fsherman.bsky.social
@fsherman.bsky.social
An old story but I hadn't seen it before. Reminiscent of how Weinstein would work the media to keep his crimes on the down-low.
A Dead Cat, A Lawyer's Call And A 5-Figure Donation: How Media Fell Short On Epstein
Why did it take some of the nation's biggest news organizations so long to take seriously the accusations against the late Jeffrey Epstein? Allegations about his behavior go back more than a decade.
www.npr.org
November 12, 2025 at 11:56 PM
An old story but I hadn't seen it before. Reminiscent of how Weinstein would work the media to keep his crimes on the down-low.
"the 1950s we were supposed to get back to was the one in TV sitcoms like The Donna Reed Show and Father Knows Best."
Lost in the fifties tonight ⋆ Atomic Junk Shop
(This week will be all reprints from my blog, due to a crazy week last week. On the plus side, the foundations of our house are not about to collapse …
atomicjunkshop.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:52 PM
"the 1950s we were supposed to get back to was the one in TV sitcoms like The Donna Reed Show and Father Knows Best."
"if there’s no boundary on the right, inevitably you spiral down to a state of Nazi allyship, as Roberts and slimy Catholic right-winger Adrian Vermeule are. "
No enemies to the right
Heritage Foundation head Kevin Roberts “is not against cancel culture in principle; he cheered Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension from ABC for his comments about Kirk’s murder. But he’s very much oppo…
frasersherman.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:51 PM
"if there’s no boundary on the right, inevitably you spiral down to a state of Nazi allyship, as Roberts and slimy Catholic right-winger Adrian Vermeule are. "
Fall foliage in Durham NC.
November 9, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Fall foliage in Durham NC.
The Forever People debut in 1971! Plus more of DC's new angsty Superman.
Forever is a long time coming — but they're here! ⋆ Atomic Junk Shop
Following Jack Kirby’s DC debut — Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen — February 1971 (cover-dated) brought us two pure Kirby creations, Forever People #1 and New Gods #1 (though Alan Stewart says …
atomicjunkshop.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:52 PM
The Forever People debut in 1971! Plus more of DC's new angsty Superman.
"Who told you
You could put band-aids
Over broken hearts
To fix messes you made?" — Rachel Platten, "Loose Ends"
You could put band-aids
Over broken hearts
To fix messes you made?" — Rachel Platten, "Loose Ends"
November 6, 2025 at 1:38 PM
"Who told you
You could put band-aids
Over broken hearts
To fix messes you made?" — Rachel Platten, "Loose Ends"
You could put band-aids
Over broken hearts
To fix messes you made?" — Rachel Platten, "Loose Ends"
"There’s solid evidence that Iraqis and Afghanis who helped us during our occupation are at risk if they stay in their countries, or get shipped back. But we’re doing it anyway. "
The Not-So-Great Replacement theory
The Great Replacement theory used to be a fringe belief that non-white immigrants were polluting our precious bodily fluids by making America less white. As I noted back in 2022, it’s no long…
frasersherman.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:27 AM
"There’s solid evidence that Iraqis and Afghanis who helped us during our occupation are at risk if they stay in their countries, or get shipped back. But we’re doing it anyway. "
Epstein hypothesis.
I never heard of Harlan Crow before the Clarence Thomas stuff came out. My guess is there's someone like that in the files, a grey eminence wielding money behind the scenes, and they do not want themselves known as a pedophile.
And the Felon too, of course.
I never heard of Harlan Crow before the Clarence Thomas stuff came out. My guess is there's someone like that in the files, a grey eminence wielding money behind the scenes, and they do not want themselves known as a pedophile.
And the Felon too, of course.
November 5, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Epstein hypothesis.
I never heard of Harlan Crow before the Clarence Thomas stuff came out. My guess is there's someone like that in the files, a grey eminence wielding money behind the scenes, and they do not want themselves known as a pedophile.
And the Felon too, of course.
I never heard of Harlan Crow before the Clarence Thomas stuff came out. My guess is there's someone like that in the files, a grey eminence wielding money behind the scenes, and they do not want themselves known as a pedophile.
