Formspring Question #436--Thine Own Self Edition

Who are you?

Formspring Question # 437--Bible Thumpin' Browders Edition

To his credit, Cam offers words of wisdom from his famously devout Christian grandmother. When I met Ben he told me that the writers stole his life in this regard - his own grandma was a 'bible thumper from Tennessee'

Ben Browder graduated from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, with a BS in Psychology. Furman university is just down the road from Bob Jones University. Furman students have a long history of hazing the highly reclusive student BJU body. The most famous prank is painting “F” and “U” on one’s posterior and driving by the gate to moon whoever happens to be holding back Satan’s minions from the flock.
I cannot say I have ever heard Browder talk of any BJU encounters, but I have never met a Furman student who did not have at least one story to tell. Regardless of personal involvement, I am certain Browder knows all about BJU’s reputation and likely views them with the same arm’s length skepticism I do. They are not the Ori, but that is probably only because hardly anyone pays them any attention.
I took the LSAT at Furman many years ago. It was my only visit to the campus. Nice place. I have gotten the impression from meeting students the admission process consists of 1) who is your daddy and 2) where is his checkbook, but this is South Carolina. That is pretty much how anyone gets anywhere around here.

Formspring Question #438--Conventional Wisdom on Palin Edition

Should Sarah Palin be invited to speak at the RNC?

Of course. She ought to have a prime time speech as well, if for no other reason than her skill at firing up a crowd with the red meat. she is like Pat Buchanan, Newt Gingrich, and even Rudy Giuliani in some regards at her ability to still be a crowd pleaser while the same crowd would be averse to electing them to any real power for various reasons.

That said, I am not as defensive about Sarah Palin as I used to be, so if she gets snubbed, oh well. Her foot ragging over whether to jump into the 2012 race was unfair to her supporters, many of whom spent every day since the day after the 2008 election prepping for her potential run. I do not begrudge Palin for opting for media cash instead, she needs to embrace the costs of her decision in terms of grass roots support and her own credibility.

The bottom line is Palin I still like Palin, and I like to see her fire up a crowd. But if she does not get a chance to do so at the convention, so be it. She seems interested in taking the Donald Trump road to media success while hoping to maintain political credibility. Allowing Trump to speak at the convention would turn it into a farce. Palin has not degenerated to that point yet, but I cannot begrudge any of the party poobahs for nipping her in the bud before she reaches that point.

Formspring Question #435--Alas, Babylon Edition

You've been promising Babylon 5 for a year. Are you ever going to review it?

Babylon 5 could have already been in the can, but you guys voted for Star Trek: Voyager, so I delivered. You would have gotten Crusade, too. That is democracy in action.

Will I review Babylon 5? Lord willing and the colon does not rupture. It is going to be a while, though. I have definitely committed to Stargate Atlantis and kinda sorta committed to Farscape. I cannot imagine getting around to Babylon 5 before late spring or summer 2013 at the earliest.

I am a terribly fickle soul, too. Keep that in mind, for better or worse. There can always be a surprise or two like a short series thrown in for the sake of variety. Doubtful any would be doubled up with something else, so what i mean is push the schedule back if an unexpected series shows up.

Formspring Question #434--Griffith Griping Edition

I was expecting an Andy Griffith obituary complete with bittersweet nostalgia over the mythic Mayberry South. When can we expect to see it?

Somwhere south of never. Believe it or not, I have never been an Andy Griffith fan. To say one does not like The Andy Griffith show is as blasphemous down here as not being able to match NASCAR drivers with their current main sponsor, but i cannot do that, either. I flirt with danger, what can i tell you?

Honestly, I had nothing to say about Griffith. I wish him godspeed like I do anyone else for whom I do write an obituary, but that is about all i can manage.

Formspring Question #433--The Secret is Almost Out Edition

Where do you get your celebrity photos?

I have my sources.

Formspring Question #432--No Shark Jumping Yet Edition

So despite the obvious differences, are you enjoying the 9th season more than you thought you would? You seemed like you were prepared for it to go down hill with the changes.

The X-files senario was fresh in my mind before beginning ninth season reviews. All the major storylines had been resolved, and it was assumed the series would end after the seventh season. In a surprise move, X-Files was renewed for an eighth season. David Duchovny did not want to appear often, so two new characters were added to fill the void. A story arc was crafted that was tangentially related to the main arc that been resolved after seven seasons.

