James Marsters Concert, “Buffyfest,” Billy Dee Williams, “Batman” Panels, Lou Gossett Jr. Spotlight, Live Art Show/After Party Highlight New Orleans Comic Con Programming
Julie Benz, Ray Park, “Walking Dead” Q&A's, Artist Schools Also On Tap This Weekend
NEW ORLEANS, January 19, 2011 – Wizard World New Orleans Comic Con today announced its diverse programming schedule, featuring a James Marsters concert, unique celebrity Q&A's, artist schools, costume contests and more for the event, set for Saturday and Sunday at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
Some of the highlights include:
A live concert featuring singer-songwriter-actor James Marsters
“Wizard Spotlight” with legendary actor Louis Gossett Jr.
Rare Q&A panels with Marsters, Julie Benz and Ray Park, as well as popular Comic Con guests Billy Dee Williams, Walter Koenig, Adam West and Burt Ward
Two “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer” panels, featuring twins Nicholas Brendon and Kelly Donovon, and Clare Kramer and James Charles Leary
‘Walking Dead’ Q&A with stars Chandler Riggs, Keisha Tillis and Adrian Kali Turner
Wizard Art School and Q&A's featuring leading artists like David Mack, Bill Sinkiewicz, Cameron Stewart, Kevin Maguire, Yanick Paquette, Phil Jimenez and others
Wizard World New Orleans Comic Con Live Art Show and After Party with Kody Chamberlain and Rob Guillory at Hey! Cafe (4332 Magazine St.)
The popular adult costume contest and fun kids costume contest with great prizes
Standard New Orleans Comic Con programming will take place in Room A and Room B at Hall H of the Morial Convention Center. All programming is included with admission to the event, with the exception of the James Marsters Concert, which requires an additional ticket. Seating for panels is strictly limited and available on a first come first serve basis and each room will be cleared between panels. The full schedule is below:
Saturday
11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
WHO WANTS TO BE ON A REALITY SHOW? W/ JARRETT CRIPPEN ‘THE DEFUSER’
Have you ever wanted to be on a reality show? Are you curious as to what the producers are looking for? Come get inside tips about reality shows and what it takes to win from the winner of Stan Lee’s “Who Wants to be a Superhero?” Season II. The Defuser (Jarrett Crippen) will talk about and answer questions regarding the audition process, competition, living conditions and other topics related to his show and reality shows in general. (Room B)
12:00 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.
JAMES MARSTERS Q&A
Best known for his role as Spike, the platinum blonde vampire on hit shows “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel,” James Marsters answers questions about everything from his evolution from acting to music and back, and the projects he plans to conquer in the next few years. (Room A)
WIZARD ART SCHOOL W/ DAVID MACK AND BILL SIENKIEWICZ
Legendary artists and long-time friends David Mack (Kabuki) and Bill Sienkiewicz (Batman: The Widening Gyre covers) unite for this insider look at their art processes, and give advice and their personal dos and don’ts of the trade to new creators interested in sequential storytelling. (Room B)
1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
BILLY DEE WILLIAMS Q&A
Lando lands at New Orleans Comic Con, as the coolest man in Star Wars history sits down to take fan questions. (Room A)
THE ART OF ‘CHEW’ AND ‘SWEETS’
Indie art sensations Kody Chamberlain (Sweets) and Rob Guillory (Chew) join the Wizard World Comic Con Tour and discuss their breakout Image hits. (Room B)
2:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
BUFFYFEST Q&A W/ NICHOLAS BRENDON AND KELLY DONOVAN
Buffy’s “Xander Harris” sits down with his sinister twin brother to take fan questions about life during and after the pop culture phenomenon. (Room A)
WIZARD ART SCHOOL W/ CAMERON STEWART, KEVIN MAGUIRE AND YANICK PAQUETTE
Three of comics most renowned storytellers—Cameron Stewart (Batman & Robin), Kevin Maguire (Justice League International) and Yanick Paquette (Batman, Inc.)—discuss art, storytelling and working with collaborators in the digital age. (Room B)
3:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
BUFFYFEST Q&A W/ CLARE KRAMER AND JAMES CHARLES LEARY
Join “Buffy” stars Clare Kramer (Glory) and James Charles Leary (Clem) as the duo discuss the behind the scenes shenanigans and fun of shooting one of pop culture’s biggest hits. (Room A)
VICTOR GISCHLER Q&A
Famed novelist (Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse) and comic book scribe Victor Gischler (X-Men: Curse of the Mutants) talks about his recent runs on X-Men and Deadpool as well as his novel background and his rise in comics. (Room B)
4:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
BATMAN AND ROBIN Q&A W/ ADAM WEST AND BURT WARD
The original ’60s “Dynamic Duo” re-teams for this one-of-a-kind Q&A, where Batman and Robin drop their masks and talk about their lady co-stars, the villains they faced and the wild nights after the show! (Room A)
SUPERSTARS OF WRESTLING
W/ KEVIN NASH
Professional grappler Kevin Nash pile drives and body slams your questions into the mat! (Room B)
5:00 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.
