DShomshak

This was one of many TOS episodes where I wished TNG and other series' in that time period had shown what happened later. What became of the Kelvans-turned-humans? They were still formidable and knew technology beyond that of the Federation.
 
A few others:
 
Balok (Corbomite Maneuver) and the crewman who went off on cultural exchange.
 
The Iotians (A Piece of the Action). Did they ever demand a piece of the Federation's action?
(I imagine an Iotian security officer encountering one of those annoying immune-to-phasers monsters. He slaps his comm badge and says, "Computer: Implement program, 'Chicago Way.'" A fedora beams onto his head and a tommygun into his waiting arms. BRATATATAT. Monster go down.)
 
Eminiar and Vendikar (A Taste of Armageddon). Even if Kirk did in fact stop their simulated war (only the casualties were real), what did their people think of the Federation's means of doing so? (Leaders and common folk might have different views._
 
The Horta! (Devil in the Dark) I would so love to have seen the reborn species join the Federation, just to have more non-humanoids (and on a fairly low budget). One of my friends tells me a Horta junior officer appeared in one of the ST novels.
 
The Organians (Errand of Mercy). The Organian Peace Treaty was alluded to in Trouble with Tribbles, but I wonder what the effe de facto gods ng that there was a whole planet of de facto gods who could, if pushed hard enough, intervene. My guess is that the Organians would take their own "Prime Directive" approach and vanish, along with their whole planet, but I think it's a fair question.
 
(No interest in the Metrons from Arena. They were powerful, sure, but they were just preachy @$$holes. Rewatched it recently, and noticed that Kirk was probably correct about the Gorns planning invasion. The Gorns *faked a signal* to lure in the Enterprise. I'm left with the impression that Kirk sussed what the Metrons wanted to hear and gave it to them. I suspect the creative team for Strange New Worlds thinks the same way.)
 
And most of all, the Talosians (The Cage/The Menagerie). I/, told they reappeared in an ep of ST: Discovery, but I think TNG could have had a cool story arc about the Federation sending Picard to open negotiations with the Talosians, in hope of recruiting them and saving them from their addiction to illusion. The Federation would need some compelling reason to seek contact with such dangerous people (though holodecks show that the Keeper's fear of humans falling prey to living in illusion is, well, that ship has sailed.) I have a few thoughts, but I'll not derail the thread further.
 
I did like Lower Decks making a brief visit to Brekka and Ornara, the junkie and supplier planets from one of TNG's better episodes. But, sorry, TNG didn't introduce many other planets where I wanted to learn "what happened next."
 
Dean Shomshak

BrainyQuote says it's attributed to Seneca.
 
 
 

True, dat. Though my mother tells stories about how her grandfather came from Norway as a teenager and crossed the country to Washington state, unattended, penniless and not speaking a word of English...
 
Though her great-aunt came from Norway, on her own, when only nine. That or starve, doncha know.
 
Yeah, during the pandemic I couldn't muster much sympathy for people who complained they couldn't go to a bar, a barbershop or the gym. History is a great supplier of perspective.
 
Dean Shomshak

well, it's nothing new. I forget whether it was Seneca or Cicero -- somebody Roman, anyway -- who said, more or less, "The philosophers think the gods are false. The common folk think the gods are true. The rulers think the gods are useful."
 
Dean Shomshak

well, it's nothing new. I forget whether it was Seneca or Cicero -- somebody Roman, anyway -- who said, more or less, "The philosophers think the gods are false. The common folk think the gods are true. The rulers think the gods are useful."
 
Dean Shomshak

All Things Considered tells me that in late February, Horsetail Falls in Yosemite Park sometimes catches the light of the setting sun to glow like golden fire: the Fire Fall. Here's the story:
 
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/29/1234996308/the-fickle-golden-magic-of-the-yosemite-fire-fall
 
Here's an image:
 

 
It happens only a few minutes, weather conditions permitting.
 
What happens if you step into the Fire Fall? Gain super-powers? Transport to another world? Release a powerful spirit? Something beyond getting wet, as it is obviously an intensely magical event.
 
