3. TIL during an interview about the casting of Jean-Luc Picard, Gene Roddenberry w...

TIL during an interview about the casting of Jean-Luc Picard, Gene Roddenberry was asked by a reporter, "Surely they would have cured baldness by the 24th century?" Roddenberry answered, "In the 24th century, they wouldn't care."

I don't think that was the case of the military taking over government. In almost all the Star Trek series there's hints that there's a distinct civilian governing body that Starfleet answers to. In "The Final Frontier" movie when we see Colonel West's plan veto'd by the UFP president. And again in DS9's "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost," in which the UFP President is demonstrated to have clear authority over Starfleet. Furthering the point, that two parter was all about Starfleet officers plotting a coup d'tet against the civilian government. Which in turn could have lead to a civil war, given that many member worlds (and even a considerable percentage of starfleet itself) would not accept a starfleet formed government.

For external relations though, that's fairly understandable. Starfleet's mandate is exploration, so they're the ones that are out there exploring the galaxy and patrolling the space lanes. They're the ones in the field, that ones that have to deal with either first contact or whatever crisis may emerge. It's reasonable to assume that Starfleet officers are given authority to act on behalf of the Federation within certain limits.

However we've also seen that Starfleet certainly doesn't have full diplomatic authority. In TOS "A Taste of Armageddon," Ambassador Robert Fox was demonstrated to be able override Captain Kirk despite a civilian. Again this is shown in TNG's 'Sarek', in which Ambassador Sarek had overall command of the mission. It's probably safe to assume that Starfleet officers establish the groundwork, but once that's done the Federation will probably dispatch a dedicated team of diplomats to handle the hard work of relationship building.

/r/todayilearned Thread Parent Link - projects.latimes.com
Previous
Next

Recently removed from /r/todayilearned

TIL Thomas(ine) Hall was declared both a man and a woman in a Virginia court in 1629 and ordered to wear men's clothing with a woman's apron and bonnet. He/She would present as either gender carnally and when working as soldier, lacemaker, field laborer, or maid. Thomasine was physically intersex. TIL that the low cost wine brand "Two Buck Chuck" was created by Fred Franzia, who bought the Charles Shaw name from a bankrupt winery for $27k. Once when asked why his wine was cheaper than water, he replied "They're overcharging for the water. Don't you get it?" TIL that butterflies have 4 wings not 2 (found out on an episode of Benidorm during a pub quiz) TIL Don Quixote, considered one of the first modern novels, is also one of the first stories that uses meta-fiction, as the author plays pretend that his story comes from historical sources and had to search for lost documents and translations to complete it. TIL "Rudy", of Notre Dame football fame, was involved in a pump-and-dump scheme and had a settlement with the SEC for >$380,000. TIL Brazil found incarcerated populations read 9x as much as the general population. They made a new program for prisoners so each written book review took 4 days off a prison sentence. TIL most English speaking countries around the world pronounce “Z” as “zed” but the United States is the only one that does not. Unlike other English speak countries the US pronounces it “zee.” TIL Snoop Dogg was excommunicated by the Rastafari Council after his attempt to rebrand as Rastafarian "Snoop Lion" TIL Some of the reasons people drive aggressively include a sense of anonymity while driving, feeling more empowered driving than in the rest of their lives, and a feeling that other drivers have previously driven aggressively around them. TIL about Nasubi from Japan's (perhaps the entire world's) most controversial TV show ever recorded. Nasubi lived alone in a tiny room for 15 months completely naked and only able to survive based on items he won from sweepstakes. More info in comments. TIL by passing a law requiring pharmacies to be owned by a licensed pharmacist, North Dakota has essentially done away with corporate chain pharmacies. Corporations that own pharmacies must be majority owned by licensed pharmacists. TIL that the Fahrenheit scale was standardized 18 years before Celsius. The world switch due to the British Empire. The United States is actually using the earlier standard. TIL that the famous James Bond theme (first heard in 1962 in Dr. No) was source of a long running dispute between John Barry and Monty Norman. Norman had originally written a song for a musical adaptation of V. S. Naipaul's novel A House for Mr Biswas which was the inspiration. TIL that the parasite H. zschokkei is the only multicellular organism that does not rely on Oxygen for respiration. It relies on a currently undiscovered energy metabolism to sustain itself. TIL, cold or rainy weather cannot make you sick

More Random Comments

ELI5 how the speakers of the Chinese languages can understand each other's Text but can't understand speech? Cop pepper sprays large group of motorcyclist passing safely on the highway. TX 'I was raped by 150 men': Young women claim grooming gang at large in Hull When have you had to actually use your Emergency Fund? [Bleacher Report] NBA's 24 Under 24 Rankings: Evan Mobley Enters Top 10, Luka Loses No. 1 Spot Finally. First impressions of Arya vs Ananda. Miss Greece Praised for Boycotting Miss Universe in Israel, There's Only One Issue... She is not Miss Greece Am I wrong? Uppdrag granskning avslöjar: Flera barn har fått skador i transvården Tranerite, the non-binery explosive I [26F] told a mutual friend [28M] that I am not interested in dating him but it seems like he doesn’t get the picture. Is there anything else I can say? The r/FIFA Daily Discussion Thread -- November 24, 2021 Your Xbox Digital Museum - Xbox 20th Anniversary Let’s put some glue in vaginas Are psychology degrees worth anything in the UK?