god almighty hates book lerners?

Strangest search keywords I have yet seen on my jalopy.

"god almighty hates book lerners"

Especially the second time.

oh yea.

I encountered Torkild Hackler via the BleedingCool forums earlier this year. I thought his NewComicsDay blog was laugh out loud funny. He informed me that he was actually soon to relaunch, bigger and better. I said I'd love to contribute sometime, comedy and news both being insanely dear to me. He said he had problems finding like-minded folks to play along and that I was more than welcome.
So, I will be writing for his new NewComicsDay, the media webzine of fake comic book news. Irregularly, as I am still not in a position to do much of anything online, at least not as much as the world demands. But for my first article I wanted something truly special.
And Steve Ditko had been hounding me for an interview for a long while...
So if you are tired of the homogeneous media sites desperately racing each other to copy and paste the exact same damn press releases, I highly recommend NCD. Scroll through his previous articles and laugh your ass off. You have my solemn permission.

Hellbent For Fun And Profit

or,
Naught A Bold-Faced Liar To Be Heard

I have a suggestion for the Occupy Wall Street protesters, from NYC to the sister groups that have spread nationally and kindred spirits abroad. This may well be my very best idea of the year.

I moved into this Bardstown, Kentucky motel on the 16th of September- the day before the protests began- and have eagerly followed the news of the effort primarily via all of the major cable television news outlets (particularly the overtly schizophrenic spin spewing out as status quo from FOX news). While searching for work in small town America is a kick in the pants, what I have seen is that denial and confusion seem to continuously plague all coverage of the protests. Confusion at how a grassroots group could have not only survived this long in the public spotlight but still grows from one week to the next. Denial in accepting that so many complaints demonstrated equates somehow to a lacking of singular organization or purpose. As though real validity might magically pop up should the thousands of protesters focus on an individual qualm. While many of Occupy Wall Street's aims can clearly be summed up by the innuendo of its name, I have even seen reports inferring agendas far more militaristic based on nothing but the first word of said name. And though resisting the need to establish a self-governing body will eventually lead to outsiders disrupting and further defaming Occupy Wall Street, the anarchy inherent to the group is the only way of ensuring the many voices be heard equally. Taking their grievances to Congress will not accomplish much, as there has never truly been a case of someone actually resolving anything from the inside out. Nobody changes the system from the inside, despite campaign trail promises, and especially when the whole playing field direly needs restructuring. Congress itself lacks the diversity of voices held by Occupy Wall Street. Filibustering, as an example, any jobs plan at a time like this is a cockblocking bully-move and certainly not very Democratic. Or rational. Or mature.

So what should the Occupy Wall Streeters do? How to gain more clarifying unification in the eyes of the public (or at least the public's media complex), without sacrificing its agendas or its spirit?
Abolitionism.
The protesters should acknowledge just exactly how much they have in common with the first largest social cause this country has ever known, and they should rebrand themselves thusly, immediately. While at one time Abolitionists even became a political party unto itself, in its heyday even most politicians were frightened of aligning too closely too publicly with the cause for fear of distancing themselves from prospective voters. Abolitionists were not pro-greed or for the redistribution of wealth- they were concerned with the exact opposite of those charges, of capping the greed of the individuals who kept all others in chains depriving persons of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Doesn't this all sound a might familiar?
For longevity (as well as continuity), Occupy Wall Street should associate themselves with this historic order which despite the system it challenged was able to evoke dramatic changes to politics and culture and all points inbetween. The protesters want their own chains cut, and from essentially the same masters.
No more slavewage days sacrificing the future away as this kind of indentured servitude replaces more distinctly what used to be the lower social classes (yet still the bulk of the population). Servitude to tuition debts, medical bills, insurance bills, the ridiculous implications of lousy credit, and the ever-escalating costs of basic living. I myself cannot even begin to afford to drink my troubles away. I am talking about servitude to the banks who own our homes, the full dance cards of our elected officials, and all tools with which to challenge the very system depleting the many of any and all livelihood. Yes, the entire system needs to be changed, rethought, and reborn. Capitalism is inhumane and vulgar. It is obviously not working if so much trouble is caused for so many poor souls. "Sacrifice the few to save the many" is a sentiment seemingly only explored in ethics courses, but we are living the complete and total opposite of that, and without any choice in the matter. The few sacrifice the many. Slavery.
This would not downplay the anti-slavery movement whatsoever. This is still the anti-slavery movement. Harsh words, but then the only detractors are the moneymen with something to lose, or their mouthpieces.
And the only ones who refer to this as class warfare are the ones who own everything. Think about what that means.
If anything, there lies far more of a factual correlation to this association than there is between the modern Tea Party movement and the actual historic Boston Tea Party event- which is none at all.

