Season Four of Enterprise was actually really good. I gave up on the whole thing midway through the Xindi plot, but a couple years ago I was convinced to rewatch the last season, and I was happy that I did.

Maybe the Captain dies in the first episode and she has to take command?

It could have something to do with zero g manufacturing. Maybe whatever refining process they're using just works better in space.

I've always operated on the assumption that graduating Starfleet Academy was basically a fast track to becoming a Captain or a Command officer like Chief Engineer. Meanwhile, the ranks below that were filled with anybody who had a higher degree, much like in the military today (very few officers are actually academy…

(surgically implants glasses directly into eyeballs) - The designation of first officer in the Star Trek universe is actually kind of interesting. In the 23rd century Starfleet, there was never a dedicated Executive Officer. Instead, one of the department heads was designated to assume command when the Captain was…

Yes . . . but that's not really related to transgender people. Also, fugue states aren't technically a form of psychosis. Let me explain -

Well, to provide some context to my opinions, I would put my misgivings about Sanders on race in the same category as most of my disagreements with Clinton. I didn't completely align with Clinton over many issues, but I was still able to happily canvass for her as I've done for every other Democratic candidate since…

Yeah, I don't think that he'll be impeached. At this point, our best bet is to pick up a lot of State legislatures going into the 2020 redistricting and capitalize on Trump's controversies enough to squeeze a liberal into the White House. Then we can spend to 2020s trying to build back the Party on a Federal level.

Because most of the prejudice against minorities is just a class issue? That's one of the most out-of-touch things that I've ever heard. But it's precisely the problem with the 60s campus style liberalism that Sanders eschews. You would have to be willfully ignorant to not see that America has serious racial…

I've never particularly been a huge Bill Maher fan, but I'll admit he can have some great one-liners.

I mean, he represents a pretty large slice of the electorate. I think that it's a good thing for the Democrats to expand beyond their partisan base, so I'm all for giving him a seat at the table, even if he's not officially a party member. But I'll also disagree with him on certain points, just like I'd disagree…

I think that Sanders is generally sympathetic towards minorities. I'm not trying to criticize his character. But he really doesn't understand how to communicate with minority voters, and I think it's kind of hard to dispute that. He comes across as condescending most of the time, and I think most minorities are…

Especially when those 'sad things' were 'brown people'.

I think that minority voters are a lot more mobilized right now. Even if voting lines weren't redrawn, the Democrats would probably benefit from greater turnout.

I don't disagree with your larger point, but I wouldn't say that Clinton lacked substance. Arguably, she published the most in-depth policy proposals and white papers of any candidate. What I would say is that she lacked a strong narrative, which is what's really important, because your average voter doesn't really…

While we're at it, let's replace Congress with a horse that stamps once for yes and twice for no.

I mean, you really can't do more than try to include people of color and queer people. I guess as a social scientist, I could say that we're all affected by white feminism, because those types of biases and norms tend to operate at a population level. But that's more of a device for understanding the dynamics of…

Speaking from a psychological point-of-view, gender dysphoria is actually something that can be diagnosed under clinical conditions. It's not a disorder, but it's psychologically real in the sense that it's been observed in a large group of people and leaving it unaddressed results in a very predictable (and…

Yeah, and I think that was a mistake to go after Republicans. But it's possible to message on economic issues without indulging racism. It seems like everyone is constantly falling over to coddle the white working class (who can do no wrong). Because they're the real Americans.

The first thing that Bernie Sanders said after the election was that Democrats focus too much on identity politics. A couple days later he also said that the Democrat leadership in Congress needs to be whiter. I mean, I know what he was trying to say, but he's incredibly clueless when it comes to talking about…