[RE][scifinoir2] Samuel Jackson to Portray Pirate Whisperer in Film

[Martin Baxter]

Not only does it sound like a great idea, but the casting makes itself. Sam's a 
dead ringer for the guy.





-[ Received Mail Content ]--

 Subject : [scifinoir2] Samuel Jackson to Portray Pirate Whisperer in Film

 Date : Sun, 7 Jun 2009 05:52:05 + (UTC)

 From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net

 To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com



http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090606/film_nm/us_pirate 








MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) – When agents for Hollywood actor Samuel L Jackson 
came looking for Andrew Mwangura in Kenya , he could not meet them -- he was on 
the run. 

The man they call the Pirate Whisperer was dodging both local authorities and 
well-connected criminals who were chasing him for exposing the international 
links of a wave of hijackings afflicting the busy international shipping routes 
off Somalia. 

I said I was in trouble, come back again when the coast is clear, Mwangura 
told Reuters in an interview at Mombasa port. 

Tinseltown plans to make an action movie about the piracy scourge. Jackson is 
to play Mwangura -- the quiet 47-year-old founder of the non-profit East 
African Seafarers' Assistance Program with seemingly unrivalled contacts with 
maritime groups, ships, ports and even pirates around east Africa. 

Himself a former seaman, Mwangura breaks news time and time again on seizures 
and releases of ships by Somali pirates , revealing details of ransom payments 
in what has become a multimillion dollar business . 

He is a hero to seamen, but a pain for the pirates' financiers, said to be 
sitting in Nairobi , Dubai and London, managing the business by calls to the 
gangs' satellite phones. There are strong suspicions that officials in the 
region could be involved, and Mwangura has not been shy of saying that. 

FILM RIGHTS 

Now Jackson and filmmaker Andras Hamori have secured the rights to his life 
story -- but getting a chance to sit down and talk scripts has been more 
difficult than expected. 

Mwangura fell foul of the Kenyan government last year after the MV Faina, a 
Ukrainian ship carrying 33 tanks, was hijacked en route to Mombasa. Mwangura 
said the consignment was really for south Sudan -- and not Kenya , as 
officially claimed. 

In October, on his way to a talk-show where he was due to speak to the 
relatives of the Russian and Ukrainian crew, Mwangura was arrested. 

They were waiting for me in Moscow and Kiev on camera. But I was taken to 
police headquarters for interrogation. 

Mwangura spent nine days in jail. One frightening night, he said he was woken 
by security agents who wanted to take him out of the prison for reasons 
unknown. 

I think maybe they wanted to harm me, he said. 

His cellmates joined hands to prevent the guards from taking him, and he was 
left in jail. 

Mwangura was charged with making alarming statements to foreign media and for 
possessing $2 worth of marijuana. The government called him a frontman and 
spokesman for the pirates. 

He says the charges were trumped up to silence him, and the marijuana was 
planted. Charges were dropped last month. 

They were trying to stop me but they lost. You cannot stop a calling, he 
said. 

FEAR OF ATTACK 

Mwangura still fears he may be attacked, not by the government now but by 
criminals unhappy with the light he shines on their activities. But he is now 
in contact with the filmmakers, and ready to collaborate with the project. 

At first, the father-of-two was hesitant. I'm not a movie actor, I don't want 
to spoil their movie, he said. 

The film makers reassured him that they just wanted to capture the real 
Mwangura for their story. Experts will shadow him for a couple of weeks to get 
the feel of his mannerisms. 

At first he kept the film quiet, even from his wife, but now the news is out. 

Local media, TV and radio. People are calling, congratulating. Others come up 
with ideas -- they say to do the film in a few different languages: Chinese, 
Pinoy, Arabic and Vietnamese, to represent the seafarers of the world. But I 
have no power on that, it is up to them. 

Mwangura is amazed at how often his name appears in a Google search, and the 
National Museum of Kenya wants to record his story for posterity too. 

He says he has no time to watch films and still has not seen a Samuel L Jackson 
movie . But he hopes the film project will help to raise public awareness of 
seafarers, the forgotten people as he calls them, who keep sea trade alive.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds

[RE][scifinoir2] Actor James Franco pulls out of UCLA grad speech

[Martin Baxter]

Hu-WHA??

What *is* that dimbulbette talking about, saying that Franco hasn't had time 
to accomplish anything with his degree? He's already more famous than she'll 
ever be. Whatever. Their loss.





-[ Received Mail Content ]--

 Subject : [scifinoir2] Actor James Franco pulls out of UCLA grad speech

 Date : Sun, 7 Jun 2009 03:18:22 + (UTC)

 From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net

 To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com


Man, this is weird. I post this not because I have any opinion one way or the 
other about whether Franco is qualified to speak at UCLA. I think people go a 
bit overboard sometimes about that, such as the recent issue at Arizona State 
where President Obama was deemed not yet qualified to speak. It seems to me 
that, young or no, recent grad or no, Franco can be an inspiration to students 
to succeed in life. Moreso because he earned a degree in creative writing 
*after* he gained an acting career that has set him up financially for life. 
And one can joke all they want about whether he's intelligent or not, you can't 
exactly fake your way through a creative writing degree: you actually have to 
*write* something. And, the guy's in grad school now. 
The weirdest thing is that some dude at UCLA was bothered enough about this to 
devote a Facebook page to keeping Franco away? What, he has nothing else to do 
with his time? If he were invited to speak in a few short years, would he turn 
down the opportunity? 
I hate to sound like an old fogey, but man the discourse in this country's 
becoming discourteous on a whole bunch of fronts... 

*** 

Actor James Franco pulls out of UCLA grad speech 

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705308953/Franco-pulls-out-of-UCLA-grad-speech.html
 




LOS ANGELES — Actor James Franco says he has dropped a plan to give a 
commencement speech at the University of California, Los Angeles, a move that 
may have been prompted by pressure from students. 

Franco issued a statement saying he canceled his June 12 appearance because of 
conflicts with preproduction demands for his next film. 

However, the Pineapple Express star had been the object of opposition from 
students who said he was not the right fit for the commencement speech. 

The problem with him as a speaker comes down to the fact he was a peer for so 
many of us, UCLA senior Erin Moore said. He was in our class. He's not a role 
model. And he hasn't had time to accomplish anything with his degree. 

Franco, 31, enrolled at UCLA in 1996 and graduated last year with a degree in 
creative writing. He would have been the youngest person and most recent 
graduate to deliver a commencement speech at UCLA. 

Soon after the commencement announcement in March, Moore set up a Facebook page 
called UCLA Students Against James Franco as Commencement Speaker. Hundreds 
joined, and Moore estimated about 80 percent of them are UCLA students. 
Story continues below 




A call to Franco's manager early Saturday was not immediately returned. A UCLA 
spokesman referred The Associated Press to Franco's statement, in which he 
expressed regret at not being able to give the speech. 

UCLA announced on its Web site that Franco would be replaced by Linkin Park 
lead guitarist and UCLA alumnus Brad Delson, who graduated with a bachelor's 
degree in communication studies in 1999. 

Franco is perhaps best known for his supporting role in the Spider-Man films. 

He is preparing for the comedy Your Highness, which is set to begin filming 
next month. Amanda Lundberg, a spokeswoman for the producer of the film, said 
Franco would be on the set in Ireland on June 12. 



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds

Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi

[Martin Baxter]

Maybe they're making HPs better now. Dealing with that mianframe back in the 
day, I did so much screaming that Security posted a notice for all shifts that 
I was prone to it, and not to send personnel to the computer room, just call my 
extension and ask if all's well.





-[ Received Mail Content ]--

 Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi

 Date : Sun, 7 Jun 2009 02:44:02 + (UTC)

 From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net

 To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com


Ha-ha, funny! I was actually pleased with my HP desktop, and I'm okay with 
their printers. I like them better than Canons, Xeroxes, or Lexmarks--at least 
on the business level. 

- Original Message - 
From: Martin Baxter  
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 6:05:28 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 








Keith, I've never owned one of those pieces of crap personally. During 
the two years I worked for the Virginia mental health care system (from the 
outside in, lest anyone wonder), I was tasked with transferring datafiles from 
an HP 100 mainframe to an HP 220 or 250 (not sure, because I didn't sleep much 
in those days, psych trauma being the bear it is). The newer system was 
state-of-the-art touch screen tech, meaning that anytime that anyTHING touched 
the screen, from an odd eraser stroke while regarding a dataline to a fly 
alighting on the screen, everything would auto-save, costing me ten minutes 
each time. And, as I'm told is still the case with HP printers, you couldn't 
turn the things off. If the power so much as blinked, say goodbye to a day's 
work. 

No thanks. 




-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
Date : Sat, 6 Jun 2009 20:26:41 + (UTC) 
From : Keith Johnson  
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 



What kind of HP's did y'all have? My first storebought PC was an HP Pavilion 
7270, purchased way back in 1996 or so. It ran for over twelve years with no 
real problems, until I simply turned it off. Now, it wasn't exactly 
upgradeable. There was only so much RAM it could handle. But that was standard 
for many PCs of that era. Working on it was a bit of a pain because it had that 
old daughterboard configuration (a separate board inside the PC that sat 
underneath the main motherboard). It was hard to move around inside, and the 
two boards had to be decoupled for major work. But still, I was able to upgrade 
RAM, add a second hard drive, tape backup, and even a USB card. It was a good 
computer. 


- Original Message - 
From: Martin Baxter 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 9:06:48 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 








And, if I may add, your HP couldn't have suicided, because it would have to 
have a *soul* to have accomplished that. 






-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
Date : Fri, 5 Jun 2009 21:12:31 -0700 (PDT) 
From : C.W. Badie 
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 

Well, I have two excuses...The first is my HP suicided over a year ago and I 
could not afford to replace the motherboard for fear my son would eat me if I 
stopped feeding him...The other is I am a fledgling carpenter looking for a 
journeyman to study my craft under (you can stop snickering Martin!)plus 
I've been doing handyman stuff to make ends meet while I dream about being a 
cabinet maker one day...(Okay, just go ahead and finish laughing, Martin...you 
look a bit undignified with tears running down your face...) 

--- On Fri, 6/5/09, Keith Johnson wrote: 


From: Keith Johnson 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Date: Friday, June 5, 2009, 10:47 PM 



#yiv305341415 p {margin:0;} 

Agreed. And where you been man?! 

- Original Message - 
From: C.W. Badie 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 4:48:39 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 





OKay...It's obvious that this was written, if nothing else, in the mentality of 
some young boy whoes eyes are being influenced by the testosterone coursing 
through his veins...BUT...The female marionette is weirding my out in that 
respect... 

--- On Tue, 6/2/09, Tracey de Morsella wrote: 


From: Tracey de Morsella 
Subject: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
To: Aradia (Rae) Corenti , scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, ggs...@yahoo.com, 
cinque3...@verizon.net, 'Curtis, Jr.' , 'Sincere' , 'julia demorsella' 
Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 6:09 PM 






http://totalscifion line.com/ features/ 3566-the- 25-women- who-shook- sci-fi 
The sci-fi and fantasy genres have been marked by many iconic heroines. Some 
are striking for their leadership and bravery, others for their incredible 
sexiness, many for 

Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The Deadliest Warrior Marathon on SpikeTV

[Martin Baxter]

Keith, I don't know if you've ever been in or seen any serious fights or not, 
but I've danced in a couple back in my Salad Daze, and I can say this into your 
thoughts.