AARON DOUGLAS Q&A
Best known for his role on “Battlestar Galactica” as Chief Galen Tyrol, Aaron Douglas can now be seen on “Hellcats” on The CW, and here he answers all your questions during this exclusive Wizard World New Orleans Comic Con session. (Room A)
THE SOUND OF MUSICAL INTERLUDE W/ ETHAN VAN SCIVER
The halls are alive with the sound of…“music.” Ethan Van Sciver (Flash: Rebirth) invites you to spend the hour trapped in a small room discussing cannibalism, Wolverine, deviancy and all manner of filth and disease through the art of song. Not since Liberace has anyone tickled the ivories with such aplomb. Well, Richard Marx was good. But Ethan is good, too! Come and see! (Room 3)
6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
KIDS’ COSTUME CONTEST
Bring any kids 10 and under for this special event with great prizes just for families and the youngsters. (Room A)
6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
ADULT COSTUME CONTEST
Get your best costume together and come on down to the Wizard World New Orleans Comic Con costume contest for huge prizes and some of the craziest outfits you’ll see this weekend. (Room A)
9:00 p.m. -10:00 p.m.
JAMES MARSTERS CONCERT
After enjoying sell-out crowds across the nation, singer/songwriter James Marsters performs a rare and intimate concert up close and personal with Wizard World fans. NOTE: ADDITIONAL TICKET REQUIRED. (Room A)
9:00 p.m.
THE WIZARD WORLD NEW ORLEANS COMIC CON LIVE ART SHOW AND AFTER PARTY W/ KODY CHAMBERLAIN AND ROB GUILLORY
Music by DJ Rüs with Jeff Hebert on drums Join us for this special after-hours event hosted by Kody Chamberlain (Sweets, 30 Days of Night) and Rob Guillory (Chew), and watch some of your favorite comic artists create original work from start to finish right before your eyes. This is a rare opportunity to hang out, network, and get to know some of the top artists in the business. Who knows, you may even get to own an original masterpiece! This is a free event; must be 18 to enter.
LOCATION: Hey! Café, 4332 Magazine St. (Corner of Magazine & Napoleon Ave.)
Sunday
11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
JULIE BENZ Q&A
The star of hit shows like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Dexter” and “No Ordinary Family,” Julie Benz talks to fans about her extensive career, ups and downs in the industry and her thoughts on the new generation of sci-fi and fantasy on television. (Room A)
TERRY MOORE Q&A
The Strangers in Paradise and Echo creator takes fan questions on his plethora of critically acclaimed and fan-favorite comics as well as talks about his upcoming plans. (Room B)
12:00 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.
CLAUDIA CHRISTIAN Q&A PANEL W/ ‘LOOK’ PREVIEW
“Babylon 5” beauty Claudia Christian shares the secrets to her multi-faceted success, and previews a sneak peek of her new Showtime series “Look.” (Room A)
WIZARD ART SCHOOL W/ PHIL JIMENEZ AND JASON PEARSON
Superstar artists Phil Jimenez (Adventure Comics) and Jason Pearson (upcoming Astonishing X-Men) assemble to give out their tips on refining your art, pitching to Marvel and DC, and any other sound advice they can think of about working in comics (Room B)
1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
RAY PARK Q&A
The “X-Men” and “Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace” star engages fans in this one-of-a-kind Q&A, where he discusses his extensive film biography and his evolution to genre icon. (Room A)
STORYTELLING W/ MICHAEL GOLDEN
No matter if you’re a writer, artist or a reader of comics, come for this sit-down with one of the most renowned storytellers in the business, Michael Golden, as he tells you a few tricks of the trade that will help you no matter what type of story you tell or enjoy, in whatever medium. It’s a rare opportunity to talk with the co-creator of X-Men’s Rogue, and groundbreaking penciler on such projects as Bucky O’Hare, The ‘Nam, Micronauts, G.I. Joe, and much more. (Room B)
2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
WIZARD SPOTLIGHT: LOUIS GOSSETT JR.
