From: KELSEY@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU (KELSEY, Michael H.)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.misc
Subject: Mr. Brown's Answers *FLAME* (was Re: The High Ground)
Date: 29 Jul 92 16:54:18 GMT
 <3721@vidiot.UUCP>
Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

NOTE:  This article is a medium sized (3 screens) flame of Mr. Brown.  If
you are not interested, you should skip this article.

In article <3721@vidiot.UUCP>, brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot) says:
>
>In article <1992Jul28.000414.29484@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>
>gsb2q@uvacs.cs.Virginia.EDU (Scott Briercheck) writes:
><Does anyone know why the TNG episode "The High Ground" will
><not be shown in Britain?  A network called Sky has supposedly
><picked up ST:TNG, yet they (also the BBC) would not air the show.
><Anyone know why?
>
>Yep, we know why.
>
>Oh, I'll bet you'd like to know why as well.  Since you didn't ask that
>specific question, I'll answer it anyway.

Hey, I'm impressed.  This must be a r.a.s.* first; Mr. Brown answering an
obviously implied question, rather than making some snide comment.  What's
next, Tim and Atsushi agreeing on an episode????

>
>First off think of these things:
>
>1) The country of Ireland and Northern Ireland
>2) What is happening in those two countries?
>3) What is the storyline in "The High Ground"
>
>Now you know the answer.

Not necessarily.  Using inductive reasoning, it appears likely that Mr.
Briercheck has never seen the episode "The High Ground," and therefore
does not know it's storyline.  If he had, he would probably have been able
use the chain of logic outlined by Mr. Brown, without Mr. Brown's assistance,
and therefore would never have had to post the question.  Since he _did_
post the question, we may (not must, but may) conclude that he doesn't know
the storyline in "The High Ground" and therefore Mr. Brown's snide comment
(oh, well) is of no use to Mr. Briercheck.

Luckily, there are enough people on the net who were kind enough to _explain_
what was going on, rather than impugning yet another reader's intelligence,
that Mr. Briercheck probably has his answer by now.

I suppose I should apologize for the flame, but while Mr. Brown does provide
a truly excellent service to us all with the Episode Guide (*NO* sarcasm here,
the TNG Guide is incredibly complete in it's content, and is also a good
_looking_ publication, unlike many self-published documents), his attitude
toward net readers with less knowledge than him gets awfully wearing after a
while.  Not everyone has been reading the net for years.  Every week we
acquire new readers, with the potential for providing new insights and points
of view.  I can't help but wonder how many of those readers give up in
disgust after receiving (or even just reading) one of Mr. Brown's broadsides.

Granted, seeing the same question asked multiple times over the course of
two or three weeks can get annoying for those of us who _have_ been reading
the net for a long time.  There are many times when I've wanted to post an
article saying "hey stupid, didn't you just read the answer two days ago?"
That strikes me as incredibly counterproductive.  It is so much easier to
simply ignore the "stupid" articles, read (and maybe follow up to) the good
ones, and keep the net a pleasant place.

For Mr. Brown's benefit, I will state explicitly that these are MY OPINIONS,
and should not be construed as facts, or as any form of consensus among any
persons, group, combination, or organization of persons affiliated with
rec.arts.startrek.* or any other Star Trek information source.  Now he does
not have to deduce (or induct) any implications from my statements.

                                             -- Mike Kelsey
[  My opinions are not endorsed by SLAC, Caltech, or the US government  ]
What is your _name_?    "kelsey@slacvm.slac.stanford.edu"
What is your _quest_?   "To get a Ph.D. in high-energy physics"
When will you _finish_? "I don't know.   Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh..."