(1) TIME IN A BOTTLE. Ars Technica tries to figure out how time travel works in Star Trek.
Time travel, while perhaps one of the most interesting devices in the series, is also confusing, befuddling, and inconsistent. In the words of Captain Janeway, “the future is the past, the past is the future; it all gives me a headache.”
While we can’t get too deep into the purported mechanisms behind Trek time travel—they rely on things like “chronotons” whose nature real-world science has sadly yet to discover—it’s still interesting to ponder time travel’s effects. How does it affect the present? Is interference with the past a predestined part of history? Do alterations in the past get mixed into the current timeline?
(2) BIT PLAYER. “Finding Boshek” is the latest in The Numerous Solutions of Billy Jensen.
He was the man who could have been Solo.
I have always been intrigued by BoShek. When Ben Kenobi enters the cantina on Mos Eisley looking for a pilot to take himself, the boy and two droids to Alderaan, his first choice is a smuggler sporting arched eyebrows, killer muttonchops, and a black and white space suit more akin to an astronaut than a fighter pilot. While we cannot hear their dialogue, it is obvious that Kenobi asks him for a ride to Alderaan–and for whatever reason, the space pilot says no.
Was his ship out of commission? Did he have another charter later that day?
Whatever the reason, BoShek turns down the offer, but smoothly motions over his shoulder to the furry beast behind him, in my mind saying something to the effect of “Sorry, I can’t help you. But why don’t you give him a try?”
That furry beast, Chewbacca, then brings Kenobi and Skywalker to the table, Han Solo sits down, the rest is history…and BoShek faded forever into the darkness of the Mos Eisley bar.
Incredibly enough, he solved the mystery.
Commenter Jeremy Miller was so impressed he wrote:
This was a spectacular discovery, but there remains yet another, even more elusive uncredited extra hailing from the Star Wars cinematic universe begging to be found. His character has been named…Willrow Hood…the infamous Cloud City tech who absconded with an ice cream maker during the evacuation of Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back. Help us, Billy Jensen. You’re our only hope.
(3) SLATE FIGHTER. Steve Davidson’s thoughtful Amazing Stories post “Whether tis Nobler” follows this introduction with an analysis of anti-Hugo-slate tactics.
GRRM’s laying the blame for the success of No Award at my feet – problematic. For reasons both personal and voting-related.
I like Mr. Martin. I particularly admire and am grateful for his unstinting support of fandom over the years. (By way of example: he has consistently attended Worldcon even when other, higher-profile conventions have been scheduled for the same weekend. His stated reason for doing so is “He is a fan”.) I find him to be, in many respects, a fine example of the kind of fan-turned-pro that I grew up with, people like Asimov, Bradbury, Clement, Buchanan, Gerrold, others. They KNOW where they came from, they recognize and acknowledge the support the community has provided to them, they embrace the culture and they pay things forward.
I’m uncomfortable being at odds with him.
On the voting front though, we’re at odds. We are not at odds when it comes to the general concept of “do not mess with the Hugo Awards”. Our conflict is based on tactics, not strategy. Mr. Martin believes that the only consideration ought to be whether or not a work is worthy of a Hugo Award, and further, he believes that this position should trump any anti-slate considerations. Anything less can potentially negatively affect deserving nominees who happen to be on slates.
I on the other hand believe that slates are the primary issue and taking an effective and long-lasting stand against their use and acceptance ought to be the main focus.
(4) VENERA. At Galactic Journey, The Traveler has just read about the Soviet Union’s 1961 Venus probe.
Look out, Venus! The Russians are coming to open your shell.
Venus, forever shrouded in a protective layer of clouds, may soon be compelled to give up her secrets to a 1400 pound probe. Launched by the Soviet Union on the 11th, it is the first mission from Earth specifically designed to investigate “Earth’s Twin.”
(5) EXCITABLE BRIN. And in 2016, David Brin got a little revved up by what he heard at two events in California: “Space: so many milestones ahead!”
