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It'll be an informal thing.

0 (0%)

Trashbot!

1 (1.8%)

Where'd Marigold go? (Now I'm going to toss this apple into the path of the Laser!)

1 (1.8%)

THIS IS THE GREATEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE

1 (1.8%)

Lt. Potter gave the shares back.

0 (0%)

It was SEXUAL HARASSMENT...

0 (0%)

Apology Accepted.

0 (0%)

Now, go get me a bottle of something...

0 (0%)

Five million on principle

2 (3.6%)

Zero-G badminton is strenuous!

0 (0%)

HERE'S TO PRINCIPLE! TO PRINCIPLE!

0 (0%)

S'okay. 'M off doody.

1 (1.8%)

EMULATION!

0 (0%)

We are all going to die. PROBABLY NOT WOO

2 (3.6%)

Dr. Case reveals how much Hanners has changed.

4 (7.3%)

Sad stringy-haired little Hanners

11 (20%)

One-person psychiatric ward

0 (0%)

Cyborg implant? (one of the more popular theories)

0 (0%)

Hanners with the little black dress

4 (7.3%)

You're even wearing lipstick!

1 (1.8%)

Cybernetic implant? Station! They KNOW!

6 (10.9%)

Releasin' hunter killer drois.

3 (5.5%)

Somebody call for a pack of merciless hunter-killer droids?

2 (3.6%)

Aw man, we never get to kill ANYbody.

16 (29.1%)

Total Members Voted: 52

[J]

why do people put pictures like that on facebook anyway? is there anybody who doesn't know of at least one person who had it bite them in the ass?

[Dustin]

Lt. Potter just blew my suspension of disbelief into space.

Yep.
I'm starting to wonder if QC is even based on a true story anymore.

[westrim]

So give it to her for her next birthday (after everyone lease so they don't try to mooch.) Problem: solved.   (a judge emoticon would be better, but eh.)

Her face in panels 4 and 5 looks exactly the same to me, which gives the impression of her staring blankly (also, those lips are disturbing.) Otherwise, the art is great in this one.

Question: can something without a gender (appearances aside) commit sexual harassment, legally?

(parentheses party!)
'

why do people put pictures like that on facebook anyway? is there anybody who doesn't know of at least one person who had it bite them in the ass?

Beats me. Everything on mine is locked down to everyone, even friends, except for my list of friends and basic Where I've Been/Am info so they know it's me.

[Soulsynger]

Ah... principle... the reason why smart and morally good people usually aren't rich. And the reason why the spineless and stupid rule the world.  

... ah well. If in doubt, cloud it out.


edit:
Warning - while you were typing 3 new lightspeed replies have been posted. You may wish to review your post.
... ergh... I was only writing for like half a minute! °O

[Is it cold in here?]

The shares weren't a substitute for contrition: he explicitly apologized at the same time.

[Skewbrow]

Way to go, Lt. Potter! Also, some posters here commented that her accepting the stocks would ruin her military career (as well as get her sued). 

There is also the possibility that Station learned something. May be his learning curve differs from Pintsize's?

[DSL]

As fine an explanation of the ethical situation as any I've ever read or heard.

Hm. I could take care of my sibs' financial situations and live like a king for the rest of my projected lifespan on $5 million ... but the ability to look at one's self in the mirror every morning without feeling contempt is still priceless. Yes, definitely WTG, Lt.  (and Jeph).

Now, what is that thing she has in the first panel?

[Near Lurker]

By that logic, nobody should ever accept cash settlements for anything.

Usually, though, a cash settlement is a final "fuck you" to the person giving it, not a way to smooth things over; how often does someone taking a cash settlement go back to work the next day?

Also, why the hell did she post those pictures to her Facebook?  It would be like Petraeus's Facebook page having pictures of him at a kegger.

[foolsguinea]

Question: can something without a gender (appearances aside) commit sexual harassment, legally?

I believe so. Why not?

I thought the poll question might be "Would you keep the money?" I can accept that teaching Station a lesson is MORE IMPORTANT, but man, I'd want the money.

[Markus Ramikin]

Ah... principle... the reason why smart and morally good people usually aren't rich. And the reason why the spineless and stupid rule the world.  

Are you saying what Lt. Potter did strikes you as smart?

