Donald Trump for President?

Panspermia!

What.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

Panspermia!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia

Actually, few understand Star Trek anymore since it's been retconned to death after Roddenberry passed away. You change Zefram Cochrane from an Alpha Centurian (first contact sentient alien species ala Roddenberry) to an Earthling, and decades of continuity go out the window. But all that is nothing compared to what Abrams has done = pure blasphemy.

I love how this thread is no longer about Trump, but is now all about Star Trek!

Huh.

In any case, my talk about your lack of understanding re: Star Trek is that you were taking such issue with them changing it from "no man" to "no one" and complaining how that apparently indicated political correctness gone mad. I mean...it's Star Trek. It's always been a progressively-minded franchise in terms of its storytelling and world-building, so it has adapted to many changing social norms throughout its 50-year history (even in its earliest inception, you had characters like Uhura and Chekov to indicate that present-day prejudices and conflicts would have been resolved in favour of forward-thinking unity that would allow humans to explore the stars). In this regard, changing it from "no man" to "no one" is meant to reflect the inherently inclusive nature of the Trek ethos, which is borne out by newer shows including non-human characters like Worf or Neelix. You can rattle off knowledgeable complaints about retcons and reboots getting the canon wrong all you want, but the thing is that Star Trek effectively runs on "political correctness". It always has. To deny that is what suggests that you don't understand Star Trek.

To tie this back into the thread at large, this does illustrate a big problem I have with people who oppose political correctness - it doesn't make sense. The recent reason it got brought up is because Trump was named "Person of the Year" and his response (to a rally full of ardent supporters who hang on his every word) was to remark on how it should have been "Man of the Year". Combined with the overall perception that the "PC crowd" is weak because it gets too hung up on supposedly trivial matters, him feeling the need to publicly make this distinction seems especially egregious, especially when he follows it up by saying that TIME "felt the need to be politically correct" with a tone of disdain in his voice as if TIME implicitly acknowledging that women are not only people but also capable of being important indicates that they are pushing a disagreeable political agenda.

Secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help Trump win White House

The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, rather than just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, according to officials briefed on the matter.

Intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, according to U.S. officials. Those officials described the individuals as actors known to the intelligence community and part of a wider Russian operation to boost Trump and hurt Clinton’s chances.

“It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,” said a senior U.S. official briefed on an intelligence presentation made to U.S. senators. “That’s the consensus view.”

The Obama administration has been debating for months how to respond to the alleged Russian intrusions, with White House officials concerned about escalating tensions with Moscow and being accused of trying to boost Clinton’s campaign.

In September, during a secret briefing for congressional leaders, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voiced doubts about the veracity of the intelligence, according to officials present.

The Trump transition team dismissed the findings in a short statement issued Friday evening. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again,’ ” the statement read.

Trump has consistently dismissed the intelligence community’s findings about Russian hacking.

“I don’t believe they interfered” in the election, he told Time magazine this week. The hacking, he said, “could be Russia. And it could be China. And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey.”

The CIA shared its latest assessment with key senators in a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill last week, in which agency officials cited a growing body of intelligence from multiple sources. Agency briefers told the senators it was now “quite clear” that electing Trump was Russia’s goal, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

The CIA presentation to senators about Russia’s intentions fell short of a formal U.S. assessment produced by all 17 intelligence agencies. A senior U.S. official said there were minor disagreements among intelligence officials about the agency’s assessment, in part because some questions remain unanswered.

For example, intelligence agencies do not have specific intelligence showing officials in the Kremlin “directing” the identified individuals to pass the Democratic emails to WikiLeaks, a second senior U.S. official said. Those actors, according to the official, were “one step” removed from the Russian government, rather than government employees. Moscow has in the past used middlemen to participate in sensitive intelligence operations so it has plausible deniability.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politi...00B?li=BBnb7Kz

I know what it was supposed to mean. The initial phrase was poetry... and they changed it. Throughout the history of English literature the word "man" has been used to represent the entire species.

They changed the word for Star Trek TNG because someone thought that "man" means "male" (completely disregarding the English language, dictionary definitions and centuries of poetic usage). But if "where no man has gone before" meant "where no male has gone before," then the Enterprise would not have had any women on it... but clearly IT DID!!!

So, in the original opening, the word "man" was OBVIOUSLY being used in one of its classic and perfectly acceptable definitions (for those worldly and literate enough to KNOW that it is a shortened form for "mankind").

When Shakespeare wrote "what a piece of work is man" I don't think he meant 'what pieces of work are male humans what with their penises, their single Y chromosome, and inability to bear children and all!'

Before I continue, know that I edited a new paragraph into my last post.

Consider the fact that language has constantly evolved through the entire history of human communication. We don't talk like characters from Chaucer or Shakespeare, so there's no reason why we should remain completely and utterly beholden to the idioms of a thousand years ago. Also consider the possibility that "if it was supposed to literally mean men then why does the Enterprise have women on it" is more damning of the way in which the language of 50 years ago disregarded women regardless of intent that it is of the way in which the language of 30 years ago deliberately included them. Besides, your whole "man=mankind" thing is a massive reach anyway - the idea that it's something that only "worldly/literate" people would understand speaks to the kind of condescension that also seems incompatible with Trek's inclusive worldview.

This reminds me of the famous words of Neil Armstrong which came out more poetically than he actually intended all because a single word didn't transmit well on his communicator. He'd said, "This is one small step for a man" (meaning himself) "...one giant leap for mankind."
The "a" didn't come across well, so what we heard was "This is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" which can actually be taken a couple ways. But it just sounded a bit more poetic than his actual words.