In one fight, I was hit directly in the forehead with a frying pan *and* took 
two chairs upside the head, and kept going. Sometimes, in the heat of the 
battle, adrenaline will allow you to take what might normally be a killing blow 
and shrug it off. Though you *do* notice it later. *Boy*, do you...





-[ Received Mail Content ]--

 Subject : Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The Deadliest Warrior Marathon on SpikeTV

 Date : Sun, 7 Jun 2009 02:45:05 + (UTC)

 From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net

 To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com


Still trying to figure out how the pirate survived a headblow by the 
morningstar. But then, I can't see how the Apache survived at least two direct 
blows to the face by the gladiator's spiked fist in their contest. 


- Original Message - 
From: Martin Baxter  
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 6:26:23 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: [RE][scifinoir2] The Deadliest Warrior Marathon on SpikeTV 








Thank you, Keith! Pirates! AR!!! 






-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : [scifinoir2] The Deadliest Warrior Marathon on SpikeTV 
Date : Sat, 6 Jun 2009 20:19:14 + (UTC) 
From : Keith Johnson  
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 

For those who love the series as much as me, SpikeTV is running an all day 
marathon right now, going until 8 pm EST. They just finished Apache vs. 
Gladiator (winner: Apache). Now it's Samurai vs. Viking warrior. What was 
interesting about the matchups is the first several weren't so much major 
differences in time periods (such as bronze vs. steel) as they were differences 
in warrior size and method. It was small, fast, and efficient versus large, 
powerful and overpowering. Usually, the smaller, faster warriors would win the 
day. 



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds 



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds

Re: [RE][scifinoir2] Hulu--Who Knew?

[Martin Baxter]

I don't believe that they do, but I honestly wasn't looking for that in the 
deal. I already have my wireless.





-[ Received Mail Content ]--

 Subject : Re: [RE][scifinoir2] Hulu--Who Knew?

 Date : Sun, 7 Jun 2009 02:42:14 + (UTC)

 From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net

 To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com


I guess I need to look into DirectTV. But what about Internet? Does DirectTV 
offer that? If so, it can't be fast and reliable like Comcast, which for me 
currently yields 5 - 6 mbps download speed. 


- Original Message - 
From: Martin Baxter  
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 5:57:38 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] Hulu--Who Knew? 








Keith, I'll say the same. The only reason 'm still stuck with Comcrap 
is because the bill's not in my name, and the name in question refuses to pick 
up the phone and cancel the service. If my name were on the mortgage (as it was 
five years ago, before I hit my own hard times), I'd get my own hook-up with 
DirectTV. 






-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : Re: [RE][scifinoir2] Hulu--Who Knew? 
Date : Sat, 6 Jun 2009 20:35:18 + (UTC) 
From : Keith Johnson  
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 



Comcast has been horrible, and I say that as I'm using them... 


- Original Message - 
From: Mr. Worf 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 2:23:35 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] Hulu--Who Knew? 








I think that it must happen eventually. Where I am they have it on buses and 
the other usual places like the library etc. The police have their own network 
as well. The cable companies are trying to break the back of the consumer by 
charging the maximum amount that we can bare. If we all drop comcast they will 
be forced to stand up and pay attention. 

One of the things about comcast and other big companies that bugs me is that 
they were about to cancel access to several networks during last christmas 
break. Can you imagine the chaos being on christmas break and little kids not 
being able to watch cartoons? (they were going to pull nickeloden, sprout and 
others) Comcast suggested a phone campaign and they got close to a million 
calls to keep the shows on the air. Purely manipulation on comcast's part. 




On Sat, Jun 6, 2009 at 7:40 AM, Keith Johnson  keithbjohn...@comcast.net  
wrote: 






The free wireless nationwide is a great idea, one I support fully. over the 
last few years, several cities tried to institute such a program--Philadelphia 
among them. What happened? The telecom and cable giants cried foul! saying 
that free metropolitan wifi was unfair competition for them. In Pennsylvania, 
the businesses lobbied the state legislature successfully, and helped squash 
the deal. 

It's extremely unfortunate and frustrating, because Philly's planned was 
intended for more than just givig wifi coverage to coffee shops and bookstores 
near colleges or upper middle class neighborhoods. The goal was really to 
blanket all areas of the city, especially the inner city areas where the poor 
and people of color lived who might not be able to afford a monthly broadband 
bill for Internet. (Or, who had that at home, but couldn't afford the fees to 
pay for Internet access away from home). 

I understand making a profit, but it really angered me that this plan was 
killed. Major cities all over the country ended up fighting the same battle, 
and mostly losing to big business, who felt they'd lose all income as people 
would cancel home Internet subscriptions and simply ride the free wifi. That 
was wrong for many reasons. One, the signals wouldn't blanket entire 
metropolitan areas in that way. Basically, away from downtown areas you'd be 
back to the same thing. People living in the suburbs or most outlying areas 
would still need to buy internet service for their homes. Second, even if you 
coiuld ride a public signal, depending on how far you're living from the WAP 
(Wireless Access Point), the signal degradation could lead to major speed 
reduction. You might find it's simply too slow to do major surfing and movie 
downloading at home. 

A pity is that most Americans don't even know that this fierce battle was being 
waged in recent years. They tend to think the crazy patchwork system we have 
now--finding wifi where you can in coffee shops, bookstores, college campuses, 
the odd restaurant, etc.--is normal. It drives me crazy. When I was laid off 
last year, I made a concerted effort to get out of the house so I didn't get 
overcome by depression. I'd spend some part of each day around people, taking 
my laptop with me so I could apply for jobs online, work on my resume, ask 
people for references, etc. My first thought was to go to bookstores (which I 
love), but guess what? The wifi at Borders and Barnes and Noble aren't free. 
You have to pay T-Mobile fees or something. 

Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People

[George Arterberry]

BET J has some decent programming but its repeats the same stuff.

--- On Sat, 6/6/09, B. Smith daikaij...@yahoo.com wrote:


From: B. Smith daikaij...@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, June 6, 2009, 11:32 PM








Ah the good old days when BET had some watchable programming.

That was a different show called Midnight Love. Video Soul was their primetime 
show with Donny Simpson and Sherry Carter. Lead Story was their roundtable news 
show and it was very good. Teen Summit was actually pretty good as well.

Somewhere along the line they turned that network to crap.

--- In scifino...@yahoogro ups.com, Keith Johnson KeithBJohnson@ ... wrote:

 Yeah I remember that one. Was that the late night one that had older love 
 songs? 
 
 - Original Message - 
 From: wlro...@... 
 To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com 
 Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 8:24:16 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
 Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Then there was a show back in the day called Video Soul 
 --Lavender 
 
 
 
 
 From: Keith Johnson 
 Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 11:53 PM 
 To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com 
 Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People 
 
 
 BET had a show, Caribbean Rhythmns, hosted by yet another light-skinned 
 sister (that was almost all they used back then) named Rachel. It was a music 
 video show. I think that was the extent of their Caribbean presence... 
 
 - Original Message - 
 From: Mr. Worf  HelloMahogany@ ...  
 To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com 
 Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2009 1:16:21 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
 Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Not if you count places like Jamaica, and the rest of the Caribbean, and 
 Canada. 
 
 I guess what I am saying is that BET never developed a real niche or 
 direction (or quality control) after being around about the same amount of 
 time as Telemundo. 
 
 Now Telemundo has 3 or 4 channels where I live. BET was sold, and TVone 
 (completely different company) is barely on the air. 
 
 
 On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 10:04 PM, Keith Johnson  KeithBJohnson@ ...  wrote: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Agreed. I've long lamented the sad fact that the Latin-themed cable channels 
 far exceed the Black ones in terms of drama and variety. Of course, maybe it 
 can be argued that Latinoes in this hemisphere have more collective viewing 
 power than Blacks--if South and Central America are added to the mix--but I 
 wonder... 
 
 
 - Original Message - 
 From: Mr. Worf  HelloMahogany@ ...  
 To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com 
 
 
 
 Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2009 12:46:32 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
 Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I really disliked BET for a long time, because they pretty much wasted the 
 opportunity to create an incredible conduit for all types of black 
 entertainment. (a couple of exceptions but not many) Compare it to Telemundo 
 that has several long running shows and award winning news programming. BET 
 could have gone with a similar business model with their own unique 
 programming but we ended up with mostly fluff and garbage. 
 
 
 On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 8:56 PM, Keith Johnson  KeithBJohnson@ ...  wrote: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The only thing BET had going for it back in the day were a few talk and news 
 shows. There was the news show BET tonight (with, at various times, Ed Gordon 
 and Tavis Smiley). There was a talk show with the great Bev Smith--who, 
 curiously, was the *only* dark-skinned person hosting a major show in BET for 
 quite a long time. Bev is good, no nonsense, and well informed, and her show 
 reflected her abilities. There was a good show aimed at teens that aired on 
 Saturdays (I think it was called Teen Beat). Before the gangtsa rap thing 
 really hit, it had a feeling that now I guess we'd call innocent, dealing 
 with real issues like divorce, drugs, school quality, along with having 
 guests who'd come in and talk to the kids. There was music, videos, and 
 dancing, but like I said, it didn't have the harder, more carnal edge that 
 even shows aimed at young adults can have nowadays. Finally, there was a good 
 news talk show hosted by Ed Gordon that had a panel including
 George Curry and Clarence Page. Good, informed discussions. I forget the name 
of the show. But curiously, BET chose to air both it and Bev Smith's show on 
Sundays before noon--when most black folk were at church or brunch! 
 There was even an enjoyable entertainment themed show where Tanya Hart 
 interviewed various celebrity guests. Last I saw, I think Ms. Hart does some 
 kind of gossip stuff, as I see her show up on TMZ-like shows dishing on who's 
 sleeping with whom in Hollywood. 
 
 But yeah, back then BET had enough shows like the above so that I watched it 
 

[scifinoir2] Re: Carradine Had Rope Around Genitals: Thai Police

[ravenadal]

While this is a sad and embarrassing end, it confirms my bullshit detector is 
still operational. I never believed Carradine intentionally killed himself.  He 
was 72 years old and he was working and it simply made no sense to me that he 
would commit to a film and fly all the way to Bangkok to kill himself.

http://twitter.com/ravenadal
http://blackplush.blogspot.com

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Tracey de Morsella tdli...@... wrote:

 
 Carradine Had Rope Around Genitals... Hands Tied... Ex Claimed Deviant
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/05/carradine-had-rope-around_n_211689
 .html  Sex Behavior
 
 
  
 
 Carradine's
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/06/carradines-family-we-want_n_212133
 .html  Family: We Want The FBI Involved
 
 BANGKOK - Police are speculating that accidental suffocation, not suicide,
 may have caused the death of American cult actor David Carradine, whose body
 was found in a hotel closet in the Thai capital with a rope tied to his
 neck, wrist and genitals.
 
