WONDER WOMAN: NOW WITH TROUSERS

It’s pretty clear that after the Great BP Gulf Oil Disaster, the biggest news story of the year is Wonder Woman’s new look.

There’s been plenty of talk both for and against it – mainly against, though it’s gotten a ringing endorsement from Lynda Carter, which you would think would put an end to the argument.

For myself, I don’t have that strong an opinion about it. I don’t particularly like it – I’m not against costume changes per se, but still, a superhero costume ought to be distinctive, as in something you can’t just get off the rack at Hot Topic. (For what it’s worth, Austin Grossman agrees with me.)

But it’s not a big deal, either. Okay, I admit I’m not a huge fan of the character anyway. On the other hand, it’s not like this is the first time WW has swapped out the trad look for something more mod (literally), regardless of what J. Michael Straczynski thinks.

That said, the second thing I thought when I saw the new costume was, “I wonder if anyone at Fox News made a lot of hay over the missing Stars & Stripes motif?”



O, Fox News. You never let me down.

Is it any wonder,

This is dF

THE INFANTS, THEY PLAN

Somewhere in a shopping galleria in Kowloon Tong, plans are being drawn.



Motion is carried,

This is dF

BAILOUT: I DON’T THINK THAT WORD MEANS WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS

Anybody who (1) follows politics and (2) pays attention knows that it is a curious mix of art, science and fiction. And FactCheck.org has built up a pretty good archive of examples of just how this works – i.e. the tendency of politicians to either play loose with the facts or, if necessary, make them up to get a point across, and fool as many voters as possible to win the next election.

One of the tactics in the politician’s toolbox is “loaded language” – i.e. words carefully selected to provoke an emotional response to an issue regardless of whether it’s an appropriate word for that issue. The idea is to get you to react rather than think.

At the moment, the loaded word du jour for the US mid-terms is “bailout”. And as FactCheck amply demonstrates, it’s no longer being applied strictly to stimulus packages, and it’s not just Republicans using it incorrectly.

It’s interesting reading – at least for old political cynics like me.

Trust no one,

This is dF

HAINAN: THE SIGHTS

Two months ago, I spent a few days touring Hainan Island. I took photos. I eventually got around to uploading them. It’ll take me about four posts to explain them (one of several reasons why I’ve been putting this off the last couple of months).

Let’s start with the sightseeing.



[Click the pic for the whole set if yr so inclined]

The first thing to mention is that we literally traveled from one end of the island to the other – from Sanya to Haikou – and back again, so much of this is spread out over four (4) days worth of bus rides.

Anyway, the first four pics are from Yetian Li & Miao Village, a fake village designed to showcase the culture of the indiginous Li ethnic group, to include pole dancing (no, not the kind yr thinking of).

The beach shots are from two locations: (1) Jade Belt Beach, a narrow peninsula where three rivers empty into the South China Sea, listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest boundary between the river and the sea, and (2) Yalong Bay, a touristy beach resort. The first was mainly a photo-op; the second offered us a chance for swimming and parasailing, but the bridal unit and I sensibly elected to have banana smoothies in the hotel lounge, as it was something like 37ºC out there.

The deer statue – and the video crew doing a story on it – is the Deer Looking Back statue in Luhuitou Park, which is on top of a hill overlooking Sanya. You can read about the legend of the deer here (it’s a romance).

Up next: the signs!

Some days you get the deer,

This is dF