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r. Cassutt's comments ("Where Did All the Bad Guys Go?") on the nature of villainy do reflect a very common perception of the inexplicable nature of evil, reinforced by his examples of inexplicable evil: Saddam and Bin Laden.
Yet most people would agree that the most evil act any leader might carry out would be the detonation of a nuclear device in a crowded civilian city. Strangely, when he listed the incomprehensibly evil, the only man in history to do such a thing—and do it twice—didn't make the list.
I'm sure Mr. Cassutt, if it occurred to him to add Harry Truman to such a list, would feel very uncomfortable doing so. Most Americans accept the notion that events justified Truman's actions—as Osama Bin Laden probably feels about 9/11. Even if we do not share Bin Laden's horror at the presence of infidels in the land of Mecca and Medina, it isn't too hard to understand why he's done what he's done.
Nor is it all that much different from my friends who felt we should kill as many people in Fallujah as we could after the horrible deaths of our people.
If anything, it is almost too easy to understand real evil...
Mr. Cole
Strangewarren(at)yahoo.com
Columnist Michael Cassutt responds:
There is no "list" of villains in my column. I was discussing the current perception of villainy in popular media.
Even if I had been silly enough to compile such a list, Mr. Truman wouldn't be on it—or, rather, he would be fairly far down, below earlier advocates of aerial bombardment indiscriminately aimed at civilian populations. That list would inevitably include Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Gen. Curtis LeMay as well as Adolf Hitler and Herman Goerring. Civilians killed in the firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo—or the air assaults on London—were just as dead as those killed at Hiroshima.
Best,
Michael
n these troubled times, by far the most astonishing relationship between science and fiction is the degree to which the two are now intermingled. Two fine examples appeared on the Science Fiction Weekly letters page, as the recent contributions from Steve Martinovich ("Moore Is Also a Fiction Writer"), and the font of comment that is Kevin Ahearn ("Roswell's Reality Isn't Alien").
When Steve writes, "Moore claims his fiction is the truth, and if you investigate his claims, you find he leaves out many details that would alter your perception of what he is claiming" he's proving my point that reality comes down to whose truth you want to believe. Steve seems to have been confused by Michael Moore's stated aims with Fahrenheit 9/11. The act of leaving out details which might alter a viewers perception is not, in itself, a lie. It's bias. However, when
Moore shows a timed version of President Bush's reaction to hearing news about the twin towers, this is 100 percent factual. With regard to the 2000 election, Steve also misses the fact that thousands of black voters in Florida were disenfranchised, and that most of the world regards President Bush as someone appointed by the USSC. Yes, I know that America is the biggest boy on the block, and millions of U.S. voters couldn't give a monkey's what anyone who isn't a U.S. citizen thinks. Perhaps they'll change their minds, if the American Nero keeps on fiddling. All I know is that when I look at the fantastic country that was America before 2000, and what it's now become, I think I'm watching the sequel to Dr. Strangelove.
Now, to Kevin Ahearn's essay on Roswell. He seems unaware of the brilliant work done by a fellow called Martin Cannon. According to him, in the mid to late 1940's, U.S. military strategists were seriously considering the use of plutonium and other highly radioactive materials
as weapons in and of themselves. As these substances are extremely toxic, even a small amount could do major damage to the inhabitants of a large city. The big problem was in finding a reliable means to deliver and disperse such material. At that time, no U.S. or allied aircraft were capable of penetrating very far into Soviet airspace, but a high altitude, remotely controlled drone might have been seen as the ideal solution. Imagine the international clamour and escalation of tensions that would have resulted from the disclosure of such a weapons program. If the world had learned in 1947 of an American plan—in the event of war—to bomb the Soviet Union
with plutonium, or other deadly toxins, the Cold War could have turned very hot, very quickly.
As for why Roswell has remained clouded in UFO claptrap and official denials which do not stand up, this may be down to the highly litigious nature of life in the United States. The crash of a drone aircraft involved with actually delivering deadly toxins on unsuspecting civilians and military personnel would, in all likelihood, still remain classified. Not for reasons that are anything to do with creatures from another world, but for the hard economic reasons involving lawyers, million dollar lawsuits, international condemnation and national shame. The specter of American citizens suing their own government for actions which would not have been out of place in Nazi Germany is something that the Pentagon was, and would still be today, unwilling to face.
Nathan Brazil
nathanbrazil(at)freeuk.com
everal weeks ago, Nathan Brazil ("Our Tech Is Greater Than We Know") wrote a letter stating that the United States' technology is far greater than the average person knows.
How right he is!
Many people don't realize it, but as far back as the late 1970s, there was a small article (not much larger than a postage stamp) in the American Legion magazine which described the successful testing of an anti-missile system that destroyed a dummy missile entering Earth's atmosphere on a trajectory towards the U.S. while it was still over Britain. There was only this one article, nothing on the nightly news and there was never another word about it.
