From: blakes7-d-request@lysator.liu.se Subject: blakes7-d Digest V99 #154 X-Loop: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se X-Mailing-List: archive/volume99/154 Precedence: list MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/digest; boundary="----------------------------" To: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se Reply-To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se ------------------------------ Content-Type: text/plain blakes7-d Digest Volume 99 : Issue 154 Today's Topics: Re: [B7L] Drugs Re: [B7L] Curious things in Star One (potential spoilers) Re: [B7L] The Keeper and Star One RE: [B7L] Curious things in Star One (long) [B7L] Re:drugs on Earth(was Star One) Fwd: RE: [B7L] Curious things in Star One - before anyone points out... Re: [B7L] Curious things in Star One [B7L] Re:Curious things in Star One (long) [B7L] Re:drugs on Earth(was Star One) Re: [B7L] Re:drugs on Earth(was Star One) Re: [B7L] Re:drugs on Earth(was Star One) [B7L] [B7L] 1999 FanQ Nominations! Re: [B7L] Curious things in Star One Re: [B7L] 1999 FanQ Nominations! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 May 1999 10:52:14 PDT From: "Hellen Paskaleva" To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Drugs Message-ID: <19990502175308.20065.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-type: text/plain; format=flowed; Kathryn wrote (on May, 1st): <> It seems to me that the Space Command's headquarters, based on the remote artificial satellite is *their* solution to the problem with air-spreaded suppressants. As it is necessary for servicemen to be in full sane, they could not afford themselves to emit even small amounts of any tranquilizer. By the way, slightly out of topic, but - it was typical for authorities in the communist countries to treat the 'inconvenient' people with drugs for suppressing their resistance/will. Federation does not invent anything new, *they* were simply good learners. Hellen, the Bulgarian ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 May 1999 21:36:20 +0100 From: "Neil Faulkner" To: "lysator" Subject: Re: [B7L] Curious things in Star One (potential spoilers) Message-ID: <001201be94db$cada37c0$eb1eac3e@default> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Judith wrote: >Nah! They looked drugged because they were drugged. And that thing in >Harvest of Kairos really was a giant spider! Yes, Judith. And the pursuit ships really did wobble on their piano wires. And there really was a sand martin (US: bank swallow) colony on Beta 5. And Vila really did take a change of clothes down to Terminal. Oh yeah, and Piri really really was a really really convincing actress. Let me know if you need more rope:) Neil ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 May 1999 15:49:00 -0500 From: "Lorna B." To: Subject: Re: [B7L] The Keeper and Star One Message-Id: <199905022042.PAA07642@pemberton.magnolia.net> Tanja said: >>I thought his reaction was the result of his earlier digging at Blake that he, Avon, was perhaps more qualified to lead missions than Blake was. And the first time he's in charge, someone of his team disappears... very embarassing. << My thoughts exactly. Avon had to act quickly to save face. He must have felt an absolute fool to have lost one of his team members right off the bat. That must have smarted for weeks. Lorna B. "Cookies and porn? You're the best mom ever!" ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 May 1999 15:40:28 PDT From: "Sally Manton" To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: RE: [B7L] Curious things in Star One (long) Message-ID: <19990502224034.25592.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-type: text/plain; format=flowed; I do think that this will have to be my final post on this - you must have all heard enough of me...Neil, do you want to discuss something *really* serious and vital like Servalan's wardrobe again? Mistral (and BTW, though I still disagree, thanks for making me think about my position): That's not my reading of just about every oppressive regime this century. Yes, those who made a choice die - along with the usual huge numbers of 'innocent bystanders' - hostages slaughtered en masse for one isolated act of resistance, villages made an 'example' of, victims of scorched earth, ethnic cleansing, blitzkreig, people who were just 'in the way'. And leaving them to suffer - when you are *the only one* who can make a difference - because you think they should make their own decision (when they can't) is IM-equally-HO no better. Isn't that *also* forcing them to die for your idea of what is right? (Complicated, isn't it?) Ummm....no, I don't see that analogy (I can hear you falling over in shock from here, Mistral). The analogy I'd use is that of Allied forces bombing industrial and military centres in occupied Europe, knowing that citizens *of* those occupied countries were going to get killed in the bombing. (I do not include terror bombing in this analogy.) The damage done to the enemy was considered to be severe enough to justify the deaths. You might, with good cause, disagree with that decision - I might, with equal cause, agree with it. Star One can most *certainly* be termed a legitimate target (in Blake's eyes) under this definition. **Blake is doing the futuristic version of turning freedom into a religion and forcing the galaxy to convert at blaster-muzzle.