Crazy Uncle Steve's Scrambled Brains

First of all, I have a shocking confession to make: I am not a Star Wars fan first and foremost. I remain a Trekkie at core, although other franchises have found their spots in my heart including Star Wars. I acknowledge the role that Star Wars played in Star Trek's revival: given the success of Star Wars, Paramount retooled what would have been a Star Trek Phase II TV series into The Motion Picture. The sets, uniforms, etc. were all intended for the TV series. From there the Star Trek franchise was able to get the attention and respect it deserved. Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas were actually good friends and enjoyed each others' work, so we as fans have made too big a deal out of the supposed rivalry. I haven't by any means devoured every piece of output related to Star Wars but I haven't found much I didn't like. I'm going to catch some heat for this from a certain segment of Star Wars fans, but I actually like the sequel trilogy! For the first time we se...

God uses all manner of things to communicate His message to us. The Lord gave the heavens to all humanity as a heritage (Deuteronomy 4:19) and knew that the Magi would be looking in the stars for a sign. So He arranged one--a planetary conjunction that would be recognized throughout the centuries to the present day. And it was not a simple conjunction: Jupiter and Saturn would meet up with each other three times between May and December of 7 BC. And they met in the constellation Pisces, which was known as the House of the Jews in ancient Near Eastern astrology. God was aware of the conceptual frame of the Magi and spoke to them in a way they would understand. This has further implications about the nature of God: He is eternal, and He is infinite. He planned the alignment of two motes of dust from the perspective of a much smaller mote of dust as a sign of His entry into our physical universe to redeem His children, a sign that would resonate for the next two thousand years and beyond....

  STARDATE 1674.1 TO:     Commodore José I. Mendez         Commanding Officer Starbase 11 FROM: Commander Spock, Executive Officer and Chief Science Officer  USS Enterprise NCC-1701   Acting for Captain James T. Kirk RE:    Incident during Alfa 177 Expedition (1672.1 – 1673.9) Commodore, This memorandum is an addendum to the pertinent log entries regarding the Alfa 177 expedition, with recommendations for further action. A.      Medical Assessments Captain Kirk has returned to day-to-day duty but remains under medical observation. The clinical assessment of Commander Leonard McCoy, MD is included in this report as Attachment A. Dr. McCoy’s recommendation that the Captain have a complete physical and psychological evaluation by an objective specialist is logical given the circumstances. While the Captain appears to have been fully reintegrated by the transporter, these circumstances have n...

Anyone who's read comics in the past 90 years is well aware of the love triangle that is Superman, Lois Lane, and Clark Kent. Now, in the most recent iterations of Superman, Lois is well aware that Clark is Superman and actively helps him maintain the secret identity. There is a problem regarding ethics in journalism here, but that's a completely separate post. For most of Superman's run, Lois is hopelessly infatuated with Superman while completely ignoring Clark Kent. That is, if she doesn't hold him in contempt for constantly ducking out whenever something particularly dangerous is happening. Clark is infatuated with Lois but conflicted as to whether to reveal his identity (and put Lois in danger of being targeted by Superman's enemies) or still try to win her affections as Clark Kent. Clark is the better reporter of the two, which is the only reason he has any respect from Lois at all. In the hands of good writers, this works really well. Most versions of Lois L...

 Much of what I post here will be purely stream of consciousness, and often in response to current events, so please don't expect a linear narrative. At some point I may edit this stuff and arrange it in topical or chronological order. We'll see. This was my first experience with real corruption in the workplace, and in fighting people with the power to make or break others. I've never liked bullies, and the most dangerous ones are the ones wearing suits and ties who don't have to raise a fist to do their damage. The jerks on the playground in elementary school could ruin your day. These people can ruin lives. And since the stakes are so much higher, the strategy has to be more complex. So here's the story of how I played a role in bringing down a toxic work culture. I won't claim to be the hero of the piece here. I definitely wasn't. I had a lot of personal issues I was working through at the time completely unrelated to work that made me a target. But I wa...