A friend of mine who was in the U.S. Marines in what he called "special weapons" in the late '70s told me he was working with weapons that I "could not imagine." Being a science-fiction fan and amateur writer, I can imagine a lot. Another friend who was in the U.S. Army in Fort Knox accidentally walked into a high security area and saw, before being chewed out by no less than a brigadier general, a tank that sported a laser cannon in its turret. Not a laser-guided turret, but a laser cannon in its turret.
Then, two years before President Reagan announced the creation of what is commonly known as the "Star Wars" anti-missile defense system, rumors were filtering through college campuses that the U.S. had satellites in orbit that not only could detect a Soviet missile launch, but had the ability to destroy said missiles before they cleared their silos!
Finally, rumors have been abounding for years about the so-called "hypersonic" jets leaving "donut shaped" exhaust trails. No one has seen these rumored jets, but many of us have seen video of the donut shaped puffs of exhaust allegedly left by these rumors.
Are any of these stories true? Due to national security, we most likely won't know until the U.S. government decides to lift the veil of secrecy on them, which may or may not happen. Could they be true? Yes!
Then again, like the alleged crash of a UFO in Roswell, New Mexico and the crash of another in Denmark at about the same time (so many people overlook that one!), the truth may never come out.
Still, at the rate our technology is increasing, the worlds of Star Trek and Babylon 5 may be sooner than many of us think. Don't forget, in laboratory experiments last year, it was proven that the speed of light can be broken, even if we don't have the technology to support it at this time.
Think about it....
Keith Kitchen
boyoklaatu1(at)aol.com
ooray for The 4400! This is the freshest science-fiction premise on
television in a long time, and the execution so far is enticing. I was afraid it would be a Quantuum Leap where only the premise was science fiction, but instead they have deftly kept science fiction involved in both wondering where the 4400 were and their extraordinary abilities. And the human stories are varied and gripping.
I have mixed feelings about how much will be answered in the mini-series. If everything is answered (unlikely), then there will be no room to turn it into a great companion series for Dead Zone. But of course, I won't like it if it's all set up for a series and no resolution. My fingers are crossed they balanced those issues.
I only have one tiny gripe: When they played "Bye Bye Baby" and had the little girl in the scene, I cognitively slipped to Kingdom Hospital, momentarily seeing a different little girl. Choosing that music was not the best association the show could make.
On the topic of whether there was good science in The Day After Tomorrow ("Science Fiction Needs Science Fact", "Sci-Fi Always Extrapolates", "The Hole Facts Remain Hot"), I have to wonder if the writers read the same article in Discover magazine that I did a couple years ago. The cover of the September 2002, issue is "Global Warming Surprise: A New Ice Age: Oceanographers have discovered a huge river of fresh water in the Atlantic formed by melting polar ice. They warn it could soon bury the Gulf Stream, plunging North America and Europe into frigid winters." Yes, that's all on the cover!
The "they" are oceanographers at the Woods Hole Institute, a very well-respected group, and they say, if the Atlantic conveyor stops from all that fresh water pouring in, the weather will change abruptly. They also say conditions are such that it very well could happen in the next 10 years.
Sure, the movie hyperbolized, but it seems to based on the best science of our day. I had to wonder if the article inspired the movie.
Too bad all that fresh water pouring into the Atlantic can't be piped to the Southwest, and other drought-stricken areas. Sadly, that sounds more like fantasy.
Barbara Goldstein
psifidoll(at)comcast.net
ell, yesterday (July 14), I got another year older. I didn't have a party, I didn't go out. My girlfriend made me dinner and a strawberry Jello cake, and she bought me a great gift—Spider-Man: The '67 Collection (the year before I was born). Fifty-two glorious episodes of one of my favorite childhood programs on DVD. I used to have a Spider-Man doll (we didn't call them action figures then, and he was a Mego), and we were inseparable.
However, Spidey never quite got the recognition he deserved back then. (...wealth and fame? He's ignored.) He was a second-rate hero to many, a freak, a nerd in tights. Superman and the DC boys like Batman and the Superfriends were holding all the cards back then, and while Marvel was catering to the hardcore fans with great comics, their attempts at animation and movies were pretty weak. Although the comics were very popular and the syndicated strip did very well, Spider-Man never reached a giant mainstream audience outside of mostly kids and geeks. X-Men, and even Hulk seemed to attracted more attention.
I can remember people saying: "Spider-Man is stupid, his powers are lame." And by comparison to Superman (who frankly I think is about the lamest) I suppose many would find Spidey's powers a little boring. No, Spider-Man isn't over-endowed with unlimited power, but that makes him a more interesting character in my opinion. His weakness makes him a strong, believable character. His constant, daily struggle with his powers, his real-life issues (mostly work and money) in a real U.S. city, and his sense of humor, made him a regular Joe I could relate to, even as I aged. I never thought for one minute that Hollywood would ever catch on to the greatness that is Spider-Man. I especially never thought that if it did they would allow him to keep the colorful long underwear. Alas, Spidey has peaked and the world loves him just the way he ought to be (Thanks Sam!). Congrats, Pete, you finally made it!
