do do do dooodo do do do there for you when the rain starts to fall do do do dooodo scene fades in to monica standing by a table decorating a cake
chandler is standing by her and says 'thats some very MANLY pink icing for Joeys birthday cake.. hoo RAh!' audience laughs.. Monica : its pretty. its cheap. its all we had left at work!' audience laughs.
Made up a Friends story for my ex while she was bored waiting on a job interview.
Davi
David
Phoebe comes out of monica and chandlers bedroom.. the couple are startled by her appearance. Phoebe ' oh did you not know I was in there.. I fell asleep about an hour ago..' Chandler turns to monica and says 'but we were just having.. 30 mins ago; Monica: I know!.. Phoebe.. did you perchance hear us doing anything in there? Phoebe: no. why? what did you do in there? Monica: nothing. Monica turns around to finish decorating the cake and Phoebe sexy-growls at chandler
David
Monica: this icing has to set, while chandler and I pickup the noisemakers Phoebe DO NOT LET anyone touch this cake!' Phoebe agr
David
Scene: chandler and monica leave, phoebe watches them leave then shrugs her shoulders and goes back to the bedroom to sleep. few minutes later Joey enters.. sees the cake and speaks out loud to himself: WHAT DID MONICA TELL YOU? DON'T EAT THE CAKE.. DON'T EVEN TOUCH IT.. DON'T EVEN LOOK AT IT! now where that milk for my milkshake Joeys got a thirst on! Joey covers his eyes from the cake to 'NOT EVEN LOOK' at it.. he is struggling to open the fridge door with one hand and as he manages to get the milk out he slips and his other hand goes SPLAT in the middle of his birthday cake.. at the moment Phoebe comes out and is shocked.. 'Joseph Francis Tribbiani.. what do you think you are doing??
David
David
Joeys tries to lick the cake off his fingers.. Phoebe: joey Joey JOEY! stop stop you're making it worse!.. Joey: 'Deliciously worse!.. it was an accident!' Phoebe 'Call me skeptical' Joey: noo.. I was just trying to some milk and I slipped .. honest!'..Phoebe: well if Monica shouts at me enough .. I'll crack and lie and say you planned it" audience laughs.
David
Scene: Ross in the coffee house eyes the new female Barista.. her name tag says Keighley, she is pretty. They have a brief exchange of words that has a slight sexual tension. We pan out and see Rachel. Rachel: I'M RIGHT BEHIND YOU' audience laughs.
David
Rachel: hey! hey! snap out it! what did you get Joey for his birthday? Ross; the same thing I get him every year.. 12 coupon Sub Sandwich voucher. Rachel: so you think I shouldn't have got him sneakers? .. Ross: WHY would you get him sneakers??.. Rachel: your probably right stupid gift. hmm.. they ARE the right size for me, maybe I should just keep them? audience laughs.
David
Monica and Chandler enter the coffee house: Chandler: Hey guys.. guys: heyyy.. Rachel: whats that?? looking at a box monica was carrying.. Monica: THIS is the REAL cake'..Chandler: C'MON no way Joey isnt going to eat that cake.. its a fake one. one for him to ruin and a real one for all us .. Scene back at Monica and chandlers apt. Joey and Phoebe are using toothpaste to fill the hand print in the cake
David
Phoebe exclaims: THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN EASIER IF YOU HADNT EATEN SO MUCH OF IT OFF YOUR FINGERS!' Joey' it was delicious though
David
Phoebe.. not just the lettering icing.. Joey comes out with some pink toothpaste, when they are finished the cake looks pretty close to before Joey smooshed it.. Phoebe: now lets just HOPE no one tastes it! Joey :which is uncommon for cakes.. as NO ONE LIKES CAKES! audience laughs.
David
Monica and Chandler return home. Monica notes: WOW Joey new life for you! you didnt touch the cake!' Joeys 'Yeah well.. you said.. DONT TOUCH THE CAKE!'
David
Scene: later at the party.. Ross comes up to Rachel and says: This chick is seriously weird! She said she ate seahorses! SEAHORSES! I told her how weird that was.. and I DONT think I will be having sex tonight! not that I really want to SEAHORSES REALLY!?' Joey approaches Keighley ' How you doin?' Keighley 'I'm good thanks.. your friend Ross freaked out at me earlier.. I dont think he likes me..' Joey' dont mind Ross .. he is a bit of a dork when it comes to fine looking women.. except Rachel.. wow he got LUUCKYY.. hehe'.. Keighley cuts off a slice of the fake cake.. as Monica comes up to him and says : Joey I have a confession to make..Joey: Keighley you might now want.. oh what is it Monica?
David
not want*
Monica: I did something you might be mad about.. but once you see.. I think you'll be OKAY with it' Joey: It's funny you mentions all that I did something YOU might be mad about.. but once you see.. I HOPE you'll be OKAY with it
Keighley eats some of the cake. Joey looks horrified. Keighley: Who made this cake? Monica: I did.. I'm a chef!.. Keighley: its very.. minty! audience laugh.
David
Phoebe comes out of Monica and Chandlers bedroom.. and comments to herself ' I HAVE GOT TO STOP SLEEPING IN THEIR BED.. I almost missed Joeys party!' Everyone in the party starts sing Happy Birthday to Joey.. we can see Keighley has loads of mashed toothpaste and cake stuck to her teeth.. at the end of the song Keighley comes up to Joey and says ' I know I came with Ross.. but that seems like a bust..fancy a kiss Birthday boy?' Joey leans in to kiss Keighley and then pulls back and says ' OH MAN THAT TOOTHPASTE IS OVERPOWERING what are you trying to do.. kill me with Minty freshness?' audience laughs. Monica scowls at Joey. Joey nervously smiles.
David
Scene: its the middle of the night in the apartment: Chandler screams out.. 'GET OUT GET OUT OF OUR HOUSE!' Phoebe sheepishly walks out of their bedroom dischevlied .. WOW that was a good sleep ' END
Soo.. Netflix cancelled Iron Fist and Luke Cage in quick succession, THEN announced they had an extra 2 Billion dollars for 'original programming'.. I *think* I see how much NF was paying Marvel for both the rights to those shows and the running cost. wow.. that's a lotta cash!
Now to the beef and chips..
Why doesn't NF buy outright a comic publishing house? They make a deal with the publishing house that everything will stay the same except now NF will use the character rights to further their brand by making original shows with said characters in a shared universe.. I mean why waste those skills and resources learned in the MCU by letting all that talent they amassed drift away?
Think about it..
2000AD
The Judge Dredd franchise is doing nothing after its 2012 outstanding cult movie.
Rogue Trooper.. wow I am privileged to say I read these as a child.. is the story of an anonymous soldier genetically created who goes in search of his creator to bring him to justice for all his genetic crimes.. sounds standard fair, but if you can imagine it how I remember it.. it's a tragic heart wrenching tale of constant; betrayal, isolation, feeling of worthlessness, chaos and evaluation of self worth. If told correctly it is easily equivalent to the tragic tale of Bruce Banner. 2000AD would have been an excellent choice for purchasing a comic publisher. The Universal Soldier movies were AWFUL compared to the full run in the comics, which was iirc an updated version of Rogue Trooper but instead giving the soldier mind boggling super powers. IMHO.. Rogue Trooper for the 'try not to cry' story alone is far superior.
If done correctly, the Judge Universe which shares Judge Dredd, Judge Anderson (female PSI corps) and Judge Rico.. there is SO much that could be done with those characters alone.The tone is very adult across all of 2000AD's storylines as they were aimed at 15/16/18 + but not younger.
Strontium Dogs is a very complicated tale, that currently I am struggling to remember, bit like Tank Girl meets Mad Max, not a story I personally liked, but seems popular with fans.
Dark Horse
Erm, Dark Horse, Image and Valiant compete for the third spot behind Marvel and DC .. but IIRC most of DH's character movie rights are sold off now, making it a nightmare of legal difficulties. (HellBoy, The Mask, SinCity)
Image
Legendary comic book artist Todd McFarlane's own publishing house. I don't know these characters and if the stories are any good, so I am not the person to recommend or suggest ill investment in them. I have no idea.
Valiant
I'll be blunt.. Valiant is pretty much a clone of Marvel, with slightly gritter stories and not too shy to clone a little DC every now and then either.
case in point:
Sony has been.. 'sniffing' around Valiant for the last couple of years but doesn't have any investment contracts that are so concrete, if NF bought Valiant to make a 'ValiantVerse' Valiant couldn't jump ship on Sony.
