Democrats always reveal themselves if you let them, so don't let them.

Sweden Removes Recommendation on General Vaccination Against COVID-19 for Ages 12 to 17
October 1, 2022

Criminal With Long History of Violence, Released By NY Governor Hochul’s “Less is More” Act Leaves Woman Severely Beaten on NYC Subway
October 1, 2022

Biden Vows to “Ban Assault Weapons” in the US
September 30, 2022

Inflation Soars to 10% in Europe – Euro Zone Inflation Doubles in First 9 Months of 2022… And It Will Likely Get Worse
October 1, 2022

□ [“Putin Charges West with 'Satanism', Offers Cease-Fire in Ukraine – Zelensky Refuses, Vows to Keep Fighting"]

Gee, this is still getting better.  Ukraine is now begging to join NATO immediately to get the world war officially started and there's no reason to think that's not going to happen.  None of the people want that but the rulers do.  Just notice how much money Ukraine's rulers are bringing in, they don't want it to stop.

They don't even need to explain why they've never tried to join NATO in the last ten years or, given all the massive victories the media insist they're getting without being in NATO, why bother joining anyway?

This insanity is why the Nord Stream pipeline attack has got to be considered deliberate even we still don't know any details.  Why did they both go off on one day and not several months apart?  Our own so-called Secretary of State declares this a “tremendous opportunity."  That's not the reaction of someone who opposes such massive sabotage.

Now they have an excuse to seize fuel in the US, use taxpayer money to ship it to Europe and the EU rulers can use it to bribe their followers while leaving those who aren't their followers in the cold.  Ukraine also gets to keep its slave states from voting to leave and worldwide leftists support saying 'that vote doesn't count.'

"Religion in reverse" is probably a better term Putin also used, rather than "satanism," but whatever hits the mark.

Biden Calls and Thanks Coast Guard Swimmer for Saving Lives in Florida Hurricane – Same Hero Will Be Kicked Out in Days for Being Unvaxxed
October 1, 2022

Russia Cuts Off Gas to Italy Just Days After New Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Announces Her Support for Ukraine
October 1, 2022

□ [“Exclusive: Expert Toy Industry Insider Reveals Marvel and Star Wars Merch Struggles"]

Now this is interesting.  Star Wars toy sales have burned out, replacing the classic characters we liked as kids with complete non-entities but promoting them just as much.  Sales are down 50% from, not clear when they're being compared to but that's quite a drop.

Marvel isn't doing well either.  Spider-Man, Captain America and Iron Man are the only big toy sales.  People don't buy girls' toys, even girls don't buy them, but Marvel/Disney demands 50% of the toys be female like Black Widow or Scarlet Witch.  Girls want to be feminine (which may be a bad decision but it's their choice) so Barbie is a more understandable toy.  If she's going to do superheroes, Spider-Man is also a better choice.

And Marvel demanded stores buy a case of Eternals toys for every case of classic characters?  Oh come on, I've read the Jack Kirby comics (and a couple spin-offs) and I barely know who those characters are, much less ever wanted to play pretend with them as a kid.  The stores are forced to pay for things that won't sell, that's not going to help anybody.

At this point I'm far enough away from my comics - mentally if not physically - that I can't think of any similar example in the medium.  Yes, I'm sure Marvel and DC made tons of offers to promote whatever new title they were selling but I can't think of any example of the direct market being required to order an issue of one title simply to be permitted to order copies of a title they sell regularly.

We do know that a lot of comics stores shut down from all the trash Marvel and DC were throwing at them that nobody wanted to buy.  Is that what you're trying to do with toy stores?  You're going to force them to buy Falcon self-identifying as Captain America when you'd rather prefer him to be the Falcon?  They're both licensed characters the stores have to pay a lot of money to promote, which one will they choose?  It's their money going out the window and at least the Falcon can fly.

Are they really trying to sell Agatha Harkness toys or is that just a joke for people who know the character?  I like Agatha and am not sure I've ever read a comic with her other than the initial Fantastic Four appearances, but nobody in their right mind would want an Agatha Harkness toy.  That's just a very bad idea and you want to sell her t-shirts next to Spidey and Cap t-shirts?

Not much else to write at the moment.  I've been looking into rock bands and even listening to music once in a while.  Obviously I'm still trying to figure out Guns'n'Roses, occasionally looking at Van Halen.  For one thing, although I'm not a huge Van Halen expert, it strikes me that David Lee Roth was basically the template for Axl Rose.

There's some obvious differences but also some similarities.  They both completely believed that the band was entirely focused on them no matter what.  In Roth's case, has he ever heard Eddie Van Halen play guitar?  How can he have so little comprehension of how any fan could have the slightest interest in the band that isn't about Roth?

He thought everybody would follow him when he left the band and he did get some attention as the front man but it quickly dwindled away.  Eddie may have used up all his juice but he was still a guitar legend and could add keyboards and a competent singer.

Axl was a competent singer and played keyboards.  Slash is a guitar legend as well but would be the first to admit he's not at EVH's level.  But Axl took ownership of the band as a priority and made sure everybody agreed with him no matter what.  So he's surrounded by yes-men and doesn't do anything as a result.

Roth's solo career is rather empty for all the decades it's lasted and on tour he basically only sings Van Halen songs, but at least he has a half-dozen albums to show for it.  He's had to be David Lee Roth, which I would not condemn anybody to, but at least he's done something.

Slash has always been productive, no matter what he was going through.  I always like the point that when G'n'R was the most drug-abusing band ever, they all showed up on time for every single concert.  It's the guy who didn't use drugs who kept everybody waiting for hours and sometimes just didn't bother to show up at all.

I'm a Sammy Hagar fan.  His music isn't brilliant or anything but it's enjoyable rock'n'roll which is what his goal was.  He also knew that being a rock star could end badly so once he started making money, he started investing in things that didn't depend on a famous rock star selling the product, which is why he's one of the richest rock stars ever.  [probably, it's not like I keep track of that stuff]

But something about the 1980s music scene and Hollywood influence picked Roth and Axl as the front men.  The cost was basically ending popular music of any real quality.