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Lurking at the fringes of the periodic table, superheavy element 115 has been a favoured material in UFO conspiracy theories and video games. Now we may have evidence that it actually exists.
A group led by Dirk Rudolph of Lund University in Sweden reports the creation of 30 atoms of element 115, informally called ununpentium. Their sightings back up previous reports from a group in Russia, although the results must be reviewed by an international chemistry committee before they are deemed official.
Superheavy elements are more than scientific curiosities. Seeking them allows us to probe the boundaries of matter and possibly find the "island of stability", a group of heavy elements that scientists predict will be stable for decades – if they could only be produced. If confirmed, the recent sighting would include the first observations of X-ray and gamma ray emissions from the decay of element 115, which could illuminate theories about the structure of superheavy nuclei in general.
I know a poet in Austin that uses the stage name: "Element 615," which would make for a HUGE Periodic Table, let alone you'd be doing the electron configuration for a bunch of Sundays! But my friend is deep/heavy, thus STEM has impacted the arts.
BTW: ununpentium's configuration is: [Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s2 7p3, and that's shorthand of a substantial nightmare if you had to memorize it for an exam, and scarier than any flesh eating, limping zombie.
There will be a naming contest, and conspiracy theorists that will assign this to the coming apocalypse of the undead (which is funny, because apocalypse from Greek means "reveal," not disaster).
Anyway, TRMS had to me, the funniest presentation in its "Moment of Geek" that in a break from Solid State Device homework made me laugh out loud!
Happy Friday!
New Scientist: Fresh evidence emerges for superheavy element 115
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| Nature |
“Imagine waking up one day and realizing that you actually live inside a computer game,” says Mark Van Raamsdonk, describing what sounds like a pitch for a science-fiction film. But for Van Raamsdonk, a physicist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, this scenario is a way to think about reality. If it is true, he says, “everything around us — the whole three-dimensional physical world — is an illusion born from information encoded elsewhere, on a two-dimensional chip”. That would make our Universe, with its three spatial dimensions, a kind of hologram, projected from a substrate that exists only in lower dimensions.
This 'holographic principle' is strange even by the usual standards of theoretical physics. But Van Raamsdonk is one of a small band of researchers who think that the usual ideas are not yet strange enough. If nothing else, they say, neither of the two great pillars of modern physics — general relativity, which describes gravity as a curvature of space and time, and quantum mechanics, which governs the atomic realm — gives any account for the existence of space and time. Neither does string theory, which describes elementary threads of energy.
One of the most obvious questions to ask is whether this endeavour is a fool's errand. Where is the evidence that there actually is anything more fundamental than space and time?
A provocative hint comes from a series of startling discoveries made in the early 1970s, when it became clear that quantum mechanics and gravity were intimately intertwined with thermodynamics, the science of heat.
Even if it is correct, the thermodynamic approach says nothing about what the fundamental constituents of space and time might be. If space-time is a fabric, so to speak, then what are its threads?
One possible answer is quite literal. The theory of loop quantum gravity, which has been under development since the mid-1980s by Ashtekar and others, describes the fabric of space-time as an evolving spider's web of strands that carry information about the quantized areas and volumes of the regions they pass through6. The individual strands of the web must eventually join their ends to form loops — hence the theory's name — but have nothing to do with the much better-known strings of string theory. The latter move around in space-time, whereas strands actually are space-time: the information they carry defines the shape of the space-time fabric in their vicinity.
A long time ago I remember seeing Director Melvin Van Peebles film, 'The Watermelon Man' on some backwater channel. I was a kid at the time but even then I could understand the context of the story. I got the chance to watch it again as an adult and I'm ashamed to say that the film still rings true today.
The film opens with middle-aged and middle-class white male Jeff Gerber performing his daily exercise routine which at first seems admirable until he starts spouting racial cracks about Boxer Muhammad Ali when the speed bag starts getting the better of him. After that, there isn't a moment in which Gerber doesn't spew a racial or misogynistic insult from breakfast until bedtime. About 'bedtime'. After a long day of being the most obnoxious and racist person he could possibly be, Gerber goes to sleep. When he wakes up to do the business in the middle of the night, something new has been added. He has been mysteriously transformed into a Black Man!