Their biggest character is X-O Manowar, think; a time displaced Iron Man discovering the future, I don't think it's a great story to be honest, so a fresh take would probably better better than the .. 'lets explain the present date to a person for the past motif' that is slightly overdone, especially with superheroes. (NOT Altered Carbon which is *excellent*)
What makes Valiant a good investment? 29 years of stories to choose from and many characters. What makes it a bad investment? The sheer work to get the characters recognised. Not as sure an investment as 2000AD, especially with Judge Dredd on the roster and that blazingly good movie in 2012. see : Dredd
To sum up..
I believe NF should outright buy 2000AD lock, stock, kitchen sink, all barrells, light switches and bulbs. Time Inc which was the owner of 2000AD and many many more publications, sold Time Inc UK to Epiris.. see here for more details:
"Time Inc UK is the second business to be acquired through Epiris Fund II, the first was the Portals De La Rue specialist paper business acquired for £61m at the beginning of the month. The fund can commit up to £200m to any single deal. Various possible price tags have been attached to the Time Inc UK business, varying from £150m to £120m."
The above is for 40 different magazines, various publications and publication houses.
Given an educated guess from those figures, this would place 2000AD (if Epiris is willing to sell) at around £10 million to £40 million. I feel confident that Eipris doesn't know what they have with 2000AD and how much it's worth. 40 years of storytelling making adaptations a breeze for the screen. Highly identifiable characters, especially Judge Dredd and Judge Anderson..
If you have no idea about Anderson .. ohw flip wow! she is basically a superhero judge with every bit as much presence as Dredd. genius who reads minds, who can track criminals through walls by their thoughts, make them shoot themselves if she pushes hard enough, but if she pushes too hard she has seizures, and oh wow you don't want seizures when you are in the middle of a gangwar .. flip! that show HAS to happen! (updated 16th/Dec/2019: man I need to sort out whats canon to Dredd and whats not) My take on Judge Anderson would be:
I would simply call it 'Psi-Corps'.. Judge Anderson is the most senior Psi-Corps Judge who is not a Chief Judge, she is addicted to auto-sensation; reading her own mind while feeling sensations, not in a creepy way, but she is slightly auto-sexual, finding her own body sexually attractive (Canon: Anderson is actually Hyper-sexual in the comics, this has came out in different ways, however I am suggesting a new way iirc) , showers often, showering which causes her to climax, in the Psi-Corps this is taboo as it causes psynaptic feedback to degrade pathways, most who do this burn out after a couple of months, she has been doing this for 6 years without even another Psi catching her, she is that good, level 5 Psi (Canon: Level 5 Psi is in the comics) , genius and stunningly beautiful, physically perfect.. Psi's can't have 'normal' relationships as they know everything their partner is thinking, sometimes feeling (Correct Canon), so they are discouraged from sexual activity (my suggestion only) , it's not a law.. but well known that sexual behavior is considered 'unhealthy' within the Psi-Corps. I can easily imagine a scenario where, Judge Anderson is often called in for Sexual Orientation training, which makes her think one of the Chief Judges suspects her secret, the training is images of wood bark rotting and rotting meat, readings from plutonic poetry. Heart monitors are in many of the showers, but she uses one of the malfunctioned cubicles.. a few malfunctioned years ago and no one caught them. The same one everytime.. imagine the episode where they find out about the malfunction.. she would go off the rails, Dredd would have to track her down (crossover, suggestion season 3 finale, post credits season 1, maintenance is in the showering area in the background, two or three mentions about 'malfunctions in hygiene areas' in season 2).
I would set the movie 'Dredd' as her first day being mentored by Dredd, Anderson (16yo) full of hormones and lack of Psi training is failing out of every test until she meets Dredd as per the 2012 movie. The Psi Corps being a long term secret project at that time then during the 9 years elapsed between the 2012 movie and TV show, Psi-Corps has become a fully integrated arm of the Judges.
Her story is easily Sherlock Holmes, replacing heroin addiction with her Psi auto-sensation addiction (which would have great ratings appeal), she is actually a master detective even besides her Psi mind reading, even outshining Dredd at times, his application of 'The Law' is perfect but she can sometimes have a deeper understanding (she showed this with chief judges before and even in the Dredd movie).
Judge Rico, Dredd's secret clone (Correct Canon) , I'd start his story in MegaCity 2, it would be an entire show that was near identical to the main Dredd show, using a similar but different looking main actor, a second tier off-season show, so when fans are missing Dredd, Rico gives them their action buzz.
I'd layer the shows, starting with Psi-Corps and Judge Anderson, then do Dredd full out action, then 'MegaCity 2' Rico's 'corrupt anti-hero' show.. putting Dredd and Rico on a collision path, while Rico is Dredd's clone & is equally skilled, he is not as smart as Dredd, his application of the law is imperfect, he does 'corrupt' things better compared to Dredd.. in my musing here, he is the top Judge who is not a Chief Judge for MegaCity 2. He is an exceptional schemer, but as far as regular duties goes, Dredd is in fact smarter.
I'd put Dredd vs Rico as a season 10 Finale, don't buy the first house you see because 'it's a house', I'd make it a very slow boil. I'd take the idea of the Death Corps and make them (Psi) Chief Judges who died but their Psi imprint lived on inside bio-mech augments, they are trying to breakthrough into the minds of the Psi Corps, but instead of turning Anderson into Buffy, begin with Psi-Corps vs Death Corps for a single episode then move Death Corps over to Dredd. Judge Death is a Chief Judge of the Death Corps and a recurring villain, this could easily be done by the former (dead) judges taking control of holograms.
We don't need to throw down big boss villains for each episode/season, as Dredd the comic was rarely like that, like Ma-Ma for the movie, she was a small villian that because of direction and story was made huge, Dredd stories are often like this; self-contained. Background story arcs, need to be much much subtler than that, think; the subtlety of Rick and Morty's background arcs. Huge build-ups to Death Corps over seasons. Make us earn our sympathy for Rico.. that some will be team Rico and some team Dredd for the finale. Show us that while Rico is evil, we can still identify with him in a profound sense .. this could come from Rico slowly learning about his past.
Anderson rookie'd under Dredd for three years. When she was 19 years old, her final night before becoming a full Judge, they slept together, but this wasn't a 'me too' thing, quite the opposite, Dredd is pretty uncomfortable about any and all intimacy but he knew that night would be her last chance to have sex, and never again due to Psi-Corps policies on intimacy(Suggestion only) .. then grew a dichotomy between them of great trust and respect, he is her mentor who was kind when she needed him to be and her now at 25 years of age.. Dredd is proud to have mentored her, she is the most superb Psi-Corps officer he could have ever wished to mentor. They never speak of that night, like it is forgotten (they actually have NO interest in a romance together) but something deeper than merely a short lived romance grew, a deep friendship. Anderson is one of the few officers Dredd won't bark orders to. She often eavesdrops on Dredds mind, however he knows this and uses it as a channel of communication.
(Surprisingly.. iirc.. This actually happened in the comics, it was during the time Anderson had became a Chief judge in the wake of the death of many chief judges.. it was a version where Dredd and Anderson were around the same age and Dredd hadn't mentored her.. OR it may have been Rico pretending to be Dredd.. I forget which)
Psi-Corps if done badly would be a feeble femi-drama, one woman strives against male arrogance, instead of us watching that she earns what she has by correct action regardless of gender (which is what Anderson is actually like; she earns her respect regardless of gender by correct action).
Done correctly, a hyper-sexualized vs hyper-repressed tale 'cop drama' on a intellectual par with Sherlock .. in our modern day the clergy deal with sexual discipline, in Anderson's world the pressure on her is immense and the only way she can release that pressure is by feeding her addiction, she is unique in that having done that for this length of time, she is not brain dead.
(My suggestion) Two months usually mean 'burn out' in which the Psi officer goes somewhat insane/dementia .. in the early trials before the Psi corps was established properly, many Psi subjects shot their partners due to; feedback sensory loops/sensory overload, climax psychology of 'changing faces trauma', 'Vanity Trauma' seeing themselves as their partner (in-love with them) saw them meaning they couldn't stop looking in mirrors, Psi subjects became convinced what they experienced was 'real' and their partner had cheated on them, they found out about illegal things their partner had done in their life and some Psi subjects commited suicide.. many other cases, all adding up to the Psi Corps policy of no sexual conduct; no partners. This is why Dredd would be such a good deal for Anderson's 'last night', as Dredd pretty much hates intimacy, so none of the above would apply and she could feel the sensations and still feel her own identity 'herself' and not him.
Like in the movie, we see her get aroused while Dredd tends to her wounds, she says nothing, nothing is ever spoken between them, I would continue this 'unspokenness' throughout their friendship, she admires him at times and that sometimes sparks into arousal on her part, but never on Dredd's side (this is actually iirc as per the comics). They have no romantic intent towards each other as I said, it's much much more complicated than romance, which itself is already complicated, they both feel their deep friendship and.. in a city where everyone turns on everyone, even other judges, to find someone you can trust.. is a price beyond measure.
