This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
There are several episodes in VOY that involve the question of whether or not holograms are alive, and/or feature conflict between holograms and organic beings. I’m going to ignore that part of VOY, it’s a bit too philosophical, and comparing the maltreatment of holograms to the maltreatment of, for example, Black people, seems stupid. Although I kind of make an exception for The Doctor (it’s impossible to be a fan of ST and not do that) I lean towards saying that holograms are not life forms, but I don’t feel like going into it.
“Waking Moments” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Message In A Bottle” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode but a good one- Voyager finally is able to let Starfleet know that they’re in the Delta Quadrant.
I give it four stars out of five.
“Hunters” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Prey” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Star Trek: Voyager Reviews Q
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
There are several episodes in VOY that involve the question of whether or not holograms are alive, and/or feature conflict between holograms and organic beings. I’m going to ignore that part of VOY, it’s a bit too philosophical, and comparing the maltreatment of holograms to the maltreatment of, for example, Black people, seems stupid. Although I kind of make an exception for The Doctor (it’s impossible to be a fan of ST and not do that) I lean towards saying that holograms are not life forms, but I don’t feel like going into it.
“Revulsion” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give this episode two stars out of five.
“The Raven” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Scientific Method” See this for a plot summary.
This is basically about doing laboratory tests on animals. I give it three stars out five.
“Year of Hell” parts 1 and 2. See this and this for a plot summary.
A non-political two parter. But, like most-all two-parters, very good. I give it four stars out of five.
“Random Thoughts” See this for a plot summary.
1. The idea of punishing people for certain thoughts is ridiculous, even in a telepathic society. (some might say that’s an argument against hate crime laws but hate crimes go beyond thought to action and hate crimes are more dehumanizing and terroristic to the victims and their communities than ordinary crimes are).
2. I think that messing with someone’s memories is probably not a good idea, although I suppose it’s possible it could be done without any damage. It seems like a bad punishment for crime.
I give this episode two stars out of five.
“Concerning Flight” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Mortal Coil” See this for a plot summary.
This episode, more so than some others, raises the issue of religion. It has been raised before in relation to some kind of American Indian religion practiced by Chakotay, although as far as I can tell they’ve left it unclear exactly which nation indigenous to the western Hemisphere Chakotay is from. But it does seem like pretty much the first time “Old Earth” religions have been practiced by people who are more or less Federation, and I appreciate it as it erodes the idea in ST that jettisoning religion is part of human progress.
Anyway, I give the episode two stars out of five.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
There are several episodes in VOY that involve the question of whether or not holograms are alive, and/or feature conflict between holograms and organic beings. I’m going to ignore that part of VOY, it’s a bit too philosophical, and comparing the maltreatment of holograms to the maltreatment of, for example, Black people, seems stupid. Although I kind of make an exception for The Doctor (it’s impossible to be a fan of ST and not do that) I lean towards saying that holograms are not life forms, but I don’t feel like going into it.
“Revulsion” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give this episode two stars out of five.
“The Raven” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Scientific Method” See this for a plot summary.
This is basically about doing laboratory tests on animals. I give it three stars out five.
“Year of Hell” parts 1 and 2. See this and this for a plot summary.
A non-political two parter. But, like most-all two-parters, very good. I give it four stars out of five.
“Random Thoughts” See this for a plot summary.
1. The idea of punishing people for certain thoughts is ridiculous, even in a telepathic society. (some might say that’s an argument against hate crime laws but hate crimes go beyond thought to action and hate crimes are more dehumanizing and terroristic to the victims and their communities than ordinary crimes are).
2. I think that messing with someone’s memories is probably not a good idea, although I suppose it’s possible it could be done without any damage. It seems like a bad punishment for crime.
I give this episode two stars out of five.
“Concerning Flight” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Mortal Coil” See this for a plot summary.
This episode, more so than some others, raises the issue of religion. It has been raised before in relation to some kind of American Indian religion practiced by Chakotay, although as far as I can tell they’ve left it unclear exactly which nation indigenous to the western Hemisphere Chakotay is from. But it does seem like pretty much the first time “Old Earth” religions have been practiced by people who are more or less Federation, and I appreciate it as it erodes the idea in ST that jettisoning religion is part of human progress.
Anyway, I give the episode two stars out of five.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Star Trek: Voyager Reviews P
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Worst Case Scenario” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars.
“Scorpion” Parts 1 and 2 See this and this for a plot summary.
A non-political two-parter, but a good one. I give it four stars out five.
