The girl who opened wide and ate the world
Then took a bite of the moon
She said it did not taste
Like anything on the planet
The stars tickled her tongue
While she played marbles
With Mars and Saturn
She gave Jupiter a big kick
As if it were a football
Laughed as it bounced
Down the Milky Way
The galaxy was her playroom
She roamed far and wide
But always came home for a nap
While the majority of people around the world (demonstrably in the U.S., certainly here in Canada) now take a deep breath of relief that Trump has been defeated, quite a few columnists and pundits are wondering why it was so close. Trump’s campaign undoubtedly succeeded in energizing and growing his base (at least in terms of turnout). However, the same behaviours that fed the Trumpers also motivated, I believe, the other side to turn out and vote in record numbers. His flame-throwing performance in the first debate highlighted his petulance, his rudeness,, his ability to lie with abandon, and his inherent racist behavior. His super-spreading rallies were symptomatic of his disregard for science and common sense. Even his Covid infection, which led to his drug-aided, apparently superhuman recovery, were beacons of his arrogance and his administration’s incompetence. All of Trump’s perversity fueled the urgency of the vote and drove 75 million Americans to cast their ballot for Joe Biden. Certainly, it was not Biden’s steadily unsexy, make-no-mistake campaign that powered this charge.
Yet the question remains: What to make of the 70 million who voted for Trump? The common assumption was that Trump could not grow his base, and perhaps this was true. He did, though, convince a plethora of Americans to vote, who had not done so previously, and they voted for him. There is likely more than one answer to the question. The demonization of the Democratic party as socialist, or even communist, played a large part. While this is laughable in Canada (the U.S. Democratic party platform is far to the right to that of our Conservative party and even the so-called ‘far left’ in the U.S. is basically the Canadian norm), it played a significant role in the election. The mythology that freedom of the individual must come before collective rights is cemented deep within the American psyche, So it is not going to disappear anytime soon. The gun-toting segment of the Trump base is obviously reflective of that,
There is already speculation that Trump might run again in 2024, or that he will sit in a kinglike throne in Mar-O-Lago and control the Republican party from the perch. Either is possible, given the power of his numbers and the decrepit state of the GOP. So this era might not quite be over yet!
The novel Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher, is targeted at the Young Adult market, and tells the story of a teenage girl and her younger brother traversing a near future, dystopian country, namely the U.S.A itself. The book is founded on a clever twist that reverses the normal trope of Latino refugees navigating the terrors of South American violence to try and enter (illegally or not) the supposed safe zone of the U.S. In fact, the teenage hero of this story, Vali, is an illegal immigrant, having entered the country with her parents when she was just a young child. This is especially dangerous in the year 2032, with all citizens having had a chip embedded in their forearm, which is checked assiduously at various points in the day. Her brother Ernesto is legal, having been born in the U.S., which provides a counterexample to the counterfeit chips that Vali and her mother have.
The story begins with a bang, as Vali watches on video feed, another teenage girl attempt to enter the U.S. (which now has a real border wall and a Trump-like tyrant of a president) and gets blown up by a landmine. A riot ensues, which somehow precipitates the succession of California from the union. So begins the quest for sanctuary, as Cali, her mother and brother embark on a plan to get back to the new country of California. The mother is captured early on, leaving Vali with a map and instructions to find a Sister Luci in New York City. After a few harrowing days on the road, they somewhat miraculously locate the Sister, who is hiding refugees while running a church daycare. She is able to fund a coyote (another miracle) to take them to California.
Of course, all does not go well and easily on this trip. The writing breezes by for the most part, punctuated by the various calamities and tragedies besetting the group of refugees originally led by the coyote. Some of the peripheral characters, like Sister Luci and others, come off as placeholders for real people. The authors do a decent job of providing a realistic voice for Vali, the narrator. However, the entire story reads like a prequel for something larger, like a series that will engender a fight back against the dystopia, similar to the Hunger Games books. We shall see, I suppose.
President Trump whinged (using the English from England spelling as it is way more specific and cool) his way through the interview, then left in a presidential huff, There is little doubt that he was offended by being reminded that the size of his rallies are quite diminished from 2016.
Vice-President Pence was asked to defend his boss and all the slick politician could come up with is that “the President is a tough guy”.
Joe Biden talked about actual plans for the future, and had to deny, once again, that he will be a pushover for the radical left and will not implement Medicare For All and the Green New Deal. As if this is even possible in the bifurcated U.S. of A.
Kamala Harris laughed her way through the first part of her interview, fielding some predictable questions. When asked about the label that she is the “most liberal senator”, apparently usurping the crowns of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, she replies that she won’t be defined by a simple word. “Liberal” is such a denigrated word in the U.S., closely followed and trumped (so to speak) by “Socialist”, that it is impossible to have a rational discussion. The next question, queried by a scowling interviewer, is more ridiculous: “Are you bringing a more Liberal or even Socialist perspective to the White House?”. God Forbid! Kamala responds that she has grown up with the perspective of a brown and black girl raised by a single mother who immigrated from India, of someone who became a prosecutor, then California Attorney General, then the first female woman of colour to be elected to the U.S. Senate. These are her talking points sure, but they do need to be repeated to the wider audience. Meanwhile, the interviewer stares back with a deer-in-the-headlights expression.
This week’s Saturday Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper (in my opinion), dedicated its Opinion section to the U.S. election (with some exceptions, as you shall see). I could not resist the temptation to comment, given that its columnists, for the most part, appear to the left of CNN’s most vociferous ranters.
The Lord of the Star & Stripes
The front page is devoted to a piece penned by Adam Gopnik (born in Canada, a citizen of the world), a novelist and writer for the New Yorker (among other things, no doubt). In this somewhat hyperbolic essay, Gopnik posits the election as an instance of the age-old battle between good and evil (no less), casting Donald J. Trump as Sauron, and Joe Biden as Aragorn (or Frodo perhaps?). In a theme that runs throughout the section, he projects it as the most consequential election since that of Abraham Lincoln during the civil war. This article is all Biden all the way!
Parliamentary Blackmail?