Space is looking up. In that more eyes appear to be turning skyward in tentative optimism. A few days ago I participated in a pair of events in Los Angeles, hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and NASA and Fox Studios. The morning event featured Ridley Scott, Adam Savage, Bill Nye, Andy Weir and scientists and screenwriters discussing how the film The Martian may be a harbinger of much more about bold exploration. The smaller afternoon event, at UCLA put scientists and Hollywood myth-makers together in workshops. Maybe we’ll get more hopeful tales!
(6) INKLINGS. Glenn Hough has reviewed Diana Pavlac Glyer’s Bandersnatch at Worlds Without End.
In terms of the 20th century, the Inklings, this select group of men, who met, talked, and critiqued each others work, has now become The Example for how a fellowship is supposed to work. Even Paris of Hemingway’s lost generation, with their salons, and creative minds from far more disciples, seems now a pale second place.
Bandersnatch takes us into this crucible, trying to reconstruct from a fly-on-the-wall perspective this extraordinary time and place. Glyer is concerned with two fundamental questions: What did they talk about when they discussed the various works in progress? and What difference did it make within the books they were writing?
(7) CRASHY BOOM. Neatorama remembers “The Sound Effects Genius Behind The Looney Tunes And Merrie Melodies”.
Treg Brown started his career as a sound editor for the Warner Brothers in 1936, and under his guidance the iconic Looney Tunes cartoon sound took shape.
From the subtle inclusion of sound effects in orchestral scores to the hiring of iconic voice actors like Mel Blanc, Treg is the guy responsible for it all.
(8) EO BBC. The BBC aired the first science fiction television program 78 years ago.
Doctor Who may be the world’s longest-running science fiction television series, but it’s not the oldest sci-fi program to have been broadcast on television. That honor goes to another BBC production, which first aired 78 years ago today: a live recording of Karel ?apek’s seminal play, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). You probably remember that the program was nominated for a Retro-Hugo in 2014.
(9) TODAY IN HISTORY
- February 13, 1931 — Bela Lugosi is undead in Tod Browning’s Dracula, seen for the first time on this day in 1931.
(10) HOYT DESERVES BETTER. Sarah A. Hoyt has been unjustly attacked, she explains in “The Games People Play”.
The unnamed site, having read the first paragraph and seeing that a post followed, immediately went on to say that research was hard and that, without doing it, I’d done a whole post about the case. When it was pointed out to them I hadn’t, but the case was a mere jumping off point, they claimed stupidity on my part since the post was an obvious sham or something.
That’s terrible! I wonder what site that was? At first I suspected it was this one. After all, File 770 ran an item about that column the other day which was, indeed, based on the assumption that the introduction signaled what the rest of the column would be about.
Now, I haven’t read the complaint, so perhaps there is more to it, and the complaint is more substantial. …
We’ll stop here and wait til she reads the complaint…
But when J. C. Salomon informed me about the true state of affairs, I responded in a comment:
J.C. Salomon: That’s hilarious — the rest of the column had nothing to do with the lede? I would never have known! Thanks for telling me.
Nothing like Hoyt’s description. So if some blogger “claimed stupidity” on Hoyt’s part, and claimed “the post was an obvious sham,” I’m glad Hoyt is taking him to account, whoever he is.
(11) FANCAST REVIEWS. Geeking Out About… discusses “Road to the Hugo Awards: Selected Fancasts, part 1”.
Finding the time to listen to hour-long episodes of podcasts which are eligible for the 2016 Hugo Awards wasn’t easy for me, but that’s what today’s article is about. The eligibility requirements state that the podcast must be a “non-professional” production—that is, no other company paid the podcaster(s) to make it—and at least one episode has to have been produced during the calendar year in question.
As such, then, I decided to pick one episode from a currently eligible podcast whose description interested me the most and I’ll be basing my recommendations on just the one episode. Unlike the “three episode rule” which I’m borrowing from former GOA contributor Kara Dennison, I think that I’d be able to tell what’s going to be on my nomination and/or platform lists before March 31 from just one episode.
