i m N s h o

It's fascinating just how fucking clueless the knee-jeek reactionaries we have to put up with these days are. Their obsession with demonizing the concept of "woke" makes it impossible for them to see how fucking wrong they can be.  Robert Picardo on Instagram: "It is interesting to note that ⁦@StarTrek⁩ #Voyager, so beloved in retrospect, was thought "woke" ("politically correct" was the term way back then) at its premiere. https://www.instagram.com/p/DTYOtA-EcpL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== I saw another post recently pointing out that the original Star Trek (TOS) was what would have been considered woke at the time as well. Let’s see… just for starters, the main cast included an asian man and a black woman in positions of responsibility. People of color were often featured in lead roles. Storylines often did what good science fiction does best, shining a light on contemporary issues “disguised” by the fantasy element of...

So I've been watching the remastered Star Trek TOS lately (needed something to have playing on in the background while doing chores, working, etc.). That whole background thing maybe not so effective, since I keep sitting down and watching, but hey, it's Star Trek, so not bad, right? Some of the things I've noticed... With these remastered, color corrected episodes, it's amazing just how green Spock really is. As I recall from the old reruns I used to watch, he never seemed all that green... But damn, he's green.  We all know the Motorola flip phone was inspired by Star Trek communicators. But there are other moments of "prescience" or inspiration. Watching Requiem for Methuselah, for instance, there's a scene where the immortal Flint is watching Kirk on a flat screen monitor that wouldn't look out of place on my desk today.  And then there's the infamous third season. Long reviled as the weakest of the original series seasons, I can't argu...

So when I first heard this report… US Pushes Troop Immunity, Flexible Deadline in Iraq Pact My first reaction was a simple 'what the fuck?' If we're supposed to be "the good guys" here, aren't we supposed to hold ourselves to a higher standard (damning photographic evidence to the contrary aside). So shouldn't the concept of "immunity" run counter to that? Don't we need to step up and take responsibility for our actions in the region? Then I dug into the story and find that the immunity Bush is holding out for is immunity from Iraqi prosecution, as an early draft of the agreement under discussion holds that private U.S. contractors would be subject to Iraqi law. Now, I may not be a big fan of private military contractors (what a wonderful euphemism for mercenaries), but I'm going to agree that, while I think they need to be held accountable for their actions, it probably should be handled in US courts. But I find it interesting how little...