Just the Facts...

Coming Soon to a Comic Store Near You...

I've always been fascinated with cultural icons. For most of my life, the majority of those icons have been movie stars or athletes, in other words people who entertain and bring diversion to our boring little lives. My, my...how the times have changed.



Devil's Due Publishing brings us new superhero, Barack the Barbarian. As the propaganda states on TFAW.com's order page...

From a far away land rises a mighty hero. The son of peasants from two different realms, the one known only as Barack protects the people of Hope Kingdom at all costs.

Watch as he takes on the likes of Boosh the Dim, Red Sarah, and Cha-nee the Grim in this spectacular first issue!

Many folks thought this was an early April Fool's joke when it hit the net, but no...DDP is serious.

BARACK THE BARBARIAN: QUEST FOR THE TREASURE OF STIMULI: (Ongoing Series) Devil's Due and Larry Hama (G.I. Joe, Wolverine) take political satire to a whole new level. Hama, a surprise hire to some, but not to those who truly know his tastes, will take a look at the current state of politics both past and present and isn't afraid to point fun at Washinton's sacred cows. In the distant future the story of Barack Obama has become a little... distorted. According to THE MADDOWIAN CHRONICLES he was the one destined to save the great republic of America and dethrone the overpaid despots of the time. Join Barack, Sorceress Hilaria, her demi-god trickster husband Biil, Overlord Boosh and Chainknee of the Elephant Kingdom. Who can the lone barbarian trust, if anyone?

Red Sarah? Oh dear. If the RNC had dressed her like this, they might have gotten a few more votes.



Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing the sorceress and the trickster, but I will be buying both cover variants. LOL.

DDP is also doing a one-shot of their popular Drafted series.

Humanity has repulsed the first wave of alien invaders-but the battle has left much of America in shambles. As the coldest winter in a century assaults the starving, shell-shocked populace, it falls to a former U.S. Senator to rally a small construction unit in the frozen, haunted remains of Chicago. A man whose own destiny has been changed by the war: Barack Hussein Obama...

So, while all of this is political satire and fascinating, the fact is that our president is a cultural icon. Not only for us here in America, but after this week's G20 summit, also in Europe as well. And, while DDP is using satire to portray him as a superhero, the fact remains is that we all are expecting him to be a superhero and save us.

I admire and respect President Obama, but I do not envy him. He's going to need all of the superpowers of every comic book hero there ever was to get us out of this mess.

--->Susan

Quote for the Day

Authoritarian political ideologies have a vested interest in promoting fear, a sense of the imminence of takeover by aliens and real diseases are useful material.

Susan Sontag (16 January 1933 – 28 December 2004)

Quote for the Day

"Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber."

Plato (428/427 BC[a] – 348/347 BC)

Quote for the Day

"George Washington is the only president who didn't blame the previous administration for his troubles."

Author Unknown

Quote for the Day

For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.

Simon Wiesenthal (December 31, 1908 – September 20, 2005)

National Day of Protest Fort Lauderdale Video

If you look for the crazy person wearing a blue polo, jeans, floppy hat and sunglasses, you'll see yours truly. You know I just had to stand in the front. Look for me around 4:00 in part one and at the beginning of part 2.







--->Susan

Fort Lauderdale Citizens Demand Equality

Yesterday my boss graciously gave me the afternoon off so I could go downtown and lend my voice to the opposition to the passing of amendment 2, which reads:

This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.

Here are some photos of what I saw.





I braved the bus ride downtown, iguanas at the bus stop, countless homeless people, and unseasonably hot weather. By the time I got home I was hot, sweaty and exhausted. It was also one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

--->Susan

The Man

I was reminded of an old 1972 movie starring James Earl Jones called The Man. The movie was based on a novel by Irving Wallace with the screenplay written by Rod Serling. The basic plot line is that when the president and speaker of the house are killed in an accident and the vice president refuses the office due to ill-health, then the presidency falls on the president pro temp...James Earl Jones. As the nation's first black president, he runs into all kinds of obstacles, including a scandal involving a young black man wanted for crimes in apartheid South Africa, another nation that is radically different today.

I'm very proud of my country today. In 1972 it was believed that a black man could not ascend to the presidency without a unlikely series of unfortunate events. I am very proud that our new president was chosen by the people.

