Mixed Messages Fellow Legendaire, artist, writer and creator of Gapo the Clown (see his site for more), Tony Miello , has pieces on his site referencing a special tribute book for the troops serving in the Middle East . Additionally, he's running an auction of the page he's submitted for use in the book, as the tribute book is a not-for-profit venture intended to be distributed free of charge to the troops and needs donations to turn it into a reality.
This is one of those situations where I'm convinced that all involved are doing this in the purest and noblest spirit - much like the troops themselves - but I keep drawing back because I cannot morally support the "mission" they've been sent on. Also, I strongly expect that many of the pieces submitted for this book (a series of single and multiple panel pages in a variety of comics art styles, intended to convey a "thank you" message to the troops) will be unable to steer clear of glorifying the
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Maybe it was the Red Kryptonite Ale?
Shabby Superman goes berserk!
"I guess this young man jumped in the back seat of the victim's vehicle and just started hitting him and when the victim attempted to call using his cell
phone, (Superman) grabbed the cell phone and he stomped on it," said
Sgt. Angella Abrams, of the Ann Arbor Police Department.
Perhaps he'd have gotten more respect if he'd accessorized with the right boots . I especially like the "budget superhero" category, which helped me quickly imagine how catty it likely gets when these superheros get a little time to gossip and critique costumes... (Thanks to Tammy for passing these links along.)
Take a deep breath, New York...
Finally, some information appears to be coming to light concerning some of what was in the air following the 9/11 attacks . This being the Bush administration, though, the sport comes in seeing how Whitman and company will attempt to avoid blame. There's plenty of money and oh so many willing accomplices, I'm sure the defenses will include statements that the true danger thresholds are much higher than the standards, along with misdirection in the form of noting more dangerous items in the air on a city street, and charges that this is somehow just another partisan attack, as if that invalidates the charge. Then again, they can also do what they've often done and try to ride most of it out in silence. If any of this reflects badly on the Bush administration chances are all the people who get their news from FOX News and Rush Limbaugh will hardly be aware of it.
Saudi Oil Declining?
Here's a report on warnings being spread concerning indications that the Saudi oil reserves may be reaching their end . Unfortunately, a jaded U.S. public - for whom such dire warnings were a staple in the middle to latter 1970s, and have since become more a matter of pop cultural kitsch and camp - could easily choose to ignore it as nothing more than an excuse for profiteering by the oil producers and their cronies. The simple, inescapable fact, however, is that such ancient reserves are a finite source - they will be depleted - it's all a matter of timing. That the Saudis and other nations for whom oil is their primary, even sole, source of income would try to hide signs that the end is coming, while getting the most for their product and investing as much of that money as they can in more enduring assets such as real estate and investment in the defense industry of the U.S. (a gold mine in an age of a never-ending War on Terror), should surprise
Bush & the Abortion Issue
I was aware that the Bush campaign, as the election grinds closer, has been downplaying the issue of abortion except, perhaps, in targeted messages to the anti-abortion portion of his constituency. The angle being played, of course, is that the anti-abortion groups are getting wink from the Shrub, but no one wants to scare away the potential Bush voter who happens to be pro-choice. So, of course, it's all the more important for us to make sure that none of the swing voters forget that this is an issue that's high on his agenda. If, in some cases, that leads to some more votes for him -- so be it. At least it would be an honestly won vote, which is otherwise going to be a rare one for the Bush camp this year.
What brought this back to mind, though, is a piece concerning suppressed allegations that Dubya was party to an abortion back in 1970 -- when it was still illegal. It's an interesting journey, involving Larry Flint of all people,
The first of the scheduled captures?
While it's not confirmed, there's a report that Abu Masab al-Zarqawi (the head of the group responsible for, among many things, some recent kidnappings and beheadings) has been captured in Western Iraq.
As noted back on July 8th , strong reports were going around concerning what amounts to orders being placed for the capture of high profile terrorists before the November elections, especially during key periods such as during the Democratic National Convention.
Update: Depending upon how one chooses to interpret the reports, it may have been Ahmed Khalfan Ghailan , not al-Zarqawi, another of the "most wanted" al Qaida figures, and the capture took place in Pakistan, not Western Iraq... and apparently it was accomplished a little ahead of the order the Bush administration placed. The report is that he may have been captured as early as this past Sunday, but, well, these things must be held until it's time f
Michael Moore's speech in Boston
(Thanks to Brad Ingle for pointing the following link out to me.)
The following is in reference to a speech Michael Moore gave in Cambridge, Massachusetts this past Tuesday, July 27th.