Screen legend and Academy Award winner Louis Gossett Jr. (“Officer and a Gentleman,” “The Punisher,” “Iron Eagle,” “Enemy Mine”) joins the Wizard World Comic Con Tour and sits down for this exciting Q&A, telling the behind-the-scenes stories from the set and answering the questions you’ve always wanted to ask. (Room A)
MIKE GRELL AND MARK RYAN
The legendary comics icon behind classic Legion of Super-Heroes Tales and Warlord, Mike Grell, teams up with Transformers voice actor Mark Ryan (the voice of Bumblebee) to answer fan questions. (Room B)
3:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
WALTER KOENIG Q&A
The original “Star Trek” series’ Pavel Chekov, Walter Koenig beams into this Q&A, where he’ll answer any and all questions from the elite Trek fans at New Orleans Comic Con. (Room A)
JAMES O’BARR Q&A
The Crow creator talks about his dark creation, new comics and the plans for a new Crow franchise in the movies. (Room B)
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
‘WALKING DEAD’ Q&A W/ CHANDLER RIGGS, KEISHA TILLIS AND ADRIAN KALI TURNER
AMC’s ambitious horror series, based on Robert Kirkman’s ultra-hot zombie series from Image, now comes to life from director Frank Darabont (“The Green Mile”)! Check out amazing behind-the-scenes footage and extended clips along with a Q&A with stars from AMC’s show. (Room A)
The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is located at 900 Convention Center Blvd. in New Orleans. New Orleans Comic Con is the first stop on Wizard’s 2011 North American tour, which to date has 13 events scheduled. Hours are Saturday, Jan. 29, 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.; and Sunday, Jan. 30, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.. Tickets are available in advance or by calling 1-866-882-5860 and online at www.wizardworld.com/neworleans.html at up to a 15% savings over tickets purchased at the door. Advance adult single-day tickets are $25 ($30 on site); two-day weekend tickets are $40 ($45 on site), and tickets are free for children age 10 and under when accompanied by a paid adult (limit two children per adult). VIP packages with special entry and exclusive items are also available.
The freshly renovated New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is an essential component of what makes the city's major business events so successful. With 1.1 million square feet of contiguous exhibit space, the Convention Center is the sixth largest convention facility in the nation, and it consistently ranks in the country's top ten of facilities that hold the most conventions and trade shows annually.
About Wizard Entertainment:
Gareb Shamus founded Wizard Entertainment in 1991. Today, Shamus publishes consumer magazines Wizard, ToyFare, FunFare and numerous books about pop-culture’s top talent, comic books and toys. Shamus also produces a North American Comic Con tour. Wizard World Comic Con – The Pop-Culture Capital of the World!
For the most recent event information please visit www.wizardworld.com and become a New Orleans Comic Con Fan on Facebook.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
"Mistress Fortune" from Arina Tanemura Due in February
A TEENAGE PSYCHIC MIXES ON-THE-JOB ROMANCE WTH INVADING ALIENS IN ARINA TANEMURA’S MISTRESS FORTUNE MANGA FROM VIZ MEDIA
New Shojo Beat Title Is The Latest From The Creator Of FULL MOON And THE GENTLEMEN’S ALLIANCE†
VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, will delight shojo manga (graphic novel) fans with the release of Arina Tanemura’s MISTRESS FORTUNE on February 1st. The new single-volume story will be published under the company’s Shojo Beat imprint, is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.
Fourteen-year-old Kisaki Tachibana has psychic powers. She works for PSI, a secret government agency that fights aliens. She's in love with her partner Giniro, but PSI won't allow operatives to get involved. Just when Kisaki thinks she may be getting closer to Giniro, she finds out she's going to be transferred to California!
“We’re exited to release MISTRESS FORTUNE for current and new fans alike,” says Nancy Thistlethwaite, Editor. “Arina Tanemura pulled from her experience of visiting San Francisco, the home of VIZ Media, as well as San Diego Comic-Con for this manga. Her huge following of readers here will have fun with this story that takes place in both Japan and the United States.”
Arina Tanemura began her manga career in 1996 when her short stories debuted in RIBON magazine. She gained fame with the 1997 publication of I•O•N, and ever since her debut, Tanemura has remained a major force in shojo manga with popular series TIME STRANGER KYOKO, FULL MOON, and THE GENTLEMEN’S ALLIANCE † (all published by VIZ Media). FULL MOON and another Tanemura manga, KAMIKAZE KAITO JEANNE, have also been adapted into animated TV series.
