Bible as elective

So I saw this: Bible class guidelines constitutional, AG says

First thought: Well, duh. It's Texas.

Second: Actually, I don't have a *huge* problem with this, even though I have major problems with organized religion in general. They are elective courses, and that's the most important thing... if students are in any way required to take these, even in a "not enough viable elective choices" way, then I'll get upset. But allowing students with faith (or a curiosity about faith?) to learn about the Bible in school? Hey, I guess I'm cool with that. I mean, I'd think most church-goers already know these lessons, and might want to spend their valuable free education time on coursework where they don't already know all the answers, but hey, y'know, whatever.

My biggest concern is that these classes are going to be more of a religious indoctrination, rather than teaching the Bible the way that we teach, say, Greek mythology or Mayan culture. Teaching it as a non-denominational, non-judgmental, examination of the good, the bad and the ugly of The Bible and Christianity and how it has been interpreted and misinterpreted over the years. Cover the Crusades as well as the soup kitchens, the Salem witch trials as well as the power of prayer.

Do I think this is how it will be taught? No, as I said, it's Texas. So while I may not have a *huge* problem with it in theory, I have plenty of concern about it in practice. But I'll be perfectly fine with it up until the point where the class or its teachings interfere with my children and my life.

TV: Boldly Going Nowhere

Holy shit. The Futon Critic has a story about a proposed Fox midseason replacement from the writers of Always Sunny in Philadelphia that transplants the sense of humor of that show to a sci-fi premise about an inept spaceship crew.

In his review (which you really should read), The Futon Critic has a pretty good overview of a few of the gags and the general sensibilities of the show. He also expresses skepticism that this racy a show will get onto Fox. I share that skepticism, but I say this now:

Fox, if you air at least a half-dozen episodes of this show, I will officially forgive you for the severe fucking you did of Firefly.

Brandon Graham is awesome - Tokyopop is teh suck

So I read this over at Blog@Newsarama - apparently, Tokyopop isn't releasing the rights to King City to Brandon Graham, which is of course lame. The good news is, Graham is posting it online, the first 12 pages are up at his site (this link also has new pages from color Multiple Warheads!) and they are, as expected, quite awesome.

I very much doubt anyone from Tokyopop reads this blog, but on the off chance you do: We sell a fair amount of manga in my store. And I make a lot of decisions every month about what books to order in and take a chance on, and what books go to "special order only." This kind of shit factors into my decisions, just so you know.

I'm Gotham PD!

So today, in The Batman Strikes #47, I've officially joined the Gotham City PD. Josh Elder (writer of this issue, creator of Mail Order Ninja and high on my "wish he was going to San Diego so we could get dinner again" list) wrote me, Dave Campbell, Chris Sims and Rachelle Goguen into Batman Adventures #47. Rachelle has the panels scanned in over at her site, and she got the coolest job (lighting the Bat signal). Sims also gets the cool job of heading up the tactical units. Me? I get to make sure "Every cop in Gotham is on the streets. Now." A direct order from Jim Gordon. So yeah, that's pretty damned cool. Campbell gets to call the Mayor, which is the least-cool job, but that's what he gets for retiring. ;)

It's also a really good issue, as it turns out. Only the second one I've ever read (the first was Elder's Batman/Superman issue, also a good one), it has a great take on Black Mask (a villain I don't traditionally like), nice use of the Joker, Batgirl and Robin, a *ton* of story, great action, terrific art by Christopher Jones (who I remember from Young Heroes in Love)... it actually made me interested in watching the show.

And I actually didn't know of Rachelle's blog, so it was cool to discover that as a result of this too.

Also, I'm quoted on the back of Halo & Sprocket 2 this week, and as Halo & Sprocket is probably one of my top ten favorite comics of all time (and definitely in the top three funniest comics I've ever read), that was cool too.

Rock Band 2 = drooool

I was excited by this last Friday, which saw not only the announcement of a couple Red Hot Chili Peppers tracks, but the upcoming, long-anticipated Who pack, as well as Rock Band 2.