Sound familiar? I never really got into the new characters of Doggett and Reyes because they were not good stand ins for Mulder and Scully. The new story arc was not compelling, either. The new mythology felt tacked on and unimportant. Stargate SG-1 looked like it would potentially have the same problem. I was not sure Cam and Vala could fill the void left by jack, nor would the ori be as good as villains as the Goa’uld and Replicators. I have been pleasantly surprised to find out otherwise.

What has been great about the ninth seasons is the characters are not just phoning it in. Maybe it was Richard Dean Anderson’s growing disinterest that caused the series to lag from seasons six through eight, but now the team all works together with a sense of both fun and purpose. Cam is a more than capable replacement for Jack, whose story had played out long ago. Landry is a much more well-rounded character than Hammond. Beau bridges was inspired casting The Ori make for well-developed, menacing villains. They are not the Goa’uld by a different name.

So, yes, I like the ninth season more consistently than any since about the fifth. I am cautiously optimistic the tenth season will continue to hit the high notes, though I am a bit worried vala’s addition to the main cast might be a detriment. Claudia black is hot, and vala is amusing…in small doses. Twenty in a row constantly beclowning the tone of the series might not go over so well. We shall see. I am going to assume Vala’s has more facets that will be explored the way cam’s have been during the season’s progression.

Formspring Question #431--ObamaCare Tax v. Penalty Edition

If Obamacare is a tax, then how come it was even before the Supreme Court? I thought that the Constitutionality of taxes can only be debated in the SC once they are actually enforced. Confused.

I had a discussion about this shortly after the ruling was issued on Thursday. The Anti-Injunction Act forbids a tax from being challenged until it has been implemented. Technically speaking, if ObamaCare is a tax, the supreme court should not have ruled on the matter until 2014. However, the Supreme Court made the distinction the consequence for not buying health insurance is labeled as a penalty, not a tax, so the Anti-Injunction Act did not prohibit a ruling.

If that sounds like picking nits, it is. The cynic in me thinks the Supreme Court skirted over the issue of the Anti-Injunction Act in order to make a ruling now rather than delay one until 2014. I have, however, seem flimsier arguments than a penalty is not a tax, but is still Constitutional under congress’ powers of taxation before. Lawyers can do some mental and verbal gymnastics worthy of Cirque du Soleil. That is why they get paid the big bucks.

ObamaCare defenders are likely holding onto this penalty distinction in order to avoid calling the mandate a tax. If you run into a progressive who insists ObamaCare is not a tax, ask him or her to define a penalty if he or she can differentiate a penalty from a tax, he is a more qualified legal scholar than at least five Supreme Court justices.

You know what? All this legal wrangling means nothing. To paraphrase a tweet from Britt Hume yesterday, Chief Justice John Roberts could have ruled the mandate a traffic ordinance and the four progressive justices would have gone along with it blindly. If you want to Talk about an activist bench, there you go.

Formspring Question #430-The Anatomy of an Attack Edition

Love reading your attacks on John Roberts regarding the ACA. Do you still consider him to be "one of the greatest legal minds we have"?

The only person I have ever encountered online who has gone through seven years worth of blogging in order to find a quote to bring up for contemporary times is Project Savior. He did it last year when he went all the way back to February 2005 to find a positive quote regarding Star Trek: Enterprise in order to whine about me not reviewing the series. A couple weeks later, he made a complete jackass out of himself in the comments section of a post regarding the I-beam cross being allowed at the 9/11 memorial and vowed he would never return since I was not going to review ENT. You can check out that post for his long trolling history with me.

This question certainly fits his motif who else could pull out quotes from a blog post regarding John Roberts’ confirmation hearings seven years ago? Project Savior appears to have dumped his old blog for some new digs.. With it stellar Technorati rating standing at a whopping #1, it looks like his satirical look at the world, religion, politics, and life is going about as well as it ever has.

At least I hope it is Project Savior. Dear Lord, I do not need another obsessive online stalker. Have mercy.

Whoever my inquisitor is, he has no clue what constitutes an attack, particularly not in an adversarial system like law. I have written two posts regarding the Supreme court’s ruling on ObamaCare. In the first, I mention Chief Justice John Roberts once in an addendum, saying that he has “stretched his definition of the mandate to interpret it as a tax.. the second post does not mention Roberts at all. I only call the ObamaCare ruling dubious.

