The Fantastic Art of Dave C. Wallin

If you want to see more art that's this fucking good...

You're just going to have to click here.

(Thanks Dan!)

WE'RE CALLED THE NSA...BECAUSE THE "THOUGHT POLICE" DIDN'T GO OVER WELL IN FOCUS GROUPS

As you may already know, the ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION has filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T, accusing the telecom giant of violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in its massive and, as far as anyone can tell, illegal domestic spying program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications.

For the full low down on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's lawsuit go here.

But wait, that's not all... a new whistleblower who says millions of Americans have been spied on, not just thousands, has emerged!!

This from the article Whistleblower says NSA violations bigger at UPI.com...

"A former NSA employee said Tuesday there is another ongoing top-secret surveillance program that might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights. Russell D. Tice [a self-described conservative - Joshua] told the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations he has concerns about a "special access" electronic surveillance program that he characterized as far more wide-ranging than the warrentless wiretapping recently exposed by the New York Times but he is forbidden from discussing the program with Congress."

So there you go! Freedom is on the march!!

Menwith Hill US base near Harrogate, is run by the NSA. Inside 'hardened' buildings, the staff tap into all telecommunications traffic to and from Europe that pass through Britain. It is not marked on any map. It is the most secret US base in Britain and the world's largest spy base. It is the hub of US military planning in the northern hemisphere. Yorkshire CND together with the Otley Peace Action group have waged a long campaign to close down the base and to exercise their right to walk on this stretch of British moorland. If Americans have been fine with this for decades, what's the big deal when it comes to domestic spying? What are the ethics of spying and when is the line crossed? Was it crossed when the National Security Agency Web Threat Algorithm Program went online and began scanning millions of innocent websites around the clock? That was made legal under the PATRIOT ACT, but is it ethical? Are we unsafe without it? These are all pertinent questions that stretch out far beyond the systemic legalities of this issue.

TACKED ON UPDATE! (2/16/06)

Judge orders action on spying documents

"A federal judge dealt a setback to the Bush administration on its warrantless surveillance program, ordering the Justice Department on Thursday to release documents about the highly classified effort within 20 days or compile a list of what it is withholding."

NSA... YOU HOLD THE KEY TO MY HEART!

Duck!! Cheney's Got a Gun!!

White House under fire in Cheney shooting accident.

If you're not reading DARYL CAGLE'S CARTOON WEBLOG, you really ought to start. The latest news on the Cartoon Riots and all the most relevant political cartoons regarding any madness in the world can be found there.

Cool New On-Line Comics Website!!

Check out ACT-I-VATE!!

More Work From Neill Blomkamp, the man responsible for "Alive in Joburg"

Neill Blomkamp continues to use Science Fiction to explore social issues in post-apartheid South Africa with this short film TETRA VAAL.

"After you see it once, replay the video and pay attention to some of the poses that the robot makes. Let us, for example, take a look at the robot holding the machine gun upright in a rather patronizing and authoritative manner while patrolling the streets of Johannesburg. Then there is the car ride and casual looking through the window in a slight mixture of relaxation, readiness and anticipation we would expect from say, a NYPD officer ready to go to action in some American movie. Perfect analogy to human behavior and some good cliche pickups make quite a combination."

However, TETRA VAAL isn't nearly as cool as the absolutely extraordinary ALIVE IN JOBERG which is everything that genre should be, at least to my mind.

Some people have been calling his stuff derivative, with ALIVE IN JOBERG being a take on the film ALIEN NATION and TETRA VAAL being a riff on ROBOCOP. But the work has such resonance as social commentary that the updating of these ideas in his hands seems almost necessary (of course ROBOCOP is a top notch example of relevant social satire in and of itself).

If you're feeling it, also check out Neill's great commercial for Citroen called ALIVE WITH TECHNOLOGY.

Cartoon Riots

First, credit where credit is due...much of this post is ripped from an MSNBC blog called DARYL CAGLE'S CARTOON WEBLOG. What follows here is a sort of Cliff's Notes of all his hard work. If you want the links and a more in-depth look at the story you have to go to his blog and generate hits for him. Thanks!