“The Gift” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode, but it does require some notes.
First, we say goodbye to Kes, who was one of my least favorite VOY main characters. We also see the begginning of Seven’s transformation from being a Borg towards being a human.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Day of Honor” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Nemesis” See this for a plot summary.
First, I kind of like and kind of hate the dialect of english used by the aliens.
Setting aside the liklihood that what Chakotay witnesses in the simulation exaggerates things, it’s a good illustration of genocidal oppression. The fact that the Vori use such indoctrination techniques for recruits to their military (including any alien they get their hands on) makes me think their cause is not so just; on the other hand, the way Chakotay is greeted when he visits the village for real indicates that the Vori soldiers have popular support.
As far as both sides being equally bad, that’s often the case. That was more or less the case with WWI and probably the vast majority of wars.
I give this episode four stars out of five.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Worst Case Scenario” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars.
“Scorpion” Parts 1 and 2 See this and this for a plot summary.
A non-political two-parter, but a good one. I give it four stars out five.
“The Gift” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode, but it does require some notes.
First, we say goodbye to Kes, who was one of my least favorite VOY main characters. We also see the begginning of Seven’s transformation from being a Borg towards being a human.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Day of Honor” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Nemesis” See this for a plot summary.
First, I kind of like and kind of hate the dialect of english used by the aliens.
Setting aside the liklihood that what Chakotay witnesses in the simulation exaggerates things, it’s a good illustration of genocidal oppression. The fact that the Vori use such indoctrination techniques for recruits to their military (including any alien they get their hands on) makes me think their cause is not so just; on the other hand, the way Chakotay is greeted when he visits the village for real indicates that the Vori soldiers have popular support.
As far as both sides being equally bad, that’s often the case. That was more or less the case with WWI and probably the vast majority of wars.
I give this episode four stars out of five.
Monday, September 28, 2009
My last songs?
This probably WILL be my second to last lyrics post. I have two songs that I'm reluctant to post for various reasons. But here are three new ones. They're all "Those Lyrics," see this for more of an explanation.
The rest of the songs/poems can be found by clicking on the "lyrics" label (there are at least two pages worth of posts, so click on the "older posts" at the bottom of the first page).
“Republican Flame” based on “The Flame that Never Dies” by No Remorse, original lyrics are here.
1. Considering the original, I should say that Irish pride is very different from white pride (most of the time). (I just heard something making me think that it's probably a small minority of northern nationalists that would talk about "Irish pride"; I still feel odd completely re-writing that line, so I'm going to keep it)
2. The south Armagh IRA made life very dificult for the British security forces, more so than the IRA in other areas.
3. In recent years, the 99% nationalist part of Derry on the west bank of the river foyle has been renamed the “West Bank” in solidarity with the Palestinians.
4. In nationalist areas curbstones are often painted green and orange as 2/3 of the colors of the Irish flag.
5. A lot of people exaggerate how religious the motivation for republicans and nationalists is- it’s close to zero.
**6. 36% of this version is me, 64% is the original.
7. I give this song/poem four stars out of five.
8. This song is not meant as an endorsement of armed struggle since 1997.
9. Awesome as it was, the IRA campaign in S. Armagh probably wasn't known world-wide (I've done one post and two poems indicating it wasn't) but it was possibly more well-known than most of the other IRA units.
10. No remorse are British and did support the unionist/loyalist cause in N. Ireland, therefore this poem is twisting the original.
11. In the west belfast verse, imminent victories is fairly unreaslistic, but an optimistic statement is okay.
12. Republicans do a lot of anti-racism work (see this).
13. Part of this is about the IRA, but much of it could be associated with un-armed republicans and some of it with nationalists in general.
UPDATE 2/10/20 14. in the second to last line of the poem I changed "people" to "women and men."
In every Irish heart, there burns immortal flames,
A pride that never wavers, a valor yet untamed,
The occupiers of the North won't cease to wonder why,
They can never beat - THE FLAME THAT NEVER DIES
In the south Armagh countryside, There's something in the air,
A pride filled sense, of resistance, of battle un-compared,
A drive for freedom, a rural offensive known world-wide,
And none can ever dampen - THE FLAME THAT NEVER DIES
On the streets of the West bank, the feeling's all around,
The spirit of resistance, against the British crown
The people look forward to when the British say good-bye
The Brits can try, but they can't stop- THE FLAME THAT NEVER DIES
On the streets of west Belfast, The flag is always seen,
A sign of imminent victories, curbs painted orange and green
To be united with the South, many heroes died,
No enemy could ever smash - THE FLAME THAT NEVER DIES
Across the North, a revolutionary spirit that does not come from Rome
There's justice in Irish unity, ensuring safer homes,
Diversity and culture, The Irish people's pride,
Together we will stand and fuel - THE FLAME THAT NEVER DIES
They can kill the Irish people, and try to keep us down,
They can jail us with non-jury courts, repression all around,
But as Irish women and men, we will not bend, our tri-colors we'll fly,
Again they've tried and failed to kill - THE FLAME THAT NEVER DIES
******
“Four Provinces” based on “Mother Europe” by Skrewdriver. Original lyrics are here.
