amisophe

In a world where, browsing the Box Turtle Bulletin (a name with an awesome etymology), I encounter polls debating whether or not gay marriage is "wrong" (seriously, the law has no business debating such things!) this is the kind of thing that inspires hope for the future: 

A church-based homophobic (as well as anti-Semitic) hate group recently protested at Gunn High School and Stanford. The local newspaper gave coverage of what happened: Love wins over hatred in a beautiful display of the power of tolerance. Gandhi-esque eloquence wins over the usual ignorant drivel and uplifts the community: 

Gunn students give hope for future

I cried my eyes out as I read the story (Page 1A, Jan. 30) of the Gunn High School students meeting hateful protesters with love. These students give hope for the future at a time when we need it most. Congratulations to the students for uniting into something more powerful than hate. 

Hilary Martin
Campbell

Community proud of Gunn students

I was filled with admiration as I read your report (Page 1A, Jan. 30) on the response of the Gunn High students to the demonstration by the Westboro Baptist Church. They were astoundingly mature and wise. They make me proud and happy to live in the Bay Area.

Jan. 30 was the day that Gandhi was assassinated. He would have been proud. They should be proud. Their parents should be proud. Their community is proud. 

Anant Mithal
San Jose

Amen.

So, I watched the NCIS episode "Heart Break" - the spontaneous human combustion one - and it got me to thinking about suicide. I've had my own fair share of suicidal thoughts, but in my experience, they're practically impossible to follow through on. In the end of the episode, the  gunman commits "suicide by cop" and I've been wondering how much easier that really would be. At first glance, yes, it's a way around the whole "I want to die, but I don't want to kill myself" thing, but he jumped in the way. He provoked the shot. And yes, it's an impulsive thing, but the instinct for self-preservation is even harder to overcome, even if you really want to die.

Then my mind jumped to Q in Star Trek and his suicidal actions in "Déjà Q". They didn't come to fruition, but in Alara Rogers' "Only Human" AU (which has virtually become canon in my mind) they were very serious. He really felt he couldn't live as a human after being a "higher power". However, my take on this now that I think about it is that even having been so disillusioned about the Continuum, even not fully comprehending dying, I can't imagine someone whose entire mindset was based in immortality really wanting to die. Trying to provoke the Continuum to intervene and save him I can understand, but this went further than that. 

I think that even if, rationally, he was sure the Continuum wasn't going to restore him, there would always be that niggling hope, wanting to leave the options open and not die himself - if there were any chance that he could gain back his old species, he would not really give up.

Just thinking.

My personal opinion is that if you're old enough to ask a question of your own accord, to be curious about a subject, you're old enough to get some answers - and you should get some answers, if only to satisfy that raging curiosity. It can be more destructive not to know than to know, and innocence is really just glorified ignorance. You can see my post here for my opinions on this subject. However, ratings can help awareness of the subject matter you're going into; I think a better system would be one where it tells you what kind of sensitive material there may be, rather than giving you an age limit. And the system itself definitely has no business actually preventing you from accessing material. Free or creative expression does not just include output, but also the choice of input. People are free to make their own decisions. I think the only truly valid warning is "know yourself".

 Just watched the West Wing episode Enemies Foreign and Domestic, and Gibbs is in it! Or the actor, anyway. As CJ's Secret Service agent. And it may just be my mind's slight typecasting, but he even seems...Gibbsian. I think my eyes got all big. 

I'm good at arguing for youth rights, and I can fluently argue against consensual crime laws of any kind. Gay rights, for example, is one that most all of my friends can commiserate about. 

The only thing I can't tolerate is intolerance. People's choices are their own, and they ought to be left free to make them. Any kind of law that infringes upon this right is antithetical to me.

I don't agree with the traditional arguments against abortion because they rely on the visceral reaction to things as simple as the wording "killing babies," which is meant to cause people to recoil in shock and disgust. They make philosophical assumptions, such as using "life" to mean things that aren't born - by the same token, eating a nut is killing a tree. Scientific fact alone cannot support these arguments, and every situation is different. 

Regarding capital punishment, if we start from the basics, it refers to the government taking someone's life as punishment for breaking a crime. Now, people are born with life. Laws determining crimes are enforced by an outside group. The government did not give anyone life - and if you did not give something, you have no right to take it away. The idea of punishment being proportional to the crime does not mean that a murderer should be killed - pure "proportionality" would require the victim to exact retribution, and not only is that impossible, it's illegal. Murder is illegal, no matter who does it. 

