Thursday blend: to boldly go briefly edition

Happy Thursday! I hope you got your Christmas shopping done, because after today they probably won't arrive in time (joking aside, there is a lot of truth to it--get it done early this year!).

Breaking: Evil Mirror Universe William Shatner Returns From Space

Santa Announces That Due To Supply Chain Issues, You Can Now Choose Between A Roasted Chestnut Or A Ball-In-A-Cup

California Orders Police To Arrest Children Who Pick Out Toys Traditionally Associated With Their Biological Gender

Terrifying New Halloween Mask Depicts A Human Face Not Wearing A Mask

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U.S. supply chain too snarled for Biden Christmas fix, experts say

Always be skeptical of 1.) the news media, 2.) "experts", and 3.) any claim involving the federal government. That said, this is likely true despite itself:

Biden brought together powerbrokers from ports, unions and big business on Wednesday to address shipping, labor and warehousing pain in the U.S. supply chain, and announced new around-the-clock port operations in Los Angeles.

As his Republican opposition seizes on possible Christmas shortages to connect Biden's economic policies to inflation, and try to stall a multitrillion-dollar spending bill in Congress in coming weeks, the White House's message Wednesday was that a solution is in sight.

The government isn't fixing this. It's a global problem that largely is due to the pandemic, China being China, and a host of inter-related lesser but complex issues like a lack of empty containers, truckers, & longshoremen.

 
Relatedly: Majority of Americans in new poll says government doing too much

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Schools Group That Urged Attorney General’s Anti-Parent Initiative Has Ties to Democrats, Unions

To paraphrase Glenn, the NEA and school boards are not very popular right now, use that and unseat them.

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Katie Couric omitted Ruth Bader Ginsburg's contempt for the anthem kneelers to spare Ginsburg's reputation:

In new memoir, Going There, Couric writes that she edited out a part where Ginsburg said that those who kneel during the national anthem are showing 'contempt for a government that has made it possible for their parents and grandparents to live a decent life.'

The published story, which Couric wrote for Yahoo! News in 2016, did include quotes from Ginsburg saying refusing to stand for the anthem was 'dumb and disrespectful', but omitted more problematic remarks.

This incident is hardly consequential, but multiplied by dozens of journalists covering more important issues... Tell me why we should trust the media?

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Last but not least,

The list of major Biden administration failures

• The Del Rio Haitian border crisis.
• Don't forget Afghanistan.
• Unity? Every president fails on this, but we should start holding them responsible.
• TBA

Cautiously pessimistic about Star Trek: Discovery

As a Trekkie, my anticipation for a new Star Trek television series began with excited wonderment. News of a new Trek series is always good news. Until it's not.

I don't want to be one of the bandwagonistas kicking a fetus before it's born, but I also don't want it to suck. Let's just say ST:D (wow, what a terrible acronym) has had its share of production problems--according to rumors and I think some other, more reliable sources.

The first trailer didn't inspire much confidence either. I guess it could've been worse:



Something just seems off. I think part of it is that it's meant to be different. Part of it is that I think it has to be different, given the Star Trek copyright mess of Paramount and CBS, and that it has to be modern while sticking to 1960s ST canon. No doubt they are squaring a circle here, and not everyone will be pleased.

Be that as it may, things could have gone better. The Youtuber Midnight's Edge seems to have the down-low on all things ST:D:



He's got a few more informative videos on the topic. Worth a watch if you're interested. By the way, if you haven't seen Prelude to Axanar, give it a watch. It's the best Trek fan film I've seen.

So after all of the delays and the uncanny Discovery trailer I became pessimistic. Then, after seeing the new Klingons and reading the news that ST:D will have season long story arcs, rather than self-contained weekly stories as every previous series, I lost most of what little optimism I had left.

