children. Is tradition. Also what is her tights it mean? So far we see one human and one alien once a Beefcake slab the others the beanpole gamer what do they have in common?
Both are tall
I’m surprised you haven’t used this opportunity to make dad jokes, which tend to be both heavily pun-based and embarrassing to daughters.
As a father of three, including 2 daughters, I concur about dad jokes and embarrassing daughters. It’s like part of the job description to make jokes that embarrass daughters.
As parents we have to make ourselves super embarassing to make sure our children move out asap.
I don’t have enough energy for puns lately. I started a new job at a plasma bank. I also donate there, really takes it out of me
Yeah I have been bad at punning lately. Nothing personal against you of course, I always enjoy punning you, I just haven’t had much time and inspiration lately.
They are both very tall. That’s what Sydney Sr doing with his hand, indicating tallness.
Dad doesn’t know about Wolverine, who isn’t tall.
Tall? Fuzzy? (hair in his case)
Pretty sure beneath that t-shirt is a Wookie. Knew people like that no sigh of body hair then off with a shirt and it was like cousin It walked in.
I would not really say there are any degree of hierachy among scientific fields.
Closest thing to that is likely that some fields like litterature might not be accepted as a scientific field among for example the physic crowd.
Among scientiests of the same field its likely in part based on articles published.
Publish or Perish as they say.
Not exactly published, as referenced, that gives you cred in my experience.
The main degree of hierarchy among scientists is based pretty much entirely on who brings in the most research money. Lots of other things are connected to that (size of research team, number of students, amount and prestigiousness of publications, breakthroughs, prizes, etc.) and yes, that definitely means that people who are successful when young tend to go on to dominate their fields.
And there’s a “chain effect”, where people who are junior researchers for people who win Nobels tend to later win Nobels themselves.
As far as there being a hierarchy of sciences, there definitely is. But if I told you, I’d have to use you as a test subject. FOR SCIENCE.
Astronomers maybe used to look down on the astrophysicists, but the astrophysicists are the cool kids ever since Brian May became one of them. I mean how do you beat lead guitar player for Queen for cool?
Social “scientists” are definitely looked down on by “hard” scientists. The pecking order is how many sigma you demand to call a result statistically significant.
xkcd #435: Purity – https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/purity.png
Exactly. Mathematicians don’t regard results as statistically significant unless they’ve got ALL the sigma. ;)
Economists: “What’s a sigma?”
I can actually break this:
Mathematics is applied logic. Logic is applied psychology.
And now we have a loop.
You’ve overgeneralised Logic, and also inverted its nature.
The Mathematical Logic subfield is applied Mathematics, and therefore is downstream of Mathematics.
Other subfields of Logic are also downstream of the fields to which they apply.
Logic is therefore as downstream as its most downstream subfield, somewhere past Psychology.
The problem with that is you are talking about 2 different kinds of logic, rhetorical logic tries to make sense out of behavior, the other kind (Boolean?) is used to make computers work. One is hard math, the other is the wibbley wobbily in timey wimey stuff
Mathematical logic goes so far beyond “Boolean logic used to make computers” that you can’t even see the sides from there. It can get VERY abstruse.
I made no mention of how many subfields/kinds of Logic there are.
Mathematics traditionally falls under philosophy, rather than science. Computer science is neither about computers nor science. It’s more about the theory of computation.
Only a psychologist would think this.
In psychology at least, there is also a divide between applied and academic psychologists. In my world it was the people who worked with forensics that were the hot stuff.
How would you even know where the designated area ends if you’re diving? Do they have fences on the ocean floor?
Buoys. But you’re supposed to have a guide who keeps you in line, not wander off on your own. Solo dives are part of an advanced license, any certified dive master who let’s basic certs wander around can lose their license.
I find it pretty realistic Sydney could have an advanced diving license.
…once they’d secured all the spearguns.
Even in an avian sanctuary you’d think Sydney would be more interested in buoys than gulls
I’m loving Sydney’s expressions in these panels.