For more information on MISTRESS FORTUNE, please visit http://www.shojobeat.com/.
New Shojo Beat Title Is The Latest From The Creator Of FULL MOON And THE GENTLEMEN’S ALLIANCE†
VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, will delight shojo manga (graphic novel) fans with the release of Arina Tanemura’s MISTRESS FORTUNE on February 1st. The new single-volume story will be published under the company’s Shojo Beat imprint, is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.
Fourteen-year-old Kisaki Tachibana has psychic powers. She works for PSI, a secret government agency that fights aliens. She's in love with her partner Giniro, but PSI won't allow operatives to get involved. Just when Kisaki thinks she may be getting closer to Giniro, she finds out she's going to be transferred to California!
“We’re exited to release MISTRESS FORTUNE for current and new fans alike,” says Nancy Thistlethwaite, Editor. “Arina Tanemura pulled from her experience of visiting San Francisco, the home of VIZ Media, as well as San Diego Comic-Con for this manga. Her huge following of readers here will have fun with this story that takes place in both Japan and the United States.”
Arina Tanemura began her manga career in 1996 when her short stories debuted in RIBON magazine. She gained fame with the 1997 publication of I•O•N, and ever since her debut, Tanemura has remained a major force in shojo manga with popular series TIME STRANGER KYOKO, FULL MOON, and THE GENTLEMEN’S ALLIANCE † (all published by VIZ Media). FULL MOON and another Tanemura manga, KAMIKAZE KAITO JEANNE, have also been adapted into animated TV series.
For more information on MISTRESS FORTUNE, please visit http://www.shojobeat.com/.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
I Reads You Review: GREAT PLACE HIGH SCHOOL (YAOI)
Creator: Naduki Koujima (cartoonist); Sachiko Sato (translation)
Publishing Information: Juné Manga/DMP, paperback, B&W with some color, 164 pages, $12.95 (US)
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-56970-747-0 (ISBN-13); 1-56970-747-2 (ISBN-10)
Drama/Romance; Rated “M” for “Mature 18+”
Great Place High School is a manga from Naduki Koujima, the creator of the manga series, Our Kingdom. The story takes place at a high school full of rambunctious boys and has elements of boys’ love (both shounen-ai and yaoi), bishounen, and high school comedy.
Great Place High School may be like most high schools, with a student body comprised of jocks and geeks and popular girls and not-so-popular girls. The focus, however, is the computer club known as the Information Management Club. There, control freak Ryouichi Tsuruga has to keep things in order, which is made difficult because he has to fend of the machinations of his ultra-vain twin brother, Naruhito.
The arrival of a new member, Minami Wakamatsu, a cute kid with a tendency to destroy electronic gadgets, only complicates matters. Naruhito has a cuteness fetish, and he begins to both harass and hit on Minami. But why should Ryouichi care, unless he also has strong feelings for Minami, whom the Tsuruga brothers feed and dote on as if he were a small pet.
Meanwhile, two other comic melodramas ensue. We learn the history between Student Council President Rin Amanohara and Vice-President Eichi Shidou who have been together since childhood. Also, people think Kotone Kimura and Suzune Kimura are identical twins. They are really first cousins whose mothers are sisters. One thinks they are rivals, but the other cousin thinks they should be romantic.
One of my favorite manga artists is Naduki Koujima because of her gorgeous art. She cartoons the human face with such skill that her characters are beautiful (or pretty like a girl) whether she’s drawing them straight or super-deforming them. I could make viewing Koujima’s comic book art a daily exercise in uplifting my spirits.
Great Place High School, however, is not a great manga, but it is offers light entertainment. It is a collection of short, short stories and several pages of four-panel, vertical gag strips. The Rin-Eichi stories are yaoi as they feature graphic depictions of sex between a male lovers. The Kimura stories are light-hearted shounen-ai boys’ love. The rest of this book is boys’ love comedy – more comedy than BL.
Most of Great Place High School is feel-good and cozy. One might even think of it as BL comfort food. Those who like me enjoy the eye-candy art of Naduki Koujima will want this comfort food.
B
Bomb Queen's Girl Fight
BOMBS AWAY
Bomb Queen gets catty with the ladies in early 2011 release
She's currently fighting President Obama in the pages of BOMB QUEEN, Vol. VI, but in 2011, Bomb Queen will take girl fights to a whole new level when she takes on HACK/SLASH's Cassie Hack and the Queen of England!
