Pleiades Rising

Finished watching [i]Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino[/i] last night, and I have mixed feelings on it. It wasn't the greatest series I've ever watched, but I hated to see it end. How strange is that? I think I'll have to watch the first series again, but I'll check out the 2 episode OVA before I do that. I'm not sure how that 2 ep. OVA will turn out, but I hear it's for fans only. However, if I go to bed feeling weird and muted after each episode (like both [i]Gunslinger Girl[/i] series usually did to me) then they've done their job! I'm still watching [i]ROD TV[/i] and [i]GitS SAC 2nd Gig[/i], but I'll soon add [i]Magic Knight Rayearth[/i] to the list. I'm also going to add [i]Yukikaze[/i] to the list whenever I finish the one of the other series. I've been meaning to watch[i] Yukikaze[/i] for some time now, but it's always slipped my mind. It seems like the kind of show that would be right up my alley.

I don't believe that Skeptics day is actually on that day. And, dude, is this, like, really a table in front of me?

I'm currently re-watching [i]GitS SAC 2nd Gig[/i], one of my all-time favorite series ever. It's full of intrigue, political treachery, shifting plots, and compelling storytelling. All that, and it doesn't get overburdened! Kinda wish I were watching this with someone, though. Also on the list is [i]R.O.D. TV[/i]. CaNz reminded me to pick this one up, so I just had to. I can't believe I went this long without watching it, while having seen and loved the 3 episode OVA. I'm only up to ep. 7, but I noticed it's nice and consistent with the OVA so far, especially the animation. (Hey look, they've got one of Chomsky's books!) Lastly, I'm watching [i]Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino[/i]. Now here's a series that's not consistent, animation wise, with the previous series. It's quite startling to go from reasonably high quality to...something that looks like an American cartoon from the late 80s. But the story seems to be fairly solid, so that's a plus. I like how they focus on the consequences of actions, and how they tend to reverberate through the years. And the ending song "Doll" is fantastic. I'm up to ep. 9, and will hit 10 tonight.

Okay, right now I'm mainly concerned with a position you, Starwind, have sought to rebut or refute. Specifically, I'd like to clarify my own position a bit more than I have, for I notice some confusions surrounding it. As I read this once again, I'm no longer sure the position being refuted or argued against actually belongs to anyone here, least of all my own. I'm concerned with this because when I read the statement, "It's not impossible, or simply some lofty idea, it's reality, but as long as you and others like you disregard it as 'lofty', then that's all it will ever be" (#13), I'm not sure exactly to whom this applies. In my own brief comments I mentioned that "it's a lofty, virtuous goal - however unlikely or plausible that state of affairs actually happening" (#10). In JamesMay's own comment, he mentions impossibility, but doesn't state the much stronger (and distinctly different) thesis that nuclear disarmament is itself impossible. He instead makes a different claim that's quite correct: abolishing [i]the knowledge[/i] to create nuclear weapons is impossible (and here, too, I'd qualify the kind of impossibility mentioned). This is briefly touched upon in your reply, but the reply is ambiguous; it's not clear if it's directed towards James (as the quote implies), JamesMay, myself, or "everyone else". In any case, my remarks obviously make reference to both the terms quoted above and the knowledge involved. First of all, I'll remove the sneer or scare quotes from those terms. I'm quite aware of the positive values those concepts have, so they should also be read in that sense too, without having to hastily shift to its diametric opposite - i.e. they're inherently bad and flawed concepts. True, they are often used in a pejorative sense, and they may have been read that way when I left my brief comment. However, my comment was too brief to [i]rightly[/i] infer from it my singing of lofty, unattainable goals. Difficult goals, yes; unattainable [i]and [/i]impossible, no. Additionally, you'll notice that I never made reference to the impossibility you infer; that inference is strictly yours, based on a position I do not hold. My qualifiers - plausible, possible, unlikely, completely - do the work they were intended to do. I agree that globally abolishing nuclear stockpiles is the correct thing to do. I also agree that accidents can and have happened. What I state, however, is that the former is a difficult goal to attain or realize. And on this position, too, we still seem to agree, but I can't say how much we agree on the details. Nevertheless, If I read this right, you're aware that it's not an easy task: "Leaders of the world have tried to do away with these weapons for almost as long as we've had them." Considering this has been a decades long discussion and dispute that's deeply embedded within many levels - e.g. politically, economically, socially, environmentally - abolishing nuclear weapons might be one of the most difficult tasks humanity has ever faced. Briefly consider these two recent events: the START treaty has the curious consequence that actually allows Russia to[i] increase[/i] the number of weapons it has. Furthermore, it also allows Russia to merely phase-out obsolete Soviet-era weapons. I quote Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov on the treaty: "'We will not have to make any cuts to our strategic offensive weapons,'' Serdyukov told sceptical lawmakers from the Communist opposition. 'But the Americans -- they will indeed have to make some cuts.'" In North Korea, they might be planning another nuclear test, in a show of force to South Korea and its allies. This is a test with dual implications: its aim is to test the nuclear capabilities of North Korea, and it's a political move aimed at strengthening Kim Jong-un's position as their next "leader". This alone strengthens my own claim about how deeply embedded this nuclear issue really is. These are recent events with their own respective difficulties, and how to resolve these involves more than just "public support". (I'm not sure exactly what this public support means, since the circumstances of such support varies with context and country. To what extent is public support possible in Iran or North Korea? - which is a another thing to consider.) I'm not sure how this is workable in all countries involved, especially when some of them involve countries that imprison anyone they label a dissident, e.g. China and Liu Xiaobo. I can find more cases and examples like these, which clearly show the difficulties involved in this entire project. But those difficulties should not be confused with impossibilities, whichever side of the dispute one takes. Seeing them as impossibilities and attributing them to anyone who doesn't hold them are both misleading and unhelpful in opening reasonable dialogue - especially of the persuasive kind.

I knew there had to be one of these on here! Okay, it's not exactly a marathon, in the sense of watching only one series, but I consider the following marathon-ish by my standards (read: I don't watch anime for hours anymore; no time). I've just watched the director's cut of episodes 21-24 of [i]Evangelion[/i], and now I'm typing quickly so I can move on to watching an episode each of the following: [i]GitS SAC: 2nd Gig, The World God Only Knows, Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino, Samurai Champloo,[/i] and [i]maybe R.O.D. the TV[/i], if I don't expire from sensory overload. That is all; back to anime. Oh yeah, the Eva director's cuts are a great preparation to [i]The End of Evangelion[/i], if anyone's not seen them.