(12) SETTING AN EXAMPLE. Here is Brian Niemeier’s tweet, inviting people to read his post criticizing Matthew Foster for using ad hominem attacks.
https://twitter.com/BrianNiemeier/status/698683710460157953
See Niemeier’s post “Sad Puppies: Cognitive Dissonance Makes Our Enemies Oblivious” at Kairos.
There are two possible explanations for why Matthew responded to my evidence-based arguments with nothing but ad hominem attacks.
- False positives: all of his “tells” are in fact rational responses to unknown stimuli.
- Cognitive dissonance: lacking contrary evidence against arguments that shook his worldview, Matthew responded with a slew of irrational accusations.
(13) FORCE AWAKENS DESPOILED. As CinemaBlend notes, in How Star Wars the Force Awakens Should Have Ended much of the video is actually dedicated to fixing holes in the movie rather than specifically dealing with how it ended.
[Thanks to JJ, James H. Burns, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Steve Davidson.]
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Bloodstone:
Oh, that’s good. Mike should use that!
From the last page, just because this caught me for a minute as well:
I think the sentence structure leads to a parsing error for people who read it like I did the first time through. Brad’s fragment might imply that EPH throws out ballots, which of course doesn’t happen and is what Lydy keyed onto. When read in order, it can seem like the parenthetical sentence (“a strange supposition”) refers to EPH eliminates ballots en masse rather than EPH promoters assumed slate ballots would be identical.
But in context with the rest of his posts I get the impression Brad was taking issue with the assumption of identical ballots.
I’m not going to be satisfied until sparkly vampires are outlawed world-wide.
@Mister Dalliard: it’s because American conservatism has been thoroughly hijacked by religious fundamentalists. Therefore, conservative principles such as the free market, free speech, etc. have been deemed of lesser importance than their version of Jesus. Many American conservatives think that the only people deserving of all rights are straight and Christian. There’s no room any more in the Republican Party for men like Rockefeller, Goldwater… even Nixon is farther left than the official platform, what with his going to China and signing the EPA into law and not really caring about abortion and birth control.
I’ve never worked out why I should need to boycott OSC because of his politics. Not when the last five of his books I read were so very soul crushing dull.
@ Lurkertype: I get the history – even here at the bottom of the world we can see it happening. I just have trouble holding the two contradictory thoughts in my mind at the same time. “Freedom for everyone!” and “Gays can’t marry who they love” just aren’t compatible and yet so many so-called conservatives just keep insisting on both. “Less government!” or “Ban stuff we don’t like!” Choose one, damn it.
They believe in the freedom to do things they approve of, the freedom to make choices they like and the freedom to worship in a manner sensible people like them do.
Anything that gets in the way of that is anti-freedom, and anything that involves choices only stupid or weird people would make is also anti-freedom because it gets in their way or bothers them, which is therefore reducing their freedom.
This is what makes it acceptable to bomb the shit out of people to give them the freedom to be more like us, and to teach their daughters proper things in good freedom-loving schools their daughters could go to if they hadn’t just been bombed to death.
The idea that freedom means the ability to choose paths that we in the West don’t approve of at all is a bad idea that they need to be freed from. Freedom is a boot on the neck until you agree with us. Then you’ll be free.
The fact that the people with the boots on their necks don’t show proper gratitude for this freedom is baffling, and shows that they’re bad people who should be suppressed until they get wise to what freedom is all about.
lurkertype
Spoiler Alert – Charlie Stross was careful to insert a sparkly vampire into “the Rhesus Chart”…
Bigger Spoiler Alert – Irel irel oevrsyl…
*looks up* Whoops.
GENERIC APOLOGY FOR POSTING COMMENT IN THE WRONG THREAD.