It's a speech more people should hear for various reasons, and I'm hoping Moore gets around to as many college campuses as he can between now and November to deliver the gist of it. For now - especially now, with the Dem's convention reaching the point of Kerry's formal acceptance - the one item of supreme focus in the speech, is this:
"What the Democrats should be doing, and I have heard Kerry say this, is we need to give, we need to give those who are thinking of voting for Ralph Nader, a reason to vote for John Kerry. That is the right answer."
The broad thrust of the Democratic push thusfar has been, unfortunately, the message that "Bush must go." I don't disagree with the message - it's both true an
More of the Bush Administration's wall of lies.
This time it's the deficit.
Courtesy of the invaluable Daily Mislead .
Among other things, testimony from the White House Budget Director concerning the effects of this administration's failed fiscal policies:
"...even if we had never been attacked, and incurred no costs of war or recovery from September 11th, and no tax relief had become law, we still would have gone into deficit." - Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. Director of Office of Management andBudget, testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee.
Well, I have to give the guy points for actually going through with burning ice cream rather than finding some easier way
I was aware of TrueMajority 's PantsOnFire Mobile , but this is the first time I've chanced on some reaction to it. This is from down in Kentucky . There are several gems in the piece, including the former store-owner (who appears to still be making decisions for the store) deciding that Haagen- Dazs is "more American."
That some would describe Dubya as "leader of the free world" never fails to chill my blood a little, though, and I certainly feel sorry for 2 year old Cheney Harris for being saddled with that name.
Some analogies work so well...
(A pass-along courtesy of Tammy R., which so neatly analogizes what we, as a nation, have had to put up with. If anyone knows the source, please let me know, as I'd like to give credit where due.)
Poker With Dick Cheney
Transcript of The Editors' regular Saturday-night poker game with Dick Cheney, 6/19/04. Start tape at 12:32 AM.
The Editors: We'll take three cards.
Dick Cheney: Give me one.
Sounds of cards being placed down, dealt, retrieved, and rearranged in hand. Non-commital noises, puffing of cigars.
TE: Fifty bucks.
DC: I'm in. Show 'em.
TE: Two pair, sevens and fives.
DC: Not good enough.
TE: What do you have?
DC: Better than that, that's for sure. Pay up.
TE: Can you show us your cards?
DC: Sure. One of them's a six.
TE: You need to show all your cards. That's the way the game is played.
Colin Powell: Ladies and gentlemen. We have accumulated overwhelming evidence that Mr. Cheney's poker
Service & Tips & Related Matters
Over on Brad's Mysterious Glow site, down on his messageboards, is a thread concerning tips, service, etc. kicked off by a link to the Bitter Waitress site. I read it and posted the following there (which I've expanded slightly), which seemed to have enough topics folded into it that I decided to make it into a post here.
I always try to give a solid tip to wait staff that's at least competent, and never to penalize them for either mistakes made by the kitchen or for slow service when it's obvious that either they or the kitchen staff is overwhelmed. I was a little taken aback by the opening page that declared anything under %17 as a "shitty" tip, as I'd understood 15% to be an acceptable baseline for a "no real complaints" dining experience. If I have a very good experience I'll leave 30%, occasionally more. My biggest pet peeve is being left without something to drink. There's al
The Nader Effect?
Whether or not one sees it as making a significant difference, this piece on a Republican push to get Ralph Nader on the ballot as a possible vote-drain from the Democratic side is interesting. His effect in Florida in 2000 is still open to debate, mainly because there's nothing to say that the Nader-energized voters would've even bothered to vote if he'd not given them something to vote for -- not to mention that Gore/Lieberman ran a terrrible campaign. (I voted for them, but with considerable reluctance in another "lesser of two evils" ballot.) Whether or not the vote-dilution tactic will be effective is certainly up for debate, but that at least some of the support is intended solely to promote Nader as a spoiler is clear from items such as this:
"We saw it as an obvious opportunity to split the liberal base in a swing state," Matt Kibbe, CSE's president and CEO told ABC News. (From the second page of the articl
Soon to be getting less from Moore's Law?
This one's more (and forms of "more" appear to be my theme du jour ) of a quick tech primer about advancements in electronics than anything else. The mechanics of quantum computation continue to amusingly counter-intuitive (to me, at least) which only makes the possibilities all the more intriguing.
More reasons for me to steer away from Wal-Mart (and take a look at CostCo) Nothing earth-shaking, but some information on policies and alliances that I found interesting. Wal-Mart has been seemingly ubiquitous - certainly high profile - while CostCo has been so quiet that I hadn't realized until doing a search that they have facilities in two, fairly nearby locations. Something for me to look into next weekend.