They’re right. Arianna has never been in the Intelligence world. Wood’s Hole and Scripps have been providing cover for spooks and the Military since forever in return for money, expertise, and equipment. Need an oceanographer? Plankton biologists? Wildlife photographers? Someone with military or spook connections would be happy to have their grant funded in exchange for sharing their data and maybe keeping a lookout for something special. It would be child’s play
True. Bob Ballard’s team from Woods Hole very carefully plotted their search for the Titanic so that they wouldn’t officially find the wreck until the last possible day. “You mean we started our search grid a couple of miles off and wasted weeks just scanning the ocean? What terrible luck on our part. It’s a good thing we found it just in time! But I guess this means we’ll have to come back next year to properly explore the wreck…”
Can confirm. That’s how the USS Scorpion (SSN 589) was found. The Scorpion sank under suspicious circumstances, but no one knew where, only a theoretical area she should have been in during her transit back to the US. Ballard was given the mission and a time frame. “Find the Scorpion. After you’ve found her, you’re free to look for the Titanic in any time left after you find and photograph her.” He scored on both counts. I think he did a second dive on the remains of the USS Thresher too to re-photograph what was left of her.
yeah, and this one is even easier.
we assume Sidney wasn’t too far outside the designated areas. Send some *guys* down there as “tourists” pay off a few guides to go to the same general area Sidney was in.
now while the Orbs can’t be detected, this can be used to their advantage. Magic sees empty space, so they are looking for things that while the eyes see *something there* their magic detectors only detect empty space…in fact this may actually make it easier underwater…as there could be empty space not only where rock is visible but where water should be filling in that space. so a suspicious “bubble” of nothing in the magic scans where water should be.
Hell, you don’t even need that these days.
You remember that sub incident in the South China Sea last October? The one that was theoretically in international waters but decided to run on passive instead of active sonar which is why they scraped an underwater mountain?
One does not run on passive sonar unless they are trying not to be detected. If they were actually in international waters when the accident happened, then there would be no reason to not use active sonar.
The Hierarchy amongst scientists studying nature starts with Sir David Attenborough followed by everyone else.
Because such hierarchies use fame as a big factor, so getting a paper published puts you ahead of those who weren’t, getting a science award puts you on another level, getting an award the general public has heard of…, etc.
Heh. So is there an Attenborough number, to go with the Bacon number for Actors, the Erdos number for mathematicians, Morphy for Chess, Shikasu for Go, and so on?
Interestingly, an Attenborough number, if it exists (and if it doesn’t, it should), would probably be geared towards those who have been involved in wildlife documentaries, rather than having co-authored scientific papers. This is due to Attenborough not being a scientist, but a broadcaster.
Also, if a field only has one recognised number, it’s a pretty poor showing of that field.
Technically Sir David is a Naturalist and Broadcaster.
And the conversation is about Icthyologists, Marine Zoologists, etc.
Yet the principle can be applied to other scientific fields. Cosmology was Stephen Hawking, at least in the UK.
The more you’re published, the more awards you win, the more famous you become, the further up the hierarchy you are.
The conversation is about scientists studying nature.
But because almost all of his publications are the books that accompany his many documentary series, those who would have an Attenborough number of 1 are most likely to have worked with him on those series.
Mom trained Sydney Senior and Junior with a clicker, didn’t she?
Mom *tried* to train Sydney Senior and Junior with a clicker.
My late wife used food successfully. For example, Hainan Chicken Rice would NOT be on the table if home discipline was lacking. Nor would Nonya Sweet and Sour. Or Laksa of any description… Bloody lucky if we saw past Hokkien mee or Char kway teow. Couldn’t even get a Rendang if the family misbehaved.
Now you made me hungry.
Denying rendang is cruel
She was a good woman.
Was she Malay or Indonesian?
Indian, born in Melaka.
Leon seems to be getting longer over time. His face at least ;)
He’s tired, have you seen his dating schedule? When the Woof is off-planet Leon has to juggle Sydney and Pixel. We already know what Sydney is like in a social setting, Pixel is marginally better from what we’ve seen in-comic.
Chrona, Pixel is the same approximate build but seems less into general need/geek culture.
Probably not a long-term visual Airplane reference but https://youtu.be/-cJmpwkUx4s
Exactly (not exactly, but roughly) how tall is Sydney? Her mother is probably around 5’6″. From the looks of it Sydney would be no taller than 5 feet by comparison.
I’m assuming she’s about 5 feet tall. She is a full head + a little bit of neck taller than Lucas (the dwarf guy that does data analysis at the table) and he is 4 foot 2 inches. The average size of a head from chin to top of the head is about 8-9 inches.
So assuming 9 inches for the head plus about an inch of neck, that would make Sydney 5 feet tall.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-432-claim-your-crater/
(panels 7 and 8 are best since he’s definitely not on his segway’s steps at all there)
Also, we can compare her height to Harem as well. Sydney comes up to roughly mouth-length of Harem’s head.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-76-i-think-shell-integrate-well/
(panel 8 has the best comparison in height)
Harem has already been stated to be 5 foot 8 inches tall. The shortest of the supers. Probably because she has to have 5 of herself according to what they said in comic.
