PeterDavid.net

Because I want to see if he holds the Oscar in his hands, strokes it, and murmurs, “My precious.”

PAD

Pursuant to the conversation we had at 3 AM, I am leaving in place the latest posting by the person signing himself as “Bendis” (usurping the name of noted comic writer Brian Bendis.) This posting appears toward the end of the responses on previous blog entry entitled “DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE?” (update: we removed them when we just migrated to new software to cut down on the problem; the original material can be found here.) I am pleased to hear that you will be able to identify this individual and throw him off AOL because of his deliberately disruptive behavior and repeated violation of Terms of Service.

In order to simplify the AOL team’s job, I will ask everyone else on this board not to post anything further on the previous blog entry. “Bendis,” if you want to post another profanity-laded message here, be aware you’ll just be making AOL’s job easier. We’ve been keeping records of the exact times and ISPs through which you’ve been posting.

PAD

Something on Thursday night’s “Daily Show?” Warning: Involves a dirty word, so you have to continue to read.

Am I paranoid over the possibility of increasing incidents of anti-Semitic violence?

No.

Am I concerned?

Sure.

The watchword of the Holocaust is “Never again.” Look what happened in Germany: Violence against minorities. People deprived of liberty without due process. The existence of organized anti-Semitic hate groups. Citizens who had committed no crime, rounded up and stuck into relocation camps.

Except…gee…over the last sixty years, those have all happened here as well. And now our commander in chief is suggesting changing the Constitution to formalize a bigotry against gays…a people who, y’know, were just adored by Hitler (who was, by the way, a very religious individual.)

So don’t tell me I’m overreacting, and don’t tell me that such things could never happen here, because such things *have* happened here. The only question is, will they happen again and to what degree.

Now me, I don’t especially care to find out. Don’t get me wrong: It’s not like I’m lying awake at night, listening for the sounds of rocks being thrown through my front windows while people scream “Dirty Jews!” (the incident which–when it happened to him–prompted my paternal grandfather to pack up his family and move the hell out of pre-WWII Berlin while it was still possible to get out.) But there continues to be a nagging concern in the back of my mind, and frankly, considering a grand thousands-of-years tradition of people trying to kill Jews, I don’t think the concern is exactly misplaced.

PAD

Chicago Cubs fans, hoping to end the curse, yesterday took the baseball tipped out of a fielder’s glove by a fan and blew the baseball to bits. In a possibly related story, at the exact same moment but hundreds of miles away, noted comic artist Todd McFarlane spontaneously combusted.

More on this story as it develops.

PAD

I’ve been asked why Fallen Angel doesn’t appear on the sub list at dccomics.com. We wrote to the sub e-mail address at the site, and they said that yes, subs are available for “Fallen Angel.” My expression is that it’s our ongoing “no visible category” problem. They can’t group us in DCU because we’ve got the mature readers label, but they can’t group us with the mature label books because those are all Vertigo, and they can’t put us in with “Beyond the DCU” because those are all kiddie books. It’s the old story: All of the disadvantages of a DCU title and a Vertigo title, none of the advantages of either. Yet another strike against the book which already has, like, ten against it. I’m frankly stunned we’re still being published.

But hey, next issue starts off with Jesus hanging on the cross, so maybe we’ll pick up some of that swell “Passion” action. Seriously. The issue starts at the Crucifixion. At the time I wrote it, I didn’t know “Passion” was coming out around the same time, but, y’know, whatever works.

PAD

Emma is now out of the hospital. Yesterday at 9 AM was the last time she threw up, so she seems on the mend. They will still be doing the GI work-up, but on an outpatient basis, which is better for all concerned.

Beth and her husband, Rande, extend their thanks to all the well wishes extended. And as soon as there’s a definitive GI diagnosis, we will let you know.

