Justice Delayed

Thanks to JMS for the following article related to a documentary film we saw 11 years ago titled “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills.”

Co-directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, the film—which began as pro-prosecution, and became pro-defense—follows the brutal killings of three Arkansas boys in 1993, and three teens convicted of the crime despite zero physical evidence placing them at the scene, and a questionable confession.

Nevertheless, the article in question describes new efforts (namely DNA evidence) to finally clear the defendants of the original crime. But as the Duke rape case showed, most prosecutors and law enforcement loathe certain details (like facts) when ethical conduct and bad police work are involved.

Note: Click here for further details on the WM3 case.

Lest We Forget

Over on Yahoo News today, an article described an uproar by a small but vocal (aren’t they all?) group of West Virginia parents over their local high school’s use of two novels by Pat Conroy (“Prince of Tides,” “Beach Music”) for their violent and sexual content:

Parents Ken and Leona Tyree found certain scenes in [“Prince”] “obscene and offensive.” [Mrs Tyree] said she was unable to finish the book. [Her] son has since left [his] Advanced Placement literature class [which was using the novel].

Another parent, Karen Frazier, complained about violence in “Beach Music,” and told school board members last month she wants guidelines for books used in public schools.

“If a teacher was on a computer and sending this filth to underage students, they’d probably be arrested,” Frazier [told the school board].

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Ho-kay…skewering this kind of “reasoning” is like fishing with dynamite so I’ll be brief.

Got to your local library (I’m talking to you, Tyree and Frazier clans) and find a text called “Ken’s Guide To The Bible” by Ken Smith. Read it. Then tell me how Smith’s biblical citations on rape, child murder, incest, genocide, misogyny, and a zombie plague (I kid you not; Matthew 27: 52-53) compare with the tone of Conroy’s work.

Afterwards, I’ll expect to read another story of you all at your next school board meeting calling for God’s inspired word to be banned for its unsavory content as well.

Why do these ultra-conservative types make my job so damned easy? Give me a challenge, for Chrissakes!

One Of Six

Following this past summer’s WizardWorld Con in Chicago (well, actually Rosemont), I picked up several small pieces of art for framing – the first of which (a lovely watercolor by Josh Johnson) can be seen below.

And yes, I have accepted Bruce as my personal framer.

Sharks and Guppies

Although I don’t have a dog in the fight, Paul Dini has an interesting comment about the recent WGA strike over on his blog.

Say what you want about Dini’s stance, but it truly sheds some (disturbing) light on the cutthroat Hollywood food chain.

Thanks to Colleen Doran’s ADS blog for the tip.

Ink & Altruism

My personal history of comic collecting is an erratic tale.

But the short version goes something like this: began in 1982 with a surge of Marvels (“X-Men,” “Daredevil,” “Power Man and Iron Fist”) accompanied by a sprinkle of indies (“TMNT”); the next 15 years led to a gradual drawdown of purchases (of both Marvels and DC) before eventually a sudden falloff of regular visits to my FNCS struck, dramatically reducing my comic buying from a bi-weekly event to something that occurred once a year, if I was lucky.

Today in 2007, I’m back to “weekly” purchases – and though my comic buying still isn’t too heavy, the results of this return to form are quickly cluttering my bedroom (slash) reading chamber.

In the recent past, I solved this problem by weeding out issues I had no further interest in, and recycling them with other scrap paper.

Yet now I’ve come up with a far better solution for culling my swelling hordes of comics, and taken a page from pal Mike (who hands out unwanted comics to trick-or-treaters each Halloween) by donating my orphans to a local homeless shelter which specializes in housing families and children.

Will these donated comics mean a dramatic upswing in the quality of these kids’ lives? Probably not . But anything that encourages them to read—and even better, drive them to continue doing so—cannot be a bad thing.

Thus, if my old copies of “Green Lantern Corps” and “Amazing Spider-Man” can fill that prescription, I’m happy to pass them along.

Y'Know What?

I actually remember this commercial (wherein Batgirl takes a political stand against the superhero patriarchy) airing while watching cartoons on Channel 32 one afternoon in the late 70s...

I guess my only question, however, is as Batgirl lollygags around that bomb isn't it as likely to blow her away as it is the DD?

And I'm surprised at her insistence for more pay from Batman. Isn't fighting crime supposed to be its own reward?

Tsk!

Good News, Not So Good News

Although I strongly hesitate I note the following story because of the day, I finally decided to do so – here, regarding a $11M judgment awarded by a Maryland jury against Westboro Baptist Church (AKA: Fred Phelps and clan) for inflicting emotional distress on the father of a slain gay US Marine by cheering at his funeral.

That’s the good news; the bad news is I suspect Phelps will immediately appeal on grounds of free speech, and I give him a better than 50% chance of a win.

Still, there’s always hope the award decision will stand, and Phelps’ unique brand of hate-mongering will be financially harpooned.