Various / checking in

When I wrote here last, I had briefly believed it could get no worse in these United States: HOW WRONG I WAS. The Tea Bagger insanity has continued apace and the ugly chickens are coming to roost in the GOP hen house with their manufactured 'debt ceiling' crisis. It makes one wonder when and if the powers-that-be in the GOP will conduct their own version of June 30, 1934 ("The Night of the Long Knives"), as their tea bagging brown shirts are no longer taking orders from the Repug country club set (Koch brothers excepted).
A brief light of hope has occurred though: the rapidly mushrooming News Corporation hacking scandal, which is at three countries (U.K., USA, & Australia) and counting. If the politicians who allowed Rupert Murdoch to become the media Frankenstein who cows and owns them all have half a brain and microscopic 'nad, they would be well advised to take this all too rare opportunity to permanently cripple News Corp. (talk about an Orwellian name) lest the rest of us continue to suffer their depredations anew under James Murdoch (who is even more of a tool than his father). If any reader did not think that prior, the latest development, that News Corp. did the hacking that produced the 'Climategate' e-mails should strongly persuade the doubters of the need to knee cap the most dangerous media company on the planet; for they made common cause with the sociopathic economic drug pushers who threaten life on this planet for their own greed...the fossil fuels businesses. Unfortunately, it does not appear as if the world's English-speaking political class has yet arrived at this conclusion...and they need to soon, for the present opportunity will not be around for long.

Hello Corporate Feudalism

As expected, the United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, opened the floodgates for unfettered corporate money into federal elections. With this radical ruling, the SCOTUS has made the corporate feudal nightmare presciently portrayed in the 1975 version of "Rollerball," a much more possible reality. The "Great Lurch Backwards" to redux of the Robber Baron era, initiated by Grandpa Caligula (Ronald Reagan) and continued in one way or another to varying extents by every administration since, is for all intents and purposes, now here.
If this is not addressed and challenged immediately and effectively, the "We the People" of the USA will become "We the Corporations." In fact, the rest of the would do well to be on their guard, as the prospect of a corporate dominated government controlling the US military is truly scary -- think the Iraq fiasco done worldwide. It would not surprise that in my old age, the rest of the world gangs up on the USA to prevent a similar corporate take-over in their own countries. If that happens, I plan to be of aid of those fighting the corporations in any way possible. The last thing this planet needs is rule by a small oligarchy of greedy elites who's psychopathic tendencies makes the Mafia look like choir boys.

More stuff

Hola All!
While it has been a sort-of while since I wrote last on this forum, I have not been idle. In addition to the two web comics I put out: E.I. (www.wunderman-comics.com) & Time Corps (www.time-corps.com), I had been adapting a screenplay by my personal trainer, Nate Noggle, into a comic book script at his request. I brokered the artwork, and later this week, the first four page web episode will make it's debut on the WEB. Of course, the journey from the typed words to images was not instant.
First was adapting the screenplay. I initially recommended after reading the source screenplay (which was 109 pages), that the comic be 48 pages. That did not occur as Noggle could only afford a 32 page comic, which triggered much storytelling sausage making. The comic script was written with a serial structure in mind (four page web episodes released every other week), which obviates a final image that has a degree of cliff hanger in it. Also required was the mashing up of separate dialogues into one (encounters between characters as well). Several other story tweeks happened as well (framing device at start and end of story, fleshing out the character of a couple of the baddies, etc.), and we have a script ready to send to the art team.

Next time: the experimental art method for Indestructible Will.

It's been quite a while

Since I wrote here last, I have endeavored to put up another web comic, www.time-corps.com. It is my second web comic, and like my first, is sci-fi in subject matter. Like E.I., I wish to write challenging genre bending fiction that touches upon many bases and is a platform for me to express myself via my art.

Another disturbing trend

Considering the upside down age we live in, this should not be surprising, but it is disturbing nonetheless. Anti-Semitism is finding a new home amongst the Left, particularly in the USA and Europe.
A combination of factors is making this happen. First of all, as Israel's main protector has veered hard Right, so to has the main lobbying organization for Israel in the USA; AIPAC (which for all intents and purposes, is an American auxiliary of the Likud Party). Add in the disturbing fact that a significant portion of the Protestant Evangelical community has embraced the "End of Days" myth (which calls for an Israel to be around when Jesus is supposed to come back). That means they support Israel as a means for the Rapture to come about. It should be noted before the Pentecostals (whom are relatively new phenomenon) came on to the Evangelical scene, Protestants, following their founder's (Martin Luther) example, were quite anti-semitic. As the wacko Rapture nuts have taken center stage in American Protestantism, anti-semitism has been replaced by a cynical attitude of support to make their insane scenario happen. Not aiding Israel's cause has been the Jewish state's even more cynical acceptance of the aid from the Rapture nuts; where the calculation is to accept their aid and secretly laugh behind their backs at their "quaint" beliefs.
Needless to write, these Rapture nuts are some of the more formidable and successful enemies the Left has encountered in many years. The only portion of the Right still hanging on to their anti-semitism are those who hate NAFTA & the WTO, are hardcore Nazis, or Catholics who have rejected Vatican II (Mel Gibson belongs to this sect), which removed the idea of collective guilt of the Jews as "Christ Killers." This crowd used to be relied upon to spew the "Jewish conspiracy" bile in line with that infamous Czarist forgery, "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion."
The Jewish conspiracy ranting has moved to the fringes of the Left, as that political belief has a strong element of those whom harbor conspiracy theories. Adding to this is a natural sympathy for the underdog, as the Palestinians have skillfully managed to paint themselves as since the Yom Kippur War. It has not hurt the Palestinian cause as they have begun to underplay their religious dogma (which is an anathema to any Leftist) while they curry favor in a manner not unlike the way the Israelis play the Rapture nuts. Conspiracy theories also provide the intellectually weak an all encompassing way to explain complex multi-layered problems in a neat manner.
Jews would be well advised to steer themselves away from the nuts of the Right, as they are a generation and half removed from being those who actively worked to obliterate the Jews. After all, the majority of the pogroms carried against Jews were carried out by those in their day could easily be characterized as right wing.