A protester demonstrates in front of the French Embassy, over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, which were published after a Danish newspaper editor issued an invitation to cartoonists to submit drawings of the Prophet. The cartoons have sparked outrage across the Islamic world, although Britain's normally provocative newspapers have so far refused to publish them.

HERE are the original 12 offending cartoons. Very tame by our standards.

Bangladeshi activists from Oikya Jote, one of two Islamic parties in the Bangladeshi government's four party coalition, burn a Danish flag during a protest in Dhaka as riot police approach. Appeals for calm in the furor over cartoons went unheeded as police shot dead four more protesters during rioting in Afghanistan.

A French newspaper reprinted the Jyllands Posten caricatures of Muhammad yesterday.

The paper ran a Headline that read, "Yes, we have the right to caricature God" with a cartoon of Buddhist, Christian, Jewish and Muslim gods floating on a cloud, with the Christian god saying, "Don't complain, Muhammad, we've all been caricatured here."

Jacques Lefranc, the editor of France Soir, was promptly fired. The BBC quotes France Soir owner, Raymond Lakah, a French Egyptian, saying that he:

" ... decided to remove Jacques Lefranc as managing director of the publication as a powerful sign of respect for the intimate beliefs and convictions of every individual. We express our regrets to the Muslim community and all people who were shocked by the publication."

Journalists at France Soir disagreed with the firing in a front-page editorial that read in part:

"Religious freedom gives people the right to practice their faith or not, but should not become a means to impose the rules of a single religion on society as a whole."

The USA took a position on the Muhammad cartoon controversy, on the side of the offended Muslim countries. Reuters quotes State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper:

"These cartoons are indeed offensive to the belief of Muslims. We all fully recognize and respect freedom of the press and expression but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable."

Reuters went on to note:

American Muslims welcomed the U.S. position, although it stopped short of urging American media not to republish the cartoons that include depicting Mohammad as a terrorist. Cooper said he had no comment as to why the United States chose to pass judgment in a dispute that ostensibly does not involve America ... The U.S. response contrasted with European governments, which have tended to acknowledge the tension between free speech and respect for religion but have generally accepted the newspapers' rights to print the cartoons.

By Feb 6th four had died in Afghanistan as security forces opened fire on demonstrators. At violent protests in Iran the Austrian embassy was pelted with Molotov cocktails and stones. Iran withdrew its ambassador from Denmark and blocked the import of Danish goods.

A 14-year-old boy was shot and killed in a cartoon protest in Somalia as demonstrators hurled stones at international aid groups. The biggest city in Indian Kashmir shut down all shops for a day of protest as crowds filled the streets, burned Danish flags and hurled rocks at cars. Street protesters in Indonesia threw rocks at a Danish consulate. Muslim leaders in Australia demanded that the News Corporation apologize for printing the cartoons.

On Tuesday crowds of demonstrators clashed with police near Bagram, Afghanistan as cartoon protesters tried to break into a US base. Some of the protesters shot at the base, and police shot back. Four people were killed and 19 injured. There were more protests at embassies in Iran, Indonesia and Afghanistan with rock throwing and burning Danish flags.

A Danish lawyer was shot and killed in Moscow by a man from the Muslim Caucasus region of Russia, and the killing was attributed to the cartoons. The Prime Minister of the Russian state of Chechnya announced that Danish humanitarian organizations would be expelled from the state.

For my thoughts on why a comic book (which is different than a cartoon) would incite such anger, in this case in the Muslim world where terrorists amazingly do not, please see my old, and only barely relevant post COMICS! PERFECT FOR PROPAGANDA!!

Alright, I'm off to Wondercon in San Fran... buh bye...

Has BYU prof found AIDS cure?

Two exciting possibilities in the fight against AIDS have emerged in the mainstream press the same week as the "Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections" was held in Denver...

Compound could be long-sought breakthrough

"We received these agents [from BYU] in early October and our initial results began to culminate by November 2005. We have since reproduced all our results many times," he said. "We have some preliminary but very exciting results [but] we would like to formally show this before making any claims that would cause unwanted hype."

What studies to date show is a compound that attacks HIV at its molecular membrane level, disrupting the virus from interacting with their primary targets, the "T-helper" class white blood cells that comprise and direct the human immune system. Further, CSAs appear to be deadly to all known strains of HIV.