BEST FILK YET
MELODY: FAMOUS MELODY
INTRO LINE
FUNNY LINE
LINE ABOUT AUTHOR
DOING FUNNY STUFF
FAN THINGS
ANOTHER AUTHOR
PUPPY JOKE
EXTREMELY FUNNY ENDING
conservative principles such as the free market, free speech, etc.
And here was me thinking those were liberal principles.
@Phantom: “But mostly I’m pissed about the fact that there’s a bunch of sniggering little assholes out there who think they’re smart enough to decide what I get to read and what I don’t.”
Maybe if someone had told you what to read and not read, we’d not be reading your ‘stuff’.
@Neurotribes: It’s not just Gernsback in that section: Fandom is looked at as perhaps the only functioning society/culture that has been created by the neuro-diverse (or at least heavily influenced).
I view fandom as a sub-culture (there’s been books written on that subject. I believe the arguments hold weight) and Neurotribes’ inclusion of fandom within the scope of the coverage provided to neuro-diversity in the book really ties things together – both in the book and for fandom/the way I view fandom (and judging from commentary over the years, the way a good, vocal segment of fandom views itself).
We (sometimes) get kudos for inspiring and raising up a generation of scientists and engineers; now someone is using fandom as an example of a different kind of society AND suggesting that it works (in interesting, complex, strange and effective ways). And in particular, its non-mundane focus on doing stuff because it is interesting (or compelling, or obsessive) because of those qualities, and not for anything else: for developing a culture whose means of exchange IS obsession, rather than money (I take liberty here, but I think anyone reading at least the chapter on Gernsback can see how I get there).
@Hampus
Non-SJW Rejoinder:
DISPARAGEMENT
UNSUBSTANTIATED FACTUAL CLAIM
BROAD SWEEPING GENERALIZATION
VAGUE, SELF-REFERENTIAL DEFINITION
NEGATIVELY COUCHED GENDER REFERENCE
VICTIMHOOD
That last part is a joke, right? A humorous exaggeration?
It is too divorced from reality to be anything anyone with a lick of sense or reason would say.
Right?
@PiMMN
Of course it is.
@ Peace
Well he said he was only kidding…
MORNINGTON CRESCENTIt’s probably way late to point this out, but the Comics Code Authority was not a government body.
It was purely private enterprise, self-censorship by the comics industry that used arm-twisting and pressure to drive all nonconforming comics out of businss and keep US comics flat, bland, simple, and childish for decades while European and Asian comics explored interesting and sophisticated themes for adult audiences US comics couldn’t even dream of.
Never understimate the harm unregulated private businesses can do to themselves out of cravenness and greed.
@snowcrash and @Mister Dalliard:
Christ on a rabbit farm. Thank you.
@lurkertype YES. I can do ALL of those things.
If I want to.
But I am busy.
Right now I am insuring that most internet types write positively about last night’s mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead (which is going very well btw); before that I had to ensure that the episode itself would actually BE good.
And I’m kinda tired after willing Mike to give me a two-day streak of title picks; (which is nothing compared to the energy required to warp MGC posts into lalaland, let me tell you!)
(Don’t look up puppies, you just might see the strings….)
Those movies you thought didn’t live up to expectations? Yeah, sorry. That was me. I’m easily bored. And man, there are no words that can convey how excruciating the headache I had after getting TOR to spend a few mill on Scalzi was. I was down for a week!
Not to mention the constant expenditure of energy required to keep fandom in line day-to-day. I’ll admit things could be a bit more coherent, but I do have to sleep.
Sorry to say, I think you’re going to be waiting for that pony for a while.
@The Phantom:
The answer is, possessing a weapon does not make you “safer”. Nor does it make you less safe. A weapon is a thing, it has no effect until you make use of it. Your safety is up to you, ducky.
You’re such a ducky, ducky. I’ll also point out that both the US, the USSR and the PRC spent decades dancing around with a thing called “Mutually Assured Destruction”, which was pretty much centered on having the most powerful weapons in existence and NOT using them.