In September. Only three, maybe two-and-a-half, months away. My plan was to just buy the game, but then some news leaked out today about the new instruments and they look super-sweet. I already have a wireless guitar, but I love the look of the new one, I have *got* to have the wireless drums, and so I might wind up buying the whole set... or I might buy the game and buy the wireless drums separately, if that's an option.

Then there's the rumored setlist. If even half of this is correct (and the odds seem pretty good), it's going to be an impressive setlist, just like Rock Band 1. And all downloadable content is backwards-compatible. If only the original Rock Band music could also be loaded in if you already have the game, that would be the best, but that's a minor concern.

Plus the gameplay features, seemingly incorporating a lot of what I've been hoping for. Your customized characters can now play on any instrument. You can make your own setlists. There are more categories to organize song lists by (hopefully "downloads" is one of them.) World Tour is now online. There are no more band leaders. You can switch instruments during the tour. There's a battle of the bands mode. There are mini-campaigns not just by instrument, but by decade, genre and artist. And that's just the stuff I can tell from the promo, who knows what else will be in the offering.

I will be buying Rock Band 2 the very day it becomes available. I can't wait.

I Come Not To Praise Jesse Helms, But To Bury Him In Scorn

You know, I haven't posted anything about Jesse Helms, because I generally do believe in not speaking ill of the dead. But I think you have to make exceptions for people who were outright evil, and Helms was. I did a happy little jig when I learned that he had died, it was finally a counterbalance to the deaths of Rory Root, Michael Turner, George Carlin... people who helped make the world a better place with intelligence, kindness, talent, etc.

Helms was a racist, homophobic, tobacco-pushing piece of shit. That he represented North Carolina in the Senate for so many years tells you a lot about the Senate, and about a lot of North Carolinians (not all of them, if we're judging folks based on who their state sends to office, well, then us liberal Texans have to take blame for G.W. Bush, too). The world is better for his removal from it. I don't believe in Heaven or Hell, but I kind of like the idea of Helms getting up to the pearly gates, and the doors open, and George Carlin and Bill Hicks step up, punch him in the face and the groin and send him screaming down to Hell where he belongs.

Want to see a little bit more on Helms, and why his death is not a cause for mourning? Roland Martin on CNN.com reminds folks not to sanitize Helms' racist beliefs just because he's dead. No, I'm more with a 51-year-old manager at a lab in North Carolina went into forced retirement for taking a stand against lowering the flag in respect to Helms (that he didn't deserve).

Pet Ownership - Really?

So the AP, with their McCain leg-humping version of objectivity, has a howler up today: Pet owners, it seems, are more likely to vote for McCain because he owns pets, while Obama is "petless."

Good lord.

Look, I have a dog, who I adopted from the humane society. I'm an animal lover by nature (although cows don't count, PETA members... I love animals, but I love steak more.)

But if you're seriously basing any part of your vote for President of the United States on whether or not he has a fucking bull terrier? Do me a favor... write your will leaving everything to Senator Fluffykins, your 6-year-old Lhasa Apso, go in the garage, close up all the vents and start up your car. All dogs go to heaven, so you'll have plenty of company, and those of us who vote based on actual issues can decide the Presidency instead.

Oh, and AP? If you ever call me with a poll about my views on the candidates' pet-ownership, or golf scores, or music tastes, or whatever other pointless bullshit you can come up with, I'm going to laugh at you, call you four, maybe six, of George Carlin's seven words, and then hang up on you.

Edit: Apparently this is a, let's say, unusual interpretation of this poll. Which makes me slightly less depressed about American voters, and slightly more depressed about the state of pollsters and journalism in this country.

Blog Update for June 2008

This is the latest monthly update to the right column of the blog, updating my favorite comics and TV for the previous month. The listings are alphabetical, not by rank of how much I liked them in comparison. My criteria for what makes the list is when I read them, not necessarily when they were published. This is basically also my own records of what I read/liked for the inevitable "End of Year" lists I feel like making.