Rogue Trooper
The tragic tale of Rogue Trooper (which could be set in the same universe as Dredd etal~ except in the future) the poetry of his story is also about isolation, so isolating it from the furious action of Dredd would keep Rogue Troopers emotional integrity.
Rogue Troopers story is about self nihilism, a real and tangible one, whereas humans can debate our Creator all day long (I'm Catholic myself and believe).. Rogue Trooper can't have poetical and moral insights of that vein, or perhaps he can, but one thing is sure, he knows *who* his creator is.. a man who is the head of corporation that is at war. We follow his slow journey of awakening.. as he sees his brothers die for what seems to him to be no reason, the commander who betrays them for profit, not the last person to betray him.. and over the course of 18 years as he finds out more and more about his 'father' who has tried to kill him ceaselessly..we slowly find out more about ourselves through his eyes.
If this story was done badly, it would be a racial trope.. it has NOTHING to do with race and EVERYTHING to do with genetic offspring and Man's responsibility to what we create.
To sum up..in the episode (SPOILER)
To sum up..in the episode where Poe died in Altered Carbon.. this would be EVERY episode of Rogue Trooper, like Lemony Snicket's SOUE but without any humor of any kind, a kind person taught to kill, who goes on a righteous journey only to be confronted by the harsh bitterness of humanity. It was a bit of a right of passage for me, after 18 years in real life, reading the conclusion to Rogue Trooper ..wow.
If I was writing/directing Rogue Trooper it would hardly have any dialogue, which coincidentally mean it would be more open to international appeal, a cycle of tragedy in every episode, 1 step forward for 10 steps back. Played much like a sad music video for 1 hour to 1 and a 1/2 hour episodes, we see Rogue Trooper struggle with his genetic programming of cooperation and his innate kindness versus the bitter truth of the world he inhabits. After a couple of seasons I would suggest he could have his 'Fr1day' moniker on his helmet as his own identity grows in proportion to his hate of 'father'. 'father' who is a war criminal in the same league of Stalin and Pol Pot.. one lone Rogue soldier will take him down against all odds, against tides of betrayal and callus hate.
(Update 16th/Dec/2019)
When I first wrote this I was unaware of the purchase of Millarworld by Netflix.
that promote respectful politics and near endless resources.
War is caused by resource management; that we *have* to manage resources.
Hi
War is caused by one united political body fighting another united political body over a resource.
Whether it be land or fuel.. ‘riches’ of certain denominations; gold, diamonds etc.. If we end the *need* to sate the human population’s desire by supply and demand economics, coming from near endless resources of our Solar system ‘The Sol System’, we do away with such wars. Let’s imagine for a moment what such a society’s politics might look like..
in the year 2130 what kind of political shifts might we have..
Capitalist? Socialist?
None of these would fit the picture, as we have near unlimited resources;
Not Capitalism, as the price cannot increase due to demand.
Not Socialism , as it is industry that would provide for us, and people do not work for free.
A system of prestige and privilege to those daring enough to mine Jupiter and Saturn .. a certain kind of military. Now before you go laughing at me for seriously suggesting this, yes, it is a kind of ‘star trek’ future, Gene Roddenberry is considered a cultural genius, that he well may be the Einstein of understanding fundamental human culture.. so why would I dismiss his ideas, because they were portrayed in a TV Show? no. I will not. And by describing him thusly.. I invite you to open your eyes to his vision of humanities future.
Let’s imagine together the world of 2130..
Human children live with their parents until they are 30 years old, at 18yo they move to a small home of their own on their parents land (AKA Granny flat) this teaches them how to run a household without the disaster of having a full house to run and can be under the watchful eye of their parents.. they *can* branch out if they choose, however then they would have to visit a work exchange & amasse credits which the housing would assign to an area the client felt suitable. In the meantime they reside in a boarding house.
Houses of this world have great value, they are one of the only commodities left that hold great physical prestige, houses especially nice houses on earth must be earned. modest housing is provided for all. Land is precious on Earth .. if you are willing to join the Service, then after as little as 4 years you will be given, a plot (several acres) on Mars or Sky-House on Venus, you are expected to build your own house, however there are drones that can build this for you, they are free to use and reasonable in cost to buy. 8–12 years in the Service gets you a prestige house and estate on Earth. This is your heritage so long as you have immediate family to pass it on to.. even a nephew or niece, cousin-nephew or niece is a stretch but can be argued in the courts. Each deed owner must have 4 years work to keep possession of the house.
The prestige houses are large with 4 large bedrooms, bedrooms are like reasonable sized apartments, each with on-suite bathroom, closet and den (mini living room/mini-kitchen), outside is a generous garden 1 to 4 acre land with 3 extra domicles, one for each child (or in reverse parent if so applicable) 2 seater auto-drive enclosed mini-copters for each household member. You see the duty of earthbound human couples is create children, as creating children in space is very difficult. Childbearing and rearing is celebrated as the other solar bodies are so dangerous.
If you are young (child) , sick, disabled, Older (65–80) or Elderly (80–120) you exempt to having a work ethic if you so choose, the service-persons are aware if a disabled person were on their crew and had a problem with said disability this could cause a death or multiple deaths, it is not safe for such people to sign up for the Service, unless they are given technology to overcome such disabilities. The Service understands that if someone is not fit for service then they well may not be able to work normally either, no disabled person is allowed to work off-world for safety reasons.
Much like soldiers, sailors and airforce personnelle feel honour in the duty of protecting life, our Service feels this also.
What happened to the ‘countries’?
They still exist; each with their own traditions/culture, their own beliefs and politicians to represent those beliefs. They are part of a world council, much like the EU is a council for Europe. Politicians no longer threaten ‘war’ as this has ended, now they threaten others with moving projects they are in charge of out of the sphere of that countries control ..who desire to have a more prominent role in said projects. ..
I’ll give an example..
Scotland of 2130 develops a near perpetual motion engine based in the Stirling Engine, the Engine is for outer colonization in cold temperatures. This tech is destined for Oberon, but Scotland do not have authority yet to make this a manned mission, Scotland becomes ‘project lead’ of the Oberon Satellite..
India of 2130 wants in on the Engine Project, as they are the lead for their manned mission to Uranus .. Scotland negotiates with India a percentage of the mining rights and to expand the Oberon Satellite mission to a fully manned mission with Scotland's own habi-pod hitching a ride with the Indians to Uranus.
Both are happy, Scotland gets a manned mission to Oberon and a say on the Uranus mission (some preliminary mining rights too) and a secondary say on Uranus launch and India also gets a seat on future development of the Engine and the technology to complete the mission.
Seems a little slim for India..
but read on:
This is the first mining mission to Uranus.. it is highly likely that India will become primary curator (see below) of Uranus, and Scotland primary curator of Oberon.. This will be India’s first curatorship planetary body; The Highest Honour of the World Council, I am stating that mildly .. and Scotland’s third curatorship of a large moon, the others being Titan and Ganymede, in fact I heard on the news, ‘what if Scotland is monopolizing the large habitable moons?’..but it’s politics, we in Scotland have only one meager human civilian colony on Ganymede, Titan is still controlled by the Service for mining.. it’s all just planning for the future.
What if a country doesn't have enough Service persons for a manned mission?
Then we have Service conscripts, volunteers and partnerships. In the above deal, Scotland could easily ask India for some Indian conscripts for going to Oberon, but that probably would mean India would ask for a percentage of the mining resources returned from Oberon, if they didn't ask for extra rights, then that is called a 'partnership' meaning most likely the two countries would work closer in the future. Currently worldwide, Russia has the highest conscript and partnership record, as Venus is so hostile, a number of reasons that their Service:
1. Might not want to go to Venus.
2. Russia is able to pool Service from Partners for Venus.
3. They negotiate mining rights in exchange for conscripts, and so without having to be Curator or have invested a lot of technology/time in a certain Solar Body, they get a 'larger slice of the cake'.
What happens if there is a dispute about the mining rights?
IF there were a dispute.. then both parties lose the first agreements. Both parties have to relinquish their gains.. which in India and Scotland's case would lead to Uranus/Oberon being handed to another nation/s, the nation/s that were most foremost before the agreement was made, it can be neither party of the first agreement. Neither nation is allowed in the disputed space for 100 years. Both nations lose out on prestige because of the dispute, meaning they get lead on less and less projects and less and less say in what happens within our solar system and other nations fill the void. They are also publicly embarrassed, that they couldn’t work their differences out.. meaning come election time, voters will be angry with such conduct, and they will most probably be voted out.
A meritocracy of nations. The most civilized prosper.