Possessing a powerful weapon, training with it, having the situational awareness and fighting spirit to use it, these things make it more likely you will survive a violent encounter.
Possessing a powerful weapon. Do you mean something like the Great Truncheon of Held? It has a long, gleaming metallic shaft and an enormous fist at the end. You can hold it up for all to see how enormous your power is.
BTW. What kind of car do you drive?
A gun would make me safer. You probably lack the mindset to use one. Better for you to trust to luck and hope for the best.
Oh great. I’d rather trust luck than you with a gun if this is your mindset. You can magically-from-a-distance judge people’s mindsets. Right. Do voices other than your own tell you these things? Do they whisper, just loud enough for you to barely make out what they’re saying, or are they shouting so loud you can barely hear yourself think?
Or maybe start training yourself to survive a violent encounter with whatever weapons you can have at hand. Your brain keeps you alive, a gun is just a tool to help you do that. The wise man knows that some days you need all the help you can get.
A car is a pretty good weapon. Weren’t we talking about being in a car? Yes. My brain does keep me alive. Which is why it really wants to know your real identity, so that it, and the rest of me, can stay as far away as possible.
A gun in the glove compartment by the way is utterly useless. You wear it on your belt or lock in the safe at home. Only idiots keep guns in the glove compartment. It’s all the way across the car, and you’re wearing a seat belt. How you going to get to that thing if it all hits the fan? Five seconds to fumble it out, you’re dead already. Shit happens fast in a gunfight.
Except: I live in New Hampshire. NO seat belts required for adults. And MY glove compartment is a console right next to my hand. No matter which seat I’m in.
But of course in your world, your own personal experience is the only way reality manifests itself. That’s a fine example of maintaining situational awareness there, it is.
How do I know? I tried it, obviously. Know anybody who keeps their phone in the glove compartment? Me neither. On your belt or leave it at home.
Wish I had video of that practice session. I’m particularly interested in the lead up to the triggering event. What is it? Zombies shuffling onto the road? Black helicopters swooping in over the hiway? A sobriety checkpoint? Or just that ‘feeling’ that someone’s mindset is going to put you in harms way?
There now, all happy? Questions answered? Anything else you’re dying to know?
Yes. I’m wondering what world you live in. It must be the one in which anyone shooting at people in cars announces and telegraphs their intentions far enough in advance to let you go all macho, instead of the one where they snipe you from a hillside or just pull up at a traffic light and blow you away. (I know Karate. Just give me a sec to get my shoes and socks off….)
And I also want to know if your neck gets really, really tired after a day of constantly swiveling through 180 degrees….
Mike Glyer
SINCERE APPRECIATION WITHOUT KISSING UP
Soon Lee
REPHRASED REPEAT OF YOUR REJOINDER
lurkertype
When we moved to Texas, driving a rented moving van, we arrived at my cousin’s, went in, and returned to the van to find our cat had gotten out the flap. While we were looking for her, my cousin’s housemate happened along and we explained that we were seeking a black and white cat about yay big and continued looking. We came back to the spot, and housemate was standing with at least three black and white cats sitting obediently at his feet. “Any of these yours?” They weren’t (we found ours soon after), but it was one of the most impressive things I ever saw. Not only did he have them sitting quietly by, like they were trained, but they all fell within the vague description we’d given him. I don’t know what he did for a living, but I’d bet he missed his true calling.
Camestros Felapton
A MAJOR AWARD
JJ
They only sparkle when they break wind. It’s kind of like Doc Savage’s mysterious trilling sound.
Hampus Eckerman
OBLIVIOUS NON-REPLY
Peace Is My Middle Name
The Comics Code Authority, though, was created in response to government hearings, as an attempt to forestall government censorship. Just saying, in order to unobtrusively highlight my vast knowledge. Wait, should that be in ALL CAPS?
Something Nobody Said
If I was more organized, I’d have scanned and put online the cartoon I did for TNH in the late 70s or early 80s, showing one guy saying, “[Dull Observation]” and the other guy saying, “[Witty Topper]!” I think it’s in an Izzard.