There are all kinds of laws against what's called "consensual crime". In my mind, that's an oxymoron. What's the purpose of a law? Protection, you might say. Of whom and from what? Ultimately, laws are (or ought to be) made to keep people from infringing upon other people's right to make their own choices. Even murder - the person wanted to live, the exception being suicide. The whole point of any crime is doing something against another's will. Logically, this would only apply to the will of people being affected in a way that would be uphold-able in court. Laws like those against gay marriage infringe upon people's rights without defending anyone else's. What's the point? Morality has no place in legislation because it's subjective. Laws need only be passed if they're defending someone's personal freedoms. And anyway, why is everyone so hung up about "deviant" sexuality? It's not logical or mature, and laws should be. 

My mobile phone isn't that wondrous, and it's nothing compared to chocolate. Dark chocolate, especially. Everyone knows that aliens come to Earth specifically and exclusively for the chocolate. 

None. Censorship is wrong on principle (see my posts tagged censorship) in that information belongs to humanity. There's a movie that got me thinking about that called AntiTrust, I think. Maturity does not depend on age limits that are ultimately arbitrary, and one cannot judge appropriateness for others. At some point, you have to trust people to know themselves, and the best form of protection from the dangers of knowledge is knowledge itself. People make their own choices.

 In the search for absolutes, the closest I can get to my truth is the preservation of any semblance of free choice. If I had my way (if only), the only crime would be to intentionally infringe upon another's free choice in a way that affects them. This may sound too general or dependent upon judgement, but it is the most just system I can think of. Surely it has been thought of before? Live and let live. Any real crime can be put in this context. For example, murder is taking away someone's choice to live, as well as all their potential future choices, which makes it severe. Exceptions are suicide, in which it is one's own choice to die, and maybe accidental death, which takes away someone's choices but can't really be prosecuted because the defendant didn't mean to. Obviously, this would have to be sufficiently proven. 

There are many laws in the present world that defy this tenet, and which I think are ultimately unnecessary and would in fact be against my legal system. Anything consensual cannot be illegal. All current laws that prosecute consensual activity are based on opinion, which cannot justifiably be made law. 

Who would have these rights? Anyone with the capability to express their will - which is necessary for establishment of the facts by the legal system - regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age or youth. The philosophical debate on free will notwithstanding, we as human beings cannot take away whatever semblance of free will be do have. 

Where people try to make laws based upon their wishes to regulate the choices of others, the legal validity of their choices comes into question. If you will judge others, then you will be judged. One cannot make a working legal system of opinion without being unfair, which defeats the purpose of enforcing justice. That's why the only choices which are subject to the law are those which affect others. 

How would one prosecute a violator of such a precept? I don't know for sure. An actual legal system created from this idea is still in the works, in my head. How do you make an ideal feasible in reality, especially with a system already in place?

 Apparently, "the cure for Obama communism is a new era of McCarthyism". Google it. Do these people know no history at all? Don't answer that. Oh, the dangers of ignorance. What exactly are they protecting? Democracy? No, Obama was voted in. Freedom? No, because all McCarthy did was take away freedoms through demagoguery. Face it, they're scared. And that can always be taken advantage of. 

 Some time ago I watched the Season 3 finale of Doctor Who - and I was inspired to embrace my humanity and to realize its potential. It was amazing, not to mention the compelling frenemies. Just watch it. 

OOC Note: I wrote this years ago for my own amusement. It's just finally nagged me into posting it, even though I've never gone any further with it. So I'm posting this as a tentative one-shot. It's a crossover between Star Trek: The Next Generation and the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane, which is an awesome if little-known science-fiction saga incorporating elements of physics, deep spirituality and light, well-written humor. In reading the books, I recommend starting with the third, High Wizardry. I read it first and it remains my favorite. Crossovers are just an amazing medium for creativity and imagination, not to mention making obscure connections. They were one of my first introductions to fandom, just wondering about the parallels between characters - what would happen if x met y? They're so similar, what would they think of each other and their mirrors? This is in fact one of several versions; please excuse the quality, and feel free to make what you will of it. The possibilities are endless ... I've forgotten myself, and this note has grown, so I'll just make quick work of the dreaded disclaimer: Slavery is illegal. 

Captain Jean-Luc Picard paced his ready room. He had been feeling nervous and on edge the whole day now, the feeling increasing steadily over time, as if his subconscious knew that something important or at least unusual was about to happen. It seemed illogical, he knew, as the Enterprise was only on a routine mission to collect some shipments of dilithium ore from a mining colony on Haniq 3. There was no reason to believe anything surprising would happen on their so far peaceful journey. Then again, when did the Enterprise ever go on a mission without something unexpected happening? 