The nations that do not contribute sufficiently, are looked after, their peoples are well fed and treated like any other, we do not punish those who do not contribute, however we expect their service persons to do the most dangerous jobs to compensate for the prestige lost by their engineers.
Each Solar body has a primary curator, for the moon (Luna) it is the Americans (U.S.A.) they run the spaceport, much like an airport upon earth is. Their job is to defuse hydrogen from Luna’s hidden small ocean underneath Luna’s crust and restock the ships. For Venus the primary curator is Russia, Russia’s job is to use it’s forges to craft the newer type of mining vessel from asteroids, using the sulfur and heat to reshape the asteroid. For Mars the primary curator being the EU (Taken over after the SpaceX missions when the USA did not provide sufficient funding, it’s complicated) as of 2130 Mars is the most successful off-world colony, the EU nations really worked hard and got a slight terraforming effect working, something about using Venusian diffused sulfur (sulfuric acid) at the poles to burn down to the core while pumping out carbon dioxide then when we get to the core turning it into a giant electromagnet, so far after 50 years, we have a small low-oxy garden on the surface, although I don't really understand the science. It is estimated not to be complete until around the year 3000, wow. Each nation has a solar body that they alone are primary curator of. Their home nations are the richest in that particular resource, unless another solar body has more.. but all trade and all nations have a basic small percentage of mining resources returned to them.. if you want more, contribute more.
The Americans have rights in all the returned mined resources, if you use the Luna spaceport, you sign a right, the world council deemed it fair at 5% of all returned resources. Tensions had risen around 60 years ago (2070) until the Russians got in on a project to carbonize sulfur,(into highly powerful diamonds, called ‘clean diamonds’) which lead to another project of refracting light, they are now quite happy as they are using this technology to work on a ‘faster than light drive’ which is a 'clean laser' that focuses a beam to begin a quantum entanglement between the vessel and forward space, the laser begins by creating a contraction in space making the front of the vessel smaller and the rear stays the same size, which relatively means it has become bigger, which pushes it beyond the speed of light meaning they *may* be the first humans to travel to another solar system and so be able to put in a bid to become it’s curator.
Wait, what's a 'bid'?
Oh, it's when a nation make application to become a solar bodies curator, to the World Council; which used to be called 'United Nations' or UN in olden times.
To put in an application the nation are required to have met certain criteria:
1. They have a long standing interest in that Solar Body, e.g technology/probes.
2. They are a trusted nation with Solar Bodies and have not ecologically harmed a Solar Body.
3.They have leads in projects about said Solar Body.
4. They have significantly contributed to Human understanding about that Solar Body.
5. They are willing to share the resources of that Solar body with all nations, while protecting its ecosystem*.
*(Of course they are entitled to what's called 'The Lion's Share' which is a legal term meaning they can mine as much as they like from that Solar Body, knowing if they go 'too far' there will be Global outcry..and possibly, likely, World Council sanctions.. which is almost certain death to their people as the food and resources dry up, it can last up to 5 years and at the end the remaining survivors are forced to break that country apart, creating new countries.. why so harsh when everything is so peaceful?.. every citizen of the earth.. every human being owns each and every solar body, being Curtor is a very grave and serious matter, by destroying a Solar Body , that Curator has robbed every human, and potentially killed all humans by crashing said solar body into the earth (or the chaos of crashing into mars or venus or?) .. as of 2130, no one has done this. I think the politicians see it as a silly old law and perhaps have the view 'who would be foolish enough to mine a solar body to its destruction?? absurd!')
Being curator, does not mean it becomes part of your country.. in fact all peoples of all nations are welcome on every solar or interstellar body.. if you are human.. you’re OK! no immigration laws.. however if you try to take away something large from that solar body, such as mining, that’s a no-no. Samples? fine; take up to one tonne. small things like that.. considered souvenirs.. or scientific souvenirs.. no curator cares about where you travel or your solar liberty.. all humans; allowed everywhere. However, infringing in mining rights is a serious violation, and if you are working for a corporation you may all get imprisoned. If a country violates mining rights, they lose prestige, which as demonstrated is serious, possibly losing your curatorship and that meaning your Service will be assigned the most dangerous mining places in our solar system.
Due to weapons manufacturers feeling ‘left behind’ many of them around 2025 started their own space program, they saw ‘the writing on the wall’ for the end of war.. so diverged in to space. At that time it was not illegal to create a non-nation state corporation, since 2120 more and more humans have been crying out for laws to ban these corporations from owning mining rights and trading with free commodities (unlicensed goods from mining rights of uncurated bodies), the USA ignores the pressure on them to ban these corporate entities due to their rights as primary curator of Luna and their rights to incoming mining resources.
Japan and France pushed for IP challenges in the World Court (an IP challenge is Intellectual Property contestation, as the laws around being curator of a solar body are based on patent laws) 3 years ago, the World Court is yet to judge. If successful Japan and France will become Luna’s new joint curators, joint curation is a better way to make sure no one breaks the law for the second time as each party is aware what happened to the first.. exclusion. Japan and France jointly curate “Hoth-ree” (HO3) Earth’s mini-moon asteroid, they have a basic communications and Q-Computer base there but it’s unmanned and tiny.. if they win curation of Luna, that would be a huge deal.
Aren't there Armies?
Well, no.. everyone who joins the Service is part of the 'world army' I suppose, no one (politicians) is thinking about 'war'.. they are thinking 'resources'.
Each Service person has a small country flag pin on their lapel, denoting their country of origin, however this is largely ignored by civilians except when checking their language.
The Service assigns rank and you are that rank no matter the country. Service persons are unique individuals.. while in the past of the 2000s military personnel were hardcore loyal to their own country, the modern Service is hardcore loyal to peace and resources first.. they love their country sure, but they love peace more.. it's antiquated thinking to not realize that politicians are fighting over resources, and then send their military to war over that.. Our Service is .. different, they are taught from day 1 of their induction, 'war ends peace' and 'If you fight, be it for the truth of humanity, not the selfish egos of others.'
In 2085 there was the Venusian Odessa Incident, a sky-vessel became unstabilized due to many amplifiers containing large magnetic speakers that were able to broadcast over half a mile being loaded on to the sky-frigate 'The Odessa'. It was for a music concert later that night.. it became unstable in its orbit and fell to ground, there were many civilians there for the concert and also residents, the outer Service persons perished quickly, an SOS was sent out.. Service personnel from every country in the vicinity as well as Russian Service persons in the other sky-vessels answered the call.. The Service persons from other countries knew it was certain death to go to Venus's surface.. and that if they did nothing, they would not be reprimanded.. well that's not what happened. 40 Service persons from many nations died that day.. and every civilian lived. Russia publicly thanked and mourned the deaths, he was quite moved and moving to watch, like he didn't expect the world to help Russia or something..
But something deeper happened; The Service .. and humanity in general realized, we are one of the same kind.
All members of the Service are honoured throughout the whole Earth and in every country. Even Scots and English rivalry of 1300 years is put aside for the Service, civilians yeah sure still happens, but when a Service person comes in.. everyone gives that person the respect and honour they deserve.
Imagine we step into a bar and there are people arguing over buying a Service person a drink..
finances are not like they have been in the past..
we have credits, food is plentiful and cheap, water is free, soda and beer is ultra cheap.. but prestige items, like hand-made whisky, costs quite a few credits. Of course you could buy the bot made version, which is substantially cheaper, only 1 more credit than beer but *this* is an honoured Service person.. you rarely meet them on-world.. their brave efforts meant peace for your father and mother and children and grand-children to come.. they need to be celebrated!
We receive around 5000 credits a week, that hand-made whisky (bottle 70cl) was 1000 credits.. however, food is often 1 or 2 credits, an expensive meal would be 5 credits. Commerce hasn’t died, it has just evolved to what people needed it to be.
What happens to those who refuse to engage with the system?
If they are violently criminal, they are sent to mine uncurated bodies with a prison ship watching nearby.
If they are non-violently criminal, Mars has some excellent Penal colonies, setup specifically for rehabilitation.
If they have .. what is jokingly called on Earth ‘Artists syndrome’.. nothing much, they will find it very difficult to raise their own children as they do not have the land, they *can* raise one child with a modest amount of land, such as an apartment, and remember the government does not encourage selective breeding or ‘out breeding’ as it’s recently been called.. natural selection is all we as humans need as its choice and not enforced!.. However, even saying that these people are less and less likely to be able to pass their genes on as they do not have the land. Sad but true. These people receive 3000 credits a week, and like all other people working or not, they do not pay any kind of rent, those credits they receive are there for food, drink, clothing & personal needs.