Again, taking into account the average head is 8-9 inches (Harem’s head is smaller than Sydney’s), and the mouth is roughly an inch to an inch and a half above the chin, we can assume that Sydney is somewhere between 5 feet tall and 5 feet 1 inches tall.
…
Or we can just cheat and look at the Cast page, which says outright that Sydney is 5′ 0″ tall.
Rendering all my meticulous research meaningless. But showing that DaveB is VERY meticulous about accurate height of his characters.
Btw I forgot to note where they tell Harem’s height.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-137-i-hear-shampoo-works-better-if-you-writhe/
(panel 7)
Or, again, you can just cheat and use the Cast page which says it too. :)
It’s too early in the morning and I forgot to check the Cast page. Thanks for the reminder.
The simplest way isn’t always the best way.
Redundant, not meaningless.
It means that you got the right answer, and that Dave is pretty consistent with his drawings.
Thank you. :)
This is high praise coming from Ms Pedantic herself. :)
Leon is right. Not paying attention to where you are much less swimming off from you buddy is a Very Stupid Thing when you’re diving.
Hmm. Alien technology that we’ve already established are the essential systems of an apparently crashed spacecraft. Giant impact crater from something crashing down from space. Yes, Maxima. Let’s just assume that’s a total coincidence.
The Great Meteor Crater Visitors Center has a gift shop.
Those coffee mugs haven’t been there for 50,000 years.
Being at the Chixilub crater doesnt have to mean the Orbs have been there for 65 million years.
dropped or lost later by some alien.
heck just look back all the theories about why they were in the Florida Keys and apply here as well, lost from a tourist, higher dimension space child’s lost toy, swiss army knife from some explorer that was dropped by accident *or something happened to them*, put there by a higher being for Sidney to find (think Q testing or just seeing what would happen if a comic nerd got super powers), among other theories.
the new data adds possibilities but the old possibilities still stand as possibilities.
I was going to wonder why they don’t just use a salvage company or archaeological marine scientific research dig as a front. Even if it’s in the contiguous zone, there are existing treaties (and lawsuits to back it up even when Mexico tried to prevent their part in the treaties) that would let a salvage company or research group be in the area. If they’re within the territorial waters (12 miles) then they’d need to use more extra-legal measures though.
But like Leon and Zephon ‘looked’ to each other, “Arianna is not in intelligence.” But cmon, she’s an attorney. She’d be aware of ways around that, even if not entirely on the up-and-up. And worse, she’s in P.R. :) She literally created a false cover story for where Sydney was when she was on her outer space adventure. :)
Or… a pleasure boat “accidentally” sinks over the refuge, and a conveniently located Coast guard ship has to do a quick rescue to get the boat out of there before any ecological damage can occur.
Might have to do a scuba survey to make sure that nothing toxic fell of the boat and might be poisoning the area.
See my reply to Screwball in Comment Page 1 of #1009. There is a small island in the southend of Scopion Reef with buildings and a jetty. This probably attracts a large 12-mile zone around the reef.
That’s not actually how territorial water borders work. :)
China’s already tried that in the past, back in 2017. The US has also.
See : Scarborough Shoal and the Philippine, Guam, and the Sprayleys coral outcrops. :)
http://djilp.org/chinas-trap-in-the-waters-around-guam/
Also like I mentioned before, the US has several treaties with both Canada and Mexico about the use of waters which overlap for the territorial water border, the contiguous zone, and the EEZ.
or just send a few undercover agents as “tourists” pay off some local guides, go to the area Sidney was in and use magic to scan for suspiciously empty spaces on the sea floor that the naked eye can see something *including water*, remember in the tube the magic scan said the tube was (too empty) so underwater if there is anything else of the same nature a magic scan could reveal spots suspiciously empty of water.
-it is kind of a flaw if this feature is intended to hide them from magic-
in fact what if the Squid kaiju weren’t really detecting the orbs but that there were spheres of empty space in defiance of physics orbiting Sidney that clued them in to what they were dealing with and those read outs were just that *absence of air, no energy detected, impossible movement, ect..*
This would be exactly the sort of job they’d send ALVIN or NR-1 or the Jimmy Carter on if it was deep water… Being within scuba range means a fishing trawler running a few ROVs and a few divers with long-duration gear.