--->Susan

I am a Second Class Citizen

Yesterday morning I drove to one of the early voting polling station to exercise my rights and responsibilities as an American citizen. I chose the poll located at ArtServe, the public art gallery housed in the building that used to be Fort Lauderdale's main library when I was a kid. ArtServe's parking lot is not all that small, but cars were double-parked along the street, the barriers, in no-parking zones and even on the nice lawns of Holiday Park. I knew that the lines had been long on the weekend, but seeing that many people out on a weekday morning was heartening. As of yesterday, a million Floridians have voted. When you consider that only a quarter of that number took advantage in the last election, that's saying a lot.

In the queue, people were calm, courteous and patient. There were no arguments over the issues, no angry proclamations, no bitching about the wait. People either read their sample ballots, talked on cell phones or with their companions or silently read. Discussion between strangers was mostly limited to the merits of the art on display. The supervisor of elections office workers seemed to do everything they could to make the experience as painless as possible. They provided free water bottles for the thirsty and plenty of chairs for those whose feet were aching. They were courteous in answering questions or giving information, especially when it came time for people to turn off their cell phones. They made sure disabled and elderly voters were moved to the front of the line and provided chairs for them to sit in while they waited to take their turn at the special voting booth.

My wait from the back of the line to getting my ballot was just over two hours. I spent that time writing or reading on my handheld or pointing out some of the more outrageous pieces on the wall with a nice couple standing behind me. The last third of the queue was along the wide open windows looking out on to Sunrise Boulevard. Two things struck me while I was along that stretch. The first was that the large marine dealership across the street, which had sold all manner of water toys from boats to rafts and had been there for as long as I can remember, had gone out of business. I realized that I and everyone else patiently waiting in that line were there mainly because we can no longer afford the recreation equipment they used to sell. With Florida so heavily dependent on our recreational activities for our public's income, the simple closing of a boat dealership is a big deal.

The second thing I noticed were two signs spiked into the lawn in front of the building. One said "Vote NO on 2!" The other read "Yes on 2! One man. One woman."

For those of you who don't know...proposed amendment 2 of the state's constitution reads: "In as much as a marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."

The most interesting thing about this proposed change is that it not only effects same sex couples who want to get married, but heterosexual couples who do not want to get married. It would strike down all domestic partnerships and common law marriages. In Florida we have a lot of senior citizen couples who simply can't afford to get married. Amendment 2 would keep them from enjoying those few advantages their domestic partnership arrangement gives.

So as I stood there with lots of time on my hands I came to a very sobering realization. I am a second class citizen. A second class citizen, according to Wiki, is defined as: a person who is systematically discriminated against within a state or other political jurisdiction, despite their nominal status as a citizen or legal resident there.

Amendment 2 is just that. It is systematically discriminating against citizens and legal residents of the state of Florida. It means that I, and everyone else it will act against, are less than minorities, even less than those illegal aliens living in our state because they are protected by law against discrimination and are entitled to equal protection no matter their residency status.

By the time I had received my ballot and started to blacken in the little ovals, including a big NO on 2, I was angry but more determined than ever to exercise those rights which I am allowed and to never give up the fight until I am granted the same rights as everyone else. Whether or not amendment 2 passes and whether or not one day I end up along that wall in the final solution to shoving us back in the closet, I am not giving up.

Anyone who doesn't vote is a fool. They're throwing away the right to make a difference in this world. Most Americans don't realize just how precious our democracy is. I hope we don't allow those horrible narrow-minded politicians destroy it.

Get out and vote people.

--->Susan

YouVote!!!

Yes! There is Something Wrong With That!

I heard on NPR this afternoon someone describe that famous phrase "Not that there's anything wrong with that" as Seinfeldian. I love new words, but in this case they were speaking about how the media is handling the persistent rumors that Barack Obama is Muslim. The commentator made three excellent points about what the media's responsibility is regarding this issue.

1. They need to state the fact that Barack Obama is not Muslim.
2. They need to state the fact there is nothing wrong with being Muslim.
3. They need to state the fact that even if Barack Obama were Muslim it has no effect regarding his capacity to be president.
   

So I ask myself, why haven't they? Why isn't anyone questioning Obama's capacities based on his Christianity? Why have we allowed ourselves to become so deeply entrenched in the Us versus Them mentality? We have allowed our leaders to demonize an entire group of people and it's got to stop.

So yeah, there's something really wrong with it. And we need to fix it.

--->Susan

Look, Don't Vote. Okay? Just Don't Vote!

This video has language for adults. Don't click if you're not.



--->Susan