Time For The Purple Ribbons

As our economy worsens, so too do stress levels run concurrently higher than the norm, as we all fret over the miserable state of our finances and the limits increasingly forced on our day to day lives. And, incidents of Domestic Violence spike up noticeably everywhere. As this is National Domestic Violence Awareness month, I'd like to share a bit here.
My family has a long history with this topic, as my big sister Rebecca was strangled to death in her own bed on the morning of September 18, 2000, by her then boyfriend, Benjamin Mills. In the years since, we have, operating under the name Rebecca's Voice, done more than our fair share in circulating petitions (which I personally believe are completely useless) and organizing demonstrations and rallies, all for the sake of fixing inept flaws in the system that allow for no real support for victims.
We are still waiting for an adequate warrant tracking system for Louisville, Kentucky (the setting of Rebecca's murder), as well as any prioritizing of warrants whatsoever. The city has made countless promises in the past decade, particularly after we uncovered a then backlog of over 70,000 unserved warrants (dating back roughly 30 years). The city's then response was to simply purge the system- deleting all of those pesky embarrassments and proudly and publicly seeing nothing offensive with the decision to do so. Meanwhile, my complaint was in wondering how many of those unserved warrants could be traced back to someone else's Rebecca.
However, I am glad to report that Louisville has at least initiated a new electronic EPO system. In theory this will allow for the system to inch along that much quicker, provided that Metro Louisville officers honor the warrants and actually serve them. Perhaps longtime police chief Robert White's son could even be the first recipient of the new electronic Emergency Protective Order. That's right, the chief of police's son was just busted for an exceptionally brutal case of Domestic Violence. Obviously, the department needs no extra watchdogging to see justice rightfully served, I'm sure.
I've been obsessively studying national statistics for some time now, and Louisville (pronounced louEVIL)'s police department and city hall both are particularly grossly negligent and incompetent in their understanding of Domestic Violence-related issues. Eight or nine years ago, the city and county governments were in the process of merging. This was near the start of the royal mess of unserved warrants story, and so city and county were each trying desperately to throw the blame back to each other. I was recently reminded of the predilection for red tape in a news report from Topeka, Kansas. Apparently the city board saw fit to repeal their own Domestic Violence legislation, as both city and county governments are pointing to each other to pick up the cost of prosecution on such cases. To save money, they have rendered Domestic Violence technically legal. Absolutely abysmal, how these elected officials can live with themselves.

Things do not have to be this dark though, ya know. These are not just our sisters, our mothers, our daughters. Domestic Violence can affect anyone, any race, creed, sex or social class. If our government powers disappoint us so, then we do still have networks that we can rely on.
Such as Women of Wonder Day. Andy Mangels, after five great years of overseeing the annual Wonder Woman Day charity auctions, has rebranded his efforts (no doubt to avoid litigation from DC Entertainment), and I invite all to check out his website. Volunteer if you're in the area. If you are an artist who would like to contibute original work to WWD, then know that your art will go to a great cause, with every single cent going to charity. Specifically- crisis prevention hotlines, shelters, etc.

The true test of one's mettle is when the chips are down, regardless of what circumstances demand you be. We build our world ourselves.

