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You Gotta Fight For Right To Anything

Well, it’s revolution time in America again! What took it so long?

Around the nation, the Black Lives Matter movement has inflamed the nation and swept around the Earth. While I don’t hold out hope that much permanent will be gained, let me go on the record as saying I support it 100%, and Civil Rights for anyone, anywhere, at any time. Pictured in the banner: Graffiti in the Seattle “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” summing up the national attitude right now.

But in the meanwhile, I’m scrambling to select topics in my usual venues that are both on-point for the clients’ interests and relevant to today’s headlines. For instance, did you know that geek culture was founded on Civil Rights activism? From Star Trek to The Munsters to Night of the Living Dead, promotion of equal rights for all races, genders, beliefs, and lifestyles has been at the root of our most cherished institutions of sci-fi and fantasy fiction.

UPDATE: Actor Tim Russ gives his thoughts on what makes Star Trek tick, points out exactly the same parts I do without saying the phrase “Civil Rights.”

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The Zombie Apocalypse Is Over : The Zombies Won

All of us nerds made zombie apocalypse jokes at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m not so sure we’re joking any more. I’m sure as hell not.

Whenever I have braved the Outside World to forage for supplies lately, I get closer and closer to getting into a fight myself. I grew up in the mean ‘hoods of south L.A. so I’m no stranger to rumbles. I’m not scared for myself, but I had hoped for a more peaceful coast to retirement in a tranquil suburb by now.

You can clearly distinguish Team Human from Team Zombie

Team Human are the people who believe in science and reason. They wear their masks and gloves, use sanitary wipes and disinfectant, and keep their distance. They respect the store employees. All of us are out to go about our business quickly and efficiently with the least amount of drama.

Team Zombie isn’t buying any of that. They don’t wear protective gear, and make it a point to get into everybody’s face around every corner. They’re hostile and confronting. They scoff at our “imaginary” pandemic and vaccines and all of our “so-called” science. They’re out to pick a fight at every opportunity.

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Try To Understand This: There Are Evil People

UPDATE 04/19/20: Readers have uncovered a massive, coordinated asstroturf campaign to spread fake news and rally a denialist uprising about the CoronaVirus. Buzzfeed concurs, noting ties to a special interest group.

See, I told you it was deliberate, not ignorance! Listen to your prophet next time.

As I write, 04/04/20 (or 04/04/20 for you Europeans), the world is in the grips of – wait for it – the CoronaVirus / COVID-19 pandemic. Worldwide cases: 1.1M, worldwide deaths: 64K, US cases: 300K, US deaths, 8K. Compare those numbers as you read this to see how we did.

The US is currently the most-infected country in the world. At a rate of one thousand people dying per day, we will soon match and surpass the countries where the virus has taken its deadliest toll. Currently that’s Italy, at 15K deaths. The US can catch up to that number by next week at this rate.

In the middle of all this, we still have a shockingly high denial factor.

Nine state governors are still not issuing stay-at-home. Here in Iowa, our own governor Kim Reynolds speculated that Dr. Anthony Fauci “doesn’t have all the information.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and leader of the White House CoronaVirus Task Force, has been getting death threats. Merely for doing his job.
Impeached, sitting president Donald Trump clashes with Dr. Fauci and the Center for Disease Control by refusing to wear protective gear. He has earlier called the virus a hoax, amongst many denials.
A mere 56% of Americans saw the CoronaVirus as a “real threat” just a couple weeks ago.
FOX News is making the pandemic a partisan issue, and their viewers are falling in step.
In spite of the pandemic, students took their spring break defying orders not to congregate in large groups. One teenager whose interview went viral claimed the virus wasn’t going to stop him from partying. 44 of those people are now infected.
Churches have continued to hold services despite being a major vector for infection.

We could go on all day of course, but that’s enough examples for now. At this point, either the reader has turned away, or else I’m preaching to the choir. Because reality is politicized. So it’s time we looked at how it got that way.

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If You’re Mad At Bill Maher For What He Said About Comic Books, Come At Me

Let’s wade into some more controversy with the latest Internet temper tantrum: Bill Maher’s remarks on comic book fandom after the death of Stan Lee. While his timing is admittedly tone-deaf, his impression is spot on, however poorly articulated. I crack into the nut of the matter: toxic fan bases.

Don’t you hate it when you’re just enjoying some work of media just because you happen to like it, and some raving idiot out there has to ruin it for everybody? That’s what we have here.

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New at 123ish: Real Men Aren’t Threatened By A Razor Commercial

#Woke advertising: It’s in, it’s hot, and it has the diapered Manbois crying in their Internet playpen! I say “Good show!” Let us dive into an exploration into online toxic male supremacy and how a razor commercial got their balls in a wringer.

This is the brilliance of the Gillette commercial: The story isn’t the commercial, but the reaction to it. It makes the Manbois blow their cover.

UPDATE: A collection of Manbois reacting to Gillette’s tolerance manifesto:

UPDATE:

Conservative women respond to reports of attempted rape that makes the victim feel in danger of her life with “LOL That’s normal!”

“If you genuinely think that all men attempt to rape women in high school, the correct response is to be incandescent with rage.”

I don’t know what’s wrong with people.