1. This song about that part of the nationalist community who, the early 1970s, supported both the civil rights movement, and the use of armed struggle.
2. There are four ancient provinces of Ireland.
3. The Foyle is a river which divides Derry. In recent years (not, to be honest, in the early 1970s) nationalists have referred to the 99% Nationalist part of Derry as the West Bank in solidarity with the Palestinians. The West Bank is where the Bloody Sunday march took place, and 14 civil rights marchers were killed by the British Army.
4. To a very large degree, until the late 1960s, mass struggle was not part of the struggles of the nationalist community and republicans largely ignored the option of mass struggle and felt that the IRA would deliver freedom. The adoption of mass struggle in the late sixties, with a civil rights theme, was largely inspired by the American Civil Rights Movement, led by Martin Luther King Jr.
**5. 62% of this version is me, 38% is the original.
6. I give this song/poem four stars out of five.
7. UPDATE 12/12/10 In the last verse I replaced solely with mostly.
8. Skrewdriver was supportive of the Unionist and British causes in N. Ireland.
9. UPDATE 2/2/4/20 I added "most of" to the third line of the first verse.
10. UPDDATE 2/25/20 I screwed up a tiny bit with this, and I guess I need to say that it refers to the brief period immediately after Bloody Sunday, when A) there bad been a surge in support for the Provisonal IRA and B) there was a flurry of marches before the Civil Rights Movement practically died.
Many of our people, Ireland’s daughters and sons
faced so many tragedies at the barrel of British guns
We are most of the Nationalist working-class, marching side by side
As long as Ireland is divided, we’ll be there with flags held up high
Chorus:
Four Provinces, stand for unity
and standing with the Nationalist community
So many martyrs, whose blood has drenched the soil.
Including those who marched on the West Bank of the Foyle
So many warriors, whose bones are laid to rest
fighting for Irish unity, has been our noble quest
Chorus
For far too long we relied mostly on the IRA
but then we learned how to march, inspired by MLK
For freedom and justice are within our reach
we must continue the struggle for the victory that we seek
*****
“Carnival of Reaction” based on “White Kids Gonna Fight” by Bully Boys, original lyrics are here.
1. The lyrics only partly reflects the title. It would be better if I had been able to say something about the dominance of religious right politics in both parts of Ireland. Anyway, James Connolly, Ireland’s greatest socialist and greatest republican said, in 1914, that dividing Ireland would result in a “carnival of reaction.”
2. There are 32 counties in Ireland.
3. Orange is the color of anti-Catholic bigotry in the Irish-British context.
4. At a point early in the process of partitioning Ireland, many local government units in what became N. Ireland pledged their allegiance to the Dail (Parliament) in Dublin. The new government in Belfast had those bodies abolished and replaced with appointed (unionist) commissions until N. Ireland was completely established.
5. I’m not sure about how many IRA members were killed during the period in the North that I’m referring to. But some of them were killed. (Volunteers are republican paramilitaries).
6. Valhalla is part of Norse mythology, it's a place where warriors go after they die, although there seems to be some debate about exactly who gets in- only people who die in combat? Anyway, the fascists love it and have sort of taken over the concept, but a friend told me that he likes the idea of the left claiming it and specifically said that if such a place exists, Che and others like him are probably there. (Do I believe in Valhalla? You could say I’m sort of an agnostic on that question and am sort of solidly a Christian. The way I see it, this is pretty flexible, don't take it too seriously, and one way to think about it is that if you believe in Heaven and would rather these people went there instead of Valhalla, maybe they can do both, spend some time in Valhalla and some time in Heaven; but my friend and I do like the idea of reclaiming it from the fash)
8. The civil war in the South took place in the middle of the period that saw the establishment of N. Ireland.
9. My favorite song, “Your daughters and your sons” is, according to one source, about how the dream of freedom was passed from generation to generation between the founding of N. Ireland and the late sixties. The song refers to sowing "the seeds of freedom" in their daughters and their sons.
