Monsters unleashed - some thoughts on the Iran situation

 This post is going to cover my thoughts on the war in the Middle East as it enters its second month.

• Just because you contain a monster, it doesn't mean that the monster isn't still there. Or to use another metaphor, hornets still go out and sting, which Iran has been doing for decades under the three Ayatollahs. Also, what is the difference between containment and appeasement? Does it depend on which side is doing it?
• For Israel, Iran getting a nuclear bomb is an existential threat. It would likely result in a situation where they would feel they have no alternative but strike first and international opinion can do go do one. In 1996, the ICJ famously split 7-7 on the legality of using nukes if state survival was at stake, that part only being carried by the President's deciding vote.
• Declaring that the desire was to overthrow the Islamic regime was a stupid move - it set up an unrealistic winning condition.
• Donald Trump lies so often that he won't be believed even when he is telling the truth. Aesop had a few things to say about that.
• Iran is playing a similar game to Germany in both World Wars - unable to defeat the US militarily, it hopes to cause the global economy so much pain that it gives up. This is a move that risk the GCC going from defence to offence.
• The US armed forces, especially the navy, have been badly run down by underfunding and the twenty-five years of the war on terror. This is now showing in a major way.
• Reopening the Straits of Hormuz will require diplomacy or armed force likely to produce a level of US casualties that would cause massive damage to the Republicans politically. Vietnam ultimately, bar the one-term Carter presidency, kept the Democrats out of power for over two decades and their 1992 victory wasn't exactly convincing either.
• A popular uprising will not happen during the bombing campaign. It might later, but these things are notoriously difficult to predict.
• So much for a "short, victorious war".

Review: 'Star Trek: The Animated Series' Season 1

1. Beyond the Farthest Star

This episode sees the ship far out in space where it encounters a long-dead starship stuck in orbit around a dead star. With another alien entity hijacking the ship and foiled again by Kirk's tactical genius, it's very Trek by numbers, just animated in what seems to be a rather cheap style. 

6/10

2. Yesteryear

While an interesting exploration of Vulcan youth, it's rather let down by a casual approach to the bootstrap paradox and time travel more generally. Also, more by a rather flat performance by 9-year-old Billy Simpson. Not his fault; his audition tape was used in the final cut, seemingly to save the cost of a 2nd recording session!

6/10

3. One of Our Planets is Missing

A race against time that goes rather quickly - there's some rather quick jumps in the course of single scenes - and the cheapness is rather obvious. Getting the computer to do the voice of the space cloud means that you don't have to hire a guest actor for one thing. This said, it's a well-written story overall and would have worked well as an audio drama. I did find myself wondering if they were planning to fly out the cloud's backside, which isn't something I thought I would write.

7/10

4. The Lorelei Signal

Another classical reference, although I had to actually look it up to see what it was - a 'siren' living in the rock of the same name on the Rhine in Germany. This is definitely an engaging episode, although possibility a bit clichéd and arguably sexist too in a way. What saves it a great deal is Uhura, who stands up and takes command when white-haired beautiful aliens aim to steal the lifeforce from the mostly helpless men. I'm reminded of "Hathor" from Stargate SG-1, where a similar thing happens - also of a few episodes of Doctor Who as well.

7/10

5. More Tribbles, More Troubles

Tribbles made for one of the most memorable episodes of The Original Series and have made no less than 20 appearances in the franchise to date, even if only as a cameo. The reappearance of Cyrano Jones, Stanley Adams, reprising his role, is admittedly somewhat limited by the cheap animation, but the whole thing is rather made up for by an excellent plot, with some clever Kirk tactics, some great humour ("throw tribbles at them") and the Klingons having a rather valid reason for their actions. A lot of fun all round.

9/10

6. The Survivor

The crew pick up a long-lost philanthropist by the unusual name of Carter Winston (voiced by an uncredited Ted Knight) - and just happens to have his fiancée on board. It turns out that Winston is definitely not what he appears and the Enterprise ends up in a pretty sticky situation, which Kirk manages to expertly get his way out of. Not the best episode of the run (especially in its depiction of the fiancée) but it still works pretty well. Spock gets an excellent zinger at the end.