It was another pretty good month for comics reading, at least for me. Breaks down like this: 7 Marvel (two of them MAX), 5 DC (one of them Vertigo, two of them Chuck Dixon and one of them Mark Waid, the latter three are all on their way out), 3 Dark Horse, 2 Boom! (both Games Workshop licensed books), 1 Image (Jay Faerber's Gemini) and 2 indies (RASL and Superior Showcase). Almost making the cut this month we've got a half-dozen Marvel books (Captain America #39, Thunderbolts #121, What If Fantastic Four Tribute To Mike Wieringo, X-Men Legacy #213, Wolverine #66 and X-Factor #32), a lone DC hold-out (Tiny Titans #5), a lone Dark Horse holdout (Buffy The Vampire Slayer #15), two Image (Noble Causes #34 and Pilot Season Genius #1) and three indie (Scream Queen #1 from Boom!, Hack Slash Series #12 from Devil's Due and Jim Butchers Dresden Files #3 from Dabel Brothers). Writers with more than one entry in the list this month were Jeff Parker, Abnett & Lanning and Chuck Dixon. Nobody had more than two, unless you count Abnett separately from Lanning for his contributions to Warhammer Condemned by Fire, which nudges him up to three.

I broke the "10 good graphic novels a month" rule this month, and also read Suburban Glamour, Jack of Fables Vol 3 and the latest Wormwood Gentleman Corpse (Calamari Rising) all of which landed just outside the top 10. Instead of reading a novel this month, I read issues #1-50 of Robin, plus the three miniseries, since I was in a Chuck Dixon Robin mood. Mostly it doesn't hold up all that well, especially given the bad '90s paper quality, coloring and sometimes art/inking.

Not a lot of TV in June... in fact, I barely even turned the Tivo on, save to watch the finales for Battlestar Galactica and Spectacular Spider-Man. Mostly, I've been watching DVDs, finally starting to watch The Wire (I'm four or five episodes into season one and loving it) and catching up on TV series that I got as gifts a long while back, watching seasons one through three of The Office and then starting on Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I also watched the first episodes of Weeds and Diary of a Call Girl from Showtime, and decided I was just interested enough to watch them on DVD when they come out. Thankfully, Burn Notice starts on Thursday... and I hope Always Sunny will return in August or before as well.

I added eight new RSS feeds this month, half of them new political feeds. Those are BAGnewsNotes (great photo/analysis blog), Talking Points Memo
and TPM Election Central (a steady flow of liberal-bent political news) and Crooks and Liars (really good at pointing out the stupidity of politics and politicians). I also added the new (and irregularly updated) webcomic Comic Critics, the pop-culture site IO9 (like Boing-Boing but tons better, more focused on geek silliness and less on how evil DRM is, and has Graeme McMillan writing for them), plus art blogs for Jeremy Haun and Brian Hurtt.

Weekly Comics to Come - July 10th, 2008

TOP FIVE
Annihilation Conquest Book 2 HC (The beginning of my realization that Abnett & Lanning are my favorite superhero writers of the moment)
BPRD The Warning #1 (The Arcudi/Mignola/Davis team returns)
Guardians Of Galaxy #3 (Three issues in, and this book lives up to all the hopes I had for it... which is a pretty big bar to clear)
Halo & Sprocket Vol 2 Natural Creatures TP (Hooray! All too rare, new Halo & Sprocket, which is funny, smart, great cartooning)
Nova #15 (Also continues to impress... this latest Galactus arc has been fantastic)