10. Michael Collins had a British figure partly in charge of security for the North killed in response to what Catholics in the North were going through.
11. The Orange card is used to divide workers and mobilize support for unionism by fanning the flames of sectarianism.
12. Republicans and nationalists were MUCH less likely to engage in anti-Protestant violence than Unionists were to engage in anti-Catholic violence (well, that's certainly true in the last seven decades- in the early 1920s, they might have been sort of close to being just as bad as the Unionists, I haven't read about that period for a while now (UPDATE 12/14/11 It's been a few months now, but I did read that stuff, and I would say that, yes they were a bit closer to being as bad as the Unionists during that period (early 1920s), but there was still a HUGE gap between the frequency of anti-Catholic incidents and the frequency of anti-Protestant incidents)). (UPDATE 8/5/24 I’m basing my thoughts about the early 1920s on Farrell’s “The Orange State” and I am talking about attacks on civilians)
13. This version isn’t as “twisted” (in conflict with what the authors of the original lyrics believe) as I had hoped- that’s because the original is American (see this). I couldn’t think of anything anti-bigot (other than opposing sectarianism) or anti-fascist etc. to twist it. But it’s sort of twisted based on the following:
A: The title is from a quote by James Connolly, a socialist.
B: The Bully Boys are officially connected to the Hammerskins (a Nazi skinhead group), who have chapters world-wide and at one point that included unionists in N. Ireland, so they’re probably not favorable to republicanism.
**14. 77% of this version is me, 23% is the original.
15. I give this song/poem five out of five stars.
16. The blame would be with the British who had encouraged sectarianism to oppress the Irish and divide the poor (workers).
17. It's kind of about the IRA and unarmed republicans but much of it could be embraced by nationalists, especially since I think there was more support for the IRA during that period around 1920 than was the case in the more recent Troubles.
18. UPDATE 2/24/20 I changed "knocked" to "keep" in the second to last line. And I added "some day" to the last line.
This island used to be 32-counties as one
Now divided by the unionists and London
The Dail has the allegiance of our counties and towns
Now Belfast is shutting them down
In the South the British were beat
In Belfast loyalists are burning down Catholic streets
A Volunteer got shot at Clonard and Falls
Now he's feasting in Valhalla's Hall
chorus:
Burned out streets and smashed dreams
Our country is pulling itself apart at the seams
But we won't give up without a fight
We'll keep the republican flame burning bright
The seeds of freedom are now all we've got
And of course Collins had Wilson shot
Sectarian bunting in the shipyards
the unionists are playing the orange card
I think I know just who's to blame
but we won't play their sectarian game
the Brits will not keep us down
Some day we're going to fight this town by town
One last note: Even with the songs that are only about 10% me (and at the upper end, one is 75% me), I have a request, although I don't have strong feelings or expectations about this. First, I want credit for these songs. Second, I'd appreciate it if the notes follow the lyrics around the internet. If you modify the lyrics further, please either make some notes for the changes if you leave some of my changes, or just provide a link to this URL so people can see my version. Although I'm not sure how many people will like what I'm doing with the lyrics, to one degree or another (depending on how much I changed them) I'm proud of these songs- and at the risk of getting a little personal, if people like the songs, I could really use the extra boost of getting credit for them right now (or if you don't like them, they were all written by Sarah Palin- that fascist, what kind of sick person enjoys altering racist lyrics?).
The rest of the songs/poems can be found by clicking on the "lyrics" label (there are at least two pages worth of posts, so click on the "older posts" at the bottom of the first page).
“Republican Flame” based on “The Flame that Never Dies” by No Remorse, original lyrics are here.
1. Considering the original, I should say that Irish pride is very different from white pride (most of the time). (I just heard something making me think that it's probably a small minority of northern nationalists that would talk about "Irish pride"; I still feel odd completely re-writing that line, so I'm going to keep it)
2. The south Armagh IRA made life very dificult for the British security forces, more so than the IRA in other areas.
3. In recent years, the 99% nationalist part of Derry on the west bank of the river foyle has been renamed the “West Bank” in solidarity with the Palestinians.
4. In nationalist areas curbstones are often painted green and orange as 2/3 of the colors of the Irish flag.
5. A lot of people exaggerate how religious the motivation for republicans and nationalists is- it’s close to zero.
**6. 36% of this version is me, 64% is the original.
7. I give this song/poem four stars out of five.
8. This song is not meant as an endorsement of armed struggle since 1997.
9. Awesome as it was, the IRA campaign in S. Armagh probably wasn't known world-wide (I've done one post and two poems indicating it wasn't) but it was possibly more well-known than most of the other IRA units.