In March, Robinson's BOMB QUEEN ALL-GIRL SPECIAL #1 will see Bomb Queen waging war against the wider world when she travels to London to kill the Queen of England. But Bomb Queen better not underestimate Her Majesty, who has a few tricks of her own that may spell doom for Bomb Queen. There can be only one Queen!
"Barack Obama is a wuss compared to Cassie Hack and Queen Elizabeth," says Robinson. "Bomb Queen has a real fight on her hands this time around!"
BOMB QUEEN ALL-GIRL SPECIAL #1 (JAN110559), a 32-page full-color comic book from Shadowline and Image Comics, will be in stores March 9, 2011, for $3.50.
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit http://www.imagecomics.com/.
Friday, January 21, 2011
John Cory's "A Liberal Dose or Reality"
I want to share this perspective/essay written by John Cory and published at the independent political website Reader Supported News. Here is the link to the original post.
A Liberal Dose of Reality
By John Cory, Reader Supported News
16 January 11
Reader Supported News Perspective
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." - Samuel Adams
So far there is no direct factual connection between the violence in Tucson and the toxic GOP and its subsidiary Tea Party screaming mobs, or the despicable daily spewing of hate-radio or the crazy chalkboard diagrams of the coming end times.
The false equivalency by the right wing and corporate media that the left does it too is merely a deflection intended to distract and shift focus away from them and their tactics. You can't connect the dots, they say.
A drop of ink on porous paper slowly seeps across the sheet. Multiple drops in multiple locations eventually bleed together without any external help. No one has to connect the dots; they connect themselves.
Thirty years ago Ronald Reagan said, "... government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem."
Plop.
Over the next three decades, vilification of government became a self-replicating meme. Big government fed the cash-driven paranoia machines. Politics got religion with the Moral Majority, which was neither, and Jerry Falwell made a devilish new BFF in Ronald Reagan. The Christian Right was born.
Plop. Plop.
Bogus welfare queens were created from thin air. The dismantling of Unions and the Fairness Doctrine turned news into a product for the corporations, who insisted that they owned the airwaves, not the public. The public good was tossed aside in favor of free-market profiteering without protective regulation.
Money is free speech and some of us have more freedom than others.
Plop. Plop. Plop.
With all this madness came Iran-Contra, the Savings and Loan crisis, HUD grant-fixing scandal, the Lobbyist scandals, EPA scandals and more. An estimated 130 Reagan officials were indicted and/or convicted or investigated for misconduct and/or criminal violations. But Reagan was the best president ever says the GOP.
Big government is bad. Small government, small enough to fit in a President's zipper is good. God be praised.
Boom.
The Great Microphone of Anti-Democracy was created and funded under Reagan and allowed to grow and smear at will over the following decades.
Politics became reality television. The profits of fear made millionaires of the new hate-media puppets, supported extremist think tanks and generated a publishing industry dedicated to the propaganda of self-appointed "real" America; all in the name of the corporate owners of America.
And where has our liberal progressive movement been?
Pointing out their victimhood at the hands of the GOP and how the GOP is mean. Ignoring the elimination of investigative journalism. Scrambling for consultants and pundits to appear on the TV to provide "balance" while agreeing that both sides do it. Gently promoting "objective" media in a world rewarding biased punditry and outright lies.
Woe, is us! It is so unfair. Whatever can we do?
We need to get off our ass and quit pretending the bastardization of corporate media is something new, or that the hateful politics of the right wing cannot be defeated. We need to face reality and stop looking to billionaires and millionaires to fund us or rent us a megaphone to speak to the people.
We also need to disabuse ourselves of the illusion that the Democrats are on our side, or that they represent liberals and progressives let alone the concept that they represent everyday citizens. Modern Democrats are Mugwumps straddling the fence between self-enriching celebrity and GOP corporate compromise.
All of this is obviously more complicated than my simplistic presentation. But I'm a simple guy that believes in the KISS principle. Keep It Simple, Stupid.
And if we think MSBC is the anti-Fox or that it is the liberal platform needed today, then we are just dumb. Snark and shouting and satirical lists are not news reporting or analysis, just tribal entertainment for the converted and like-minded.
No, we need to walk our talk. The other side will call us names no matter what we do, so let us embrace their hatred, as FDR said. Let us be proud radicals and fierce promoters of the common good.
Unions and organizations like the NAACP and La Razza have money that could be used to invest in a non-profit internet/newspaper/broadcast network instead of being spent on lobbying politicians.
