This is absolutely true.  I was in college when Enterprise came out, and I was excited about a new Star Trek series.  The opening credits completely turned me off, and I didn’t watch anything past the first episode.  I am currently working my way through the series, and it’s better than I was expecting.  Of course,…

It’s like “All in the Family.” Archie Bunker was supposed to show how bad it was to be an angry, feckless bigot, and the creators assumed that bigots would not like the show. On the contrary, many loved it, largely because they liked the character of Archie Bunker.  The creators learned they had to walk a careful line…

When Korra aired, I was kind of annoyed at the Korra-Asami love story, because it felt so tacked on.  There were very few hints, and all of the hints could easily be construed as a normal friendship.  It felt like ham-handed storytelling for a show that was almost always anything but ham-handed.  At the time, pointing…

Congresscritters (and their spouses) shouldn’t be allowed to own stock at all.  Don’t like it?  Don’t run for Congress.

Then, it is not a martini.

As far as she knew, she was right, and she wasn’t really being too much of a jerk about it.  Given her knowledge of the situation, her choice was absolutely appropriate.  She just didn’t know the whole story.

I think it’s possible to translate Discworld into modern live-action without losing the core aesthetic. (I think it would have been possible to do with 1930s movie technology. “The Adventures of Robin Hood” production level would have worked fine.) This adaptation just looks to be too far from the source material.

I remember an episode of TNG (second season, maybe) in which an independent kind of rogue character comes aboard the ship.  The show strongly implies he seduces several crew members (one of them on-screen.)  At some point, it becomes clear that Picard is totally cool with it.

I know you speak truth about many white people not wanting to live in black neighborhoods, but it makes me rather sad. I like being around people with different histories, because I can learn more.  It may be that more and more people will come around to the idea that living in racially and culturally mixed…

Like most reading this article, I was born after busing came and went. I remember some discussion of the policy when I was a kid. My mom (who is very much pro-desegregation) mentioned something about issues with young students spending way too much time in their bus commutes being a real problem. The idea was that…

Good work in imitating Pratchett’s nested footnotes.

I’m not sure how one would follow up to DS9 in particular (besides basing it on the station, I guess.)  I do think they should make a show in the spirit of DS9, though.  They should revisit the exploration of non-Federation societies, the big political story, and the lives of non-Star Fleet people.

(Standard caveat: as a decent human being, I will support whomever the Democratic Party nominates in the general election.)

Sure, she can.  She can testify to the grand jury, something she should do anyway.  Do we really want to protect Wikileaks?  They’re part of the whole worldwide push against democracy.

As an educator, I strongly discourage students from getting Chromebooks.  They create havoc with file types and do not allow for the use of Microsoft Office (which is often necessary for certain assignments.)

Some policy ideas can be good when you’re using them to stand out, but it can go wrong. In 2008, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama furiously debated over whether there should be an individual mandate in the Romney-esque health care plan. At points, it seemed like the only policy point that mattered between the two…

I think that’s about right.  Conservatism is supposed to mean preservation of the status quo, maintenance of institutions, and gradual change by observing what appears to work.  None of those things exist in contemporary conservatism in the U.S.  They’re all “centrist.”  I think we are better off describing the modern…

You know, there were no bad characters on that show (aside from one-episode ones, but you know what I mean.) Even the kids were great. My favorites were Garak and Kira.   I really liked O’Brien, but I did not tend to like O’Brien-centric episodes; they were a little too hard on his character.

When did the standard tip become 20%?  Since I was a kid, it’s been 15%.  Anything higher was gratitude for excellent service.

Yeah, Rey not being the descendant of anyone important was my single favorite part of the movie.