Pleiades Rising

James's comments reminded me that I forgot to add a qualifier to my "yes" vote: America should abandon its nuclear stockpile if (and only if?) other nuclear armed countries do so as well. So, when I voted yes, I read it and the supporting information as implying something more global in scope.

Interesting thread, with so much to discuss! However, right now I can only offer some minimal input on assorted topics covered. Of course, I voted yes. Is it idealistic? Indeed. I agree with JamesMay's assertion that it's idealistic, in the sense that it's a lofty, virtuous goal - however unlikely or plausible that state of affairs actually happening. I also agree with the idea that the knowledge behind it isn't the sort of thing that can be banished in the same way weapons can be. Science doesn't work that way. (I should note here that I don't attribute this view, viz. that such knowledge can be somehow "banished", to anyone here.) And this itself raises a problem, which I'll come to later. And when AvalonAngel briefly mentions the economy, (#3), I think it's a relevant issue: North Korea's nuclear tactics and military threats/actions are meant to be economic actions as they are military actions. That's how they try and get leverage at the international level, unfortunately. Even with the threat of more international economic sanctions that's their[i] modus operandi.[/i] I agree with most of the facts you presented, Starwind; plenty of it's documented fact or have come from highly credible sources. What I can gather is that all of that was meant to be justification for your side of the argument, correct? The part that makes me pause is the idea that we can somehow legislate and control a naturally occurring substance, perhaps in the same way the ATF in the U.S. handles their respective areas. If that were possible (it does have some plausibility to it, however) the fact that such knowledge of building nuclear weapons is out there, and the will to own them is there too, it's also plausible to say that no amount of binding treaties and sanctions would deter those rogue elements from trying to obtain one at any cost. Many countries have banned landmines, but they're still used by many other countries. If landmines aren't available, an IED is the next logical choice. Briefly, it don't think it would be possible to [i]completely[/i] enforce such a global treaty, since such treaties don't really mean much to those radical or rogue elements (even the UN no longer has the sway it does over some of the more "industrialized and modern" countries). In those cases, we'd then have to worry about getting blindsided with maybe no warnings at all. However, I'll give you that such a proposal was exactly that: "for starters". I don't think you meant it as[i] the [/i]fix, but as merely one way of actually "getting the ball rolling", as it were. In sum, I agree with the general idea of banning such weapons, but the devil is in the details.

Yeah, there are breaks in it, and most of the surface-philosophy is easily discarded once you realize it doesn't do anything, really. If you can manage to get past that stuff, then that whole dark stuff will appeal to you - [i]and it's oozing with mood and angst.[/i] Is there humor? Not much, but it's expected when dealing with a dystopian society where everyone is paranoid and unsure of...everything. There are a couple of "lighter" episodes, and one of them kinda falls flat. Maybe the contrast with those lighter episodes was a bit too jarring and incongruent with the rest of the series' tone, but at least they try and have some laughs. And yes, there are explosions. When it reaches towards the final episodes, that's when the pacing picks up some steam. The last episode is kind of like a little film of its own, actually. I don't want to say too much, but it does have action and intrigue. Again, it's very moody and dense, but it's not [i]completely [/i]so. (Plus, Pino is so adorable!) Seeing godlike beings fight can be pretty cool, I'd say.

Ignore the heathens, for they know not what they say! Actually, yeah, it can get pretty darn convoluted and obscure at times. However, I was one of the few who actually liked the series. I never really got hung up on the painfully obvious philosophical references (dropping the names Derrida, Husserl, Turing, etc.), which I admit, were quite clumsy and amounted to little more than name dropping. Trying to follow those thinkers and then tie them into [i]Ergo Proxy[/i] would be misleading, but I suspect many have tried to do it (probably with very little success). In short: watch it if you want to, but don't be mislead by the blatant philosophy service. What I found compelling was that whole existential core they explored throughout the series, with vary degrees of success: Existence precedes essence, become who you are, and simply, who am I? The latter should be given special emphasis, since it really seems to be the question from which the others follow. And in this series, we see many characters struggling with this basic question, each in his or her or its own way. Of course, this is a dark and moody series, so if that's not your thing, take a pass. It can be full of moments where brooding introspection is the norm, followed by crazy philosophical themes. But it's not all like that: there's monsters on par with gods, and machines with consciousness, to boot! Plus, it's one of the rare anime series that actually seamlessly blends cel-style art with CGI animation, without one overwhelming the other. So yeah, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but for those who did like it - they found something special about it.

Shin', which version of the series do you have? Have you got the cleaned up version or the one with the infamous Eva-jiggle? I've got the latter DVDs, and yeah, the "quality" really shows on them. Still, my elitist, purist, anime-jerk tendencies wouldn't have it any other way, haha. As far as the dubbing goes, the only thing that my ears really pick up on is when they kind of mangle some names, like Ritsuko's. Other than that, I don't mind the dubbed versions, as I've watched those ones more than the original Japanese.

Let's see what new nerdy books I've bought this time: [i]Natural Deduction[/i] by Dag Prawitz (I was interested in his account of second-order logic), [i]Mathematical Logic[/i] by Joel W. Robbin (again, I needed more insight into second-order mathematical logic), and [i]Daybreak[/i], by my man Nietzsche. Also in the mail is (I might get the name wrong) [i]The Number System[/i]. Still sitting in its shrink wrapped plastic wrapper is Heidegger's [i]Being and Time[/i], revised 2nd edition published by SUNY press. I'm very interested in seeing how Stambaugh handles Heidegger's linguistic constructions. When I feel brave enough, I'll tackle that one and spend an eternity studying it. I finally bought my own copy of [i]V for Vendetta[/i] yesterday, too. I always liked how the end credits use "Street Fighting Man". Great song! Oh yeah, I also bought a new laptop.

Stuck in a hotel with no wifi? What is that horror that you speak of, my friend?! If I were in that situation and I forgot to bring a book (the horror), I'd still have a large number of pdf files to read. Most of it's academic, but it's what I live for. So yeah, I'd still be reading in that unfortunate event as well. But if..[i].if[/i]...I don't read anything, I'd probably draw something. Now that is something that [i]really [/i]takes up plenty of my time. It's a fun hobby, but whenever I attempt to draw something, I pretty much have to dedicate a week or more to whatever it is I'm drawing. If I have enough time and inspiration hits, then I'll do some art.