How anyone can consider “stretched the definition” and ’dubious’ to be attacks is beyond me. Even the most hypersensitive of souls would have a hard time taking offense. I am quite confident a grown man and jurist at the pinnacle of his career like Roberts can handle it. If you want to see an actual attack, look no further than Michael Savage’s accusation Roberts’ epilepsy medication affects his cognitive thinking skills. Now that is an attack on Roberts.

Do I still think Roberts is one of the finest legal minds we have? Of course, I do. Jusyices, judges, and lawyers get it wrong all the time. It does not mean they are idiots because I do not agree on a particular issue. You have an embarrassingly shallow grasp of how I operate if you believe I would change my mind about a man’s intelligence and/or skill over one incident. Get real.

Formspring Question #429--Not So Much That the Brain Falls Out Edition

Predestination? That's an open mind then.

I suspect I am more tolerant of other beliefs than you, so yes.

Formspring Question #428--Head Start Stalled at the Stsrting Line Edition

Do you like head start and the government helping to fund it?

No. It has been a $7.3 billion a year failure for fifty years. Acco0rding to this Health and Human Services sponsored study, kids who have taken part in Head Start are no better off than kids who have not been part of the program. even progressives like Joe Klein are now questioning the value of funding the failed program.

Head Start is a prime example of progressives missing the cultural root of a problem and proposing government take over to throw away mountains of tax payers dollars towards their solution. Head Start largely provides babysitting and very basic education for three and four year olds. Kids that age require nurturing in order to prepare them for success in school. Government workers are no substitute for parental guidance. The problem is that parents are not doing their job.

These parents are low income, probably on some social benefit program, probably unwed, probably in a squalid, crime ridden environment, and probably have not stopped at one kid, either. This is the root of the problem--young people who are not mature enough, nor financially stable enough to have children are having them anyway. It is not a problem the government can solve. Indeed, many expensive social benefits programs entrap these people and create generations of a poor underclass dependent on taxpayer money with no escape. Providing no encouragement to escape, either.

No, I do not think abortion is a fantastic solution to the problem, no matter what Ruth Bader Ginsburg believes about the merciful genocide of the unborn poor.. if we are trying to teach personal responsibility to adults and encourage kids to make something out of themselves, holding the right to kill unborn children as a virtuous option encourages neither.

Since this question is an obvious follow up to my support for vouchers, I will reiterate a voucher program will get parents more involved in their child’s education. At the very least, they will have the power to make the choice where their child earns his or her education. If a voucher system worked ideally, educational institutions would run on free market principles and therefore have to compete for voucher dollars. The competition would improve the quality of education for all, but I fear we are too brainwashed by progressivism to even consider the idea. Mitt Romney is not going to make any significant steps towards creating a wide-spread voucher system. I am cynical enough to think it is a pet issue conservatives are going to trot out every election cycle to entice social conservatives, then never do anything more with it.

Formspring Question #427--I'll Vouch for That Edition

Do you support Mitt Romney’s push for expanding availability of publicly funded school vouchers for low income kids? Do you believe that, assuming equal pay and available resources, a private school teacher is in general better than a public?

I attended a Christian school from kindergarten through twelfth grade, so I am biased. I support vouches for every child regardless of income level. The public school system in america is an abomination. Public schools are not out to educate kids. All you have to do is look at test scores to figure that out. Public schools are for training kids to accept authority, conform to a certain social standard, and dutifully accept whatever menial job their poor math and illiterate reading skill can land.

At least with a voucher system, parents can choose a school with a philosophy towards their liking rather than indoctrination by the government. There is something to be said for that, at least. I am happy with my bible based education. It served me well in college and law school.

The question of whether a private school teacher is better than a public one is too broad to have a decent answer. Along with my private elementary and high school education, I graduated from a public university and a private law school. All tolled, I have had about 140 different teachers. Some were dedicated folks who had a genuine gift for molding young minds. Others probably could not have held down a job at McDonald’s . Thanks to smart graduates not wanting to baby sit barbarian children for $22,000/year, those incompetent souls can teach rather than work the milkshake machine.