In addition to being a potential checkmate to HIV, the compounds show indications of being just as effective against other diseases plaguing humankind - among them influenza, possibly even the dread bird flu, along with smallpox and herpes.

and...

Drug combination prevents HIV infection in monkeys.

"An injection of two drugs normally used to treat HIV patients completely protected monkeys from becoming infected with the AIDS virus, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

While it is too early to tell whether people can pop a pill and escape infection, the study provides the strongest evidence yet that it might be possible, the researchers said."

First count for new Majority Leader showed more votes cast than Republicans present!!

Tom Delay! Pope of the side deal, baby!!

So let me get this straight. The old Majority Leader is being investigated for ethics violations; Rep. Randy Cunningham, R-Calif., has resigned and been convicted; Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, faces scrutiny in a wide-ranging congressional corruption investigation symbolized by convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff (a scandal which is most definitely a Republican affair, despite what WASHINGTON POST public editor Deborah Howell said); there's still some very reasonable lingering doubts about irregularities during the 2000 election, even a few grumblings about the 2004 election; the Donkeys are calling the Elephants a "Culture of Corruption" and now, during the vote for a new, ethical leader that will shine out like a bold and honest beacon for the Grand Old Party to steer clear of the rocks by, the first count shows more votes cast than Republicans present!

Wow. That's... I... I mean... well, I'm speechless. As Jon Stewert said, "It's not that you can't make this stuff up, it's that you wished you had to."

Apparently it was Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, who lost a vote in the second round of counting, allowing for the win of Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio... for what that's worth.

Rep. John Boehner, left, stands with Rep. Roy Blunt, after Boehner was elected House Majority leader. Thursday, Feb. 2, 2006, in Washington DC.

Although, the reality of it isn't nearly as fun as my wacko, leftist accusations. Here's the reason the AP reported for the overage...

"Blunt's position as temporary majority leader had made him the front-runner, but he ended seven votes short of the necessary majority on a first-round secret ballot. He had 110 votes and Boehner had 79, followed by Shadegg with 40 and Rep. Jim Ryun of Kansas, who was not an announced candidate, with two. After Shadegg and Ryun dropped out, Boehner won his second-ballot victory, defeating Blunt on a 122-109 vote."

I've also read on the "Free Minds, Free Markets" blog, REASON, that....

"...the first vote resulted in a wacky mix-up wherein nobody was sure whether they had the correct number of ballots." Check out that entry for a fantastic rundown on our new House Majority Leader's ties to lobbyists by the way.

Something else I've read is, "Apparently the confusion was whether or not a Representative from Puerto Rico was entitled to vote (they were)." But I have no decent source for this one.

Still, whether someone is stacking the ballot box or it's all just an honest mistake, the message here is clear (and repeatedly born out by recent events)... REPUBLICANS CAN'T RUN AN ELECTION FOR SHIT!!

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) supported government contracts for a defense firm with whose president he has had personal dealings. One of these dealings included buying a Duke home at a wildly inflated price.

Meanwhile in other news regarding the party of morality and strong Christian values, Alberto Gonzales testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee to defend the NSA's wiretaps today. Once the hearings started, the committee agreed on a party-line vote not to put Gonzales under oath. Because, I mean... why would he lie? THINK PROGRESS has the transcript.

The last case Albert Gonzales defended. His client wasn't the naked guy.

And as a final parting shot I'll leave you with this transcript from CNN, which has nothing to do with Republican corruption in the slightest...

"KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Defense Secretary Donald Ru right now speaking before the National Press Club newsmaker luncheon. But it was just a few minutes ago he was interrupted by an anti-war protester. He had just been asked a question, where is Osama bin Laden? This is what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thousands are coming this weekend!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Secretary Rumsfeld, I'm sorry your First Amendment rights were not respected at the National Press Club.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take this program with you! You are torturing people!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anyway, secretary...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This world needs to wake up and stop this war, this criminal war! You are a war criminal!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut up!

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECY. OF DEFENSE: Well, we'll count her as undecided."

Donald Rumsfeld... always cool under fire.

Review of Swamp Thing #23

Bill Baker, the noted comics journalist who has written a book based on his three hour, definitive interview with grand master storyteller Alan Moore (Alan Moore Spells It Out: On Comics, Creativity, Magic and much, much more) has mentioned Swamp Thing #23 in his blog. Here's what he had to say...