And the Felon too, of course.
While I know it's only a very minute part of last night's blowout, I'm delighted the PA judges I did GOTV work for got re-elected.
November 5, 2025 at 10:14 AM
While I know it's only a very minute part of last night's blowout, I'm delighted the PA judges I did GOTV work for got re-elected.
"Victims can forgive the one who wronged them or abused them. The pedophiles and rapists didn’t wrong the organization so it can’t forgive them. What it can do, and should have done, is stop them from abusing others (to the extent they have the power). Not doing that is cowardice, not compassion."
Individuals can forgive. Organizations must discipline
NBC looks at the Assemblies of God pulling a Southern Baptist impersonation — the church hierarchy in both cases knew there were predators in pulpits and did nothing. In both cases some people argu…
frasersherman.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:18 PM
"Victims can forgive the one who wronged them or abused them. The pedophiles and rapists didn’t wrong the organization so it can’t forgive them. What it can do, and should have done, is stop them from abusing others (to the extent they have the power). Not doing that is cowardice, not compassion."
Revealing Flash's wife came from 1,000 years in the future was ... unexpected.
I always thought Iris Allen needed a secret origin, didn't you? ⋆ Atomic Junk Shop
Continuity implants of the Silver Age were often unremarkable, more like showing details of someone’s backstory they just hadn’t brought up before. Learning in Flash #126 that Barry Allen had a …
atomicjunkshop.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Revealing Flash's wife came from 1,000 years in the future was ... unexpected.
Quite possibly the weirdest ad I've ever seen in a comic book.
Would you buy a diamond ring from this comic book? ⋆ Atomic Junk Shop
I’ve blogged before about some of the implausible stuff advertised in comics, like classes to become a dental assistant. This might be the weirdest yet. Even given comic-book readers skewed …
atomicjunkshop.com
November 2, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Quite possibly the weirdest ad I've ever seen in a comic book.
Reposted by fsherman.bsky.social
“As long as we obey, everything will be ok.”
September 20, 2025 at 12:16 AM
“As long as we obey, everything will be ok.”
The belief "giving AI a prompt" = writing has precedents. Though no, not good ones.
The idea is not the hard part; more thoughts on AI
There’s an anecdote many writers have, myself included. Someone tells us they have an amazing idea for a fantasy story/movie/high-octane thriller; how’s about I write the story based on…
frasersherman.com
October 29, 2025 at 8:21 PM
The belief "giving AI a prompt" = writing has precedents. Though no, not good ones.
When the Silver Age became the Bronze Age, even Superman changed.
Kryptonite is gone! Can anything stop Superman now? ⋆ Atomic Junk Shop
Following up on Monday’s post on reboots, here’s one of the biggest of the early Bronze Age — because it was Superman. Rebooting the Black Widow is one thing; making …
atomicjunkshop.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:11 PM
When the Silver Age became the Bronze Age, even Superman changed.
Reposted by fsherman.bsky.social
I've written my versions of this essay. But until the problem goes away, we need to keep hammering at it, and this piece by a Black woman in the NYT is a superb version that should have some impact. lithub.com/rebecca-soln...
Rebecca Solnit: Whose Story (and Country) Is This?
Watching the film Phantom Thread, I kept wondering why I was supposed to be interested in a control freak who is consistently unpleasant to all the people around him. I kept looking at the other ch…
lithub.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:46 PM
I've written my versions of this essay. But until the problem goes away, we need to keep hammering at it, and this piece by a Black woman in the NYT is a superb version that should have some impact. lithub.com/rebecca-soln...
At the end of 1970, Iceman didn't get a series and Black Widow didn't get a new supporting cast. Captain America did get a new partner and the Black Knight got a new curse.
As the Bible says, some seeds fall upon stony ground ⋆ Atomic Junk Shop
I don’t know where in my piles of comics I read it, or if it’s even in one I own, but Stan Lee once recounted in a Soapbox how a …
atomicjunkshop.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:08 PM
At the end of 1970, Iceman didn't get a series and Black Widow didn't get a new supporting cast. Captain America did get a new partner and the Black Knight got a new curse.