I’m so glad the grouse got better!
JJ, snowcrash:
Thanks for the attempt to point me to more stuff. It’s not, though, that I’m unaware of things that would be good Best Related Work offerings (Felicia Day’s book is on my really want to read list), it’s only that I haven’t read them and only have so much time before the final deadline, so i need to figure out how to prioritize my reading. I’ve been pretty poor on non-internetty non-fiction, and while a couple of individual essays I’ve seen blogged are good, a single essay feels a bit thin unless it’s as extensive and detailed as what Mixon did last year, and even that wasn’t voted as Best Related. (Okay, and some things, like tie-ins to book series’ I haven’t read, don’t work for me personally, but hopefully someone else will appreciate the reminder.)
@Brian Z
I’m sure you’re aware that the stuff you oh-so-cleverly post and then delete does show up in email.
My Trump pixel slogan? I posted on the wrong thread.
@Peace is My Middle Name:
I would (amicably) disagree with BigelowT’s friends and say the 1999 version of Mansfield Park is the best Jane Austen adaptation I’ve seen. It’s certainly my personal favorite. The acting is strong–particularly Harold Pinter as Sir Thomas Bertram–and the screenplay is fantastic. I think some people may be thrown off since it makes the slavery theme explicit, but I think one has to. After all, the title of the book makes it clear it is about slavery but how many people nowadays know much about Lord Mansfield?
Also the director herself is quite talented–she did a marvelous little film I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing–and in a world in which more women would be given opportunities to direct, I daresay she would have many more films.
@Brian Z
Yes, I saw that. I apologize.
@Steve Davidson
Great fisk done in the true tradition of fisking. Thank you for the laughs. I really needed them. I have pockets in the door of my car as well as a place between seats where guns would fit.
However in the two states I spend most of my time in it’s really, really illegal to travel with a loaded gun even if your a cop with concealed to carry permits if your off duty while driving. Civilians are under the same rules. The rules can be found not only on the various states websites but I initially found them while surfing the NRA which had links and I didn’t see any negative language related to the laws there.
All I’m seeing is The Phantom being overly dramatic and suggesting I break the law while still not giving any specific answers as to how it would actually do any good. Unless I’m planning to shoot the cop who stops me for a traffic violation which isn’t high on my list of things to do given I’m a middle age white women who usually gets a verbal warning instead of a ticket (privledged saves my life). The only other time I can see it being useful is if I meet The Phantom in person as he seems to have anger issues and I’m not sure what they consider an immediate threat.
For the curious our latest bump in the road (Phantom) has a gravatar ID of 4b1e05d5d5e554f9923485570054ea47
I’ve implemented it and there is a nice soothing shade of gray where his(?) drivel was.
@BLP:
The Phantom’s comments have been a distinctive turd-brown over here for some time now.
DOGMATIC ASSERTION ABOUT REGIONAL CUISINE (IN THE SECRET HOPE OF WATERING DOWN THE CURRENT CONCENTRATION OF CONVERSATION)
I’m bowing out of the gun conversation as file770 is not the place to have it unless we are talking about a specific book or sub genre within SFF. Sorry filers for having brought the conversation from a previously dead thread back to life over here.
It was bad because it wasn’t going to lead to a productive or interesting conversation and I knew that at the time.
I will continue to try harder to ignore those I consider trolls so my behavior doesn’t bring the conversation to even lower levels.
Please forgive me.
@The Phantom
I should not have baited and mocked you. It’s not an appropriate way to treat others online or offline. In the future I will try to ignore your comments as we seem to bring out the worst in each other. Please forgive me.
@Tasha,
that one pretty much set me off. Shouldn’t have written it, probably some undeserved ire in there, – buttons, pushing of.
To close off one last thread on the gun thing: Most states don’t let you drive with a loaded gun strapped to your hip, or even a loaded gun anywhere within easy access. This is for the police’s protection (as well as everyone else’s).
