Here's a startling bit of news relating to comic book history. An anonymous donor (anonymous to us, that is) has donated the original artwork to Amazing Fantasy #15 to the the Library of Congress' Prints and Photographs division. This was the comic book that featured the first Spider-Man story, which was produced by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. This article will tell you all about it, including the fact that whoever donated it could have made an awful lot of cash in an auction.
This chart of the Gallup Poll is making the rounds and it's quite amazing. By a margin of 63 to 36 — not far from two-to-one — Americans think our country made a mistake sending troops to Iraq in the first place. It started out with a three-to-one ratio in the other direction. No "current" war has ever been so unpopular in this country.
The question it all raises for me is about how many people think it was not a mistake to send those troops initially but believe the war effort has been so badly bungled that we need to cut our losses and get out. And how many of those people are in the 63%?
I can't agree with you that the abstinence only groups are interested in pretending their children are not having sex and that is why they promote these kind of programs. What it really is about is funneling government money to church groups. Presumably these church groups would be preaching abstinence only anyhow, but it's really great to have the government give them lots of money.
Yeah, that's right. And of course, they like it because it's a problem that will never go away. Teens will always be having sex and if those groups can get cash this way, it's an endless payoff.
I'm always amazed that "this doesn't work" is so rarely deemed a valid reason for not spending government money on something. Years ago on some news show, I saw a gentleman testify before Congress that we had to keep spending skillions on some particular model of jet fighter that had a terrible track record for reliability. That was, he argued, a minor consideration. It was more important that we keep the program "going forward" as it demonstrated the kind of resolve and strong attitude about defense that was essential in this world. Apparently, you're weak on defense if you insist that the planes actually be able to fly.
There's a new round of debates over whether the government should hurl more money into "abstinence-only" sex counselling. I don't know why. These programs do not work, have never worked, will never work...and the proponents seem to always be saying, "Yeah, well, apart from that, maybe they're a good idea." The only genuine controversy I see is whether they do a lot of damage or A LOT of damage.
I usually cringe at the phrase "reality-based community," but those who plump for abstinence indoctrination are clearly in the opposing world. I think they're more interested in coming up with some campaign that will allow them to make believe their kids aren't having sex. A lot of proposals to curtail gay rights strike me as being in the same category: Regardless of what you're actually going to do, let us pretend we've solved what is, for us, a problem.
Jim Newman is the guy who produces the excellent What's My Line? Live show that I've plugged many a time on this site. That show, by the way, has been extended through May 26 so if you're in New York, go.
Some months ago, Jim was telling me about one of the most surreal moments he ever witnessed on TV — a Beatles medley performed on The Cher Show by Cher, Tina Turner and Kate Smith. He just wrote me that it's up on YouTube and I can't help but link you all to it.
Attention, Yoko Ono! It's been reported that you're taking legal action over the use of a John Lennon song in the new Ben Stein documentary. All well and good...but how come you didn't do something about this?
At the New York Comic Con, we had a nice (but too short) memorial panel for Steve Gerber. I mentioned it here earlier but thought you might like to read some other reports on it...like this one or this one or even this one.
The speakers were myself, Michael Gerber (Steve's brother), Gail Simone, DC head honcho Paul Levitz, Hildy Mesnik (who worked with Steve at Sunbow Productions on G.I. Joe, Transformers and other cartoon shows), Buzz Dixon, Marty Pasko, Steve's daughter Samantha, and Mary Skrenes. Ignore the odd spellings of some of those names in the reports.
Contrary to what I said on the panel, Steve's ashes were not flung in the faces of various publishers. They were scattered around some of his favorite New York haunts. A nicer thought even if it wasn't as funny as what I suggested.
April 25, 2008
