Slashdot Mirror
CBLDF Auction with Sim & Gaiman
As most regular readers know, I/we are fans of the CBLDF and the EFF (Contribute to both!) The CBLDF is running a charity auction which is collaboration between Dave Sim of Cerebus fame and Neil Gaiman of Sandman amongst others. There's some good background online as well as the auction itself. The money raised will go to fighting censorship in the graphic arts. I'd also heartily recommend reading Neil's blog and taking Dave Sim up on his offer. His collected form letter are funny, thought provoking and great to read. Oh - and happy birthday, Neil.
Don't forget guys, these are the people who are fighting against the DMCA, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and any other civil liberty limiting crap legislation.
Good job guys, we love ya all.
IGB: More fun than eating oatmeal!
Me either.
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund?
Is this just a comic book fan site, and the name is just a joke?
What looming legal threats are there to the comic book industry? I can't find an "our mission" page on their site.
It sounds to me like only an idiot would contribute money to a fund defend Superman or Jughead.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Those wacky wikipediants: Bush redirects to Shrub. How fitting!
[shields: up] The DMCA came during Emperor Clinton's reign.
Note: This isn't off topic, really.
Well you know that all proceeds go to the new Hall of Justice in the Hague.
Superman and Jughead don't need it, the artists, writers, and publishers of comics do, as do comic book retailers. You can read up on the cases that they have taken on and make up your own mind. They are defending the First Amendment, why would that make anyone an idiot?
But can't the ACLU handle that? Or is like... CBLDF is like Flash and just runs really fast, whereas ACLU is like Superman and has a bunch of powers that include running really fast?
It's actually out there doing some really important work, raising money to defend against various attempts to shut down the comics industry.
There's a whole lot more to comics than just the superhero genre. There's a lot of adult-themed stuff (not neccessarily adult in the sense of porn) that is under attack from ignorant officials who assume that not only are comics only for kids, but that they shouldn't be used to write material adults might want to read. (Even if that material is not put where a kid might find it.)
The CBLDF is not a joke, it's out there on the front lines fighting for important liberties promised to us all by the First Amendment.
The ACLU doesn't have the funds to take on every case, this group is here to help comic book creators and retailers with their legal fees when they have to defend themselves in court.
.
There are others, but this really stands out. Comics have been targeted for decades, Google for Frederick Wertham and see what happened to EC Comics in the 50's.
Yeah, I read their cases. They defend the "right" to put obscene or pornographic comics in the same stand as Richie Rich or Garfield.
Another group of activist lawyers who think "free speech" means "everyone has to listen to me".
Next these "activist lawyers" will want it to be legal to put Saving Private Ryan in the same video store with the Garfield movie.
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
I can't believe the parent's moderator has looked at what's for sale.
One of the cases I'm familiar with because it's a comic book shop I occasionally shop at. Ketih's Comics in Dallas, TX. One of the employee's was convicted of selling an adult comic to an adult. The adult books were kept in a separate section of the store, and children were NOT allowed in that section. Still, a concerned mother (read "fundamentalist wack" -- oops, I mean faithful churchgoer) complained, and an undercover cop (I think he was a sherrif's deputy?) went in and - Gasp! - was allowed to buy and adult book (some Manga title).
It is unfortunate perhaps, that the CBLDF needs to spend too much time defending people that sell or produce pornography. But Freedom of Speech means just that. They have had a case were the artist was forbidden to even draw anything, even for personal use!, and a case where a parody of the Starbucks symbol was attacked by Starbucks.
I believe I have a right to read whatever the heck I want, and that artists and authors have the right to produce whatever the heck they want. That's why I give to the CBLDF every year, and have since they were started.
On a related note, some ABC stations have decided not to air the unedited "Saving Private Ryan", to avoid complaints about obsenity. Even though this has already been on network TV unedited! Just fucking amazing. Damn Janet's boobs, damn them to hell!
Everything you know is wrong, Just forget the words and sing along.
Censor of the media. Corporations not understanding parody. Freedom of speech always needs to get defended in the states. How could there not be an organizeation like this.
No, they're defending the right to print it and sell it - not saying where it has to be sold.
Keep in mind that in the '80s the comic book industry had the most horrible volunteer-cencorship system. Basically, anything other than traditional super-hero comics and childrens comics was banned from stores. While keeping extreme subject matter out of children's reach is a valid concern, what of a graphic and literary art form? And after all - you can buy Playboy at the magazine rack, so why not Heavy Metal?