As Gerber attempts to calm himself and his white wife of many years, he futilely tries to 'bleach himself' back to normal via various concoctions purchased from the 'Negro Pharmacy'. From there, his life begins to spiral out of control as he is accosted by police for merely running for the bus to work, is barred from his own social club and has trouble at work as he is singled out to get the new 'Negro Insurance Market'.
Throughout the film, Jeff Gerber begins to find out the hard way what life for a black person in his city is like and the attitudes of the people he called friends turn dangerously negative. All while the life he once knew is circling the drain, the one thing Jeff Gerber gains is... perspective.
"The Watermelon Man' (Full Film)
Starring Geoffrey Cambridge
The concept of using implicit knowledge in works of art is nothing new. As early as Herodotus, authors and story tellers were incorporating the implicit knowledge to make allusions, references and comparisons for their audiences.
The same is true of the arts in the modern era. Books, movies, plays and music all trade in common cultural understandings. If a movie about teen love makes a thin reference to Romeo, the audience gets it. It assumed, and rightly so, that anyone consuming a love story is at least casually familiar with Shakespeare's most famous (currently) work.
What recently struck me was how a large corpus of Science Fiction knowledge is implicit in modern Hip-Hop. I say appreciation because, as I will show, the reference are not derogatory to Science fiction, instead, they are celebratory, positive.
Any review of rap lyrics will no doubt point out reams of references to movies and cartoons. However, I want to take a fairly recent, highly publicized example, a take a look at the implicit knowledge being assumed.
Kendrick Lamar (on the now forgotten Big Sean Song 'Control' ) drops this verse:
I've seen niggas transform like villain Decepticons
The implicit knowledge, and the key to understanding the word-play, is that Decepticons are a race of highly advanced transforming machines. There is no explanation in the verse regarding Decepticons, or there eternal enemies the Autobots. It is taken for granted that you a) know what he is referring, and b) appreciate the context in which he is using the reference.
Note: It is often said that people of a certain age and bent fail to appreciate the poetry in Rap, and just see it as wandering lyrical noise. Part of that failure in appreciation is no doubt the result of a lack of implicit knowledge on the part of the consumer. The same could be said for the amount of implicit knowledge bound in a country song that make references to Dale Jr. (ed. you can look that up yourselves).
Kendrick's verse on Control generated a lot of soul searching (or teeth gnashing) depending on who was referenced. We won't go into the other points of contention on the verse, but Twitter is your friend.
After this verse came out, there were dozens of "response" verses that sought to combat Kendrick's characterization of the entire rap field as "soft" ; with the exception of a chosen few.
The responses ranged the spectrum from poorly executed, to quite well done. One of the best, also happens to contain a sizable portion of implicit science fiction knowledge.
Joell Ortiz responded to Kendrick with lyrics that included these lines:
And never turn, I'm immune to these rappers y'all calling sick.
Currently, apocalyptic fiction is all the rage, be it zombies, plagues, or un-characterized 'other'. The implicit knowledge here is related to zombies as opposed to giant transforming robots. Within these lyrics is the implicit knowledge of what a zombie is and how to dispatch one (hint - splitting a zombie's brain-case).
Also referenced is the wildly successful TV show "The Walking Dead' (future AMC endorsement?) is a study of man's fight against inhumanity...and Zombies. So too, alludes Joell, that he faces existential struggles against being a 'monster'. Additionally, the lyrics assume you know and understand that zombies transmit or "turn" others into zombies by bites (generally, although some works would add any fluid transmission). Joell would like you to know that he is immune to this particular disease vector.
After a few bars related to various West Cost Gang issues, Joel returns to the Sci-fi theme and drops this long sequence that is stuffed with both allusions to Kendrick's verse, but also to popular movie starring Will Smith.
And the force that I come across was like rhyming inside a star
With the Universe on my back, your human verses is wack
I grab my extraterrestrial testicles when I rap
And tell Earth suck it, tell the planet try it
I turn this bitch into Independence Day without the lucky drunk pilot
I love competition, constructing a composition
Of destruction, putting Destructicons in the calm position
I'm Optimus Prime trucking your boulevard, just wishin'
That a star screams so I can go on a bombing mission
First off, Hasbro really needs to endorse more rappers, since this was the second reference to its IP by a rapper in a 24 hour period. Secondly, there is implicit knowledge that not only does Joell's audience know what Independence Day refers, but that they are aware of the Heroic / Tragic fate of Randy Quaid.