Dean Shomshak

The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of The East India Company by William Dalrymple
If you think that modern corporations are dangerous then let me introduce you to the prototype, The East India Company. How it was founded in Elizabethan times to how it came to India and how it developed. It was the East India Company who came to conquer India not the British government. It was not the policy of the company to do this but certain people employed by the company took it that way. It also showed how the Mughal Empire came apart and that a lack of unity amongst the Indians led the company to take over bit by bit. It also shows how Robert Clive became famous which is what we are not taught in school nor any of this period of history. It also shows how problems in India like the Bengal famine of 1770 led to the American War of Independence, that as well as a fear amongst Americans that the East India Company would come to America and do to them what they were doing to the Indians. It also shows how bankers in India contributed to the success of the company and what monies were sent home to Britain. The figures involved are staggering, It also shows the importance of Napoleon's campaign in Egypt as he was intending to come to India.
As the author says Walmart and Microsoft do not have nuclear submarines. The East India Company had an army which it used.

https://www.npr.org/2024/02/29/1234998832/the-space-missions-that-aim-to-explore-distant-moons
 
NASA plans probes to Europa and Titan.
 
Dean Shomshak

Star Trek: Lower Decks, Season 3. Not as much pure silliness this time. Some episodes are actually quite dark. But still funny overall, still excellent and recognizable Trek, plus delving deeper into the characters. Rutherford's past explained, Mariner recognizes her commitment to Starfleet, Tendi gets her pirate on, and Boimler gets Bold.
 
Subtler toss-off bit: Boimler and  Picard both come from families of vintners. But the Picards make wine in France, while the Boimlers make raisins in California. I wonder if they'll do anything more with this?
 
Once again, though, the funniest "bit" was a toss-off call-back to a past series. "We've got *another* ancient mask situation..."
 
I hope my library gets Season Four soon.
 
Dean Shomshak

All Things Considered tells me that in late February, Horsetail Falls in Yosemite Park sometimes catches the light of the setting sun to glow like golden fire: the Fire Fall. Here's the story:
 
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/29/1234996308/the-fickle-golden-magic-of-the-yosemite-fire-fall
 
Here's an image:
 

 
It happens only a few minutes, weather conditions permitting.
 
What happens if you step into the Fire Fall? Gain super-powers? Transport to another world? Release a powerful spirit? Something beyond getting wet, as it is obviously an intensely magical event.
 
Dean Shomshak

All Things Considered tells me that in late February, Horsetail Falls in Yosemite Park sometimes catches the light of the setting sun to glow like golden fire: the Fire Fall. Here's the story:
 
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/29/1234996308/the-fickle-golden-magic-of-the-yosemite-fire-fall
 
Here's an image:
 

 
It happens only a few minutes, weather conditions permitting.
 
What happens if you step into the Fire Fall? Gain super-powers? Transport to another world? Release a powerful spirit? Something beyond getting wet, as it is obviously an intensely magical event.
 
Dean Shomshak

All Things Considered tells me that in late February, Horsetail Falls in Yosemite Park sometimes catches the light of the setting sun to glow like golden fire: the Fire Fall. Here's the story:
 
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/29/1234996308/the-fickle-golden-magic-of-the-yosemite-fire-fall
 
Here's an image:
 

 
It happens only a few minutes, weather conditions permitting.
 
What happens if you step into the Fire Fall? Gain super-powers? Transport to another world? Release a powerful spirit? Something beyond getting wet, as it is obviously an intensely magical event.
 
Dean Shomshak

Perhaps we should look more closely at the activities of the Boebert crime family.

I read the following:
 
 
So, what he's saying is that 98% of his supporters are cognitively impaired. (nods) I can agree with that.  Pretty bold of him to come right out and say it, however.

Okay, everybody take a deep breath. The sky is not falling.   First of all, the SCOTUS will hear arguments on this case in the third week in April. That's a fast-track, meaning that unless the court drags its feet on the trial to an incredible degree, a ruling will still happen before the general election. Trump did not want that. Second, Trump is arguing that a US President is immune to criminal prosecution for any and all actions taken while in office. That is incredibly, dangerously broad to try to get through any court, regardless of its bias. Third, the court is aware that any ruling about Presidential immunity that applies to Donald Trump, also applies to Joe Biden, and any actions he might take.
 
