Star Trek

Quote (gorboduc @ Sep. 29 2006, 11:04 pm)

Glad to hear that you're OK, Suresh; I had been wondering if Xangsane had caused you any trouble. ¿I lost power in my house for ten days when Hurricane Isabel hit Richmond three years ago, so I know what can happen.

Many places still don't have power. We are considered "lucky" in our area because we lost power for "only" four hours. Thanks for the concern.

There's a big discussion about Nimoy and his views on black people on the VOY-board if someone likes to take part. This is the first post, pretty selfexplanetory:

Quote (DammitJim6200 @ Sep. 25 2006, 11:38 pm)

Indeed,YOU KNOW WHAT gets my GIZZARDS? when an OLD actor starts talking SENILE things,in a recent issue of SFX collection magazine, Leonard Nimoy in an interview a few years ago was ask "What do you make of the way Voyager been Treating It's Vulcans?" our beloved Nimoy said "I've seen Tuvok I don't know...It Dosen't make sense having a BLACK VULCAN...SO far I haven't seen much that's other than a speaking stlye that sounds something like Spock"..Surely this statement has no merit and maybe his views changed since then,but what a dumb thing to say since we've seen ALL COLOR'S in Star Treks aliens we've seen black Bajoran's Romulan's and Black Vulcan's.....Mr Nimoy should wake up and join the 21st century,anyone agree??

original thread

Absolutely would NOT like to take part. The style of the post speaks for itself, as you said. I also had a problem with the overall Vulcaness of Tuvok, but he got better in time---mostly he was too young to pull off who he was supposed to be---and of course he looks spectacular compared to T'pol. The fact that current Trek utilizes actors without regard (oh, well, of course it's not at all without regard, but anyway) to race is a good thing. But to do it to indicate that all species have the same "racial" divisions that we have is just nuts. Better to change eyebrows or ears or fingernails or something. But I suspect that Nimoy was referring to the original "alien" look possessed by Vulcans. He has a distinctive look, and Celia Lovsky fell into the same mold, as did the looks they achieved with Stonn and T'pring. Careful casting allowed us to perceive Vulcans as a unique species without the need for forehead enhancements and the like. Make the look too generic and even top-notch acting falls short of conveying uniqueness.

Yes, good point. Probably I should stop talking to people who don't listen.

Quote (iagoswife @ Sep. 28 2006, 9:10 pm)

Hey, Peregrine. I've got two working betas. Used to have a couple of others. Great for copying stuff---the copyright protects don't affect betas.

Where do you get tapes for the Betamax nowadays?

Quote

Quote (iagoswife @ Sep. 28 2006, 9:10 pm) Hey, Peregrine. I've got two working betas. Used to have a couple of others. Great for copying stuff---the copyright protects don't affect betas. Where do you get tapes for the Betamax nowadays?

That's a good question.  I'd like to know myself.  I work in broadcasting, and betacam is still the leveling standard.  But, not betamax.  Sometimes you can find that kind of thing on E-bay.  Some folks auction that kind of thing by the gross.
And again, I'm impressed that iagoswife has two working beta decks.  Are you able to service them yourself or do you know somebody can fix them?  Or are they just that reliable that you don't need to worry about it much?

Quote (gorboduc @ Oct. 01 2006, 5:44 pm)

Quote (iagoswife @ Sep. 28 2006, 9:10 pm) Hey, Peregrine. I've got two working betas. Used to have a couple of others. Great for copying stuff---the copyright protects don't affect betas. Where do you get tapes for the Betamax nowadays?

Can't, not anymore. Last I was able to buy new was about two years ago. But I have hundreds, and can reuse some. Also, have bought tapes at yard sales just to tape over. Of course, I don't much have a need to do this now. Mostly needed it to copy rentals that I didn't have time to watch before they were due back, or to put something on VHS to use in school.

My deepest sympathies, Peregrine and Gorby.  A young cousin of mine died just over a month ago after fighting against the ravages of Cystic Fibrosis for so long, and it's hard to get to grips or understand why?

I don't think I'll be joining in the VOY topic about Vulcans.  The only problem I can see with Tuvok being a black Vulcan is that I had always presumed for years that 'Vulcans all look the same!'... or at least, similar.

That being said, I really liked his character and he had some great Tuvok/Vulcan episodes over the years.

Too cold, too soon. I'm not ready for winter.

I've got already the first cold. *Hutchee*

Gesundheit? You may now correct my spelling. Fighting, fighting it myself. Gonna go and pop some zinc. Petra, if I win the lottery, you're transferring to a university in a lovely warm climate! With no roommates!

Thanks. You spelled it right, but I'm not sure about my spelling of "hutchee".

You've told me that some in the US don't have a health insurance. But what happens if such a person gets into a car crash or something?

(I have one, I would have to pay a fine if a hadn't one actually, isn't permitted for students.)

I've read about 46 million Americans have no health insurance, close to 1 in 6.  What do they do if they get sick.  Often nothing, which sometimes means their condition worsens into something serious.  When that happens, or when they get into a car crash, they are forced to go to a hospital emergency room.  At that point they get stuck with a bill.  Unlike the amount that an insurer can negotiate down as part of a bulk deal, the individual patient off the street typically gets charged the standard (i.e. much higher) rate.  Unless they are truly homeless or destitute, in which case the hospital may decide to not charge or charge much less.

If you are lower-middle class, however, you're gonna get charge.  How much?  Depends on what happens, but it typically will be thousands and quickly climb into the tens of thousands.  Not unusual for someone to walk out of the hospital with debts of $100,000+.  

Some people find such debts overwhelming and so they walk away from it if they can.  That leads hospitals to increase rates to compensate, leading to higher costs for everyone.  Thus no matter how you slice it, we all pay for coverage to everyone one way or the other.

My father lives in the UK where they have universal coverage.  He raves about it, says it's much better than the American system.  I have Canadian friends who say the same thing about their universal coverage.  I can only hope that things get so bad here in America that one day the masses will rise up and shout down the scaremongers who pretend that universal coverage means worse coverage.  Those who have universal coverage know it works, on the whole, better for all.  The rich can always shop around for the best coverage, but for everyone else, universal is becoming the only sane system.  Unless you think 46 million fellow citizens having nothing is better.

We have an universal one, but some things aren't paid like medicamentals against colds or new teeth. There are also a lot of private insurances which do a lot more but not everyone can afford them.

I think that's a workable model.  Have universal coverage for the basics, the fundamentals of health, and then have optional private insurance for the optional procedures.  I don't think, for instance, that plastic surgery for non-emergency reasons is part of universal coverage, but if you want it and can afford it, go for it.