THE REST
American Virgin Vol 4 Around The World TP (Not the world's best ending, but there's some good storytelling in here, and gorgeous artwork)
Batman Strikes #47 (Josh Elder writes, Christopher Jones illustrates, and me and a few other bloggers get name-checked as Gotham cops... sounds fun!)
Bone Color Ed Vol 8 Treasure Hunters TP (Almost done with the whole thing in color... then it's on to the 3D holographic version!)
Booster Gold #1000000 (This is probably the make-or-break issue of Booster Gold for me)
Captain America White #0 (Loeb & Sale always do nice work, and I like their Marvel series better than most of their DC stuff)
Captain Britain And MI 13 #3 (Still in the "take it or leave it" camp on this book, but I'm reading to see if it hooks me more)
Criminal Vol 3 Dead And Dying TP (Another dark tale of noir from Brubaker & Phillips)
Femme Noir Dark City Diaries #1 (Could just be cheesecake, but this could also be a sort of pulpy fun book... there's some nice talent involved)
Hack Slash Series #13 (Very much enjoying the ongoing subplots, glad Seeley went the ongoing route for this book)
I Kill Giants #1 (Looks... weird. But very nice art)
Invincible Iron Man #3 (Best issue of the book so far... still not completely sold, but invested enough to keep reading)
Secret Invasion #4 (I'll probably skim read, after my loss of interest with #3)

Dear U.S. Media

I remember thinking, so many times, during the Bush years, how piss-poor of a job you were doing asking anything approaching relevant questions. Oh, sure, there are occasional flashes of actual journalism, but mostly you guys seem to be parroting whatever crazy issues either campaign tells you is the issue of the day.

It's sad that I thought we might have a national debate about healthcare, gas prices, the economy, y'know, stuff that matters, but instead we've got the nth story about how Obama's a flip-flopper, McCain's a straight talker, etc. Instead, it's almost exactly like the coverage we got of Kerry and Bush.

The issues are lost, and the ones that are being covered (like the Iraq War) are being covered lazily. The national debate is retarded, and I blame you.

Do your damn jobs. Stop taking sides... most of you seem to be pulling for McCain, but even those of you pulling for Obama... stop it. You are journalists. Your side is supposed to be the truth, borne out by investigation and research and analysis, rather than whatever shit we can make up in our own heads via our own biases and what the political spin doctors are telling us.

It's a sad state of affairs that the most balanced, revelatory coverage of politics continues to come from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, which are *spoofing* you guys.

We're already practically down a branch of government thanks to the hackery that this Executive Branch has done to the Legislative and Judicial, could we maybe have our Fourth Estate back before it's too late?

Remember post-Katrina, when you all got a glimpse of the truly horrible results of the Bush Administration's crony-ism and corruption? Many of you found your balls again at that point, and I dared to hope that might last, but within a month, you were all back to the same lazy, weak-minded partisan bullshit.

If you're wondering why people now say journalist with the same disdain they reserve for the word politician, it's because you guys have become too much like the political hacks. You're supposed to be better than that. Get to it.

Cool Video

I'm increasingly worried that this (or DMZ) is what our future might look like, if the government continues on its present course.

Then there's this acoustic cover, which is also just kind of awesome:

Disappointed in Obama

I hate to even write this post, because I hate the notion of having anyone be able to say "See? Even Obama's supporters are calling him a flip-flopper!"

So let me be clear. That's not what I'm doing here, and if I never hear the lazy, media-coined bullshit "flip flop" term again, I'll be ecstatic. I've been an Obama booster from fairly early on. I remain an Obama booster. But I am close to becoming an Obama booster in the same way as I was a Kerry booster, in a "Well, he's the better of two choices" way. I honestly believed that Obama was going to bring some real change to politics, not just a shift back to the Democratic policies that tend to sit better with me than Republican rule.

But it's becoming clear to me that, though he's an infinitely better choice than McCain, Obama may in fact be just a politician, the same way his opponents have been saying he is.

The first hint came when he opted out of public financing. This was a smart political move, because the 527s on the Republican side are going to hit him, and he needs money to fight back, and I can understand that this was sort of a "way the game is played" move. I was disappointed, but realistic.

But in the last few days, Obama has said or done three more things that increasingly disappointed me. I'm reminded of how I felt about Bill Clinton by the end of his term, where he was compromising so much that I felt like he might as well be a Republican. I'll still never entirely forgive him for failing to come out strongly for gay rights... at least Obama has gotten that right, talking in forceful language about repealing the asinine "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and allowing for gay marriage.