** I can see your argument, but they are at blaster-muzzle anyway. The Federation's got them there. *There is no middle ground*. It's everyone or no one. Either the Federation rules everyone (and kills an unspecified but large number in the process) with the help of Star One, or Blake frees everyone (and kills an unspecified but large number in the process) by destroying it. There's *no* way most people *can* decide for themselves. No way at all. They do not have the power. Either the Federation or the rebels are going to make that decision for them. Me, I'd rather it was Blake. At least he'll give me *some* chance, as apart from (under the Federation) none. If he doesn't do this, what of those who want freedom and can't get it any other way? What of the people whom the Federation is killing while Star One operates? Don't they have some rights too? Or does Blake have to cede that freedom is not the right of the helpless, because they can't fight for it themselves? As for the argument that he could have used Star One to peacefully dismantle the Federation - there's no evidence that that would have worked, that trying to undo the complex web of control wouldn't have caused every bit as much pain and chaos as simply destroying it. (The British tried to control the partition of India. Didn't help a lot of innocent, dead people.) As for 'disbanding the military' - that would have been a *much* more complicated and (probably) bloodier process than that - do you really think they'd have gone quietly? Blake would probably have *had* to start exerting more and more control to try and keep things from getting just as bad as they would have if he'd just blown the thing to hell. Just the sort of thing that would have brought the risk - that he was aware of - of his own corruption. He's been broken, remember. He *knows* he's fallible. He didn't trust himself with that power. *If* he was right - if he proved corruptible - then with Star One in his hands the oppression may have become even worse. As noted the the thread on The Keeper, Avon brings up the idea once, in a desultory way, almost as if testing. He doesn't care much for it either. There is *no* easy answer, true. I just believe that, given what he was fighting and what was going on while he was fighting, he was justified in what he thought and what he did. <(Avon) doesn't, however, force anyone to join in the cause that doesn't want to. And we all know he's not exactly Mr. Upright. It must be because he respects their right to decide for themselves, as he wants to decide for himself.> No, it's because he hasn't the Star One option. He hasn't got a Liberator, he hasn't got a Star One to attack. Each of them must use the weapons they have, and the methods open to them. And you could also look at it from the other side (more in line with My Hero's character asI see it) in that he brings into the fight people he can use. The only people whose 'right to decide' is of any interest to him are those whose skills he can use. Those he can't - whether they want freedom or not, whether they are dying or being enslaved or not - will just have to wait (or die). Remember on Helotrix - "Remember Tarrant, we are only interested in whether or not the Federation have some new weapon. Whatever else is happening down there, even if they are executing the entire population, YOU are not to get involved." This is not a criticism of Avon. But it's totally untrue that Avon is giving the general public (of which, after all, you and I would be members) any more choice than Blake or the Federation. He *can't*. He doesn't respect *their* right to decide - again, because he can't. Nor could Blake. As I said, there is no middle ground. Some people's right to decide *has* to be denied. Yes, I agree that Avon is an individualist. But that is only a part of his nature. He is also unabashedly cold and selfish, and rather disinterested in people per se - he finds it bad enough that he cares about the few people he lives, works and fights with. There is *no* evidence whatsoever in 4 whole seasons that he gives much of a damn about anyone outside that small, tight circle, certainly none that 'people he doesn't even know' have received more than