As for Mexico… “We’re running an operation right here because reasons. Say nothing and we’ll let more of your worst-sort-of-useless-trash across the border with the legit immigrants and not say a word… our usual sort of deal? Fantastic.” In proper diplomatic language not “the poster is a sarcastic *redacted*-hole who hates politics”-speak of course!
Perhaps a bit TOO realistic for comic-escapism but that’s how this sort of thing would go down.
Wow. Going all out with the MAGAT talking points today. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. … They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
In the real world they might use legitimate research or something else as cover. Or they might have an arrangement in place that covers things. Or there might be something from a laundry list of issues -there are always issues – that Mexico wants which might move along a little quicker.
But no. You couldn’t help yourself.
I confess, I thought it was a reference to illegally dumping trash in the ocean at first.
Regarding research and spying, the usa once stole a crashed submarine from under the nose of the soviet navy.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Azorian
With the cunning “we tried, but failed” double-cover story, to pretend that not enough of the Soviet sub was retrieved:
“While the ship recovered a portion of K-129, a mechanical failure in the grapple caused two-thirds of the recovered section to break off during recovery.”
Which may or may not have inspired the actions which followed the defection of captain Marko Ramius, at the time captain of the Soviet Navy’s most advanced ballistic missile submarine.
Interesting that you went off on NR-1’s satirical phrasing of what a US govt diplomat might say in the clear. The phrasing you used clearly shows what caused the knee to jerk, though.
Interesting choice of redactions. Not at all biased or DNC-approved, no sir.
Here’s the full quote, and a few lines before and after.
“The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems. (applause) Thank you. It’s true, and these are the best and the finest. When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us[sic]. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
So, let’s take it line by line, and I’ll assume that you can read the NYT and know the answers found there.
Do you honestly believe that Mexico IS sending their BEST? Probably Not.
Do you honestly believe that the people crossing the border illegally do NOT have lots of problems? No.
Do you honestly believe that none of them are bringing drugs? No.
Do you honestly believe that none of them are bringing crime? No.
Do you honestly believe that NONE of them are rapists? no.
Do you honestly believe that Trump meant in the last line that some drug mules, criminals and rapists are good people? Probably not.
Do you honestly believe that the phrase “they’re rapists” means that all undocumented immigrants are rapists, even the women and children? No.
So any projection that you attempt to make, trying to make Trump’s speech appear to be saying that *all* illegal aliens / undocumented immigrants are, every one, a drug mule, a criminal and a rapist, makes no sense.
What you’re missing is that he said “They’re rapists” and then followed up with “And some – are good people” Some is less than half. So more than half of those from Mexico are not good, we tend to call those “bad”. It’s bad form to accuse “most people of being criminals and rapists” and just breeds racism.
Trumps speech, in spirit and in the literal interpretation is quite clear. I appreciate that you have given him the benefit of the doubt because… bias but there’s little evidence it’s true.
Mexico isn’t ‘sending’ anyone.
Of course people who are crossing having lots of problems… often due to America supplying the cartels with weapons.
Trump wasn’t talking about a minority of the mexican immigrants, he was talking about the majority every step of the way. We don’t believe that the majority of Mexicans or other so called ‘illegal immigrants’ are bringing drugs or crime… but that is what Trump is saying and you don’t build a wall just because a few people might be criminals or have drugs. You build them because there is a real problem that can’t be dealt with through other means.
I have heard a lot of clearly racist things from President Biden: ( ” you ain’t black ” )( “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.” ).
I am not a fan of Trump , he is a loud , obnoxious braggart . But he has never said anything so clearly racist as Biden..
I am not American btw , so I am neither a Democrat or Republican .
You clearly haven’t paid attention to Trump much, then. He was a Democrat, and switched parties specifically because Obama won (and had been one because he hated Bush jr.). He also likes pissing all over poor people. He actually bought out an entire city block of low-income housing in NYC just to put up one of his fucking Hotels and had them thrown out on the street.
You assume he’s “Never Said anything as clearly racist as Biden” and you’d be really, really, REALLY fucking wrong.
I gave you clear direct quotes ( in context ) you can google about Biden , where are your clear , direct quotes ( in context ) from Trump ?
TFG was convicted of racist housing practices in the 70s and 80s, back when it had to be overt and policy to get such a conviction. His racist bona fides are well established.
Then he should be condemned for the policies his company held 40 years ago , agreed.
