This is where I’m hung up on this too. I’m not against cloning my grey matter for, well, whatever purposes provided they’re ethical. But that’s hardly immortality for this individual typing right now.

There are some absolutely cunning and insane stories in here. Fascinating.

In a last-ditch attempt, Fabian von Schlabrendorff gave a time bomb camouflaged as a package of two liqueur bottles to an officer in Hitler’s entourage, as a supposed gift to a friend in Germany. The bomb was supposed to explode on the return flight over Poland. The package was placed in the hold of the aircraft, where it iced up, causing the detonator to fail. Realizing the failure, Schlabrendorff immediately flew to Germany and recovered the package before it was discovered.

It’s like some hilarious half-baked plan at my DnD table.

Mage: I know, I’ll use the magic item I found to attack the Lich!
DM: The one that you found in the Lich’s crypt?
Mage: Yes.
DM: The one with the backstory about how the Lich made it himself?
Mage: Uh-huh.
DM: The one where he spent three centuries researching and crafting it to dominate the world of the living? The one that has the inscription: “For the master’s tool will never dismantle the master’s house.”
Mage: … oh.
DM: Yeah…
Mage: I’m in danger.

Nevermind all the terminology gobledygook. This sounds an awful lot like a temporary tag, or a temporary permit to relocate a vehicle without a plate. Which I think is pretty standard in any state, and I can see a dealership begrudgingly doing this if it gets the car off the lot. But it’s very temporary, like days to weeks in my experience. I think the DMV would catch on if you kept coming back for permits.

Also, I’m guessing sovcit here doesn’t have a “FARM USE” loophole in their state?

You may be right. A few other comment here have remarked at his neckerchief being not quite right. That also doesn’t exclude the possibility for a digital touch-up, or a photoshoot as a dedicated training model for AI.

My wild-ass guess here is that some filtering effect is in play. Secret service people that can perform at that level, with a clean enough background, can absolutely move on to a better (and less lethal) job if they want¹. This is a position where “will you take a bullet for this president?” is absolutely front-and-center for the interview process. Also, it doesn’t take a brainiac to see that this President has a tendency to attract violence, which is not ideal for anyone with that security detail. So, trump got the best security he could possibly get which, due to his repugnant personality, are probably not the best in the business.

¹ “Our new company head of security is former Secret Service, can you believe it?”

Not to come off as a musk fan-boy (I am most certainly not), but that’s a damn good photograph. Absolutely a professional photoshoot with hilariously high-end wardrobe.

Time to refer to the checklist:

[x] Hat
[ ] Cattle

Exactly! Don’t forget about Megaweapon:

And Space Mutiny:

And apparently I’m five years late to the party:

I’ve always thought these looked like they belong in a science-fiction b-movie. With the blue paint and police lights on top, they really look like they’re from a RoboCop knock-off film.

because they’re not going to see a major revision of LCARS anytime soon.

I just realized the logistical support nightmare that would be. It has to support written language and cultural context for all Federation species without breaking UI/UX. It would also have to produce legible output for all those different vision systems, which could run the gamut of what’s “visible” light frequencies, contrast, brightness, and suitable magnification. Once your software engineering dream-team solves all that, you don’t change it. Ever. My head canon here is that LCARS is ugly and clunky, but is a compromise that everyone can manage to suffer through.

I find it amusing that a console featuring tangible buttons and lights with fixed positions, as seen on the original Enterprise, might actually be the better answer here.

To be fair, short of rapid depressurization or suicide, dying that way is hard to do in space. Modern spacecraft have relatively safe environments; no Trek style plasma conduits or transporters to screw that up. The impacts that radiation and zero-g have on the human body are also factored into the mission way in advance. Even crew homicide is carefully mitigated with psych evals and tests, prior to launch.

Instead you have a slew of less fun alternatives. Limited food/water/O2, heating, tumbling into the void on a spacewalk, navigation error, all set up slow and agonizing ways to go. Especially that last one - you could wind up knowing that you’re going to die a whole month ahead of time, with nothing to do but wait.

I can’t fathom it myself.

Even if you bought yourself all the cosmetic surgery, life extending treatments, life extending drugs, toys, mansions, planes, airports, boats, gourmet food, personal entertainment, and (why not) all the sex you could possibly handle every day forever, it still wouldn’t come close to the billions some of these creatures have.

It might also be possible that they’re in competition with one another, all while (re)building an aristocracy within the western world. 21st century wealth does not extend from land ownership like it did back in the 18th, and it can be argued that it now extends from control of labor itself; this mirrors the shift from industrial to information economy. I think that’s already happening with the consolidation of monster corporations we have these days.

Another possibility I’ve tossed around is a tad more dark. If these animals are in the accelerationist camp, they’re hedging their bets and are prepared to “lose” billions in worth in order to stay on top when things fall apart. And if I’m right, we should see the ultra-wealthy attempt to build their own survival compounds and purchase self-sufficient infrastructure to achieve this; that includes “buying” governments.

Exactly, but also relatable. Mistaking the group’s poor taste in film for a MST3K-style riff-a-thon is something I would have done.

Pilot: Comrade, this is taking too long!
Co-pilot: Da. Hold my vodka. Do not spill.
Co-pilot: :: proceeds to execute barrel roll ::

I used to have a friend like this.

Back in 2008, it was clear that she was watching Fox News for her primary source of “information” about the world and politics. Even then, it was a constant headache to push back against the one-sided, stilted, non-scientific, ideological slop that channel churns out. Since this was an election year, Facebook just made it even worse. She constantly re-posted all manner of emotionally provocative nonsense without thinking.

After the election, it only got worse. I watched this person go from semi-reasonable and rational, to a slowly devolving, emotionally driven, irrational, and fearful person over the following three years. It was as if reason itself was slowly draining out of her life. To make matters worse: at the start of this, all of her friends were socially liberal and left-leaning to deep left politically. I, along with a lot of others, slowly pulled out of her social sphere. I think she only has political sparring partners left on Facebook.

What makes me sad is that, outside of anything involving politics, this person was generous, kind, a great host, outgoing, and fun-loving. I want my friend back, but I also can’t afford the time to babysit another person’s broken brain forever.

♫ Cause you had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work on a smile and you go for a ride ♫

It’s all about conspicuous consumption; gotta show that you can afford the real article. Some people really do believe in the power of “pay to win” and bolt-on status points, and by all accounts, are actively supported by their peers.

On occasion, branded stuff really is the best value. IMO, that’s usually when a brand is starting out, not when they’re popular.

Not even that. All your state’s comptroller¹ has to do is discharge debts made to the state, by writing “discharged with prejudice” with red pen on the DOT contractor bills. But this only works on pink collection notices, not normal paperwork. State stays out of debt and the roads stay paved.

¹ Yep, that’s a real word.

This is self-awarewolf material, right here.