The people who rule the world may be immoral, but they are more cunning than you, otherwise they wouldnt' be rulling the world.

[WAYF]

I really like this update.
Good going, Lt. Potter, and despite the ethical message in the comic, the punchline also happened to be both funny and pretty clever.

Kudos, Jeph.

[Welu]

In my experience, most embarrassing photos of people are posted by their friends, in jest, not malice. I'm not sure if you can get photos of yourself deleted from another account, but you should be able to make it so you can't get tagged in a specific photo and don't show up in your, "Photos of Me" bit.
Although since Potter's wording suggests she put them up herself, I'm not sure. Maybe there was a bunch of embarassing photos of her friends as well so her choice was put them all up, put all but hers up which isn't really fair or depending on the ratio of let's say, "flattering" to "not flattering", could involve filtering a lot of photos or enough that it's noticable and she just went for the easiest option.

I really like this strip and Jeph's explanation. It's neat to peak into his mind a little and see him think about the strip. Not to say he doesn't, we just don't get an in-depth glance of it.

Her face in panels 4 and 5 looks exactly the same to me, which gives the impression of her staring blankly (also, those lips are disturbing.) Otherwise, the art is great in this one.

They don't look the same to me. Check the eyebrows. She seems to be going from intense and aggravated in 2b to easing up and coming across with a sincere appeal for an apology in 3a. It can be easier to get an apology when your brows aren't angrily furrowed.

Also it may just be the monitor in college, but the colours seems less contrasting in 3a. No wait, I'm just short and the monitor was too high.

[TinPenguin]

Ah, I would be so much richer if it weren't for my goddamn principles. Lt. Potter did the right thing, and I'm glad this plotline was resolved. Hell, it'd be pretty tempting to keep that five million, but if it were me,  I don't think I'd be able to live with my newfound wealth knowing I had done nothing to earn or deserve it. I was quite uncomfortable not knowing if she had kept the money. Probably a similar kind of discomfort to what Jeph was feeling, judging by his explanation.

Artwork-wise, the change in detail in the eyebrows from 2b to 3a is perfect.

Warning - while you were typing everybody else said everything you wanted to say already, you redundant asshole

[Nathanyel]

Artwork-wise, the change in detail in the eyebrows from 2b to 3a is perfect.

Exactly. You don't notice it on first glance, but when you do, you do.

Btw, what is she holding in panel 1? Could be a wallet in the right hand, but that other thing..

[Border Reiver]

It was the right thing to do - both for the purpose of teaching that you can't just buy your way out of being an *sshole, and so that LT Potter realizes that her dignity should not be for sale.

[JRDelirio]

The "public" thing about her picture may be referring to it being published among her circle of friends -- probably the bunch of classmates that got drunk at that party went ahead and posted en masse on each others' FB Walls.   As we've said before, the RL AF Academy surely has strict rules against doing things like that, but not the one in the QC world.   But within the plot it's pretty much forced to have her be stupidly careless about her FB privacy, since the alternative would be to make Station even more jerkish and violatory by reaching into private material for purposes of "outing" her.


And yeah, cash settlements indeed are often just "shut up and go away" money, not satisfaction.

[Carl-E]

Btw, what is she holding in panel 1? Could be a wallet in the right hand, but that other thing..

She's changing the power supply on the virtual wine bottle for the party this evening. 

[Deadlywonky]

could be a rifle of some sort (she is in the military) but it lacks a pistol grip, however the item in her hand looks like the same size as a magazine and looks like it goes in the same place. might be a laser rifle 

[jwhouk]

What's up for us this week?

Back Down To Earth.    - 1 (1.5%)
A Bit More HannerDrama.    - 18 (27.7%)
More QC: The Musical!    - 2 (3.1%)
Lt. Potter's secret: She's always wanted to be a Barista!    - 1 (1.5%)
...or a Librarian!    - 4 (6.2%)
Focus on Angus & Faye.    - 0 (0%)
What Momo & Winslow were doing...    - 2 (3.1%)
Marten's Dad - THE WEDDING ARC!    - 2 (3.1%)
Shebly Comics!    - 3 (4.6%)
SPATHE HAM!    - 6 (9.2%)
Whatever it is, we're just here for the party.    - 26 (40%)

Total Voters: 65

[zmeiat_joro]

Question: can something without a gender (appearances aside) commit sexual harassment, legally?