Although there is the above joke about ‘artists’.. real artists are given dispensation for upto 10 years, having attended college and passed or having a gallery showing.. or if another arts .. that particular concert or theater. This counts as their 4 years work ethic, as they have contributed to society. (I feel a certain kinship to this as I write.. I am disabled, voc. degree in music production and .. look at how much I have written, it is clear I wish to contribute.)
Intersolar travel.. any human of any nation can go anywhere, but first you need a permit, permits are granted after 4 years contributing work, can be in any field.. if you want to waiter/waitress for 4 years then book a ticket to Ganymede.. go right ahead!
But without the permit you are pretty much Earthbound without choice. Exemptions are made for the 4 years work for disabled/chronically ill. They receive a permit automatically (albeit a Tourist/RIR only version).
People can live anywhere on Earth or the Solar system, there is no immigration, except that the Country of your birth determines your Service and cannot be changed. You are not allowed to go to Solar Bodies that do not yet have civilian colonies, there are no flights for civilians anyway.
Firstly there is a manned mining mission. The Service set up a hab and start mining then more Service come, after the Service and that Solar Bodies Curator deem that base safe for colonization, then it is on the news and people see what they think about going there.. Setting up a business in a new colony is quite the switchblade, it can be very tough and cost much; for reward little OR you could be swimming in credits if you are lucky..Curators, even though they are not supposed to, it's frowned upon, Curators usually don't give business permits to other country civilians.. well, I say 'don't'.. that's not true, but it's rumoured to be ultra difficult. The Curators do this to encourage their own culture on their curated bodies.. there is a good reason our colony on Ganymede is nicknamed 'Space Glasgow' instead of it's official name 'Fortitude' after our first Ganymede orbiter.. that's the colonies 'official' name but no one calls it that, even on the news it's called 'Space Glasgow'.
What about world population or overpopulation?
We don't really have any problems with the old-world view of overpopulation.. This is because so many, anywhere from 500 to 25000 humans leave Earth everyday, depending on demand and schedule, *if anything we need more humans* as the solar system is quite hostile, with around 190,000 deaths a year or around 10-25% of those who leave the earth. Everyone knows the risks, but we also know if we sat here and did nothing humans would die out, perhaps 'better a nick of a cut than a organ removed'? I don't know.. I know the logic of it, but it still unsettles people to this day.
What's the logic of it?
Unless we attempt we cannot perfect. I don't want to give you a false impression, there are rigorous safety measures, and for the first 50 years everyone was what was jokingly referred to as 'naked', not actual nudity, however they were not allowed to bring *anything* with them to Luna's spaceport, not even their clothes, it was spacesuit then mag-suit only, camera's still watch and listen to everyone 24/7.. it was on the early posters 'You left your privacy behind on Earth.. There is no privacy in space.' I think Luna's spaceport still has some of those posters up. This is because they have great reason to watch and listen in, one blown oxy seal, the whole colony could die, the whole port.. they don't so it as some 'big brother thing' .. I'll explain, The Service has 2 senior Service persons who know *every* bit of information on their site/base/port, they are sworn to secrecy however, if one of them visits you, that's probably very bad.. You have been behaving in a way that is not secure for that site and you will most likely get a reprimand which goes on your civilian record, on returning to earth, you will have a court hearing to determine IF you should have your permit revoked. Hmm.. perhaps I'm not explaining this well..
I have a World Council leaflet guide here.. want to read it together? :)
Preparation for going to another solar body:
There is NO PRIVACY OFF-WORLD. Security and acting correctly is EVERYTHING. Do not endanger life. Do not touch security cameras or observation equipment. By obeying these laws, you ensure everyone's safety. Civilians found tampering with engineering and security equipment will be charged and if found guilty, may be imprisoned.
Drink your metal supplements everyday, colonists are reminded that low gravity causes space osteoporosis, by drinking your metal supplements which contain nanites the mag-field (artificial gravity) will work correctly. We are aware it is an unpleasant experience, but you are alloted 2 hours recovery time daily. Your mag-suit works in coordination with the metal supplements to ensure your survival on extra-planetary and solar bodies. Not doing so will lead to chronic illness and possibly hastened death.
When visiting the ‘Aeral Planets’ and solar bodies, such as Venus, it is discouraged to bring large magnetic equipment aboard, even for scientific observation, this is due to the effect cyclotrons and hadrotrons can have on the sky-vessels, destabilizing their orbits. Please ask the Captain of the vessel what is OK and not OK to bring aboard their ship.
hydrate.
eat.
sleep.
evacuate.
4 to 7, are part of the world council health code, if you disobey these directives, you may be reprimanded by your national governing body, and risk losing your off-world permit.
Civilians are reminded that the Service outrank you, follow their direction in all matters of security, unthinkable but should a Service personnelle act in a manor aggressive or otherwise imperfect, please report them to their Solar body’s curator.
While there is a history we are aware of, that it is notoriously difficult to maintain personal hygiene in space and on solar bodies, due to necessity of the Mag-Suit, you are reminded to attempt at least once a week, and while doing so, put your mag-suit into the suit cleaner for a 1 hour cycle. Many spaceports have showering facilities, it is advised to use them once you arrive, as you may not have the opportunity to again for an unstated amount of time.
No Curator is allowed to decimate their solar body. IF you see something, say something. click the JTag at the side of this panel to contact the World Councils Service desk. [.. Need clarification? You were probably taught in school about ‘global warming’ huh? Humans fixed Global Warming in 2050.. however Curators have a responsibility to their solar body to never upset their global ecosystem in such a way as to devastate that body, unless it is sanctioned terraforming.]
No foreign lifeforms, insects, mammals, piscean, avatory, or any fauna. No plants except those purchased on the body of destination, if you leave for another body you must also leave your plants there. Scientists who have been given exemption permits may have such contraband, but for regular colony citizens such contraband will be confiscated and if necessary destroyed. Remember: NO ONE needs YOUR pet rat chewing through the OXYGEN filtration regulator power supply cable!
I hope you enjoyed our visit into the future.. seems peaceful but not *too* different from now huh?
Been thinking recently about space travel.. I mean it's 2018. time we were out there!
Ending all resource wars by getting our resources from our solar system.
Using Ganymede as mining colony for Jupiter and Titan as a mining colony for Saturn, the largest moon of each planet. This is because human beings need decent gravity due to bone degradation (a space version of osteoporosis), the closer to 1g the better. Mars has 0.34g, Venus has 0.9g, Ganymede has 0.149g and Titan has 0.14g. Other moons have significantly lower gravity except Io (0.189g) which may be a good candidate, although it seems to be otherwise hostile. I’m sure all the moons of each planetary system will be adventured and evaluated.
We will need a cost effective place to build and launch our space vessels. Launching from the earth is very inefficient as gravity sucks up a lot of fuel. If we had a Spaceport.. an Airport for space vehicles.. on the moon (Luna) this would be a more efficient use of fuel.
Hydrogen can be diffused from the water on the moon and used to power our space vessels.
have a look at a idea (I and others, have had)
A two person 'lighthouse', high powered low focus laser creates the crew quarters. crew quarters consists of basic galley, latrine, bunks.. with the commune area and other facilities inside the Spaceport. crew quarters are very very basic. However, the spaceport would have a full galley, hotel style convenience and showering area, TV and entertainment area.
First prototype of artificial gravity;
Strong magnetic field, visitors to the port are entirely (including hands and feet, think onesie) clothed in unique ball bearing and wire mesh clothing. The whole platform is an electromagnet and should be switched off for vessel entry and exit.
Visitors, staff and passengers are forbidden to bring anything with them. The air ventilation system has high temperature filters that will incinerate most particles including food particles, except metals.
No small metals are allowed anywhere inside the spaceport, except if done by a registered engineer, who will be strictly trained on the matter of carelessness with small objects and death.
The 'Mag-Suit' will have a PDA (smartphone), of your choice, integrated in to the arm of the suit.
An 'Airlock train' which is simply a large airlock capsule on a single railtrack with seats will dock with the vessel once settled. everyone should still remain in their spacesuits until they reach the changing facility within the spaceport. staff will wear mag-suits under their spacesuits until all passengers have arrived safely; that the seal is locked and pressurized.
The foyer should have 2 or 3 snack machines. a specially designed snack dispenser without small parts and without glass. a simulation LCD screen would be acceptable. all packaging should be edible and taste pleasant. no waste.
Spaceport security requires passengers to be mindful at all times not to disobey any and all safety rules, as there is a taser in the mag-suit that will disable miscreants.
The two person staff should have shifts of 3 months per shift, with 4 teams taking up the whole year.
The staffs daily routine consists of.. retrieving any scheduled supplies, checking for leaks, general maintenance of systems, which due to the size of the port only takes 6 hours. the rest of the time they have to themselves, to play video games, watch every TV show and film ever made. This is what I mean when I said lighthouse. :)
Vaping Hookahs (for nicotine) are allowed so long as the pipe is one piece of metal and have no metal small parts. there should be spare ones for visitors too, that are heat cleaned & washed (sterilized) after each visitor has left the use of it.
