Hezbollah night-vision gear manufactured in Britain

[Hippikos]

Personally I think The Sopranos was the best TV series ever...

[MaggieL]

Sci Fi Channel has been both boon and bane. I expected Battlestar Galactica to be crap and in fact it's a gem. Don't know if you're getting Eureka over there yet but it's worthwhile. I miss Farscape but at least Ben Bowder and Claudia Black crossed over to Stargate SG-1...which is in it's last season. Stargate Atlantis will soldier on in it's endless struggle to not become Deep Space Nine. Speaking of DS-9, Babylon 5 (where the DS-9 concept was Rodenberried from; he saw a series treatement of B5 before it started production) was awesome, and we're promised some B5 new stories soon (although B5 wasn't a Scf Fi channel production).

BUt I won't forgive SciFi Channel for it's apparent inability to recognize that horror and suspense isn't science fiction.

Across the pond, Dr Who is consistantly worth watching..although I find it more than a little jarring for Dr Who to have detailed plots, character development and high production values, having become accustomed to the seedier Tom Baker/Tristam Farnham style...(erm, I mean, Peter Davisson).

Never seen The Sopranos...we don't pay for premium cable. Although enough of it has seeped into our culture that the Flintstones/Sopranos parody on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law was hysterical anyway.

And never say there is no justice: Serenity (the Firefly movie) just won a Hugo. Of course, Dr Who did too...

[DanaC]

I lurve battlestar. Very good. I particularly like what they've done with the Dr Gaius character. Much more subtle than the original uber villain

I didn't really get into Babylon5, except for the epsiode 'Eyes' because Jeffrey Combs was guest starring :P I was however a DS9 fan *grins* and I don't care that it was a lifted idea it was still good sci fi drama:P Haven't seen Eureka yet but it's showing on Sky1 which means we'll get it on Freeview soon enough. I am very impressed with the 4400s though.

I'm a huge Doctor Who fan. I stopped watching as a kid once Tom Baker and K9 werent in it:P But I watched the film with Paul McGann (I am a fan of his) and thought it showed promise. BUt the new Doctor Who has been a real gem. Russell T Davies has totally rescued the franchise. Have you guys got the new doctor yet? (David Tennant) or are you still on the 9th doctor? (Chris Eccleston)

I was gutted when Chris revealed he would only do the one series, but David Tennant is awesome. Mind you he is awesome in everything he appears in. ( Like 'Casanova' also by Russel T Davies and 'Blackpool' ) I do like it when stage trained actors bring their talent to the screen. You can so tell the ones who have that experience. You could see it in Chris too.


Now this is what I call topic drift *big grin*

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Have you guys got the new doctor yet? (David Tennant) or are you still on the 9th doctor? (Chris Eccleston)

We're not on either one at the moment. 9th has been over for months, but 10th hasn't started yet.

[headsplice]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

"Moral equivalance".

No. Moral equivalence says that no one can be wrong when they commit horrible acts. I'm saying that everyone is wrong.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by headsplice

No. Moral equivalence says that no one can be wrong when they commit horrible acts. I'm saying that everyone is wrong.

"Moral equivalance" says that someone using deadly force to defend themselves from an attack is "just as bad" as the attacker; i.e. "everyone is wrong".

It's bullshit, of course.

[headsplice]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

"Moral equivalance" says that someone using deadly force to defend themselves from an attack is "just as bad" as the attacker; i.e. "everyone is wrong".

Moral equivalence
It isn't bullshit at all.
An analogy: my neighbor and I have been fighting over a property line for years. His son comes over and attacks my daughter. Now, I would certainly be justified in beating the crap out of him or even potentially killing him while he was in the middle of the attack. However, there is NO WAY that I'd be justified in shooting my neighbor's other son two days later. That isn't defense, it's retribution.
It's an analogy, so I know it doesn't describe the situation properly; so let's take a step back and remove the morality of Israeli responses from the situation because we aren't going to convince each other that we're right.
Are Israeli responses effective in reducing the number of people who wish harm on them? Isn't that the ultimate test of whether an response is worth continuing?

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by headsplice

Now, I would certainly be justified in beating the crap out of him or even potentially killing him while he was in the middle of the attack.

It still is "in the middle of the attack". It's no longer "in the middle of the attack" when the attacks stop.

Which they haven't.

Originally Posted by headsplice

Are Israeli responses effective in reducing the number of people who wish harm on them?

They are effective in eliminating the individuals who have been caught at it. That they breed quickly (there are thousands of schools devoted to turning children into new career terrorists) isn't exactly a reason to quit.

Damn, that's the worst case of "blame the victim" I've ever seen: "I don't think your defense is effective, so you should give up."

[JayMcGee]

ah, suddenly it clicks......

All along, there was me thinking maggiel was argueing the polictics of this one...

Originally Posted by MaggieL

"That they breed quickly (there are thousands of schools devoted to turning children into new career terrorists) isn't exactly a reason to quit. "

and all the time it was mere racism.....

[Ibby]

Actually, as often as I disagree with Maggie, she's got a very valid point on this one... they DO indoctrinate their children and train them as the next generation of suicide-murderers.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by JayMcGee

ah, suddenly it clicks......
and all the time it was mere racism.....

Oh, it's the liberal "racism" card.

Again. What a load of hooey.

Do you think that herring of yours is red enough to distract from the terrorist indoctrination those kids get from the time they're old enough to have a toy suicide bomber vest put on them? (After all, why wait until they're in a madrassa?)

[Urbane Guerrilla]

And when it's considered Hezbollah's entire strategy consisted of nothing but crimes against humanity, their moral bankruptcy becomes starkly clear, and the Israelis start looking angelic. It's not frightfully good strategy to show you value Lebanese lives at seven cents apiece, the price of one burlap sandbag. Polymer sandbags come even cheaper, at three cents per. Yet we can expect nothing else of substance from the anti-zionist/-semite hotheads of the Arab world. Massed bigots tend to reinforce each other. In the name of a decent world, reduce that mass.

[Hippikos]

and the Israelis start looking angelic.

Yeah right, even the US is now investigating the use of their cluster bombs by Israel in the latest phase of the war when talks of a cease fire was in the final stages. Which of course is the mother of hypocrisy, for what other purpose do you use cluster bombs as to harm the population?

Matthew 7:3 "And why do you look at the splinter in your brother's eye, and not notice the beam which is in your own eye?"

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Hippikos

Matthew 7:3 "And why do you look at the splinter in your brother's eye, and not notice the beam which is in your own eye?"

Because I can tell the difference between a splinter and a beam, and am able to discern which is in whose eye.

Which is more than I can say for some people.

[Hippikos]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

Because I can tell the difference between a splinter and a beam, and am able to discern which is in whose eye.

Which is more than I can say for some people.

I presume you refer to UG, who mentioned "angelic"?