a few thoughts in passing (usually because someone else, like Blake, has forced said thoughts on him). To say that - at this *one* moment - he suddenly finds a respect for the rights of these people, or even for their lives - is to me out of tune with who he is. As I've said, my opinion (for what it is worth, no more than anyone else's) is that Avon has no qualms or reservations whatsoever about the destruction of Star One. He's genuinely all for it. His speech is an intensely personal and blisteringly honest one, focusing on what *he* wants, and he sincerely doesn't care about what will happen for him to get what he wants. Oh, and he is out to hurt Blake (there's still raw feelings over what happened in The Keeper.) Once he's had his stab (as in Trial) it's back to business as usual between them. I also believe that he agrees with Blake that destroying Star One is the best course open to them - the best, maybe the only real chance they have at that moment of defeating the Federation, and that he has believed that since Pressure Point. Sadly, I also believe that he still thinks it can't be done, but he's prepared to try. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 May 1999 08:47:02 +1000 From: Sarah Berry To: Lysator List Subject: [B7L] Re:drugs on Earth(was Star One) Message-ID: <372CD5E6.ECE86F57@connexus.net.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Judith, Mistral, Neil (and others?) have been writing about drugged ppopulations. I've always assumed that it was wide-spread, but if I stop and consider the logistics of doing it and the consequences of having a drugged population I can't conceive of it working on a planetry scale, let alone through out the Federation. Do we even have any idea how big the Federation was/is? It ought to have been only a (realtively) little part of our galaxy, so where there other big powers out there acting against the Federation? And if there were that's an even better reason for not drugging your population. Sarah Berry. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 May 1999 16:01:11 PDT From: "Sally Manton" To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Fwd: RE: [B7L] Curious things in Star One - before anyone points out... Message-ID: <19990502230111.67285.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-type: text/plain; format=flowed; That when I said... I forgot the Love of His Life. I didn't. Anna I include in that circle (well, he worked with her - in the fraud - but my usual (cough) crystal clarity of thought went missing in that sentence.) OTOH, his brother and any family members I think are consigned to the very dead past. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 May 1999 16:23:47 PDT From: "Joanne MacQueen" To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Curious things in Star One Message-ID: <19990502232347.80942.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-type: text/plain; format=flowed; >As I recall, Egrorian assumed that Avon didn't know, and didn't give >Avon >the chance to show whether he did or not. ('Do you know the >source? No, >of course you don't.') What a show-off. Must go with Egorian's 'circus escapee' hair-do. Sorry, can't manage Servalan's wardrobe, so hairstyles will have to do. Regards Joanne ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 May 1999 09:43:30 +1000 From: Sarah Berry To: Lysator List Subject: [B7L] Re:Curious things in Star One (long) Message-ID: <372CE322.D6186BD5@connexus.net.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jonathan said: >Hmm... as I remember the Greeks saw the Gold Age as being the first and >greatest age and each of the others as successive steps in decline. Isn't >this the *opposite* of progress ? Una said: >My dictionary tells me that 'progress' means 'movement towards a goal': >neither positive nor pejorative. I agree that the word tends to carry >positive connotations. Here's another contradiction. I think our world is caught up in 'technological determinism' (something like the future being set by what we invent now) and that often has positive connatations too. Yet SF, and B7 is a good example, tends to be a technological dystopia (inventions are used in a bad or evil way). Sarah Berry. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 May 1999 18:38:12 -0600 From: Penny Dreadful To: Lysator List Subject: [B7L] Re:drugs on Earth(was Star One) Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.19990502183812.007c94f0@mail.geocities.