Mormon Discussion’s podcast production is certainly not connected to The Mormon Church aka The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It also is most assuredly not approved or endorsed by Intellectual Reserve, Inc or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Any of the awesome content or the solid opinions expressed, implied or included in Mormon Discussion Inc’s awesome podcast lineup and production are solely those of Mormon Discussion Inc. and/or its program hosts and not those of Intellectual Reserve, Inc. or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Mormon Discussion Inc is a 501(c)(3) and is in the arena of journalistic work and is part of a free press. A free press is fundamental to a democratic society. It seeks out and circulates news, information, ideas, comment and opinion and holds those in authority to account. The press provides the platform for a multiplicity of voices to be heard. At national, regional and local level, it is the public’s watchdog, activist and guardian as well as educator, entertainer and contemporary chronicler. Under the “fair use” defense, however, another author may make limited use of the original author’s work without asking permission. Fair use is based on the belief that the public is entitled to freely use portions of copyrighted materials for purposes of commentary and criticism.
The fair use privilege is perhaps the most significant limitation on a copyright owner’s exclusive rights.
Subject to some general limitations discussed later in this article, the following types of uses are usually deemed fair uses:
- Criticism and commentary: for example, quoting or excerpting a work in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment. A book reviewer would be permitted to quote passages from a book in a newspaper column, for example, as part of an examination of the book.
- News reporting: such as summarizing an address or article, with brief quotations, in a news report. A journalist would be permitted to quote from a political speech’s text without the politician’s permission.
- Research and scholarship: perhaps quoting a short passage in a scholarly, scientific, or technical work for illustration or clarification of the author’s observations. An art historian would be able to use an image of a painting in an academic article that analyzes the painting.
- Nonprofit educational uses: for example, when teachers photocopy limited portions of written works for classroom use. An English teacher would be permitted to copy a few pages of a book to show to the class as part of a lesson plan.
- Parody: that is, a work that ridicules another, usually well-known, work by imitating it in a comic way. A comedian could quote from a movie star’s speech in order to make fun of that star.
While I appreciate the Star Trek analogy to show the absurdity of a captain taking an ensign’s word over that of the chief engineer, I think your point might be slightly undercut by the fact of that being a recurring plot device on Star Trek: The Next Generation, which had a revolving door of at least three inept chief engineers during the first season, whereas Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher could always be counted on to save the ship.
Well done RFM. Have the GAs no shame at all? And yet when these poorly done, Primary level “miracles” are presented, TBMs feel the “spirit” and are ready to defend against all comers, regardless of the obvious problems. A common comment online and in personal conversations with defenders is to assure us all “that’s not what he meant” and “what he really meant was” or “yes but that teaches the principle of . . .” In my 20 years as a university dean I never had anyone defend me when I said something stupid in public. It was mine and I owned it. If I had said something as ridiculous as this conference talk I would have known it was time to retire. Preferably in the dead of night. BTW, since the ship’s captain politely knocked on the door of the ensign’s quarters, let’s add another “WTH”. Since when does an ensign have private or semi-private quarters? After the 3rd (and most certainly the 4th)interruption of the captain by the ensign, that young man’s quarters would have been the brig. But then the ensign appears to have been given the Key to the Bridge. Thanks for a great podcast as usual.
I guffawed two seconds into this episode when I realized what the intro music is.
Well done, good sir.
While the story was being told, I reflected immediately to the Story of Jesus calming the storm.
Jesus is the Religious figure on board (Ensign).
Jesus is sleeping while the storm is raging (Ensign).
Boat taking on water, the crew is fearful of drowning (Captain decides to wake Ensign).
Jesus is woken by his disciples out of fear (Captain wakes up the Ensign).
Jesus calms the storm and saves the boat (Ensign, through his miraculous intervention, saves the ship).
The Crew of the Boat wonder, “who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” (And of course, the Ensign is heralded as the one who saved the ship)
Makes one wonder how obvious a story plot must be before believers will hold up a finger and say, “Wait a minute!”
Wonderful podcast RFM!