The US election system consists of a robust system of checks and balances. There are career professionals whose job it is to ensure every American's voice is heard fairly, both Republican and Democrat, swearing up and down that there was no wrongdoing. There's no evidence of fraud. None: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/10/donald-trump-longshot-election-lawsuits and https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/us/politics/voting-fraud.html Almost every court case …
Star Trek Solved Its Stuffy-Shirt Problem
Star Trek has traditionally had a stuffy-shirt problem, especially via fans of The Next Generation (think Picard/Riker/Data era). The ethics of the 24th-century Federation were so lofty as to seem unachievable and unrealistically idealistic to many. I grew up as one of those insufferably idealistic kids, espousing the virtues of Trek wherever I went (usually …
It is OK to not be OK
Listen: things are not normal right now. It is OK to not be OK. A global pandemic, catastrophic fires exacerbated by climate change, a divisive election, ongoing political bickering amidst diminishing civility, human rights violations, and racial/caste injustice… In the face of unprecedented, unimaginable, unrelenting heartbreak it is OK to not be OK. Focus on …
Lying is Incompatible with Leadership
The first duty of every leader is to the truth. There is no faster method to completely undermine the efforts of your smartest people than to obfuscate, distract, distort, or dissemble. There's no more egregious waste than that of resources dedicated to the pursuit of a false premise. "Good deception" or leading an enemy on, …
Lead By Sending The Elevator Back Down
When you’re a leader, sending the elevator back down on a regular basis takes a lot of forms: 1. You don’t have to have the first, last, or any word. You’re in the position you are because you’ve enabled folks to do their jobs exceedingly well. When the smartest people in the room are empowered …
We Are Not Divided.
I started reading through The Federalist Papers, a series of essays written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. If you've never read them before, they're a smidge dense: The TL;DR version of what Alexander Hamilton is saying above in Federalist Paper #1: good government and liberty go hand in hand. Demanding individual liberty …
I’m A Dinosaur (in an NPS-sponsored audio drama art project)
About 3 years ago, I lent my voice to an audio drama art project for and about Badlands National Park. I play a Pteranodon 😀 My fellow Outpost - A Star Trek Fan Production voice actor Eleiece Krawiec plays Julia Jessie Walker. I'm tremendously proud of this project and glad it's finally getting out there. Apparently, KUNM-FM (Albuquerque) is going to be broadcasting …
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Breaking Bad Systems
I came across this post on NextDoor the other day... The crux of what this poster is asking for is a refund if services aren’t rendered due to COVID. It’s a bad idea - namely because teachers in Colorado are already underpaid - in fact, Colorado is dead last according to data from the average …
Far Beyond The Stars
In tough times, I turn to Trek. I was about 12 when I watched the DS9 episode Far Beyond The Stars and saw Avery Brooks as Benny Russell. Benny has been with me ever since, and the scene below (directed by Avery Brooks) is one of the most important Trek has ever made. I realize …
What kind of “normal” are we going to bring back?
We're being tested in a novel way, both in the kind of test that we are facing and in the duration of it. Because of the unique nature of this challenge, the difficulties of public policymaking and everyday societal failure points that lead to inequity are becoming VERY visible. Even with very good leadership functioning …
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Nick Armstrong 