 Celebrity blogs and social networking Web sites were abuzz with news of the
 death of Carradine _ best known for the 1970s TV series Kung Fu. The
 circumstances under which he died have led to speculation that the
 72-year-old actor may have been engaged in a dangerous form of sex play
 known as auto-erotic asphyxiation.
 
 The practice involves temporarily cutting off the supply of oxygen to the
 brain to heighten the effects of a sexual climax.
 
 Carradine's body was discovered Thursday morning in his luxury suite by a
 chambermaid at Bangkok's Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel, said its general
 manager, Aurelio Giraudo. Police embassy representatives while preparations
 were being made for its repatriation to the United States, expected to be in
 the next few days. Under U.S. privacy laws, the embassy is not allowed to
 release further details without permission of the family of the deceased.
 
 Dr. Nanthana Sirisap, director of Chulalongkorn Hospital's Autopsy Center,
 told reporters that the autopsy was conducted because of the unusual
 circumstances surrounding Carradine's death, but did not elaborate.
 
 Police Lt. Teerapop Luanseng had said Thursday that Carradine's body was
 found naked, hanging in a closet, and police at that time suspected
 suicide. However, no suicide note has been found.
 
 Carradine's friends and associates insisted he would not kill himself.
 
 All we can say is, we know David would never have committed suicide, said
 Tiffany Smith of Binder  Associates, his management company. We're just
 waiting for them to finish the investigation and find out what really
 happened. He really appreciated everything life has to give ... and that's
 not something David would ever do to himself.
 
 Story continues below http://www.huffingtonpost.com/images/v/darr.gif
 
 
 http://m1.2mdn.net/dot.gif
 
 Pornthip Rojanasunand, director of Thailand's Central Institute of Forensic
 Science, said the circumstances suggested that Carradine may have died
 performing auto-erotic asphyxiation, which is said to result in a form of
 giddiness and euphoria _ similar to alcohol or drug intoxication _ that
 enhances the sexual experience.
 
 In some cases it can suggest murder, too. But sometimes when the victim is
 naked and in bondage, it can suggest that the victim is doing it to
 himself, said Pornthip, who is considered the country's top criminal
 forensics expert but who did not take part in the autopsy. If you hang
 yourself by the neck, you don't need so much pressure to kill yourself.
 Those who get highly sexually aroused tend to forget this fact.
 
 Carradine had flown to Thailand last week and began work on a film titled
 Stretch two days before his death, Smith said. He had several other
 projects lined up after the action film, which was being directed by Charles
 de Meaux.
 
 Carradine was in good spirits when he left the U.S. for Thailand on May 29
 to work on Stretch, his manager Smith said by phone from Beverly Hills.
 
 Monica Donati, a spokesman for the French film company MK2, which was making
 Stretch, said in statement from Paris that the film crew in Bangkok was
 clearly shocked by Carradine's death but would finish shooting. Carradine
 only had three more days of filming left in Bangkok, she said.
 
 David was apparently very happy about this new role and about filming
 again, she said.
 
 Hotel manager Giraudo described Carradine as very much a person full of
 life who chatted with the staff.
 
 He was a great piano player and played a few nights in the hotel lobby, he
 said, He also played the flute and the guests really enjoyed it. I
 mentioned to him that I had seen (the movie) 'Crank' with my family and that
 was the last smile he gave me.
 
 Carradine, a martial arts practitioner himself, was best known for the U.S.
 TV series Kung Fu, which aired in 1972-75. He played Kwai Chang Caine, an
 orphan who was raised by Shaolin monks and fled China after killing the
 emperor's nephew 

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Gang membership and 'warrior genes'

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net

Interesting science stuff.

* Do sex cells hold the secret to long life?:
The secret of longevity may lurk within the genetic
activity of sperm and eggs, new research suggests.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/090607_germline


* Ocean acidification to trigger job losses, 
scientists warn:
Ocean acidification, a consequence of human
activity, is set to change marine ecosystems
forever, scientists say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090601-acidification


* Warrior gene found rife among young 
thugs:
Boys with a particular variant of a gene are more
likely to join gangs -- and to be among their most
violent members, researchers say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090605-maoa


* Sandcastle secrets could help revive ancient
building technique:
The secret of a successful sandcastle could aid the
revival of an ancient, eco-friendly building method,
according to some engineers.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090604-sandcastle


* When evolution isn't so slow and gradual:
Guppies introduced into new habitats developed new
and advantageous traits in just a few years, a study
has found.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090602-evolution






World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


World Science archives
To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
citing past stories, though they won't appear in future
newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that 
year after the homepage address: for example, 

http://www.world-science.net/2007 


Invite friends to join World Science!
Click here to open an invitation email you can send 
friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub-
scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to 
change the email text (although you might want to 
leave the subscription instructions unchanged.)


More information 
This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your 
subscription, please reply to this email address with
cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to 
this email address with subscribe in the subject 
line. To change the address where you receive the 
newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and 
cancel the old one.
Any World Science article may be reproduced on 
another website, on condition that it is reproduced 
along with a link to the World Science homepage, 
http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of 
the original article is optional.








No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com 
Version: 8.5.339 / Virus Database: 270.12.55/2160 - Release Date: 06/07/09 
05:53:00

Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People

[wlrouge]

No not that one but I know what you were talking about. I think it was called 
Midnight Love.
--Lavender


From: Keith Johnson 
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 10:48 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People





Yeah I remember that one. Was that the late night one that had older love songs?

- Original Message -
From: wlro...@aol.com
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 8:24:16 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People





Then there was a show back in the day called Video Soul
--Lavender


From: Keith Johnson 
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 11:53 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People


BET had a show, Caribbean Rhythmns, hosted by yet another light-skinned 
sister (that was almost all they used back then) named Rachel. It was a music 
video show. I think that was the extent of their Caribbean presence...

- Original Message -
From: Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2009 1:16:21 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People





Not if you count places like Jamaica, and the rest of the Caribbean, and 
Canada. 

I guess what I am saying is that BET never developed a real niche or direction 
(or quality control) after being around about the same amount of time as 
Telemundo. 

Now Telemundo has 3 or 4 channels where I live. BET was sold, and TVone 
(completely different company) is barely on the air. 



On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 10:04 PM, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net 
wrote:




  Agreed. I've long lamented the sad fact that the Latin-themed cable channels 
far exceed the Black ones in terms of drama and variety. Of course, maybe it 
can be argued that Latinoes in this hemisphere have more collective viewing 
power than Blacks--if South and Central America are added to the mix--but I 
wonder... 


  - Original Message -
  From: Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com

  Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2009 12:46:32 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
  Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People





  I really disliked BET for a long time, because they pretty much wasted the 
opportunity to create an incredible conduit for all types of black 
entertainment. (a couple of exceptions but not many) Compare it to Telemundo 
that has several long running shows and award winning news programming. BET 
could have gone with a similar business model with their own unique programming 
but we ended up with mostly fluff and garbage. 



  On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 8:56 PM, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net 
wrote:




The only thing BET had going for it back in the day were a few talk and 
news shows. There was the news show BET tonight (with, at various times, Ed 
Gordon and Tavis Smiley). There was a talk show with the great Bev Smith--who, 
curiously, was the *only* dark-skinned person hosting a major show in BET for 
quite a long time. Bev is good, no nonsense, and well informed, and her show 
reflected her abilities. There was a  good show aimed at teens that aired on 
Saturdays (I think it was called Teen Beat). Before the gangtsa rap thing 
really hit, it had a feeling that now I guess we'd call innocent, dealing 
with real issues like divorce, drugs, school quality, along with having guests 
who'd come in and talk to the kids. There was music, videos, and dancing, but 
like I said, it didn't have the harder, more carnal edge that even shows aimed 
at young adults can have nowadays.  Finally, there was a good news talk show 
hosted by Ed Gordon that had a panel including George Curry and Clarence Page. 
Good, informed discussions. I forget the name of the show.   But curiously, BET 
chose to air both it and Bev Smith's show on Sundays before noon--when most 
black folk were at church or brunch!
There was even an enjoyable entertainment themed show where Tanya Hart 
interviewed various celebrity guests. Last I saw, I think Ms. Hart does some 
kind of gossip stuff, as I see her show up on TMZ-like shows dishing on who's 
sleeping with whom in Hollywood.

But yeah, back then BET had enough shows like the above so that I watched 
it a least a few hours a week. 



- Original Message -
From: Martin Baxter truthseeker...@lycos.com
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 5:41:35 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People






  Personally, Michelle, I never got deep enough into BET to judge 
programming or camera angles or any such. Their systematic mistreatment of 
women was, to me, nauseating.





-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 

Subject : Re: [RE][scifinoir2] 

Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People

[wlrouge]

I suppose it was someone that has no ties to the community took the network 
over. Personally for me I don't watch the channel. I pass through it and 
maybe stop to watch reruns of The Parkers.
--Lavender

--
From: B. Smith daikaij...@yahoo.com
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 11:32 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People

 Ah the good old days when BET had some watchable programming.

 That was a different show called Midnight Love. Video Soul was their 
 primetime show with Donny Simpson and Sherry Carter. Lead Story was their 
 roundtable news show and it was very good. Teen Summit was actually pretty 
 good as well.

 Somewhere along the line they turned that network to crap.

 --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@... 
 wrote:

 Yeah I remember that one. Was that the late night one that had older love 
 songs?

 - Original Message - 
 From: wlro...@...
 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
 Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 8:24:16 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
 Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People









 Then there was a show back in the day called Video Soul
 --Lavender




 From: Keith Johnson
 Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 11:53 PM
 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
 Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People


 BET had a show, Caribbean Rhythmns, hosted by yet another light-skinned 
 sister (that was almost all they used back then) named Rachel. It was a 
 music video show. I think that was the extent of their Caribbean 
 presence...

 - Original Message - 
 From: Mr. Worf  hellomahog...@... 
 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
 Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2009 1:16:21 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
 Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People








 Not if you count places like Jamaica, and the rest of the Caribbean, and 
 Canada.

 I guess what I am saying is that BET never developed a real niche or 
 direction (or quality control) after being around about the same amount 
 of time as Telemundo.

 Now Telemundo has 3 or 4 channels where I live. BET was sold, and TVone 
 (completely different company) is barely on the air.


 On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 10:04 PM, Keith Johnson  keithbjohn...@...  
 wrote:






 Agreed. I've long lamented the sad fact that the Latin-themed cable 
 channels far exceed the Black ones in terms of drama and variety. Of 
 course, maybe it can be argued that Latinoes in this hemisphere have more 
 collective viewing power than Blacks--if South and Central America are 
 added to the mix--but I wonder...


 - Original Message - 
 From: Mr. Worf  hellomahog...@... 
 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com



 Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2009 12:46:32 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
 Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People











 I really disliked BET for a long time, because they pretty much wasted 
 the opportunity to create an incredible conduit for all types of black 
 entertainment. (a couple of exceptions but not many) Compare it to 
 Telemundo that has several long running shows and award winning news 
 programming. BET could have gone with a similar business model with their 
 own unique programming but we ended up with mostly fluff and garbage.