Think of it, our own news outlet that conducts investigative reporting and covers real issues. Public subscriptions for print editions and sales of apps for iPad and other devices would provide support money too. Media of, by, and for the people!
Think of putting Robert Parry, Chris Hedges, Sy Hersh, Amy Goodman, Laura Flanders, Glen Greenwald and so many other wonderful voices together in one powerful force of messaging.
We pick a half dozen or so prime issues to promote - issues that overlap compatible areas so as to serve multi-functional roles. Here's a short list off the top of my head:
1. End the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. War creates graves, not jobs.
2. Universal Healthcare - explain why the US spends $7500 per person on healthcare while most other countries spend $3500. Is it American exceptionalism, or just plain greed?
3. Promote government spending on infrastructure like roads, parks, schools and bridges and playgrounds. Immigrants can earn a living and progress toward citizenship by repairing and building infrastructure and paying taxes including Social Security taxes. Jobs, immigration and saving Social Security all rolled into one.
4. Taxes - progressive and enforceable on all persons including corporate persons. Taxes are not evil or onerous, they are the investment in America that sustains all of us.
5. Financial Reform regulation to protect the people. To paraphrase George Carlin, if we're concerned about street crime - that means Wall Street too.
6. Labor must be protected. The right to a living wage. The right to collective bargaining to protect the powerless from the powerful. Labor is not a product - it is not enslavement for corporate enrichment.
7. Bring back the Draft with some modifications that expand the age groups, limit exceptions, and include private contractors being converted to active duty and subject to military pay scales. Government contracts must be severely restricted. To profit from death and bombs cannot be a government function. Conservatives should love this because it is patriotic and confirms their mantra that government does not create any jobs. Right?
8. Support Marriage Equality. "If you're against Gay marriage - don't marry one!" (I saw that on a button.)
Impossible? Why?
In an interview on Democracy Now! Slavoj Zizek pointed out, "Did you notice how strange the word 'impossible' functions today? When you talk about private pleasures and technology, everything is possible. But the moment you go to social changes ... practically everything that disturbs the market is impossible ... we will live forever ... whatever you want ... we will travel to the moon - that's all possible. But a small social change of more healthcare is not possible."
Corporations don't see "impossible." Conservatives did not see "impossible." Fox News and talk-radio were not built in a day, but over years.
If we don't unite and combine our forces, progressives and liberals will drown in the coming corporate GOP takeover of democracy.
In the Pennsylvania coal strikes of 1902, miners wanted to cut their work week from 7 to 6 days and cut their work day from 10-12 hours a day to 9 hours a day and raise wages.
George Baer, president of Reading Railroad, spoke for the owners in what became known as the "divine right" letter when he wrote: "... the rights and interests of the laboring man will be protected and cared for - not by the labor agitators, but by the Christian men to whom God in His infinite wisdom has given the control of the property interests of the country."
When the letter became public, support shifted to the miners as the public saw what was headed their way. An informed citizenry is the greatest fear of every corporate driven government.
It took progressives years and years to bring change and enlightenment to workers and politicians alike. People like Ida Tarbell, Eugene Debs, Emma Goldman, Sinclair Lewis, W.E.B. DuBois and so many others all fought and organized and published their cause and the cause of the everyman and the poor and the sick. And it worked; not always in big events, but in small continuous determined steps.
To quote Edward R. Murrow: "We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late."
An ink drop on porous paper slowly seeps across the sheet. Add another and then another, until at last they bleed together to forge their own image and shape.
"Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts." - Edward R. Murrow
-PEACE-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
A Liberal Dose of Reality
By John Cory, Reader Supported News
16 January 11
Reader Supported News Perspective
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." - Samuel Adams
So far there is no direct factual connection between the violence in Tucson and the toxic GOP and its subsidiary Tea Party screaming mobs, or the despicable daily spewing of hate-radio or the crazy chalkboard diagrams of the coming end times.
The false equivalency by the right wing and corporate media that the left does it too is merely a deflection intended to distract and shift focus away from them and their tactics. You can't connect the dots, they say.
A drop of ink on porous paper slowly seeps across the sheet. Multiple drops in multiple locations eventually bleed together without any external help. No one has to connect the dots; they connect themselves.
Thirty years ago Ronald Reagan said, "... government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem."
Plop.
Over the next three decades, vilification of government became a self-replicating meme. Big government fed the cash-driven paranoia machines. Politics got religion with the Moral Majority, which was neither, and Jerry Falwell made a devilish new BFF in Ronald Reagan. The Christian Right was born.
