Story Monday November 01, 2021

[Darth Fluffy 302]

https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-078

Arthur does not seem all that threatening. What's with Tedd's deer in the headlight eyes?

Also the 'I had your job' dig seems odd.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

Was Tedd Really surprised that Arthur would remember their encounter with the Will of Magic?

Or is it that Arthur recognized Tedd even though his appearance now is a little different than it was at their last meeting?

Tedd, despite Arthur's age and involuntarily unretired status, he is still an experienced investigator with strong observational skills.

Plus, having Edward in the room was a bit of a clue

Edited November 1, 2021 by Pharaoh RutinTutin
Spelling

[mlooney 3,417]

9 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Was Tedd Really surprised that Arthur would remember their encounter with the Will of Magic?

Seems to be.  Don't know why but he does seem startled.  Of course there is the whole different gender thing.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

1 hour ago, mlooney said:

Don't know why but he does seem startled.  Of course there is the whole different gender thing.

I was going to say. Tedd really wants this lab, it would seem. Letting the genderfluid cat out of the bag by appearing in front of AJA as a male could be jeopardizing his shot at getting the lab, in Tedd's mind. Ergo, Tedd is scared to death.

Knowing what we know about the resolution (he gets the lab), I look forward to the huge sigh of relief that The Dan will get to draw for Tedd.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

14 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I was going to say. Tedd really wants this lab, it would seem. Letting the genderfluid cat out of the bag by appearing in front of AJA as a male could be jeopardizing his shot at getting the lab, in Tedd's mind. Ergo, Tedd is scared to death.

Knowing what we know about the resolution (he gets the lab), I look forward to the huge sigh of relief that The Dan will get to draw for Tedd.

This makes sense, but if this is true, why did Tedd not explain it to his dad (who is aware that he had female forms) beforehand, and then appear before Arthur this time as female? Although, Arthur initially expressed surprise at seeing female Tedd, so I imagine he's already processed 'genderfluid', and gotten past it, evidenced by offering Tedd the lab in the first place.

Arthur isn't really a bad guy, I've been in government circles a long time, (military, and gov't contractor) and he is not heinous, I've seen much worse. I wonder what his relationship with his granddaughter Jay/Jill is like; I'm pretty sure Dan is planning to use it as a plot point. He's been hinting that her spell capabilities will be important. She likewise does not seem overtly evil, but has a darker edge, like she could be trouble. Well, more trouble, bigger in scope.

Dan uses the eyes shrinking to marble size (Tedd, 4th panel) as a shorthand for something, he's used it before, but I'm not tracking with what it represents.

 

 

[ijuin 572]

Arthur knows that he has far bigger fish to fry than worrying about Tedd’s gender issues. Tedd has the Seer abilities, scientific inclination, ethics, and attitudes that Arthur needs in the next few years, and those are worth overlooking such eccentricities.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

44 minutes ago, ijuin said:

Arthur knows that he has far bigger fish to fry than worrying about Tedd’s gender issues.

You'd think that, but that does not prevent the state I like in from passing laws about which bathroom trans people can use. "Mah BOOK sez yah shal bee malez an fe-malez, soh malez an fe-malez shal yah bee! Iss inn da BOOK!"

Meanwhile, roughly the same number of people are born every day with objectively ambiguous sexual characteristics as are born with red hair, around 2%. In the oh so civilized West, those are assigned a sex, often surgically, and, of course, the assignee is not consulted on this decision. ... Nothing could go wrong with this plan ... Oh, and they are almost never told ... 

An then there's Kleinfelter's Syndrome, where a more or less normal male has an insensitivity to testosterone, and develops as a female, but without the requisite hardware and plumbing. Since this is not apparent at birth, it tend to be a Big Surprise later.

This is all before we get to 'Are there any anomalies in the meat-based information processing unit that might interfere with a traditional role?' Hard to pin this one down, because you can't observe nor test for it in a newborn. Seems evident, to me, anyway, that if the hardware can go wonky, the firmware might, too. Yeah, I'm going to have to go with 'Some portion are also born this way as well'. Thankfully, someone put it in a song.

Makes you thing, though, that The BOOK might have been addressing an obvious generality without saying that It Must Apply in Each and Every Case, which it doesn't.

So, why should I care? Because, there is a rule of thumb in life, 'Don't be a dick'. (You don't have to actually have one to be one.)

