Sometimes, Doug has used all his healing for the day.
Sometimes, the cause of impending death isn't something he can fix.
Sometimes, the person just doesn't want to prolong things any more.


link

At times like these, there's Adieu... assuming I'm correct and German is the other language Doug is fluent in besides English and Japanese. It lets the dying person feel no pain or other immediate effects of whatever wounds or illnesses they may have, and be clear-headed enough to give a proper soliloquy if that's what they're into, or handle any last goodbyes or instructions to wrap up their affairs, from when the song is played to when they would have died without further intervention, or when further intervention keeps them from dying, up to when Doug's powers reset for the day. Yes, even if they logically shouldn't be able to function normally, such as being able to speak with no functional lungs, or suffering from physical damage/degradation of the brain, etc. ... It might be a heavily mixed blessing to have it wake someone from a terminal coma only to die anyway, but it's a song of last resort to say goodbyes, by definition.

On the plus side, there's no effect if no one in Doug's range is in terminal condition so it's one he can listen to whenever he likes, for practical purposes, and it's a very good song.

I'd normally comment on just what I expect this song would do. This time, however, I think the song title and thumbnail are enough to sum it up.

And if not...

"Here I come, drop your jaws to the floor;
"I'm riding on my mighty laser-shooting dinosaur..."

(Thread started in Politics because I'm sure it would be moved here if it wasn't.)

The largest public service union in Canada has been in a legal strike position for a few days now. They just announced that they're walking the picket line as of 12:01 am ET.

I'm not in that union. (My union has the word "Professional" in its name, and sticks by it; we prefer binding arbitration to strikes. So I've never walked a picket line. I'm not saying one approach is better or worse than the other.)

Maybe I should work from home tomorrow. (I've never crossed a picket line, either. But I can't just blow off work.)

The people who assess tax returns and send out the refund checks are in that union. And it's tax time. I expect some public pressure to get this solved quickly.

Funny thing... the last time they went on strike was in 1991, just after I started my civil service career (as opposed to a few government summer jobs). They haven't taken job action since then, until now, which is pretty close to when I can finish my civil service career. Book Ends happen in Real Life, too.

The Register: Russia-pushed UN Cybercrime Treaty may rewrite global law. It's ... not great

Quote:Russia, however, Rodriguez said, has objected to the convention for infringing state sovereignty by allowing other nations to investigate cybercrimes in its jurisdiction. So in 2017, Russia proposed negotiating a new treaty, and in 2019 the UN adopted a resolution to do so, backed by Russia, Cambodia, Belarus, China, Iran, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Syria and Venezuela.

While time-barred from the actual Walk from what I remember of the informal rules (it came out this year), the following song would probably get Doug to seriously WTF:




Yes, it's a heavy metal song about dandruff. Now the only question is whether it would, in Doug's hands, give dandruff or cure it.

...but one never knows.


"Can anybody tell me Sailor Venus's family name?"

"Aino!"

"Great, Usagi! Are you going to tell me?"

"I just told you."

"Look, I need Venus's civilian family name."

"Aino."

"Then tell me!"

Ed Becerra posted a pair of open letters on SpaceBattles over the last few days, releasing his works to the public domain and saying his goodbyes while he is still of sound mind.

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/...t-91419105
https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/...t-91460592

The analysts at CBC appear to think that him being indicted on claiming hush-money payments were legal expenses is a bad thing, what with the investigations of tax fraud and election interference still progressing. I think they're missing something: claiming hush-money payments were legal expenses is an ethics issue. So this is Trump's ethics that are going to be on trial. Most people would be happy to have their day in court to defend their code of ethics.

(In New York, making hush-money payments is legal, but claiming that they're legal expenses is not.)

As for the possibility of his being jailed (which could happen if he makes a royal hash of his defense) interfering with his run for President in 2024:

Quote:In fact, someone physically incarcerated could run for president, and someone already has: socialist Eugene Debs won nearly a million votes in 1920 while locked up on sedition charges for opposing the First World War.

I completely forgot to do a thread for this year's title fight.

Well, the winning title set a precedent: it's the first graphic novel to take the prize. Congrats to Kate Beaton, and may she enjoy the extra royalties from the "Colbert bump" that Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is about to get. (ISBN : 9781770462892, eBook ISBN : 9781770466531)