 On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 8:56 PM, Keith Johnson  keithbjohn...@...  
 wrote:






 The only thing BET had going for it back in the day were a few talk and 
 news shows. There was the news show BET tonight (with, at various times, 
 Ed Gordon and Tavis Smiley). There was a talk show with the great Bev 
 Smith--who, curiously, was the *only* dark-skinned person hosting a major 
 show in BET for quite a long time. Bev is good, no nonsense, and well 
 informed, and her show reflected her abilities. There was a good show 
 aimed at teens that aired on Saturdays (I think it was called Teen Beat). 
 Before the gangtsa rap thing really hit, it had a feeling that now I 
 guess we'd call innocent, dealing with real issues like divorce, drugs, 
 school quality, along with having guests who'd come in and talk to the 
 kids. There was music, videos, and dancing, but like I said, it didn't 
 have the harder, more carnal edge that even shows aimed at young adults 
 can have nowadays. Finally, there was a good news talk show hosted by Ed 
 Gordon that had a panel including George Curry and Clarence Page. Good, 
 informed discussions. I forget the name of the show. But curiously, BET 
 chose to air both it and Bev Smith's show on Sundays before noon--when 
 most black folk were at church or brunch!
 There was even an enjoyable entertainment themed show where Tanya Hart 
 interviewed various celebrity guests. Last I saw, I think Ms. Hart does 
 some kind of gossip stuff, as I see her show up on TMZ-like shows dishing 
 on who's sleeping with whom in Hollywood.

 But yeah, back then BET had 

Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it so white?

[Martin Baxter]

Keith, I had the same thought when I first saw the ep.





-[ Received Mail Content ]--

 Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white?

 Date : Sat, 6 Jun 2009 03:57:11 + (UTC)

 From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net

 To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com


Good show. One of the best from the first season, in fact. But one thing that 
always irritated me about it: the scifi cliche of kill the mother and the 
children always die. In this case, killing the queen evidently caused the 
children to spontaneously die wherever they were in the quadrant! I hate those 
convenient outs in scifi... 
I also couldn't figure why the hell the transporter--which is configured to 
detect viruses, particulate matter, even weapons in the act of firing--didn't 
set off major alarms as it beamed the Admiral and his parasitic passengers 
aboard? 

- Original Message - 
From: Augustus Augustus  
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 12:38:54 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white? 








Martin, 

it was Captain Tryla Scott, commander of the USS Renegade. episode 25 from 
season 1. she did not die. her parasite simply died after they killed the 
mother parasite that had infected Commander Remmick. loved that episode. picard 
said tryla scott, said u made captain faster than anyone in starfleet history. 
present company included. are you really that good? she looks him straight in 
the eyes and said yes i am. prefect! 

Fate. 

--- On Thu, 6/4/09, Martin Baxter  wrote: 



From: Martin Baxter  
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white? 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Date: Thursday, June 4, 2009, 7:48 AM 





Keith, if memory serves, she was 27 when she made captain. She met 
Picard in the ep in which Picard was called out to some waay 
out-of-the-way planet by an old friend and fellow Starfleet captain, along with 
another captain, to enlist Picard's aid in fighting the threat posed by a bunch 
of slug-like aliens who were taking over Starfleet officers. One had already 
taken over the Commanding Admiral and his aide, the guy who conducted the 
interviews with all of the Enterprise's officers to determine if they were 
infected. Give me more time to think. It's early... 






-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white? 
Date : Thu, 4 Jun 2009 02:13:00 + (UTC) 
From : Keith Johnson  
To : scifino...@yahoogro ups.com 

Captain Scott was killed? Wha' happened? And how old was she when she made 
captain? 

- Original Message - 
From: George Arterberry 
To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com 
Sent: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 12:30:42 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white? 









Very good points. 

The USA is about to enter a stagnant period in space travel with NASa retiring 
the shuttle,and China along with India with manned missions to the Moon and 
Mars in near term. 

My fear is that space may become militarized fairly quickly and economically 
for now America is focused elsewhere. 

As for the article I've seen many ST episodes with Blacks as adimirals but 
little to say after inspecting the Enterpise or something to that affect.Even 
had a charater who was a sister and the fastest person ever to reach the rank 
of captain in Starfleet history.No backstory on her in the show.Too bad she was 
killed off in novel form. 



--- On Tue, 6/2/09, Liggins Bill wrote: 



From: Liggins Bill 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white? 
To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com 
Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 7:30 AM 





What about true life? When was a black astronaut part of the resident crew of 
the International Space Station? How about never. Black astronauts were among 
the crews that chauffeured them to the ISS. They stayed a few days then had to 
leave. But when comes to those resident crews, the ISS is still restricted 
housing when it comes to blacks. Because of that, black astronauts are not 
getting the endurance training needed for a mission to Mars. So when it comes 
time to chose a crew for that Mars mission, black astronauts may be at the 
bottom of the list. Hopefully this will be reviewed by the new NASA director 
and changed before NASA loses its leadership in the international space race. 





Bill Liggins 
Author of WARNING, a Sci-Fi Novel 
http://www.authorsd en.com/visit/ author.asp? authorid= 4905 
bill_liggins@ yahoo.com 

--- On Mon, 6/1/09, Curtis, Jr. wrote: 



From: Curtis, Jr. 
Subject: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it so 
white? 
To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com 
Date: Monday, June 1, 2009, 11:58 PM 




Blacks in 

Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it so white?

[Martin Baxter]

Lavendar, I think it was the latter.





-[ Received Mail Content ]--

 Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white?

 Date : Sat, 6 Jun 2009 19:46:23 -0400

 From : wlro...@aol.com

 To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com


Lets not forget Leforge's mother. She was black but then again she was lost. I 
suppose that was an indication that if she got lost unlike Janeway she could 
not find her way back. Or was it her ship was destroyed due to the engineer 
misgivings. 
--Lavender


From: George Arterberry 
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 12:30 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white?




 Very good points.

 The USA is about to enter a stagnant period in space travel with NASa retiring 
the shuttle,and China along with India with manned missions to the Moon and 
Mars in near term.

 My fear is that space may become militarized fairly quickly and economically 
for now America is focused elsewhere.

 As for the article I've seen many ST episodes with Blacks as adimirals but 
little to say after inspecting the Enterpise or something to that affect.Even 
had a charater who was a sister and the fastest person ever to reach the rank 
of captain in Starfleet history.No backstory on her in the show.Too bad she was 
killed off in novel form.

 

 --- On Tue, 6/2/09, Liggins Bill  wrote:


 From: Liggins Bill 
 Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white?
 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
 Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 7:30 AM


 What about true life? When was a black astronaut part of the resident crew of 
the International Space Station? How about never. Black astronauts were among 
the crews that chauffeured them to the ISS. They stayed a few days then had to 
leave. But when comes to those resident crews, the ISS is still restricted 
housing when it comes to blacks. Because of that, black astronauts are not 
getting the endurance training needed for a mission to Mars. So when it comes 
time to chose a crew for that Mars mission, black astronauts may be at the 
bottom of the list. Hopefully this will be reviewed by the new NASA director 
and changed before NASA loses its leadership in the international space race.





 Bill Liggins
 Author of WARNING, a Sci-Fi Novel
 http://www.authorsd en.com/visit/ author.asp? authorid= 4905
 bill_liggins@ yahoo.com


 --- On Mon, 6/1/09, Curtis, Jr.  wrote:


 From: Curtis, Jr. 
 Subject: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it so 
white?
 To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com
 Date: Monday, June 1, 2009, 11:58 PM


 Blacks in Space 

 If sci-fi is the future, why is it so white? 

 Danielle C. Belton | May 29, 2009 


 Star Trek's Lt. Uhura was a science-fiction pioneer in the 1970s -- a black 
woman answering the phone, I mean computer, in space. Uhura, played by actress 
Nichelle Nichols, was the communications officer, a role that would go on to be 
a popular one for futuristic minorities. While she was groundbreaking in that 
she was a black woman who survived quite well in space, her story lines were 
few, her adventures were stunted, and her romances were nonexistent. The 
philandering Capt. Kirk had to be forced to kiss the comely Uhura -- apparently 
in the future, interracial lip-lock is just as controversial as it was in the 
1970s. 
 Nichols paved the way for Kandyse McClure's character Petty Officer Dualla, a 
black woman who also starts out answering the phone, on the critically 
acclaimed Battlestar Galactica series remake that wrapped this year. Dualla 
fares better than Uhura in that she gets her own story line, experiences a real 
romance, and has some adventures. But she commits suicide in the final season 
of the series. 

 And these are the two primary options for blacks in space: Either you're 
marginalized or killed off. (Or, in the worst-case scenario, you're 
marginalized and still die.) 

 So when word got out that director J.J. Abrams was set to re-envision the 
original Star Trek, with a big-budget film released last month, I was looking 
out for Lt. Uhura. And she is certainly there, played by actress Zoë Saldana. 
She's right where we left her in the 1970s, still answering the phone. 

 Science-fiction story lines might take place in the future, but they are 
written in the now. They reflect the mind-set of the creators and the times 
they live in. If most science-fiction films are to be believed, in the future 
English is the main language. Not only do human beings still exist, they are 
almost all white and they have mastered quantum physics. I'm sure none of this 
has anything to do with the genre being dominated by the American film industry 
and predominantly white, male writers. They've merely looked into their crystal 
ball and seen the future. And the future is white! 

 Actor Joe Morton, who appeared in both writer/director John Sayles' 1984 cult 

Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People

[Mr. Worf]

BET was bought by Viascum... (viacom) in 1999.

On Sun, Jun 7, 2009 at 12:59 PM, wlro...@aol.com wrote:



 *No not that one but I know what you were talking about. I think it was
 called Midnight Love.*
 *--Lavender*

  *From:* Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net
 *Sent:* Saturday, June 06, 2009 10:48 PM
 *To:* scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
 *Subject:* Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People

 Yeah I remember that one. Was that the late night one that had older love
 songs?

 - Original Message -
 From: wlro...@aol.com
 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
 Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 8:24:16 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
 Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People



  *Then there was a show back in the day called Video Soul*
 *--Lavender*

  *From:* Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net
 *Sent:* Thursday, June 04, 2009 11:53 PM
 *To:* scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
 *Subject:* Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People

 BET had a show, Caribbean Rhythmns, hosted by yet another light-skinned
 sister (that was almost all they used back then) named Rachel. It was a
 music video show. I think that was the extent of their Caribbean presence...

 - Original Message -
 From: Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com
 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
 Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2009 1:16:21 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
 Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People



 Not if you count places like Jamaica, and the rest of the Caribbean, and
 Canada.

 I guess what I am saying is that BET never developed a real niche or
 direction (or quality control) after being around about the same amount of
 time as Telemundo.

 Now Telemundo has 3 or 4 channels where I live. BET was sold, and TVone
 (completely different company) is barely on the air.

