The little manipulator...

Kouryou-chan is seriously learning how to push buttons. She's hit 3½ and she's doing everything she can with the mind she's been given. Her latest tacks include, "Mommy let me do it," when I tell her she's not allowed to do something, "But I really love you" when she's trying to defuse a battle of wills she knows she's likely to lose, and, of course, "I don't know" to the question, "Who did this?" She's even tried, "Yamaarshi gave it to me!" when Yamaarashi-chan isn't home.

Julian Jaynes once said that the planning and execution of long-term deception was one of the hallmarks of consciousness. Kouryou-chan is showing all the signs.

Oh No! The American Family Association discovers comic books aren't just for kids!

Diane Gramley of the American Family Foundation went to Pittsburgh Comicon. No reason is given for the trip, but it's clear from her report that she's not a fan. And she's never been to a convention before, with it's $17US per day, per person (emphasis hers) price tag bowling her over. Apparently she forgot that conventions require convention centers, and convention centers cost money.

She's successively shocked by the fact that the dealer's room contains pornographic materials, as well as "fantasy, horror, witchcraft, Satanism, and spiritualism intermixed with 'legitimate' comic book characters." Why, thank you, Ms. Gramley, for telling us that comic books characters are only legitimate as long as they're wearing tights and beating up bad guys in the name of Mom and apple pie.

She's horrified that the Make-A-Wish foundation derives financial benefit from the ComicCon, and from a Las-Vegas style "gambling" game where the house inevitably won almost everything, and that they allowed beer (gasp!) on the premises. She notes with disdain that there's no one taking IDs at the midnight anime movies, allowing "under 17s" in. Ms. Gramley firmly wishes comics were still for kids and disputes, without evidence, the fact that the primary market for comics is young men between the ages of 16 and 30.

The AFA is calling for a letter-writing campaign to Make-A-Wish, asking them to stop taking money from and lending their moral weight behind something so obviously sinful as comic books. Ms. Gramley concludes her first day's report with the snide, oh-so-knowing "There is obviously a seeking out there, but even more obvious is that many are seeking in the wrong places."

The Friday Five. About food.

( The First Friday Five. It's about food. )

( A Friday Five of Ancient Days. It's about oral care. It's a little spammy. )