What's the point here? The point is that science fiction (and to a lesser extent Fantasy) have a place in the implicit cultural understandings of an art form that is decidedly "un-nerdy." Sci-fi, fantasy and other types of exploratory fiction have, through no concerted effort, penetrated into the consciousness of rappers and their audiences.
So, before you listen to someone telling you there is no market in sci-fi directed to people who also like Rap (i.e. young, urban youth) tell them to listen to some rap and see if they can spot the sci-fi.
Read more at: The Moorsgate Media Blog
BBC: On This Day August 28, 1963
The Guardian: The Story Behind the 'I Have A Dream' Speech
Official Program: The March On Washington
NY Times: On This Day
Politico: Martin Luther King: Too far, Too fast, just right
I'm soo very sorry for not putting a valid link to purchase my book instead here's another link as to where you can buy my book Fists Of Fury
If you managed to get it feel free to give me your feedback both good and bad :)
SCI-FI SCHOOL by Odis Chenault
ep.6 Artificial Intelligence
Hello and welcome to the sixth installment of SciFi School.
Artificial intelligence (A.I.) is a common theme in science fiction. I want to talk about the obvious and not so obvious applications of this science in science fiction.
Artificial intelligence is when a computer or machine becomes aware of its own existence and starts to think. In science fiction, this usually spells trouble. In the Terminator and Matrix series, one of A.I.’s first decisions is to destroy mankind. It seems that thinking machines have little tolerance for our imperfect reasoning.
A.I. can be a computer network, an android, a robot or all of these. A.I. can be controlled by a main source or a community of individual machines.
When A.I. is a network, it can hack into and take control of other networks. In the Terminator and Matrix series, A.I. was given control of the nuclear arsenal. A.I. then used it to wipe out a large percentage of the human population. The next step was to build mobile war machines to mop up the remaining post apocalyptic survivors. With the machines growth unchecked, they would build machine cities and continue to evolve into something like Transformers or beyond.
An android is a thinking computer that looks like a human. These machines can operate on a complex series of programmed functions or have a form of positronic brain that allows them to think.
Robots, in science fiction, are usually stand alone machines with some form of mobility. They too can be programmed or think on their own. They can be in any size or shape. Technically, Nano-Bots are robots.
Nano- technology involves microscopic machines that can reproduce rapidly. Nano-technology and A.I. produce unlimited possibilities. If Nano machines develop“hive level” intelligence, they could become an unstoppable swarm or wave. It would be almost impossible to defend against a swarm of microscopic machines working together. They could go anywhere and build anything.
Scary stuff, but scientists are trying to build this stuff as you read this article. Don’t worry; they’ll keep it all under control. Won’t they?
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| Image source |
One of the primary reason that stands out for the transistor was driven by NASA and the need to reduce cargo space and increase computing power for orbital and missions to the moon - before that, slide rules. I know I just tweaked the die hard "conspiracy theorists" out there that don't believe we went to the moon, yet ardently believe Area 51 has aliens instead of high tech devoted to aerospace (see: "Zero Dark Thirty" - they mentioned it) and the pyramids couldn't have been built by the same North African Egyptian architects the Romans thought enough of to "import" to the empire and build most of their modern architecture and technology: aqueducts, arches, obelisks (think Washington Monument); plumbing.
The conspiracy theorists, I feel, cling to their extravagant notions because: 1. They want to be the first to say "ah-ha! Told you so!" 2. They are making up for inadequacies in other life areas, like actually earning a degree. 3. It's a way not to face reality and put their gray matter to real world problems for which many of us...don't have easy answers.
The original Luddites protested the advent of labor saving textile machines; riots broke out. Ultimately of course, capitalism with the assist of the English government won. I submit the Luddites should have fought hard not to break spindles, but for an equitable system of education and retraining, as we should here.
