Monday Post

The journey of a thousand steps.


Or something.


Jack Layton is gone.


What should have happened ages ago is happening now: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is missing after rebels assume power in Tripoli. What is important now is that he is not allowed to seek asylum in a friendly country, allowed to stew in a comfortable prison while waiting for a trial that may never come to completion at the Hague and that a power vacuum not occur. It's not like there are loads of sane, erudite leaders in the Middle East willing to lift their countries out of the dark ages.



Related: What Qaddafi’s Fall Means for North Korea




(hat tip)




When the themes of comic books become far less about adventure, action and exceptionalism and more about throwing out the canon AND the baby with the bathwater:

“Having a half-black/half-Hispanic Spider-Man is hilarious, because his origin story is quite simple: Horrible rates of black and Hispanic crime in New York City can only be dealt with by a half-black/half-Hispanic hero. A white hero would be called racist for dealing with these thugs, so having [a biracial hero] don the red and blue tights makes absolutely perfect sense.”

What made heroes like Spiderman, Superman, Batman and Wolverine exceptional and attractive to the reader wasn't just the action but that as orphaned, rejected, lonesome outsiders, they found their niche in the world by using their abilities for the benefit of others. These heroes (or anti-heroes, if you will) didn't have to live up to a standard set by those who feel a nagging need to represent the racial/cultural/political rainbow and wear their politics on their sleeves because there was no need. Peter Parker was the geek-turned-hero. Superman was the orphaned alien who took to his new home. Neither of these heroes are representative of the non-clique kids or the immigrant classes? Are these heroes even fascinating to read about as a diversion? For this brand of political vision to permeate once-good comics is to remove what made them enjoyable and exceptional to begin with.

Watch this brainless shrew throw a hissy fit because a shop-keeper sells both Israeli and West Bank dates.





Had she pulled this stunt anywhere else other than the Christian West, she would have been dragged out into the street and stoned to death. She doesn't get that opening her mouth is a privilege (nay, a right) to be enjoyed in the West, that the consumer doesn't need her atrocious and shrill commentary and not everyone shares her nutbar values.




(yet another hat tip)





And now, this is awesome for many reasons.