That's a pretty ciscentric thing to say. And that's all I can say about it. I don't really get why you would think sexual harrasment has anything to do with gender.

Unrelated note, what makes you think Station has no legal gender?

[SomeCanadianWeirdo]

As far as tuxes go I can imagine them pushing some of Hannelore's happy buttons.  After all no one (in theory) wears  a dirty or rumpled tux, and one suspects one of Hannelore's favourite words is immaculate.

[Throg]

There are plenty of precedents for women to refuse settlements -- to force a public airing-out of dirty laundry, to maintain the right to speak publicly about past incidents, etc.  Maybe not to teach an AI about ethical behavior, though. Not yet, anyway. 

[Madmartigan]

Gotta love Lt. Potter.

But, I bet she's goes hard alcohol after passing up all that money, which will lead to more pictures.

[Carl-E]

As far as tuxes go I can imagine them pushing some of Hannelore's happy buttons.  After all no one (in theory) wears  a dirty or rumpled tux, and one suspects one of Hannelore's favourite words is immaculate.

Most tuxes are rented, though.  And we know how she feels about clothing other people have worn...

[TheMusicalVito]

It was the right thing to do - both for the purpose of teaching that you can't just buy your way out of being an *sshole, and so that LT Potter realizes that her dignity should not be for sale.

nah

[jwhouk]

As far as tuxes go I can imagine them pushing some of Hannelore's happy buttons.  After all no one (in theory) wears  a dirty or rumpled tux, and one suspects one of Hannelore's favourite words is immaculate.

Most tuxes are rented, though.  And we know how she feels about clothing other people have worn...

Good boy. You found it before I did.

[Carl-E]

As far as tuxes go I can imagine them pushing some of Hannelore's happy buttons.  After all no one (in theory) wears  a dirty or rumpled tux, and one suspects one of Hannelore's favourite words is immaculate.

Most tuxes are rented, though.  And we know how she feels about clothing other people have worn...

Good boy. You found it before I did.

Well, I use your  SxS summary.  You're only as good as your reference works, after all! 

[westrim]

Question: can something without a gender (appearances aside) commit sexual harassment, legally?

That's a pretty ciscentric thing to say. And that's all I can say about it. I don't really get why you would think sexual harassment has anything to do with gender.

Unrelated note, what makes you think Station has no legal gender?

And that's a pretty inflammatory thing to say, assuming how I feel or think about it. Don't go fishing for things to be insulted by. I was asking, objectively, whether laws against sexual harassment note the gender of either party. Perhaps in the course of noting that both of the usual two can be cited, they inadvertently exclude those who are neither.

That Jeph and the comic have made no reference yet that I know of about the AIs choosing or being given a gender makes me think it has no gender, legal or otherwise. Its appearance (and our assumptions about the AnthroPCs we've met) may just be anthropomorphization. Why do you think it does or was it just more fishing?

[pwhodges]

Gender of AnthroPCs in QC; presumably other AIs are similar, as they seem to be able to change role quite dramatically.

[Near Lurker]

Sexual harassment actually has everything to do with gender - the theory behind it isn't that you're creating an uncomfortable workplace, but that you're creating an uncomfortable workplace for women, or for women perceived as attractive, and thus discriminating against them.  The idea that it's bad in and of itself is a weird post-feminist emergence.

[pwhodges]

Actually, men can be subjected to sexual harassment, too.

By women
By men

[Matheyus]

The shares weren't a substitute for contrition: he explicitly apologized at the same time.

I agree in part, but I think you could argue that he didn't seem to understand that what he did was wrong beyond the fact that it made people angry, particularly since he explicitly stated that the majority of his regret came from Hannelore being upset with him.  While I agree with Lt. Potter and other commenters that he probably wasn't trying to buy forgiveness as such, his tone during the initial apology, at least to me, made it seem more like an attempt to smooth things over, than an actual apology.  Today's apology, in contrast, came across as much more sincere; he expressed both understanding of why what he did was wrong and regret for the act itself. 

[Is it cold in here?]

That's a good post! Did I already welcome you aboard?

Acknowledging all your well-taken points, isn't an apology more sincere if accompanied by a penance?

[Matheyus]

Thank you.