For a change of pace, Andrew Coyne’s article is focused on Canadian politics, specifically how the Trudeau government is “making a mockery of our parliamentary democracy”. In short, it examines the Liberals’ declaration that an opposition (Conservative) motion to create a committee to investigate government corruption in the WE scandal was a “matter of confidence”. In other words, a NO vote would dissolve the minority government and force an election. While not quite as exaggerated as Gopnik’s argument, Coyne claims that this was an act of extortion, forcing the other major opposition party (NDP) to either prop up the government or take the blame for precipitating an election during a pandemic. Given that this type of negotiation is a matter of course for minority governments in a parliamentary system, it is difficult to lay much credence to this contention. The crux of his argument is that the Liberals cannot make a ‘simple’ vote to create a committee into a matter of confidence. Why not extend this to all votes then? Yet, it is a stretch to think that the NDP would not clue into this strategy quite quickly, like right away, one would think. Moreover, later in the article, Coyne makes the argument that the Prime Minister’s original action was an ethical breach that has necessitated a coverup of the underlying corruption. Either the contention is that the government is corrupt is what is at stake here or it is not. Coyne cannot have it both ways.
What’s up, Toobin?
Elizabeth Renzetti’s column on the misery that is Jeffrey Toobin (another New Yorker writer and esteemed CNN commentator) and his colossal lack of judgement. Once one gets passed wondering what in the world he was thinking (well, i guess we know more or less what but not why?) by engaging in an act of self-gratification while on a zoom call with fellow writers and intellectuals, and how did he manage to get himself accidentally caught out. Despite the evident opportunity for black humour, in the end it is just another sad example of males acting out without regard for other people. And now, is it possible to watch those news network talking heads and wonder what is going on beyond the surface?
The U.S. Election - What’s at Stake
This next section comments on the various major issues of the election, each by a different contributor.
The Pandemic
Matt McCarthy rightly focuses on the issue of mask-wearing, given that it has the potential to reverse the terrible upward trajectory in the infection rate that the U.S. is currently traversing. President Trump has politicized the matter, projecting the notion that mask wearing is for wimps and cowards (and of course Democrats). The writer recalls that science got it wrong at first, calling for the general public to avoid masks for various reasons (avoid shortages, unlikely to help, etc.). However, when the experts reversed this stand, Trump and his minions did not follow. In fact, Trump is constantly referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s original statement to not wear masks as confirmation of his position, despite the fact that Dr. Fauci repeats the necessity to wear them at every opportunity. Biden’s stance is the polar opposite, following the scientist recommendations to the letter. This is unlikely to be a wedge issue between the two already polarized sides in the election.
Racial Justice
Mychal Denszel Smith recalls that Trump’s pitch to non-wihite voters in 2016 was basically “What do you have to lose?”, implicitly implying that the Democrats have taken that voting segment for granted. Since then, Trump has upped the ante from birther conspiracy and labelling Mexicans as rapists and murderers to encouraging white supremacist vigilante groups and condemning left-leaning protesters as rioters, thugs and antifa insurgents. The writer correctly points that Biden has a checkered history with racial issues, as Kamala Harris aptly pointed out in one of the Democratic debates. Yet, with the act of picking Ms. Harris as his vice-presidential candidate, Biden has hopefully added an extra incentive for Blacks to vote in greater numbers than they did in 2016.
The Environment
Catherine Coleman Flowers uses almost her entire article to rail about the issue of sewage in poorer areas of the South, where inferior funding of infrastructure allows backflow in homes - which is especially problematic in the era of COVID-19. While this problem is no doubt serious, it really feels more a symptom of the inadequacies of racial justice in the U.S. (it reminds one of the lead in the water fiasco in Flint, Michigan) than environmental. The larger issues of climate change and the demolition of the EPA are only mentioned in passing, while fracking and the future of the oil and gas industry is ignored completely - the one issue that perhaps might be moving voters into the Trump camp.
The Economy
Jeffrey D. Sachs’ article is a diatribe against Trump’s precious economy, labelling it a fraud from the get-go, based on an unsustainable supply of Fed money into the consumer market and immoral tax cuts for corporations and the one percent. And then the economy tanked, propelled into oblivion by an alternately mismanaged and ignored pandemic. While Trump's base won’t believe a word of this, Biden at least offers a sort of sane way forward.
Health Care
Ezekiel J, Emanuel gets right to the crux of the healthcare crisis in the U.S., itemizing issues such as the missing (10% of the population) and tenuous (lost jobs, pre-existing conditions) medical insurance, high costs for services and drugs, and racial disparities. Trump and the Republicans tout their vapour-ware plan, while plotting to eliminate the ACA via a backdoor Supreme Court ruling. Biden, on the other hand, has to fend off accusations that he will capitulate to the left and institute socialized Medicare For All (the horror!) on an unsuspecting America. Stay tuned for the next installment of “How the Health Care Boondoggle Turns”.
Diplomacy
Kim Ghattas has an easy job chronically the Trump era of (non)diplomacy, pulling out of the Paris accord and the Iran treaty, bashing the WHO during a pandemic, cozying up to dictators, denigrating allies and basically plummeting the worldwide reputation of the U.S. into something resembling the emperor’s new suit. She even compares Trump unfavorably to Geroge W Bush, but fails to mention that he has also blown up the state department personnel and rendered the Secretary of State position into a revolving door spinning in circles. Somewhat unbelievably, the writer gives Trump credit for not starting any new wars, threatening NATO dissolution to get more money, and giving a “blank cheque to Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad Bin Salman”. He has gotten some new peace agreements for Israel in the Middle East, but I am sure the full story on those negotiations will be interesting reading one day. For sure, four more years of Trump will bring more of the same and worse, while Biden promises to return America to its former standing (if that’s even possible). The question is: does anyone care?
The Culture Wars
In an already divided country, President Trump has pummeled the Twitter-verse with racist proclamations and countless lies, feeding his base the sugar to soothe their aggrieved wihite privilege and cleaving the U.S. into ever siloed partisan camps, like Moses parting the Red Sea. In an uninspired article, Phoebe Maltz Bovy notes lamely that the worse Trump behaves, the better he does (with his base), and that if he loses to the milk-toast, apple pie Biden, the base will be resentful (to say the least). She fails (badly) to mention the potential for outright violence that hangs in the air surrounding this election.
Canada-U.S. Relations
Of all the topics covered, this is definitely the one that will have the least impact south of the border. But this is a Canadian newspaper, and so Roland Paris has his assignment. Trump consumed better than a year of Canadian politics with the negotiations on the deal to replace NAFTA, to end up with an agreement only vaguely different. Amidst the threats, insults and sanctions, Canada emerged relatively unscathed, Four more years of Trump promises more turmoil on the global stage, while Biden is campaigning with a “Buy America” bent to his economic plan. Neither will be great for Canada. Surprisingly, Mr. Paris barely mentions the ‘bullying by China’ (e.g. two innocent Canadians imprisoned as political capital), and does not even broach the role that the U.S. played in precipitating the arrest and pending extradition of Huawei's deputy chair and CFO Meng Wanzhou.
