Weekly Wikipedia Find: The Black Book

The Black Book is not your little, black book, you dog, you. No, the Black Book is English nomenclature for the Sonderfahndungsliste G.B., which was basically a 3000 name Adolf Milhous Hitler's enemies list. These names represent prominent British subjects and European exiles in Britain who were to be rounded up and presumably purged (executed) upon the successful completion of the Nazi invasion of Great Britain during World War II. Twenty thousand copies of the book were produced for the six paramilitary groups that were to follow the invasion forces. Two survive.

Wikipedia by Week

Week Fifty: Spear of Longinus
Week Forty-Nine: Moral panic
Week Forty-Eight: "The Move"
Week Forty-Seven: Cloaca
Week Forty-Six: Ship of fools
Week Forty-Five: Slattery Report
Week Forty-Four: Isolationism
Week Forty-Three: Foxy
Week Forty-Two: Young Woman with Unicorn
Week Forty-One: Cosmicism
Week Forty: Prisoner's dilemma
Week Thirty-Nine: Demimonde
Week Thirty-Eight: Haemophilia in European royalty
Week Thirty-Seven: Library of America
Week Thirty-Six: Honeypot
Week Thirty-Five: Glasgow smile
Week Thirty-Four: Hilbert's paradox of the Grand Hotel
Week Thirty-Three: Mono no aware
Week Thirty-Two: Royal intermarriage
Week Thirty-One: Amputee fetishism
Week Thirty: Turtles all the way down
Week Twenty-Nine: The Diogenes Club
Week Twenty-Eight: E pur si muove!
Week Twenty-Seven: Unico
Week Twenty-Six: Panopticon
Week Twenty-Five: Legendary
Week Twenty-Four: Ostern
Week Twenty-Three: Kilroy was here
Week Twenty-Two: Jack Parsons
Week Twenty-One: The Wold Newton Universe
Week Twenty: Anonymous
Week Nineteen: Monty Hall problem
Week Eighteen: Brown Booby
Week Seventeen: Dieter Dengler
Week Sixteen: New Jerusalem
Week Fifteen: Technological Singularity
Week Fourteen: Numbers Station
Week Thirteen: Culper Ring
Week Twelve: Mary Sue
Week Eleven: Byford dolphin diving bell accident
Week Ten: Deep-sea gigantism
Week Nine: Bloop
Week Eight: Rat king
Week Seven: Gustave Doré
Week Six: Tomorrow
Week Five: Borscht Belt
Week Four: Swampman
Week Three: Chinese room
Week Two: Ambrose Burnside
Week One: Lolita fashion

Weekly Wikipedia Find: Slattery Report

The Slattery Report or the "Problem of Alaskan Development" was the proposal that following the Night of Broken Glass incident at a German pogrom just prior to the outbreak of World War II, Alaska, then a territory and not yet a state, be used as a Jewish refugee haven, but faced opposition from American Jews. Instead, Alaska remained an Okie backwater from the dustbowl migrations.

Wikipedia by Week

Week Forty-Four: Isolationism
Week Forty-Three: Foxy
Week Forty-Two: Young Woman with Unicorn
Week Forty-One: Cosmicism
Week Forty: Prisoner's dilemma
Week Thirty-Nine: Demimonde
Week Thirty-Eight: Haemophilia in European royalty
Week Thirty-Seven: Library of America
Week Thirty-Six: Honeypot
Week Thirty-Five: Glasgow smile
Week Thirty-Four: Hilbert's paradox of the Grand Hotel
Week Thirty-Three: Mono no aware
Week Thirty-Two: Royal intermarriage
Week Thirty-One: Amputee fetishism
Week Thirty: Turtles all the way down
Week Twenty-Nine: The Diogenes Club
Week Twenty-Eight: E pur si muove!
Week Twenty-Seven: Unico
Week Twenty-Six: Panopticon
Week Twenty-Five: Legendary
Week Twenty-Four: Ostern
Week Twenty-Three: Kilroy was here
Week Twenty-Two: Jack Parsons
Week Twenty-One: The Wold Newton Universe
Week Twenty: Anonymous
Week Nineteen: Monty Hall problem
Week Eighteen: Brown Booby
Week Seventeen: Dieter Dengler
Week Sixteen: New Jerusalem
Week Fifteen: Technological Singularity
Week Fourteen: Numbers Station
Week Thirteen: Culper Ring
Week Twelve: Mary Sue
Week Eleven: Byford dolphin diving bell accident
Week Ten: Deep-sea gigantism
Week Nine: Bloop
Week Eight: Rat king
Week Seven: Gustave Doré
Week Six: Tomorrow
Week Five: Borscht Belt
Week Four: Swampman
Week Three: Chinese room
Week Two: Ambrose Burnside
Week One: Lolita fashion