Technology replaces the need for middle-level workers; confounds the romanticism of "working yourself up by your own bootstraps"; places stipulations on positions in the "minimum requirements" narrative description; encourages students to pursue at least a college degree. A robot can replace many workers that used to drill a widget: become the one who repairs the robot! We're in a dark balance of a moribund way to measure unemployment, as in you are unemployed if receiving a paycheck from the government; never a measure of an under-employment index, i.e. you're making less that you used to (found myself in that dilemma for a few years). To a certain extent, that's reflected in consumer confidence and purchasing patterns. Because of that previous wilderness experience, I am studying as my info to the right (see under E = MC2) suggests; and due to lack of time or interest in fantasy, I don't engage much in conspiracy theories (they're not graded, not part of any interview process I'm aware of). Case in point: Texas Senator Ted Cruz actually being born in another country (Canada is: requires a passport to go to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls). He is a natural-born US citizen due to his mother's citizenship: if the current president had been born in Kenya (he was not); this logic would also apply to him. Karma always repays with irony.
Greed is keeping minimum wage minimum (thank God Australia ignores our stellar inane example): some in the canopy of the economy would like to eliminate it entirely. That has the logic of a rain forest burning its own tree trunks to preserve leaves.
Our education system hasn't much modernized from its Prussian model that prepared factory workers: it's no accident a factory is called a "campus"; you're encouraged to take career specific classes and be life-long learners; you have a defined lunch break/hour; bells trained us in school like Pavlov's dogs, herding us to and fro. We're renaming and reclaiming the same insane testing regimen that no other country ahead of us in STEM graduates and careers follow. Initially, academies in the US were set up strictly along the color line vis-a-vis de jure segregation. I see no difference in its de facto modern incarnation. Some wishing for a utopia that never was has the same impact as "Waiting for Godot."
At one end are so-called abstract tasks that require problem-solving, intuition, persuasion and creativity. These tasks are characteristic of professional, managerial, technical and creative occupations, like law, medicine, science, engineering, advertising and design. People in these jobs typically have high levels of education and analytical capability, and they benefit from computers that facilitate the transmission, organization and processing of information.
On the other end are so-called manual tasks, which require situational adaptability, visual and language recognition, and in-person interaction. Preparing a meal, driving a truck through city traffic or cleaning a hotel room present mind-bogglingly complex challenges for computers. But they are straightforward for humans, requiring primarily innate abilities like dexterity, sightedness and language recognition, as well as modest training. These workers can’t be replaced by robots, but their skills are not scarce, so they usually make low wages.
Computerization has therefore fostered a polarization of employment, with job growth concentrated in both the highest- and lowest-paid occupations, while jobs in the middle have declined. Surprisingly, overall employment rates have largely been unaffected in states and cities undergoing this rapid polarization. Rather, as employment in routine jobs has ebbed, employment has risen both in high-wage managerial, professional and technical occupations and in low-wage, in-person service occupations. (1)
This is a real-world problem, and testing regimens are not going to raise us out of it; fitting children through some predetermined model is not going to advance us; teaching made-up controversies about the origin of the universe, aliens, cabals and evolution aren't going to make us smarter: we'll just become more of a caricature as we fall further and further behind.
Sadly, this is not a new concept introduced in the NY Times (2); as Ecclesiastes said: "there are no new things under the sun."
So set your sights on the immediacy of now, o theorists!
Solve the Bermuda Triangle and Bigfoot later...
1. NY Times: How Technology Wrecks the Middle Class
2. James Boggs: The American Revolution - Pages From a Negro Worker's Notebook
ABSTRACT: The quantum Zeno effect, i.e. the inhibition of coherent quantum dynamics by measurement operations is one of the most intriguing predictions of quantum mechanics. Here we experimentally demonstrate the quantum Zeno effect by inhibiting the microwave driven coherent spin dynamics between two ground state spin levels of a single nitrogen vacancy center in diamond. Our experiments are supported by a detailed analysis of the population dynamics via a semi-classical model.
"The quantum Zeno effect is a situation in which an unstable particle, if observed continuously, will never decay," from Zeno's arrow paradox: "If everything when it occupies an equal space is at rest, and if that which is in locomotion is always occupying such a space at any moment, the flying arrow is therefore motionless." (WIKIPEDIA)
I am working on a series of Christian Scif-fi stories. The first chapter of my new novel in this promising sub-genre is available for your viewing at: http://www.Afroflash.com.
FREE! I hope you enjoy it. Let me know if I am on the right path.