7/10

7. The Infinite Vulcan

Filmation were too tight to hire Walter Koenig and have Chekov appear in this series, but they did have him write an episode. It's a story in scope that would stretch the budget of even the modern show and would require extensive Volume work to realise there. In animation that can be done much cheaper. It's actually a pretty good one too - with a tie-back to the Eugenics Wars, the second reference to "Indefinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations" (a mantra of the franchise) and Sulu having a lot to do as well.

8/10

8. The Magicks of Magas-Tu

[My entry here got lost somehow and I can't find my notes about this one. I recall I made jokes about "Sympathy for the Devil. If I find them I will edit this.]

9. Once Upon A Planet

A sequel to "Shore Leave" from Season 1 of TOS, which I reviewed here. This episode, with creatures created as a resort of thoughts from the characters interpreted by a computer with a misguided impression of its visitors, put me rather in mind of Rick & Morty. Of course, that show would do it in a rather different manner and with far more crudity. We actually get a pretty decent episode here, with everyone getting something useful to do. Although who wears uniform on shore leave?

8/10

10. Mudd's Passion

I'm not a fan of love potions, which I consider a fancier form of GHB. So, I wasn't disposed to this story involving one Harcourt Fenton Mudd (dressed like he's heading for a discotheque) as soon as it started heading that way. It's a pretty poor Nurse Chapel, as she does something that I am pretty sure the SNW version of her would never do and the whole plot involves a couple of vials of liquid somehow managing to affect an entire ship that should have toxin protections in its life support system. Mudd does not turn up again until Discovery in 2017, which makes sense as most of the later shows are set long after he would have died.

3/10 

Len Deighton 1929-2026

Len Deighton has died aged 97

His works were very much part of the reaction against James Bond in the 1960s, with "Harry Palmer" being one of the most famous of the characters from that time, played with aplomb by Sir Michael Caine.

I've read the majority of his works and would easily characterise him as one of my favourites. The RP I am currently running on two sites, Secret '67, is very much influenced by his work.

A spectacular literary innings. Rest in Peace.

Two lost episodes of Doctor Who found

Two missing episodes of "The Daleks' Master Plan" have been found in the estate of a private collector by Film is Fabulous! and will be available in iPlayer in April.

I listened to the full audio of the story back in 2012 and reviewed it here. With the video of the first and third episodes now there, I'm going to watch those two again and give my thoughts.

Watch this space (and time).

The end of the Islamic regime in Iran?

It appears for the second time this year that the United States has managed to remove a foreign leader they didn't like from power, with  Ayatollah Khamenei possibly killed in the large-scale US and Israeli attack on Iran.

This was an attack of choice with no Congressional backing, let alone one from the United Nations. The Trump administration is riding roughshod over international law, the US Constitution and common decency.

But not many will be mourning the death of Ali Khamenei, leader of one of the most oppressive regimes in the world, a literal inspiration for Gilead from The Handmaid's Tale. That is probably why there will be no real consequences for the US action here - the EU itself believed Iran was a threat in multiple ways.

It has not been a good century for those opposed to the United States. Bin Laden is lying at the bottom of the ocean. Saddam Hussein died the death of a common criminal. Gadaffi was killed by his own people. Maduro is in a prison cell. Assad is in exile.

But US action has unleashed horrific forces in many of the countries it has targeted. Improvements have occurred only after a massive wave of chaos and not always then. Refugees coming from Libya are probably a major cause of the rise of the far-right in Europe.

So, Iran has become the next 'victim' - and one can only pray a better government emerges there.

Rob Grant 1955-2026

 The co-creator of Red Dwarf has died suddenly aged 70. 

A comic genius, whose work was a source of joy to many millions around the world, has passed away. He will deeply missed.

o7 Mr Grant, o7.

Update - February 2026

I am continuing to work my way through Star Trek: The Animated Series, but the other Star Trek series on at the moment, which is actually pretty good, is limiting my time for that. I might put up a post when I hit episode 10, so you at least get some content.

I've got some stuff on Netflix that I really ought to finish off that's been partly watched for years. One thing that's not been on there for years and which I might review is a Korean show called Agents of Mystery.

Olivia's no longer in Kansas (Review: 'Fringe' 1.20, "There's More Than One of Everything")

Not that she was ever exactly in Kansas in the first place. The Fringe Division is largely confined to the NE United States, it seems.