"Joshua Dysart continues to crack open his psyche, pour it into his word processor and through some alchemical process, aided and ably abetted by regular artist Enrique Breccia, to explore the nature of the beast, the nature of Man, Nature and Man versus Nature, and -- particularly in this arc -- the nature of Story and what its role is in, and to, today's world. Sound deep and maybe a bit confusing? Well, it is, a bit, but that's also the nature of things. And of the journey that Alan Moore began twenty-plus years ago, and Dysart, Breccia and co. are now charting. At worst, this is startling and utterly original work, while at its best it is deeply disturbing, daring, darkly humorous and utterly devastating. Not for everyone, true, but well worth investigating for the obvious amount of time and quality of craftsmanship evident upon each page."

Here's Bill's most recent interview.

Here's his regular column on the BOOKSLUT website.

Eric Powell's awesome cover to Swamp Thing #23.

Robot Spammer Capitalist Fuckers be Gone!!

This was one of the hundreds of posts spammed to my site in the last few days (the poster's command of English is fantastic!):

"Do You have enough pwoer to provide your patrner high quality S-EX on St.Valentine day? Get a MONSTTER pwoer, nothing can bring your ererction down! Show your partner the PWOER of your LOEV and she will always remember You. Loev will ALWAYS be associated with YOU! Your order will be PRIVATE, nobody will know what You use. Follow this link and get SSPECIAL DISSCOOUNT for that period!"

That's right! The hero of the bowery knows the game. You need Herbal Viagra!! Punk rock has a big dick so get with the program!! We have the proven penis enlargement for you!! All here at JoshuaDysart.com!!

AGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Internet! The greatest idea in the history of the species (at least since yoga) and these assholes use it to spam my tiny, un-ambitious website, proving, once and for all, that some form of viral evil will infect every model of communication humanity dreams up! We are poisoned to the bone, my children!! Poisoned to the bone!!

Screw the fictional, perpetually erect, golden boy these insecurity vultures are trying to pass off as the standard for masculinity!! The guys who figured out how to give me this electronic advertising VD were the same bastards who were selling snake oil out the back of a wagon a hundred and fifty years ago! (Or just 75 years ago if you're from west Texas).

Every year during May and June, thousands of villagers from remote areas of the Himalayan region of Nepal, risking their own lives, head for high mountains to collect yarsagumba, believed to be a cure for sexual impotency, among other things. It is estimated that one villager can earn up to Rs. 2,500 approximately $35 a day by collecting yarsagumba which is beyond the monthly salary of many Nepalese households. Yarsagumba with its Latin name cordyceps sinesis literally means "summer plant and winter insect" in Tibetan. Before the rainy season begins, spores of the cordyceps mushroom settle on the heads of caterpillars' that live underground. The fungus gets so much into the body of the caterpillar that it grows out through its head and drains all the energy from the insect ultimately killing it. (Intelligent Design my ass).

Sigh... all right, that's it... my rant's done. Of course my raving won't keep the bastards from attaching their mindless ad leeches to my site, but I want the posting feature to start being more active. I'd like to communicate to my readers through it. It's not perfect, but it's something. It'll mean I'll have to be more pro-active about cleaning the spam out of course. I'll do my best.

In December of 2000 a Welsh rugby team "The Wizards" began to stiffen its defense with the help from a Chinese supplement dubbed "herbal viagra." A product containing an extract of fungus taken from the larval remains of silkworms.

It's been a long time since I've given any love to this site. I've been busy... which is awesome (more on that below), but I figure I should post something so that the first thing new people see isn't that picture of me pissing on a wall from the last entry. Particularly since I have an all-ages horror comic coming out this summer, and 13 to 16 year-old kids need to see my penis about as much as they need to be sold herbal Viagra.

Ginseng root on a billboard in downtown Shanghai. Remarkably managing to be phallic and have a vagina at the same time.

I'm going to try to make something interesting of this site. You know, post more regularly, lots of links... even some new ideas about content that I can't mention here for fear that the whim will pass and the plans will never be executed. I have two big projects looming (which I can't talk about yet) and they might get in the way of this website's master plan, but we'll see. Also, it should be mentioned that I'm a laughable example of anything but lazy. Generally, I'd rather go over the falls than row. But I have an inkling of creativity and a persistent desire to never have a day job again, so it's definitely in my best interest to keep this website up to date, looking professional and filled with relatively engaging content. We'll see how it goes.