National Security
In the only article written by a Republican (having worked under the George W. Bush administration), William Imboden posits a series of questions but never ventures any answers. He paints a ‘grim picture’ of the international landscape facing the next president, but loses all credibility when he quotes, seemingly unsarcastically, Donald Rumsfled’s unforgettably surreal “unknown unknowns”. Enough said!
Reproductive Rights
Lyz Lenz’s gloomy article depicts a country where, state by state, a woman's rights over her own body are on a downward spiral to nothingness. Now-confirmed Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is another firm nail in the coffin. Four more years of Trump, she posits, will dig the grave and bury Roe vs. Wade in that tomb for the foreseeable future. The only (faint) hope is that a Biden win will enable a legislative fix this morass of male privilege and evangelical bias. This, like so much else, depends on the Democrats winning the Senate and more importantly,, holding onto it for more than a couple of years.
Privilege, as it used and understood in the present day social context, continues to be a loaded term. The concept is denied and ridiculed by some as political correctness. Others accept its relevance to the problems inherent in our present day miseries. I will attempt to explicate privilege as I understand it.
There is White Privilege, which invariably presents itself for causcasians as an unconscious (or conscious) belief that their rights and needs will be (and should be) satisfied above all. A useful example of this is illustrated by some common “white” responses to the slogan “Black Lives Matter”. One goes “All Lives Matter”. But what is meant by repeating this tautology? The speaker is obviously convinced of his own right to life, and assumes that everyone feels this way for all people. Black people don’t necessarily agree, given the rampant and systemic racism that permeates western cultural and social structures. It is impossible to argue that non-whites are adequately represented in government, entertainment and corporate power structures, or that they do not face racist views in the criminal justice systems, hiring practices, public education, medical care and housing. So it is easy to see why they would believe themselves under-valued, to put it all too mildly.
The second common refrain to the Back movement is that black-on-black violence is more prevalent, and implicitly shows that blacks are responsible for their own plight. For some reason, the issue of white-on-white violence (which obviously dwarfs that of police killings of white people) is never raised. The underlying causes of any social violence and criminal behaviours is simply ignored, echoing the concerns of the previous paragraph.
There is Male Privilege, which is understood as the belief that males should be the dominant power in western society. After all, it has always been so, starting with the caveman (or so the mythology goes). Power goes to the strongest. As with anyone designated in positions of power, the tendency then will be to do what is necessary to retain the privileges (since they are what must be). There are many levels of this privilege. Males in actual power positions use and abuse it at their whim, usually at the expense of females (although not exclusively so). The institution of marriage was, in the relatively recent past, as a form of ownership. The advent of suffragism and thence feminism made substantial inroads in chipping away at this hegemony, but also gave rise to a backlash.
Men are apparently being replaced in the workplace, from the rightful place as head of the family. In fact, it is more apparent that some proportion of men are failing to change with the evolving economic conditions, unable to recognize the value of post-secondary education. “Real Men’ movements and the pathetic Incel tribalism can be traced back to this feeling of supposed emasculation, even though it is clear that Male Privilege is far from extinguished in most cultures. The #MeToo movement is incontrovertible evidence of that.
Finally, there is the Privilege of Wealth (synonymous with class in western culture), and not just the ultra-rich who can jet away to private islands at the first sign of a pandemic. The upper middle class live comfortably in the enclaves, sheltered from the realities and struggles of poverty, lack of proper health care and shelter, etc. The divide between rich and poor is stark and ever growing.
It is essential that people begin the process of acknowledging the predominant role that privilege plays in our societies. It is not enough to proclaim colour blindness or a belief in the equality of all. There needs to be a deeper recognition that the horrific injustices of the past, slavery and genocide and apartheid to name but a few, continue to haunt our institutions and laws. There must be a reckoning with this legacy, and a concerted, continual effort to revamp our inherited biases. It is difficult to see, in the midst of a messy present replete with populist demagogues exploiting prejudice for their own gain, that there has been a slow yet unsteady progress towards better social norms over the past centuries. Hopefully, this will not be undone in the next decades, as mankind faces perhaps its greatest challenges (pandemics, economic upheaval, climate change, the rise of oligarchs and dictators) in a millenia.
The Last Dance, viewed on Netflix, is a documentary series on the final year (1998) of Michael Jordan’s career as a basketball player on the Chicago Bulls. The producers were given extraordinary access to the Bulls’ team goings-on during this period. From what I had heard or read, it supposedly contained some controversial material, especially relating to MJ’s bullying of his teammates. In the end, however, I conclude that this was simply an example of a hyper-competitive, exceptionally talented athlete driving both himself and his teammates to the heights of success.
The series begins well, with the first few episodes delving into the personalities of MJ, Scottie Pippen and the ever-mercurial Denis Rodman. After that, however, it devolves into a more standard sports documentary, ping-ponging back and forth between 1998 and the historical evolution of MJ's basketball prowess. There are some interesting tidbits on Micheal’s upbringing, his battles with this older brother (definitely a harbinger of competitiveness) and his college career. And way too many MJ highlights, which tend to blur into a compendium of acrobatic dunks and final second jump shots swishing through the hoop.
As mentioned, there were some controversies along the way. A trip to Atlantic City with his father, on eve of a pivotal playoff game with the New York Knicks, was conflated into a late night gambling spree. The later tragedy of the murder of MJ’s father was then driven into the murky depths of conspiracy theory around his gambling habits (which were never shown to be of any real consequence for someone some wealthy). For a more humorous take on things, Rodman’s mini-vacation to Las Vegas and another sojourn with the WWF and Hulk Hogan provide some respite to the basketball replays.
Another episode focuses on coach Phil Jackson, which falls a bit flat, and subsequent takes with Phil Kerr are rather boring as well. Then there is the interlude after the Bulls’ first three-peat championships of MJ’s flirtation with baseball, which comes to a sad end with the strike and lockout of the players. In the series, it is intimated that Michael would have (could have) made it to the majors, but that is not what I recall hearing at the time.
Finally, after ten long episodes, we get the end of 1998 and the second successful three-peat championship. And I remembered the reasons I stopped watching basketball after the retirement of Dr. J.