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 08:47 AM 5/3/99 +1000, Sarah Berry wrote: >Judith, Mistral, Neil (and others?) have been writing about drugged >ppopulations. I've always assumed that it was wide-spread, but if I stop and >consider the logistics of doing it and the consequences of having a drugged >population I can't conceive of it working on a planetry scale, let alone through >out the Federation. Do we even have any idea how big the Federation was/is? It >ought to have been only a (realtively) little part of our galaxy, so where there >other big powers out there acting against the Federation? And if there were >that's an even better reason for not drugging your population. >Sarah Berry. I remember reading a Monica Hughes novel(la?) (I'm sure Arkaroo will be able to give us the name) many many years ago wherein I believe the population-drugging procedure worked thusly: (a) drugs in a popular brand of breakfast cereal enhanced suggestibility (b) subliminal suggestions on popular television shows encouraged the populace to (among other things) keep eating said brand of breakfast cereal. Really, people don't need that much encouragement to drug *themselves* into complacency (or at least into a state in which they're no threat to the status quo). And outside threats are no reason at all not to drug your populace in this manner: enhanced suggestibility just makes a Propagandist's job that much easier. The people you see staggering around the dome in The Way Back seem dozy and clueless because the PA is *telling* them, encouraging them, to be dozy and clueless. Maybe when they get safely to their places of employ they have a PA telling them to be perky and productive; maybe if the dome is ever attacked they have a special tape they can stick in telling all citizens to switch into Berzerker Kill-Krazy Mode. Yeah! Cool! --Penny "Mental Massage Muzak" Dreadful ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 May 1999 02:58:01 GMT From: dixonm@access.mountain.net (Meredith Dixon) To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Re:drugs on Earth(was Star One) Message-ID: <372e0f87.88502212@access.mountain.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Sun, 02 May 1999 18:38:12 -0600, you wrote: >I remember reading a Monica Hughes novel(la?) (I'm sure Arkaroo will be >able to give us the name) many many years ago wherein I believe the >population-drugging procedure worked thusly: >(a) drugs in a popular brand of breakfast cereal enhanced suggestibility >(b) subliminal suggestions on popular television shows encouraged the >populace to (among other things) keep eating said brand of breakfast cereal. I've never heard of a novel with that basis, but there's a short story with that premise by Raymond F. Jones, "A Bowl of Biskies Makes A Growing Boy." It's a thoroughly nasty horror story -- bright high schoolers are encouraged to notice the suppression, and once they do (thus revealing themselves to the authorities) they get hauled in and subjected to some sort of radiation that sharply reduces their intelligence. I read that story 25 years or so ago, and I've never managed to forget it. Meredith Dixon dixonm@access.mountain.net ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 11:39:00 +0100 From: "kevin mahoney" To: "Sarah Berry" , "Lysator List" Subject: Re: [B7L] Re:drugs on Earth(was Star One) Message-ID: <005301be9551$2990d600$554995c1@MSNKevinPatrickMahoney> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I think it would have been fairly easy to drug people on a planetary scale. And as for outside forces threatening the Federation - well, who are they? The System probably looked upon the Federation as extremely unimportant, and I don't think the Andromedans invaded for the benefit of mankind. Even if there was a well meaning outside force, it doesn't mean to say that they would be particularly effective (i.e. NATO). Kevin Mahoney Check out the new Blakes 7 community on Dejanews: http://www.dejanews.com/~blakes7 Buy books online with genre: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Nook/1082 ----- Original Message ----- From: Sarah Berry To: Lysator List Sent: 02 May 1999 23:47 Subject: [B7L] Re:drugs on Earth(was Star One) >Judith, Mistral, Neil (and others?) have been writing about drugged >ppopulations. I've always assumed that it was wide-spread, but if I stop and >consider the logistics of doing it and the consequences of having a drugged >population I can't conceive of it working on a planetry scale, let alone through >out the Federation. Do we even have any idea how big the Federation was/is? It >ought to have been only a (realtively) little part of our galaxy, so where there >other big powers out there acting against the Federation? And if there were >that's an even better reason for not drugging your population. >Sarah Berry. > > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 11:42:20 +0100 From: "kevin mahoney" To: Subject: [B7L] Message-ID: <006701be9551$a05ea780$554995c1@MSNKevinPatrickMahoney> Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0064_01BE955A.00996240" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0064_01BE955A.00996240 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Check out the new Blakes 7 community at Dejanews: = http://www.dejanews.com/~blakes7 Kevin Mahoney Buy books online with Genre: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Nook/1082 ------=_NextPart_000_0064_01BE955A.00996240 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Check out the new Blakes 7 community at Dejanews: http://www.dejanews.com/~blakes= 7
 
