Comments on: Stanley, homework!

By: The Faceless Bureaucrat

The Faceless Bureaucrat — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 03:07:04 +0000

Are you SURE? Oh, the humanity.

By: David Betz

David Betz — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:08:25 +0000

The top half of this discussion is pretty deep, i.e., Platonic republicanism et al, but the bottom half is pretty shallow–perfect for my contribution:

Denise Richards is two words. More to the point she did not appear in the shower scene in question. Alas.

By: Cincinattus Jr.

Cincinattus Jr. — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:16:44 +0000

I must say this excursion from the subject has restored myu faith in those who inhabit these ivied fora. ;-)

By: The Faceless Bureaucrat

The Faceless Bureaucrat — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:11:55 +0000

One word: Denise Richards. ‘Nuf said.

By: Berserker

Berserker — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:08:55 +0000

That’s compelling me to borrow from Bairnsfather:

If you know a better shower scene, I’ll go to it.

Thanks to one and all for intriguing me.

By: Gunrunner

Gunrunner — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:07:09 +0000

Whoa. . . . :-)

By: The Faceless Bureaucrat

The Faceless Bureaucrat — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:35:28 +0000

Yes, G/R, but Heinlein’s book had no shower scenes. So, you win some, you lose some.

By: Berserker

Berserker — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:25:46 +0000

…And since orc warriors are the “warrior class” among orcs, shouldn’t that be “warrior credo” or something like that instead of “warrior class”, if you’re talking about something virtuous? After all, who likes orcs?

By: Cincinattus Jr.

Cincinattus Jr. — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:16:58 +0000

Thanks for the clarification–I admit to not having read ST , although i note it was added to my service’s reading list some time ago. Given the stack of yet to be read material scattered around me, I have not had the time for SciFi titles, even if popular in some circles for other reasons than fantasy.

Seeing that your reference was deeper than my initial take (as I assumed it had to be given your other excellent, though at times IMHO wrong-headed, posts ;-) ) I think we again are in agreement within the narrow point you were making. More broadly, however I do think some form of national service is on balance a good thing for a constitutional republic like ours. I add a caveat though–only if it is evenly applied without favoritism like that enjoyed in the Vietnam era that afforded many (the evil Cheney and the misunderstood Teddy Bear Clinton come to mind as examples).

I also agree that the military should not be officially considered a special class or caste, although I firmly believe the military should be ( by the govt as such) a special profession in the sense of it’s standards of conduct, entrance requirements etc. Regardless, military service should not be the sole criterion for citizenship- a corollary however would be that merely being born in the US should not equate to citizenship either, but that is a topic for another day.

By: Gunrunner

Gunrunner — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:02:12 +0000

Heinlein’s Starship Troopers is a classic and one of my favorites.

Shame what they did to it when they made that awful movie.