More short-sighted legislation
One of the dozens of bits I'd quickly read about last week but never found the time to mention here is a piece of legislation introduced by someone whose knowledge of the world appears to remain fixed in Biblical times, Senator Orrin Hatch. Of course, all of this is being kind to him in providing him with a shield of ignorance. It could simply be that groups such as the RIAA and BSA have gotten to him in a fiscally meaningful way. Had such short-sighted legislation taken hold in the 1980s, when a similar furor was raised over the spectre of imminent "losses", you or I would likely never have been allowed to own VCRs. This, and legislation Hatch has been involved in before to tax internet sales, are examples of legislators passing judgement on matters they clearly have no knowledge of.
Getting some direct use from the FTC?
In a petition of complaint submitted on July 19th to the Federal Trade Comission, MoveOn.org is pressing for prsecution of Fox News Network for false advertising in their use of the phrase "Fair and Balanced." The complaint itself is found here (it's a pdf), and should you want to sign up to give the complaint a little boost via emails to the FTC and some members of Congress, go to MoveOn.org's page , where you'll be able to send a boilerplate message or revise it as you wish. "Even if we lose our FTC case, this campaign will educate people about Fox, which is arguably the right wing’s most effective propaganda tool. So it’s important to dial up the citizen pressure on the Federal Trade Commission." ---Jason Salzman, from MoveOn's email to its members.
Stealth Tribes
Here's a link that showed up in my mail last night, concerning the latest project from Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran: Stealth Tribes . Ellis continues to look for a twist just around the bend of the ongoing tech-tainment wave, and Doran continues to impress by demonstrating that she's a highly adaptive talent. It looks intriguing, though the question of whether to spring for the hardcover or wait for the trade immediately comes to mind. Well, I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.
A little on a Sunday night...
Just checking in.
I heard from one of the Legends folk today with an email address update and notice that he has a site up ( Mysterious Glow ), so I added that to the Legends links down the left hand side of the page, then passed the update info around to the membership and reminded them that the August 7th deadline for issue #106 is coming up in a few weeks. Beyond that, today's been a mix of domestic chores and some time spent in at work, trying in vain to get a safe and secure handle one the double-bladed chainsaw that is my coming work week. In other words, my usual Sunday routine.
Up for consideration all weekend had been participating in one or more of the Heroclix marquee events running this weekend (go, buy three boosters of the new set, take 5 minutes to assemble a team of 300 pts or less, then play that team in three matches), but ultimately I decided to let it pass. I'd already taken advantage of participating in
The Real Ronnie
A move I'd meant to do a while ago was to add that Real Reagan Legacy link which is now over in the left column of this site -- over there, just below the cost of the war in Iraq. One of the portions I especially like to drive home to people is this one - the myth that his "Star Wars" - Strategic Defense Initiative - program drove the USSR to economic collapse. Rightfully touted as the biggest lie about Reagan, it's an item that's bothered me since the first time I heard it shortly after the USSR began to publicly disassemble.
But, hey, they're our buddies so they must be Good Guys, right?
I happened to see this CBC piece on human rights abuses against foreign workers in Saudi Arabia , and thought it was a good idea to pass it along. The sentencing for "illegal pregnancies" was a new twist to me, though I suppose it shouldn't surprise me in a country where public executions by beheading are part of the system.
Side-rant: Kingdoms and other theocratic systems - anywhere that someone ultimately lays claim to holding a position of power or a set of laws because it's God's Will - should be something humankind is acting to outgrow. The first step to bettering our lot is to take responsibility for our actions, laws and government, which we should always recognize are human institutions . The misery that ultimately arises from people claiming a Divine source for law or leadership should be painfully obvious to mankind by now, shouldn't it? That, more than anything, is w
A little more on Mutant Mayhem
WizKids nudged the marketing machine a little more this week with a little more information, and some images, to promote the Mutant Mayhem expansion coming this November. Six images are shown: A John Romita Sr. styled version of Spider-man, a grey Hulk, Firestar, what nearly everyone agrees is Jean Grey during her brief stint as the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, Giant Man (the Ultimates version), and a new version of Blade - who is probably contractually necessary as he's part of an ongoing film franchise and his Infinity Challenge version has been retired.
Abu Ghraib: Could the worst be yet to come?