Based upon the mood and tenor of the 50th anniversary reenactment of the March on Washington, this simulation by Econo Physicists seems not to shed light on much hope of things getting more equitable.
Slouching towards dystopia...
From Technology Review
The Matthew effect
In January 2009, a small group of Internet enthusiasts began an unusual economic experiment when they began to trade a new type of digital cash known as BitCoin. After a shaky start, the idea caught on and grew rapidly after 2011.
Today, bitcoins can buy a wider range of goods and services. In total, the BitCoin marketplace has hosted over 17 million transactions and the value of all the bitcoins in circulation is over $1 billion.
One interesting aspect of this marketplace is that the complete list of all transactions is publicly available. And this gave Daniel Kondor and buddies at Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary an idea.
Kondor and co say that the evolution clearly occurred in two separate phases. Before 2011, the system was used only by a few enthusiasts and the bitcoins had no real-world value. During this time, there was little activity and the various measures of network structure varied hugely.
In 2011, however, BitCoin began to get significant media coverage which attracted many more users. The currency also became more attractive after an exchange was set up that allowed bitcoins to be traded for dollars. During this second phase, bitcoins started to function as a real currency.
The team’s key finding from this second phase is related to wealth accumulation. Kondor and co say that the network grew by preferential attachment. In other words, a node with a large number of links is likely to attract more links than a node with only a few links.
This is a well-known effect in network science. Economists call it the Matthew effect after the biblical observation that the rich get richer.
"And He has made from ONE blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings," Acts 17:26
Destination: Planet Negro, A Review
Destination: Planet Negro is writer, producer and director Kevin Willmott’s classically-styled, science fiction film, offering a 1930s perspective on the current issues facing black and white America.
Filmed as an homage to the sci-fi films of the 1950s, and perfect in look and feel of the genre of that era, DPN is a brilliant comedic success with a small, but significant, nod to The Wizard Of Oz..
The movie opens with Negro leaders of the 1930s gathered to discuss America’s “Negro Problem” we are witness to a grand design that eliminates everywhere on planet Earth as a home for the country’s Negro population where they can live in peace without the influence, nay, even the presence, of whites.
The conclusion this group of leaders arrive at is that since there’s no place on this planet such a community could be found, they invested all the funds they had collected into building an interplanetary rocket ship with the intention of exploring the planet Mars.
Three intrepid astronauts are tasked with the exploration of Mars to see how suitable it will be for the immigration of all of America’s Negroes.
It is tempting to recount a narrative of the events documented in this story, but suffice it to say that the brilliance of looking at an America with Barrack Obama as President through the eyes of Negroes from the 1930s cannot be understated.
The dialogue is spot on, and is as laugh inducing as it is thought provoking.
For those who, somehow, believe that the election of a bi-racial POTUS somehow signals that the United States of America is in anyway post-racial, the presentation of the contrasts and similarities of the culture of race between the two eras gives spectacularly funny lie to the notion.
Though there is so much sociological fodder for a satirical look at modern urban existence from the past’s perspective, the situations presented in DPN are so carefully crafted, and so well written by Willmott, that the movie forces the enlightened viewer to confront, through tears of laughter the characters so easily invoke, issues the American corporate watchdogs of culture would like us to forget.
DPN is a film well worth seeing. The fact is it hits the sociological, cultural, and racial stereotypes, issues and corporate-sponsored cultural memes squarely on the head makes it work for viewers of all colors and of all ages.
There is adult language and some sexual innuendo in the movie, but nothing a teenager today hasn’t heard, or said, in spades.
It is this reviewer’s hope that Destination: Planet Negro is able to pick up a distributer and be seen by general audiences in theaters everywhere.
It’s a great shared experience.
Disclaimer
I would like to start by saying I bear no ill will toward any independent creators, black or otherwise. Along the course of this article, some may assume I have the ‘crabs in a barrel' mentality, but that is the furthest from the truth. My only wish is to see my fellow creators succeed and tell the stories that need to be told.