 On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 10:04 PM, Keith Johnson 
 keithbjohn...@comcast.netwrote:



 Agreed. I've long lamented the sad fact that the Latin-themed cable
 channels far exceed the Black ones in terms of drama and variety. Of course,
 maybe it can be argued that Latinoes in this hemisphere have more collective
 viewing power than Blacks--if South and Central America are added to the
 mix--but I wonder...

 - Original Message -
 From: Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com
 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
  Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2009 12:46:32 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
 Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People



 I really disliked BET for a long time, because they pretty much wasted the
 opportunity to create an incredible conduit for all types of black
 entertainment. (a couple of exceptions but not many) Compare it to Telemundo
 that has several long running shows and award winning news programming. BET
 could have gone with a similar business model with their own unique
 programming but we ended up with mostly fluff and garbage.

 On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 8:56 PM, Keith Johnson 
 keithbjohn...@comcast.netwrote:



 The only thing BET had going for it back in the day were a few talk and
 news shows. There was the news show BET tonight (with, at various times, Ed
 Gordon and Tavis Smiley). There was a talk show with the great Bev
 Smith--who, curiously, was the *only* dark-skinned person hosting a major
 show in BET for quite a long time. Bev is good, no nonsense, and well
 informed, and her show reflected her abilities. There was a  good show aimed
 at teens that aired on Saturdays (I think it was called Teen Beat). Before
 the gangtsa rap thing really hit, it had a feeling that now I guess we'd
 call innocent, dealing with real issues like divorce, drugs, school
 quality, along with having guests who'd come in and talk to the kids. There
 was music, videos, and dancing, but like I said, it didn't have the harder,
 more carnal edge that even shows aimed at young adults can have nowadays.
 Finally, there was a good news talk show hosted by Ed Gordon that had a
 panel including George Curry and Clarence Page. Good, informed discussions.
 I forget the name of the show.   But curiously, BET chose to air both it and
 Bev Smith's show on Sundays before noon--when most black folk were at church
 or brunch!
 There was even an enjoyable entertainment themed show where Tanya Hart
 interviewed various celebrity guests. Last I saw, I think Ms. Hart does some
 kind of gossip stuff, as I see her show up on TMZ-like shows dishing on
 who's sleeping with whom in Hollywood.

 But yeah, back then BET had enough shows like the above so that I watched
 it a least a few hours a week.


 - Original Message -
 From: Martin Baxter truthseeker...@lycos.com
 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
 Sent: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 5:41:35 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
 Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People



   Personally, Michelle, I never got deep enough into BET to judge
 programming or camera angles or any such. Their systematic mistreatment 

Re: [RE][scifinoir2] Actor James Franco pulls out of UCLA grad speech

[Keith Johnson]

Agreed. 

- Original Message - 
From: Martin Baxter truthseeker...@lycos.com 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Sunday, June 7, 2009 7:27:23 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: [RE][scifinoir2] Actor James Franco pulls out of UCLA grad speech 








Hu-WHA?? 

What *is* that dimbulbette talking about, saying that Franco hasn't had time 
to accomplish anything with his degree? He's already more famous than she'll 
ever be. Whatever. Their loss. 






-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : [scifinoir2] Actor James Franco pulls out of UCLA grad speech 
Date : Sun, 7 Jun 2009 03:18:22 + (UTC) 
From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net 
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 

Man, this is weird. I post this not because I have any opinion one way or the 
other about whether Franco is qualified to speak at UCLA. I think people go a 
bit overboard sometimes about that, such as the recent issue at Arizona State 
where President Obama was deemed not yet qualified to speak. It seems to me 
that, young or no, recent grad or no, Franco can be an inspiration to students 
to succeed in life. Moreso because he earned a degree in creative writing 
*after* he gained an acting career that has set him up financially for life. 
And one can joke all they want about whether he's intelligent or not, you can't 
exactly fake your way through a creative writing degree: you actually have to 
*write* something. And, the guy's in grad school now. 
The weirdest thing is that some dude at UCLA was bothered enough about this to 
devote a Facebook page to keeping Franco away? What, he has nothing else to do 
with his time? If he were invited to speak in a few short years, would he turn 
down the opportunity? 
I hate to sound like an old fogey, but man the discourse in this country's 
becoming discourteous on a whole bunch of fronts... 

*** 

Actor James Franco pulls out of UCLA grad speech 

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705308953/Franco-pulls-out-of-UCLA-grad-speech.html
 




LOS ANGELES — Actor James Franco says he has dropped a plan to give a 
commencement speech at the University of California, Los Angeles, a move that 
may have been prompted by pressure from students. 

Franco issued a statement saying he canceled his June 12 appearance because of 
conflicts with preproduction demands for his next film. 

However, the Pineapple Express star had been the object of opposition from 
students who said he was not the right fit for the commencement speech. 

The problem with him as a speaker comes down to the fact he was a peer for so 
many of us, UCLA senior Erin Moore said. He was in our class. He's not a role 
model. And he hasn't had time to accomplish anything with his degree. 

Franco, 31, enrolled at UCLA in 1996 and graduated last year with a degree in 
creative writing. He would have been the youngest person and most recent 
graduate to deliver a commencement speech at UCLA. 

Soon after the commencement announcement in March, Moore set up a Facebook page 
called UCLA Students Against James Franco as Commencement Speaker. Hundreds 
joined, and Moore estimated about 80 percent of them are UCLA students. 
Story continues below 




A call to Franco's manager early Saturday was not immediately returned. A UCLA 
spokesman referred The Associated Press to Franco's statement, in which he 
expressed regret at not being able to give the speech. 

UCLA announced on its Web site that Franco would be replaced by Linkin Park 
lead guitarist and UCLA alumnus Brad Delson, who graduated with a bachelor's 
degree in communication studies in 1999. 

Franco is perhaps best known for his supporting role in the Spider-Man films. 

He is preparing for the comedy Your Highness, which is set to begin filming 
next month. Amanda Lundberg, a spokeswoman for the producer of the film, said 
Franco would be on the set in Ireland on June 12. 



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds 

Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi

[Keith Johnson]

That is rich! 

- Original Message - 
From: Martin Baxter truthseeker...@lycos.com 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Sunday, June 7, 2009 7:45:45 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 








Maybe they're making HPs better now. Dealing with that mianframe back 
in the day, I did so much screaming that Security posted a notice for all 
shifts that I was prone to it, and not to send personnel to the computer room, 
just call my extension and ask if all's well. 






-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
Date : Sun, 7 Jun 2009 02:44:02 + (UTC) 
From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net 
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 

Ha-ha, funny! I was actually pleased with my HP desktop, and I'm okay with 
their printers. I like them better than Canons, Xeroxes, or Lexmarks--at least 
on the business level. 

- Original Message - 
From: Martin Baxter 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 6:05:28 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 








Keith, I've never owned one of those pieces of crap personally. During the two 
years I worked for the Virginia mental health care system (from the outside in, 
lest anyone wonder), I was tasked with transferring datafiles from an HP 100 
mainframe to an HP 220 or 250 (not sure, because I didn't sleep much in those 
days, psych trauma being the bear it is). The newer system was state-of-the-art 
touch screen tech, meaning that anytime that anyTHING touched the screen, from 
an odd eraser stroke while regarding a dataline to a fly alighting on the 
screen, everything would auto-save, costing me ten minutes each time. And, as 
I'm told is still the case with HP printers, you couldn't turn the things off. 
If the power so much as blinked, say goodbye to a day's work. 

No thanks. 




-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
Date : Sat, 6 Jun 2009 20:26:41 + (UTC) 
From : Keith Johnson 
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 



What kind of HP's did y'all have? My first storebought PC was an HP Pavilion 
7270, purchased way back in 1996 or so. It ran for over twelve years with no 
real problems, until I simply turned it off. Now, it wasn't exactly 
upgradeable. There was only so much RAM it could handle. But that was standard 
for many PCs of that era. Working on it was a bit of a pain because it had that 
old daughterboard configuration (a separate board inside the PC that sat 
underneath the main motherboard). It was hard to move around inside, and the 
two boards had to be decoupled for major work. But still, I was able to upgrade 
RAM, add a second hard drive, tape backup, and even a USB card. It was a good 
computer. 


- Original Message - 
From: Martin Baxter 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 9:06:48 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 








And, if I may add, your HP couldn't have suicided, because it would have to 
have a *soul* to have accomplished that. 






-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
Date : Fri, 5 Jun 2009 21:12:31 -0700 (PDT) 
From : C.W. Badie 
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 

Well, I have two excuses...The first is my HP suicided over a year ago and I 
could not afford to replace the motherboard for fear my son would eat me if I 
stopped feeding him...The other is I am a fledgling carpenter looking for a 
journeyman to study my craft under (you can stop snickering Martin!)plus 
I've been doing handyman stuff to make ends meet while I dream about being a 
cabinet maker one day...(Okay, just go ahead and finish laughing, Martin...you 
look a bit undignified with tears running down your face...) 

--- On Fri, 6/5/09, Keith Johnson wrote: 


From: Keith Johnson 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Date: Friday, June 5, 2009, 10:47 PM 



#yiv305341415 p {margin:0;} 

Agreed. And where you been man?! 

- Original Message - 
From: C.W. Badie 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 4:48:39 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 





OKay...It's obvious that this was written, if nothing else, in the mentality of 
some young boy whoes eyes are being influenced by the testosterone coursing 
through his veins...BUT...The female marionette is weirding my out in that 
respect... 

--- On Tue, 6/2/09, Tracey de Morsella wrote: 


From: Tracey de Morsella 
Subject: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
To: Aradia (Rae) Corenti , scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, ggs...@yahoo.com, 
cinque3...@verizon.net, 'Curtis, Jr.' , 'Sincere' , 'julia demorsella' 
Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 6:09 PM 

Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The Deadliest Warrior Marathon on SpikeTV

[Keith Johnson]

yeah, I'm aware of that. But during the testing, they made a big deal out of 
how both of those devices could crush a person's skull. The doctor is always 
saying That's a killing blow. You'll be dead before you hit the ground. I get 
glancing blows not bringing the full force, of course, but in both cases these 
were pretty much full on. Given what happened to the practice dummy, one 
expects to see blood, brains, and bone fragments flying. 
Either way, do tell more about your younger days. Sounds quite interesting! 


- Original Message - 
From: Martin Baxter truthseeker...@lycos.com 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Sunday, June 7, 2009 7:52:48 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The Deadliest Warrior Marathon on SpikeTV 








Keith, I don't know if you've ever been in or seen any serious fights 
or not, but I've danced in a couple back in my Salad Daze, and I can say this 
into your thoughts. 

In one fight, I was hit directly in the forehead with a frying pan *and* took 
two chairs upside the head, and kept going. Sometimes, in the heat of the 
battle, adrenaline will allow you to take what might normally be a killing blow 
and shrug it off. Though you *do* notice it later. *Boy*, do you... 






-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The Deadliest Warrior Marathon on SpikeTV 
Date : Sun, 7 Jun 2009 02:45:05 + (UTC) 
From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net 
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 

Still trying to figure out how the pirate survived a headblow by the 
morningstar. But then, I can't see how the Apache survived at least two direct 
blows to the face by the gladiator's spiked fist in their contest. 