The Boys, an Apple TV series, is another series based on an original comic book. It is the story of the Seven, an anti-anti-anti-hero band that lampoons the DC Comic and Marvel superhero collectivities. At first, I was distrubed by the name of the series, There are, after all, two women characters in the Seven. However, I quickly realized that the focus will be the boys behaving badly, very badly. First, of course, in basically the opening scene of the first episode, A-Train runs through (at supersonic speed) and obliterates a woman standing just off the sidewalk. Her boyfriend, Hughie Campbell, is left literally holding her hands, severed from her fromer body. Next, just as a new super, a sweet and innocent Starlight (aka Annie January), is introduced, another ‘boy’ of the Seven, the Deep, performs a Harvey Weinstein on her. And of course, then there is Translucent, a super with the ability to become invisible, who has obviously perfected the art of the Peeping Tom. From this first episode, it is evident that one must be prepared for the darkest, blackest humour since the advent of Breaking Bad.
The season gradually turns into a conflict between the supers and a vigilante group led by Billy Butcher, who is bent on reeking vengeance on Homelander (the duplicitous leader of the Seven) for the rape and subsequent disappearance of his wife. Butcher recruits Hughie into the effort, along with former acquaintances Frenchie and Marvin (Mother’s) Milk. They capture Translucent (who had been spying on them), and Hughie eventually kills him (in another glorious rupture of pseudo-human flesh) by exploding an explosive embedded within his body (to avoid the problem of how to puncture Translucent’s impenetrable carbon fiber skin).
In a tangent plot line, Hughie meets, by chance, Annie on a park bench and there is the beginning of what will become a relationship. As Starlight, Annie is booked at an evangelical festival, which enables another plan of Buther’s. As such, Hughie’s descent from a decent, slightly cowardly man to a more confident person (e.g. killer of decadent supers) and blackmailer of the evil Ezekial (the secretly gay leader of the aforementioned Christian cult) continues to play out. This leads to the discovery of a pipeline for Compound-V (not to be confused with Compound-W, a real-life treatment for removing warts). The vigilantes had previously discovered that both A-Train and his secret super girlfriend, Popclaw, were mainlining this drug like it’s heroin.
The trail of Compound-V gets ever more complicated, as the team finds an imprisoned asian woman who has been forcibly injected and turned into a super. Even worse, it is uncovered that Compound-V is the very origin of the supers, having been used to secretly infect random babies across America and create the mutants. And it is all the plot of the giant corporate entity, Voight, that is driving this conspiracy. Voight is also endeavouring to have the Seven enlisted into the armed forces of the U.S., no doubt to increase their profits even more. A failed rescue by Homelander of a hijacked airplane flight that results in many dead passengers (cue another coincidence to Breaking Bad) is then turned into a public relations coup by a stunning turn of hypocrisy and malevolence by Highlander.
It is then revealed that the ultimate plan is to introduce another wildcard into play, namely creating terrorist enenieswith super capabilities. Surprisingly, it is Homelander (and not Voight) that orchestrated this stratagem. It is increasingly clear that Homelander is veering out of control. Starlight, meanwhile, definitely feels betrayed by Hughie’s lies and the fact that it was her mother that agreed to dosing her with Compound-V as a baby. She does, ultimately, come around and ends up rescuing the vigilante crew (minus Butcher) who had been captured. This sets up a showdown with A-Train, which is conveniently ended by an apparent A-Train heart attack (no doubt brought along by over abuse of Compound-V.
The final scene of the first season features Butcher taking the Voight handler of Homelander hostage, decking her out with explosives, in a futile attempt to wound the super. Yet, in a final twist, Homelander has discovered that the handler (with whom he has a rather sick, almost mother-son infatuation) has lied to him, about a son that supposedly died in childbirth. The son is alive, and as Butcher also learns, the mother is Butcher’s presumed dead wife who is still alive and well. All of the twists and turns of the series does take away from the intended sarcasm and satire upon which it is founded.
The Boy in the Field by Margot Livesy is a novel that is ostensibly a mystery about a boy discovered in a field (duh!) by three siblings. He has been stabbed and appears unconscious. The story is told from the revolving viewpoints of the siblings, Matthew (18 years old), Zoe (about to turn 16), and Duncan (12), and is really more about the impact the discovery has on their maturing lives. Matthew is the most interested in finding the assailant, occasionally calling on the police detective assigned the case, amidst the soap-opera-link turmoil of his latest romance. Zoe is a somewhat prototypical teenage girl, rejecting boys her own age, dreaming of a soulmate, though her imagined out-of-body experiences are probably a little unusual. Duncan is a sensitive boy, an artist forever sketching and painting. He was adopted as a baby, and for some reason, the boy in the field triggers a longing to find his birth mother - just to talk to her once, he explains to his mother.
The parents are unaware of the impact the discovery has had on their children. The mother seems obsessed with learning ancient Greek, and the father, more dangerously, is engaged in an affair with another woman. The children also find out about the affair, and wonder what it will mean for the future of their family. Matthew gets embroiled in a search for the perpetrator of the assault by the victim’s brother, Tomas, who is also a pseudo-suspect in the case. The victim, Karel, is now recovered, but remains afraid of his older sibling. It turns out Karel was threatened by his brother in the past, who was jealous about the attention his fiance was doling out. Matthew and Tomas embark on an amateurish canvassing of the neighbourhood, looking for the attacker and his car. Zoe has set her sights on a twenty-something man she meets in the city of Oxford, and despite not knowing his name or much about him, manages to run into him two additional times and successfully carry out a seduction in an inimitable, coquettish fashion. It was definitely somewhat uncomfortable to follow this burgeoning relationship, one that in my opinion comes dangerously too close to forbidden. Perhaps the thinking in Europe is more relaxed, though Zoe is careful to keep it hidden from her parents and siblings.
With his parents’ support and help, Duncan begins a search for his birth mother, All in the family wonder what the long term impact will be. They only know her name, but since it is Turkish, they find there are not many matches in the London phonebook. Of course, on the second-two-last phone call, the birth mother is found. Duncan speaks to her, and the reader is relieved to find that she is quite nice, not needy or angry, and posits a non-invasive follow up. This is definitely a novel which will not end badly.