No, it wasn't poetry. Maybe you should read some poetry. What you're saying is it was poetic ... guess what, it is no less poetic with the phrase "no one" and I would argue it is more poetic because it is no longer archaic. And being archaic on a show which is supposed to take place hundreds of years in the future certainly doesn't do a service to the very concept of the show.

What a dumb tangent in defense of someone you've claimed you don't like.

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I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

What should be of interest to every American, and perhaps everyone in the world who might worry of something like this happening to their country, is the report that the CIA knew back in September that the DNC hacks were from the Russians (and that the Russians were actively trying to help Trump), and that Mitch McConnell threatened to smear Democrats if they went public with this. And of course FBI director Comey knew about this as well. Yet I don't see very many people blowing their top over this. I'm dumbfounded. It seems to me McConnell's career should be over, at the very least. This is not acceptable. And Trump's insistence that Russia had nothing to do with the hacks should be alarming. He defended Russia, and still does, like you'd expect someone to defend a friend or family member. What kind of corruption is going on? I honestly don't know, but dammit, can we concern ourselves with this rather than a fifty year old show!

Exactly. I couldnt believe he was still babbling on about Star Trek after I posted that.

Jesus!

Its like the USA has straight up become stubbornly stupid. For the past year people talked this thing into the ground in this thread, and after all the talks, he voted Trump. It doesnt matter what we say or prove, it only matters who is more entertaining on tv.

Please Trumpets, prove me wrong. Yes Im serious (I wish you were).

Very interesting, I never knew that. Thanks for posting that! And I agree it sounded much more cooler without the a.

Well I'm DEEPLY concerned over that, to me this is one of the biggest clouds hanging over Trump and those who might be responsible. Any interference in another nations elections should be considered an aggression, a very serious aggression on the same level as seizing someone's territory.

Trump is the embodiment of evil, coupled with stupidity....The worst qualities any leader could have.

That's because most Democrats and liberals are milder mannered people and don't beat the drum in anger, like if the situation was reversed. Republicans and conservatives tend to be more dogmatic, more vocal and cry fowl way louder when the shoe is on the other foot.

So, basically, you're saying those of us who watched the original series are old!

Age-ism! (Where's my coloring book and soft pillows? I need to go cuddle my therapy dog in a safe space now.)

P.S. It's not a "dumb" tangent... it's a silly tangent. There's a big difference. And it wasn't a defense, it was just a tangent.

Trump, Mocking Claim That Russia Hacked Election, at Odds with G.O.P.

An extraordinary breach has emerged between President-elect Donald J. Trump and the national security establishment, with Mr. Trump mocking American intelligence assessments that Russia interfered in the election on his behalf, and top Republicans vowing investigations into Kremlin activities.

Mr. Trump in effect declared war on the intelligence agencies in a statement issued by his transition team on Friday evening. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” Mr. Trump’s team said.

Though Mr. Trump has wasted no time in antagonizing the agencies, to carry out priorities like combating terrorism he will have to rely on them for the sort of espionage activities and analysis that they spend more than $70 billion a year to perform.

At this point in a transition, a president-elect is usually delving into intelligence he has never before seen and learning about C.I.A. and National Security Agency abilities. But Mr. Trump, who has taken intelligence briefings only sporadically, is questioning not only analytic conclusions, but also their underlying facts.

“To have the president-elect of the United States simply reject the fact-based narrative that the intelligence community puts together because it conflicts with his a priori assumptions — wow,” said Michael V. Hayden, who was the director of the N.S.A. and later the C.I.A. under President George W. Bush.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politi...KpW?li=BBnb7Kz

I'm just trying to give you guys a little break, add a little lightness and levity to this thread.

Continual obsessive focus on Trump isn't healthy.

We could always switch to Star Wars for a while! I heard on another thread that they changed the ending of the next movie to protest the outcome of the election!

Trump's not going to make it 4 years. He'll be impeached long before that. Mark my words..or bookmark my post

I liked the Star Trek post, of course I'm a fan....

I heard that in an upcoming reboot of Star Trek done for television they open with the tag line: To boldly go where no peeps have gone before!

It's not *just* a tangent. I brought up Trump's public reaction to being called Person of the Year in order to add yet another example of him demonstrating the sort of petty prejudice that is extremely unbecoming of someone who is supposed to govern one of the world's most powerful nations. You were the one who took that as an invitation to go on a rant about Star Trek being politically correct, which has next to no relevance to this thread. While I'll admit to arguing back and perpetuating the debate, at least I tried to tie the discussion back into a greater point - meanwhile, you're the one who's either sticking to your whole "poetry" angle or cracking weak jokes about needing a safe space. When Kaplan called this a "dumb tangent", your attempt to defend it was to say that it was a "silly" tangent as if that makes it better. If anything, that makes it worse - it's one thing to unknowingly demonstrate ignorance in arguing for one side, but to deliberately block up the thread with a barely-relevant topic and then later claiming that you were just trying to "add a little lightness" shows that you're at least somewhat aware of what you're doing, so there's no reason why we should tolerate it or your weak jokes about safe spaces.

Now you're really being patronising. We have an entire site full of threads that are about lightness and levity. The thread dedicated to discussing the man who is going to take over one of the highest positions of power in the world definitely doesn't need that, especially not in the form of a pop-culture discussion that you only forced on the thread because you wanted to rant about political correctness. Trying to diminish the rest of us by calling us "obsessive" for focusing on Trump in a thread explicitly dedicated to focusing on Trump is not a good tactic either.

Also, that Star Wars thing is fake news and does not merit further discussion in this thread. You should move on to discussing something important like, you know, the whole Russian hacking thing that is of far greater significance in virtually every conceivable manner.