Building a Better Brand
Comic book companies, such as Marvel and DC hire up incoming talent to write monthly books, which allows them to churn out a decent living by doing what they love. I'm not going to talk about why no people of color write for either company, but I will pose the question, why can't they, people of color, have a piece of the pie? Besides them having larger marketing machines, they have familiar stories, and characters so beloved, that fans of the old stories end up becoming writers of the new ones. Despite the tales being similar, they assure that the same fun had in the past by most fans is enjoyed in the present. So what can the independent creator of color do to even things out, how can we possibly compete with 75-60 years of familiar storytelling? The answer is telling better stories, and no matter how good an idea you have, everything is in the way you share it. As with all groups, the world tends to associate black people with certain behavioral patterns, and those associations begin to stick over time. There are a number of good black writers, but a number of other would be writers who have great ideas, but poor delivery. This coupled with mediocre art, in some cases land black comics in the dark corners of local shops, if at all. If we want top shelf visibility, you need to produce top shelf quality and though the color of your skin shouldn't matter as far as the product goes, it does.
Buying Black Because…
Buying black is the practice of purchasing goods and services from people of color because; the consumer is a person of color. While a great show of solidarity, a problem emerges when the producers of products take their consumers for granted and expect them to buy anything, regardless of quality. If a creator expects anyone to spend their hard-earned money on a comic then it is that creator's job to show their best work. I don't want to spend 2.99-3.50 on a story riddled with exposition and poor character development. Black creators have it especially hard because no one expects us to have literary ability, we don't benefit by proving the stereotype right. The difference between our counter parts and us is, unless we're stellar, our work is considered bad, they're mediocre work can convince readers to buy another issue. What's worse is that our penchant for creating stories and characters, which resonate with us often gives the comic book buying majority an excuse to dismiss our work as stereotypical or culturally alien. When other black people refuse to buy black they are usually said to be self-hating or unsupportive, which can be true sometimes but other times we're not humble enough to smell what we're shoveling.
We’re Not Crabs, We’re People
Sometimes people say or do things to undermine our progress. As black people we've gone through this in and outside of our community for many years, but we can't always be the victim and in some instances must shoulder blame. No one who is black, white or otherwise deserves anything. We sometimes think that the world owes us something because of how our people were treated, but the universe is indifferent in most matters and everything has to be earned. I learned this first hand when veteran writer, Karl Bollers tore one of my scripts to shreds. It was the first time it had happened, and I couldn't be more thankful that it did. A pat on the back is nice, but can lead to a false sense of accomplishment and stroke the ego. This bolstered pride can make a creator resistant to constructive criticism regardless of the source. Saying that people do not ‘hate' on the dreams of others would be a bold lie, however that can't always be true. If someone who has more experience in a particular field than you do offers advice, listen to them. There's a reason we take writing classes in college and it's not to pass the time, writing is a craft that must be studied, tested and honed. If a veteran writer reads your work and tells you, it could be tighter, test the observation and look at your story. When you're writing, things make sense to you the writer, but the rest of the world isn't behind your eyes, and they can be left confused. A good idea is worthless if it's not conveyed properly and remember; you're writing isn't just a critique on you, but every other black comic writer out there. Read a book on writing, take a class, remember that all characters need an arc, and to show not tell. Take it from me, it's better to learn your mistakes now and correct them, than to make a habit of it later. Lastly, having an editor is always a good thing, especially if they're a writer themselves.
Haste Makes Waste
One of the most important things I've learned in my experience as a comic writer is, take your time. Black folks are a show me people, whether it be money, clothing or cars we always have to look like we're about it. However, when it comes to writing, everything you do should be drafted and redrafted. Something's make sense years after you think about them; others seem like the stupidest idea in the world once you give them some thought. Take my first published comic "The Hierophants", I wanted it out so bad, to prove to myself that I was a writer, the main character's first name wasn't even mentioned in the issue. Looking back at it, I shudder to think that I was so oblivious of my own mistakes, but I was, and I've learned from them making me a better writer all around. There is no shame in taking your time and reviewing your work, because though quick release maybe satisfying in the short-term, it's often hollow in the long run.
The Race Yet to Run
While many of us are still finding our way in the world of comic book writing, trying make a dollar out of fifteen cents, we need to make sure we're above-board. We know we have to work three times as hard and twice as long to get anywhere near the other half. I won't say we should beg for jobs, but I will say we need to give them some competition. I believe we can do it with a little care and a standard, one we create, by which our work can be judged.