Many large LCD screens make up outdoor pictures of a live feed of what is going on outside, with a plastic window made to look asif~ you are looking outside (think a stage set).. why not have a direct window? it is easier to keep the facility sealed with metal rather than glass. The outside should painted to look like the inside, again asif~ looking in a window.
The power source would be three fold, a hydrogen powered generator, solar and a small nuclear reactor, like the kind nuclear submarines have. In fact if we could get an old nuclear submarine on the moon and bury it and use it for emergency power that might be a last ditch power supply for the air ventilation system.
Water on the moon means we can diffuse oxygen; so we won't run out of water and oxygen. it also means we won't run out of hydrogen to fuel the generator.
I also think in the near future we should have remotely controlled avatar robots, the human user slips into a suspended suit that gives full mobility being the 'brain' of the robot.. these robots should never enter the spaceport and should always be outside, far enough away that the arriving and exiting vessels do not cause blastrift, blowing the robots far away.
These robots would be used for retrieving scheduled supplies, and certain external maintenance tasks.
In the early days I imagine.. blasting up supplies to a designated area on Luna, not too close to hit anything but not too far away it becomes a struggle to retrieve. If old earth satellites and space stations were to crash on Luna instead of the Earth, whatever the condition, usable parts could be salvaged.
Spacesuit should NOT have visors but should be totally metal. Why? because glass breaks easily and will suffocate the wearer once broken. The helmets should work on differing bandwidths of infrared, infrapurple, infragreen, infrablue.. & 'infrasonar'.. but the graphics shown should be immersive, like a 3D video game and not the basic style of infrared from the 80s and 90s movies. It's important to be able to see the ground in a sandstorm.
On Mars sandstorms are common, having camera that can see past this is important, these camera systems should also include Augmented Reality, time of day, map position, scantime of last met other human & distance (tracking them, all the suits talk to each other to calculate distance).
those are my thoughts :)
have a great day :)
Dava
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Also see my article 'Path to the Planets.. (end all fighting over resources)':
After seeing what the American's had with Luna, EAS (English AeroSpace formerly BAS (British AeroSpace).. The English wanted that for themselves, Ceres was to be important for outer Solar mining, and so would become a fueling station, so EAS launched a small spacestation into earth orbit in 2039, it had a small ship attached, they then send up rectangular cubes, something like modular homes or sealed metal portacabins, each containing the things needed to study Ceres, 2044 they had assembled the parts into a spaceport/vessel, inside were remote controlled robots, controlled via VR on Earth (Tera), synced inside the server for any time delay. by 2049 Spaceport 'Jerusalem' safely landed and commenced sending sync signals to the server on Earth.
China once they realized how a much of a claim the Russians had on Venus, backed off, and 2040 launched their mission to Mercury, declaring IF they got curatorship of Mercury, this would also make them Curator of the Sun.. and while all were skeptical, this is certainly how this has worked out. They have ultra high density solar panels that charge vast batteries, they transport them back to Earth and exchange the power for natural gas, oxygen and nitrogen (as exchanging the batteries themselves would not be profitable) but all the vessels need electrical power, especially in the outer solar system (past the Asteroid Belt or as I dub it 'Sol Belt').. pretty much all vessels use their charging system as fuel is so valuable in outgoing missions, they have bases on Deimos, Vesta, and Himalia.
How did Scotland get Curatorship of Titan and Ganymede??
Ohw, it was kind of random luck, in June of 2042 the USA President withdrew all funding for extra solar bodies from NASA, which, as a knock on, hit SpaceX quite badly.. the morale around the world .. the hopes for outer solar mining and travel, sunk to an all time low, quite coincidentally Scotland's Fortitude probe destined for Ganymede launched in late autumn of 2042.. so in part big 'screw you' to the US from the World Council and part genuine gratitude to the 'Truth of Humanity'* towards Scotland's efforts, Scotland was granted special dispensation and Curatorship of Ganymede.. a year later and rushed launch and 'Fidelity' was on its way to Titan.. hopes returned, hearts elevated, and peace of all mankind again became a vivid reality in the making.. merely inches and moments away.
Not lifetime after lifetime of lazy politicians..
SpaceX and Elon Musk were great.. really amazing, but after the US pulled funding and started charging SpaceX for using the Luna Spaceport, SpaceX pretty much declined to staying on Mars, until the tragic death.. in 2058, one of the fueling seals blew, a value began shooting around inside the engine, the whole ship.. such a shame.. they name spaceports and great buildings after him, he is the JFK of Mars, pretty much always will be.
The EU had some meager bases that were contract licenced from SpaceX, no-one else had that kind of money at that time, as the majority of the return had been coming from the USA, who now weren't doing it.. although Russia put in a bid, but since they were already Curators of Venus, it was felt too powerful a thing to give them Mars also, that is our two closest neighbour planets.
Sounds like I am chastising Russia.. I'm not, from day 1 of being Curator of Venus, they have shared resources and done the job they said they would do. A people of their word..The US pulling funding like that.. was devastating.. Russia did the right thing, providing troops for the (then new Service), what they couldn't give in money, they found elsewhere to enable and help others. Even backing down over the tensions of the mining rights/usage of Luna spaceport, just so we all could get *something* to prove the system *did* work. very noble.
Russians detest backing down.. but by doing so over time, we got to prove the US wrong.. these tensions remained until the Odessa Incident of 2085.
Not so much a 'cold war'.. but a 'cold shoulder', from the world to the US for 20-30 years.
As of 2130, the most populous people of the Earth are the ones you are most likely to meet on an intersolar body, The Chinese, The Russians, The Indians, The Americans.. the African Continent, has many peoples and yes you meet them from time to time, the World Council had some problems integrating some of the African countries, as some governments would not agree to punishment of their violent criminals.. it has been an ongoing discussion for over 80 years, with many African nations claiming it was barbaric to send violent criminals to die mining uncurated bodies.
South East Asia contributes many to the Service, particularly The Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar (Burma).
It's rare for me to meet a fellow Scot, except on Ganymede..
Commerce is alive and well.. if you make good money off world you can take those credits rent some land (from the Government of that country, not ownership) and have children here on Earth, raise them until they are whatever age you think they should be, then return to the intersolar body you made your fortune on.
Work isn't exactly as it was before.. you can work for 4 years, getting 5000 credits a week (plus if you make a profit you get to keep that.. there is no such thing as tax, the governmental bodies take the share from the resources, not from you).. if after the 4 years you decide not to work and to stay on Earth you still get 3000 credits a week.. and can live your life out doing whatever it is you want to do, that is lawful and within your means.
People on Earth live to on average to 140 years old now, at 65 they are given a choice if they wish to retire, many take the option not to retire, they are used to the extra money and perhaps they can gain something from working to ensure their children get a larger plot of land (if they are living with their children, a petition of an extra 5 or 8 years worked, might tip the balance for extra land) at 80 years old, they are respectfully asked to retire, they get the full 5000 credits for the reminder of their life having worked until 80. Many are granted a larger plot, regardless of their station of work.
What are conscripts? Is this national service?
Not National Service but.. I'll come to that in moment. Conscripts are members of the Service, but all members of the Service have *somewhat* of a choice where they are posted, an assignment comes and they are given the right to refuse.. however it's not that simple, they can only refuse one assignment at a time.. Russian Service persons usually elect to refuse going to Venus, as it's so hostile on the surface, Russia doesn't really expect them to go to the surface, however in times of crisis they *may* be expected to go into the upper atmosphere (Venusian Mesosphere), which itself can be dangerous, some vessels have irregular orbits and do not maintain their height regulation well, the Service are sent to warn the captains of the vessels.
A Serviceperson can also volunteer to go to a solar body they might like, or ask to work with a specific team working on .. something. They will be put on a waiting list and if their skills are required they will be first in line.
Countries who do not contribute engineering or scientifically, will have periods of National Service and National Conscription.. because of this some of these Service-persons burnout, but it's understood why. A great many see what it is humanity is doing and are inspired to stay on. minimum is 4 years.. that's why they get their own place on Venus or Mars, if they want something on Earth that will last them, they should do the 8-12 years. I say 8 to 12.. this is because if you are on Venus for 8 years, it gets recognised as worth 12 years anywhere else.. but you could serve 8 years in the Sol Belt with criminals, 8 years in the outer solar system, 8 years doing the Mercury runs.. counts as 12 for easier places. Ceres is still 12 years, but it's not hostile, just a spaceport for passengers, service and fueling.
