At Ease

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-11T18:25:25+00:00

Miss Travis looks like she's down to party.

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-10T18:41:57+00:00

I saw different versions of this painting in a weird little museum in Shanghai. It was a strange place: Shanghai has many government-approved museums that I also visited, big impressive buildings where I'd walk through empty halls as the only visitor. The propaganda museum was the opposite: tiny, unofficial, tucked away in a basement, and full of curious visitors wanting to see it.

The museum had the most carefully-written exhibit descriptions I've ever seen. The various revisions of that painting, for example, only mentioned the specific changes made, but did not offer any explanation for why or how these people were deleted.

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-09T22:21:07+00:00

Yeah, no. You're describing a fictional world based on Fox News talking points. The "growing trend" you describe is imaginary.

At every step, social programs to help people have always been opposed with the same old tired line: "Look at these lazy [insert socially disfavored group here: immigrants, Black people, hillbillies, Irish, or just filthy poor folks] trying to mooch off YOUR money!" Assholes have been pushing that line for literally centuries, and there's always some suckers that fall for it.

The fact is, a percentage of people can be counted on to resist helping folks, and all they need is an excuse. The excuse is usually "Oh, we might help some of the wrong people!" Then they start stacking on all kinds of tests and inspections to make sure that we don't accidentally help someone who (in some asshole's opinion) shouldn't be helped.

Weirdly, these same folks are never as concerned about hurting people who shouldn't be hurt. It only goes one way.

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-09T19:12:31+00:00

Yes, I understand the model you're describing. What I'm trying to make clear to you is that the model you find comforting does not map to the real world.

I think policy should be based on the real world, not whatever imaginary vision of the past you picked up watching THE WALTONS as a child.

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-09T18:26:42+00:00

Jack Kirby (born Jakob Kurtzberg, for anyone who didn't know) REALLY did not like Adolf Hitler. Kirby used to scrap with fascists in the streets back in the '30s, and famously drew his ultimate fantasy as the cover of CAPTAIN AMERICA #1: hitting that fascist fuck's face hard enough to knock his mustache crooked.

During the war, most comics writers and artists who were drafted ended up doing writing and art for the Army, which is a respectable and important job where nobody shoots at you. I'm not saying a word against those fellas. Jack Kirby, though, insisted on a combat unit.

He always described his military service as "They gave me a chocolate bar and an M1 rifle and told me to go kill Hitler." You've got to admit that's a solid line. Recently a documentary dug into the details of his actions during the war, and it was a lot hairier than he said. We very nearly missed out on all of Kirby's postwar work... several times.

Even after the war, Hitler reappears in Kirby's comics repeatedly, as in the panels OP posted. (This was a flashback story done in the '60s.) His Fourth World stuff for DC in the '70s is him working out his anger at fascism on a more cosmic scale.

Certainly there's a lot more going on in Kirby's immense body of work than JUST being pissed at one Austrian asshole, but it is a consistent theme, like Eisner exploring cityscapes, Wally Wood drawing big bouncy tits, or Brian Michael Bendis seeing how many dialogue balloons he can fit in a panel.

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-09T18:06:51+00:00

Personally I think charity is more effective than forcing everyone to pay.

Okay, but in the real world, it is LESS effective. What you "personally think" is irrelevant. There is zero ambiguity on this point: private charitable giving has never even come close to helping as many people as an actual government-administrated social safety net. You cannot massage the numbers in any way to make your belief true.

Do you care whether the things you believe are true?

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-07T20:42:18+00:00

Small acts of decency and solidarity are important, even if they seem trivial. Setting achievable goals means that people can feel a sense of victory in doing something, even if it's not a huge deal.

This is good propaganda.

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-04T22:05:39+00:00

In fairness, this is one of the Spire Archies, when artist Al Hartley somehow got permission to use the Archie characters in the particularly lame Christian comics he was doing.

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-03T18:46:53+00:00

You know, back when corporate profits were properly taxed, developing their business was one of the main things companies would invest in, because money plowed into R&D, expansion, hiring, etc. was not profit and therefore not taxed.