He was about to sit down at this desk and try to read through some reports when his combadge beeped. ‘Guinan to Captain Picard,’ came a familiar voice, although her usual friendly tone seemed tinged with a bit of nervousness.

He tapped his combadge. ‘Picard here,’ he answered. ‘What is it, Guinan?’

‘Jean-Luc, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve been having this feeling recently that something is about to happen. It’s just been getting stronger and stronger. I would keep my eyes open if I were you.’
Picard’s eyes widened. Guinan felt it too. If Guinan felt it, then they had to be right. ‘Thanks for the advice, Guinan. In fact, I’ve been feeling that way as well the whole day now, but I wasn’t sure if it was true. We should definitely stay alert.’

‘You feel it too? That’s interesting. I’ll let you know if I learn anything more definitive. Guinan out.’

Jean-Luc Picard tapped his combadge and turned to stare out the window at the stars streaking by and the rainbow colors caused by the Doppler Effect, a faraway look coming into his intense eyes as he wondered about the possible causes of his and Guinan’s ‘feelings’. He could only remember a few other times that he and Guinan had both had this feeling of precognition. They all had one thing in common - could it be...? He thought suddenly. He had an idea. He was about to ask Guinan about it when his combadge chirped again. ‘Guinan to Picard. Is he here, Jean-Luc?’ her voice sounded urgent. Picard felt a sudden chill as he realized who she was talking about. It couldn’t be. He tapped his combadge again.

‘No, Guinan, at least not yet - yes, he is!’ he suddenly corrected himself as, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bright flash of light. ‘We’ll converse later. Picard out,’ he decided hurriedly, tapping his combadge and turning to the location of the flash of light. ‘What do you want, Q?’ he demanded.

Q raised his eyebrows. ‘Temper, temper, mon Capitaine,’ he chided. ‘Why must you always assume I want something from you? Whatever could a Guardian of the Multiverse possibly want from a mere human mortal like you? Why can’t I simply drop by for a visit?’ 

‘’A Guardian of the Multiverse’, Q? That’s hard to believe. You certainly don’t behave like one,’ Picard retorted.

‘And who are you to know how a Guardian of the Multiverse should behave, my dear Jean-Luc?’ Q inquired with that infuriating smile.

‘Ah, well, I am a ‘Guardian of the Multiverse,’ Picard answered nonchalantly. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, which was unusual for Captain Picard, and he regretted it immediately. Now he was going to have to try to avoid having to explain.

That stopped Q in his tracks, which was unusual for Q, and he tried to hide his surprise. Of all the egotistical things to say... what in the Continuum was Picard talking about? ‘Surely, Picard, you don’t believe that you, running around in your flimsy little starship trying to assist your fellow mortals with their innumerable pathetic problems while still holding fast to the pesky principles of your precious Starfleet, can be considered a Guardian of the Multiverse? Why, you haven’t even been to the Gamma Quadrant yet!’ Q looked incredulous and almost offended. 

Captain Picard raised his eyebrows. ‘Actually, Q, I have visited the Gamma Quadrant. In a matter of fact, I have even been outside of the Milky Way Galaxy.’

‘For your information, Jean-Luc, Starfleet has not yet found a way to penetrate the Galactic Barrier.’

Captain Picard realized that he had already given away much more than he had ever meant to. ‘It was not a Starfleet mission,’ he answered tightly, sitting down at his desk and picking up a data PADD in the hope that Q would leave without demanding any further explanation.

‘Not a Starfleet mission, mon Capitaine? Indeed, then what kind of mission was it?’ Picard sighed inwardly. He should have known that particular hope was futile. Q sounded genuinely interested, but then again, you could never be sure. 

‘Wizardly,’ Picard answered succintly, continuing to read the data PADD without any of the information actually fully registering in his brain. He was too preoccupied.

‘Wizardly?!’ repeated Q incredulously. ‘You must be even more delusional than I originally thought, Jean-Luc. Where in the Multiverse did you get the idea that you can just wave a magic wand and say ‘Abracadabra!’ and get past the Galactic Barrier? Or did you have a dream where you had Q powers?’

Picard gave him a scathing look. ‘And where did you get the idea that the only form of wizardry is the imaginary kind in which you wave a magic wand and say ‘Abracadabra’ and get past the Galactic Barrier?’ 

Picard’s combadge chirped. ‘Guinan to Picard.’ He held up a hand to stop Q from making a condescending remark and tapped his combadge. 

‘Picard here. What is it, Guinan?’

‘Jean-Luc, have you checked your manual?’ She sounded excited, which was unusual for the imperturbable Guinan.