10. No remorse are British and did support the unionist/loyalist cause in N. Ireland, therefore this poem is twisting the original.
11. In the west belfast verse, imminent victories is fairly unreaslistic, but an optimistic statement is okay.
12. Republicans do a lot of anti-racism work (see this).
13. Part of this is about the IRA, but much of it could be associated with un-armed republicans and some of it with nationalists in general.
UPDATE 2/10/20 14. in the second to last line of the poem I changed "people" to "women and men."
In every Irish heart, there burns immortal flames,
A pride that never wavers, a valor yet untamed,
The occupiers of the North won't cease to wonder why,
They can never beat - THE FLAME THAT NEVER DIES
In the south Armagh countryside, There's something in the air,
A pride filled sense, of resistance, of battle un-compared,
A drive for freedom, a rural offensive known world-wide,
And none can ever dampen - THE FLAME THAT NEVER DIES
On the streets of the West bank, the feeling's all around,
The spirit of resistance, against the British crown
The people look forward to when the British say good-bye
The Brits can try, but they can't stop- THE FLAME THAT NEVER DIES
On the streets of west Belfast, The flag is always seen,
A sign of imminent victories, curbs painted orange and green
To be united with the South, many heroes died,
No enemy could ever smash - THE FLAME THAT NEVER DIES
Across the North, a revolutionary spirit that does not come from Rome
There's justice in Irish unity, ensuring safer homes,
Diversity and culture, The Irish people's pride,
Together we will stand and fuel - THE FLAME THAT NEVER DIES
They can kill the Irish people, and try to keep us down,
They can jail us with non-jury courts, repression all around,
But as Irish women and men, we will not bend, our tri-colors we'll fly,
Again they've tried and failed to kill - THE FLAME THAT NEVER DIES
******
“Four Provinces” based on “Mother Europe” by Skrewdriver. Original lyrics are here.
1. This song about that part of the nationalist community who, the early 1970s, supported both the civil rights movement, and the use of armed struggle.
2. There are four ancient provinces of Ireland.
3. The Foyle is a river which divides Derry. In recent years (not, to be honest, in the early 1970s) nationalists have referred to the 99% Nationalist part of Derry as the West Bank in solidarity with the Palestinians. The West Bank is where the Bloody Sunday march took place, and 14 civil rights marchers were killed by the British Army.
4. To a very large degree, until the late 1960s, mass struggle was not part of the struggles of the nationalist community and republicans largely ignored the option of mass struggle and felt that the IRA would deliver freedom. The adoption of mass struggle in the late sixties, with a civil rights theme, was largely inspired by the American Civil Rights Movement, led by Martin Luther King Jr.
**5. 62% of this version is me, 38% is the original.
6. I give this song/poem four stars out of five.
7. UPDATE 12/12/10 In the last verse I replaced solely with mostly.
8. Skrewdriver was supportive of the Unionist and British causes in N. Ireland.
9. UPDATE 2/2/4/20 I added "most of" to the third line of the first verse.
10. UPDDATE 2/25/20 I screwed up a tiny bit with this, and I guess I need to say that it refers to the brief period immediately after Bloody Sunday, when A) there bad been a surge in support for the Provisonal IRA and B) there was a flurry of marches before the Civil Rights Movement practically died.
Many of our people, Ireland’s daughters and sons
faced so many tragedies at the barrel of British guns
We are most of the Nationalist working-class, marching side by side
As long as Ireland is divided, we’ll be there with flags held up high
Chorus:
Four Provinces, stand for unity
and standing with the Nationalist community
So many martyrs, whose blood has drenched the soil.
Including those who marched on the West Bank of the Foyle
So many warriors, whose bones are laid to rest
fighting for Irish unity, has been our noble quest
Chorus
For far too long we relied mostly on the IRA
but then we learned how to march, inspired by MLK
For freedom and justice are within our reach
we must continue the struggle for the victory that we seek
*****
“Carnival of Reaction” based on “White Kids Gonna Fight” by Bully Boys, original lyrics are here.
1. The lyrics only partly reflects the title. It would be better if I had been able to say something about the dominance of religious right politics in both parts of Ireland. Anyway, James Connolly, Ireland’s greatest socialist and greatest republican said, in 1914, that dividing Ireland would result in a “carnival of reaction.”