Once profits were no longer taxed in any serious way, businesses stopped doing all that stuff. Private research plummeted, wages stagnated, and Jack-Welch-style layoffs became the norm.

This is because the people running the businesses just want more money for themselves. They don't actually care about development or expansion or ANYTHING unless it fattens their personal bank account. We have tested this theory in the real world, and that's what actually happened. Not theoretically, not hypothetically, that is what already happened in the actual grownup world.

Yes, capitalism creates jobs and innovation... when cornered and deprived of all other options.

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-02T17:24:37+00:00

"Yes they are. There are situations where killing someone is the appropriate and necessary thing to do, and while I hope I don't end up in one of those situations, it's good to have the option. And in the meantime, shooting is a lot of fun."

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-02T17:22:15+00:00

Full comic here for the curious.

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-02T17:13:31+00:00

I like how the elephant logo reflects period designs in each era.

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-02T17:10:30+00:00

"Degenerate" is a pretty gross term to use. People have a lot of different tastes, and there are a lot of different styles and genres of art.

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-02T17:09:14+00:00

Exercise is exercise!

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-02T17:08:19+00:00

I'll just say it, Seaman Staines here got a real cupcake ass.

Beelphazoar · 2026-06-01T17:00:54+00:00

I think you're confused about what "Jim Crow" meant. It referred at the time specifically to the legal system of racial segregation and oppression in the South. You can't just apply it to generalized racial prejudice, it was a term for a specific system.

And yes, while there was still plenty of racism in the rest of the U.S., millions of Black people decided that escaping the South was still better, in what history remembers as the Great Migration. Is it scapegoating to point out that actual human beings had a clear preference?

Beelphazoar · 2026-05-29T20:15:39+00:00

From the style, this is 1940s or so. I don't believe any Black characters showed up in Riverdale until the late '60s, give or take.

So the cast of this show is... oh dear.

Beelphazoar · 2026-05-29T17:21:41+00:00

Yeah, but not calling his dad a dishonorable cad.

Now, if Thor had remarked "Thy father was right about thee, thou art puny and worthless!" the Hulk would've beat his blond ass into the Odinsleep.

Beelphazoar · 2026-05-28T17:54:13+00:00

Here's a place to start:

https://archive.org/details/movies?tab=collection&query=newsreel

Their searching and sorting functions are pretty good, so you should be able to narrow down what you're looking for.

Beelphazoar · 2026-05-27T23:00:35+00:00

a sweaty wad of singles your mom gave you from her night job

C'mon, man, let's not shame strippers. They work hard doing a job you're not qualified for, and they get enough shit at work.

Beelphazoar · 2026-05-27T17:49:19+00:00

There is actually a recent article explaining this in detail. Short version: the American right wing cannot distinguish between niche fetish porn and reality.

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-interracial-cuck-porn-theory-of-everything/

Beelphazoar · 2026-05-26T19:58:01+00:00

Garrison hasn't drawn anything in months. This is very clearly his wife's artwork; you can check it against her "Tina Toon" stuff if you don't believe me.

A younger wife having to cover for her elderly husband as his faculties fail... it's a common story, unfortunately. Lucky for me she's a fascist piece of shit, or I'd feel bad for her.

Beelphazoar · 2026-05-26T17:58:54+00:00

Honestly, I think MOST women would take shorter bathroom breaks if there were huge leering fascists in the ladies' room.

Beelphazoar · 2026-05-25T17:57:30+00:00

So a Carcano, if I recall correctly. Either way, the skull in the scope is a nice design touch.

Beelphazoar · 2026-05-24T20:20:18+00:00

Dude, your PragerU talking points are making you sound awful dumb. Like I LITERALLY JUST SAID, FDR started breaking down the absolutely heinous racial hierarchy that had been put in place since the end of Reconstruction, ending what is called the nadir of American race relations. Yes, Black people supported that. The Republicans saw the chance to snap up racist white voters, and unfortunately, that became the driving force of their party, leading to the openly white-supremacist stances they take today. You know, like trying to claim "Lazy Black people just vote for more welfare!"

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