Problem is, I don't know if I can believe his tough talk. Because for all his talk of change, he still voted for the FISA cave-in (along with the rest of the spineless Democratic party). Again, I'm sure it's a political thing, gaining favor, but it's not the change we were promised, and I don't think he's really doing the will of the people so much as the will of the corporations, and that just makes me angry. I've joined the Anti-FISA group on Obama's campaign website, and he still has time to reverse his decision. I hope (though I doubt) that he will.

Then Wesley Clark (my personal choice for VP) came out and blasted McCain, noting that maybe his war record didn't necessarily qualify him to be President. That maybe his experience, while perfectly noble and heroic, didn't really have any direct bearing on his potential role as Commander in Chief. It was well thought out, and it was a criticism that could only come from someone with as much military experience as Clark.

So what does Obama do? He publicly distances himself from that, and at the same time, blasts Move On.org in a speech about his patriotism.

Look, I get it. Politics is all about having as many friends and as few enemies as possible, and doing what you feel is right comes a distant third or fourth, if it enters in at all. But seeing Obama kowtow to the right so much before he's gotten the Presidency doesn't give me any confidence that he's not going to fold his principles one almost every issue, just like Clinton did in his second term. And that's not what I want.

Then I see that he's talking about faith-based initiatives, and I get nervous. Because I know his faith is important to him, I know that only a Christian is going to get elected in America, as an atheist I've made my peace with that... but that doesn't mean I want my tax money going to the untaxeable churches, who are all too often getting involved in the political process. To quote George Carlin: "Tax them! Tax these motherfuckers! If they want to get involved in politics, let them pay the admission price just like everybody else!" And giving money to faith-based initiatives is such a Bush thing to do, it makes me nervous.

Again, I get it. Not all faith-based outreach is bad, in fact there's a lot of good done there. But I can't help thinking that some of that money is going to go to crazy people who shoot abortion doctors or threaten their families, who picket gay funerals, who push a scorched Earth policy of war and environmental callousness because they believe that God is going to take them all up and leave the heathens behind anyway.

It just... combines with the rest to make me nervous.

However, here's the thing: There's pretty much no way Obama can lose me. His positions on all of these things are less right-wing than John McCain, and most of his positions still line up with mine. However, I've given money to the campaign three times, and I'm less likely to do that again, unless there's a reversal of direction in the decisions he's making while he's still a Senator and Presidential candidate.

I'm disappointed that now that the general election race is gone, issues that matter to me like the economy, gas prices, the Iraq War and universal healthcare have been dropped out of the discussion to focus on whatever craziness the media or the Republican party have decided to make a talking point of the day. Once again, it looks like the Democrats are letting the enemy control the tone of the conversation, going on the defensive.

And I start to wonder, is this the reason why the Democrats lose so often? Is it because (like I'm doing here) we're willing to question our candidate rationally, to poke at his foibles and really examine if he's the right man for the job? Meanwhile, the Republicans basically get behind their candidate with a blinding devotion, promoting him as if he were ten feet tall and bullet-proof, and every crazy thing he says is completely rational and only a simpering liberal would debate it.

Maybe as liberals, our own self-analysis and intellectualism is getting in our way, and what winning politics requires is a little fanaticism and blind devotion.

Which is a terribly depressing thought, given what it says about politics and this country. But I'm not convinced I'm wrong here.