2. There are 32 counties in Ireland.
3. Orange is the color of anti-Catholic bigotry in the Irish-British context.
4. At a point early in the process of partitioning Ireland, many local government units in what became N. Ireland pledged their allegiance to the Dail (Parliament) in Dublin. The new government in Belfast had those bodies abolished and replaced with appointed (unionist) commissions until N. Ireland was completely established.
5. I’m not sure about how many IRA members were killed during the period in the North that I’m referring to. But some of them were killed. (Volunteers are republican paramilitaries).
6. Valhalla is part of Norse mythology, it's a place where warriors go after they die, although there seems to be some debate about exactly who gets in- only people who die in combat? Anyway, the fascists love it and have sort of taken over the concept, but a friend told me that he likes the idea of the left claiming it and specifically said that if such a place exists, Che and others like him are probably there. (Do I believe in Valhalla? You could say I’m sort of an agnostic on that question and am sort of solidly a Christian. The way I see it, this is pretty flexible, don't take it too seriously, and one way to think about it is that if you believe in Heaven and would rather these people went there instead of Valhalla, maybe they can do both, spend some time in Valhalla and some time in Heaven; but my friend and I do like the idea of reclaiming it from the fash)
8. The civil war in the South took place in the middle of the period that saw the establishment of N. Ireland.
9. My favorite song, “Your daughters and your sons” is, according to one source, about how the dream of freedom was passed from generation to generation between the founding of N. Ireland and the late sixties. The song refers to sowing "the seeds of freedom" in their daughters and their sons.
10. Michael Collins had a British figure partly in charge of security for the North killed in response to what Catholics in the North were going through.
11. The Orange card is used to divide workers and mobilize support for unionism by fanning the flames of sectarianism.
12. Republicans and nationalists were MUCH less likely to engage in anti-Protestant violence than Unionists were to engage in anti-Catholic violence (well, that's certainly true in the last seven decades- in the early 1920s, they might have been sort of close to being just as bad as the Unionists, I haven't read about that period for a while now (UPDATE 12/14/11 It's been a few months now, but I did read that stuff, and I would say that, yes they were a bit closer to being as bad as the Unionists during that period (early 1920s), but there was still a HUGE gap between the frequency of anti-Catholic incidents and the frequency of anti-Protestant incidents)). (UPDATE 8/5/24 I’m basing my thoughts about the early 1920s on Farrell’s “The Orange State” and I am talking about attacks on civilians)
13. This version isn’t as “twisted” (in conflict with what the authors of the original lyrics believe) as I had hoped- that’s because the original is American (see this). I couldn’t think of anything anti-bigot (other than opposing sectarianism) or anti-fascist etc. to twist it. But it’s sort of twisted based on the following:
A: The title is from a quote by James Connolly, a socialist.
B: The Bully Boys are officially connected to the Hammerskins (a Nazi skinhead group), who have chapters world-wide and at one point that included unionists in N. Ireland, so they’re probably not favorable to republicanism.
**14. 77% of this version is me, 23% is the original.
15. I give this song/poem five out of five stars.
16. The blame would be with the British who had encouraged sectarianism to oppress the Irish and divide the poor (workers).
17. It's kind of about the IRA and unarmed republicans but much of it could be embraced by nationalists, especially since I think there was more support for the IRA during that period around 1920 than was the case in the more recent Troubles.
18. UPDATE 2/24/20 I changed "knocked" to "keep" in the second to last line. And I added "some day" to the last line.
This island used to be 32-counties as one
Now divided by the unionists and London
The Dail has the allegiance of our counties and towns
Now Belfast is shutting them down
In the South the British were beat
In Belfast loyalists are burning down Catholic streets
A Volunteer got shot at Clonard and Falls
Now he's feasting in Valhalla's Hall
chorus:
Burned out streets and smashed dreams
Our country is pulling itself apart at the seams
But we won't give up without a fight
We'll keep the republican flame burning bright
The seeds of freedom are now all we've got
And of course Collins had Wilson shot
Sectarian bunting in the shipyards
the unionists are playing the orange card
I think I know just who's to blame
but we won't play their sectarian game
the Brits will not keep us down
Some day we're going to fight this town by town
One last note: Even with the songs that are only about 10% me (and at the upper end, one is 75% me), I have a request, although I don't have strong feelings or expectations about this. First, I want credit for these songs. Second, I'd appreciate it if the notes follow the lyrics around the internet. If you modify the lyrics further, please either make some notes for the changes if you leave some of my changes, or just provide a link to this URL so people can see my version. Although I'm not sure how many people will like what I'm doing with the lyrics, to one degree or another (depending on how much I changed them) I'm proud of these songs- and at the risk of getting a little personal, if people like the songs, I could really use the extra boost of getting credit for them right now (or if you don't like them, they were all written by Sarah Palin- that fascist, what kind of sick person enjoys altering racist lyrics?).