Disappointingly, the Karel’s mystery assailant is identified and arrested by virtue of a coincidental car-scooter accident involving one of Zoe’s ex-boyfriends. The automobile turns out to be the very same one that picked up the hitchhiking Karel. The assault, in turns out, was not sexual, but simply a panicked reaction of a confused, lonely man. Now that this is resolved, attention returns to the daily dramas being played out. Zoe discovers her new beau is having another affair with a married woman. He goes off for a weekend with her, leaving Zoe to ponder if this is the end. Meanwhile, Duncan overhears a conversation between his father and his mistress, in which she informs him of her surprise pregnancy. In the final scene of the novel, set at a community party, Duncan meets with his birth mother and Zoe’s man shows up at the last second.
The remaining plot threads, such as they are, are mostly closed in an epilogue depicting a family reunion sixteen years later. The event is Duncan’s graduate show, where he is displaying six paintings he has worked painstakingly on. Matthew arrives from London, where he is a financial analyst, no detective badge in sight, though the apparent plan is to make money for ten years, then retire to an occupation he really wants to follow. Zoe returns alone from the U.S. where she is living with Rufus and going to school. She is sensing that the relationship is finally coming to an end.
Two years earlier, they had been informed that Karel had committed suicide, an outcome that he had hinted at in his few words of dialogue. Matthew is the first to voice his thought that Duncan’s paintings are in some way representative of “the boy in the field”. The paintings themselves are barely described, a swatch of colour here or there, but one senses that they are abstract.
The parents arrive, and the reader is filled in on the outcome of the affair and pregnancy. The two have reconciled and the father’s new daughter is part of their life. Once again, all is resolved a little too neatly.
All in all, this was a very well written and enjoyable piece of writing. Okay, a bit too much soap opera, and the focus on sexual desire as a plot driver was ever present. However, it was appreciated that the author did not attempt to describe anything explicit.
The reader is left with one unanswered mystery. Karel said one word while semi-unconscious in the field, and each of the siblings heard something different.
“Coward” - does this propel Matthew into his erstwhile detection gigi?
“Cowrie” (sea shell) - the word implies protection, perhaps goading the rebellious Zoe in the opposite direction.
“Cowslip” (a flower) - is Duncan just looking for beauty as always?
A curated selection of headlines from the New York Times Sunday Edition Front Page:
Swarming For Favors In a Swamp Trump Built
Far from draining the swamp, Trump has added a foundation and constructed condos. Using his resorts and hotels as a base, he invites the multitude of well-heeled businessmen, wannabes and hangers-on and charges them an ever rising initiation fee to join the ‘membership’. With this new revenue stream, in addition to the additional hotel and banquet fees, Trump has perhaps launched his first ever profitable business.
National Divisions Tear a Hole In a Small Town’s Civil Politics
The politics of divisiveness and racism come to small town America. Historically, the elections for mayor of Montevallo, Alabama have been civil, non-partisan affairs. No more. The town of 6,674 people just endured a campaign filled with innuendo, outright lies, and poll-watching dirty tricks. Ms Joyce Jones, a black female candidate running for mayor, made a seemingly innocuous statement to “consider adding social programs to help the town to not just respond to crime, but to prevent it too”. The next morning, social media was overflowing with claims that she had just promised to “Defund the Police” as part of her “Hidden Liberal Agenda”. Despite repeated denials of this, these unfounded accusations never died down. Later in the campaign, an image of a twenty-year-old “bad check” that Ms. Jones had inadvertently passed, surfaced, and flooded social media. The opposing candidate, of course, denied all knowledge of the image’s origin. Finally, on election, poll watchers for the opposition (a first for the town) systematically denied voting to any Black voter wearing any visible item for support for Ms. Jones (this included both her mother and 98 year old grandmother). No white voters wearing similar items were blocked.
One does not need to be prescient to see what is coming on November 3.
Fertile Ground: QAnon Thrives With Germans
This is perhaps the most disturbing article of the day. The QAnon conspiracy theories are globalizing, catching on not only with the far right ideological groups, but with anti-vaxxers, pandemic deniers and other fringe thinkers. The popularity of this crazy mishmash of outlandish hoax and outright paranoia defies explanation. One is forced to realize that the world is losing its collective ability to think rationally. The future certainly portends to interesting times.
The Social Dilemma, the Netflix documentary on the mushrooming problems caused by the various social networking platforms and their use of artificial intelligence (AI) to grow, consolidate and basically control their user base. The movie itself invokes a powerful approach to illustrate the issues, primarily by interviewing some of the major players in the tech industry. These software developers, for the most part white, male and in their 20’s when the social networking software was being created, have realized that these offerings have taken a Frankenstein-like pattern of exponential growth and unintended consequence. There are, of course, many problems engendered by the unfettered evolution of the internet, its many tentacles invading all parts of modern life. It has engendered some new and different forms of harm, from viruses, phishing, doxing, industrial espionage and DDOSing, never mind its contributions to video game and porn addiction, the promulgation of misogyny and racial hatred, and on and on. This documentary does not address all of this, focusing specifically on the rise of the social networking platforms.
The movie promulgates Tristan Harris, a former Design Ethicist at Google, as a focal point. He was involved in the design of Google’s Gmail product, and at the time began to wonder why there was never any discussion on the ethics of creating a product with the ability to addict its consumer base, a difficulty Tristan was personally experiencing. He attempted to start such an internal debate, but it went nowhere. As such, Tristan eventually quit Google and subsequently founded an organization called the Center for Humane Society, which he is using as a pulpit to deliver information on these issues and some proposed solutions.
The documentary first centers its attention on the issue of phone addiction for both pre-teens and teenagers, which is driven by the notifications, likes, pings and messaging most favoured by the social networking platforms. In one intense dramatization, a mother attempts to lock away her children’s phones in a glass safe, in order to have one uninterrupted meal. Her pre-teen ends up breaking the glass to retrieve her phone. Alarming statistics on the rise of self-harm and suicide among pre-teens and teens show a disconcerting correlation with the advent of smart phones and social networks. Cyber-bullying is also briefly touched upon, conveying the ease upon which the self-esteem of the vulnerable pre-teen cohort can be affected.
Teenagers are susceptible to the same phenomena, given their need to fit in and form relationships with their peers. Unfortunately, it appears that social networking is actually reducing the quantity and quality of real-world connections, in favour of virtual ones. The movie delves, via an effective simulation, into how the AI algorithms work to maximise the time that its users spend on the platform. Using data compiled from every click and view, the software attempts to find the correct mix of offerings, often by trial and error, that will continue to engage the hapless user’s interest. And the AI learns from every interaction, it gets better and better with time. The reason for this is clear; the platforms are selling the user’s attention to the advertisers’ highest bidder - this is how the social networks monetize! What’s more, as one developer Jaron Lanier (famed as the father of virtual reality software) proclaims, what is actually being sold is the ability to shift behavior, in tiny imperceptible increments, without the user actually being aware of it.