Weekly Comics to Come - July 2, 2008

TOP FIVE
Astonishing X-Men #25 (Bianchi's sketchbook has me kind of enthusiastic for the Ellis/Bianchi run. It looks like X-Men via crazy European comics style, and that could be fun)
Fables #74 (Another fantastic story arc for Fables started last issue, and they're leading into something big next issue)
Manhunter #32 (Returned strong, and even my worries that I might not enjoy Gaydos' art were misfounded)
Usagi Yojimbo Vol 22 Tomoes Story TP (I've read all or most of these already, but they're really good, and a new Usagi trade is always a treat)
Walking Dead #50 (Big status quo shakeups continue, I expect... I'm back on the edge of my seat with this book)

THE REST
Billy Batson And The Magic Of Shazam #1 (Mike Kunkel follows up on Smith's Shazam take... that's pretty genius creative casting by DC)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #16 (A new story arc, or maybe a one-shot... after that last arc, I'm excited for more)
Dynamo 5 #14 (Continues to be one of my favorite superhero books)
Hellboy The Crooked Man #1 (Mignola and Corben on Hellboy again... woo!)
Jonah Hex #33 (Darwyn Cooke art, which makes this one of those rare single issues I'll probably buy)
Noble Causes #35 (I had advance copies of #32-34, so I've been anticipating this one for a long time)
Northlanders #7 (Closing in on the end of the first arc, and I've been enjoying the book more and more with each issue)
Station #1 (Sounds like Whiteout on a space station, with a murder mystery in an isolated locale... I'm intrigued)
Storming Paradise #1 (Dixon and Guice on an alternate history World War II story)
Wondermark Beards Of Our Forefathers HC (Malki's crazy-cool webcomic gets a swanky hardcover... I saw a friend's copy that he got at MOCCA, can't wait to buy my own)
Zombie Tales #2 (Dug the first issue, I'll definitely check in on this one)

Weekly Comics to Come - June 25, 2008

I've been so busy, I keep forgetting to do these. So again, this is after having already read my books for the week. Or at least, some of them, as I forgot to nab some of them at the store, and haven't had a chance to read some of the others. It's a *huge* week.

TOP FIVE
Bprd Ectoplasmic Man One Shot (Gorgeous artwork from Ben Stenbeck, an intriguing look at the "secret origin" of psychic Johann Kraus)
Conan The Cimmerian #0 (A terrific opener for the new Conan series, as good as the #0 from 2003)
Immortal Iron Fist #16 (Fantastic finale for Fraction and Aja... frustrating that they're setting up a really intriguing status quo, and then somebody else is going to follow up on it. I'm crossing my fingers that Swiercynzski and Foreman can deliver, but I'm not optimistic based on Cable thus far)
Umbrella Academy Apocalypse Suite TP (Liked this in single issues, *loved* it as a trade, and now I can't wait for more. Gorgeously produced trade, too)
X-Men First Class Vol 2 #13 (After a couple lackluster issues, an issue guest-starring Machine Man and starting a two-parter reinvigorates my love for the series)

THE REST
Captain America #39 (As always, this is compelling, noir espionage stuff with a great use of Cap's supporting cast)
Demo TP (Nice trade from Vertigo... back matter text not there, though, glad I have the single issues)
Final Crisis #2 (Surprisingly, I kinda dug this second issue. It's got the death/mutilation fetish of Didio's DC, the occasional incomprehensibility of Morrison's in-continuity DC stuff and lame villains, but it's also got some really great moments and a nice epic sense of scale)
Hulk #4 (This really is stupid, over-the-top fun... and McGuinness's art is gorgeous)
Indiana Jones Adventures Vol 1 TP (A fun adventure starring Indy Jones with terrific artwork, I look forward to more of these)
Jim Butchers Dresden Files #3 (A solid companion to the books... nothing stellar, but solid)
Madame Xanadu #1 (Man, did I want to like this more than I did. Subject matter and approach just bored me to tears, though)
Mighty Avengers #15 (Of course, I didn't hate it and want to throw it across the room like I did with this book. Haven't Hank Pym and the Wasp had enough character assassination? I had hoped that Skrull Hank was going to reverse that, instead Bendis uses it to heighten it further, and turn the Wasp into a slutty alcoholic to boot)
New Avengers #42 (This one, on the other hand, was only mildly annoying, as Bendis continues to rewrite recent continuity to fit his stories)
Pigeons From Hell #3 (Beautiful art, creepy story, I'm really digging this)
Previews #18.7 (Down the Line coming soon... unless I forget that too)
Secret Invasion Runaways Young Avengers #1 (Nice art from Takeshi Miyazawa, kind of meh story)
Superman #677 (James Robinson's return focuses on the Science Police, Atlas, Krypto and Hal Jordan... not terribly inspiring)
Teen Titans #60 (Running out of steam for me... I'll give the next story arc a try, but I think a few issues was all the interest I had)
Thor Ages Of Thunder Reign Of Blood (Loved the first one of these, was kinda bored by this one... maybe there was just too much other good stuff this week)
Thunderbolts #121 (Nice finale to Ellis's Thunderbolts... can't help but feel that there was so much more story if only Ellis's attention span wasn't so damn short)
Uncanny X-Men #499 (Decent, if somewhat uninspired, finale to the San Francisco story. I'm not loving any of the X-Men books at the moment... but I am finding them casually readable for the first time in many years)
What If Fantastic Four Tribute To Mike Wieringo (A fun, beautiful looking book)
Wolverine First Class #4 (Kind of fun... not as engaging as X-Men First Class, but still kind of fun)
X-men Legacy #213 (I should hate this book, given that it stars the worst of the '90s X-Men detritus, but nice artwork and Carey's ability to weave a compelling conspiracy/thriller narrative is working for me)