‘No, in fact, I was about to ask you the very same thing when Q arrived.’ He looked up to find Q leaning on the wall with a confused and interested expression - quite rare for Q, he thought, resisting the urge to smile at his confusion. 

‘Well, check it, Jean-Luc. It’s important. We were right.’

‘I will. At least now we know what we were feeling. Thank you, Guinan. Picard out.’ He tapped his combadge.

‘Well, what was that about, mon Capitaine?’ Q asked immediately. 

Without a word, Picard stood up and went to his bookshelves with a slight smile. He searched through them and, finding what he was looking for, pulled out one book in particular. He opened the book and there, on the page before him, was his name, listed among many others.

PICARD, Jean-Luc

Starship USS Enterprise

Starfleet, United Federation of Planets

LaBarre, France, Earth

power rating: 7.25 +/- .5

ranking: Area Senior Advisory (adjunct with Guinan)

status: active

current assignment location: planet Arani (Mira III), solar system Mira

independent assignment / research: subject classification withheld

period: indeterminate

Notes: adjunct talent Guinan on active status

***

Note: OOC

When did power dynamics in fandoms and pop culture become so exclusively sexual? As long as I can remember I've been interested in such things, but in a completely asexual way. Yet this natural tendency of mine is nowhere to be found outside of a sexual context in the resources of the world; sadomasochism is considered either a disorder or a deviant sexual preference, and society seems unable to focus on the concept except in terms of sexual arousal. 
Perhaps humanity's history with the balance of power makes this a disturbingly provocative idea, but where did people get the notion that the only way for power exchange to be consensual is for it to be sexual? Why is this so difficult to comprehend? It frustrates me. 

OOC.
Warning: I am not a very religious person. Spiritual, maybe. 

I've been reading, among other things, the legend of St. Julian the Hospitaler by Gustave Flaubert in French and English side by side. I've noticed something here that is quite obvious, and not only to someone who apparently sees even Christian parables through slash goggles. It's quite clear, in the end, that Julian ascended to the heavens and sainthood through accepting a homosexual experience with Jesus Christ. This is the expression of universal love taken literally from the pages of the text:

And Julian, lifting the sail, lay down on the dry leaves, near him, side by side. 
The Leper turned his head.
"Undress, so that I can have the warmth of your body!"
Julian took off his clothes; then, naked as on the day of his birth, got back into the bed. And he felt against his thigh the Leper's skin, colder than a serpent and rough as a file.
He tried to give him courage, and the other answered panting:
"Ah! I am dying! ... Come closer, warm me! Not with your hands! no! with your whole body."
Julian stretched out completely over him, mouth to mouth, chest to chest.
Then the Leper clasped him and his eyes suddenly took on the light of the stars. His hair became as long as the rays of the sun. The breath of his nostrils was as sweet as roses. A cloud of incense rose up from the hearth and the waves sang. Meanwhile an abundance of happiness, a super-human joy came down like a flood into Julian's soul as it swooned. The one whose arms clasped him, grew and grew until he touched with his head and his feet the two walls of the hut. The roof flew off, the firmament unrolled, and Julian ascended toward the blue spaces, face to face with Our Lord Jesus, who carried him to heaven.
And that is the story of St. Julian the Hospitaler, more or less as you find it, on a stained-glass window of a church in my town.

So there, Christian extremists.
I wonder if this would be considered "canon"? 

 Would you rather prosecute an innocent or defend a guilty person?

 What do you think is the most socially tolerant place on Earth, that you know of?

Warning: OOC

I hereby offer my services as a beta-reader. I am fluent in and have good command of the English language. If you want fannish qualifications, just ask. 

Of course extraterrestrial life exists. It's the height of hubris to think that of all the billions of planets around millions of stars in thousands of galaxies in this universe, Earth is the only one with intelligent life. Whether aliens have been here, however, is another matter entirely, one in which I can't be sure. Except for myself and one other, neither of whom travels in UFOs. Humans are an intriguing species. 

 I recently discovered Doogie Howser, M.D. and considering my involvement in youth equality it really piqued my interest. It gives a to-the-point example of a relatively young kid rising in the ranks to respectability on his own terms. He has a justified and understandable frustration with a world that more often than not disregards him, and is more often than not proved right in his beliefs and assertions. It just shows that anyone, regardless of age, can be mature enough to know what they're talking about, and kids should be taken more seriously. 
 If one objects that not everyone has that capability as a reason why young people should be treated differently, remember that neither do chronological adults always act wisely, as is in fact shown during Doogie's ventures into the grown-up world. Youth have long-standing grievances to society that need to be addressed - and redressed. Let the human community take a step forward and end the restriction and obscurity of advancement for the young.