So I have a little bit of a rant against the accepted wisdom of the day. Two things, the recession is over and global warming (climate change) is a man made problem. The second first, many papers outside the US have said it the whole global warming stuff and all the brouhaha about what man has done is not proven fact. A few things have always lead me to believe that to be true, number one the climate has always changed and our measurements are based on seconds in geological time. Also I have lived through dire predictions of food shortages, new ice age coming and overpopulation will destroy the world and none have yet. Finally our climate is so complex and influenced by so many factors it is the pinnacle of hubris to assume we know what causes what. The recession is over is another joke. The government needs us to believe this is true, but what our government has done over the last couple of decades has moved us into an unsustainable position. We have spent more than we can ever pay. We are going to face a reckoning at some time in the future, how that shakes out and what impact it has on our society is still to be determined. The financial meltdown still needs to happen and it will make the last one seem like a minor hiccup. These are my opinions and they are based on more than belief. No real strong reason why I opened this week with a rant other then I get tired of hearing the “news” be given by certain outlets with too much of a viewpoint as opposed to a report on facts.
Okay kicking over my soapbox and getting back to comics, last week was awesome and this week also looks to be full of great stuff. I have to say the winter doldrums are gone and we are roaring into March.
First Wave #1 (of 6) is coming out from DC and since it has one of my favorite artists, Rags Morales, and is about a new continuity I’m really looking forward to it. Brian Azzarello has been inconsistent in his super hero stuff but a world full on non-powered heroes where the thirties and modern technology go hand in hand sounds like a winner. Plus we have a new Spirit and Doc Savage series coming out soon that will round out this new universe. 
Wildstorm has a new mini-series starting also with Sparta USA #1 (of 6) with David Lapham as the writer. The tag line is Lapham exposes the rotten core of the American Dream. Not 100% sure I like where that maybe going, but I question many premises of our government today and want to at least check out what is going on in issue #1. I actually have a rarity with 3 Wildstorm books being on my list with Astro City The Dark Age Book Four #2 (of 4) and The Authority #20. Since the revamp with Wildcats and The Authority this issue will have to be really good as I have already cancelled this series after last issue, but I’m giving it a last shot before I drop it. 
Vertigo seems to be well represented every week and this week we have Demo #2 (of 6), Cinderella From Fabletown With Love #5 (of 6) and Sweet Tooth #7. The first issue of Demo had a mixed reception from some fans and I agree it was not the strongest story, but having read the Demo trade before I was thought it was still a solid read, if uneventful. Each issue is a one and done, so judging this book is an issue by issue deal. The Cindy mini-series has been enjoyable, but I was hoping for something more spy oriented then action adventure oriented. Finally Sweet Tooth continues to be a solid series and I’m looking forward to learning more about exactly what is going on with the half animal children. 
From the regular DCU we have Adventure Comics #8 which promise to get deeper into why some any of the Legion of Super Heroes are hanging out in the 21st Century. Of course anyone who reads my columns knows what a fan I am of the Legion and seeing this Legion is just icing on the cake. 
The rest of the DCU is a mixed bag with Batman Confidential #42, continuing Sam Keith’s arc, Detective Comics #862 as Batman and Batwoman are involved in cases that will connect, the Great Ten #5 (of 10) continues to impress as each issue highlights one of the characters. Also coming out is Milestone Forever #2 (of 2) ending the Milestone Universe I believe and ushering those characters into the main DCU and Warlord #12 which I’m still on the fence about continuing. The rest is Jonah Hex #53, JSA All Stars #4, Justice League Cry for Justice #7 (of 7) and Nemesis the Imposters #1 (of 4). Nemesis is interesting as they tried to make him Wonder Woman’s boy friend and that did not work and have now trotted him out in two mini-series almost back to back. Not sure how he become a favorite inside DC but they are giving this character a chance. 
A solid week for indies with the always enjoyable Chew #9, Sword #22, Underground #5 (of 5), Grendel Behold the Devil HC and Crossed #9 (of 9). Crossed has been the bleakest post apocalyptic story on the market and I was surprised to hear that a second series by David Lapham is coming out after this book. I’m very curious to see how Garth Ennis is going to wrap this up as he has made this book be about people who survived the event, but really have no hope left in their lives. This is a very tough book mentally in addition to the scenes of the Crossed’s depravity. 
Marvel has Invincible Iron Man #24, Mighty Avengers #34, Realm of Kings Son of Hulk #2 (of 4), Spider-Man Noir Eyes Without a Face #4 (of 4), Starr Slayer TP A Star is Born and Ultimate Comic Avengers #5 coming out. My friend Rusty was singing the praises of Star Slayer so I decided to just wait it out and get the trade to read it all at once. Still the price point sucks as it 
was four issues at $4 per book which should equal $16, but Marvel has jacked the trade price to $20, a hefty jump and one I’m usually unwilling to make. For whatever reason this is a lighter week for me and depending on my mood and what a brief flip through of the book shows me I may pick up Girl Comics #1 (of 3) from Marvel, X-Men Hope One-Shot, Stephen Kings N #1 (of 4), and Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet #l. An odd week as normally I have either committed to try something or not, but lighter weeks allow me to consider trying different stuff.
If the recession was over there would be more jobs. I haven't met a single person who believes our economy has gotten better since Obama took office so I don't see how the government can claim that our economy has made a significant improvement.
ReplyDeleteMeet the person who thinks the economy has gotten better since Obama took office. Not that he necessarily is responsible for the upticks in the economy that have occurred, mind you. Just looking at raw numbers, though, there have been positive improvements, as well as a halt of the fall over a year ago. It's going to take time for all the jobs to return, but even now new jobs have been created, to the order of several hundreds of thousands. It doesn't make up for the millions lost previously, but it's better than a continued decline.