STUFF I HAVEN'T READ YET (BUT INTEND TO)
Avengers Initiative #14 (I want to see how Gage explains the Hank Pym situation, and I'm digging his use of weird third- and fourth-stringers on this book)
Caliber #3 (Wasn't wowed by the second issue of this fantasy/western, but I love the concept and really enjoyed the first issue and I want to keep up with it)
Ex Machina Deluxe Edition Vol 1 HC (Probably won't buy this, as I've got the trades, but I'm hoping to read the extras from a friend's copy)
Gantz Vol 1 (Curious to check out this new manga)
House Of M Avengers TP (Not sure I'm going to buy this, but it was such a fun use of some of my favorite Marvel characters, I think I will)
Jack Of Fables Vol 3 The Bad Prince TP (Competely spaced picking this up, but I've switched to reading in trade, so this will be all new to me)
Love And Capes #7 (I think I'm actually two issues behind on this... I need to catch up)
Proof #9 (Given how into this book I am lately, I can't believe I forgot to read it... hope we didn't sell out)

No Death Penalty For Child Rapists

The New York Times had the rather startling headline of "Justices Bar Death Penalty for the Rape of a Child" on this article.

I've always struggled with my thoughts on the death penalty. So many people with whom I agree politically on so many things are vehemently against it. There's ample evidence that it's unfairly applied, that it costs more money to kill someone in our legal system than to imprison them for life, that innocents have been killed by the State, etc. I've come to believe that my own instincts and over-developed sense of revenge are wrong, and that the death penalty is wrong.

The fact that this decision was opposed by right-wing Justices Scalia, Roberts and Thomas only further cements my decision.

BUT...

I do think it's right that The State not have the right to kill someone who has been convicted of the case of child rape.

That right rests with the parents of the child. In my world, if someone is convicted in a court of law of raping a child, it should be absolutely legal for the parents of that child to kill the rapist by any means they see fit. I'm pretty much with Ed Harris's character in Gone Baby Gone on this one. "You gotta take a side. You molest a child, you beat a child, you're not on my side. If you see me coming, you better run, because I am gonna lay you the fuck down! Easy."

So maybe I'm not *quite* over the idea of capital punishment just yet.

The Procrastination Post

I used to do these every now and then when I was writing regular reviews on The Fourth Rail, as a way to provide sort of a checklist for myself as to what I was doing next.

Now, with the irregular reviewing I'm doing on Comic Pants, it's more of a public admission of my inability to get anything done. But I'm gonna post it anyway. Here we have my list of reviews I've been planning to get to somewhere between a week and two months ago. These little capsules may in fact wind up being all I write, although I hope not.

