Carol,
Truce accepted.
Regarding Heinlein's History and Moral Philosophy class, there is a lot of good to be considered in such an approach, especially in the current era when so many of us do not take these responsibilities seriously. It would, however, take a pretty big social upheaval in this country to ever get to the point where such an approach would be feasible. Still, many science fiction writers have been way ahead of their time in their prescience of our potential future.
I apologize for being overly sensitive about my personal military background and the patriotism I hold dear. A carryover, I suppose, of being a Vietnam vet, where those of us who served did so with a great sense of personal honor, knowing our country's leaders were making a mistake, but serving as best we could only to be ridiculed and scorned upon our return for participating in an unpopular war. It is sometimes too easy for us to take offense when actually none was intended.
BTW, Heinlein was right about the Navy. (:-)
Regarding movie adaptations, it is unfortunate that the powers that be do not always provide an accurate representation of the stories upon which they were based, but sometimes a genre has to get into the public consciousness before it is considered acceptable, then after it achieves that, more sophisticated approaches (more accurate reflections) become acceptable. So I tend to be a little more forgiving at this point. All the more reason for literacy in BOOKS to be stressed at an early age, otherwise, one does not learn to think and see with their imagination.
About the digital camera question, I'm sorry, but I don't remember exactly the original question, and the archives are not set to go back far enough for me to retrieve it. Would you mind reposting?
I, too, enjoy adult exchanges. One of the reasons I am growing increasingly frustrated at area-51 is the distinct loss of that aspect of a site I once fervently enjoyed. It has become too dominated by juvenile expression and too much jokesterism at the expense of genuine speculative conversation.
Unfortunately, I feel a bit uncomfortable expressing such heavy matters here at MarsDawn, which I enjoy for different reasons and am concerned that my interests may run counter to the group of Marsupials who are doing such a good job of maintining focus on this project.
Anyway, thanks for the reply.
Captain Zot (Neil)