The danger of the transporter is not really talked about in TOS, outside of accidentally sending folks to the Mirror universe. Wait, I’m just realizing… so, on top of possibly causing untimely (not instant enough for my liking) death and nonconsensual cloning, any old transporter can also accidentally create a portal to fully up-and-running interplanetary fascism. It’s just a dangerous technology all the way down.
In the first film, “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” a horrific transporter accident occurs in the first act. It’s kind of a plot point as the Chief Science Officer (a Vulcan we only briefly meet at Starfleet HQ) is killed along with another poor soul, necessitating Mr. Spock’s return to his seat. It’s fairly graphic, you hear screaming and see deformed humanoid shapes in the transporter “light show” on the ship’s platforms… the transporter technician says “oh no, they’re forming” shortly before what’s left of them is beamed back down to San Francisco. Starfleet ground control then confirms to Kirk and Co that “what made it back didn’t live long.”
Later (like only three or four scenes later), we are told that Dr McCoy doesn’t want to use the transporter to board the ship -likely because of the obvious inherent danger of the device- but is ordered to beam aboard by Kirk. His worry is then played for laughs… as if not an hour ago two people got melted and died. It’s a bizarre shift in tone, only made weirder by the framing of Bones as an old Luddite for being scared to use it.
*especially if you’ve got nothing to hide.
“And, of course, this podcast is sponsored by the Claymore Corporation! Remember folks, Claymore Landmines: fuck the person directly in front of you!”
The granddaddy of science fiction and futurism channels is Science Fiction and Futurism with Isaac Arthur. The channel has content for days about all kinds of shenanigans humans could be getting up to in space and beyond.
A close second is futurist and science fiction author John Michael Godier. His voice will either weigh your soul down to the core of the earth or you’ll find it grating… there’s really no in-between.
Living on the Southern Atlantic seaboard here, a lot of our homeless are from New Jersey and Maryland… usually get a big wave of them come winter; local governments in the northeast shipping them down so they don’t die from exposure in the colder months.
If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.
PornHub has been doing this. A little popup comes on screen when you pause the video for the first time.
College program in 06, seasonal transportation car member for two years after that.
Traditions! That’s what it’s called! Couldn’t for the life of me remember.
Where’d you work? I was a monorail pilot down in Orlando.
Sorry, was drunk when writing that. Meant it to be implied that this is what companies tell their employees about why they do it.
I’m registered unaffiliated because I’m an anarchist. Still voting though.
There’s all these iconic photos of Walt Disney where he’s pointing at stuff with a two finger point. I’ve heard that some within the company say that this is the example by which their resort employees always use the two finger point to direct guests.
In reality, he was holding a cigarette and the photos have been airbrushed. He died of lung cancer in 1966. Pointing with two fingers is just seen (kind of universally across cultures) as being non-accusatory. Like, say you saw someone talking to someone else and you cannot hear them (or it’s in a language you don’t understand); they’re pointing with one finger in your direction, you may be inclined to think they’re talking about you. If they’re using the two finger point, you’re less likely to think that… it’s the same for airliner flight crew.
“Alien” (1979) still gets me every time I watch it. The slow build, the pops of horror, the delectable suspense of the Big Chap hunting. I know every scare, every moment of terror, every death by heart… but it still gets my circulatory system going. All other home invasion/haunted house movies can go home, Alien nailed it.
Who cares what MAGA adherents believe… you don’t try to get the hard-core, brainwashed followers, they’ve already committed themselves. However, the undecided voter will see it as the GOP floundering, unable to govern.
Please shut the government down… please, please, please… while your party controls a mere one half of one of a branch of the government, please shut the government down during an election cycle. Please, please, please do it.
Well, they can, but the cost will get more volatile… super oversimplified, it’s the difference between drinking at home booze you bought at wholesale prices and keeping a running tab with a local bar/pub. You’ll be subject to the bar and any price changes they (read: the currency markets) want to make.
This… JMG is the best. Him and Isaac Arthur…
LDS Church in 2079: “Okay, okay, God is trans actually.”
When you’re the one in the household with the job that makes actual money, threats of “leave and your fired” can make you do unreasonable things. This irrationality can only be alleviated by collective bargaining and unionization… the employees standing up and saying “nope, there’s a flash flood predicted tomorrow, we’re not going to be coming in.” Remember, these folks are working hard for a wage; their bosses and the owners are making the real money off their labor. All that matters to the company is the profit that could be lost if they shuttered one day for safety’s sake.
Shutting the factory down for a little rain and wind? That could effect output and the bottom line… can’t have that… I’m gonna need you to put your life at risk for our wealth or you can start looking for other work. Work that might not pay this well/have health insurance and other benefits you family needs to survive. Everyone who lives through it gets a pizza party!