Do you think Biden should be condemned for all his racist statements he has made recently and his long record of racist policies ?
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/joe-biden-memes-voting-record-policies-background-2020-election-a8830706.html
To establish one’s racist bonafides, one must sue a city in order to allow Blacks & Jews on your golf course. (Mar-a-Largo)
Serious TDS going, due. You need to see someone for that.
Nope , not a fan of Trump , not an American even , just wondering why there is a double standard allowing Democrats to be racist and not Republicans ?
Why that double standard?
Because, er, well, that is, uhm… oh, I know! The dems’ racism isn’t racism. That’s why.
No, I don’t get the logic either. But I’m quite sure that if the shoe were on the other foot the logic would be similar, even if expressed differently. I’m always reminded of (city boy democrat) cartoonist Tim Kreider (thepaincomics, and before his mental breakdown he could be bitingly funny) who, at one point, wrote a whole essay in a tone of verging-on-tears desperation on why republicans insisted on being so fucking UNREASONABLE on the issue of gun control. The answer ought to be obvious but I don’t think he ever got there: According to them, they weren’t being unreasonable, they thought the other guys were.
Please note that I’m not saying either dems or reps are right on any issue. I’m saying both parties like to insist the other guys are unreasonable for not agreeing with their viewpoints. I don’t think that’s a very constructive way to enter any debate. Meaning there is no real debate, no meeting of minds, no learning to appreciate the other guys’ viewpoints even if you disagree with them. Is it something in the water? Is it something in the schooling system? Who knows?
So he hated Bush Jr ( white ) and went Democrat , hated Obama ( black ) and turned Republican , how the heck is this racist ?
Bought up a low income housing area and kicked everyone out . Slimy ? absolutely but are you suggesting he would have given a rats ass if the neighborhood was majority poor whites ?
That you see racism in these examples might say more about your unconscious views on race than his.
I’ve always found it amusing that “racism” charges only stick when talking about republican candidates or voters, but the DNC always gets a pass.
Robert Byrd is a card-carrying member of the Klan, and a grand-wizard at that (one of the top positions in the hierarchy. People are not known for climbing the ranks by being boy-scouts), yet THAT is not racist.
Camilla Harris is openly anti-semitic, repeatedly spouting lines such as “Israel has brainwashed the world and I pray in the name of Allah that people wake up and drive them away. ” (Brings up analogy of the Holocaust) “and they should be brought to justice!” Yet that gets a pass, rarely ever covered in the press.
Bill Clinton goes on the Jay Leno show and states that he’s the first black president because he plays the saxophone, has his presidential library in Harlem, and cheats on his wife. The response is laughter.
Hillary Clinton shakes hands with Harvey Weinstein, a well-known sexual-extortionist, and gets hailed as a leader in women’s civil rights!
Yet some guy on a street-corner, who may or may not be a member of a known racist organization, yells “Go Trump” and Trump gets decried as the most racist racist that ever bigoted his way into politics, no matter how Trump openly condemns racists groups.
And when some self-proclaimed porn star comes forward on Good Morning, America, stating that SHE approached Trump for sex, not the other way around, and is breaking a Non-disclosure agreement with Trump’s lawyer by writing a book about it, and marketing said book, TRUMP is the most sexist sexist that ever extorted a woman.
Then when Trump protests the 2020 election, because of reports that there were thousands more ballots than voters, he gets impeached, but when Al Gore protested the 2004 election, the Florida supreme court IGNORED FLORIDA LAW to rule in his favor.
It’s mind-boggling.
Yes, Trump is loud, obnoxious, and abrasive, but those are not legally actionable. And it appears “racist” or “sexist” is only legally actionable when the DNC says it is.
Considering all the times he paraphrased or blatantly quoted people who should NEVER be quoted?
I stopped listening to him after his third speech. I do still wonder where he planned to put the death camps.
Trump. Didn’t. Build. The Fucking Wall!!!
It was built as far back as the fucking ’80s
Right, the wall was already completed decades ago and there was absolutely no construction of any kind during Trump’s Administration.
Trump didn’t build the cages holding kids. Obama did that. ;)
And you’re right, Trump didn’t get anything built on the border, the DNC blocked him every step of the way.
“makes no sense.” Neither, does Trump!!!
Do we really have to discuss Trump and politics everywhere?
Tell that to the MAGAt Tubgirls who were looking for an opportunity to spew all over the place.
