The Impostor did have some "interesting" qualities, wouldn't you say Yeoman?

Scenes You'd Forgotten (or wished you had) Part 2: Vulcan Perv.

In the episode of Classic Star Trek entitled "The Enemy Within" Captain Kirk is split by a transporter accident (I know) into a "good" and an "evil" Kirk. The first thing the evil Kirk does is break into Dr. McCoy's hooch and then attack and try and rape Yeoman Rand.

After all is put right Mr. Spock jokingly mentions the incident to Rand while leering like a school boy at her photon torpedoes. Don't they have an H.R. Manager on the Enterprise? Looks to me like Spock could use a little sensitivity training.

I want the world. I want the whole world. I want to lock it all up in my pocket. It's my bar of chocolate. Give it to me now.

So President Veruca throws the second tantrum in a week and recess appoints his swiftboat-funding buddy Sam Fox. It appears Bush's action may actually *gasp* be illegal, but if even if it isn't it surely puts a fine point on the administration's utter contempt for constitutional government and the Senate's role in same.

Nuts! It's Ted Kennedy in a Barney suit!

Just a couple of quick, fun and nerdy things-

Mystery Science Theater is returning. Sort of. The Film Crew compromises the three principles who were also writers- Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy. They are releasing new dvds that've been given that MST touch. There aren't any robots or mad scientists behind the scenes but there's plenty of mocking of bad acting and styrofoam rocks. Sorrry - no Joel, either.

Doctor Who has returned for a third season and a new companion who, in my opinion, is hotter than Janet Fielding's Tegan. No word yet on when they'll broadcast in the states but their are alternatives... Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, saynomore, saynomore.

Rowan Atkinson has a new flick coming out. Sadly it's Mr. Bean and not Blackadder. Here's an interview where he talks about both and admits his admiration for Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat. If you haven't seen "Keeping Mum" then I suggest you rent it. Atkinson shines in this very dark, dry comedy.

"Stardust" How the heck did fantasy/ sci-fi movie starring Peter 'O'Toole, Robert De Niro get by me? It looks to have a cool Terry Gilliam/ "Adventures of Baron Munchausen" vibe.

Well, this kidnapping stuff makes me real nervous.

I think I've written at least two posts on the Iranians capture of the 15 British sailors which in the comments section of those posts Snabalus has reminded me that the U.S. had captured Iranian nationals in Kurdistan last year. It's a frustrating thing that the American media refuse to make the connection between the two events.

The Brits get it-

The raid on Arbil took place within hours of President George Bush making an address to the nation on 10 January in which he claimed: "Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops." He identified Iran and Syria as America's main enemies in Iraq though the four-year-old guerrilla war against US-led forces is being conducted by the strongly anti-Iranian Sunni-Arab community. Mr Jafari himself later complained about US allegations. "So far has there been a single Iranian among suicide bombers in the war-battered country?" he asked. "Almost all who involved in the suicide attacks are from Arab countries."

It seemed strange at the time that the US would so openly flout the authority of the Iraqi President and the head of the KRG simply to raid an Iranian liaison office that was being upgraded to a consulate, though this had not yet happened on 11 January. US officials, who must have been privy to the White House's new anti-Iranian stance, may have thought that bruised Kurdish pride was a small price to pay if the US could grab such senior Iranian officials.

For more than a year the US and its allies have been trying to put pressure on Iran. Security sources in Iraqi Kurdistan have long said that the US is backing Iranian Kurdish guerrillas in Iran. The US is also reportedly backing Sunni Arab dissidents in Khuzestan in southern Iran who are opposed to the government in Tehran. On 4 February soldiers from the Iraqi army 36th Commando battalion in Baghdad, considered to be under American control, seized Jalal Sharafi, an Iranian diplomat.

The raid in Arbil was a far more serious and aggressive act. It was not carried out by proxies but by US forces directly. The abortive Arbil raid provoked a dangerous escalation in the confrontation between the US and Iran which ultimately led to the capture of the 15 British sailors and Marines - apparently considered a more vulnerable coalition target than their American comrades. (The Independent.)

No, no that one I save just for me.

For some reason I've been unable to get this YouTube video of a sailor who was serving in Iraq surprising his six-year old son and his class but for some reason it doesn't seem to show up.

Needless to say I found the whole thing pretty moving. Sure it's cheesy that there are cameras there but the kid's reaction is genuine and just breaks my heart.

Over at Fark both sides are bitchin' about the propaganda aspect of the piece. I guess I don't see what my fellow libs are complaining about. There is simply no way to see that boy and his parents crying and think that this war is a good idea.