- Original Message - 
From: Martin Baxter 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 6:26:23 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: [RE][scifinoir2] The Deadliest Warrior Marathon on SpikeTV 








Thank you, Keith! Pirates! AR!!! 






-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : [scifinoir2] The Deadliest Warrior Marathon on SpikeTV 
Date : Sat, 6 Jun 2009 20:19:14 + (UTC) 
From : Keith Johnson 
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 

For those who love the series as much as me, SpikeTV is running an all day 
marathon right now, going until 8 pm EST. They just finished Apache vs. 
Gladiator (winner: Apache). Now it's Samurai vs. Viking warrior. What was 
interesting about the matchups is the first several weren't so much major 
differences in time periods (such as bronze vs. steel) as they were differences 
in warrior size and method. It was small, fast, and efficient versus large, 
powerful and overpowering. Usually, the smaller, faster warriors would win the 
day. 



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds 



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds 

[scifinoir2] The Hangover

[Augustus Augustus]

Jack wakes up with a huge hangover



Jack wakes up with a huge hangover after attending his company's party.
Jack is not normally a drinker, but the drinks didn't taste like alcohol
at all.

He didn't even remember how he got home from the party.

As bad as he was feeling, he wondered if he did something wrong.

Jack had to force himself to open his eyes and the first thing he sees
is a couple of aspirins next to a glass of water on the side table.

And next to them, a single red rose!!   Jack sits up and sees his
clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed.

He looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order,
spotlessly clean.  So is the rest of the house.

He takes the aspirins, cringes when he sees a huge black eye staring
back at him in the bathroom
 mirror.  Then  he notices a note hanging on
the corner of the  mirror written in red with little hearts on it  and a
kiss mark from his wife in lipstick:  'Honey, breakfast is on the stove.
I left early to get groceries to make you your favorite dinner tonight.
I love you, darling!   Love, Jillian'

He stumbles to the kitchen and sure enough, there is hot breakfast,
steaming hot coffee and the morning newspaper.

His 16-year-old son is also at the table, eating.  Jack asks, 'Son, what
happened last night?'

'Well, you came home after 3 A.M. drunk and out of your mind; you fell
over the coffee table and broke it, and then you puked in the hallway,
and got that black eye when you ran into the door'

Confused, he asked his son, 'So, why is everything in such perfect order
and so clean?  I have a rose, and breakfast is on the table waiting for
me??'

His
 son replies, 'Oh THAT... Mom dragged you to the bedroom and when she
tried to take your pants off, you screamed, 'Leave me alone Bitch, I'm
married!!'

Broken coffee Table  $239.99
Hot breakfast $4.20
Two aspirins  $.38
Saying the right thing, at the right  time:

PRICELESS


  

RE: [RE][scifinoir2] Hulu--Who Knew?

[Reece Jennings]

It must depend on the provider's techs.  I had an intermittent problem with
mine about a year ago.  3 techs came, reran wiring
from the pole to my house, put in new inside wiring, and completely tested
everything.  I haven't had a problem since.  Not only
that, but I pay about 111.00 for phone, TV, and internet.  I'm good with
them!  I used to say I love ComCast just to get you guys
going, but I DO respect the problems you have that haven't been resolved.
But a word of caution before you jump ship.
 
If you're going to ATT for the 3 services, unless ATT has bought The Dish,
you're going to have billing and servicing issues.
My experience has been that having 2 vendors allows one to blame the other.
Both good services.  Heck, my cell services, including
wireless broadband, are ATT.  So I'm not knocking them.  I'm just
saying...careful of the vendor finger-pointing.

  _  

From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Martin Baxter
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 5:58 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] Hulu--Who Knew?






Keith, I'll say the same. The only reason 'm still stuck with Comcrap is
because the bill's not in my name, and the name in question refuses to pick
up the phone and cancel the service. If my name were on the mortgage (as it
was five years ago, before I hit my own hard times), I'd get my own hook-up
with DirectTV.







-[ Received Mail Content ]--
Subject : Re: [RE][scifinoir2] Hulu--Who Knew?
Date : Sat, 6 Jun 2009 20:35:18 + (UTC)
From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com



Comcast has been horrible, and I say that as I'm using them... 


- Original Message - 
From: Mr. Worf 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 2:23:35 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] Hulu--Who Knew? 








I think that it must happen eventually. Where I am they have it on buses and
the other usual places like the library etc. The police have their own
network as well. The cable companies are trying to break the back of the
consumer by charging the maximum amount that we can bare. If we all drop
comcast they will be forced to stand up and pay attention. 

One of the things about comcast and other big companies that bugs me is that
they were about to cancel access to several networks during last christmas
break. Can you imagine the chaos being on christmas break and little kids
not being able to watch cartoons? (they were going to pull nickeloden,
sprout and others) Comcast suggested a phone campaign and they got close to
a million calls to keep the shows on the air. Purely manipulation on
comcast's part. 




On Sat, Jun 6, 2009 at 7:40 AM, Keith Johnson  keithbjohn...@comcast.net 
wrote: 






The free wireless nationwide is a great idea, one I support fully. over the
last few years, several cities tried to institute such a
program--Philadelphia among them. What happened? The telecom and cable
giants cried foul! saying that free metropolitan wifi was unfair
competition for them.  In Pennsylvania, the businesses lobbied the state
legislature successfully, and helped squash the deal. 

It's extremely unfortunate and frustrating, because Philly's planned was
intended for more than just givig wifi coverage to coffee shops and
bookstores near colleges or upper middle class neighborhoods. The goal was
really to blanket all areas of the city, especially the inner city areas
where the poor and people of color lived who might not be able to afford a
monthly broadband bill for Internet. (Or, who had that at home, but couldn't
afford the fees to pay for Internet access away from home). 

I understand making a profit, but it really angered me that this plan was
killed. Major cities all over the country ended up fighting the same battle,
and mostly losing to big business, who felt they'd lose all income as people
would cancel home Internet subscriptions and simply ride the free wifi. That
was wrong for many reasons. One, the signals wouldn't blanket entire
metropolitan areas in that way. Basically, away from downtown areas you'd be
back to the same thing. People living in the suburbs or most outlying areas
would still need to buy internet service for their homes. Second, even if
you coiuld ride a public signal, depending on how far you're living from the
WAP (Wireless Access Point), the signal degradation could lead to major
speed reduction. You might find it's simply too slow to do major surfing and
movie downloading at home.  

A pity is that most Americans don't even know that this fierce battle was
being waged in recent years.  They tend to think the crazy patchwork system
we have now--finding wifi where you can in coffee shops, bookstores, college
campuses, the odd restaurant, etc.--is normal. It drives me crazy. When I
was laid off last year, I made a concerted effort to get out of the house so
I didn't get overcome by depression. I'd 

RE: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi

[Reece Jennings]

Martin, I own 2 HP laptops, a Pavilion HP desktop, and 2 HP printers.  The
only machines I have owned 
since 1996 have been HPs bought at huge discounts from Sam's Club.  The 3
machines are on my
wireless network.  The only problem I have had has been VISTA (PTOOO!).  I
have Microsoft OneCare
for firewall, Virus protection, and everything security involved.  It even
set up my wireless network and
password protected it.  I'm happy.  

  _  

From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Martin Baxter
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 6:05 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi






Keith, I've never owned one of those pieces of crap personally. During the
two years I worked for the Virginia mental health care system (from the
outside in, lest anyone wonder), I was tasked with transferring datafiles
from an HP 100 mainframe to an HP 220 or 250 (not sure, because I didn't
sleep much in those days, psych trauma being the bear it is). The newer
system was state-of-the-art touch screen tech, meaning that  anytime that
anyTHING touched the screen, from an odd eraser stroke while regarding a
dataline to a fly alighting on the screen, everything would auto-save,
costing me ten minutes each time. And, as I'm told is still the case with HP
printers, you couldn't turn the things off. If the power so much as blinked,
say goodbye to a day's work.

No thanks.




-[ Received Mail Content ]--
Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi
Date : Sat, 6 Jun 2009 20:26:41 + (UTC)
From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com



What kind of HP's did y'all have? My first storebought PC was an HP Pavilion
7270, purchased way back in 1996 or so. It ran for over twelve years with no
real problems, until I simply turned it off. Now, it wasn't exactly
upgradeable. There was only so much RAM it could handle. But that was
standard for many PCs of that era. Working on it was a bit of a pain because
it had that old daughterboard configuration (a separate board inside the PC
that sat underneath the main motherboard). It was hard to move around
inside, and the two boards had to be decoupled for major work. But still, I
was able to upgrade RAM, add a second hard drive, tape backup, and even a
USB card.  It was a good computer. 


- Original Message - 
From: Martin Baxter 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 9:06:48 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 








And, if I may add, your HP couldn't have suicided, because it would have to
have a *soul* to have accomplished that. 






-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
Date : Fri, 5 Jun 2009 21:12:31 -0700 (PDT) 
From : C.W. Badie 
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 

Well, I have two excuses...The first is my HP suicided over a year ago and I
could not afford to replace the motherboard for fear my son would eat me if
I stopped feeding him...The other is I am a fledgling carpenter looking for
a journeyman to study my craft under (you can stop snickering
Martin!)plus I've been doing handyman stuff to make ends meet while I
dream about being a cabinet maker one day...(Okay, just go ahead and finish
laughing, Martin...you look a bit undignified with tears running down your
face...) 

--- On Fri, 6/5/09, Keith Johnson wrote: 


From: Keith Johnson 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Date: Friday, June 5, 2009, 10:47 PM 



#yiv305341415 p {margin:0;} 

Agreed. And where you been man?! 

- Original Message - 
From: C.W. Badie 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 4:48:39 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 





OKay...It's obvious that this was written, if nothing else, in the mentality
of some young boy whoes eyes are being influenced by the testosterone
coursing through his veins...BUT...The female marionette is weirding my out
in that respect... 

--- On Tue, 6/2/09, Tracey de Morsella wrote: 


From: Tracey de Morsella 
Subject: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
To: Aradia (Rae) Corenti , scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, ggs...@yahoo.com,
cinque3...@verizon.net, 'Curtis, Jr.' , 'Sincere' , 'julia demorsella'

Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 6:09 PM 






http://totalscifion line.com/ features/ 3566-the- 25-women- who-shook-
sci-fi 
The sci-fi and fantasy genres have been marked by many iconic heroines. Some
are striking for their leadership and bravery, others for their incredible
sexiness, many for both. Following lengthy debate, Total Sci-Fi now reveals
the 25 most important SF  fantasy heroines of all time. We've limited
ourselves to TV and film - SF and fantasy literature probably warrants a
further list all of its own - and in those instances 

Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it so white?

[wlrouge]

Looking back on it Mr. Baxter--you are right.
--Lavender


From: Martin Baxter 
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 8:02 AM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white?




  Lavendar, I think it was the latter.





