Friday Ephemera (685)
The thrill of Scotland. || Snaking and mortar. || Interspecies teamwork gets results. || Today’s word is suboptimal. || Bus crash-testing. || Fly the skies in comfort. || He’s in a lesbian relationship. || He’s called Knickers, you know. || A machine’s dream of 1920s Star Trek. || “Dissipates heat, conforms to body.” || Feel free to discuss. || Why dogs don’t rule the Earth. || Good to know, I guess. || Today’s other word is gratitude. || Price-checking dispute. || Tap of note. || Parenting. || Please don’t eat my shoes. || Made of pencils. || It could, I dare say, use a woman’s touch. || Neighbourhood scenes. || An interview with Helen Joyce. || And finally, via Julia, the thrill of carrier bags.
Why, yes, I can be followed on Twitter.
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From the link:
I never watched Buffy, but I did see Serenity, and was put off by the conceit of a waifish 5’4″ girl killing many dozens of big berserker men. (Is this science fiction? Or a comic book fantasy for childish boys and girls?) Most of my
sfsci-fi fan acquaintances were not bothered and a large fraction of them saw nothing wrong with the push to recruit physically inadequate women for such demanding roles as police, firefighter, and the military. That such policies could have have downsides was angrily denied.Sir Robert Peel had strict standards for the muscularity of constables.
Wait, what? *counts*
If my math is correct, 54 years before Star Trek premiered on CBS, the Kaiser was head of state of a militant but as-yet peaceful German Empire, and 54 years after Star Trek went off the air was last month.
The USA Strategic Air Command, the biggest physical threat on the planet, ever, has as their motto “Peace Is Our Profession”.
I wrote “has”. I wonder, is it still?
Back in about 1970, when women were first becoming significant police officers on patrol, my father remarked that the function and benefit of a big, physically intimidating cop was to *deter violence by mere presence*.
You can see clearly in the “2 girls one guy” clip that he is absolutely unphased until the security guy shows up, at which point there’s a flash of “oh shit ima get punched In my face”.