PAD

Definitely astronauts. Particularly if you’re talking about the airforce trained “Right stuff” guys from the 60s. They’ve got the reach, they’ve got the intelligence. And if you’re incorporating Captain Kirk, he’s got that snappy thing where he jumps at you with both feet and knocks both his opponent and himself down. So I agree with Angel, astronauts definitely beat cavemen.

Kathleen and I are still mulling over whether the Village People could beat up Metallica, however.

PAD

No fun puppets to be seen this week, and not a lot of smiles to go around.

(more…)

I have been telling myself over and over–in hopes that I’ll believe it, perhaps–that “The Passion” will not set off a wave of anti-Semitism. That although it will undoubtedly reinforce those who already hate Jews, it won’t take anyone who doesn’t hate Jews and turn them into anti-Semites. And that people will have the intelligence to realize that it’s just a movie with a singular point of view that is not automatically the truth just because Mel says so.

Then Marc Foxx sent me the following e-mail, forwarded from Robert Seltzer of the American Jewish Committee. It reads:

Subject: This is what we are concerned about….

My AJC Denver colleague reports that outside a church there stands a new, large sign which reads:

The Jews Killed Jesus. Settled.

Having seen the Gibson film, I am not surprised, tho it is shocking.

I have always believed, and still do, that the best response to free speech is more free speech. It is difficult to respond with more free speech, however, if people are coming at you with fists, knives and torches.

This has always been a country brimming with divisiveness, hatred and bigotry. But I don’t think it’s been this prevalent–or this sanctioned at the highest levels–in half a century.

God help you if you’re a marriage-minded Gay Jew.

PAD

For a while there she seemed to be keeping food down to the degree that the hospital was getting ready to discharge her…right up until she discharged all the food in her stomach at 9 AM today.

Understand that for the last two days Beth has been saying, “Why not do a GI workup?” while the doctors have been insisting that her condition is viral. So this morning they said to Beth, “You know, we think it would be wise if we did a GI workup on her.” She practically had to bite her tongue not to say, “About freakin’ time!”

I mentioned to Beth that between the website and private e-mails, I’ve gotten at least six diagnoses of what’s wrong. She suggested I start a pool. I told her she had to be kidding. She said no, she was serious. Again I said she was kidding. She said no, she really wasn’t kidding.

So okay.

Little girl, one year old, not keeping anything down. Disposition is okay, eats eagerly, but then barfs stuff up until the stomach is empty. No fever, and still has bowel movements. Not the first time she’s had unexplained bouts of vomiting, but certainly the most prolonged.

Diagnosis?

Beth says once she knows, she’ll tell me and I should tell you. In the meantime, all you GI Joes and Janes out there…go to it.

PAD

Okay. We’re almost current here at the Round-up as we cover several week’s worth of Charmed and West Wing, and last week’s episode of Smallville. Plus the best single line in a sitcom all year, just as a bonus. Yeeeha.

(more…)

I don’t understand how anyone–including Bush–can advocate a ban on gay marriage. And Kerry’s no different. “Let’s have civil unions instead.” Because separate but equal is a time honored tradition in bias, and apparently gays are the new Negros.

How can anyone claim they are compassionate and deny people in love?

How cany anyone claim they advocate less government interference in the lives of Americans and yet support the concept of laws banning what two consenting adults may do that hurts nothing and no one?

And for me, most damning of all…how can anyone remotely pretend that there is a separation of church and state in this country when the government is endeavoring to tell religious institutions what they can and cannot do? It is not remotely analogous to a state removing the responsibility for a gravely ill child from Christian Scientist parents because they’re hoping prayer might save their child when the doctors know medicine or an operation surely will. This is the Federal government telling every religion in the country, “We don’t care what you believe: This offends our sensibilities, and we will stop you.”

You’ve heard of the War on drugs? The war on terrorism? Congratulations and welcome to the War on Love.

PAD

That’s how my sister, Beth, explained it to her concerned little daughter, Sarah. Sarah’s baby sister, Emma, had a “boo boo in her tummy,” and that’s why Emma is in the hospital, and why her mommy has to go be with her now for days on end.