It is the data that the tech companies collect and analyze, that feeds the hungry intelligence of the software algorithms. It is harvested and stored and managed and monetized, simply because no one told the tech companies that it could not or should not be done. After all, the data should actually be the property of the user who generated it. Is there any valid reason from the users’ point of view that Google stores the history of every search string, that all the platforms offer free applications and gigabytes of email storage. The answer is no, there is no real benefit to the user other than lazy convenience. The data is priceless, not because it is being sold, but because it is used to manipulate.
The solution is therefore obvious; the tech companies need to be regulated such that user data belongs to the user and cannot be accessed by the software for any purpose. Users can keep their data or send it straight to oblivion, where it belongs. If that means we will be required to return to a business model where we have to pay for software, so be it.
Another equally problematic issue is being exacerbated by the AI algorithms, one that is leading the world headlong into an abyss of non-truth, societal discord, and perhaps the end of democratic civilization as we know it. In a perfect illustration, the documentary asks us to imagine a version of Wikipedia that is customized to each user, that doles out ‘facts’ based on a person’s preferences, online history and worldview. This is exactly what Facebook and YouTube feeds are doing, searching for rabbit holes for its users to dive into and spend ever more time on the platform. The AI software has not been programmed with any sense of morality or right and wrong, of what is true or not. It is simply and ever so efficiently learning what attracts the mind of the person at its mercy. Social media plays a pivotal role in enabling a grouping and recruitment by political ideology, by racial or gender or sexual identity. Of course, there are other forces in the world that are also contributing to and profiting from a siloed society. Cable news shows are a prime example, aided by politicians who do not let facts get in the way of their quest for power.
The solution to this problem does not seem obvious. It is impossible to regulate the ‘truth’. But it does not need to be, at least in terms of AI. If the software is not allowed to harvest user data, it will not be able lead its users into further realms of controversy. Perhaps this may happen anyway. But at least this would be a human problem that can be solved by the human abilities to think logically, to reason out and understand other points of view, to compromise and find a better path to the future.
The Space Between Worlds, a novel by Micaiah Johnson, is certainly an imaginative piece of soft science fiction. This work of fiction posits a world in which a scientist has discovered a mechanism where the multiverse can be explored and exploited. Specifically, the 350 or so universes that are close in frequency (whatever that means) to that of the home planet can be accessed. The hero of the novel, Cara, is an explorer who visits these other worlds. She has been chosen for this role, since her counterparts in the other universes are dead. Because the catch to all this is that an explorer cannot visit a planet where he/she is still alive. Eventually, the reader discovers that Cara is actually from one of the other universes, who replaces the original when she was killed on her first voyage.
Most of the novel is actually an examination of the sometimes subtle and not-so-subtle differences in the characters that inhabit each universe. As such, there is little plot or action throughout, just a lot of psychological meandering through the personality and motivations of various characters. Since these characters are all variants of one another, it is a lot for the reader to follow. In addition, this world is starkly divided into two cities, one rich and comfortable, the other poor and struggling to survive. The impoverished people are primarily dependent on the resources (a surprisingly unimaginative reference to fossil fuels) being stolen for the other worlds. .
In the end, it turns out the scientist is the evil villain of the tale, killing off his doppelgangers to ensure a monopoly. He is also the brother of the poor city’s emperor, which elicits another complicated backstory. When Cara’s mentor is killed by the scientist, Cara elicits the aid of the emperor to set up the destruction of his erstwhile brother. So the end of the novel turns into a (relatively) action-packed suspense, as if the author had read a little too much Neal Stephenson. And if this was not enough, the novel also purports to be a long unrequited (but finally realized) love story between Cara and her rich colleague who was responsible for guiding her through the voyages. Perhaps a bit too much ending for a story that took way to long to unfold.
The Umbrella Academy is a television series, developed by Netflix, based on a comic book of the same name. It has no doubt followed on the wake of the success of the Walking Dead series, as well as the plethora of comic hero movies. It tells the story of a superhero family, fabricated by a father, Reginald Hargeaves, who adopts (more like purchases) seven children who were born on the same day, from mothers who had no symptoms of pregnancy beforehand. The first season (of two so far) lays out the beginnings of this erstwhile family in sporadic flashbacks, focusing primarily on the training and their various exploits in foiling crimes. It also depicts the reasons underlying the dysfunctionality of the children, as Reginald gives them no emotional support at all, not even naming them - they are referred solely by numbers 1 through 7. Only the father’s helper, a talking, erudite monkey named Pogo is at all sympathetic. The family is later joined by a robotic female, whom the children adopt as ‘Mother’.
Perusing the internet, I noticed that the TV series was somewhat modified from the comic book, in ways that make it seem less comic-booky, which is a good thing. Much of the violence, though prevalent enough even for those with more extreme taste for gory action, falls on the silly side. The main plot of the series is driven by #5 (the only sibling without a self assigned name), who has returned from being trapped in an apocalyptic future to warn of the impending end of humanity. The fact that #5 returns as a 13 year old boy, dressed in a school uniform blazer and shorts (which he never changes throughout), only adds to the surreality. The two arch villains, Hazel and Cha-Cha, sent to assassinate #5 complement the tone, with their congenial and continual conflict with each other, and their penchant for wearing childish masks when spewing bullets in public. Hazel is the more sympathetic character, always musing that he wants to retire from the assassin business, especially as he develops a romance with a donut shop waitress. Cha-Cha is definitely more dedicated to her mission, with a vulgar tongue that provided the major turn-off (for me) in the series.
Of course, each of the Umbrella Academy kids has a backstory to explore. Luther (#1) is just back from exile on the moon, having been inadvertently mutated into a half ape. Diego (#2) is acting out his juvenile impulses as a solo vigilante crime fighter, equipped with his super knife throwing abilities. Allison (#3) is a world famous actress, estranged from her ex-husband and daughter because she could not control her own power, the ability to compel actions by whispering a command prefaced by “I heard a rumour that…”. Klaus (#4) is a prototypical addict, having never come to terms with his power to commune with the dead. Ben (#6) is dead (of an unspecified reason and time) and can only be seen and communicate with Klaus, although he has aged along the rest). Vanya (#7) seemingly has no powers, and was ostracized by the other kids as a result, which has caused a lack of confidence in herself and, no doubt, a buried anger at her other siblings. This, obviously, will become the major plot catalyst when her actual and superior powers emerge.