WORK IS GOOD

Cover to the upcoming Swamp Thing #26 "Burying the Bones"

My second SWAMP THING trade (from Vertigo Comics), HEALING THE BREACH, will be hitting in February. The book includes the title story by ENRIQUE BRECCIA, plus the stories THE HOLLAND MIND drawn by Ronald Wimberly and LITTLE RUNAWAY by the incomparable RICHARD CORBEN. The trade features my most experimental storytelling on the title to date, so check it out. The monthly pamphlet is wrapping up THE BLEEDING RACONTEUR story line this month, then guest artists DEAN ORMSTOM (BOOKS OF MAGIC: LIFE DURING WARTIME) will be penciling #25 and JOCK (THE LOSERS) will be busting out #26. Both of these cats are awesome, and I've been seeing the pages from them as they come in. They're just going to be fantastic looking books. #25, entitled MEANWHILE... IN HOUMA, is all monsters, girls and mayhem! Dean recently confided in me his love for Hammer films and old Universal horror flicks. So expect a real horror comic from this guy. With #26 (called BURYING THE BONES) I've given Jock a script that is virtually the anti-thesis to a Losers comic, with several opportunities for him to play with form and structure, so keep an eye out for it. It should be really interesting. The work he's turned in so far is stylistically ambitious. Also #25 will be the first issue overseen by my new editor and friend PORNSAK PICHETSHOTE. It's been absolutely great working with him and like JON VANKIN before, he seems to be putting up with my wandering mind and profound insecurities just fine. And don't forget my first Swamp Thing trade, LOVE IN VAIN is still available.

Teaser poster for the film MONSTER HOUSE

Next year, around the time the movie MONSTER HOUSE hits theatres, SKULL AND BONES: A MONSTER HOUSE STORY will be landing in comic book stores. Over forty pages of all-ages horror fun that's a companion piece to the film. It's from IDW and drawn in a wonderfully whimsical style. This is my first work for this publisher. I've only seen the opening five pages and they look really great. The second comic book title that I ever wrote (CHASSIS) was an all-ages comedy and it was nice to get back to that softer voice during the writing of this work.

Original, sold out cover to the first issue of CAPTAIN GRAVITY AND THE POWER OF THE VRIL. A reprint of #1 can be purchesed at the PFP website (link below).

CAPTAIN GRAVITY AND THE POWER OF THE VRIL (Penny Farthing Press) has wrapped and the collected trade should be hitting sometime in 2007. There will be THIRTY new pages of story and art included!! These extra pages do not constitute a backup story but will be part of the actual narrative. Sal Velluto, as always, is rocking it. I can't wait for this. Sal and I have been kicking around ideas for the next Captain Gravity adventure, but I haven't had time to sit down and give it the attention it needs, soon, though, hopefully this year. I loved writing this character and I think giving Sal more input on the book can only make it better. Sal is a gentle soul, a fierce artist and an all around stand-up human being. You can read some pages of the first issue here.

Dean Haspeil... Warrior!

Dean Haspiel and I are still sitting on a fantastic pitch that editor Joan Hilty has asked us to modify for the DCU. I'm lagging behind on that task as well. In fact I've been downright unprofessional about the whole thing. I really love the original pitch and I think I'm having a hard time making the changes Joan is asking for. And now Dean is booked for the year. But it's cool. Dean and I will work on something eventually. I should really call Joan and apologize for my half-assedness.

It's true... Luis Reyes is Jesus Christ.

I finally followed up with Luis Reyes, my editor at TOKYO POP, and got him some artist test pages based on a pitch I slung his way about a year ago. It's called INSECT SONG and I'm really desperate to do it. It would be my first original project since VIOLENT MESSIAHS. And original work is more the direction I'd like to go in. I'm telling ya, there just needs to be more hours in the day.

Plus, don't forget, there are those two big projects I can't talk about until they've solidified more. One at DARK HORSE the other at VERTIGO. I'll give you the heads up when the time is right.

So there you are. I gotta get back to the grind. Peace, love and all that hippie shit,
Joshua