Original source : The Nelo Maxwell Experience
Today on the calendar is not the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington: that will occur 28 August, next Wednesday.
There will be a reinactment commemoration tomorrow. I was one years old and a few days at the time. Soldiers like my sister and Representative John Lewis were in the fight: arrested, beaten, bitten, [smoke] blown in faces, cursed, hosed, jailed, spat on - drilled ad nauseum on passive psychological resistance techniques that would have made SERE trainees cringe.
50 years later: Jackie Robinson's statue is desecrated like he never played the game or changed the world; Representative Stockman wants a repeat performance of the Missouri rodeo clown in Texas (ironic he represents the 36th district where James Byrd died in Jasper); section 4 of the Voting Rights Act gone and draconian ID laws/21st Century Poll Tax in effect and "Moral Mondays" in my home state. I'm not sure if it will be a commemoration, or a wake. We shall see.
One of the most powerful Trek episodes for me as a youth was "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield." Recall, the 60s weren't just "make love, not war": there was a lot of both. Vietnam overseas, protests of the war and Civil Rights/Voting Rights marches at home. Suspicions that any deviance from the John Birch Society authoritarian "norm" was judged subversive; communist, therefore necessarily purged and crushed from existence. Judging from the date of airings, its first showing came nine months after the sad assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.
It also aired during the climate of the Cold War, a period many seemingly LONG to get back to (that madness), where the nuclear "plan" was called MAD: mutually assured destruction. We still possess that insane power, essentially holding humanity hostage; guns to our own heads.
Gene Roddenberry put an interracial, international crew together: Nyota Uhura (literally: "Freedom Star" in Kiswahili); Hikaru Sulu (for the Sulu sea, meant to represent all of Asia, but of fictional Japanese origin); Pavel Andreievich Chekov (a RUSKIE for crying out loud!). You could say in this fictional treatment, Bele and Lokai "stood their ground" until the end. Roddenberry, as I've commented before developed his own eschatology, yet positive and relevant that we might just survive our own hubris, essentially stemming from old tribal conflicts and current contemporary displays of breathtaking stupidity and arrogance.
This episode was a stark warning; the inevitable consequences of NOT...
Source: Wikipedia
"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" is the fifteenth episode of the third season of the original science fiction television show Star Trek. It was first broadcast on January 10, 1969, and repeated on August 12, 1969. It was written by Oliver Crawford, based on a story by Gene L. Coon (writing under his pen name "Lee Cronin") and directed by Jud Taylor. The script evolved from an outline by Barry Trivers for a possible first season episode called "A Portrait in Black and White". The script was accepted for the third season following budget cuts. The episode guest-stars Lou Antonio and Frank Gorshin, best known for his role as The Riddler in the Batman live-action television series. Contrary to popular rumor and articles, Gorshin was not Emmy nominated for this role.
In this episode, the Enterprise picks up two survivors of a war-torn planet, who are still committed to destroying each other aboard the ship.
Amazon link
Once the Ariannus mission is completed, Bele takes control of the Enterprise again, but this time he deactivates the auto-destruct in the process and sends the ship to Cheron. Once there, the two aliens find the planet's population completely wiped out by a global war fueled by insane racial hatred. Both Lokai and Bele stare silently at the destruction on the monitor and realize they are the only ones left of their race (or, as they see it, their "races").
Instead of calling a truce, the two beings begin to blame each other for the destruction of the planet and a brawl ensues. As the two aliens fight, their innate powers radiate, cloaking them with an energy aura that threatens to damage the ship. With no other choice, Kirk sadly allows the two aliens to chase each other down to their obliterated world to decide their own fates, consumed by their now self-perpetuating mutual hate. Forlorn, Lt. Uhura asks if their hate is all they ever had. Kirk ruefully says no...but it is all they have left.
"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."
"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom."
"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
"The choice is not between violence and nonviolence but between nonviolence and nonexistence."
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., BrainyQuote.com
Check out my mini review Battle Masterz #1 by the Broussard bros.
Check out my review of The Harlem Shadow #2 by Brian Williams
Just a quick marketing note, the sample chapter for ABR is now available to Amazon Kindle Device users for free. If you are a Kindle user, please take the opportunity to take a look and tell us what you think.
Thanks - Moorsgate Media Team.
