Month in Review: October, 2011

This is the month where everything went very, very strange.  And, that was apparently a good thing.  This is officially the month with the most page views ever. Who knew?

I started out with something that pissed me off: DC Comics turning Starfire and Catwoman, two of their stronger female protagonists, into sluts, to put it charitably.  They were so totally reduced to sex objects, I wanted to throw rocks.

So I threw angry language at them instead.

Ironically, in one month, it has become the most read post on this entire blog, beating out Disasters to Marvel at, which is a year old.

Also, I decided to get back to creative writing, creating more surveys that my characters have filled out.  You know, the older online essays that used to be sort of fun.  I had one for the German spy Manana Shushurin, and another for the Secret Service agent and nerd, Wilhelmina Goldberg, as well as the lethal weapon, Irish Interpol Agent Maureen McGrail.

I didn't have all that many music blogs this month.  I threw up some John Williams marches, and Tom Smith taking his revenge on technology and Rob Granito

A false report on gay marriage in the military made me start an irate blog .... then I wanted a better footnote, discovered that the story I based my indignation on was bogus, and I was stuck with a blog I had to rewrite, very, very fast.

I put in another blog on writing. This time it was a matter of "how to exposition like crazy" -- when you have to dump a graduate paper's worth of information into one novel.

Also, I had a little conversation on how to write for disaster.  It's mostly how to write characters who are supposed to be terrified, when you yourself have never been quite that scared -- and, making certain that your character's fear is appropriate both to the situation, and the person.

And, there was my self-defense review for the month -- with my  my self defense columns for October. It had to do a lot with Occupy Wall Street, self defense for women, and self defense against the zombie apocalypse .... I'm serious about the zombie apocalypse part.

Catholic conspiracies 3.  This was almost a replacement for It was inspired after I saw a lot of idiots try to pin Occupy Wall Street on "crypto-Jewish Jesuit fascists founded by the Illuminati."

I want my Vatican ninjas.

Self defense review: Zombies, Womens self defense, Barbara Sheehan

This has been a really weird month for me, truly. And how is that difference from any other month, you ask?

 To start with, most of my self defense review materials turned out to be comedies.


Taking this month in chronological order will probably make the most sense.

To start with, I discovered a new Women's self defense, every Sunday.in Manhattan.  It's Krav Maga for women -- which is actually more advanced than going for straight, plain-old Krav Maga, believe it or not. It has to be for some of the techniques to be effective.

And then, of course, there was the little incident of Barbara Sheehan, battered women: which is always a problem.  In New York, you can't kill anyone and get away with it. That includes if you kill someone in self defense. Even if a jury let's you go, the New York District Attorney's office will find some way to throw you in jail, without remorse.

But, then again, the odds of that happening are more likely when you consider that Barbara Sheehan shot her husband with his own gun while he was shaving, after she just came back from her next door neighbors. Click the link to read more.
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Catholic Conspiracies 3: Jesuits, OWS, and the Vandals Are Here.

Vatican

Ninja

Remod

(Draft)

Once upon a time, very long ago, I discussed how the Catholic Church seems to be the favorite of multi-generational bands of abject nutcases.  I then expanded the topic, discussing how many fruit loops were involved, and that was titled The Revenge of the Vatican Ninjas.

In this case, we're going to add a bit of local politics.  And by local, I mean New York.

Has anyone heard of Occupy Wall Street?

If you haven't, that's okay, they're rather annoying -- essentially a fun bunch of anarchists hanging out in Zuccotti park who were told that 1968 was a really fun time, that bathing is bad for you, and it's quite okay to defecate wherever you deem fit.  It's not so much a political movement as an unruly mob. They're mad as hell, they're not going to take it anymore, and they are rebels without a clue -- when someone says they hate Wall Street, and the bailouts of Wall Street, yet they don't protest anyone who was bailed out, this spells stupid to me.

They've attacked police officers, and they want the redistribution of wealth, but they whine when their stuff is stolen.  At the end of the day, while they may appear threatening, they are mostly harmless.  And if you read any of the links, you'll notice that I spend most of my time making fun of them.  Just don't tell my editors, they may think I'm having too much fun.

So, what does this have to do with Catholic conspiracies?

Well, recently, I did a search on twitter for "Jesuits."

Big, big mistake. 

Apparently, now, the Jesuits are a crypto-Jews / Nazi / Zionist organization, bent on establishing the New World Order via Occupy Wall Street .... And, of course, founded by the Illuminati. 

