I know I linked to her from the Tumblr site back when, but I feel the need to remind people that Kate Beaton is a fantastic comics artist. Think US/European history mixed with Snake 'n' Bacon. (TPCQ: "Sssss." "I'm real bacon.") Click on the image here to the right to see the full-size version. (Warning: It has bad words.)

I'm also reading The Nightly News, a graphic novel about a cult which attacks reporters. I bought it because I was flipping through it and found this exchange on page two:

"The mass media serve as a system for communicating messages and symbols to the general populace. It is their function to amuse, entertain, and inform, and to inculcate individuals with the values, beliefs, and codes of behavior that will integrate them into the institutional structures of the larger society. In a world of concentrated wealth and major conflicts of class interest, to fulfill this role requires systematic propaganda." – Noam Chomsky & Edward S. Herman, Manufacturing Consent

"...Chomsky's a [bad word] retard." – Senator M. Jay Rector, D-GA

I have mixed feelings about the book so far (which hopefully I'll share when I'm done – oh boy, hang on!), but I thought this was an interesting exchange, on p. .. well, it appears there are no page numbers. This is maybe 1/3 through the book:

Government Agent: "remember... 'Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.'"

Media Magnate: "Who's that? Chomsky?"

Government Agent: "Goebbels. Goodbye."

Okay, back to COD4.

No more TimeWasters&trade today. Go read Beaton's comics.

Today I'm listening to: See the post from earlier today. I'm still listening to that.