We don't even have a permanent colony on Antarctica, just scientific expeditions manned part-time.

To be a multi-planet species, we would need at least one permanent colony on a second planet (Mars, presumably).

Mars is a LOT harder than Antarctica.

I would say the non-litterer is preferable to the person who even litters on the moon.

It's the same reasons that CEOs who wreck multiple companies one after the other seem top find a golden parachute and a new job waiting for them.

Just wait until they get that massive ticket for littering...

Truth Social I'm sure. As hard as it is to believe, there are still people who think Trump is a genius, and still want to "own the Libs".

It used to be cliche for the scientists to be warning/screaming about pending problems or solutions until the crisis forced people to listen to them and finally solve the crisis. Far too often, with the scientists aiding the meat-head protagonist with the fruits of their labor to safe the day as the promoted hero and if they are lucky they live to the ending and get to make an appearance at the conclusion. Too realistically, the protagonist is a maverick who breaks the norms by listening to the scientists; both being held back by politics in addition to the problem needing solving.

The liberal biases are not intentional, it's just that conservatives are usually irrationally, in the way because by definition, they cling to the status quo. Reality does not align itself to our tiny minds which is why it appears to have a liberal bias as we adapt to it.

Sci-Fi today means anything in the future, involving space, time, etc. it used to involve science or at least scientists. If it is just a MacGuffin does that make it Sci-Fi? Are Indiana Jones 4-5 Sci-Fi films?

I have also been WFH for years before covid. I don't believe my circumstances are the same as everybody's, but I do know I am far from the only person whose duties almost exclusively involve working with people and things that are in another region anyway.

Put another way, employers who gave everyone an effective raise due to exigent circumstances and suffered no harm as a result are now mystified as to why their employees are reluctant to accept an effective pay cut now for no apparent benefit. Given the latter part, they rightly suspect some sort of malfeasance somewhere in management.

Workers want or even need a cost of living adjustment. Employers do not want to and may not be able to afford to increase payroll. For that reason, the COL increases are often several years in arrears as it is. WFH gives the employees an effective raise by eliminating their commute costs and an opportunity to save even more by living somewhere with a lower COL.

As an additional incentive, the employer saves on office space.

On the other hand, WHF was a win-win for employers too. The employees got an effective raise by lowering their cost of living and a reduction in unproductive daily aggravation and wasted time. The employer didn't have to actually pay them any extra to make that happen and could even save on expensive office space. It just wasn't a win for the managers who could no longer hide how bad they were at their jobs.

Perhaps not narcicism so much as short-sighted self interest. Either way, it would be in the company's interest (and the shareholders) to give THEM the heave-ho and leave the workers remote. The workaround for their ineffectiveness costs millions a year.

If most people like the slop then why stop them from getting any?

They won't want to touch the other side of it either. If what Flock is doing is fine, so is the creeper snapping photos on a public playground and creating a giant database somewhere.

That seems...undesirable.

You seem to be under the impression that the "master" these days is on analog film. It ain't. It's a digital computer file. There is no difference between "master" and "copy of the master". And as someone else has said, the problem isn't that they don't have other copies of the master, it's that somebody who's not them has a copy of the master and can churn out perfect pirate copies.

Agency is just it's ability to act upon it's conclusions. While there is a great argument that AI should not be given agency, it had it.

If you're trying to say it had no sentience, I'll agree with that.

In the same sense that a gerbil has agency but not sentience. It too might escape from a cage.