I don’t care who you think is to blame here. I’m just politely suggesting that this is not the best place for a discussion about politics and politicians.
Er, the political portion of this conversation was started specifically by someone who referenced Trump quotations in response to a commenter who was not talking modern politics, but hypothetical foreign policy, albiet in a way that had very little social consciousness. Additionally, the person that started the political portion of this conversation did so using “MAGAT” as a pejorative, just just like you.
Stones in glass houses and all that. But I digress, I agree with Ro Jaws. Sadly, just as I can not resist reading the political interludes, some people cannot resist starting them, regardless of how ugly they will most certainly be.
“Permission”. Yeah right. Since when does murica ever officially ask for that? To date and to name only a few things they have done on foreign soil or with sovereign state gear is.
Raise and steal half a sunken a Soviet Nuclear Submarine
Stealing, taking apart and studying a Soviet Spacecraft
Stealing a Soviet plane
You now have a murica with Alien tech, magic and other powers, they just wont tell Arianna let alone the country they will be invading.
Supers aren’t exactly Subtle. they’re kinda noticeable.
Entire reason the shit you describe works is because they did it on the Down-low.
“The shit I describe was done on the down low”. The sub stealing was NOT on the down low what so ever. Oh and supes are subtle, they have a whole division designated to being subtle. Restaurant fight for one example. “we are not here, we are not here, no one can see us, no one can see us”
Harem would be very subtle.
You forgot “create an international incident that resulted in the creation of the nation of Belize”
When? All the time. If you just sail a naval group or fly superheroes into Mexican waters without a by-your-leave and start doing secret shit there will be trouble. Grownups in the real world find a researcher with a legit reason to be there, help with her grant, lend whatever advanced equipment would be useful, toss in a few “interns” or “grad students” with special skills and suggest some extra observations that might be useful. pay the Mexican government the research fees. Fill out the paperwork. Everyone is happy.
But there is no violence, not sensationalism and no reasons to get upset.
So of course, people don’t like that.
I really do wonder why Sydney is so short compared to her parents. Do they both have short parents themselves or some kinda recessive gene for shortness? Neither of them use glasses either, or maybe they have contacts.
Point is seems like she got all the recessive traits beyond her dad’s hair color and maybe her ADHD since feels like he has it as well.
Also she inherited her dad’s unusually large eye size.
ADHD medication tends to stunt your height a bit. Our son is on it, and we’re rather anxiously watching his growth; Just hit 5’1″ at 13, with a 5′ even mother and a 5’9″ dad. He *might* make it up to my height.
Which one is he on?
I was on a few which probably resulted in low body weight, but didn’t seem to directly hinder my growth, I was always average height, but very skinny. Put on like 5 inches in a year at like age 14.
SPeaking as someone who has taken ADHD medication most of his life, I was less than 5 feet tall at that age. Despite that, I’m 5’10 now. Based solely on my experience and no additional scientific evidence, I’m going to say that your son will probably be ok.
Sydney’s height might also come from one or more of her grandparents. Some genes do skip generations before being expressed. More than likely Sydney Sr.’s mother and/or father was/were short.
So a combination of the medication and a recent ancestor who was also short might have contributed to her height.
Family traits can skip generations. Happens all the time. My mom is 5’9″, dad is 5’11”, and I’m 6’4″. Only one grandparent topped 6′. Most were between 5’6″ and 5’10”. One side of my dad’s family has a bunch of 6″+ males, though. One 6″+ uncle on mom’s side, but her sister (my aunt) is shorter than she is.
Indeed. Both of my my parents are way shorter than my siblings and I, and I’m the tallest of us all, even being the last born. Grandpa on Dad’s side was ab absolute giant tho, like, Lurch from the Adams Family tall. I remember being somewhat intimidated by him, he was so large. Similarly, one of my step-nephews absolutely towers over his parents, like, basketball player tall.
“Like I assume the astronomers are the bullies to the astrophysicists”
Having dealt with them (and all of the other types, I work in academic research computing support), I can conclusively say that the opposite of this is true – the Astrophysicists are the bullies to literally everyone else.
Also, apparently I can’t type my own name right today. Auto-incorrect kept changing it to “Happy Year”… why? Just … why?
All autocorrect software in the world is secretly controlled by a evil trollish AI.
And everyone says to Astrophysicists “Yeah, but OUR error bars are in the mantissa, not the exponent.”
