Some Afternoon Thoughts

This story is in the running for the most depressing of the internet. An autistic boy was apparently killed by some Bible-thumpers in Milwaukee... because they were trying to drive out the evil spirits in him. By holding him down and beating him. I personally think that any adult who participated in that "ceremony" should be put through the same thing, as they obviously are inhabited by evil spirits.

A very stupid towing company has made the wrong kind of enemy in Mark Evanier, as he explains. Reading his final words: "This could turn out to be more fun than whipping up phony Dick Van Dyke Show comic books." sent a chill through me, and I almost pity the towing company. Almost... well, that's an exaggeration. I don't really pity them at all, and I hope Mark gives 'em what they deserve.

The Harrop-Procter Community Forest got an unusual request for the use of its selectively logged wood from protected forest... 500 broomsticks to promote Harry Potter from the Canadian publisher of the book, Raincoast Books. This was a big public relations boost for the community owned forest that's trying to prove that logging doesn't have to be destructive. Raincoast Books also uses recycled paper in their products. via The Leaky Cauldron

There is a fascinating on-line exhibition of the history of gays through stamps. If you feel like browsing the collection, start here. via In Sequence

The Taliban is active in Afghanistan, but we're fighting back, according to this story. I still find it amazingly stupid that we didn't finish cleaning up Afghanistan before taking on Iraq. But then, I've found much of what Bush has done in the last year to be amazingly stupid. Go figure. via Daily Kos

Newsarama now has a good article up about the CrossGen situation. It covers all the story, from the start. Anyone who still thinks CrossGen isn't at fault in this should read this one. How's this for that company that is so wonderful: "My phone's been shut off twice, I've had to pay some pretty hefty late fees on rent, and I've had to borrow money from people on several occasions to keep my family fed because money I'd been anticipating from CrossGen didn't show up." -Chuck Gibson. The only reason I'm not advocating a boycott of CrossGen now is because if we did then the freelancers would never get the money they are owed. ...And, I confess, I still like their books despite this. via Dirk Deppey on Comicon message boards There is still some arguing going on in the Comicon threads on the subject: CrossGen unintentionally insults the freelancers and the freelancers respond