Plop. Plop.
Bogus welfare queens were created from thin air. The dismantling of Unions and the Fairness Doctrine turned news into a product for the corporations, who insisted that they owned the airwaves, not the public. The public good was tossed aside in favor of free-market profiteering without protective regulation.
Money is free speech and some of us have more freedom than others.
Plop. Plop. Plop.
With all this madness came Iran-Contra, the Savings and Loan crisis, HUD grant-fixing scandal, the Lobbyist scandals, EPA scandals and more. An estimated 130 Reagan officials were indicted and/or convicted or investigated for misconduct and/or criminal violations. But Reagan was the best president ever says the GOP.
Big government is bad. Small government, small enough to fit in a President's zipper is good. God be praised.
Boom.
The Great Microphone of Anti-Democracy was created and funded under Reagan and allowed to grow and smear at will over the following decades.
Politics became reality television. The profits of fear made millionaires of the new hate-media puppets, supported extremist think tanks and generated a publishing industry dedicated to the propaganda of self-appointed "real" America; all in the name of the corporate owners of America.
And where has our liberal progressive movement been?
Pointing out their victimhood at the hands of the GOP and how the GOP is mean. Ignoring the elimination of investigative journalism. Scrambling for consultants and pundits to appear on the TV to provide "balance" while agreeing that both sides do it. Gently promoting "objective" media in a world rewarding biased punditry and outright lies.
Woe, is us! It is so unfair. Whatever can we do?
We need to get off our ass and quit pretending the bastardization of corporate media is something new, or that the hateful politics of the right wing cannot be defeated. We need to face reality and stop looking to billionaires and millionaires to fund us or rent us a megaphone to speak to the people.
We also need to disabuse ourselves of the illusion that the Democrats are on our side, or that they represent liberals and progressives let alone the concept that they represent everyday citizens. Modern Democrats are Mugwumps straddling the fence between self-enriching celebrity and GOP corporate compromise.
All of this is obviously more complicated than my simplistic presentation. But I'm a simple guy that believes in the KISS principle. Keep It Simple, Stupid.
And if we think MSBC is the anti-Fox or that it is the liberal platform needed today, then we are just dumb. Snark and shouting and satirical lists are not news reporting or analysis, just tribal entertainment for the converted and like-minded.
No, we need to walk our talk. The other side will call us names no matter what we do, so let us embrace their hatred, as FDR said. Let us be proud radicals and fierce promoters of the common good.
Unions and organizations like the NAACP and La Razza have money that could be used to invest in a non-profit internet/newspaper/broadcast network instead of being spent on lobbying politicians.
Think of it, our own news outlet that conducts investigative reporting and covers real issues. Public subscriptions for print editions and sales of apps for iPad and other devices would provide support money too. Media of, by, and for the people!
Think of putting Robert Parry, Chris Hedges, Sy Hersh, Amy Goodman, Laura Flanders, Glen Greenwald and so many other wonderful voices together in one powerful force of messaging.
We pick a half dozen or so prime issues to promote - issues that overlap compatible areas so as to serve multi-functional roles. Here's a short list off the top of my head:
1. End the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. War creates graves, not jobs.
2. Universal Healthcare - explain why the US spends $7500 per person on healthcare while most other countries spend $3500. Is it American exceptionalism, or just plain greed?
3. Promote government spending on infrastructure like roads, parks, schools and bridges and playgrounds. Immigrants can earn a living and progress toward citizenship by repairing and building infrastructure and paying taxes including Social Security taxes. Jobs, immigration and saving Social Security all rolled into one.
4. Taxes - progressive and enforceable on all persons including corporate persons. Taxes are not evil or onerous, they are the investment in America that sustains all of us.
5. Financial Reform regulation to protect the people. To paraphrase George Carlin, if we're concerned about street crime - that means Wall Street too.
6. Labor must be protected. The right to a living wage. The right to collective bargaining to protect the powerless from the powerful. Labor is not a product - it is not enslavement for corporate enrichment.
7. Bring back the Draft with some modifications that expand the age groups, limit exceptions, and include private contractors being converted to active duty and subject to military pay scales. Government contracts must be severely restricted. To profit from death and bombs cannot be a government function. Conservatives should love this because it is patriotic and confirms their mantra that government does not create any jobs. Right?
8. Support Marriage Equality. "If you're against Gay marriage - don't marry one!" (I saw that on a button.)
Impossible? Why?