In a more adult way of phrasing it…my little niece is distressingly ill. Checked in at the Children’s Hospital in Hartford, CT, she has been vomiting up everything that goes into her stomach for several days now. They’ve had her on an IV drip to keep her hydrated, but she hasn’t been keeping down more than two ounces of fluid an hour. And since she’s an infant and the veins in her arms weren’t big enough, they had to put the IV tube in her foot…except she wound up kicking it out and now her foot’s swelled up so that’s no good, and she just kicked it out of the other one.

I dunno. I’m not a big believer in the collective power of prayer, but on the other hand, I’m not above seeking any resource at this point.

PAD

The second installment in Marv’s time-spanning adventures as he seeks not only to save Marlo, but determine just how he’ll be remembered by future generations. Whad’ja think?

PAD

…is that, in watching him on “Meet the Press,” I found myself agreeing with just about everything he was saying about Democrats, Republicans, and the various issues. Compare his performance with the hesitant, fear-mongering, redundancy-filled appearance by Bush and you see what it’s like when a man of genuine intelligence is speaking. The only disingenuous statement he made was claiming that he shouldn’t be singled out for Gore’s loss in Florida because, hey, Pat Buchanan also got votes. Which is ridiculous since Buchanan’s voter base wouldn’t have voted for Gore if he’d been the only candidate available. Still, it’s annoying to find that I’m more in synch with his opinions than I am with Kerry et al, considering Nader’s unelectable.

I very much doubt Nader will have any serious impact this time. Democrats are so focused on wanting Bush out, I’d be amazed if even one half of one percent were willing to risk that by throwing away their votes on Nader again. Still, if I were the GOP, I’d be mobilizing volunteers to go work for Nader in order to try and get him on as many state ballots as possible, ’cause you never know. At the very least, Bush should send him a nice fruit basket.

PAD

Between barreling through the adaptation of the second issue of “Negima,” and the CBLDF gathering, I’ve been missing or fallen behind on television. I know, I know…where the hell are my priorities. I’m still behind, but I’ll write up on what I’ve seen or at least remember seeing and will try to get current.

(more…)

I’ve returned from Las Vegas, where the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund had a two day brainstorming board meeting to discuss the Fund’s future, the cases on our dockets, changes in by-laws, and pretty much everything else having to do with the past, present and future of the CBLDF.

Why Vegas? Lots of cheap airfares (since we paid our own way), lots of cheap hotel rooms, plus stuff to do in the evening after long days of work. Particularly entertaining was Thursday night when Neil arranged for the bunch of us to see his pals, Penn and Teller, performing in their new permanent theater. We went back stage and hung with them for a bit afterward, so that was cool.

With various states stepping up various laws ostensibly designed to “protect the children,” but which can be used to cripple comic book stores (not just comic book stores, but book stores, magazines, even 7-11s), we’re thinking that the next year (or four, if Ashcroft remains around) could potentially be a horror show of litigation. Check in with the CBLDF site for details, and watch for announcements as to future activities.

PAD

Seems that Oceana has had some ads censored by Google:

Oceana recently bought two ads with Google for its Web sites oceana.org and StopCruisePollution.com. Only two days after the ads started running, Google shut them down…. They tell us that they will not run any ad containing or linking to a Web site with “language critical of Royal Caribbean” or “the cruise industry”… Never mind that none of their written policies include such a rule, and only one of the two canceled ads even mentions Royal Caribbean in the first place.

We sympathize. So we’ve decided to block all of Royal Caribbean’s Google ads, and we strongly encourage you to do the same (the URL for you to do so is at https://www.google.com/adsense/filter. And if Google doesn’t get their act together, we’ll pull their ads all together.

…oh wait, there are some of you who haven’t seen the episode yet. We’ll just continue it in the “read more” section to avoid spoilers.

(more…)