September 29, 2017

On Hugh Hefner, I come to bury him, not praise him

Hello Democratic underground. Tonight I want to add my two cents on the passing of Hugh Hefner. Let me get something out of the way, I come to bury Hugh not to praise him. Unlike other people in his industry, he did not really trying to channel his money into side ventures that would at least have some undeniable good that even his enemies would have to praise. He was no Bob Gucione, the head of Penthouse, who for all of his sleaze, sleaze that Playboy would make it a point to look down upon, was also the publisher of Omni magazine. For those of you who do not remember Omni magazine, it was possibly the best science magazine out there. It was where Carl Sagan would get to discuss things that no one else would allow him to discuss, and where science was actually promoted and explained. The loss of that magazine has been sorely felt, no doubt folks like Neil Degrasse Tyson or even Richard Dawkins or even better the top female scientist would be getting their say in that magazine today which is needed.

Another one of his competitors that Hef looked down on was Larry Flynt. Now, say what you want about Larry Flynt, that he was willing to confront Jerry Falwell when a lot of people on both the left and the right were too busy heading for the hills. If he did not win a Supreme Court case ruled that yes powerful people but the targets of satire, we might not see the likes of John Stewart, Samantha Bee or any of the politically charged comedians have been doing so much important work that they have literally overgrown the areas used to belong to newscasters. Imagine if that one verdict was overturned by the current Supreme Court, you don't think that the right wing would make it a point to sue or even shale have to comedians out there? Oh yes, those that please the powerful would no doubt be able to do everything short, no everything including calling for the lynching of anyone to the left, but the Supreme Court would be used as a hammer to hammer any dissent, I do not praise these pornographers, avoid you think it is somewhat ironic that Playboy look down on both his competitors because supposedly they were more sleazy about their pornography. Well Mr. Hugh, why is it that these people had about half your money, yet actually managed to do some impact that was positive in the long run? Let's not forget the way Larry Flynt call for bounties on conservative heads, frankly a policy I think all of us want to see back.

Of course as much as we can praise Mr. Flynn's Mr. Guccione and even Hefner for printing good articles, it cannot be forgotten that they built their money on the backs of women, no pun intended. Frankly, for every Jenna Jamison or other modern lady Mogul that is trying to get control of what they do, we cannot forget that there's probably three or four people who were at the mercy of some sleazy slob, male or female. Even the most lofty of free speech needs to take into account that when lust meets greed, women will bleed.

Now, I do think that whatever the benefits of censorship may be, they do not outweigh the fact that if offensive speech is censored, then all the repessive people in the world will have to do is speak for magic words "I am offended" to stifle any speech. The clergy do it, and the masses in church will pay those clergy do it. In our age, this will be used with precision. I am not saying pornography is art, although a lot of art could easily be considered pornography. Today it might be somebody you don't like, tomorrow it might be the poems of Sappho. However, just because I might be something in the First Amendment absolutist does not mean in any way that we can ignore the toxic by product of the billion-dollar industry. Just like everything else in capitalism, nothing will get done until you get to those at the top do not want to take responsibility for cleaning up their byproducts. I will also add though that like any vice, be it tobacco, alcohol, or anything else, the only thing that is ever served to really correct it is to focus on treating it rather than demonizing it. Your golden virtue might be someone else's Crimson vice, but as long as you take responsibility to keep stuff on your side of the yard and as long as that other person agrees to keep their stuff on their side of the yard we had the only real form of peace but there is: coexistence.

September 16, 2017

Superman saves undocumented workers from white supremacist in latest comic, angering right-wing comm

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/superman-action-comics-987-daca-undocumented-workers-white-supremacist-right-wing-a7947196.html


Considering the fact that Marvel got attacked for having a black Captain America, I say, good show DC.

By the way notice the dialogues of the trumper "they stole from me!" Well, they stole nothing your rich white tycoons did not take from you, and indeed, did not trash so they could pay someone less than you.