I would trust a private school teacher to give my child a better education in general even though I havew run into some very bad private school teachers in my day. Chalk it up to my general aversion to allowing the government to run anything, much less educating kids.

Formspring Question #426--True Calling Edition

Could you do without God, do you think?

I am a devout Calvinist. Predestination pretty much settles the question of whether I can get along without God. I cannot.

Formspring Question #425--Across the Universe II Edition

Following up on the SGU thing: Is not at least a good idea to just watch the pilot of Universe (Air, pt 1-3), so that you have the chance of at least judging it on your own, instead of dismissing it because of the opinions of others?

It would be a good idea if I had any interest in watching Stargate Universe. Since I possess no such interest, it is difficult to classify any any attention paid to Stargate Universe as a good idea. I guarantee I am not alone in my lack of interest. If I put up a poll asking if readers would like Stargate Universe reviews next instead of Farscape or Babylon 5, Stargate Universe would lose in a landslide.

Come on. Even your sales pitch for Stargate Universe apologetically said 3/4 of the episodes were meandering. The show's peoblems were bad enough even devout fans fled. I cannot see deboting a month and a half to this. I just cannot see how spending five or six weeks reviewing a show virtually no one cares about would be worthwhile.

I can still hear the crickets chirping from my Red Dwarf reviews last year. There have been a couple murder/suicide incidents among them since. Do you want that on your conscience?

Formspring Question #424--In the Black Edition

Are you going to start posting photos of Claudia Black now that she is on SG1?

Perhaps. Posting Claudia Black photos sounds more appropriate for Farscape reviews. I should--hopefully--have more of her fans' attention at that point. It is weird enough my first real impressions of her and Ben Browder are going to come from Stargate SG-1 instead of their most famous series.

I would rather not encourage my Formspring box to become a celebrity request line, but what he heck. This is what you are fishing for:

Will that tide you over for a while?

Formspring Question #423--Too Animated Edition

Would you ever consider reviewing an animated series?

I would consider it, but am concerned how well it would go over. Something like Clone Wars would probably fly. Perhaps some of the Paul Dini series featuring DC Comics characters, too. There are enough comic book buffs around to probably enjoy those. Someone told me I would probably like Gargoyles since it is allegedly not your typical kid’s fare. I do not have much noststalgia for the ’80’s cartoons I grew up on. They are probably not as enthralling now as they were when I was ten, anyway.

When you say animated series, something like Futurama does not come to mind. The show is a prime time series that happens to be animated. Not much of a distinction, but there you go. I have considered Futurama as an eventual possibility. A pretty far down the road possibility.

You sound like you want to suggest an animated series, but are testing the waters first. Feel free to do with two caveats. One, I have never gotten into anime. I cannot imagine diving into any now, Two, I really, really, really do not want to bring up any more Star Trek related material. There is a small army of Enterprise fans--yes, those poor souls do exist--are lying in wait to pounce on any opportunity to promote the show for review. If I review Star Trek: The Animated Series, the ENT would be the only thing left not reviewed. I could never got the demons back in Pandora’s box.

Does anyone else have anything to say about the issue? Do not say you do not like cartoons, either. I know all of you do. Denying it just means you are probably one of those My Little Pony fanatics.

Formspring Question #422--Across the Universe Edition

Are you going to watch SGU after finishing with SG1 and SGA? It is no doubt a very controversial show, but IMO, it was pretty good even though it took 1 or 1 1/2 seasons for it to truly find its legs, which I think is mostly to blame for its early demise.

It is highly doubtful. The kindest thing I have heard about Stargate Universe is that it is a low rent Battlestar Galactca clone. Descriptions of the series degrade from there. You are the first to speak well of it to me, and your praise is apologetic. It took a season and a half for series that only lasted two seasons to find its groove? It does not sound like promising reviewing material.

It pays to reiterate I am only cautiously optimistic about Stargate Atlantis being reviewed immediately after Stargate SG-1. I have been reviewing the series since January and I still have forty episodes to go. The final two seasons are said to be vastly different than the first eighth. If they are a chore to get through, I am likely to move away from the franchise for Farscape or Babylon 5 and come back to Stargate Atlantis later. Of course, if I really get into the changes on Stargate SG-1, then I doubt burn out will be a problem. Whether I like Stargate Atlantis might be, but that is a whole other issue.

