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Politics : The Obama - Clinton Disaster -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (15620)	7/20/2009 11:09:15 AM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 103300

Re: "any belief based on faith, even if it cannot be proven in reality, is a religion." If you care to define "religion" that way that's up to you. Personally, I say that "religion" is about faith in a GOD, (or Gods).

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (15620)	7/20/2009 11:11:03 AM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 103300

Comic offers a tepid, albeit balanced, biography of Palin By JEROME MAIDA Philadelphia Daily News Posted on Mon, Jul. 20, 2009 philly.com For the Daily News IF THERE was any doubt that Sarah Palin remains a popular, prominent figure in our culture following her announced resignation as governor of Alaska, they should be put to rest with the success of "Female Force: Sarah Palin." The biography from Bluewater Comics has sold more than 15,000 copies - an impressive total for a nonsuperhero comic, especially from a tiny publisher like Bluewater. Publisher Darren G. Davis says that, if anything, the publicity surrounding her announcement spiked sales. As for the story itself, it is far from a hachet job, as evidenced by the claim by Davis that Palin has a copy of the comic and that she signed one for him. However, Comics Guy feels it is not as balanced or as meaty as similar projects by other publishers. Part of the problem is writer Neal Bailey, who describes himself as "part of the elite liberal media," injects himself and his own "Jiminy Cricket" - who chastises him to be fair - into the story. While somewhat amusing, the device is distracting and takes panels away that could have focused on Palin herself while letting readers make up their own minds. Another flaw is that Bailey seems to have relied solely on research from mainstream sources. One of the problems with that is that the biography seems methodical instead of passionate, and prevents Palin from coming alive on the page. There are some tasty nuggets - Palin drawing names out of a hopper to call residents of Wasilla to see if they were happy with her job as mayor - but Comics Guy feels there is a glaring omission. We get the Katie Couric interview and a couple of panels from Palin's debate with Joe Biden, but Bailey doesn't include one panel, caption or word balloon of her speech accepting her nomination as John McCain's running mate at the 2008 Republican Convention. This was the speech that brought her to national prominence and was so powerful it energized conservatives, swung independents to McCain's side for a time (albeit a brief one) and caused Democrats to furiously write out checks to help defeat her. That said, the comic is informative and relatively balanced, which even Bailey admits is difficult when the major source of his information comes from the mainstream media, which he admits is biased, and he gives two possible reasons why this is so. "One, that there are a disproportionate number of negative stories about Sarah Palin, stories that, nonetheless, constitute much of what we know about her, and/or . . . two, she has earned these negative reports by her own actions." Flaws and all, Comics Guy thinks readers of all political stripes will enjoy reading this comic and coming to their own conclusions. * Bluewater Publisher Davis says there are options if you can't find his company's "Sarah Palin" biography at comic shops. "They can get it at Amazon or order it through their bookstore," he said. "We also have it for sale at airports, 7-Elevens and Jo-Ann's Fabrics. Who knew I would ever have sales at a fabric store - they are part of our demo who are buying these books." Indeed, the comic seems to be attracting a host of new people to comic stores, which is why it's sold out, according to Davis. "It's different across the board," he said. "Older women who never knew comic stores [existed] are going in to get the comics. Men are buying them; women are buying them for their daughters. Collectors of political stuff - it really is all over the board for these."