As my friend Jason says,

"It's the internet. I'm not surprised about anything I find on it anymore. I think it was created by Cthullu, not Al Gore. It's a bottomless pit that WILL stare back at you if you look at it too hard. In the dark. On a cold winter night. With eerie music playing in the background (Cthullu has a MP3 player)."

I have to ask, now -- what are you people smoking?  Or is it that the internet goes to the loudest spammers, who happen to be nutjobs with unlimited time on their hands.

Either way, it's always good to see that nothing ever changes.

The amusing part of the Occupy Wall Street movement as "crypto-Jewish Jesuit conspiracy" is twofold, really.  One, they've got an emerging anti-Semitic group in there, with makes the whole "evil Jewish Conspiracy" part kinda stupid .... er.  

On the other hand, their fellow occupiers have issues with breaking other people's toys.

How so?

I'll give you one guess.

Their international branch at "Occupy Rome," in addition to firebombing cars, has taken upon itself to smash up religious icons.

All I can think is: if this happened to a synagogue, would the Mossad have already killed everyone in this photo by now?

But, no, it's just the Catholics.  So, who cares?

Ann Margaret Lewis, posted this to her facebook page and asked "Why?"

And isn't it obvious?  Because Catholics are "evil, baby-raping priests," and most of these people are too busy worshiping their iPads . And they like to talk about how they should "eat the Rich"-- and the Catholics are wonderfully rich and powerful, aren't they? They have so many shiny things, after all.... And, somehow, the sarcasm isn't burning a hole in my keyboard.

And, sure enough, someone said just that, responding with two recent stories.**   And by recent, I mean they happened the week before.  The words are "innocent until proven guilty ... unless he's Catholic," aren't they? But, it's nice to see anyone can justify a hate crime is the target is "right."

But, thus far, Occupy Wall Street has endorsements from the Nazi party of America, the Communist party, and David Duke.

Between this and the above "evil Jesuit plot," it seems that a faceless, aimless rabble makes for a great Rorschach test for ideologists of any stripe.  "Oh look, there's a group of angry protesters, they must hate who I hate," or "they embody everything I despise."

Vatican Ninja Chibi.

"Grr. Arrgh"

While it is quite entertaining to watch a group of people go slowly insane, it's time these guys ought to come up with a coherent message. Hell, the Tea Party's wants could be summed up as "We hate big government, we want fewer taxes, less spending and no Obamacare."

With the OWS, we have the Nazis, the Klan, the Communists, "we hate Jews / big business / brand names / we're wearing brand names/ we hate bailouts but won't protest those who got bailouts ...."  

Oh, yeah, and they're an evil Jesuit conspiracy.....

Can I have my Vatican Ninjas now?

**The footnotes are below the break.

Don't Panic: a writer's guide to disaster

I should start by mentioning that this is going to be less about writing disasters, and more about a character reacting to them.

My characters have all sorts of problems.

In my books, I've had people confronted with Being beaten to death, Destruction of public property, heartbreak, a small war, as well as vampires and the end of the world.

In most cases, this is easy for writers to put down. Fear is easy, everyone has experienced it in one way or another.

In my case, not so much.

There are two moments in my life that highlight the reasons my characters react the way they do.

One New Year's eve, I was over at a friend's house.  My sister decided to be helpful in the kitchen, and went to work cutting vegetables with a mandolin slicer.

Somehow, my sister managed to cut off the pad of her little finger.

The husband of the house couldn't look at the sight of blood. The wife felt immediately ill. My sister felt faint from blood loss almost instantly.

I rolled my eyes, sighed, made sure that the severed part clicked into place with the rest of the meat puzzle of my sister's finger, wrapped it, and drove her to the nearest ER.  We were seen immediately, since it was only 6pm on New Year's eve.  Midnight would have been a different kettle of fish, I'm sure.

I didn't freak out before, during, of after the incident. I was mostly annoyed that the evening might be shot to hell.  I went out into the parking lot with my cell phone and started calling people to wish them all a happy new year.  It took about 90 minutes for my sister's nine stitches to put her back together again. And a fun time was had by all.

And this isn't gloating. This isn't "I kept my head while others lost theirs!" moment. This was a moment of irritation, annoyance, and "Damnit, I have to play ambulance driver? Really?"

Now, you could say this happened to someone else. so why should I worry.

Then there was the time I was accused of being a terrorist....
[more below the break]

How to exposition like crazy

A Pius Man, as has been noted, has a lot of history in it.

Good ways to deliver data to the audience can be seen all over the place.  Bad ways can be seen in The Da Vinci Code; being pedantic lost me a few pages into that book, and I'm a history major, you would have thought pedantic would have been right up my alley.