Eugenics

I'd soon as not write this post. It would be some how fitting that way, this being the blog that it is. I first mentioned I would write this post back on Friday, August 8th, 2008. That's when I had all my inspiration and ideas. And I quickly wrote down the barest minimum of those ideas, and set it aside; I'll set the date for one week, I said, and save it as a draft. So here it is, one, nay, two, nay, three, nay, four, nay, five weeks later and here it is. Or the best I felt like writing so many days later.

The main problem with eugenics is that it has been associated in the public consciousness with "miscegenation" (what an ugly word-- clearly constructed to have negative connotations-- for such a beautiful thing) and racial cleansing/purity. I think this is another one we can blame on the Nazis.

But I subscribe to the Khan Noonien Singh theory of genetics, of which I derive the name from the character played by Ricardo Montalbán in the original Star Trek series episode "Space Seed" as well as the second Star Trek feature film The Wrath of Khan. I'll mostly focus on him as he appears in the television episode as no argument in favour of eugenics can be made with that awful hair he has in the movie.

Khan is a genetically-engineered übermensch bred free of mental and physical defects, as well as strong leadership abilities, from a pool of Latin and Indian stock. The key here is race diversity. From all accounts, while certainly ambitious (possibly wildly so), Khan was a benign ruler. Thus, I rule that Star Trek lands firmly on the pro-eugenics side. So just remove the dastardly moustache twirling and plans of world domination and we have a pretty good idea of the (theoretical) benefits of eugenics.

Then for an opposing viewpoint, we have the 1990s film Gattaca. I don't recall Gattaca ever addressing the race card, but apparently Blair Underwood was in the cast, so I think I can unequivocally declare the film not viewing genetics from an anti-miscegenation (grrrr) viewpoint. Gattaca's issue with eugenics is that it will inspire a new class system, one where the genetically-engineered will be earmarked for all the highest positions while any normal person (from now on referred to as "normies") will hit a glass ceiling. Further, these earmarks will be decided by probability calculator, so that any normies who exceed their station, any Ethan Hawkes if you will, will be put back in their place.

Of course, another real problem with eugenics is the same problem that surfaces any time one cultural group becomes assimilated into a bigger wider one. The death of the culture, language, heritage of the original group, and all the unique aspects that set it aside. See Modern China and the reason I was so politically offended by the movie Hero for more.

As a normie, among normies who have proceeded as a species for the past however many epochs, its hard to say if I am in support of any real form of eugenics, whether it be traditional or liberal, as it risks limiting genetic diversity. But I will say that I like to consider myself a Social Darwinist. Then again I consider myself a lot of things.

Inspired Moments, Terrible Movies: Captain America

So there I was at 2 a.m. on a Saturday night watching Teletoon with the dull boyfriend of a friend who lay passed out somewhere in the back. Fortunately Captain America, the 1990 abomination of a live-action film starring J.D. Salinger's son Matt, is hilarious and on at this time.

