Elektra and Vanessa Fisk (Kingpin's angry wife) got.it.on in Aaron's run of Punisher Max. Seemed a bit of a faxed-in performance though, they should hir the old jez to choreograph these things. Jez likes spice. There, I said it.

Constanf preaching?


Did I totally miss out on some good sermons?

This is, let us not forget, a comic-book site.

Social and political issues are a perfectly suitable discussion subject, but should be addressed in threads to that effect. Discussion derailing has been creating a lot of tension of late, something that ends up making everyone unhappy.

Furthermore, while spirited debate is one of the things that bring spice to life, it can only be done if we agree to disagree on certain issues.

That is correct.

I don't think anyone has with problems with anyone talking about their sexuality here. Over the last twelve or fifteen years or so(I can no longer remember the exact year I started posting over at cbr) I like to think that I've gotten to know a lot if the folks here abouts pretty well, so when I say that despite it's small size and insular nature I feel that we're a community of open, respectful people with a surprisingly diverse set of political, religious, moral and sexual beliefs I think I speak with a bit of authority on the subject.

Now, I don't like to speak for another user as I don't have the ability to instantly divine their complex interior motivations, I think Hondo's obvious frustration stems from the belief I espoused above. It used to be that we were a community where if say the topic of abortion came up, someone could feel safe saying, "Morally, I think abortion is wrong." And I could then say, "while you're certainly free to feel that way as we are all free to decide how best to align our own moral compasses, I don't think we have the right to impose those beliefs on others who may feel differently." And then we'd exchange arguments for and against the opinions and maybe things would get heated but at the end of the day we could still say,"man, Batman under Moench was great!" In another thread together without a hint of animosity left over from the prior discussion... But as a slew of recent issues like this one illustrate that isn't the case anymore for some reason and that lack of understanding is upsetting to many users just like Hondo. I mean sure he's a mod, but he's a regular poster too and just as susceptible to the same emotional impulses as anyone else. And I think what he's saying isn't a case of reverse homophobia(which as you pointed out is a dumb term) but rather an exclamation of "why have things changed? When did disagreements start becoming taken as personal attacks rather than exchanges of ideas!? And why are they now spilling over rather than being dealt with?" I don't have concrete answers to those questions, people(on both sides mind you) no longer see disagreements of ideals as attacks on their person though I have a hunch, and perhaps it's been simple along:

We're growing. We aren't the same group of people who started talking about old comics that seemed to be missing out on the love in the face of new #1's back on cbr all those years ago. Heck, we're not even the same people who started this forum just three(?) years ago. We've grown and with that growth we've gained many new members who don't have that same shared experience that despite the differences we're all basically good people and if we disagree it's not personal. I think that's what made our humble little section my home all those years ago but not everyone that's here now has that understanding now and that's understandable as a lot of places online(and in real life) simply aren't like that, so people's defenses are on high, conditioned to see slights. But that's not who we are here, that's not the culture and those fears need not apply here.

So if you're new here(or so old you've forgotten ) I'll say it loud and proud, we're good folks here, and this a good home. It's my home, and I'm proud to call it that.

I guess I'll get off my soap box now but I hope my words have meaning, not just to you but everyone else here too.


There I said it(is that how this works?)

Alas, it has degenerated into a quasi flame war.

Thread locked.

The whole "ugly Christmas sweater" thing is played out. It was kind of funny when it was an unintentional thing, such as when someone's grandmother knitted one or saw one in a store and just had to give it to some unsuspecting youngster. With the whole commercialization of the phenomenon, complete with entire offices having "ugly Christmas sweater" parties, it's just another thing whose time has come and gone at this point, as it's stopped being cute and moved into cliche.

There. I said it, along with a gruff "Bah, Humbug".