The SCOTUS may wish to establish the appeals court ruling as universally applicable, ending the controversy. Or it may wish to define the limitations of presidential immunity. The mere fact that it's hearing the case does not automatically mean it will rule in Trump's favor.

Likewise. And crocodilians are real survivors, having been around since the Triassic (earlier than the dinosaurs, IIRC). Though I am glad the "drop croc" -- a crocodilian whose skeleton suggests it climbed trees -- probably went extinct more than 10,000 years ago.
 
BTW, I made alligator-men central to an unofficial project I did for White Wolf's game Exalted.
 
https://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/exalted/332532-dzibilchan-empire-of-the-alligator-dean-shomshak
 
Dean Shomshak

A description of the especially extreme Evangelical doctrine that shaped the Alabama Chief Justice's concurrent opinion. This has been going on a long time without mainstream media paying much attention, but it's a movement that makes no secret its explicitly antidemocratic plan is to seize the commanding heights of power and force their version of Christian dogma down everyone else's throat. To fight the demons, doncha know.
 
How the Alabama IVF Ruling Was Influenced by Christian Nationalism | On the Media | WNYC Studios
 
Incidentally, this is the doctrine of my character Rev Gil Purdue (from Creatures of the Night: Horror Enemies). Except I thought I was pushing the real doctrine of "Dominion Theology" beyond reality to comic-book extremes. Turns out... I wasn't. Or at least not as far as I thought.
 
Dean Shomshak

I knew there were reasons I liked crocodiles.

OTOH the world is a big place, and infrastructures that took a century to build won't be replaced quickly. Stark Industries can be selling and installing arc reactors as fast as they can be built (and, yes, be swimming in money as a result), and replacing fossil fuels would still be the work of decades.
 
Unless, say, someone tries building really humongous arc reactors that can plug into the grid and power multi-state areas or medium-sized countries. Which is a bad idea from a systems engineering POV because it creates massive single points of failure. But a great idea from a comic book POV because it creates massive power sources villains can hold hostage, or hijack for their conquer-the-world superweapons. Massive single points of failure are bad engineering, but very good for stories!
 
(This incidentally illustrates why I think it's better to consider the *potential* economic effects of supers than to ask what the final result would be, as if it was already done. A changing situation works better for generating conflicts and plots than a done deal.)
 
Dean Shomshak

OTOH the world is a big place, and infrastructures that took a century to build won't be replaced quickly. Stark Industries can be selling and installing arc reactors as fast as they can be built (and, yes, be swimming in money as a result), and replacing fossil fuels would still be the work of decades.
 
Unless, say, someone tries building really humongous arc reactors that can plug into the grid and power multi-state areas or medium-sized countries. Which is a bad idea from a systems engineering POV because it creates massive single points of failure. But a great idea from a comic book POV because it creates massive power sources villains can hold hostage, or hijack for their conquer-the-world superweapons. Massive single points of failure are bad engineering, but very good for stories!
 
(This incidentally illustrates why I think it's better to consider the *potential* economic effects of supers than to ask what the final result would be, as if it was already done. A changing situation works better for generating conflicts and plots than a done deal.)
 
Dean Shomshak

A week ago, I'd never even heard of Zyn, but apparently it's become a Big Thing in some subcultures. A bit of cultural/political analysuis from Vox, about nicotine pouches and attempts to puff up fragile masculine egos. I post it here because, if true, it's nuts.
 
Mascuzynity: How a nicotine pouch explains the new ethos of young conservative men (msn.com)
 
So glad that when I was growing up, I was told in no uncertain terms that I could never have any sort of social status or acceptance, and I believed it. It removed a lot of pressure and left me free in many ways.
 
Dean Shomshak

A week ago, I'd never even heard of Zyn, but apparently it's become a Big Thing in some subcultures. A bit of cultural/political analysuis from Vox, about nicotine pouches and attempts to puff up fragile masculine egos. I post it here because, if true, it's nuts.
 
Mascuzynity: How a nicotine pouch explains the new ethos of young conservative men (msn.com)
 
So glad that when I was growing up, I was told in no uncertain terms that I could never have any sort of social status or acceptance, and I believed it. It removed a lot of pressure and left me free in many ways.
 
Dean Shomshak