No, I didn't party, I didn't raise hell, I spent a quiet birthday remembering the previous 35 birthdays with an old friend who has been there for all of them. My lifelong pal Spider-Man.
With Spiderman 2 in theaters and the release of this spectacular collection of cartoons on DVD, this has been one of the best birthdays ever.
James Dandy
[email address withheld by request]
eff Bateman's "One To Earth, One To The Stars" is one of the best pictures of Jupiter I have ever seen.
Dany Boucher's "Explorer Class Spaceship" is reminiscent of the CGI beauty of Babylon 5.
Steve Hayhurst's "Windswept" reminds me of a theoretical alien surface I once saw in Carl Sagan's book, Cosmos.
Jamie Haggerty's "Young World Series No. 4" is much like a picture in my last year's astronomy calender of the envisioned landscape of a possible planet (supposedly twice the size of Jupiter) in a neighboring system. And his "A Significant Event" is exactly how one can imagine our newborn Earth billions of years ago.
Ann Macanita's "Deadly Beauty" is so beautiful that it should be used in a movie.
Matthew Hansel's "Making Repairs" would make a great cover picture for a science-fiction novel.
Steve Tyler's "Patrol" has the kind of scenic atmosphere you might expect to see in BBC science fiction.
Future science-fiction TV and film artists can learn from the ingenuity submitted to last week's gallery. I have just shown them to my almost-two-year-old nephew and he is equally impressed. Congratulations to all five of these talented contributors. Great work.
Michael Anthony Basil
mike.basil(at)sympatico.ca
ow can anybody with half a brain in his or her head believe in flying saucers, alien abductions, Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster when not a scintilla of evidence exists that any of them are real?" complains the worldly intelligencia. "These 'geeks' of the 'fanatic fringe' are living in
a reality as unreal as their beliefs!"
Oh, really? Didn't the United States of America go to war based on "intelligence" so flimsy no respectable UFOlogist would have been caught flaunting? Didn't so many of us buy into "the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq" so quickly only to discover too late that...
But not the scientific community. Oh, no! Scientists demand "concrete proof" and "irrefutable evidence." Photographs, videotapes, "eyewitness" testimony and blips on a radar screen are not proof of anything. Scientists know what facts are, what truth is. Experiments and research and tests and more tests confirm what is real and what is not.
Is that so?
In 1971, a hunter reported a Stone Age tribe of 26 men, women and children living in the thick rainforest of Mindanao, an island off the Philippines in Southeast Asia. The government then contacted National Geographic magazine with an offer of exclusive rights to the "story of the century!" NBC jumped in the act and in December of that year the North American television audience was astounded to see a unique jungle meeting between Modern Man and naked dwellers from the dawn of time—The Tasaday Tribe.
Archaeologists beat their chests in victory celebrations. Nobel speeches were prepared. Doctorate theses were written by the score. There was just one small problem: the "Tasaday" were a hoax, a staged reenactment concocted to draw tourists to the Philippines.
Why do these lies sprout wings and fly despite the combined efforts of trained professionals who have dedicated their lives to down-to-earth truth? Because people believe what they want to believe. They can't help themselves.
I hope more than I believe. ... In highly technical and moral alien civilizations across the Milky Way. I hope one day humanity will make contact. I hope at least a few dinosaurs survived that asteroid and that there's a human-like species roaming the Rockies and the Himalayas. But believe? For that, there is science fiction.
Kevin Ahearn
KEVTOMA(at)aol.com
hen I heard that Star Trek: Enterprise had been given a reprieve, I have to admit I had mixed feelings. The show had so much potential when it began, but unfortunately in the three years that it has been on I haven't seen a lot of that potential realized. There have been some instances, for example, nearly all of the episodes that featured the Andorians have managed to have some of the Star Trek charm, but this entire last season being devoted to one story arc became tiresome. And it's sad, because it's obvious that from a production standpoint (cinematography, art design, set decoration, etc.) the people involved with the show do care about the product they are turning out. In any case, Enterprise is back for another season and it is being given a new timeslot, Fridays at 9 p.m.; the original timeslot of The X-Files.
But wait a minute, that will pit it directly against Stargate Atlantis. Is UPN just setting up Enterprise like a lamb for slaughter? Is this their way of appeasing fans and at the same time burying the show? I read the other day that Brent Spiner will be appearing as the grandfather of Data's creator Dr. Noonian Soong, in several episodes of Enterprise (currently unconfirmed) and "producer Rick Berman has stated that one of his plans for next season is to bring 'familiar' characters to Trek fans." While this may cause some fans to tune in, Stargate has been entrenched on Fridays for the last three years, and now with the Atlantis spin-off doesn't show any signs of slowing down. The only saving grace for Enterprise might be that by the time the season begins, Stargate will already be in reruns.
Scott Wright
ScottWright(at)tdwaterhouse.com
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