Today's Daily Mislead focuses on more lies the Bush Administration told us concerning what went on in the prison, why it did, and who knew authorized at least some of it. Beyond the chain of events that have been publicized already and the strengthening of links to senior Bush Administration officials, if what investigative journalist Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker alleged during his address to the ACLU (here's a link to a streaming video of the event , with his comments coming roughly ninety minutes into the video.) To be fair, if no such videotape of children being sodomized come to light - and the only reason for them being kept would be, well, probably the same degree of depravity that would have led to the acts themselves - they'll remain nothing more than terrible charges.
Additional note: Something I meant to mention at the time, but somehow forgot to, is that I'm all too aware of the propaganda value
Probably less than Fantastic... Here's the latest word, including heavy rumors and references to doubtlessly outdated scripts, on 2005's Fantastic Four movie , largely courtesy of Ain't It Cool News .
As previously mentioned , Michael Chiklis (The Shield) will portray Ben
Grimm/the Thing. Now joining the case are Iaon Gruffudd , who can currently be seen as Lancelot in the new King Arthur movie,
playing Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, and Chris Evans ,who starred in Not Another Teenage Movie , as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch.
The rumor mill is currently pushing (and other sources are trating it as confirmed) Dark Angel 's Jessica Alba as the movie's Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman. At the moment she's in Texas, playing a part in Frank Miller's (and he isn't kidding, as he has a co-director and script writing credit for the film) Sin City , which is also set for 2005 release.
Also being strongly pushed is Ray Liotta as Dr. Doom. That the o
If you needed some of them restated...
I generally enjoyed Jesse Walker's Ten Reasons to Fire George Bush , though the majority of his closing jabs at Kerry are based in Libertarian objections to larger central government and government oversight of any kind. As the host magazine, Reason , is a Libertarian publication (their motto: "Free minds and free markets") that's to be expected.
While I do blame Congress for not taking a more aggressive investigative stand before voting, due to the atmosphere in the US in October of 2001 derived from the "intelligence" that was being attested to up and down before Congress and the nation, I'm not going to hold the Iraq vote against anyone who has since come to realize what a terrible mistake it was. I have a similar stance to the Patriot Act, as it was rammed through Congress with such a sense of alarm and panic it may as well have been riding in an ambulance.
As someone who believes that something a
Getting the Most Out of Martin Luther King, Jr.
I'd known that Dubya had declined to speak at the NAACP national convention (as Mark Gibson had pointed out last week), making him the first president since Herbert Hoover not to attend. What I didn't know was that when he visited Martin Luther King's grave on MLK Day it enabled him to let the taxpayers foot the travel costs for him attending a $2000/plate fundraiser for him that same day in Atlanta, GA.
Something important to keep in mind
The latest from The Daily Mislead reminded me that last Friday's Senate Intelligence Committee report was rather quickly rushed through the media, and while some elements are lingering at the start of the week too many news programs about it this week have a "nothing to see here" feel to them with respect to the Bush Administration. Elements of the report, not to mention comments made by several of the committee members during the press conference, emphasized how strongly the Bush Administration pressed for information to support their preconceived intention to attack Iraq.
What disturbs me the most about how the report is being ushered through as if it not only somehow absolves the White House of blame, but is somehow the last word on the subject. Few seem to be emphasizing the fact that the issues of how the White House chose which information to use, and how it not only misused some information but continued to use informati
Renew the Assault Weapons Ban
I was contacted this morning by Tom Mauser, father of Daniel, one of those slain during the Columbine incident. He's requesting names for his petition to keep the ban on assault weapons in place . It is set to automatically expire at the end of this summer, hence the need for action now. While I know the ban is imperfect, I still see it as a worthy element in our society's attempt to reduce gun violence. (Apologies for the terse text, but I'm pressed for time.)
Tony Twists Todd's -- well, you finish it.
$15 million dollars was awarded Friday to a former hockey player because his name was used for a Mafia boss in issues of McFarlane's Spawn comic. As this is just the latest pass of this case through the courts, and appeals are promised, it's anything but the final word on the affair.
Now, the comics digression...
Probably the only thing irritating to me in the piece (the rest of which, I must confess, interests me little) is the line "McFarlane, formerly the principal artist and writer of Spiderman comics," which is both a matter of narrow fact and otherwise nothing more than a handy point of reference. I've had this discussion, mercifully briefly, with a couple people over the years, but McFarlane's been credited by some with completely reviving a moribund Spider-man (in terms of sales) circa 1990. My counterpoints are that a) he did it largely as an artist with an intricate, fluid, innovative an
Employment/Unemployment Questions
While finding the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the official state of unemployment in the US, I'm always bothered by the knowledge that this doesn't give the true and complete picture.