However, if you want to see a good, clean delivery of data, you might want to see Masks, chapter 12: The Diversion.  Rebekah has a nice, straightforward and Hitchcockian way of delivering data while having a threat going on in the background.

However, welcome to A Pius Man ... based off of a graduate paper I did on the subject.

Which means about a metric ton more information.

Thankfully, a lot of what I've done with it has been a matter of cutting away ....

What do I mean?

It's sort of like having a cliffhanger in the middle of a scene: "Your hero is about to have his head bashed in ...."

Next scene: discussing history and what the latest information means.

Repeat as needed.

Run, as pissed off readers throw novels at you.

And, of course, people CAN skip the history ... if they don't mind missing the major plot points I slip in.

I'm evil and I'm glad.

Muahahaha....

That is all. 

Characters answering surveys: Wilhelmina Goldberg

Have you ever gotten an internet survey?  It has strange questions like your favorite foods, and flavors, that sort of thing.



Ever wondered what would happen if you had a novel character answer one of those?



I decided to have a little fun this week, so I decided to fill one of them out .... as my character Wilhelmina Goldberg -- Secret Service Agent, Tech-expert, and all around barrel of laughs.  I haven't mentioned her in a while, so she's due.



[More below the break]

***********

1) Your Name: Wilhelmina Goldberg

2) Nicknames: Villie

3) City where you live?: Washington DC, when I'm there.

4) School?: Polytech

5) Parents Names?:  Mom and Dad

6) Eye color?: Hazel

7) Hair?: Whatever I decide it is

8)Pets?: Does a roomate count?

9) Siblings?: Too many

10) Best Friends: My computer. I call him Hal.  He talks like Viggo Mortensen

12) Best Enemies: Vista / Bill Gates.

13) Can you dance?: Not really

14) Saddest moment in recent memory: When Steve Jobs died



Favorite TV Shows

Comedy: Whenever Bill Gates has a press conference

Drama: Doctor Who

Reality Show: Sons of Guns

Science fiction show: "Numbers"

Favorite car show: either Top Gear, or Knightrider.



Favorite actor: Orlando Bloom



Favorite novel: Lord of the Rings



Most desired gadget: Sonic Screwdriver.



Most desired recreational toy: One I can't program, you mean?  A lightsaber. I have some people I need to negotiate with. It would come in handy



WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING: Timothy Zahn's Star Wars novels. All of them.



WHAT CD's ARE IN YOUR PLAYER RIGHT NOW?: You mean the playlist on my I-pod?  Tom Smith.



WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?: "The Men of Lord of the Rings."  I photoshopped it myself



FAVORITE BOARD GAME?: Boards? They used boards before computers? Leave me alone, I have Warhammer.



FAVORITE MAGAZINES: Security Magazine



FAVORITE SMELLS?: A warm hard drive



BEST FEELING IN THE WORLD?:  Showing up at a new place .



WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?: Being ordered to fortify the security of someone who won't listen to a damn thing I say.  I'm looking at you, Saudi Ambassador.



ROLLER COASTER SCARY OR EXCITING?: I can't bring my laptop on board. They suck.



HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE?: I don't do rings. I program the tunes to various themes of Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Babylon 5, usually depending on who it is.  Sometimes I'll let it go to voicemail so I can listen to the whole tune...



FUTURE CHILD' NAME? Sean Luke, and Arwyn.

DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST? I grew up in New York, I don't drive, really.



DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? My harddrive



STORMS - COOL OR SCARY? They screw up my Wifi!!!



WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? : The C train, if you want to be picky



IF YOU COULD MEET ONE PERSON DEAD OR ALIVE:  Stephen Hawking. He needs a good talking to.



FAVORITE DRINK? Slivovitz



EVER BEEN IN LOVE?: Yes, but David Tennant isn't taking my calls.

WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? My go-bags



FAVORITE COLOR CLOTHES TO WEAR:  Black. Makes my job easier.



Do you believe in Heaven/Hell: I've been to Hell on assignment. There is lots of sand there.



Who is the person(s) you despise most?: Bill Gates

What is your computer desk made of? I don't need desks. I have a lap.

What did you do last night?: Rewrote Windows 7. Now it runs more like a Mac.

Dream car?: Kitt, only fully wired with voice commands and net access.

Have you ever won any special awards?: Yes. But the NSA won't let me have them back.

Fast or slow?: Faster the better, because they're usually shooting at me.

DADT, Gay Marriage: Who cares?