Kevin Mahoney
Buy books online with Genre: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Nook/1082
------=_NextPart_000_0064_01BE955A.00996240-- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 08:18:07 EDT From: Bizarro7@aol.com To: space-city@world.std.com, Blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] 1999 FanQ Nominations! Message-ID: <8c38f7e5.245eedff@aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I'm proud to announce we recieved the following notification of FanQ nominations yesterday from the MediaWest*Con powers-that-be: Blake's 7 - story - gen - Breaking the Chain - Author: Michelle R Moyer - published in: Southern Seven #12 Blake's 7 - story - gen - Tears of The Sun - Author: Susannah Lucci - published in: Southern Seven #11 Blake's 7 - zine - gen - Southern Seven #11 - editor: Ann Wortham. Could you please let the following artists know they are also on the ballot since your publication was mentioned as their source Blake's 7 - artist - gen - Laura Virgil Blake's 7 - artist - gen - Leah Rosenthal Many thanks to all or any of you who voted us in! Woo-hoo! Leah ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 08:33:20 -0700 From: "Ellynne G." To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Curious things in Star One Message-ID: <19980314.083323.10062.0.Rilliara@juno.com> On Sun, 02 May 1999 16:23:47 PDT "Joanne MacQueen" writes: >>As I recall, Egrorian assumed that Avon didn't know, and didn't give >>Avon >>the chance to show whether he did or not. ('Do you know the >source? > No, >>of course you don't.') > OK, it wasn't the best example. It just happened to be the only example I've been able to think of where someone made a historical reference in front of Avon (although Avon was fairly informed about Helotrix and its history of fighting the Federation. But, since they had only recently stopped fighting because of pylene-50, that could count as more of a current event). I had to look up the quote too, but I had a fairly good idea what the point was. Avon didn't. Of course, Avon was trying to be a little more low profile than usual, doing his best to have Egrorian pay attention to Vila instead of him. I can see Avon learning history if it came his way, but I don't see him making any major effort for it unless if filled a specific need (checking entries on "successful computer bank fraud" stats or "history and survival rates on Cygnus Alpha"). But I tend to see history as more of a touchy-feely discipline, where you learn about people, their lives and motivations, etc. The best historians seem to have been in love with their chosen culture / time period. If I could picture a more aloof historian (I'm sure there are some), I could probably picture Avon with his bootleg copy of "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire." As it is, I can't see it yet. Ellynne ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 20:28:19 +0100 (BST) From: Judith Proctor To: Lysator List cc: Space City Subject: Re: [B7L] 1999 FanQ Nominations! Message-ID: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII I know the feeling . It was really nice to get some nominations this year as my best zine last year fell into the the trap of being the only one in its category and thus couldn't be nominated. > > Dear Judith -- > > You have the following on the 1999 FanQ ballot -- > > Blake's 7 - poem/filk - gen - Cruel Is The Snow - Authors: Judith > Proctor and Anne Stukklen > > Blake's 7 - poem/filk - gen - The Gunfighter - Author: Judith Proctor > > Blake's 7 - stand alone zine - Morgan - Author: Judith Proctor > It was also lovely to get a nomination for 'Morgan' as it's my personal favourite of all the stories I've ever written. The Stiffie ballots are looking very good too. A wide range of B7 nominations. (For those who don't know, the Stiffies are only for slash zines) I've posted my votes for both sets of awards and it was a hard choice in some categories. Judith PS. It's Anne Stulken and not as they spelt it. -- http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 Fanzines for Blake's 7 and many other fandoms, B7 Filk songs, pictures, news, Conventions past and present, Blake's 7 fan clubs, Gareth Thomas, etc. -------------------------------- End of blakes7-d Digest V99 Issue #154 **************************************