On Stormtroopers and race relations

 Star Wars  No Responses »
Dec 022014
 

Really, people?

Apparently there is a group of people calling themselves Star Wars fans who are OUTRAGED that John Boyega appears to be portraying a black stormtrooper in the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens film (as evidenced by the release of the first teaser trailer last week).

In case you haven’t seen it, educate yourself here.

So as I said… apparently there is a vocal minority of morons who feel compelled to somehow assert that all Imperial Stormtroopers in the Star Wars universe are white.

Ummm… no.

Speaking as something of a colossal Star Wars nerd, let’s get a couple of things straight, people:

1) Stormtroopers (of the Imperial variety) are generally humans (the Empire *was* somewhat xenophobic, canonically speaking). There has never been ANYTHING published that says there are restrictions or even preferences regarding races of humans in Imperial service. Keep in mind, in fact, that you have NEVER seen an Imperial Stormtrooper on screen without his entire body covered in plastoid armor and a black body glove. So you have NO way of knowing WHAT race any of them are.

2) Contrary to the assertions of some people, Stormtroopers are NOT the same guys who served as Clones/Clonetroopers in the Prequels and/or Clone Wars (aka Clones of Jango Fett, as played by actor Temura Morrison). All of those guys have long since rotated out due to their accelerated aging process. Remember, this was mentioned when Obi-Wan Kenobi was given the tour of the factory on Kamino. This was confirmed by Pablo Hidalgo of LucasFilm’s Story Group, and you can read about that here.

So… bringing this overly nerdy and verbose response to a close…

No, idiot. Stormtroopers are NOT all white people. As Mr. Boyega says, get over it.

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 Posted by at 12:09 pm

Apple celebrates diversity on its website while admitting it needs to do more | Macworld

 minutia, Politics  No Responses »
Aug 122014
 

Apple celebrates diversity on its website while admitting it needs to do more | Macworld: “”

The problem I have with this is approach that it’s all about about the superficial… what things look like, rather than what they are.

I (as a fan of Apple products and an Apple shareholder) would rather Apple worry about hiring the best and most qualified people to do their jobs, rather than caring about what their race, gender, religion or sexual preference is simply to make themselves appear ‘tolerant’ or ‘inclusive’.

It’s the same problem I have with Affirmative Action. AA emphasizes filling quotas based on race, gender, etc… which is exactly the OPPOSITE of what we are supposed to be paying attention to, isn’t it? Wasn’t the point to NOT hire based on these things? Discrimination is discrimination. And it’s bad. Quotas based on ‘metadata’ about a worker rather than their qualifications is bad. It’s counterproductive. And it does more to damage race/gender/orientation/religion relations than anything else.

When you point out that someone accomplishing something is even more monumental because they’re a particular ‘minority’, you’re basically insulting that group of people, as though they’re somehow less intelligent, less qualified, or less inclined as a group. I don’t believe that’s true at all.

Diversity is nice and all, but at the end of the day it’s really just window dressing.

People are people, folks. Get over it.

In the words of Morgan Freeman:

MIKE WALLACE: How are we going to get rid of racism until …?

MORGAN FREEMAN: Stop talking about it. I’m going to stop calling you a white man. And I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You’re not going to say, “I know this white guy named Mike Wallace.” Hear what I’m saying?

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 Posted by at 1:53 pm

Sons

 Photography  No Responses »
Sep 192013
 

20130919-202618.jpg

This is a sketch I was working on for a motorcycle jacket patch for a couple of us at work. We ended up not using it, but I liked how it came out anyway.

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 Posted by at 8:28 pm

Mask ban bill penalty doubled to 10 years – Politics – CBC News

 Politics  No Responses »
May 112012
 

Mask ban bill penalty doubled to 10 years – Politics – CBC News.

And this, ladies and gentlemen is why the United States is different than any other country in the world. Free speech in the United States means something very different than anywhere else, even with our maple-loving neighbors to the north.

And that’s why preserving our individual freedom is so important… and why it’s such a crime when we willingly give it up to the government in the name of ‘safety’ or ‘security’ or whatever banner you want to file it under.

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 Posted by at 1:45 pm
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