As we once again celebrate the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I wonder if the conflict between justice and injustice once painted as a race war continues on today under a different guise — that of a class war. The problem is that many of those who are and will continue to be most affected have been bamboozled into thinking they were selecting leaders who would, if given the power, heal the sick, take in the needy, and pray with the poor. When in actuality this misguided selection of manipulative leaders will serve only to place these ‘poor folk’ even further away on the other side of the tracks.

Unfortunately, it will be far too late before these people realize that Jesus would not be leading his people into war under false pretenses, pretending to care about the poor while spending millions on a party, nor taking money from the elderly merely to enrich his wealthy friends. In fact, Jesus, whether Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian, would be sweeping these hypocritic gamblers from the halls of the temple and be willing to die whilst responding to the needs of the poor, weak and oppressed.

“Your wealthy are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, with tongues of deceit in their mouths. Your rich men are wealthy through extortion and violence; your citizens are so used to lying that their tongues can’t tell the truth!” - Micah, Chapter 6

“I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, and ill-nourished. The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” - FDR, January 20, 1937, in his second inaugural address.

I have been a member of Mailordercomics on and off (as the wallet allows) for the last 2 years. Michael Robinson, who owns the joint, handles contacts personally and has worked tirelessly to better his service.

They offer pre-orders on comics and comic merchandise and their prices simply cannot be beat. They have a flexible shipping schedule and their website makes it easy to use “pick-lists” or customized orders side-by-side.

Michael has recently announced that March will be a relaunch of sorts for the service with all kinds of increased discounts and better services. Here’s a rundown of what we can look forward to, snipped from Michael’s email to the membership.

More Discounts - That’s right, our service is good, but we’ve been told we’re being outdone on some prices by a few of our competitors. So, here is what you can expect beginning in February.

DC Comics

1. A minimum of 15 comics discounted at 50%
2. A minimum of 10 NEW trade paperbacks discounted 50%
3. At least 2 hard covers discounted 50%
4. A minimum of 2 comics discounted at 75% off
5. ALL NEW DC Direct merchandise discounted at 35%

Marvel Comics

1. A minimum of 15 comics discounted at 50%
2. A minimum of 5 NEW trade paperbacks priced at 50% off
3. At least 2 hard covers discounted 50%
4. A minimum of 2 comics discounted at 75% off

Image Comics

1. A minimum of 5 comics discounted at 50%
2. A minimum of 2 NEW trade paperbacks priced at 50% off
3. At least 1 hard cover discounted 50%

Independents

1. 25 or more trade paperbacks discounted 40%
2. An assortment of indy comics discounted at 50%

Miscellaneous

1. More discounts on statues, toys, apparel, and more

As you can see, the prices can’t be beat and March will see a price match guarantee that promises to beat any online price on comics by 5%.

As a very satisfied customer, I would implore any interested comics fans to check out the Mailordercomics.com service.

I am messing with the comments sections of the site as we under attack from trackback spam. It seems that our comment spam blocking attempts were successful enough that now someone has decided to work on WordPress and trackback spam it.

So, for now, problems may arise in the comments area. Trackbacks and/or comments might be on and off as the day wears on. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Update: Trackbacks are turned off for all posts and will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Comments are enabled, but will be heavily moderated. Thanks for your patience.

I was waiting for it to happen, the first picture of the first Tsunami wave as it comes ashore.

Apparently, the above image is the first wave as it rolls in. Tsunami’s do not take place Hollywood style, with a single, mammoth wave blocking out the sun. But rather, a Tsunami is actually a group of waves that build up and drive deeper ashore with each one, then tapers off.

I would imagine no one in this image is still alive, despite the fact they are running like hell.

I predict that there will be more and more video released as well. With a swath of destruction so vast, and beaches so full of hotels, security camera footage is just around the corner as the ratings hungry media continues their Tsunami of exploitation.

That is the part that saddens me the most now. The media is now trying to find the next worst horror story to deliver it on nightly news. Interviews with a six year old that lost both parents; the mother that had to let go of one of her children to save the other; the elderly couple that was swept away for lack of strength to hang on as the rescue boat approached. And we are eating it up.

What Tsunami swept away our souls and how do we get them back?

In response to Nick Bradbury’s startling statistic, I dashed off some thoughts on piracy.

Here’s my overarching theory on piracy. 90% of the people who pirate anything (movies, music, software, etc.) would never buy it if piracy didn’t exist.

I think that the majority of folks simply like free things and if they can’t get it free, they just walk away from it. It’s a kind of theft by convenience.

Many people have probably downloaded at least one “pirated” album. Now, did that mean they didn’t go to the store and buy it because they got it for free. I know that I have lots of music that I would NEVER buy, so if I download it, am I really harming its creators?

Maybe then, the real value is not in the actual file, but in the experience it gives. In that case, how does software fit into the picture? What is the subjective experience that one is ostensibly paying for?

If someone successfully cracks FeedDemon and then uses for a day, but never comes back to it, have they harmed you? What quantity of usage would they need to acheive to have “required” some form of payment? You say 20 days, seemingly, but what if those 20 days are spaced out over the course of a year?

Take a more “productive” application that might help you create something else that you sell. Does that software have more intrinsic value because it is capable of creation of saleable goods? Is a programming IDE more valuable than a MP3 player application because it can create value and not just experience? When we answer these questions, we must then tie a value to those potential creations or experiences.

So, if the very nature of the value of software or other digital goods is in question, it doesn’t make sense to try to apply the old-guard laws to a new-guard economy. It cannot be called theft if I listen to an MP3 once and then delete it, because that is no different than hearing the song on the radio and never buying the album because you don’t like it.

At the root is this question, is the person using pirated goods in place of something they would purchase? If not, then the case for the illegality of all this piracy becomes very indistinct in my eyes. If so, then I think the oldguard laws of theft and property apply the same as if I stole toilet paper from the grocery store.

So, then, it comes to us, the developers and creators of the goods to make our goods indispensable, so that the only options are to purchase or to steal, but never to do without.

I have 10 Gmail invites to give away. Post your email in a comment. First come, first served.