They can't be serious?!?!

This blog entry is about the deluded group calling themselves PUMA (not the German sport goods company). According to the Corporate News Media, they are the disgruntled former supporters of Hillary Clinton who are going to vote for John McCain despite the fairly obvious fact that McCain is almost completely opposed to their politics. There is one word to describe this: PIQUE. Demographically, this group is mostly white suburban females 50 & over. To write that they are incensed that their putative standard bearer, Clinton, lost the Democratic primary, is overstating the obvious. They are so angry that their reason has been completely subsumed to the point that they are ready to support a mortal enemy who will screw them in so many ways should he get into power as to give a bad acid flashback.
The Corporate Media has been stoking this story along because it gives them something to fill airtime with. For the neo-fascist lackeys at Fox Noise Channel, this is a lifeline in a general situation where they are seeing their influence wither by the day as their calumnies pile up against them.
This brings me to the question of why. It is as simple as a parent who tries to fulfill that role with their adult children even though it is the children who have a much better handle on what is going on. Of course, such behavior elicits a "I'll show those young whippersnappers!" reaction. And considering the aforementioned demographic of aggrieved Clinton supporters were stupid enough to buy the Republican Kool Aid in 1980 & 1984 by largely voting for Grandpa Caligula (Ronald Reagan), their generation (Baby Boomers) has not exactly gained wisdom with age. Instead, they will be a party to enabling their enemies another four years in power where they trash the future for their descendants.

Soccer -Galaxy's latest travails

Long periods of inactivity followed by short burst of frantic action. Not quite, but somewhere within the ballpark when describes my posting habits to this blog. It makes me really respect folks like Bob Mould (late of one my fave 80's punk rock bands, Husker Du), who as far as I know, posts every day! Anyways, on to what prompted me to share my thoughts in cyberspace for folks to pay attention to or ignore at their leisure.
It would appear as if the Ruud Gullit experiment @ LA Galaxyland is over, with the Dutchman jumping ship before he was pushed. The first serious sign that things were amiss was when the LA Times celebrity home sales column let slip that Gullit has sold his recently purchased home in Southern California. Add in the rumor that the "golden child," Landon Donovan had not reacted well to Gullit's old-school European style coaching methods: which includes pointing out a player's faults (particularly a star as way of "speaking" to the entire group) in practice, in front of the entire team, usually in a loud tone (perhaps it "inspired" a bad flashback to Donovan's experience at Bayer Leverkusen). Gullit also cited "family issues," which usually means the wife and kids are quite homesick. Add in Gullit's frustrations with the unique conditions of coaching in MLS: no unlimited player acquisition budget, media obligations, and the uneven quality of players available, plus the expectations coming from the AEG executive suite (that's a whole other matter), and it is not surprising this has come to pass.
Included in the corporate bloodletting was the long overdue handing of a pink slip to Galaxy President and General Manager, Alexi Lalas. Lalas had been thrust into the role well before he was ready due to the untimely death of his predecessor, Doug Hamilton (the "plan" had been for red haired one to learn at Hamilton's side for several more years). It should also be noted that Lalas' prior two executive tenures at AEG teams: San Jose and New York, had not been roaring successes, though there are mitigating factors in both situations. In San Jose, the handwriting was on the wall for the team to move, while in New York, that franchise's curse afflicted Lalas as well. With the Galaxy, it had appeared as if Lalas' celebrity factor protection had finally worn off with the suits at AEG.
The most egregious "villains" in this sordid soap opera lies with the suits at AEG, with the lead villain being AEG's Los Angeles head honcho, Tim Leiwieke. During their ownership tenure, AEG have managed to preside over the slow on-field decline of the main product, the soccer, in a manner that long suffering Los Angeles Kings fans are all too familiar with. Simply put, AEG would be well advised to follow the example of another MLS owner who also owns another sports team, Robert Kraft. Kraft hires people who know the sports side, let's them get on with the job, and worries about the business side. Judging from past actions of Leiwieke & Co., that seems highly unlikely. What is curious to see is who will take the poisoned chalice that is the Los Angeles Galaxy head coach position.