"no-one has ever been convicted of a crime that someone else didn’t get away with. Is Schlapp suggesting that this is a valid defense in general, or like “we are all sinners” is he applying it only when he wants someone to go free. "
Overton’s window, rationalization and the 80 percent
As I mentioned last week, religious conservative Franklin Graham has left the ECFA, an organization that provides financial oversight for church boards. The reason: ECFA now includes requirements t…
frasersherman.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:21 AM
"no-one has ever been convicted of a crime that someone else didn’t get away with. Is Schlapp suggesting that this is a valid defense in general, or like “we are all sinners” is he applying it only when he wants someone to go free. "
Jack Kirby imagines a better world. But he had to imagine a better race of people to make it happen.
I'd like to meet a hairy too ⋆ Atomic Junk Shop
I’m not sure which issue of Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen this text page appeared in but it’s worth posting here even so. The Hairies debuted in #134, the product of something called …
atomicjunkshop.com
October 26, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Jack Kirby imagines a better world. But he had to imagine a better race of people to make it happen.
"No, they’re not misogynists or racists, they just support the Necrotic Toddler because the push for equality has gone too far (no, it hasn’t. Give us one day without rape or harassment and we’ll talk)."
No one gives a reason for going extreme right wing. They give excuses.
I’m not sure where I read that title line recently, but I think it’s spot on. It goes back to the yosta bees who turned hard right after 9/11. Or the anti-anti-racists and anti-anti-fem…
frasersherman.com
October 20, 2025 at 10:31 AM
"No, they’re not misogynists or racists, they just support the Necrotic Toddler because the push for equality has gone too far (no, it hasn’t. Give us one day without rape or harassment and we’ll talk)."
Namor finally gets his emotional life in shape. Too bad Dorma's only got a few more issues to live.
A turning point in the life of Marvel's original anti-hero! ⋆ Atomic Junk Shop
Or so Sub-Mariner #33 seemed at the time. Much as I disliked Atlantean noblewoman Lady Dorma when Stan Lee was writing the book — — Roy Thomas taking over Sub-Mariner has …
atomicjunkshop.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Namor finally gets his emotional life in shape. Too bad Dorma's only got a few more issues to live.
"Some people hear that Heinlein phrase and interpret it as “everyone better be polite to me!” The idea that when they belittle, talk down or demand they’re being impolite doesn’t occur to them."
“An armed society is a polite society” is wrong in multiple ways
About 30 years ago I took a look at L. Neil Smith’s The Probability Broach, about a detective from a dystopian near-future (dystopian because government is tyranny. I got to the point where S…
frasersherman.com
October 16, 2025 at 11:26 AM
"Some people hear that Heinlein phrase and interpret it as “everyone better be polite to me!” The idea that when they belittle, talk down or demand they’re being impolite doesn’t occur to them."
Say hello to Flash artist Irv Novick and Daredevil writer Gerry Conway! And meet DC's version of the Manson Family.
The new comics creators of the 1970s — or at least new to these books ⋆ Atomic Junk Shop
For any DC fan in the Silver Age, Carmine Infantino was the Flash artist. He’d been drawing Barry Allen from the beginning until 1967 when DC kicked him upstairs and Ross …
atomicjunkshop.com
October 15, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Say hello to Flash artist Irv Novick and Daredevil writer Gerry Conway! And meet DC's version of the Manson Family.
Paul Campos: "Of all the very many disturbing things about Trump, the single most disturbing to me is that he might actually be more emotionally than intellectually disabled.”
They’re so cringe
As a senior citizen, possibly it’s cringe for me to say “cringe” but hey, the Felon’s worshippers are indeed cringe-worthy, so … For example Newsmax host Rob Schmitt i…
frasersherman.com
October 14, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Paul Campos: "Of all the very many disturbing things about Trump, the single most disturbing to me is that he might actually be more emotionally than intellectually disabled.”
Satellites! Supersonic fighters! When this late 1950s paperback came out, we're talking the cutting edge of tech.
October 14, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Satellites! Supersonic fighters! When this late 1950s paperback came out, we're talking the cutting edge of tech.