What happens to Countries that refuse to provide *any* Servicepersons and do not contribute to the World Council via engineering or scientific discoveries.. who give nothing?
Well.. harsh as it may seem, you give nothing you get nothing. If a country is very small and does not provide enough Servicepersons, and does not have the natural talent to contribute.. they ask that they, 1. adhere to all other rules of the world council that they are able to 2. use what resources they have for agricultural provision.. to provide food for the world.
We don't punish those who *can't* contribute.. only we exclude those who can and do not want to.
To date in 2130, only North Korea is the one nation whom will not cooperate with the World Council, the rest of the planet, every other nation sees the benefit of what we do for humanity.
Wait! Where does all the food come from? on Earth and off world??
On Earth.. just as we have been doing for millennia, we set aside land for the animals and fruit, vegetables that we wish to consume.. then we have overseers, who manage the bots.. the bots report back when a crop or cattle is sick and the overseer, who is a trained veterinarian & horticulturist, will cure whatever ails them.
Off world.. people eat a LOT of fish heheh.. fish and rice! When I was in Space-Glasgow.. four months of fish and rice!.. y'see we found out in around 2050 with the Mars colonists that they were burning through food like crazy.. but rice is a natural constipatant .. so that slows down the bodies ability to burn food quickly.. ensuring every last bit of energy is extracted from the food before evacuation. Water is plentiful around the solar system, so we feed the fish rice that is enriched with algae and some other supplements*. .. humans don't eat the 'fish-rice' although I saw one guy trying to sell it near the Hexagon market.. everyone looked at him like he was totally gross!
They make it in big grotty tanks that are purposefully unclean, to make the algae grow. As money making schemes go.. no sale!
The rest of the food is shipped in, they use Maxpax.. I like MaxPax, their beef stew is sooo good! You can buy cheaper .. Corepax, nah.. never been a fan of them. The paxing companies reduce the size and weight of the meal to around the cubed size of your thumbnail, they remove the water and air and compress the food until its tiny. Over the years they have worked out how to make it go back to 'normal' once you add water and air back.
What about milk?
Well, we have a choice, dried milk from home.. or suppli-milk made on site, suppli-milks not too bad, but I'd rather have dried that was once real milk. suppli-milk can taste.. a bit chalky.. OK for tea or coffee.. but that's about it. But dried, yeah you can make ice-cream (iced-milk) milkshakes, cheese.. tastes good.
Sugar?
Ohw.. we have a specially created Dexterol (Glucosite), called DexTer, everyone.. even on earth uses that instead of sugar.. all of the energy and sweetness.. none of the fattening or rotting. People were going nuts when they first heard it was GM..but after 20 years of human trails they only thing extra they found it did was increase male sperm count.
It's not white like sugar, but you can have it in granules if you like.. it's orange. Most coffee and tea merchants off world have little dots on the lid of their cups, up to 6 mini DexTer tablets.. as the lid gets placed on the drink, the little dots open and fall into the drink. .. It's stupid.. but people dare each other to bite the mini ones haha.. like the cinnamon challenge.
Sugars the one place I think GM is OK.. coz if there's problems with sugar, and its a stable of our human diet.. I mean who wants to give up chocolate completely? etc.. other GM, I'm pretty against.
*(which is the maxim: Humans need resources. It is an inalienable Truth, beside the nobility of faith; it is the ultimate truth)
* We feed the supplements to the algae, then we feed the algae to the rice, then we feed the rice to the fish. (we drain the tank of water and plant the rice in the algae = feed the algae to the rice)
*(100% water only not nutrients or flavor! .. Maxpax slogan for 50 years!)
Who Curates Jupiter and Saturn?
As 'failed stars' they have special status, every nation owns them and can mine as they please, with the exception of any ecological disturbance. Essentially, the World Council curates Jupiter and Saturn.. giants are however an esteemed prize to Curate. With the Indians probably going to Curate Uranus, this will be the first Curation of an 'Ice Giant'.. with as of 2130 we have not yet reached Neptune with the Service. Lots of probes..no human contact. Once Uranus is controlled by the Service, then manned missions will start. The most outer moons are usually a spaceports, for quicker launching of vessels.. and with Oberon most likely being Cutated by Scotland, The Scottish Space Administration (TSSA) will be asked by the World Council to build a spaceport, so vessels can be launched to Iapetus, Curated by The South American Scientific Council (El Conselho Científico Sul-Americano, ECCSA) then to Callisto Curated by the Nordic Council (Department of Science) then Ceres curated by English Aerospace (EAS), then Mars..
Wait! I get the idea, but why are there 'Councils' and 'Unions'.. doesn't the World Council manage things for the best coordination?
Well.. yes and no, it's the job of our politicians to get the best deal for those involved.. some countries decide to ally themselves to maximize scientific and engineering contribution and minimise conscription.. even separate partnerships.. Like Scotland is a member of the 'Raf-Fin'e Gauls' which has a partnership with Irish French.. we also employ Welsh and Cornish peoples.. but again Scotland is on the Nordic Council with the Scandinavian nations.. and again a member of the EU.. and a member of the 'Pan-Atlantic-AustralAsian Alliance' which is the scientific branch of 'The Commonwealth'.. it's all very very complicated.. but to oversimplify it..
Working together gets you a share of incoming assets as stated, if you can contribute an IP to help another nation, you get a share.. Scotland owns many IPs, so we offer in exchange for a share.
The council, union or federation gets to complete their project without the cost of finding out if their idea would work/the whole project failing due to the part not working, knowing the IP already works and has been launched into space and does its job successfully.
The IP holder gets a share of the resources.
Normally Spaceports are run by a few nations working together, but Scotland is pretty rich, Praise The Lord! We do pretty well..
Curation by council bodies .. works easily as far as resources go, but as far as work goes.. the teams who make the IP.. well that's a bit more complicated, however, we don't have war so.. let people who enjoy arguing for better deals.. do their job. We civilians don't have to care..
How does the Mag-Suit work? The Mag-suit has two parts, the clothing and the outer-shell.. The clothing has high density metal fibers woven through it, on Earth (Tera) it weighs 6 times the weight of the human that is to wear it, because on other solar bodies, the G is a fraction of 1.. meaning if you are on a body that is 1/6 the G-force of the Earth, you are weighted the same as if you were on Earth..The outer-shell is weighted to twice the weight of the human, why do it this way?.. because fabric is easier to manage, so when you take the outer-shell off, the acclimatization to the weight adjustment is easier.. means when you are on a spaceport/base you can take your outer-shell off and not be totally relient of it.
Now how this all works is..complicated to say the least..
Under the spaceport/base there is a giant electromagnet (Magnotron) that regulates the menial gravity (mG).. all things are weighted for the spaceport/base they are on.. this is yet another reason NOT to take things from that specific spaceport/base.. everything except food and consumable liquids. Stealing a ..pen might mean nothing to you.. but to it's owner it's weighted correctly for that solar body and enables them to do their job correctly.
Besides.. once you have a few souvenirs (I bought mine).. it seems very silly to own a snow globe or bobblehead that weighs say.. 10 kilos? nah.. like the Service tell you on Ceres.. don't buy out of the gift shops, its for suckers.
The 'metal supplements'.. man they are gross! The metal is mostly Iron as the body can absorb that the best..but again, it's not the best metal for the nanites to use..
What are nanites? do they create gravity? Nooo.. The nanites are teeny tiny robots that repair the space osteoporosis, they fill the holes and line your bones with the metals you drink.. well I say 'metals'.. it's like the most gross milkshake.. steel tasting cocktail.. oh man! and the headache when the metal hits your stomach! ..but after a while those little nanites grab it all, repair your stomach from any damage and begin repairing your bones.. eventually over decades replacing your bones with perfect metal replicas.
When you come back to Earth, you feel stronger.. bones AND muscles.. this is because the Magnotron can't mG everyone, so it errs on the side of caution.
There is a standard called VmG.. which is used around the solar bodies.. Venusian menial Gravity .. the rule states that humans should be left with 1/10th Earth G 'give room' flexibility, this is a safety standard ..it's better to be able to move quickly, then be too tired to move quickly'.
You see signs up in spaceports when leaving Mars.. 'VmG ZONE!' and posters 'REMEMBER VmG!.. Do NOT wear Mars Mag-suits to the outer solar system.. exchange your suit today!' with a woman changing into another mag-suit 1940/50s bombshell style art on a poster.. bet that saved a few lives! Most men would remember that.. catches the eye.
G+ mG (+0.1G/-0.1G) = 30 cycles = L.G (Local Gravity)
~~ per min
VmG
Ends up for every 1 second your lighter then the previous second, gives a bit of work out.
hahaha.. hehe haha.. a rare time you see someone wearing a Mars Mag-suit in the outer solar system.. they are easy to spot because as they are the only blue ones and all the other Mag-suits are Orange gradient to red*... the amount of times the Service must've stopped that poor guy on Ganymede.. wooo!