So Captain America, in full rubber suit, has presumably just woken up from a deep (cryogenic) freeze and wandered into what we're told is the Canadian wilderness. After narrowly escaping the line of fire of a bunch of dirt bike-riding Nazis, the Captain hitches a ride with Ned Beatty, sent by the President (of the United States) to retrieve the good Captain. Of course, the Captain is too culture-shocked by all of this. Come on, Japatronics in the car?! Shudder, for the good Captain. Naturally, he suspects Ned Beatty of actually being an Axis spy. So the Captain tells Ned Beatty, "I'm feeling sick" and Ned Beatty pulls his truck over. The Captain runs behind the truck, oh let's say a good 20 yards away, and bends over ready to heave. And he waits. Ned Beatty comes to check on him. Once Ned Beatty reaches him, then the Captain makes his move. He dashes back to the car, while jolly, rotund ol' Ned Beatty watches in bewilderment, and the Captain drives that truck away. All the way to sunny California.

Nazis Make Great Villains

A Case Study

Those evil bastards, usually but not always necessarily German, make an easy villain for your story. Whether your story takes place from 1933 to 1945 or really anytime after that, making your villain a Nazi gives your viewers an instant rooting interest in your heroes and a hate for that villain. Here are four examples where this works:

A) Red Skull

Captain America's archenemy, Johann Schmidt was a Nazi general and confidant of Hitler who originally wore a red skull mask while coming into conflict with his adversary in publications during World War II. Both characters were put into suspended animation/publication limbo, though, with Red Skull being revived by and later head of terrorist organization HYDRA. Later, after rapidly aging, dying of old age, having his brain placed in a cloned body of Captain America, and abandoning his Nazi philosophy, he was exposed to his favourite poison, the Dust of Death, and his face was turned into the literal version of his once-mask, the Red Skull. Skull, is still pretty much a Nazi, though, once and forever, and is even shunned by other villains such as Magneto (a Jewish Holocaust Survivor).




B) Tyrannosaurus Reich

Tyrannosaurus Reich is a villain of short-lived superhero, Major Bummer, a slacker mistakenly imbued with superpowers by a pair of aliens. T. Reich was pulled to Earth through an interdimensional portal. His dimension: one of Nazi dinosaurs. His abilities include human-level intelligence, tyrannosaurus-level strength, the ability to manipulate firearms, and being epic.




C) Swarm

Swarm is a Marvel comics villain who most often fights Spider-Man. He's no ordinary man, though. No, he's composed of bees. He has a body of bees. Bees. But not just any ordinary bees. No, Nazi bees. Let this sink in. Bees. With Nazi sympathies. Nazi bees.




D) Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

These B-movie-style films are both globetrotting and set in that period of action & adventure film strips, the 1930s. What perfect adversaries for our Dr. Jones then, then our beloved Nazi villains? Who else would you rather see than Nazi interrogator Toht have their face melt off? Austrian collaborating scientist Elsa Schneider, maybe, but she would have to settle to falling into her death down a chasm. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom said, Nazis, no time for love, and instead featured a Thugee death cult.

Mexico

Clarifying my post from yesterday. Mexico, this shit sucks. While I'm not a fan of emo culture, I'm less a fan of hate. Non-ironic hate. And yeah, you know what? Comparing Mexico to the Nazis seems justifiable here. But lets not blame some non-entity Mexico*. Countries are concepts. This hateful violence was apparently organized by Mexicans, people, individuals, over the internet. There's no Hitler to blame here, just a whole lot of little Eichmanns. What is when everyone's following orders? Groupthink. Bystander effect. Genovese syndrome. Disgusting

*At no point am I ever referring to the government of Mexico. God, I'm going to need more and more clarification posts.

Mexico's Emo-Bashing "Problem"

Courtesy of Time Magazine

Problem? We didn't got no steenkin' problem.

Sounds more like a solution, a Mexican Final Solution.*

Sorry, was there a line I just crossed over? No? What? I can't hear you. La la la.

*This blog has to start justifying its namesake.