Icons: Amazing Fantasy 15

The iconic cover of Amazing Fantasy 15  has been reworked time and again. It doesn't take an art major to see the sweeping lines that draw the viewer away and back to Spider-Man on the cover again and again as his body forms a classic "X" pose in the center. The image is so important to comics it feels funny that I bother to explain it is the first published image of Spider-Man ever.

 I've ripped off waaaaay too many artists and their images, but let me say I own none of these images. Yeah I'm a crappy blogger, I know it.

Sharing is Caring

I just returned my first DVD to Netflix in several years. It was Tribulation 99 by Craig Baldwin. It's a  strange found footage mockumentary send up of conspiracy theory. Heavy to watch, obviously, as it took me three years to find the time and proper mind set to sit and watch it. Worth the wait I suppose.

Having returned the DVD I thought it would be a good idea to update the ol' queue. I was saddened to find that the Netflix Social Media Network was gone. I guess it was a failure, but for a time you could see what your pals watched, and how they rated stuff. You could, I believe, share those movies and reviews with your friends.

All that is left of the system is the review writing which is completely anonymous and ignored. Unlike Amazon's review system that you can see the number of each starred review there are the Netflix system is just a random slurry of reviews ranked I assume by date submitted. It's an ugly mess.

I guess you can just talk with your friends about what's good, as you do, but I like reading reviews online. I especially liked seeing what my friends watched and how they rated things. It gave me a pretty accurate view of their tastes. It also tipped me to some interesting flicks that I would have missed otherwise.

Nothing will bring the Netflix Social Site back so I guess what I'm trying to say is if you have any movies to recommend let me know.

What Happens When You Lock People Up

Is it possible that the rise of white nationalist philosophy in America is linked to the rise of the number of white people from conservative areas being sent to jail? Maybe, but I'm not a real scientist and don't have the time or desire to do actual research to verify my theory. My theory goes like this, and is based in part on this article about rising incarceration rates in white rural and conservative counties.

Prisons are hotbeds of gang activity and gang membership is a need for many to make long term prison stays "comfortable" (ie not beaten, robbed, and raped regularly). Most prison gangs breakdown along racial lines and these divisions often foment extreme forms of prejudice and racial hatred. It stands to reason that if more white people are going to prison then more white people are joining white nationalist gangs.

When these prisoners are released they don't leave all of their prison culture behind, and in fact the gang indoctrination always promotes recruiting. These ex-cons are now out and promoting their extremist ideologies to their co-workers and neighbors in the real world. Combined with a general sense of ill-ease about the economy and a long running narrative of the ignorant or ineffectual government the message of these newly freed white nationalists takes easy root.

Like I said this is a "shower thought," and has little to back it up. However this is the New America where feelings are facts so I'm going to go ahead and call it true.