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Archive | June, 2009

Plato at the Earth’s Core

By on June 13, 2009 2

WarlordI’ve been a big fan of Mike Grell’s Warlord since I was eleven. But I do have a gripe about a line in the latest issue (new series #3): “Plato had it wrong. Atlantis was no utopian society.”

Plato never portrayed Atlantis as a utopian society. In the Timæus and Critias – the only two places where he mentions Atlantis – Plato describes Atlantis as a wicked, arrogant, imperialistic society that fought a war against the utopian society of the Republic, here transposed to an antediluvian prototype of Athens.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

By on June 12, 2009 1

Bilbo blowing a smoke ringI saw Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute on the news tonight making an eminently left-libertarian point: while many tobacco companies oppose the new restrictions on cigarette advertising, the nation’s largest, Philip Morris, supports it – because restrictions on advertising benefit major brands at the expense of smaller, lesser-known brands that have more need to advertise. While Congress postures as an opponent of Big Tobacco, Cannon noted, in practice it consistently supports it, even through its purportedly anti-smoking policies.

Baptists and bootleggers, anyone?

The Atrocity of Hope, Part 6: Put Not Your Trust In Princes

By on June 12, 2009 10

ObushmaThe Obama administration offers a legal defense of “don’t ask, don’t tell” – on the grounds that it’s “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.” (In other words, the administration isn’t just delaying repeal, but is actively affirming the reasoning behind the policy – a policy our President Incarnate claims to oppose.)

The Obama administration offers a legal defense of the Defense of Marriage Act – on the grounds that “courts have widely held that certain marriages performed elsewhere need not be given effect, because they conflicted with the public policy of the forum.” (Quite true – the Supreme Court did uphold anti-miscegenation laws, for example. Still, an awkward precedent for this administration to invoke, one would have thought.)

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Sword and Screen

By on June 12, 2009 4

Carson NapierAs of this moment, John Carter of Mars, The Hobbit, Conan, Conan: Red Nails, Jonah Hex, and Pirates of Venus are all still on track for movie releases.

But Pirates of Venus is now puzzlingly renamed Carson Napier (after its protagonist). Note that the synopsis on the studio website now bears only a passing resemblance to the novel, and that it that oddly avoids any reference to space travel (though the background of the poster does at least show a Venus-looking planet). The project’s own website, by contrast, still lists the original title.

With Great Power Comes Great Irresponsibility

By on June 12, 2009 6

Charles has a regular feature describing police brutality cases from around the country (and in some cases, from around the world); the latest is especially worthy reading.

The crucial message we need to get out is that these are not bugs in the system; this is the system.

Dresden Dream

By on June 11, 2009 5

Amanda Palmer and Neil GaimanI’m oddly pleased (though as a reader-between-the-lines of Neil Gaiman’s blog, not especially surprised) to read that Gaiman and Amanda Palmer (i.e. this singer – I love that video!) are dating. (“Oddly” just in the sense that I don’t know either of them personally, and I ordinarily don’t much care which celebrities are involved with which; but they each have a kind of disarming charm that makes one care about them.)

Judging from her previous relationship I’d say she’s trading up.

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