Just to throw in a related issue that item that is bound to come up, I have The Ark of Truthand Continuum laying here ready to be watched and reviewed when the time comes. The classification “straight to DVD” does not inspire confidence, but there are going in with the other reviews for the sake of completion.

Formspring Question #421--Jack Ain't Back Edition

Is Jack still your favorite SG-1 character?

Yes, but I am basing my fondness for the character on the first five seasons or so more than the last few. Richard Dean Anderson’s lack of enthusiasm for playing the character has been coming through loud and clear in seasons six through eighth, and it is taking toll on my enjoyment. If his heart is not in it, the character suffers.

I completely understand Anderson’s attitude, mind you. His family was growing, so he wanted to spend time with them. He has both a bad back and bad knees. He had to endure a knee surgery and rehab after a fall just before the sixth season began filming. Playing a role in an action series with nagging injuries has to be difficult.

Frankly, as Stargate SG-1 has shifted focus away from the old dynamic of Jack holding the team together while philosophically sparring with Daniel and/or intellectually with Sam to each character coming into his or her own, the latter has filled the void Jack’s diminished role left. I am not saying jack should have just left the show rather than linger in a smaller role so the others could shine, but jack has become a far less compelling character in recent seasons.

Looking back on it, ”Menace” was a turning point for the character. That is the episode in which it is discovered the Replicators were created by a robot “child” named Reese as playthings that got out of hand. Jack destroyed Reese in order to stop the replicators from taking over earth the way they had Reese’s planet. There is debate among fans whether jack did the right thing or just killed her in cold blood. As much as one can kill a robot in cold blood. I think fans are adding an undue emotionalism to it because Reese was a pretty girl who acted like a naïve teenager. If the character had been played by a balding middle aged actor, no one would have thought twice about his destruction. But I digress. You can argue that jack may have felt he crossed a line there and began backing off from action, with few exceptions.

“Menace” is the turning point for the character for me. He has never been quite the same since. Most of my favorite jack moments come prior to that. Then again, the entire cohesive team dynamic ended around about that time, too. When was the last time the four SG-1 team members worked together all in one place in an adventure? “Revisions” would be my guess. The show shifted focus long before Ben Browder and Claudia black made it a “spin off’ in the final two seasons.

Formspring Question #420--Why Don't You Tell Me How You Really Feel? Edition

You should be embarrassed that you even try to claim to be a Christian and than post the pictures of women on here like this! On top of that you proceed to tear them apart and critique their bodies as if they are not even human beings! You are a disgusting excuse for a human being let alone a "Christian"! Toe jams like you are the reason so many girls end up killing themselves from starving themselves or getting implants! You are a waste of oxygen!!

Formspring Question #419--No Dungeon Mastery Edition

Do you play D&D? I don’t know why, but you either seem like exactly the type or not the type at all if that makes any sense. Nerdy/picky enough to love it but perhaps too serious to get over that you are playing make-believe?

No, I have never role played. It is an extension of my general aversion to sword and sorcery fantasy. I did make reference to “chaotic good” a couple Stargate SG-1 reviews ago. Perhaps that brought the matter to your mind. The moral classification of role playing characters are in the general knowledge of geekdom.

I have played some video and computer games over the years that qualify as role playing, more or less. Legend of Zelda games, some Final Fantasy, and World of Warcraft Ii many, many moons ago. Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was the last game of the type I have played. That was about eighth or nine years ago.

Would I like real deal role playing? Probably not. There was a role playing club at the University of South Carolina. Many members were friends of friends, so a few wound up hovering on the edge of my social circles. They did not strike me, a golf shirt and khakis College Republican who kept his comic book collection a closely guarded secret, as people with whom I had much in common.

My junior year, the club forgot to send one of their officers to a mandatory orientation meeting in order to qualify for a share of activity fees, so they made a concerted effort to take over the student Senate. One guy managed to get elected. He tried to filibuster until the entire Student Senate took up the issue of reconsidering the club’s budget lock out. Some senator--not me, BYW--took pity on him and seconded his motion, but the reconsideration was voted down unanimously. No one wanted their activity fees going to role playing games in the first place. Can you really blame us/? The guy became a pedantic pain in the butt the rest of the Senate term in revenge. The whole affair fanned the embers of my aversion to fantasy whatsis to a full blown, raging fire.