Those who've reached a point where they've run through their unemployment benefits drop out of the picture, as do those who have taken refuge in any part-time job or jobs they can in order to survive. As I look at the summary tables (the bottom section of the table found in the above link) I also have to wonder how skewed the average hourly wage figures (between $15.52 and $15.65) are by both overtime pay and those positions with extraordinary levels of compensation - ranging from the $100+/hr legal fees in the corporate arena to someone's idea of what the hourly wage of a CEO breaks down into. Presumably they're part of the employment picture, too, right? A CEO making a modest $1 million/year, if that were to be d
Speak of the Devil
This one's a rambler, for which I'll apologize in advance.
The ‘net is rough-surfing these days, especially from home. Getting pages to load is a 50% proposition, and Hotmail’s running worse than that. I can’t get MSN Messenger to connect at all – not that I use it for anything but its handy incoming email alerts, but that’s important as it helps keep me on top of what’s coming in, not to mention helping me fight the impulse to check for email every 5 minutes. It seems to be getting worse almost by the day, and with every session degenerating into longer and longer periods of waiting with no greater pay-off than hearing the same, tired obscenities coming from me, it’s been more productive to not bother even trying to go online. One of the system invaders has apparently not only gotten past Norton Anti-Virus, but made it impossible for me to run it for more than a few seconds at a time. Some severe measures are in order.
For now, though, my emai
Tin Hats & Terror: Warm-up to the November Elections
"It's believed, the official said, al Qaeda will attempt to strike before the November presidential election, the official added."
Yes, it was inevitable that we'd get back to the terror warning color ladder dance, and on one level it's Ridge & the Homeland Security boys simply being responsible. I wouldn't have bothered noting it were it not for the "before the November elections" phrase being inserted. Again, on one level even that's just another piece of clarifying information. However, my expectation has been that it's just a matter of time before this is employed as another tactic to steer many unsuspecting voters to vote for the Bush administration as a twisted sign of solidarity and patriotism.
The angle will be the same one as the utterly bogus one employed by the Bushies with respect to the Spanish elections and the terrorist train bombings earlier this year .
Doc's Dilemma
Okay, so it's not technically a dilemma, but merely a tough choice. Alliteration simply wins out some of the time. Blame Stan Lee if you must.
Over at Industrial Strength Braino former resident, now guest-star, Doc Nebula posted on Wednesday that a film student has contacted him with the intent of filming a biopic for submission to a local film festival in 2005. It's all laid out there. If you've never been there before and are curious about the references to conflicts with Kurt Busiek, those questions would be best answered (if you have the time) by Doc's Funeral for a Friendship piece. (Which is one of the many pieces he has links to down the right hand side of the site.)
I've tossed in some comments on the opening pitch over there, and if you find you have something to add, do the same.
The latest wave of plastic crack
I finally got to open my Ultimates case of Heroclix Thursday night. Though not initially feeling a great swell of enthusiasm for this set, I'm a sucker for these comics-themed gamepieces. So, with the next set not due until November (that'll be Mutant Mayhem , and I placed my order for that back on June 24th, btw) I let my early order - made back in March - stand.
Based on earlier expansions I'd every reason to expect that with a Wednesday release I wouldn't see my case until the following Monday. However, they started moving their orders out early, so the case arrived Thursday. While I wasn't able to get to it until late Thursday night, it was yet another nice prize awaiting me at the end of my short-but-thick workweek.
The case was a fairly good mix, and I was generally pleased. I did pull two boosters containing only 3 clix, though, which several others had reported, too. It seems I'll be able to get WizKids to
Spider-man 2
I did carve out some time yesterday - I'd wanted to, and besides, I'd promised the kids - to see Spider-man 2 . A solid piece of entertainment, I was very happy with it; the Spider-franchise appears strong, and opportunities for storylines abound. I don't want to do a full review here (though I reserve the right to do one a little later -- I just want to keep moving at the moment), so aside from recommending it I'll just point you to some comments on it made by fellow bloggers Mark Gibson , ISB , and Tony Collett each of whom deserves some attention.
Beyond that, it seems that I'm writing most of my comments on the movie in comment blocks on other people's blogs. Hmmm...
I'm baaa-ack!
A soul-crushing couple of weeks between work and too much traffic between home and hospital, but I'm now theoretically into the second of my four days off. I needed to get one, last, other obligation off my desk - Legends #105 out into the mail - which I took care of by a little past 11am today. Now, once more in theory, I'm at my leisure.
One of the things that has snuck up on me is Free Comic Book Day ! That's today. To find out which stores near you are participating, go here . To see what various publishers have made available for the event, go here . I'll be swinging by at least one location this afternoon.