Yet those error bars do not affect the flow of funding and allocation of resources. Truely, the astrophysicists are the Chads of the grant application world.
obligatory xkcd
https://xkcd.com/2205/
Is it just me, or does Leon’s face in panel 8 look a little weird?
DaveB, it’s not a big science dick that they’re swinging around. It’s probably big, and it’s definitely science-y…but in oceanic & freshwater studies, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be covered in scales and/or slime. (Also quite possibly zappy and/or bitey…and if it has a glow-in-the-dark dongle, RUN. Or at least the swimming equivalent of max sprinting.)
Scaly, slimy, zappy, bitey, glow in the dark dongle…..
You had my interest. Now you have my attention.
*eyebrow wiggle* I also have revived Jurassic, Triassic, and other -assic biological relics of a bygone era! Some of them with fancy flappy neck frills, too!! 8D
For anyone who wants a review of what happened at the K-T boundary
https://youtu.be/tRPu5u_Pizk
Scientists, at least the ones I’ve been around, prefer to drink and sing silly songs when they aren’t thinking about their field.
I’ve been in a bar at a SESAPS convention with about 150 very drunk physicists all singing silly bar songs. Was fun!
http://sesaps21.physics.fsu.edu/
I thought that (at least at Chicago), they figured out how to light charcoal quickly…
There are hierarchies, but it has more to do with how important your department is compared to someone else’s within the same discipline, who got published where, the size of your grant, sexy prizes, etc. And all the engineering fields look down on Civil.
Her mother must have ulcers the size of grapefruits living with two of them…
I bet she is made of tougher and/or more indulgent. At home I bet she can be just as silly as them, but she is also the grown up glue that keeps it all together when needed too.
As far as scientist subgroups, we all have umbrella titles and sub groups inside that umbrella. I am a geologist first. Inside that title we have mineralogists, stratigraphers, hydrogeologists, etc. So really, marine zoologist is a general classification for “someone who studies sea animals” and icthyologist is specifically a fish guy. And even then, they get broken down based on geography and water salinity. :)
Hm, I always thought the Scoville scale was used to measure the Pungency of food and spices based on the concentration of capsaicinoids rather than cataclysmic events.
Who says they have to actually have to send a legit salvage/research expedition to have a few of their water breathing type Hero’s investigate the site?
Seems like they are way over thinking this part.
Max must really be strapping them down today, she looks like an A or B cup in panel 6.
Been that way since the grad ceremony a few pages back. I’ve been wondering if she has an extra *EXTRA* strength bra she only wears with her dress uniforms or something… ;)
From what I can tell, Scorpion Reef is a BIRD sanctuary/habitat. As such, diving is probably not a big deal, just stay off the beaches and don’t mess with the birds.
Take a dekko on Google. There’s not a lot of land there. Seabirds might find it a fun place for feeding, but breeding? Nope.
There are several islands in the reef, and it supports a population of Magnificent Frigatebirds. That’s why it’s a wildlife refuge, for the birds.
Google shows 5 islands, and quite a bit ’round the edges that could conceivably be called sandbars — you could walk on them, but you’d get your feet wet and I’d rather not be there in a blow.
OTOH, Google may take photos every what, 5 or 6 years, so it’s not to be used for accuracy.
well according to the Wiki article, there are “five main vegetated islands: Isla Pérez, Isla Desertora, Isla Pájaros, Isla Chica, and Isla Desterrada” “Vegetated” implies being high enough above the tide line for plants to grow. And note that it says five MAIN vegetated islands. this implies there are vegetated islands there that aren’t considered ‘main’ islands.
And Yandex translates those names as “Perez Island, Desert Island, Birds Island, Chica Island, and Exiled Island”.
Regarding the commentary about scientists in more or less specialized fields…
https://xkcd.com/435/ :-D
There are many fishy researchers these days. Science can’t reproduce the bulk of published findings and peer reviews in the Humanities are usually political statements.
I’m just here to say
Jotaro Josuke is a marine biologist who published a paper on dolphins.
Sounds like an Anime title. And possibly premise.
Jotaro kujo*, Josuke is his uncle
So it’s THAT kind of Anime!
(Don’t be mad, we were all thinking it… weren’t we?)
I’d be curious to see them get called on you know…the MORAL issues with going ‘Oh yeah, we violated another countries waters and then we are planning how to do it again without getting caught’. As I don’t think they’d be super cool with that happening if it was Mexican heroes sneaking into America to investigate things and I’d like to see them address that element of hypocrisy.
Private citizen Sydney is probably in the clear.