A couple of characters have been added to the series, basically to add more coherence to the plot. The mysterious Commision, which is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the timeline, is represented by the Handler, portrayed by a woman who wears ostentatious clothes and recruits #5 (in the future timeline) to be a company assassin. Leonard Peabody / Harold Jenkins is the catalyst for Vanya’s realisation of her buried powers, by pretending to be a violin student in his Leonard assumed identity and coming into possession of Reginald’s notebook (courtesy of Klaus’ klepto-junkie act) which details how Vanya’s abilities were suppressed. Harold Jenkins is primed for revenge against the family, having been rejected from joining the Academy by Reginald when he was an already obsessed child. All of these plot maneuvers come to a head, as #5 and his siblings fight (more or less) to foil the apocalypse, even as they gradually realize that Vanya herself will be the cause. Their inevitable failure (can you really avoid predestination?) is not the end, however, as #5 sends the family careening into the past to avoid the desolation, and of course, make season two possible!
The second season of Umbrella Academy is definitely a letdown compared to the first. First, the Hargreaves all land in the past in separate times, though all in in Dallas in a year or two before Kennedy’s assassination. So the first few episodes play out with each hero navigating this unforeseen past/present, with little connection to each other. The Kennedy subplot also adds little, especially given that the target audience likely knows little about this historical event, and the show does nothing to add any explanation. Second, the featured Commission assassins are a trio of Swedish brothers who say little and certainly add little of interest to the proceedings. Third, the Academy siblings are again fighting to avoid another apocalypse, although this one is a really contrived nuclear war brought on by Vanya’s (of course) accidental enhancement to the Kennedy death.
Finally, there is an unanswered riddle that plagues this viewer. Where is Reginald Hargreaves from exactly (another planet it seems) and what is he? In the original flashback to his origin, both he and his lover seem human, but this is definitely overthrown in the conclusion to season two.
I'm not much for reading memoirs, but this one piqued my interest for personal reasons. The author's story is tremendously inspirational; Sara Seager is truly a superwoman in my eyes. Her superpowers: an incredible, genius-level intellect, complemented by strength, fortitude and persistence that I can only imagine. Sara's brains carry her to the heights of her field, Astrophysics, overcoming the barriers forged by a male-dominated profession. Her body transports her on canoe trips into the wilds of northern Canada, not to mention (mostly) single motherhood of two boys. And her spirit allows her to overcome the tremendous tragedies that punctuate her life.
The prose of the memoir is well-written, occasionally soaring when Sara comtemplates the beauty and complexity of her work with the stars. It can also be brutally honest, as when discussing the moral and technical deficiencies of the medical professions, especially some of the doctors. Sara knows what dedication consists, of not thoroughly investigating any unknown, of not being the best in class. She finds the doctors lacking in all regards.
The writing sometimes falters, in my opinion, when trying to explain or elucidate the complexity of her emotions and relationships, although the passages regarding the Widows of Concord are rewarding. All in all, this memoir is well worth the read.
The TV series Picard continues the story of Jean-Luc Picard, former captain of the ever-famous Starship Enterprise, as depicted in the series Star Trek: Next Generation (STNG). The character name always triggers a long ago memory of a phone call from a new francophone colleague at work. This was in the wayback days before call display when one did not know who was calling. Anyway, he introduced himself, and to my very Anglo ears, I understood, "Jean-Luc Picard". What a coincidence, I thought, so I immediately said, "So you're the captain". He was confused as his name was actually Jean-Luc Diccaire and I can't recall if he had even ever heard of Picard and Star Trek. After a few minutes, it was sorted out and all was well, but I was required to call him captain from then on.
The series Picard features a nonagenarian Jean-Luc, who is a retired Star Fleet admiral, living on a futuristic vineyard in France. The character is of course portrayed by Patrick Stewart, who went on to more fame after STNG as the wheelchair-bound mentalist in the X-Men movies. Picard was basically forced to resign when the Star Trek administration denied his ultimatum to continue aiding the Romulan refugee process after the human colony on Mars is attacked and destroyed by a band of synthetics. This backstory is rather pedantically explained to the viewer in flashbacks - synthetics have been banned so there is not enough resources to continue helping the Romulans - although one suspects that some in Star Fleet never wanted to help the Romulans at all.
Picard learned this new while at a refugee camp, visiting an enclave of female Romulan ninjas (don't ask). They are caring for a young boy who Picard has promised to find a more appropriate home. This vow is never fulfilled - more on this later.
Back in the present future, the meat of the storyline commences. A young human (we think) scientist, Dahj, is enjoying a glass of wine with her boyfriend, celebrating her acceptance into a Star Trek cybernetics program. Suddenly, a team of soldiers pop (beam) in, kill the boyfriend and attempt to subdue the woman. "Be careful, don't activate her", one of the soldiers says. Oops, too late. She goes all super-duper fast and strong, and kills all the soldiers. Then mutters to herself, "What just happened?".
Seconds later (or so it appears in the magic of screen time), Dahj visits Picard's vineyard. She was driven there by some vague memory or idea that he could protect her. Picard does not recognise her but there is something... He calms Dajh down, promises to help and sends her to bed. Picard lives with two Romulan caretakers/bodyguards (who seem to be ex-spy or ex-military), who warn him not to do too much. I forgot to mention that, not only is he over 90 years of age, Picard also has a terminal neurological condition. Okay, one more flagrant foreshadow.
In the morning, Dahj has fled the vineyard, apparently not feeling safe. Picard visits an archive of his life (I wonder if everyone has one of these in the future) and discovers an old painting of Data's entitled 'Daughter'. It is a portrait of Dajh. And there she is, waiting, as Picards exits the building. More soldiers beam in and after a fight, set off a bomb that kills Dahj. Oops. But not to worry about that actress' paycheck, Dahj has a twin sister, Soji, who is still alive and central to the story. Picard has to do a sprint up some stairs in this scene. Impressive for a 90 year old! Back at the vineyard, the bodyguards figure out somehow that the soldiers were Romulan - their existence had been wiped from any recording of the event using Romulan tech.
