There’s not really an argument here, more of a statment—Is Iraq our own Kobayashi Maru? Iraq is fast becoming the Kobayashi Maru for the United States. If we stay, suicide terrorism will continue to rise. If we go, the civil war is practically inevitable. On the surface this Kobayashi Maru framework for Iraq seems toContinue reading “On Iraq and the No-Win Scenario”
Tag Archives: Star Trek
On Jimmy Doohan
James Doohan, best known as Scotty from Star Trek, passed away today. He was 85. I had the opportunity to write for Scotty in my Star Trek: SCE novella, Ring Around the Sky. Scotty is the officer in charge of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, and he doles out the assignments to the da VinciContinue reading “On Jimmy Doohan”
On the Trekkie Test
Before we get to the meat of the post, I heard on NPR this morning that the North Carolina legislature is considering a new custom license plate. We have them for colleges, for nature, for history. Now they want to produce a plate that bears the message, “I would rather be shagging.” In North Carolina,Continue reading “On the Trekkie Test”
On Childhood Television Crushes
As seen on Bill Leisner‘s LiveJournal: List five fictional people — from television, movies, books, whatever — that you had a crush on as a child (or early teens). Then post this on your LiveJournal so other people can be assured that you’re as weird as they thought. 5. Vina (Susan Oliver of Star Trek:Continue reading “On Childhood Television Crushes”
Just an Observation
While wrapping presents this evening I needed some background noise, so I put X2: X-Men United in the DVD player. I hadn’t realized it until today, but the film is almost a remake of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. But with the X-Men, instead of Admiral Kirk and his lackeys. I remember whenContinue reading “Just an Observation”
Drabble-y Goodness
What is a drabble, you ask? A drabble is a short story of precisely one hundred words. No more. No less. I write drabbles for fun. Usually as a writing warm-up exercise. Occasionally for profit, when for Pocket’s Strange New Worlds VI contest two years ago I submitted many drabbles for consideration. (Come to thinkContinue reading “Drabble-y Goodness”
On Future Evolution
In Greg Benford’s Foundation’s Fear there’s mention of a planet in the days before the fall of the Galactic Empire where humans are green. I don’t know the hows or whys–Benford doesn’t explain. It seems to me that it would be an adaptation to their environment, and a green pigmentation provided a protection against unusualContinue reading “On Future Evolution”
On Energy Weapons and Kinetic Weapons in Star Trek
This has been playing on my mind for a few days. There’s a problem with Star Trek. It’s a little too high tech. It’s like how everything hovers, when wheels are perfectly good ways of getting around. It bothers me that energy weapons seem to be the rule of the day in the 24th-century. InContinue reading “On Energy Weapons and Kinetic Weapons in Star Trek”
On Star Trek Commodores
Commodore is, in naval history, a title rather than a rank, held by a captain who commands a fleet, essentially like an admiral, but without the promotion, and for a limited period of time. What we’ve seen in Star Trek is that Commodore is a rank. Bob Wesley, in “The Ulimate Computer,” was acting inContinue reading “On Star Trek Commodores”
On The Case of the Colonist's Corpse
I have to give mad props to Pocket for the red dye on the edge of Colonist’s Corpse‘s pages. That really does evoke the memory of haunting used bookshops looking for vintage 1950s/60s paperbacks. Maybe it would have been asking too much for the book to be printed in microtype, in a taller-than-standard size, andContinue reading “On The Case of the Colonist's Corpse”