You make a good point, and I would tend to agree.  That being said, I don't know if 0.76% of his assets (assuming E-C Tech stock is the only form of wealth Station possesses) would constitute that much of a penance, even if the dollar amount is blank-stare-inducing. 

Of course, he could have been sincere in his regret and just not expressed that sincerity particularly well.  If that's the case I would still suspect that he was, at the time, sorry for upsetting Lt. Potter/Hannelore, and not for his actions in and of themselves.

[Method of Madness]

how often does someone taking a cash settlement go back to work the next day?

If that was a problem, I'd imagine she could ask for a transfer, and then easily retire at the end of her tour.

Also, interesting to note, before I saw zmeiat use the word "ciscentric" and looked up what it meant, I had no idea what "cisgender" was.  I'd heard the word, but assumed it meant something else.  Not anything in particular, but I didn't think there was a word for what cisgender was...which I suppose was fairly ciscentric thinking on my part.

Red text: I think that might be why he was initially sorry, but I think once Hanners explained it he understood why his actions were wrong.  Honestly, though?  I can't say I'd agree with it being sexual harassment.

[Aggie]

Pfffffft.

I feel like Lt. Potter's actions are principled in the same way that drinking a puddle so your date doesn't step in it would be chivalrous.

[Matheyus]

I think that might be why he was initially sorry, but I think once Hanners explained it he understood why his actions were wrong.  Honestly, though?  I can't say I'd agree with it being sexual harassment.

I would disagree.  He displayed a picture, showing her drunk and in her underwear, in her place of work.  Beyond the potential issue of word spreading to her colleagues, I think we should keep in mind that this picture was shown, specifically, to individuals who she was supposed to be carrying out security checks on, possibly including pat-downs.  While we all know that Marten and Marigold are, for the most part, good people, Lt. Potter's job now required her to physically inspect two strangers who have just viewed what could be considered a pretty provocative image of her.  While Station probably didn't attach any sexual meaning to the photo, he still created a hostile and exceedingly awkward work environment with it.

Also, I don't know that Hanners really explained much, beyond telling him that what he did was "cruel" and "not nice".

[Method of Madness]

I actually agree with that first paragraph entirely, it was the fact that he didn't attach any sexual meaning that made me think it wasn't sexual harassment, I wasn't disputing the hostile work environment part.

[Carl-E]

Intent is not the deciding issue on whether a person is being harrassed, sexually or otherwise. 

[iduguphergrave]

Exactly. If it was, all any guy has to say is "I wasn't trying to harass her!" (which is what some of them try saying anyway)

EDIT: I just realized how sexist it was of me to say "any guy" as opposed to "anybody"   

[Method of Madness]

I'm glad you did, I was going to point it out otherwise.  That being said, what someone claims as their intent should obviously not be the deciding factor, but figuring out the intent should be important.

[Matheyus]

If someone creates an environment in which another person is made to feel that they are being sexually harassed, as Lt. Potter clearly was, then it falls under sexual harassment, at least by the definitions I've grown up with.  With that in mind, I agree that intent is important; people who don't realize the negative impact that they're having are usually a lot more forgivable, if they correct their actions after gaining that knowledge, than people who know exactly what they're doing and do it anyway.

[pwhodges]

I just realized how sexist it was of me to say "any guy" as opposed to "anybody"   

Difficult, that.  In my circle (i.e. both at work and among my children) it is entirely normal for both men and women to use "guy" for either gender - so I simply don't see it as sexist.

[Carl-E]

"Vell, he's just zis guy, you know?"

                                    ~~Gag Halfrunt, brain care specialist

[Kugai]

Now I know she's career military.

[Is it cold in here?]

What kind of trouble could Station get into?

He could be sued, and have to pay out a settlement.

Can he be fired? That would raise many, many questions.

[jwhouk]

He could be relegated to garbage detail...

[Sorflakne]

Maybe it's just me, but other than the bun, does Lt Potter resemble Dora to anyone else?

[jwhouk]

Maybe it's just me, but other than the bun, does Lt Potter resemble Dora to anyone else?

From just a few months ago, yes. Probably unintentional on Jeph's part.

[Rimwolf]

I'm starting to wonder if QC is even based on a true story anymore.

Of course it is; Santa told me so herself.