-[ Received Mail Content ]--
Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, 
why is it so white?
Date : Sat, 6 Jun 2009 19:46:23 -0400
From : wlro...@aol.com
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com

Lets not forget Leforge's mother. She was black but then again she was 
lost. I suppose that was an indication that if she got lost unlike Janeway she 
could not find her way back. Or was it her ship was destroyed due to the 
engineer misgivings. 
--Lavender 


From: George Arterberry 
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 12:30 PM 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why 
is it so white? 




Very good points. 

The USA is about to enter a stagnant period in space travel with NASa 
retiring the shuttle,and China along with India with manned missions to the 
Moon and Mars in near term. 

My fear is that space may become militarized fairly quickly and 
economically for now America is focused elsewhere. 

As for the article I've seen many ST episodes with Blacks as adimirals 
but little to say after inspecting the Enterpise or something to that 
affect.Even had a charater who was a sister and the fastest person ever to 
reach the rank of captain in Starfleet history.No backstory on her in the 
show.Too bad she was killed off in novel form. 



--- On Tue, 6/2/09, Liggins Bill wrote: 


From: Liggins Bill 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why 
is it so white? 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 7:30 AM 


What about true life? When was a black astronaut part of the resident 
crew of the International Space Station? How about never. Black astronauts were 
among the crews that chauffeured them to the ISS. They stayed a few days then 
had to leave. But when comes to those resident crews, the ISS is still 
restricted housing when it comes to blacks. Because of that, black astronauts 
are not getting the endurance training needed for a mission to Mars. So when it 
comes time to chose a crew for that Mars mission, black astronauts may be at 
the bottom of the list. Hopefully this will be reviewed by the new NASA 
director and changed before NASA loses its leadership in the international 
space race. 





Bill Liggins 
Author of WARNING, a Sci-Fi Novel 
http://www.authorsd en.com/visit/ author.asp? authorid= 4905 
bill_liggins@ yahoo.com 


--- On Mon, 6/1/09, Curtis, Jr. wrote: 


From: Curtis, Jr. 
Subject: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is 
it so white? 
To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com 
Date: Monday, June 1, 2009, 11:58 PM 


Blacks in Space 

If sci-fi is the future, why is it so white? 

Danielle C. Belton | May 29, 2009 


Star Trek's Lt. Uhura was a science-fiction pioneer in the 1970s -- a 
black woman answering the phone, I mean computer, in space. Uhura, played by 
actress Nichelle Nichols, was the communications officer, a role that would go 
on to be a popular one for futuristic minorities. While she was groundbreaking 
in that she was a black woman who survived quite well in space, her story lines 
were few, her adventures were stunted, and her romances were nonexistent. The 
philandering Capt. Kirk had to be forced to kiss the comely Uhura -- apparently 
in the future, interracial lip-lock is just as controversial as it was in the 
1970s. 
Nichols paved the way for Kandyse McClure's character Petty Officer 
Dualla, a black woman who also starts out answering the phone, on the 
critically acclaimed Battlestar Galactica series remake that wrapped this year. 
Dualla fares better than Uhura in that she gets her own story line, experiences 
a real romance, and has some adventures. But she commits suicide in the final 
season of the series. 

And these are the two primary options for blacks in space: Either 
you're marginalized or killed off. (Or, in the worst-case scenario, you're 
marginalized and still die.) 

So when word got out that director J.J. Abrams was set to re-envision 
the original Star Trek, with a big-budget film released last month, I was 
looking out for Lt. Uhura. And she is certainly there, played by actress Zoë 
Saldana. She's right where we left her in the 1970s, still answering the phone. 

Science-fiction story lines might take place in the future, but they 
are written in the now. They reflect the mind-set of the creators and the 

Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People

[wlrouge]

Yes this is true, also this is the company that I think has a saying in what 
CBS does as well. Either way when Viacom bought it--quality of the content went 
down.
--Lavender


From: Mr. Worf 
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 5:21 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People




BET was bought by Viascum... (viacom) in 1999. 


On Sun, Jun 7, 2009 at 12:59 PM, wlro...@aol.com wrote:




  No not that one but I know what you were talking about. I think it was called 
Midnight Love.
  --Lavender


  From: Keith Johnson 
  Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 10:48 PM
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
  Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People


  Yeah I remember that one. Was that the late night one that had older love 
songs?

  - Original Message -
  From: wlro...@aol.com
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
  Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 8:24:16 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
  Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People





  Then there was a show back in the day called Video Soul
  --Lavender


  From: Keith Johnson 
  Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 11:53 PM
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
  Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People


  BET had a show, Caribbean Rhythmns, hosted by yet another light-skinned 
sister (that was almost all they used back then) named Rachel. It was a music 
video show. I think that was the extent of their Caribbean presence...

  - Original Message -
  From: Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
  Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2009 1:16:21 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
  Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People





  Not if you count places like Jamaica, and the rest of the Caribbean, and 
Canada. 

  I guess what I am saying is that BET never developed a real niche or 
direction (or quality control) after being around about the same amount of time 
as Telemundo. 

  Now Telemundo has 3 or 4 channels where I live. BET was sold, and TVone 
(completely different company) is barely on the air. 



  On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 10:04 PM, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net 
wrote:




Agreed. I've long lamented the sad fact that the Latin-themed cable 
channels far exceed the Black ones in terms of drama and variety. Of course, 
maybe it can be argued that Latinoes in this hemisphere have more collective 
viewing power than Blacks--if South and Central America are added to the 
mix--but I wonder... 


- Original Message -
From: Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2009 12:46:32 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] The CW: Ain't No Beautiful Black People





I really disliked BET for a long time, because they pretty much wasted the 
opportunity to create an incredible conduit for all types of black 
entertainment. (a couple of exceptions but not many) Compare it to Telemundo 
that has several long running shows and award winning news programming. BET 
could have gone with a similar business model with their own unique programming 
but we ended up with mostly fluff and garbage. 



On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 8:56 PM, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net 
wrote:




  The only thing BET had going for it back in the day were a few talk and 
news shows. There was the news show BET tonight (with, at various times, Ed 
Gordon and Tavis Smiley). There was a talk show with the great Bev Smith--who, 
curiously, was the *only* dark-skinned person hosting a major show in BET for 
quite a long time. Bev is good, no nonsense, and well informed, and her show 
reflected her abilities. There was a  good show aimed at teens that aired on 
Saturdays (I think it was called Teen Beat). Before the gangtsa rap thing 
really hit, it had a feeling that now I guess we'd call innocent, dealing 
with real issues like divorce, drugs, school quality, along with having guests 
who'd come in and talk to the kids. There was music, videos, and dancing, but 
like I said, it didn't have the harder, more carnal edge that even shows aimed 
at young adults can have nowadays.  Finally, there was a good news talk show 
hosted by Ed Gordon that had a panel including George Curry and Clarence Page. 
Good, informed discussions. I forget the name of the show.   But curiously, BET 
chose to air both it and Bev Smith's show on Sundays before noon--when most 
black folk were at church or brunch!
  There was even an enjoyable entertainment themed show where Tanya Hart 
interviewed various celebrity guests. Last I saw, I think Ms. Hart does some 
kind of gossip stuff, as I see her show up on TMZ-like shows dishing on who's 
sleeping with whom in Hollywood.

  But yeah, back then BET had enough shows like the above so that I watched 
it a least a few hours a week. 



  - Original Message -
   

Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi

[wlrouge]

I have had really not too many problems with Vista other then like you have 
said or did not was the crashing. Which I have heard with the sp2 that issue 
has been solved. For the most part right now I am using Windows 7 RC. I have to 
say I love it more so then Windows Vista. Have you tried it or heard about it?
--Lavender


From: Reece Jennings 
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 9:46 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi





Martin, I own 2 HP laptops, a Pavilion HP desktop, and 2 HP printers.  The only 
machines I have owned 
since 1996 have been HPs bought at huge discounts from Sam's Club.  The 3 
machines are on my
wireless network.  The only problem I have had has been VISTA (PTOOO!).  I have 
Microsoft OneCare
for firewall, Virus protection, and everything security involved.  It even set 
up my wireless network and
password protected it.  I'm happy.  




From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf 
Of Martin Baxter
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 6:05 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi


  Keith, I've never owned one of those pieces of crap personally. During 
the two years I worked for the Virginia mental health care system (from the 
outside in, lest anyone wonder), I was tasked with transferring datafiles from 
an HP 100 mainframe to an HP 220 or 250 (not sure, because I didn't sleep much 
in those days, psych trauma being the bear it is). The newer system was 
state-of-the-art touch screen tech, meaning that  anytime that anyTHING touched 
the screen, from an odd eraser stroke while regarding a dataline to a fly 
alighting on the screen, everything would auto-save, costing me ten minutes 
each time. And, as I'm told is still the case with HP printers, you couldn't 
turn the things off. If the power so much as blinked, say goodbye to a day's 
work.

  No thanks.




  -[ Received Mail Content ]--
  Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi
  Date : Sat, 6 Jun 2009 20:26:41 + (UTC)
  From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net
  To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com



  What kind of HP's did y'all have? My first storebought PC was an HP 
Pavilion 7270, purchased way back in 1996 or so. It ran for over twelve years 
with no real problems, until I simply turned it off. Now, it wasn't exactly 
upgradeable. There was only so much RAM it could handle. But that was standard 
for many PCs of that era. Working on it was a bit of a pain because it had that 
old daughterboard configuration (a separate board inside the PC that sat 
underneath the main motherboard). It was hard to move around inside, and the 
two boards had to be decoupled for major work. But still, I was able to upgrade 
RAM, add a second hard drive, tape backup, and even a USB card.  It was a good 
computer. 


  - Original Message - 
  From: Martin Baxter 
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 9:06:48 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
  Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 








  And, if I may add, your HP couldn't have suicided, because it would have 
to have a *soul* to have accomplished that. 






  -[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
  Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
  Date : Fri, 5 Jun 2009 21:12:31 -0700 (PDT) 
  From : C.W. Badie 
  To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 

  Well, I have two excuses...The first is my HP suicided over a year ago 
and I could not afford to replace the motherboard for fear my son would eat me 
if I stopped feeding him...The other is I am a fledgling carpenter looking for 
a journeyman to study my craft under (you can stop snickering Martin!)plus 
I've been doing handyman stuff to make ends meet while I dream about being a 
cabinet maker one day...(Okay, just go ahead and finish laughing, Martin...you 
look a bit undignified with tears running down your face...) 

  --- On Fri, 6/5/09, Keith Johnson wrote: 


  From: Keith Johnson 
  Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
  Date: Friday, June 5, 2009, 10:47 PM 



  #yiv305341415 p {margin:0;} 

  Agreed. And where you been man?! 

  - Original Message - 
  From: C.W. Badie 
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 4:48:39 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
  Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 





  OKay...It's obvious that this was written, if nothing else, in the 
mentality of some young boy whoes eyes are being influenced by the testosterone 
coursing through his veins...BUT...The female marionette is weirding my out in 
that respect... 

  --- On Tue, 6/2/09, Tracey de Morsella 

RE: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi

[Reece Jennings]

I heard about it!  Can I get a copy?  Is it on Microsoft's sites?