Star Trek: Voyager Reviews O
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Before and After” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode, but a very good one. I give it four stars out of five.
“Real Life” See this for a plot summary.
A very emotionally powerful epsiode, but non-political. I give it three stars out of five.
“Distant Origin” See this for a plot summary.
There are basically two political themes in this episode.
First are the similarities between what happens in the episode and the history of resistance to scientific concepts such as the Earth revolving around the Sun, evolution, etc.
Second are the similarities with anti-immigrant politics and more broadly white supremacy. My thoughts about immigrants are here, while discussing the episode “Sanctuary.”
“Displaced” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Star Trek: Voyager Reviews N
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Unity” See this for a plot summary.
In general a non-political episode, although it does touch on collectivity as a way to avoid racial conflict. On one hand, anything undemocratic is a bad idea, but in general I believe that socialism can contribute a lot to ending racial conflict. What I’m talking about is significantly different from what the episode talks about, but it did remind me of socialism as a part of ending racial conflict. It primarily helps with ending economic insecurity which, at least indirectly, fuels racism. Socialism also encourages people to identify more in class terms instead of racial terms. I might write more on that soon.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Darkling” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Rise” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Favorite Son” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Unity” See this for a plot summary.
In general a non-political episode, although it does touch on collectivity as a way to avoid racial conflict. On one hand, anything undemocratic is a bad idea, but in general I believe that socialism can contribute a lot to ending racial conflict. What I’m talking about is significantly different from what the episode talks about, but it did remind me of socialism as a part of ending racial conflict. It primarily helps with ending economic insecurity which, at least indirectly, fuels racism. Socialism also encourages people to identify more in class terms instead of racial terms. I might write more on that soon.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Darkling” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Rise” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Favorite Son” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Star Trek: Voyager Reviews M
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Fair Trade” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Alter Ego” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Coda” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Blood Fever” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Fair Trade” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Alter Ego” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Coda” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Blood Fever” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Star Trek: Voyager Reviews L
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“False Profits” See this for a plot summary.
A sort of political episode about Ferengi capitalism. The attitude of Ferengi, and many capitalists in the real world, is illustrated by the exchange between a Ferengi and a local:
Local: I am a sandle-maker from the poorest quarter of the city.
Ferengi: The laziest you mean.
There’s some other things that illustrate capitalism among Ferengi (and some of today’s capitalists
“Remember” See this for a plot summary.
This episode is about genocide. The group being targeted is resisting technological progress that society is making. First, the existence of Amish people shows that such people can co-exist with a modern technological society. In any case, exterminating people because they reject technology obviously is bullshit.
The story is well done- the genocide and the cover-up well illustrated. Although I wouldn’t mind a more positive ending, I kind of like how they leave things sort of up in the air about whether or not the truth of the genocide will be confronted by the Enaran people.
I’ll take this opportunity to briefly describe one of my very favorite books. It’s called “Fatherland” by Robert Harris. It’s an alternative history novel where Nazi Germany wins the war and there is a cold war between them and the US. A Berlin police detective who’s almost a dissident, stumbles onto evidence of the Holocaust. The Final Solution was completed but there’s no official records and no one talks about it, although some people more or less understand what happened. The detective investigates and discovers the truth.
If you’re not much of a reader, there’s movie that’s been made based on the novel.
Anyway, this episode get four out of four stars.
“Sacred Ground” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Future’s End” Parts 1 and 2. See this and this for a plot summary.
Although non-political, a very good two-parter. I say that partly because I generally always like time travel ST episodes. Also, I generally like Sara Silverman, who guest stars.
I give it four stars out of five.
“Warlord” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode, but tiny thing that could be considered anti-homophobic. While a male consciousness in inhabiting Kes, she kissed Tuvock, a male. On the other hand, like most of the other same sex kisses in ST, it’s noteworthy that Kes is inhabited by a villain.
Anyway, I give it three stars of five.
“the Q and The Grey” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode, although as a sort of Civil War buff I kind of liked that aspect of it. I give it three stars out five.
