Striking New Comics by Stephanie McMillan and Ted Rall

(originally published Jan. 27th)

ITEM: Ted Rall has been arguing against nonviolence as a sole tactic in the struggle for a long time. I sort of fall off the wagon when he recommends that black folks should be the first to rise up in violence against the state. I, for one, think that New York cartoonists should be the first to take on the might of drones and local police and state police and national guardsmen and if that wouldn't be enough the US military. Then, and I say this as an unofficial spokesperson of the Black Community, we shall watch your results and act accordingly. (Just for the record: Anonymous hacking is the way to go.) I suppose he joins his sometime animation cohort Stephanie McMillan, who draws, arguably, the most radical comic strip I have ever read, in making the argument that nonviolence won't beat the Nazis, or the friendly (sometimes gorgeous) face of American Fascism as foretold by Bertram Gross.

Related: Here's a taste of Stephanie's newest. She's been critical of the Occupy Movement as of late even though she's been an early and vocal supporter. This is a familiar plotline for all you Doonesbury/Mary Worth fans. Our two characters are using arms attained by a German drug dealer in order to attack a corporation known as Omnicorp to stop them performing a geoengineering experiment. Just like South Park...

More Related: Derrick Jensen, also one of Stephanie's collaborators and most likely to be shipped to the FEMA camps (looks like those camps are real Jesse Ventura notwithstanding...), has articulated this view with the Environmentalist's version of Star Wars. Also: The Gandhi Shield. And: A different Indian hero.

           ITEM: I will not be writing about She Who Cannot Be Named today. Or as I call her: The Face of Terror.

More inappropriate yet legal talk about MHS PR Flak Connie McNamara (Public Figure)

I had two headlines in mind but they kind of didn't fit.

More possibly inappropriate but not illegal commentary about Milton Hershey School PR Flak Connie McNamara

or:

Let's not call this a MHS PR Flak Connie McNamara Obsession

ITEM: So I'm still thinking about this Connie McNamara MHS thing. You don't understand I used to sit in the woman's dorm room.* I think I sat on the floor as a clever psychological move to downplay the fact that I was a towering six five black guy. I think she was, what, 5 seven with heels...? Anyway, she described herself as being "mousy". And I thought, to myself certainly, well then "mousy is something I'm into apparently...". Now, when I watch her on these Youtube clips not only does she not seem "mousy" but she resonates, well, power. This is more in the line of a Game of Thrones Matriarch in Red. That might be the kind of power one emanates when one has great wealth. She might make low six figures in her current post and from other postings on the Internets one of her hobbies with her late husband was "refurbishing homes". Not the kind of hobby poor people can get into. Possibly a millionaire. Possibly making ends meet with three kids to feed even on a low six figure salary. Possibly looking at the rare occurrence of not having a job since she left college in 1985 (How many people can say that? Connie's emotional intelligence is off the charts...) since this somewhat tainted Zimmerman guy is leaving. Are they looking for a new team? I don't think I want to know...Or perhaps the power comes from something tragic. I did find out, not with any deep searches just the Google, that her husband died in 2006 leaving her with three children under the age of 10. I can't even imagine how painful that would be. Or what's tougher: telling your three young daughters that their father won't be coming home or facing off against Anderson Cooper? I have a feeling that if I survived the former that the latter would mean nothing...It would certainly make you stronger in a Nietzschean sense.

I also wanted to point out that when I mentioned that Connie, still a practicing Catholic from what I can tell and an early supporter of Liberation theology I'm just now beginning to surmise (our earliest conversations were about Archbishop Romero and the nuns that got slaughtered in El Salvador...) was "non abstinent and impulsive" as a young person in college I didn't mean that in a bad way.

(Aside: Connie was a serial monogamist like most Americans back during the years of 81 to 83. First with Curt the fiancé she didn't marry and then that black haired kid she saw Nikki Giovanni with when Curt was studying abroad and then Curt again when he got back...Doesn't make her a bad person. Words like "normal" and "healthy" come to mind.. I think the fiancé bit was a bit of rationalization, which means her Catholic upbringing had an effect on her...possibly more on this later...Must investigate. Hurm.)

I think that's the strongest part of her argument with Anderson Cooper on that show of his. Those words struck me as completely truthful and not talking points. Where I think she loses the argument is what kind of outside independent medical advice the board got or did they even seek it out. My guess is that they did not. This is where Connie admits that she wasn't in on those meetings with the medical staff, not independent of the board I'm guessing. The prevailing medical evidence seems to be that there just isn't that much of a risk of transmission. Though, after taking a look at the many many longshots that have happened at the Milton Hershey school such as in this particular instance perhaps the MHS board doesn't equate low percentages with no chance at all...and think of the damages if another child was infected. More on this later. Or I might wait another 30 years to comment more. Who knows.