  _  

From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of wlro...@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 11:08 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi






I have had really not too many problems with Vista other then like you have
said or did not was the crashing. Which I have heard with the sp2 that issue
has been solved. For the most part right now I am using Windows 7 RC. I have
to say I love it more so then Windows Vista. Have you tried it or heard
about it?
--Lavender

From: Reece Jennings mailto:mcjennings...@yahoo.com  
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 9:46 PM
To: scifino...@yahoogro mailto:scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com ups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi

Martin, I own 2 HP laptops, a Pavilion HP desktop, and 2 HP printers.  The
only machines I have owned 
since 1996 have been HPs bought at huge discounts from Sam's Club.  The 3
machines are on my
wireless network.  The only problem I have had has been VISTA (PTOOO!).  I
have Microsoft OneCare
for firewall, Virus protection, and everything security involved.  It even
set up my wireless network and
password protected it.  I'm happy.  

  _  

From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Martin Baxter
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 6:05 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi




Keith, I've never owned one of those pieces of crap personally. During the
two years I worked for the Virginia mental health care system (from the
outside in, lest anyone wonder), I was tasked with transferring datafiles
from an HP 100 mainframe to an HP 220 or 250 (not sure, because I didn't
sleep much in those days, psych trauma being the bear it is). The newer
system was state-of-the-art touch screen tech, meaning that  anytime that
anyTHING touched the screen, from an odd eraser stroke while regarding a
dataline to a fly alighting on the screen, everything would auto-save,
costing me ten minutes each time. And, as I'm told is still the case with HP
printers, you couldn't turn the things off. If the power so much as blinked,
say goodbye to a day's work.

No thanks.




-[ Received Mail Content ]--
Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi
Date : Sat, 6 Jun 2009 20:26:41 + (UTC)
From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com



What kind of HP's did y'all have? My first storebought PC was an HP Pavilion
7270, purchased way back in 1996 or so. It ran for over twelve years with no
real problems, until I simply turned it off. Now, it wasn't exactly
upgradeable. There was only so much RAM it could handle. But that was
standard for many PCs of that era. Working on it was a bit of a pain because
it had that old daughterboard configuration (a separate board inside the PC
that sat underneath the main motherboard). It was hard to move around
inside, and the two boards had to be decoupled for major work. But still, I
was able to upgrade RAM, add a second hard drive, tape backup, and even a
USB card.  It was a good computer. 


- Original Message - 
From: Martin Baxter 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 9:06:48 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 








And, if I may add, your HP couldn't have suicided, because it would have to
have a *soul* to have accomplished that. 






-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
Date : Fri, 5 Jun 2009 21:12:31 -0700 (PDT) 
From : C.W. Badie 
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 

Well, I have two excuses...The first is my HP suicided over a year ago and I
could not afford to replace the motherboard for fear my son would eat me if
I stopped feeding him...The other is I am a fledgling carpenter looking for
a journeyman to study my craft under (you can stop snickering
Martin!)plus I've been doing handyman stuff to make ends meet while I
dream about being a cabinet maker one day...(Okay, just go ahead and finish
laughing, Martin...you look a bit undignified with tears running down your
face...) 

--- On Fri, 6/5/09, Keith Johnson wrote: 


From: Keith Johnson 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Date: Friday, June 5, 2009, 10:47 PM 



#yiv305341415 p {margin:0;} 

Agreed. And where you been man?! 

- Original Message - 
From: C.W. Badie 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 4:48:39 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi 





OKay...It's obvious that this was written, if nothing else, in the mentality
of some young boy whoes eyes are being influenced by the testosterone
coursing through his veins...BUT...The female marionette is weirding my out
in 

[scifinoir2] Look Up

[Keith Johnson]

Gotta make this quick. Need to get some shuteye, got a busy day today. Went to 
see Up Sunday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's Pixar, which continues to mean 
quality, I'm glad to say. Movie starts off with an amusing, delightful, and 
ultimately poignant history of the lead character's life that had me grinning, 
laughing, and--I'm not ashamed to admit--tearing up. All in the first five 
minutes or so, much of it told without the benefit of sound. Colors are 
amazingly bright and beautiful, especially those balloons, and the detail is 
amazing. The characters are good, especially Ed Asner's portrayal of the old 
dude, which is warm, cranky, a bit mean at times, but ultimately very human and 
real. Has enough adventure and gags and laughs for kids, and moments of loss 
and reminiscence and hope to keep the adults engaged. I remember tearing up at 
least three times (having lost both parents, a beloved mother-in-law, several 
relatives, a job, and dealing with some health problems in the last few years, 
I admit I'm a bit more tenderhearted nowadays). I looked around to see men and 
women sniffling more than once. Like me, the guys tried to be a bit 
surreptious--you know, choking on a jalepeno or something. 
There was some concern that audiences wouldn't respond to a film where the lead 
character is an eighty year old widower. Balderdash! Good stories are good 
stories, and this is a really good film. It's becoming cliched to say, but 
Pixar does it again. 

Longer review whenever I have time this week. Work's a bear... 

Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it so white?

[Keith Johnson]

that was a depressing episode to me because in the end we had to conclude 
Geordi's mother had perished. And one of those weird eps where someone was 
kinda seeing what they wanted to see. I was a bit upset that this show was the 
first and last appearance of two good and likeable black actors: Ben Vereen, 
and Madge Sinclair. How cool would it have been to have made them occasional 
guest stars, like Luwaxanna Troi? I'd have loved to see Geordi interact with 
them, and when's the last time you got a chance to see a Starfleet officer's 
relationship with a parent who's a starship captain?? 


By the way, speaking of the late Ms. Sinclair, check this trivia from IMDB: 



Her appearance as the unnamed captain of the U.S.S. Saratoga in Star Trek IV: 
The Voyage Home (1986) marked the first appearance, in any Star Trek show or 
movie, of a female starship captain. 

Is one of only 32 actors and actresses to have starred in both the original 
Star Trek (1966) (up to and including Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 
(1991)) and then in one of the spin offs. 

Co-starred with James Earl Jones five times. 

Twice played Queen to James Earl Jones ' King, first in Coming to America 
(1988), then in The Lion King (1994). 

Played Ben Vereen 's and LeVar Burton 's relatives in two different 
productions: Roots (1977), where she played Bell, Vereen's (Chicken George's) 
grandmother and Burton's (Kunta Kinte's) wife and Star Trek: The Next 
Generation: Interface (#7.3) (1993), where she played Capt. Silvia LaForge, 
Burton's (Geordi LaForge's) mother and Vereen's (Commander Edward M. LaForge, 
M.D.'s) wife. 
- Original Message - 
From: Martin Baxter truthseeker...@lycos.com 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Sunday, June 7, 2009 8:02:02 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white? 








Lavendar, I think it was the latter. 






-[ Received Mail Content ]-- 
Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white? 
Date : Sat, 6 Jun 2009 19:46:23 -0400 
From : wlro...@aol.com 
To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 

Lets not forget Leforge's mother. She was black but then again she was lost. I 
suppose that was an indication that if she got lost unlike Janeway she could 
not find her way back. Or was it her ship was destroyed due to the engineer 
misgivings. 
--Lavender 


From: George Arterberry 
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 12:30 PM 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white? 




Very good points. 

The USA is about to enter a stagnant period in space travel with NASa retiring 
the shuttle,and China along with India with manned missions to the Moon and 
Mars in near term. 

My fear is that space may become militarized fairly quickly and economically 
for now America is focused elsewhere. 

As for the article I've seen many ST episodes with Blacks as adimirals but 
little to say after inspecting the Enterpise or something to that affect.Even 
had a charater who was a sister and the fastest person ever to reach the rank 
of captain in Starfleet history.No backstory on her in the show.Too bad she was 
killed off in novel form. 



--- On Tue, 6/2/09, Liggins Bill wrote: 


From: Liggins Bill 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it 
so white? 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 7:30 AM 


What about true life? When was a black astronaut part of the resident crew of 
the International Space Station? How about never. Black astronauts were among 
the crews that chauffeured them to the ISS. They stayed a few days then had to 
leave. But when comes to those resident crews, the ISS is still restricted 
housing when it comes to blacks. Because of that, black astronauts are not 
getting the endurance training needed for a mission to Mars. So when it comes 
time to chose a crew for that Mars mission, black astronauts may be at the 
bottom of the list. Hopefully this will be reviewed by the new NASA director 
and changed before NASA loses its leadership in the international space race. 





Bill Liggins 
Author of WARNING, a Sci-Fi Novel 
http://www.authorsd en.com/visit/ author.asp? authorid= 4905 
bill_liggins@ yahoo.com 


--- On Mon, 6/1/09, Curtis, Jr. wrote: 


From: Curtis, Jr. 
Subject: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it so 
white? 
To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com 
Date: Monday, June 1, 2009, 11:58 PM 


Blacks in Space 

If sci-fi is the future, why is it so white? 

Danielle C. Belton | May 29, 2009 


Star Trek's Lt. Uhura was a science-fiction pioneer in the 1970s -- a black 
woman answering the phone, I mean computer, in space. Uhura, played by actress 
Nichelle Nichols, was the communications officer, a role that would go on to be 
a popular one for futuristic minorities. While she was 

RE: [scifinoir2] Look Up

[Tracey de Morsella]

Me and my kid give it a thumbs up too.  That old guy was a great character.  As 
a mother of a five year old constantly questioning why this and why that, The 
antagonist trying to kill the kid time after time kinda bothered me.  I might 
be over protective, but she sometimes has extreme reactions to death on the 
science channel, on TV show,  in stories I read and in movies.  The guy losing 
his wife was easy to extreme.  The maniac explorer trying to kill the boy… not 
so easy to explain.

 

This was the day after she asked me about the Iraq war and why we attacked if 
they did not attack first.  The two subjects back to back wore me out. 

 

From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf 
Of Keith Johnson
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 9:39 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Look Up

 






Gotta make this quick. Need to get some shuteye, got a busy day today. Went to 
see Up Sunday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's Pixar, which continues to mean 
quality, I'm glad to say. Movie starts off with an amusing, delightful, and 
ultimately poignant history of the lead character's life that had me grinning, 
laughing, and--I'm not ashamed to admit--tearing up. All in the first five 
minutes or so, much of it told without the benefit of sound. Colors are 
amazingly bright and beautiful, especially those balloons, and the detail is 
amazing. The characters are good, especially Ed Asner's portrayal of the old 
dude, which is warm, cranky, a bit mean at times, but ultimately very human and 
real. Has enough adventure and gags and laughs for kids, and moments of loss 
and reminiscence and hope to keep the adults engaged. I remember tearing up at 
least three times (having lost both parents, a beloved mother-in-law, seve ral 
relatives, a job, and dealing with some health problems in the last few years, 
I admit I'm a bit more tenderhearted nowadays). I looked around to see men and 
women sniffling more than once. Like me, the guys tried to be a bit 
surreptious--you know, choking on a jalepeno or something. 
There was some concern that audiences wouldn't respond to a film where the lead 
character is an eighty year old widower. Balderdash! Good stories are good 
stories, and this is a really good film. It's becoming cliched to say, but 
Pixar does it again.

Longer review whenever I have time this week. Work's a bear...