(co-)Captain Power (I presume), it's looking like a day-trip at this point, most likely Saturday. I can send you an email with details, I've only got two other people interested at the moment.

Wha??!! When was the coup d'etat (sp?)! Wasn't there suppose to be some kind of insurection(sp?) and a fight to the death with the loyalist forces fighting against the insurgents?

Hey Paras, you still thinking of heading to the mountains this weekend? Let me know, it sounds intriguing.

The Dark Knight vs. Richard B. Cheney:

Nolan's version of Batman is motivated by moral philosopher Michael Walzer's "dirty hands" argument. Walzer grappled with the problems on display in "The Dark Knight" and proposed, in an influential 1973 essay, that the key to engaging in morally dubious activities, like torture, during times of emergency is to acknowledge their heinousness and, once the emergency passes, accept legal sanction for the burden of saving the world.

One problem with Walzer's argument, as its many critics have noted, is that the results are still horrific -- torture, indefinite detention, assassination and other such practices incompatible with civilization. Another is that it presumes that once unlimited authorities are handed to an individual, that person can be trusted to relinquish them -- or even to determine, contrary to his or her interest, that the emergency has passed.

In the world of comic, that's easy. Batman is Batman -- he's conflicted, sure, but he's a hero. That's why in both movies, little children -- fellow incorruptibles -- are the only ones who neither fear nor hate him: they can see him as he sees himself.

But in the real world, this concept is ludicrous and anti-American.

First, it presumes an absurd omnipotence that the Cheneys of the world can even tell who is and who isn't a real threat -- a proposition shattered by the unreality of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and ties to Al Qaeda in 2003.

Second, it presumes that the emergency will pass at some point, though Cheney and his allies have repeatedly said they view it as open-ended and generational. In testimony earlier this month to a House panel, Addington hectored members of Congress for, in his view, suggesting that the danger from Al Qaeda had somehow diminished after seven years of the war on terrorism. Former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld famously dubbed it "The Long War."

Third, it gives Al Qaeda exactly what it wants -- open-ended wars of occupation that deplete U.S. military and financial resources, increase Muslim discontent at U.S. policy and, ultimately, makes the the world a more dangerous place.

yeah, by all means, go for it. Let me know what they think of it if they say anything.

Look good so far. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Do you mind if I post it on my groups board?

Hey al, I tried drawing a robot the other day. I thought maybe you'd be interested in seeing it since you yourself do a lot of that sort of thing. You can check it out here: www.guerillustrate.wordpress.com

What’s In It For Doogie Howser? -- an analysis of Joss Whedon's experiment in an alternative development/distribution model with Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

It may not be the kind of bucks he could make from writing and directing a feature film, but very few feature films make millions of bucks in profit (and bear in mind that Whedon’s own feature films haven’t actually done so well, his rabid fan base notwithstanding). The Internet freemium model may be just what Dr. Horrible ordered to enable him to connect with his fans, get the artistic freedom he needs, and sustain himself in a business sense with a niche fan base.

Fourteen Passive-Aggressive Appetizers:

2. Vegetarian friends? Try veggie rumaki: wrap a strip of imitation bacon around a water chestnut, spear with a toothpick, and broil—but instead of imitation bacon use real bacon, and instead of a water chestnut use veal.

That must make it hard for Jess to hang out with Jess, then...

this may truthfully be the nerdiest song we've written