Related: I signed this petition in favor of letting that kid in the school. Of course, in a strong and loving world this kid would have wonderful public schools to choose from with decent food and teacher/student ratios in the 16 to 1 range. He wouldn't have to be, what's the word, "adversarial" in order to get a decent education. The school has a wonderful shot because the board is full of republican operatives  and republican judges tend to be loyal. Plus they have an 8 billion dollar endowment. They'll get good lawyering. Just like when you're rich you can buy "reasonable doubt" you can probably also buy some kind of novel exception question that you can pitch to the appeals courts. Republicans tend to throw a lot of Hail Marys and they often win. The 2000 election being the most publicized outcome and this evil Texas redistricting plan being the latest late quarter throw to the endzone...the school should lose if the courts didn't tilt toward both Republicans and the rich. I guess we'll watch and see...

*These are my memories from the time I spent with Constance from 1981 through 1984 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I have not spoken to Connie in over 28 years although I think I sent her a letter back in 1992...no I don't know why. I'd like to say I was drunk but I don't drink...

More Milton Hershey Communications Vice President Connie McNamara Porn

Ooooh. The Red Dress.

Amanda Bearse in Fright Night is pretty close to the Connie McNamara I knew 1981 - 1983, except that Connie has prettier eyes. We worked the same IUP campus job about, what, 10 to 15 hours a week? And she was nice to me. Obviously this was pure torture for me...I got to look at that everyday. Might be a reason why I started crying...withdrawal.

ITEM: Still figuring out if I should spill the deep dark secrets of my past friend Connie McNamara. (Don't know if Connie still considers me a friend or considers me at all. I would bet good money on the latter. Not that I care about it. I might be lying about that last thing I said.) It should also be pointed out, since I'm stupid and I hadn't considered that some people might think this is recent, that all this 1 in 7 billion stuff happened about 30 years ago from 1981 and 1983 on IUP's campus. Hey, its one of the advantages of being old and knowing about the Before Time when the info I've been able to get about Connie within an hour (Is she updating her linked in page and why..) would have taken a team of reporters weeks to do in the 80s. I'm thinking about writing a long several thousand word piece on it and seeing how and if it might sell via the Kindle. Would be fun to find out and I'm trying to build a library.

Actually it would be very positive stuff. Here's something I wrote already for this longer essay I had in mind.

This would be the beginning:

"In fact, Connie McNamara is probably the coolest woman I’ve ever known and with the benefit of 30 years of hindsight probably the best friend I’ve ever had."

This would be the end.

 "Some of the best and kindest moments of my life were spent with Connie McNamara ."

Just add several thousand words in between
.

But its not going to all be that nice. It can't be. Nobody's that saintly. For example when Connie McNamara looks into the camera with Anderson Cooper and talks about those impulsive kids who don't  choose abstinence might interact with this HIV kid well...I know for a fact that she was one of those non abstinent impulsive kids...how do I know this? I've seen the serene Afterglow too many times up close and personal.(Not the only evidence I have by the way...) No it wasn't me we never even held hands. It's complicated. And Connie has three little girls now. Maybe she wants to lie to them like any good parent. I don't know.*

Plus I've suppressed these memories because they're painful. I'm crying again. I don't cry over stuff. Attacked by two 100 pound rottweilers in this neighborhood. Didn't cry. Threatened by the Klan, personally. Didn't cry. Probably cried 10 times since 1984. Seven of those times can be attributed to Connie McNamara...so I might wimp out. But I'm running out of time. I know this could be a really good essay. I might even be able to shop this...So...I'll work on another freelance assignment for another few days and come back to this...


*If terrifying people in the 717 vicinity who resemble Amanda Bearse are troubled by anything that I've written on this post send me an email and I'll remove it. My email is pshropshire@yahoo.com. You must do this within  a week that its posted.

How is Connie McNamara 1 in 7 billion people?

ITEM: Out of 7 billion people on this planet Connie McNamara, the woman in this video,  is the only person to tell me "I love you."* (Relatives don't count although its nice to hear.) Born to play Peter Pan in your neighborhood revival show...I would write more about this and my relationship with her if Connie hadn't reduced me to a puddle of my own tears at least several times..I might be Yella. I think the school is clearly wrong but she's so good...Like Walken in every movie.  

*Note because I'm stupid. it should be stated: These events occurred more than 30 years ago from 1981 to 1983 at IUP's campus.

Assorted Links N At...

 

Been tired and busy. Here's the last several things I posted on Facebook:

Pennsylvania Teacher Starts 100-Mile-Run To Protest ‘Catastrophic’ Education Cuts  I've been knocking on doors and reading up on this issue. It's true. How can we be number one at anything if we don't have a population that has critical thinking skills? It's as if our Galtian Overlords, so to speak, are using "Idiocracy" as a blueprint for the American future...

Activists protest Hershey in Times Square, calling on chocolate giant to stop using child labor (I wonder how my IUP admissions office friend Connie McNamara could spin this...probably fairly well and I'm guessing that she will be well compensated for it...)

Democrats state the obvious. Will they have the nerve to actually run on it...?

How America gets bilked by its own tax code.

Fight the three strikes rule. Looks like this will just be done unilaterally by private companies. Does this include wi fi spots? Related: The Software Kings are the true meritocracy. I can only hope that they've bought off enough congresspeople.