So Picard starts his quest to find Soji. He assembles a cast of characters to help. First, an ex-colleague Raffi who had been helping with the Romulan exodus - she is now basically a junkie/alcoholic (a first for a Star Trek series, I do believe) and is nursing a major grudge against Picard for abandoning the Romulan effort. She helps anyway and recruits another ex-Star Fleet officer, Rios, who conveniently owns a starship (not sure how one acquires a starship...). He also has a narcissistic fetesh for holograms that look like him and is nursing his own pain over a previous captain (who had killed himself right in front of his impressionistic junior). Picard picks up a cybernetics scientist, Agnes, who worked with Bruce Maddox - the creator of Dahj and Soji.
Agnes also has a secret mission, which was implanted by the half Romulan-half Vulcan chief of StarFleet security, who also happens to be a double agent for the Zhat Vash. The Zhat Vash is a secret organization (all female apparently) embedded with the already secret Romulan spy police agency, the Tal Shiar. The Zhat Vash are dedicated to protecting the universe by destroying all synthetic life. This mission comes courtesy of a warning found on a planet with four perfectly synchronous moons. That this planet is obviously synthetic itself seems to have escaped the Romulans.
Picard's band of happy warriors start by trying to find Bruce Maddox, who has just been kidnapped by an evil ganglord. Along the way, they pick up Elnor (that Romulan boy who Picard failed to help long ago - told you!), who has nicely grown into an awesome Ninja warrior. Before the Picard gang can rescue Maddox, they are attacked by a Romulan war bird, but then are rescued in the nick of time by guess who - Seven of Nine (a recurring character from STNG). She is now an outlaw ranger, out trying to save ex-Borgs like her from evil ganglords who traffic in used Borg implants. Her appearance dovetails nicely with the fact that Soji is living/working on a defunct Borg cube.
The Brog cube, called the Artifact, was cut off from the collective when it assimilated one of the Zhat Vash operatives who was driven insane when receiving the ‘warning’ on that four-mooned planet. Soji is there ostensibly performing research, but her main activity is being seduced by the nefarious brother of another Zhat Vash spy. Finally, he obtains the name of her home planet, and tries to kill her with poison gas. Soji activates and escapes, only to run into Picard and Elnor, who had just arrived. Chased by Romulans, they hole up in the cube’s queen cell, when Seven of Nine (again) beams in to save the day. She powers up some convenient Borg assimilated-tech to beam Picard and Soji to a far off planet (where former STNG colleagues’s Will Ryker and Deanna Troi live with their precocious daughter). Seven of Nine then reconnects to the cube and enlists the remaining borg to wipe out the Romulans. Elnor cannot kill them all himself. The evil spy lady manages to jettison most of them into space (sorry) but SoN and the remaining borg are enough to commandeer the cube.
In the meantime, the seductive brother (Narek) is following the Rios starship as it travels to rendez-vous with Picard and Soji. Apparently, he is not bright enough to go directly to the home planet of the synthetics, even though it took Raffi three seconds to determine its location. Anyway, he is utilizing a tracker that the traitorous Star Fleet security director had Agnes ingest. Agnes eventually disables the tracker by swallowing some poison, but not soon enough. She is also feeling guilty about having murdered Bruce Maddox, (that secret mission i mentioned previously). Rios, Raffi and Agnes pick up Picard and Soji and the ragtag team proceeds to the home planet for the conclusion of this epic tale.
On approach to the planet, Narek attacks and scores a few hits, bouncing the crew around (Picard gets ko’d pretty good). It looks bad for a second until the Borg cube zooms into the battle. But then all three ships are captured by giant flower-like net thingies (the synthetics version of defense) and are brought gently to the plant surface (the Borg cube gets a rougher ride, being a touch larger). Once recovered, Picard breaks the news that he has a terminal brain condition that is seeming imminent (Foreshadow #2). Eventually, the team wanders into the synthetics village, which has a feel much like a hippie commune (though no toking going on as far as I could see). They meet some of the main synths, including Sutra (a predecessor of Soji’s, also portrayed by the same actress with heavy makeup), as well as Dr. Alton Soong (Brent Spiner without Data’s makeup).
Narek has also been captured and placed in pseudo jail. The synths appear unconcerned about the imminent arrival of the Romulans (we can make more flowery things), until they hear that there are 2000 warbirds on the way. Sutra conveniently has studied the art of the Vulcan mind meld, so she extracts the ‘warning’ for Agnes’ poor brain. It turns out the message was actually meant for synthetics to receive (no wonder it drove most of the Romulans insane). If the synths are in danger of eradication in their universe, the message is instructions on how to call for aid (just some big bad things will arrive to kill all the non-synths). Sutra immediately starts plotting to turn the synths against the humans. She releases Narek from confinement and helps him kill another synth. She succeeds and Soji starts building the cell tower to contact another universe, while Picard is placed into confinement.
Meanwhile, Rios and Raffi are attempting to fix his starship with a mysterious tool supplied by the synths, which succeeds in the repairs by just wishing them so! They also capture Narek, who fills them in on the synths’ nefarious plan. They decide to try to blow up the cell tower to avoid annihilation. As this attempt at sabotage plays out, Dr. Soong discovers Sutra’s betrayal and deactivates her. Picard is freed and tries to convince Soji that the genocide of all humanoids is not the way to go. The gang tries to heave the bomb at the cell tower, but Soji foils that and activates the beacon.
Picard and the gang decide to help back into space to hold off the Romulan herd single-handedly. The Romulan fleet is led by the dastardly Oh, the StarFleet traitor. Picard tries a multiverse variant of the ‘Picard’ maneuver, projecting thousands of copies of their own ship to confuse the poor enemy, The Borg cube was also repaired and joins the fray, giving SoN the platform to finish off that Vash Bhat spy. All this works for a little while, giving time for Ryker along with a StarFleet armada to show up and create a stalemate. The Romulans finally give up and zoom away.
Picard then suffers a brain incident and is dying. He has literally given his life to protect the synths. This convinces Soji to break the cell connection, just as the monsters (or whatever) are about to break through. Ending #1.
Back on the planet, they are all mourning Picard’s death, when lo and behold, there is a spare synth body hanging about. The dead man’s consciousness is, of course, implanted and voila: Picard 2.0 (although without any synth superpowers). While in dead mode, Picard visited Data, whose consciousness has been living in a simulation all this time. The two have a chance to say their goodbyes, and Data asks for the simulation to be terminated once and for all. Picard fulfills this promise when he awakes in synth mode. Ending #2.
In summary, there are not as many endings as LOTR Return of the King (good thing). Most of the special effects were good, but many of the plot elements were overly contrived. On the whole, a worthwhile addition to the Star Trek oeuvre.