Once had a very tense encounter (police were looking for an armed someone) over an empty holster on the back seat (for a paintball gun but holster = holster = good possibility of a gun with or near the unknown person in the car)). It ended well because I’d previously trained myself to survive violent encounters.
One final gun note. I think anyone who advertises that they have a lethal weapon, carries it openly, is either a braggart, an idiot or someone looking for trouble. (or any combination thereof.) The first is dismissable, the second curable, the third…
SUPERB COMMENT THAT DISAPPEARED WHEN POSTING FAILED.
KipW: Most impressive!
Is Han Solo a descendant of Napoleon Solo? I only arsk because when I saw the lede “He was the man who could have been Solo.”, it was Robert Vaughan I first thought of…
After a moment’s utter disorientation when I continued reading, I realised it was all about some other thing entirely.
@Owen:
No, Napoleon Solo’s secretly Kryptonian.
@The Phantom
I’m coming into this argument a bit late, but since this topic is in my backyard so to speak, here is an answer for you: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/04/higher-education-liberal-research-indoctrination
I think the quote near the end is most telling. If you’re so concerned about the liberalism of academia, why aren’t you so concerned about the conservatism of the armed forces?
What are the all-caps comments about?
Owen Whiteoak: Is Han Solo a descendant of Napoleon Solo?
Other way around. “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” remember? So maybe Han Solo is the ancestor of Napoleon Solo!
Owen Whiteoak: Is Han Solo a descendant of Napoleon Solo?
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” remember? So maybe Han Solo is the ancestor of Napoleon Solo!
Argh! How did that happen? Mike, please delete one of these silly comments?
Good point, Mary. I was forgetting how timey-wimey the multiverse is. Oh well. I’m off to rule the Sevagram now.
@Peace
A couple of pages back someone mentioned that saying EVIDENCE over and over again was not the same as providing evidence, unless it was, in which case EXPLANATORY STATEMENT. 😉
@Peace
Oops, I wasn’t quite right.
Kip W:
The Phantom: But come to think of it, do you know of any mainstream universities with a Right leaning liberal arts department?
Well, I’d say that it kind of depends on which of the liberal arts you’re talking about. Most colleges don’t have liberal arts “departments,” per se–they’ll have Departments of English, History, Math, etcetera. Universities will have Colleges of the Liberal Arts–usually of the Liberal Arts and Sciences, with a variety of departments within that college. (Universities will have other colleges, too–Engineering/Applied Sciences, for example, or Education, Medicine, Law, Journalism, Theology/Religion . . . each of these colleges may have more than one department. It’s an organizational Thing.) So . . . which of these are we considering, in terms of liberal vs. conservative politics?
Sorry. I usually try to avoid largely-irrelevant snark, but it just pushes one of my buttons when people talk about a “liberal arts department” and don’t acknowledge how complex any definition of that term must be . . .
Peace Is My Middle Name: What are the all-caps comments about?
Go back to the beginning of the thread and read only the all-caps comments. It will make sense, and you’ll get a chuckle out of it.
POINTLESSLY REDUNDANT EXPLANATION
The Phantom: conflates “Liberal Politics” with “Liberal Arts”
* facepalm *
You do know that the “Liberal” in “Liberal Arts” does not refer to politics, right?
Heinlein had some smart things to say about guns for self defense in Tunnel In The Sky. I was a teen when I read that and I’ve never forgotten it.
Interestingly enough it turns out actual research backs him up. Preliminary research, at least–the NRA did exactly what you would expect them to do if they already knew it was true.
Tasha Turner on February 15, 2016 at 12:45 pm said: “@The Phantom…”
That is, I’m pretty sure, the most decent thing I’ve seen anybody do in ages. I am humbled by your generosity of spirit.
Tasha, I accept your apology. Thank you.
I extend my own to you. I was undeservedly harsh with you, and I apologize without reservation.