How long does it take to get to Solar Bodies and how do you get there? Ohw.. well.. my 4 months on Ganymede was a 14 month expedition (3.2 years total), you plan it.. like you would long haul flights, that are meant to join up.. The quickest vessels will get to Mars in around 3 to 6 months. back in the early days of space travel it was around a year, we had very limited thinking as to fuel/speed.. now that we can build in space, we can make ships as large as we wish and use much more fuel than previously..
You leave the Earth to the Luna Spaceport, takes around 3.5 days with cabin facilities, the wait time can be crazy for launch, but.. we're understanding about it.. I mean what's 3.5 days in the scheme of things? The vessels are constantly coming and going.. delays are common.. check, re-check etc.. then the flight is around 2.8 days.. then some extra time for orientation and security.. your thumb print is all you need, everything else is provided.. your thumb print is both your ticket and wallet.. if someone else has your print (print fraud/identity theft) they take a sample of your DNA and check it with the Earth records.
Once on Luna, they are quite tight about launches, the vessels are pretty massive and can hold upto 2500 people per vessel..but the one I left on had just 300 or so people.. I think I heard one of the Service saying there was a delayed launch on Earth so.. the ship behind us must've been packed.. 1000 + people I would guess. Maybe 1200..?
With it being only 300 we didn't have to share cabins, nice and roomy.. whereas if it's packed you get four beds per cabin..hate the idea of that, prefer my personal space.. but since my off-world permit says 'Artist - (disabled)*' best I could hope for, not to get the dorm rooms. 4 roomer is not bad..but that was so lucky! got the room all to myself! .. dorm rooms are corridors you get a private bunk but.. it's a bit coffin like, you can close your panel, but open it and bam.. your in front of everyone.. not to mention being sanitary. In the cabins, people are polite and each takes a turn using it for their needs, whatever that is.. while the others are in the rec rooms or going for a walk in the gyro-garden.. 1 hour is polite for private use.
Service persons travelling get their own personal cabin, as does the flight crew who are also Service persons.
The flight itself is about 2.5/3 months with hard burn..used to be double that.. on Earth before we could create large enough vessels to stock as much fuel as we like so we can use more to go faster.. hmm..
You land on Mars, wow.. my first time on Mars.. everything is made of glass, 'Stardust City' is beautiful!.. the Musk Spaceport looks pretty much like Luna's because they were designed the same..but once out of the Spaceport.. wow.. gigantic glass domes within domes.. one solid piece of glass.. burnt from the Martian sand..
Wait! What?? How the flip??.. sounds Sci-Fi to me.. Ohw.. erm.. okay.. so they lay out a circle of pipes and lay the sand on top then they slowly superheat the sand into.. a kind of glass lava/magma, underneath they pump Gallium.. huge quantities of Gallium.. the Gallium 'eats' any metals in the sand, leaving only the glass..which is made into a bubble as the outer glass cools hardening and the inner pressure shaping it..the outer black glass is chipped away by an 'army' of bots.. the bots then laser heat the jagged areas.. much like sandpaper to jaggy wood. The whole process take around a year per dome and up to 4 years for a very large dome.. failure and cracks can happen, but those domes have no one in them, as they are tested for many many years before they are ready for humans.
Sooo.. anyhoo..you move dome to dome via underground walkways sealed with concrete. The third dome is huge.. you are offered induction to Mars, but it's optional. I went in because I was travelling alone.. and you never know when you might meet a hot Martian girl!
I had 8 months on Mars until the flight to Ceres was ready to depart, the flight from Mars to Ceres is around 70 days.. and Ceres to Jupiter 70 days to 4 months with good alignment etc.. bad alignment.. you could be waiting on Ceres for over 2 years...but if such situation arose, the Service would consider sending you home.. or at least to Mars or Vesta.. Pallas?*..Ceres has a very small population and small base, which they are trying to grow, but the allure of Jupiter.. is such a pull..
I was on Ceres for only a week, The English guys were friendly enough to me, saw a couple of Welsh guys; pretty distant.. guess they are still burnt we left the Kingdom.. Ceres has a small rec room and movie theater..tiny marketplace.. the upper deck was nice though, huge dome.. you could see all the Asteroids and Jupiter in the sky, like Luna from Earth but a 10th the size..
107 days later, I was on Ganymede in Space Glasgow, pretty rockin'.. they have a pub called 'The Barras' puts on shows.. the upstairs is the Barras venue in miniature.. pretty cool, some guy was doing tours of the surface in a buggy.. at first I was super nervous, but after I seen him come back 4 or 5 times unharmed.. I thought.. 'ah well.. why not?!' .. the underground complex was good for entertainment, bit of shopping in the market.. then world hopping to the other moons.. 4 months flew by!
* Pallas is a penal colony, but.. it does have a spaceport. Pallas is Curated by the Thailandese, experts at putting the fright up you if you break the law violently. Being Scottish it should make me a bit nervous, however each country has its own laws on what is and is not violent, and ultimately the judge understands our own culture. Our portion of inmates come from drug dealing murderers..not so much genpop.
*Venusian Mag-suits are black.. and yes I imagine, the Service tease each other with Darth Vader references.. we found colour does NOT show up well on Venus as the light refraction rate
is vastly different than elsewhere in our solar system.
Mericurian Mag-suits are white iridescent.. to reflect heat. Everywhere else is orange to red, as orange is a highly visible colour.
* my off-world permit w/ photo:
Name: David Shaw
Country of Origin: Scotland
Occupation: Artist - (disabled)
Age: XXXX
License : XXXX-XXXX-XX
: 0 reprimands
DNA sync-code: oxoyoxx
Artists get 4 years per 10 years of contribution.. so my permit would say if not disabled; 'Artist - 2 terms.' 2 terms is enough for a very modest plot.. 4 terms is enough for a decent plot. 1 term is genpop. You don't need to contribute anything world changing.. so long as someone somewhere enjoyed what you did, it counts as a contribution to human culture.
People can work anywhere in the world they like, when I got my second term I moved to NYC for a couple of years.. great Art scene!.. like Glasgow used to be when I was younger.. bands, plays, gallery work, design..really liked it there. I have the suspicion if I had gone before my second term, they would have stuck me in genpop.. even though I am disabled and so exempt.. having that second term counts a lot with respect, means you didn't *just do the bare minimum*. So they gave me a sizeable apartment.. it was okay, really liked it.
I produced a couple of bands there.. if anyone in the next ten years or so buys their album/s it will contribute to my 3rd term, but not my 4th, as its limited to the previous term.
* Every extra-solar body has a spaceport.. however, the systems of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus.. eventually Neptune.. the largest most outer solar body (moon) of that system will have a 'main' spaceport, out-fitted more rigorously for more launches, this is so the launches are closer to their destinations, and can use more fuel to get to their destinations more quickly. Some Service Capt.'s might even slow the vessel down, if they think they can make the solar body come to them quicker.. it's trigonometry in action!
What if you miss your destination??
Well most planets have moons, it's not usual to miss the mark by that much.. but in the case of being off.. we could just land on the planets moon..?..I mean the Sol Belt has four worlds, pretty spread out, if the margin was great.. then stop and wait for the next one.. same for the gas/ice giants.. for Earth.. I support we could land on Hothree..??(joke).. but missing a destination in the inner solar system is not alarming.. because we could go on to Venus or Mercury.. land, recalculate, refuel.. and head off.. if it's the outer solar system, we would have enough fuel to get to at least one moon, but if we were judging it and it wasn't possible, then we would return to Ceres.. but.. it's silly to think a Capt. would set off FROM Ceres knowing we were going to miss our destination..no.. if coming into the inner solar system from Ceres.. the chances of missing.. Mars THEN Earth.. THEN Venus AND Mercury.. must be in the trillions to one..and out-going to the outer solar system.. like I said before..the planetary system have to be there before we leave..
*Fish don't care what's up and what's down.. gravity wise..that's why they are easy to keep off-world, they are already in water, which is very like a low gravity environment, naturally.
----------------------
THE PRINCIPLES OF THE ESCALATION OF PEACE
Along long time ago.. two humans fought..but after seeing one dead .. the first human thought.. this could happen to me.. so the next human I will cooperate with..
Once there was 2 humans.. another human saw they had strength together and joined them, this kept happening until they were a village..
Each time they met another village they went to war.. but eventually they realized they could be family..then they became a town..
The towns saw the reason of peace and became cities and countries.. but the countries were too stupid to realize what they fought over.. until one day..
Many countries cooperated to gain near unlimited resources.. so that the world would never fight again.
' END
