They are called crossbows and have been around for a very very long time. Also, reusable ammo that you can carve with a pocket knife. Full of win.

The truly tragic thing is that she was not the only person scared into idiocy by this kind of crap. There is a whole industry of fake news programs that use intellectual terrorism to gull the elderly and weak minded. There is a whole political doctrine based around the successful exercise of disinformation.

Agreed! Heck, Connor's reward for being "the One" was to lose his immortality at last.

I agree, although for different reasons than the second season was "too slow."

That mannequin sure looks terrified. I know how it feels.

Spot on. The rest of them are just window dressing. LotR is about Sam's rise from Baggin's gardener to Mayor of Hobbiton (and effectively, The Shire).

Stone-hand Owen turned out to be a complete imposter, IIRC. Perhaps that puckish humor disqualified him?

"And when there's a killer gargoyle or an energy-sucking meatball monster or an evil Time Lord fucking shit up, the Brigadier knows what to do. Shoot at it."

Back atcha, Mary.

Here in Jawjuh, we'uns kin git a carry permit by proving that a) we are breathing, b) we are not presently regarded as criminals, and c) by swearing on a stack of Bibles that we are not, presently, insane.

You, sir or madam, are absolutely correct.

I just had a flash of premonition ... thirty years from now, someone will make "Red Stripes" ... a fictionalization of America's invasion of Afghanistan.

History Redux: I am 53 years of age and was "taught" the metric system in the schools of the United States of America when I was 7 and 8. In the 1970s, there was a push to use dual designations ... mph and kph in roadsigns, kilograms and centimeters listed with pounds and inches ... that sort of thing.

I think you hit the impalement device squarely upon its noggin. Americans still use "imperial" systems because ... wait for it ... America is the New Empire.

As a former Mechwarrior, I enjoyed the excerpt.

I cringe a bit, but keep reading. Frequently, the racism is hidden in attitudes towards aliens, or the author tries so hard to be un-racist that unintentional racism creeps in.

And that poor gal gets kilt twice in two different spots. She should be more careful.

Har!

So, space travelers get super powers? Sign me up!

Yeah.