“Macrocosm” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Star Trek: Voyager Reviews K
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Resolutions” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode, I give it three stars out of five.
“Basics” Parts 1 and 2. See this, and this for a plot summary.
In general a non-political two-parter, but there are three things I’d like to comment on:
1. At one point, after the ship is taken over by Kazon, the Doctor says “what am I supposed to do? ... conjure up holograms of ... Che Guevera?”
2. It’s pretty neat that Suder, confined to his quarters for murder, plays a very important role in Starfleet re-taking the ship, sort of redeeming himself.
3. It’s also neat that the Telaxians play a role in retaking the ship, it would have been nice if there had been some scenes of them fighting the Kazon on the ship.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Flashback” See this for a plot summary.
Although non-political, a very noteworthy episode. It was part of a celebration marking 30 years of ST, and they recreated scenes from one of the Original Series movies, using the same cast they had used back then, with Tuvock and Janeway and some other changes.
I give it four stars out of five.
“The Chute” See this for a plot summary.
Generally a non-political episode, but the Akritirian government seems authoritarian- at the very least their “justice” system is pretty messed up. They convict people based on lies and send them to a ridicuously darwinian prison with no chance of being released.
I give it two stars out of five.
“The Swarm” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Resolutions” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode, I give it three stars out of five.
“Basics” Parts 1 and 2. See this, and this for a plot summary.
In general a non-political two-parter, but there are three things I’d like to comment on:
1. At one point, after the ship is taken over by Kazon, the Doctor says “what am I supposed to do? ... conjure up holograms of ... Che Guevera?”
2. It’s pretty neat that Suder, confined to his quarters for murder, plays a very important role in Starfleet re-taking the ship, sort of redeeming himself.
3. It’s also neat that the Telaxians play a role in retaking the ship, it would have been nice if there had been some scenes of them fighting the Kazon on the ship.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Flashback” See this for a plot summary.
Although non-political, a very noteworthy episode. It was part of a celebration marking 30 years of ST, and they recreated scenes from one of the Original Series movies, using the same cast they had used back then, with Tuvock and Janeway and some other changes.
I give it four stars out of five.
“The Chute” See this for a plot summary.
Generally a non-political episode, but the Akritirian government seems authoritarian- at the very least their “justice” system is pretty messed up. They convict people based on lies and send them to a ridicuously darwinian prison with no chance of being released.
I give it two stars out of five.
“The Swarm” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Star Trek: Voyager Reviews J
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Deadlock” See this for a plot summary.
A 99% non-political episode, but one of my favorites, I give it four, almost five stars out of five. The idea of two ships, two crews, etc. is just a really good story. I especially like the interaction between the two Janeways.
The tiny bit of politics is the birth of a half human, half Ktarian baby, which goes a bit further than the pervasive multi-culturalism of ST usually does.
The idea of a long voyage to get home is basically why I like this series more than The Next Generation. At one point, after one of the Janeways announces she is going to destroy her ship to save the other ship, she says to the other Janeway, “just make me a promise, Kathryn- get your crew home.” Almost as powerful as the other time someone says that to Janeway, later in the series.
“innocence” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode that I don’t like very much- I give it one star out five.
“The Thaw” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode, but there is one tiny bit of progressive politics. FDR is quoted as saying “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
I give it three stars out five.
“Tuvix” See this for a plot summary.
Although Neelix is my second least favorite character on VOY, I like the idea of him being combined with Tuvock- the Tuvix character is pretty neat. I give this episode three stars out of five.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Deadlock” See this for a plot summary.
A 99% non-political episode, but one of my favorites, I give it four, almost five stars out of five. The idea of two ships, two crews, etc. is just a really good story. I especially like the interaction between the two Janeways.
The tiny bit of politics is the birth of a half human, half Ktarian baby, which goes a bit further than the pervasive multi-culturalism of ST usually does.
The idea of a long voyage to get home is basically why I like this series more than The Next Generation. At one point, after one of the Janeways announces she is going to destroy her ship to save the other ship, she says to the other Janeway, “just make me a promise, Kathryn- get your crew home.” Almost as powerful as the other time someone says that to Janeway, later in the series.
“innocence” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode that I don’t like very much- I give it one star out five.
“The Thaw” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode, but there is one tiny bit of progressive politics. FDR is quoted as saying “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
I give it three stars out five.
“Tuvix” See this for a plot summary.
Although Neelix is my second least favorite character on VOY, I like the idea of him being combined with Tuvock- the Tuvix character is pretty neat. I give this episode three stars out of five.
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