And I realize I'm 'preachin' to the choir' here, but it's worth stating. You never know who will read these threads.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

Tedd may think this "interview" is all about convincing the powers that be he should get the lab

Edward knows better and tried to warn Tedd

Arthur knows, and is putting on the Nice Guy act to keep from spooking Tedd (which may have the opposite effect)

No, this is all about the Agency buying the latest model Verres with LOTS of options

And Tedd may be too star struck to realize this in time

.

.

.

On the other pseudopod . . . 

Tedd may realize before the end of the interview that this is the Government's first attempt to claim him

If Tedd declines, will they offer more or offer threats?

[ijuin 572]

3 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Tedd may think this "interview" is all about convincing the powers that be he should get the lab

Edward knows better and tried to warn Tedd

Arthur knows, and is putting on the Nice Guy act to keep from spooking Tedd (which may have the opposite effect)

No, this is all about the Agency buying the latest model Verres with LOTS of options

And Tedd may be too star struck to realize this in time

.

.

.

On the other pseudopod . . . 

Tedd may realize before the end of the interview that this is the Government's first attempt to claim him

If Tedd declines, will they offer more or offer threats?

Arthur is already convinced. The people above him (Director Liefeld, and the Director of the FBI, and the House Intelligence Committee) know that Tedd is Edward’s child, is a Seer, and is Arthur’s latest protégée. The only real show-stopper would be if Tedd were found to have a conflict of loyalties that might lead to a betrayal of the US Government—these types want loyalty of the “I would shoot my own parents dead if they turned against Uncle Sam” caliber.

3 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

You'd think that, but that does not prevent the state I like in from passing laws about which bathroom trans people can use. "Mah BOOK sez yah shal bee malez an fe-malez, soh malez an fe-malez shal yah bee! Iss inn da BOOK!"

In this case, the politicians DON’T have bigger fish to fry, because they know that they gain support among their base by stirring up dissent, and gaining support IS the top priority for any politician who wants to be re-elected. The actual content of the issue matters far less than the fact of “If I say this, then a large group of people will vote for me”.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

2 hours ago, ijuin said:

Arthur is already convinced. The people above him (Director Liefeld, and the Director of the FBI, and the House Intelligence Committee) know that Tedd is Edward’s child, is a Seer, and is Arthur’s latest protégée. The only real show-stopper would be if Tedd were found to have a conflict of loyalties that might lead to a betrayal of the US Government—these types want loyalty of the “I would shoot my own parents dead if they turned against Uncle Sam” caliber.

I don't know if it is  still the case, but only a few decades ago, if you were anywhere on the gay spectrum, you could not hold a clearance. There was a lie detector test (a dubious appellation, but it is what it is), and one of the first things they asked was 'lifestyle' questions. And, to give the Devil his due, the concern was entirely legitimate, in a self-inflicted circular logic kind of way. The concern in a general sense was to weed out people who had issues that would make them vulnerable to exploitation by hostile foreign agents. So, if you partook of prohibited behavior, you might be blackmailed regarding your prohibited behavior, thus it was prohibited, to preclude said blackmail. (I didn't say it actually made sense.)  So, Tedd's gender fluidity could have indeed been a show stopper.

 

2 hours ago, ijuin said:

(in response to Mah BOOK:) In this case, the politicians DON’T have bigger fish to fry, because they know that they gain support among their base by stirring up dissent, and gaining support IS the top priority for any politician who wants to be re-elected. The actual content of the issue matters far less than the fact of “If I say this, then a large group of people will vote for me”.

I don't fault your cynicism, in fact, I tend to share it, but you are selling many of them short; there is a crop of True Believers among them, and they are, if anything, all the more bizarre and dangerous. There is also a subculture of politico who for all their bumps and warts, want to accomplish something. The flies still spoil the ointment, but they're really not all callous jackasses. Consider, Republicans taking a stand against Trump; it is career suicide by today's standards, so they must actually be taking a stand, right? They're not doing it to gain ground with their own demographic, there isn't much of one left. I like AOC. She's not everybody's cup of tea, but it seems pretty clear that she actually believes what she says.

 

[ijuin 572]

On hiring Tedd, there is the matter that Seers number only one out of seven million people. That means no more than about fifty Seers in the entire USA (statistically speaking), and according to the Will Of Magic, only four of those had Awakened to their abilities before three weeks ago—Arthur, Tedd, and two unnamed others. Furthermore, the only Awakened non-USA Seer was Van, who is not more than about ten years old. The FBI has NO other options if they want a Seer who already knows what they are doing rather than needing to be trained from the “Wow I didn’t even know that Magic was real before last month” level. Arthur even admits to Tedd that Tedd is literally the only Seer besides himself whom he can positively identify at present.