On the one hand, I have very little sympathy for those who churn out turgid pulp for the express purpose of ripping off those brainless enough to buy a product on shock value, rather than by whether they actually want the thing. However, I'd argue that most of the problem lies in how stupid consumers are encouraged to be, particularly by the educational system, so fixing the stupidity seems a more worthy aim than fixing the comics.
Take care of the root causes, and the symptoms will take care of themselves.
On the other hand, I do not believe that censorship is a useful mechanism. It engenders a lot of hostility, it creates a social pressure point of non-conformance, and it is generally self-destructive.
Again, though, if you tackled the underlying causes for the stuff you don't like, then those things that have no useful purpose will simply go of their own accord. If you tackle only the issues that are visible, then the underlying issues never get resolved, and the impact will simply mutate.
If you are in a house, and the foundations collapse, re-painting the kitchen isn't going to help. It'll conceal the cracks in the walls, but the house will still fall down.
To me, censorship of the comics is neither a problem nor a solution. Nor are the so-called "adult" comics. Both are simply different parts of society venting in different ways. Blocking one side from venting at all will simply build up pressure, leading to an explosion. Doesn't matter which side you block. If you had to block one side, though, I'd say blocking the censors is likely the better choice.
The best solution of all is to dig deeper and reduce or remove those stresses that create the problems in the first place. You'll never fix them all, but at the moment, nobody is doing much to fix any of them at all.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Fill his PO Box!
He could be the first person to be physically slashdotted.
I'm surprised Gaiman wants ot have anything to do with Sim, even for a good cause. For those who don't know, somewhere around issue 200 of 300 monthly Cerebus, Sim seemed to completely flip out- although AFAIK he still denies any pschosis - and publishjed the most abhorrent mysoginist bullshit I've ever come across in my life. Subsequently he seemed developed an obsesive interest in religion and turned most the Cerebus (which was certainly one of the best comics I've read for those 200-or-so issus) into a tedious mass of densely written ramblings that, speaking with my Psychologist degree hat on, I'd say indicated more than a hint of paranoid schizophrenia.
Everything I needed to know about life, I learnt from Blake's Seven
Real journalists actually expand acronyms at some point in the article. You know, you're allowed to edit submissions for clarity. That's why they pay you to be editors
At least he gets to do his 1248 for the CBLDF... :/ That sucks, anyway. Can't even blame it solely on Jeb Bush - I think that Walkin' Lawton was on guard during 97...
In general, the Democrats are better buddies with Hollywood than the Republicans are (save Gov. Schwarzenegger of California), but in the face of a bill with heavy bipartisan support in Congress, the veto power of the President of the United States is merely ceremonial. President Clinton couldn't have stopped the DMCA, the Bono Act, or any other bill that passed both houses by voice vote, as it takes 81 percent of each house to pass a bill by voice vote but only 67 percent to override a presidential veto.
I have to throw this out there:
Gaiman is an amazing author. For those of you who only know him for Sandman, you are missing out. I urge you, nay, command you to read Stardust, Neverwhere, and American Gods. Those books are, flat out, fucking amazing. Go. Now. Read.
That is all.
Gai... man? 8-?
ROFL
Andrew Rilstone, who's a hell of a lot smarter than me, wrote a number of essays about this, which are frickin' brilliant.
Cerebus the Aardvark: An Obituary
Cerebus the Aardvark: An Obituary (2)
Is Dave Sim Mad?
Is Dave Sim Mad? (Update)
Does Dave Sim Have Occasional Moments of Lucidity?
The first one, I think, says what you mean by bugs in your breakfast: The text piece in Cerebus # 226 made me feel physically unwell; made me feel as if I'd been kicked in the stomach; actually spoiled my whole afternoon. When the drunken John Lennon beat up a waitress, she is reported as having said 'What really hurts is finding out that your idol is a complete asshole.'
I haven't reached the part of the series when Sim goes mad yet. I suppose it'll be... enlightening. (I finished "Jaka's Story" recently, and am scouting for "Melmoth".)
--grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Sheesh. Maybe you and Sim should get together for tea some time.
--grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
It was indeed in England, what was less well known until secret Home Office papers were released in 1999, was that shortly after that trial the police senior police officer responsible for bringing the case was found guilty of corruption and jailed as well.