X-O Manowar HC (Sent by Valiant, it reads very much like '80s comics, which is both good and bad - Made me want to dig out more Valiant back issues, though)

Flight Explorer (Loved this one, an all-ages adventure anthology without a bad story in the bunch)

Superior Showcase #1-3 (Dug these out after reading #3 recently)

Proof Vol 1 TP (New Image series that really deserves a review of its $10 intro trade)

Starman Omnibus Vol 1 HC (Actually wrote notes for this review, back on Father's Day... that may be as far as the review gets)

True Story Swear to God Archives Vol 1 (This series held up beautifully, and I'd really like to give it a comprehensive review)

That's the short list. There are any number of other books I had hoped to review, including Boom!'s Warhammer output and maybe a retrospective on Chuck Dixon's Robin, which I've been reading, but I'll be lucky if I manage to get one or two of the above reviewed.

Bit of a Rollercoaster Night

Man, my emotions have been jangled up all night. Started off good, having dinner with my family, putting Katy to bed, watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with my wife. I hadn't seen it before now, but it's definitely my favorite of the movies so far, and I'd say it's the first one where I liked it as much (and in some places, more) than the book.

Then, after Suzanne went to bed, I watched Gone Baby Gone. Which is from a Dennis Lehane novel about a 4-year-old girl being kidnapped. It's a good movie, every single one of the cast is amazing in it (neither Monaghan or Ryan really have a lot of screen time, but they make the most of what they have), but... damn. If you have kids, you probably spend a good chunk of time worrying about what might happen to them. It's one of the reasons I stopped watching CSI and Law & Order: SVU... things happening to kids is one of the easiest ways to do drama in a crime procedural, and... I don't need help thinking up nightmare scenarios.

It's also a mother-fucker of an ending, about as dark and bleak as you get. Or at least, that's how I interpret it.

So I was in kind of a bummed, reflective, sour mood, and then I picked up the mail, and found that we had gotten our stimulus check (right after paying off our bills, so we can actually afford to spend it!) and a letter from the Saturn dealer about possibly trading in my car, and I start pipe-dreaming about that...

Then I flip on my computer and find, quite shockingly, that a friend I didn't know was sick has pretty severe medical problems. Which is kind of overwhelming me now, and that's why I decided to vent the entirety of my night onto my blog.

So Very Angry

I've managed to get myself into a place where I can view the utter corruption of our government by the Bush Administration with a sort of detached cynicism and dark humor. I don't spend every minute of every day angry, frustrated and wishing nothing more than for some kind of exploding deadly ball cancer to befall G.W. Bush, Dick Cheney and their numerous corporate and neocon overlords.

Only rarely. Like when Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath was going on.

Or when I see pictures like this.

All this young soldier wanted was to see his daughter. Who was born 11 days after he died in a pointless, ill-advisable war in Iraq that we never should have been in in the first place.

Next time you hear McCain say "It doesn't matter when they come home," think about this picture. And think about how many more dead soldiers it represents.

I wish I believed in Hell, so that I could believe the men who created this situation were going to burn there.

Attention Heroes Con goers

Due to a confluence of factors (no money, no time, Free RPG at the store, family in town) I can't get to Heroes Con this weekend. This makes me sad.

The fact that Jim Rugg will have a new mini-comic and sketchbook at Heroes makes me even sadder.

If anyone who is going is reading this blog and willing to snag me a copy of each (I'll pay for both, plus shipping!), I would be eternally grateful. Drop me an email, please.

Obama Smacks Down McCain's 9-11 rhetoric

"Well I refuse to be lectured on national security by people who are responsible for the most disastrous set of foreign policy decisions in the recent history of the United States. The other side likes to use 9/11 as a political bludgeon. Well, let’s talk about 9/11."

Damn. And there's lots more.

Guess what, guys? 9-11 9-11 9-11 ain't gonna work this time. You played that card too much... it's old. And it reflects badly on you, if someone is smart enough to make the argument against it.