[Don Edwards 548]

1 hour ago, ijuin said:

That means no more than about fifty Seers in the entire USA (statistically speaking), and according to the Will Of Magic, only four of those had Awakened to their abilities before three weeks ago—Arthur, Tedd, and two unnamed others.

Minor correction.

Only two to four had Awakened - Arthur, Tedd, and possibly two unnamed others who may or may not be among those fifty.

[ijuin 572]

Either way, there are essentially no other candidates in the near future for the position of FBI Seer-Researcher besides Tedd.

[mlooney 3,417]

4 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

I don't know if it is  still the case, but only a few decades ago, if you were anywhere on the gay spectrum, you could not hold a clearance.

As I understand it, for the CIA at least, if you were gay you were not allowed to hold a clearance if you were not openly gay.  Granted they tried to find out by less than ethical means, but the theory was that if you were openly gay you couldn't be blackmailed.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

Party in the CIA

[mlooney 3,417]

18 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Party in the CIA

I've never heard what this a parody of.   Of course I don't listen to much "modern" music.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

19 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Party in the CIA

 

1 hour ago, mlooney said:

I've never heard what this a parody of. 

You are lucky

Admittedly, Party in the USA wasn't the worst thing Cyrus released in her post Hanna Montana phase

Unfortunately her attempts at being accepted as a hard rocker/sex symbol/serious actress have produced mediocre results

When her Disney Channel show ended, she was in a position to become a Pop or Country singer with a ready made fan base and could have developed her talent and style in different directions over time

But she wanted to make a dramatic break with Disney.   Unlike Annette Funicello who needed to have The Mouse approve her costumes to appear in the Beach Movies with Avalon

[Darth Fluffy 302]

1 hour ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

 

You are lucky

Admittedly, Party in the USA wasn't the worst thing Cyrus released in her post Hanna Montana phase

Unfortunately her attempts at being accepted as a hard rocker/sex symbol/serious actress have produced mediocre results

When her Disney Channel show ended, she was in a position to become a Pop or Country singer with a ready made fan base and could have developed her talent and style in different directions over time

But she wanted to make a dramatic break with Disney.   Unlike Annette Funicello who needed to have The Mouse approve her costumes to appear in the Beach Movies with Avalon

She is the second Cyrus to be spoofed by Al: Acky Breaky Song,

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

Billy Ray got a spoof

Miley got a spoof and a polka verse

[mlooney 3,417]

I can say I'm fortunate to have more or less missed both ot Cyrus's "music"

[Darth Fluffy 302]

Any of you still play your vinyl records? I ditched mine a few moves ago, too heavy and bulky.

I sill have CDs, my kids don't even do that, they rely on services.

[mlooney 3,417]

I don't have any vinyl, but I do have a lot of CDs

[ijuin 572]

I don’t like download services because they can cut you off at their own discretion, so you don’t actually “own” it the way that you do if you possess a disk.

As for vinyl, I have a large library of them that I inherited from my parents, especially 1960s-1970s music from when they were in their teens and twenties.

[mlooney 3,417]

9 hours ago, ijuin said:

I don’t like download services because they can cut you off at their own discretion, so you don’t actually “own” it the way that you do if you possess a disk.

As for vinyl, I have a large library of them that I inherited from my parents, especially 1960s-1970s music from when they were in their teens and twenties.

I make a habit of downloading an actual MP3 or FLAC file and keeping them in a directory that the service doesn't know about.  Of course I've only bought 3 albums that way, the rest of my MP3 files are ripped for CD.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

I did some volunteer work with my local library in Michigan

When I moved to Florida, I donated the entire collection, that my parents had started back in the 60s, to the library used book sale

Lots of good stuff.  But I didn't have a stereo with a turntable where I was moving.  My old stereo was too big to bring along with everything else I had to drive.

So with nothing to play it on and not much incentive to buy a new stereo, there was no real desire to keep them

Allan Sherman, Mahalia Jackson, Mitch Miller, Monkees, Pat Boone, Elvis, Sesame Street, Limbo, Broadway, Black Watch, Redd Foxx, Rex Humbard, Queen, Bay City Rollers, K-Tell...

If anyone bought the whole lot, they would be sure to think the previous owner was seriously disturbed

But we know better