New World Order rescheduled

A popular subject for conspiracy theorists concerns the Latin declaration on the backside of the American dollar bill (and originally, also the backside of the national seal)- the Novus Ordo Seclorum. This translates as New Order of the Ages, or more popularly- New World Order. The speculation is that this NWO means to be the perpetually soon to pass ending of governments and religion as we know it (or as they knew it in 1776). A dastardly plot is American history, with aims for nothing less than world domination. Conservative conspiracy loons blame Democratic leaders every bit as often as Liberal conspiracy loons blame Republican leaders, all of trying their darnedest to bring the whole thing about.
Well. What if the world domination inferred is not something akin to any presumed manner of world domination?
And- what if this proposed New World Order is not a thing waiting in the wings? What if we are already living in it, and have for years?
What about that curious In God We Trust to be found on all American currencies? What if the currency itself IS the god envisioned? What if Capitalism IS the intended New World Order?
Because of course, the almighty dollar does- in modern decades- hold far more weight than either Church or State. Not all citizens of the Western world regularly attend any church, and not all citizens of the Western world even vote (by choice or otherwise). Yet each and every one of us is bred to obsess over money. Indeed, survival itself rests entirely on our finances, and upon the economy maintained in faith by our chosen leaders. More than ever before, we find ourselves living in a time where everything has a price- especially life and death, and the pursuit of happiness. What else is there for us?
And why are things like this? How could we allow our lives to be backed into a corner to such an insane degree? More importantly- who is benefiting from the arrangement? Those who control the cash control the Order of our New World. We have been doing the dance for so long we have ground our tracks well beneath the sod. We were waiting for alien conspiracies, not the bitterness of reality, but that's what we got.

The saddest Tragedy is that most folks will never see the Comedy of any of this.

Homesteading Wall Street

I am eagerly following news of the current Occupy Wall Street protests in NYC. What attracts me to the energy are the mix of protests and the general lacking of any central organized body. I wish more news outlets would readily acknowledge how patriotic those participants are. But of course, numbers are downplayed, and the movement is freely mocked. But why?
I believe that as fast as the ordeal is growing and spreading, that any attempt to organize it should be fought. Because, there is a laundry list of things to protest against, yes. But more importantly, that this is a grassroots movement, and any attempt to provide a central body may well allow some other party to take more than their fair share of credit. Now that unions are involving themselves, I would not be surprised to see certain news agencies describe Occupy Wall Street as a union initiative. The same goes for any political party, from Green to Libertarian to Tea. This is clearly the People's voice in full effect, and the multitudes should not be narrowed down whatsoever, lest any single issue thusly voiced be neglected and lost in the shuffle along the way. It all reminds me of those classic lines from The Wild One-

"What are you rebelling against?"

"What have you got?"

Of course, I have realistically low expectations here. Just as how 700 protesters were arrested (despite numerous reports that they were herded onto the bridge by authorities), and now with reports that Mayor Bloomberg is looking for ways to cut law enforcement costs by pulling the curtain on the entire show prematurely- we should absolutely be forewarned. What confounds the media and powers that be the most is that in truth, Occupy Wall Street has generally been a peaceful protest. As such, the Brooklyn Bridge arrests might serve as omen of further upcoming violations of our constitutional Freedom Of Assembly.

A few years prior to his essay Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau denounced the then brutal (and completely unprovoked) war with Mexico, refusing to pay his Massachusetts poll tax and was so arrested. There is a great story that Ralph Waldo Emerson (himself also opposed to the war but seeing protest as futile) visited his jailbird pal Thoreau. Emerson asked- "What are you doing in there?" Thoreau replied- "What are you doing out there?"

Obviously, the thousands of persons who are actively participating in NYC's Occupy Wall Street have reasons for unrest. Our society is falling apart. What should a taxpayer do if he or she no longer has a leader? No longer has a government focused on dealing with their grievances, but rather instead proudly serving plutocratic big business at the full expense of the working class citizenry? Of course class war is indeed a part of this, and the persons most offended by this, as usual, are the ones with something to lose. Clearly though, economic distress is our biggest societal bane right now, and the singular cause for this is the greed of a handful of persons. This goes for the whole world too, from cause to effect.
The US Treasury Department even has a "donate now" button. But we are not in the middle of an economic depression. Right.
And I am not homeless and unemployed right now. Right.

cold nights

for walking in circles.