In an interview on Democracy Now! Slavoj Zizek pointed out, "Did you notice how strange the word 'impossible' functions today? When you talk about private pleasures and technology, everything is possible. But the moment you go to social changes ... practically everything that disturbs the market is impossible ... we will live forever ... whatever you want ... we will travel to the moon - that's all possible. But a small social change of more healthcare is not possible."
Corporations don't see "impossible." Conservatives did not see "impossible." Fox News and talk-radio were not built in a day, but over years.
If we don't unite and combine our forces, progressives and liberals will drown in the coming corporate GOP takeover of democracy.
In the Pennsylvania coal strikes of 1902, miners wanted to cut their work week from 7 to 6 days and cut their work day from 10-12 hours a day to 9 hours a day and raise wages.
George Baer, president of Reading Railroad, spoke for the owners in what became known as the "divine right" letter when he wrote: "... the rights and interests of the laboring man will be protected and cared for - not by the labor agitators, but by the Christian men to whom God in His infinite wisdom has given the control of the property interests of the country."
When the letter became public, support shifted to the miners as the public saw what was headed their way. An informed citizenry is the greatest fear of every corporate driven government.
It took progressives years and years to bring change and enlightenment to workers and politicians alike. People like Ida Tarbell, Eugene Debs, Emma Goldman, Sinclair Lewis, W.E.B. DuBois and so many others all fought and organized and published their cause and the cause of the everyman and the poor and the sick. And it worked; not always in big events, but in small continuous determined steps.
To quote Edward R. Murrow: "We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late."
An ink drop on porous paper slowly seeps across the sheet. Add another and then another, until at last they bleed together to forge their own image and shape.
"Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts." - Edward R. Murrow
-PEACE-
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Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
I Reads You Review: DREAD AND ALIVE #4
DREAD & ALIVE #4
ZOOLOOK, LLC
CREATOR/WRITER/STORYBOARDS: Nicholas Da Silva
ARTIST: Allan JeffersonCOLORS: Giovanna Guimaraes
TRANSLATOR: Ryan Fraser
COVER: Rodney Buchemi
24pp, Color
Dread & Alive is the first superhero comic book with a Jamaican as the protagonist. This new comic book series is created and written by Nicholas Da Silva. The other thing that is unusual about Dread & Alive is that each issue of the series comes with a music compilation. Essentially a soundtrack to a comic book, the music is meant to accompany the reading of the comic book. Readers can listen to tracks from reggae stars such as Lady Saw, Bunny Ruggs, and I Octane.
The hero of Dread & Alive is Drew McIntosh, the roaring Lion – half man/half animal and protector of the animal world (an eco-warrior, of sorts). Drew’s powers come from the Maroon Medallion, a sacred amulet created by the Jamaican Maroons (a group of runaway slaves and their descendants). Drew’s stomping ground is San Francisco, particular the Haight-Ashbury district where he makes his home.
In Dread & Alive #4, Drew and his love interest, Brandy Savage, get the lowdown on international animal poaching from Casey Forrester, an investigative reporter who focuses on environmental issues. Forrester has been targeted by Gryphon, a world renowned hunter and poacher, for assassination. In fact, Drew, as the roaring Lion, saved Casey from one of those attempts.
That battle between Drew and Gryphon captured the attention of the San Francisco PD. Now, two officers, Paz and Williams, are investigating San Fran’s new vigilante and getting closer to Drew. Meanwhile, the powerful shape shifter and Obeah man, ShadowCatcher, is stalking Brandy.
Dread & Alive reminds me of 1970s Marvel Comics titles like Marvel Chillers (featuring Tigra) and Vampire Tales (with Blade) – dark, moody, character-driven soap operas. Even as the writer, creator Nicholas Da Silva is quite visual in his storytelling. His attention to detail concerning motivations – all the characters’ motivations – can slow the story down a bit, but that will make the reader pay attention. If every character matters, the reader cannot dismiss anyone because he will never know from where the next surprise is coming.
Allan Jefferson (who is apparently replacing former series artist, Rodney Buchemi) has good storytelling skills, and his design style is from the Neal Adams school. I think he will serve Dread & Alive quite well. There is room for improvement on all fronts, but this is already a good comic book.
You can find a good overview of the series at Comic Vine.
Purchase CD and Comic Books here.
Dread and Alive #4 music compilation album on iTunes.
Album on Amazon.com.
Mistress Fortune in Love
I read Mistress Fortune
I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps). This is an Arina Tanemura manga.
I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps). This is an Arina Tanemura manga.
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