ReplyDeleteAnd the implication that Obama is somehow at fault for the recession is unwarranted, too. The recession started under the previous administration. Doesn't mean it was their fault, either (though I'd argue it was), but it sure can't be Obama's fault.
This is hard to say... but I'm with Thomm on this one. The economy is better. Better than last year, not as good as 5 years ago.
ReplyDeletePeople forget how deep, and how hard, this crash was. Everyone wants instant satisfaction or instant return to "the good old days". It's not going to be that way. It will take time.
Still better than it was last year.
As far as global warming, man contributes to it. That's a fact. How can he not? To the extent he contributes is unknown but he's still a factor.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure these are the same arguements they had at the dawn of the industrial age... "What do you mean all the fish are dead? That doesn't have anything to do with my plant spilling raw sewage into the river!"
Same arguement, just a slightly bigger scale.
Lee - The economy does not feel as bad for some, but the government is cooking the books and artificially supporting an unsupportable object. It will crash and burn again and our economy is very, very weak. Watch as the year unfolds and especially pay attention to commerical real estate. Even in a depression there are places that succeed and actually thrive.
ReplyDeleteDoes man impact his environment, yes. Are we the reason for climate change, TBD. I not against doing things that make sense, but Cap & Tax is a shell game and is not a true thing to help with anything. I'm all for developing solar, but build some nuclear power plants now and work on the rest as time goes by. The thing that irks me is that many other nations are starting to see that the whole man has to change or the world is over was a crock. Too many vested interests in the US are still trying to force change down our throats that are not needed.
Coincidentally, there's something in the Washington Post about the temperature tracking over the last 30 years showing a steady increase in temperature, of a statistically signifcant amount. This was a counter argument to a George Will column that cited only 15 years to argue statistical insignificance.
ReplyDeleteThere's no shortage of scientific consensus on this. A few scattered dissenters doesn't make for a legitimate question. And citing Galileo as a voice of lone dissent who turned out to be right doesn't wash, either. He wasn't being attacked by other scientists but rather religious authorities.
Like Lee said, the increase in carbon in the air is from industrial processes. We've measured it for a long time. Increased carbon causes increased temperatures, on top of any fluctuation that would naturally occur. Now, whether ther cost/benefit to fix it warrants fixing it is a whole other question. There's a lot of objection, but industry has had a fee pass on the costs of pollution for most of industrial history. They haven't had to bear that cost, but rather the people who live near the plants have. Global warming's just one borne on a wider scale.
There's no conspiracy on global warming. It is what it is. And the US is pushing nuclear right now, by the way. Would you like some byproducts for your back yard, or are you just going to leave it to the yokels in Kentucky who seem to be all for having it?
On the economy you're conflating things. No one questions that the US needs to restructure things in terms of income and outlays of the government. Obama is trying to get his commission going to make recommendations that would have to be an up or down vote by Congress to address that. Separate from that is whether the private industry that is the basis of the economy is recovering. In some measures it is, though in fits and starts.
Thomm - I love your argument, since you say it is so, it is so. There are plenty of people who disagree with the results. People said there was consensus on an Ice Age coming in the 70's I believe, it was a fact that 6 billions people was more then the Earth could sustain. As for nuclear power plants, sure put it in a lead bunker in my neighborhood. France gets 80% of their power from nuclear and I think it is working out with them. Also if that is not your solution what is?
ReplyDeleteIf you think Obama's crew is fixing the economy, than I have no clue how to prove to you the whole thing is a Ponzi scheme that has been built by our government and coporate America for the last 20 years. If you look at the 29 crash it took two years before the bottom hit. If you look at Japan, what they did has caused no growth for over a decade as they tried to "fix" the economy. We have such a great standard of living in the US, even a 20% decline in that standard would have most of us still enjoying a decent lifestyle.
You will always beleive the dems to be heroes and you have faith in "Al Gore". I do not and we will agree to disagree.
Just because I say it doesn't make it so. What makes it so is data showing that the Earth is warming. Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteYeah, there was talk of an ice age back in the '70s. No one ever said the scientific method couldn't be used to reach incorrect conclusions, but that ice age bit was a blip. Thirty years of solid data, shrinking glaciers, shrinking polar ice caps, and on and on. It's warming. There's also no question that we've added carbon to the air in such quantities that the carbon would effect the temperature. It's not that hard to run an experiment on a small scale to duplicate that.
I'm not saying we shouldn't pursue nukes. I'm just bringing up the little issue of what to do with the waste. It sticks around a long time and is deadly, so you can't just gloss over that. What do the French do with it?
Economy, then. No doubt it has serious problems. Still, I don't think you can make the deficit problems of the Feds the reason for the current decline. The Federal debt had nothing to do with the recession. Unregulated, or at least poorly regulated, investment banks were the prime cause. Like some others, I could see this one coming as soon as Clinton signed the GOP legislation bringing down the walls between investment banks, insurance and community banks.
Which is not to say that the deficit isn't a problem. It is, and like I said previously, Obama is at least trying to put together a bipartisan commission to come up with solutions. We can't just suddenly cut away all the programs the Feds pay, and we can't raise taxes so much that we're back to '70s levels, but there are things in between that we can do.
I don't think the Democrats are any great shakes, either. I'm a Democrat by default. There only are the 2 parties, and I really can't stand the GOP, at least as embodied by the religious right that so dominates it now. Any party that celebrates Sarah Palin as a potential president should be run away from as quickly as possible. I thought we couldn't have a dumber president than the Shrub, but she'd far surpass him, if elected.