Nooze, almost all bad...

I think the hardest thing to believe is that Jesus Castillo was found guilty of selling an adult comic, from the adult section of the store, to an adult police officer, and convicted because the DA convinced the jury that all comics are really intended for children. I can't imagine a world in which the same argument would have worked for books or for films. -- Neil Gaiman.

The Supreme Court today decided not to hear the appeal of Jesus Castillo, a man who, as Neil Gaiman expressed above, was convicted of obscenity for selling a comic to an adult. Here's the DA's closing argument:

This medium, the medium that this obscenity is placed in is done so in an appealing manner to children. Comic books, and I don't care what type of evidence or what type of testimony is out there, use your rationality, use your common sense. Comic books, traditionally what we think of, are for kids.

Disgusted yet?

---

If you haven't chosen to vote for anybody but Bush yet, start choosing now. While I'm not at all happy with the implications of a leftist government in the White House, I much prefer that to the complete and utter swing to the beyond-right that has happened now. The Cwistians are so happy right now with the backlash against gays and lesbians following the ruling in Lawrence v. Texas that they're hoping now is the time to push forward a Constitutional amendment to secure special rights for heterosexuals.

---

Jordan's parliament has rejected a bill that would outlaw "honor killings" and punish men who kill women relatives who are suspected of bringing shame on the family. Charges have frequently been dropped against husbands, brothers, and fathers who killed their wives, sisters, and daughters for having sex (or being believed to have sex) outside of marriage. One father killed his daughter after she was raped, claiming that her lack of virginity was shame enough to justify his actions.

---

Take a look at this: ( Read more... )

It's the front of the new $20 bill. I don't know about you, but the way the eagle on the left is positioned, facing right, holding the arrows close and the olive branch as far away as anatomically possible, is rather disturbing. And, if I recall correctly, in heraldry an animal facing right is considered aggressive and warlike.

Hail Caesar!

---

In its latest bizarre legal tactic, the American Family Association has claimed that the presence of a Gay/Straight Alliance Club, with its pink "this is a safe zone for gays and lesbians" stickers, may be discriminating against those children who want to make no place safe for gays and lesbians. Since that's a religious tenant, the GSA's existence may infringe on the civil rights of religious bigots.

---

The rules are different for Dean. Okay, I'm going to come out of the closet and say that, barring the miraculous appearance of an viable, economically responsible candidate, I'm going to be putting a clothespin on my nose and vote, perhaps even actively campaign, for the socially responsible candidate Howard Dean, in the hopes that he unseats Bush. But Ruth Coniff points out how the "liberal" media is mistreating Dean while pussyfooting Bush.

---

Word of the day: Are you a member of the reset generation? Did you grow up with video games and simply choose to "reset" your "play" buttons by changing jobs, partners or friends, instead of trying to cope with and learn from your difficulties?

Blue teeth.

Why in the name of Osiris can't pen manufacturers make a decent chew toy?

Pravda, anyone?

One of the more salient comments about the Soviet Union was that nobody in the country knew what the Hell was going on inside. To learn about what it's goverment was really up to, Soviet citizens had to turn to outside press, like that from the UK.

Guess what? Now, so do we. The Bush administration and the U.S. press have been silent about this: the number of soldiers killed in Iraq since "the end of hostilities" is more than twice what we've been told. Even NPR this morning repeated the statistic of 52 combat deaths, but nobody has informed us that in fact 112 soldiers have died, most of them in accidents related to the Iraqi enviroment. Three have been suicides. And, more imporantly, we haven't been kept abreast of nearly a thousand wounded, including those who have been seriously maimed and will suffer for the rest of their lives as a result of this war. The total number of soldiers killed since the beginning of hostilities is nearly 240, twice what we took in Gulf War 1.

I understand the concept of a "just war," but this keeping the truth out of the press for fear of demoralizing the citizens is irresponsible journalism in the extreme.

---

In a nutshell, why I loathe Bush: The mother of all big spenders: Bush spends like Carter and panders like Clinton.

The nation's budgetary situation continues to deteriorate because the administration's fiscal policy has been decidedly more about politics than policy. Even the tax cuts, which happened to be good policy, were still political in nature considering their appeal to the Republican's conservative base. At the same time, the politicos running the Bush reelection machine have consistently tried to placate or silence the liberals and special interests by throwing money at their every whim and desire. In mathematical terms, the administration calculates that satiated conservatives plus silenced liberals equals reelection.

I know, I promised I wouldn't post news more than once a day. But this is really infuriating me.