Highly decorated Private (military) Sydney would tell the Mexican government that the US government endorses her actions in taking those powerful artifacts from Mexico’s waters.
Granted, that’s not what happened, but if this isn’t handled very, very carefully, it could easily become a diplomatic nightmare.
As it is, Maxima’s treating the discovery of Syd’s orbs in or near the Cxthulb crater as a coincidence, barring further investigation, because the alternative is going down a rabbit hole of tin-foil hat wearing ailen-conspiracy theories that serves no purpose but making everyone pointlessly paranoid, especially now that aliens are known to exist and it’s public knowledge.
“They followed me home and I had no CHOICE but to keep them!”
Seems pretty cut-and-dried to me…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksFI8ZALs4g
I’m surprised the mother has stayed with the dad. :p
He doesn’t seem to actually be a bad guy.
Might be he’s a loving spouse and father, and she just needs to keep him on track from time to time.
Might be that the one thing that Halo inherited from both parents is that he loves her cooking…
Reverse Saarek.
Maxima might have to consider hiring Mrs. Scoville as a civilian advisor on Scoville-wrangling. ^_^
Arianna would be a better fit. being PR and legal with HR added for hiring authority she would be able to find the right budget/department to hire a consultant to help with personal matters. air quotes left as an exercise for the reader
“Arianna” would be a better fit. “being PR and legal with HR added for hiring authority” “she” would be able to find the “right” budget/department to “hire a consultant” to help with “personal” matters.
Arianna would be a “better” fit. being PR and legal with HR added for hiring authority she would be able to “find the right budget/department” to hire a “consultant” to help with “personal matters”.
Arianna would be a better “fit”. being PR and legal with HR added for “hiring authority” she would be able to find the right budget/”department” to “hire” a consultant to “help” with personal matters.
Wouldn’t it be a remarkable coincidence if Sydney’s orbs, which were found under water, happened to have come from the same general area that Max’s geode was formed in? Max gets geode water on her, and becomes a golden super hero. Sydney finds orbs in the water that provide super hero capabilities.
How did each orb and geode come to have its power?
Suppose the geode and the orbs were associated, or somehow related, with each other.
The orbs leaked power into the ground and water near them, and the geode absorbed that power, and that water. And someone found the geode and brought it where Max & family found it.
Or the reverse–perhaps the source of the geode water’s power leaked out over time to create the orbs? They were originally simple mineral concretions nearby the orb, and, after enough time, each had “distilled” specific abilities from the geode?
Which makes one wonder what might have happened if the seven objects together had originally been one object. What greater concentration of powers might have been available to someone holding it?
Or, if the orbs came first, how much MORE powerful might they be if they hadn’t leaked power into the water and the geode?
Can anyone say “Parallel Infinity Stones”?
I thought of this, after all gift shops don’t always get their rocks locally, however I couldn’t find any geode export from the Yucatan area, the Mexican mining is much further north.
However they did both get their powers from something they found that basically latched its self to them like symbiotic facehuggers (or the Guyver unit), So it may be possible they come from the same place.
heck one theory was they were both from opposing alien space warriors who destroyed each other and their respective ultra tech landed in two different spots on the planet to be found by Maxima and Sidney, coming full circle to now work together.
or were from the same alien group but different divisions *soldier goo to enhance other species as soldiers* and the orbs to enhance others as a space ship…a weird variation of the Guyver’s Zoanoids and Guyver units both being enhancements to humans by the “creators”.
with the crater we have the exploded lab/base idea and both of these were experiments or units in the lab that were scattered by the explosion.
a lot of conjecture can be made, heck we could go back to both are toys or experiments by higher dimension beings playing superheroes.
Need to be careful here. Apparently Scorpion Reef was “discovered” by a pommie postal steamer in 1847 when it bumped into it. Unfortunately the steamer was carrying several tons of mercury, which may or may not have been rescued. And that’s possibly why so many apex predator (read: delicious) fish species are contaminated with Hg.
“geode water on her” IN her, she swallowed some! :)
Wonder if she can scout around underwater with the light-bee.
That would be a great time except she couldn’t touch anything and an acidental teleport would kill her.
the air ball would save her in the event of an accidental teleport. it’d be pretty useless if it didn’t have the ability to create a bubble. the bikini incident happened after discovery and shows Sidney has some control of the air ball.
Hmm did Sydney’s eye color change and i just now notice?
No, they’ve always been a golden/amber color. It’s her pupil size that changes from panel to panel.