For shame

HIV/AIDS is a worldwide epidemic. The infection rate all over the world is huge, especially in areas where people are poorly educated. Like the United States of America. Seriously, no one in this country is ever taught how to use a condom or why wearing one is so important. Do you have any idea how hard it is to put on a condom for the first time if you don't know how? Good, neither do I since I am as pure as the driven snow. But I hear its incredibly difficult if you do not know how. Also, I'm astounded by the number of people who eschew the use of condoms. Really? They're not that expensive and you're almost always less than 5 minutes from a place that sells them (or so I hear). I'm always critical of older generations being upset because people are sexually active. I say to each their own, mostly because what they do with their genitals doesn't really effect me. However, when they're spreading a disease like AIDS, that does effect me. So wrap that shit up, its not that hard, expensive, or time consuming. And I hear they even make ones that make sex feel better. Not that I'd know, these are just things I hear.

You look like you just ate soap

This'll be a short one. Probably

Have you ever noticed how when you're standing waiting for an elevator on the first floor of a building, every person will come up and look to see if the up button has been illuminated. They're basically saying, "You look like someone who is barely able to stand up straight, let alone operate something as complex as an elevator button, I'd better check your work." Seriously, what do they think I'm doing there? Do they think I just enjoy elevator lobbies? Then again, I probably do the same thing. Can't trust people today, they're all stupid.

The New Batman

As many people know, DC Comics has recently killed Bruce Wayne in much the same way as I put my dog outside: sure, he's outside right now but everyone knows when the neighbors complain I'll bring him back in. I'm not 100% sure that sentence works but I'm going with it because my backspace key is sticking today. Basically, Bruce Wayne will be back soon. Everyone who has ever read a comic, seen a comic book movie or taken a breath knows that they won't keep the real Batman dead forever. In the mean time, however, this gives the artists at DC a chance to tell a new story, a story that could never be told with Bruce around. That story is Dick Grayson as Batman.

I've always liked the character of Dick Grayson. As a kid, its easy to like Batman's wisecracking sidekick, mostly because at that age it would be more believable that I could be Robin rather than Batman. The thing I liked about Dick as I grew up was that he had faced most of the same horrors as Bruce but he'd come out of it with a bit of what I'm going to call sunshine for lack of a better term. His costume was brighter. He cracked jokes at inappropriate times. He just seemed happier.

The one thing I always hated in the comics was the modern trend of putting Bruce and Dick at odds. It must have seemed edgy when they first put friction between the most famous crime fighting duo this side of Holmes and Watson. Now, though, its just a tired cliche and yet DC sticks with it. These guys are in their universe literally the most successful crime fighting duo ever. And yet they can't seem to stand each other. I liken it to the Beatles: sure, they fought and broke up after being the greatest band of all time but its not like they hated each other, at least not for long. The same thing applies to Bruce and Dick. I can see them fighting as Dick grows up and becomes his own man (much like a father and son would in real life) but eventually they would come to see that the other had a point and come back together. Originally in the comics Bruce was proud when Robin become Nightwing after retiring as Robin. However, that's been retconned out in favor of Bruce firing Dick as Robin because he's saving other parts of the world. Because Bruce never helped the Justice League, the Outsiders, or any of the other superhero groups he's been a part of in his time.

Damn, that was a long preamble to saying that I'm excited about the new era of Dick Grayson as Batman. I think he deserves it. He's been the loyal helper for so long, he deserves a shot at the top spot. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait for the comics he's in right now to hit tradepaper back because there are two comic book stores near my house: one is in a demilitarized zone I wouldn't go into without Batman backing me up and the other closes at 7 every night, even Saturdays. You know, some comic book fans do have jobs. That's how we keep you guys in business. I'm just saying.

Never give up, never surrender

Too many people are ready to give up on President Barack Obama.

We fought too long, too hard to just give up now. Has his Presidency been a little disappointing? Of course it is but that's forgetting the fact that nothing he could have done could have lived up to our expectations. If he had gotten us single payer healthcare, ended the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and balanced the budget all while pulling us out of the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, people would have bitched about not closing down Gitmo fast enough. He's been a victim of his own success. He came from such long odds (being black, being new on the scene, going against the Clintons) that people began to believe he could do anything. He can't. No man can.

This is not to say that he shouldn't be criticized. When he does something wrong (like cave too early on single payer which would have been a useful card to play during the debate on healthcare rather than before) we should criticize him, that's about being a responsible citizen. But to abandon the President that we helped put in office less than a year into his term, that's just stupid. There is so much left to be done. In a couple of months healthcare in this country could be radically different, its up to us what that difference looks like (something helpful to people or yet another cash grab for the insurance industry). Then the President is trying to ramp up regulation of the financial sector (and people not in the financial sector that are basically loan sharks with slightly less knee cap breaking). From there who knows where we'll be headed to next (though I'd guess it rhymes with Fuckghanistan). Its not time to give up hope, not when there is so much left to do.