But after thinking about it a bit, especially given how so many relatively recent tv dramas have been very good if not excellent, I thought maybe this could be great too. Probably not, but you know, it could be. So I'm still pessimistic, but not quite as much now. I hated the new Klingons at first, but now, who cares? ST has a history of changing the appearance of alien races. As long as they don't depart too much from canon, Klingons will be Klingons. Besides, they look more alien than they used to, which I think is good.

I felt I've rambled enough about a show that hasn't even aired yet. So here's the latest trailer:



Ugh, some things in it just bother me. I hope it's not a train wreck.

Oops: Forgot to mention that it's set to debut Sunday, September 24, 2017 on CBS.

Star Trek: Discovery

I thoroughly enjoyed the last Star Trek movie. It felt like a good TOS episode, keeping the spirit of Trek true to itself. It didn't have to blow up the planet Vulcan, didn't have to threaten Earth. Didn't have Spock become a violent psycho. It wasn't perfect (warning: link contains spoilers). But it was nice. I strongly recommend it.

That being said, after recently re-watching Star Trek Beyond, it got me curious about the planned tv series. I know next to nothing about the planned show; nobody knows much about it, there just isn't much information out at the moment. But it is coming.

From the little I've read, I am both cautiously optimistic and worried. They are taking risks, which is good. But risks are risks--the direction they're taking things might not pay off. And Trekkie fandom could suffer.

Here's what I know: The show is called Star Trek: Discovery and is due to be released in May 2017. It's a CBS show of course, but at this point is not planned to be on television. Rather, it will be released online, on CBS All Access (the premiere will air on television, but after that it's all online). If I may be cynical for a moment, it could mean the suits at CBS aren't very confident in it. But I could be wrong: exclusive online media is the new hotness, so maybe Star Trek will be their flagship online draw. Like Netflix's House of Cards. Maybe.

The setting will take place 10 years before the original series, so they are limiting themselves. It's a Star Trek show so it has to be futuristic and fancy, but it takes place before a show made in the 60s. They'll have to cram a new square peg in that round hole. But that's not too worrying, since the new movies got few complaints there. Which means this exclusively online show will have to look something like those big-budget movies. People are tired of reboots, so I doubt they'll be inventing a new ST universe--which means they can't mess up existing canon (or should painstakingly try to avoid it). Fifty years worth of canon. I hope they pull it off.

And there will be diversity. Diversity in Star Trek is a given, but this time we're talking what will probably be the SJW dream team of diversity. Which is fine. It's the 23rd century. Crewmates can be having gay, transgender, alien, android orgies and marriage ceremonies in their quarters for all I care, but it shouldn't be a focus where we get didactic stories about tolerance, especially arising from conflict among the crew. We don't want or need a Zootopia in space.

Also, apparently the captain of the U.S.S. Discovery will not be the leading character. Like I said, risks.

I want so much to vicariously go to space with the new Star Trek, but I damn sure don't want to be hit over the head with the politics of the last 10 years. Give me the politics of 2250 and Orion slave girls. Give me Vulcans and Klingons and new aliens. Give me violence and give me high-concept sci-fi. Give me Star Trek. Please.

A primitive, but flamboyantly promiscuous species, Captain

If you're one of the few who haven't seen this yet, please do. A quick and dirty critique of our evolving culture, using beloved Trek icons.

First contact doesn't go so well:

New Star Trek Into Darkness Trailer

A bit more is revealed in this one. It looks okay. I guess as an action movie it looks good. And I really like Cumberbatch's acting. But more generally, as a Trek movie it looks like Abrams is trying too hard to move away from classic Trek. And as a Trekkie, I'm beginning to expect some disappointment.

I guess I should just be glad the reboot films aren't nearly as bad as the Star Wars prequels.



In an alien-filled galaxy, you think Abrams could have been a little more imaginative than to use a human as a bad guy. Former starfleet at that. It's all very interesting, but so very safe and unoriginal. Am I going to have to wait another 4-5 years to see a Klingon?

Via Gabe @ Ace's.