Last week wasn't very good as far as blog posts went. And I'm sorry for that. This week, I've got three posts already written.  This one is considered "timely," as my Examiner.com editors like to say.



A while ago, I wrote an article about gay marriage in New York.  It was entitled: Gay Marriage, so what?  I suspect you can guess what my general conclusions were.



I collect all sorts of weird articles, and magazines.  On the one hand, I could read Guns and Ammo, then the Spring catalog for a major publisher, then Time Magazine (until they went anti-Semite), the list goes on.



One such magazine is Salute, the magazine of the archdiocese for the military services, USA.



Yes, the military has their own archdiocese.



In their Summer, 2011 issue, there was a statement from Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, the Archbishop for USA military services.

His statement was two pages long, and here's an excerpt ...

"The church is unwavering in her commitment to the pastoral care of all persons in need, regardless of sexual inclination or anything else.  All people in need are served by Catholc Chaplains with zeal and passion for bringing the reality of the Risen Lord to all.  Whether Don't ask don't tell persists or not is immaterial to that bedrock principle.  The faithful .... must never forget that those with a homosexual inclination must be treated with the respect worthy of their human dignity."  [Typed by hand, any typos are mine]

In short: that's nice, we don't care if they're outed, it doesn't matter to us.



The message then cited Federal law (1 USC subection 7)... which I believe is commonly known as the defense of marriage act (DOMA).



So, "yes, you have DADT repealed. Who cares? We don't like it, but we're not going to marry gays, and you're not going to make us. We can continue, business as usual."  Everyone can move on.



Which is pretty much what I said the first time about gay marriage.



It's so nice when the Catholic Church listens to me.

[More below the break]



Then, on September 30th, the Pentagon issued an order allowing all military clergy to perform gay marriage ceremonies ....



The response of Broglio?  It's pretty much the same. Not to mention, there is still DOMA.  It's a federal law.  How can a federal agency allow the existence of something that, legally, does not exist at the federal level?



And, come April, 2012, what will happen when all of the gay married couples file joint income tax? The IRS cannot acknowledge them -- the IRS is a federal agency.  Accountant friends (and relative) are already saying that the IRS will not accept joint filings from any of the new marriages from New York (et al) between two men, or two women.



Not to mention .... the military has bases all over the 50 states. Gay marriage is only passed in about ... Five? (CA, VT, MA, NY, HI).  Isn't that a bit of a problem? And arguing that they are federal institutions is a problem, when you consider that, again, DOMA is federal law. State laws do not matter in this instance.



Is it just me, or did someone not think this through?



As I said the first time: I'll start to care about gay marriage when someone comes after religion in its name.



I don't care just yet. Initial reports of this story said that "military chaplains are being forced to marry homosexual couples."  I cared for about five minutes, then I looked for more footnotes.



However, now that I found that it "allowed" gay marriage, instead of "requiring" clergy to perform them, I'm back to not caring. Though the legal situation is going to be hilarious.

Characters answering surveys: Maureen McGrail.

Have you ever gotten an internet survey?  It has strange questions like your favorite foods, and flavors, that sort of thing.



Ever wondered what would happen if you had a novel character answer one of those?



I decided to have a little fun this week, so I decided to fill one of them out .... as my character Maureen McGrail -- Irish Interpol Agent, and registered lethal weapon.  I haven't mentioned her in a while, so she's due.



[More below the break]

***********

1) Your Name: Maureen McGrail

2) Nicknames: None

3) City where you live?: Dublin, Ireland

4) School?: Trinity College

5) Parents Names?:  Padraig and Mary

6) Eye color?: Green

7) Hair?: Black

8)Pets?: Irish Wolfhound

9) Siblings?: None

10) Best Friends: Do colleagues count?

12) Best Enemies: Sean A.P. Ryan

13) Can you dance?: Of course I can. I call it Tai Chi, but doesn't that count?



Favorite TV Shows

Comedy: Watching the British Parliament

Drama: Deadliest Warrior

Reality Show: Reality is overrated

Science fiction show: The weather channel



Favorite actor: David Tennant



Favorite novel: Tim Pat Coogan's "The IRA." I think it's a comedy, because I've read the files on what happened. He's a joke.



WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING: John Whitman's Black Belt Krav Maga



WHAT CD's ARE IN YOUR PLAYER RIGHT NOW?: U2



WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?: A shamrock with crosshairs on it.



FAVORITE BOARD GAME?: Chess



FAVORITE MAGAZINES: Black Belt Magazine



FAVORITE SMELLS?: Fresh air



WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?:  See Sean Ryan show up at my crime scene



BEST FEELING IN THE WORLD?: When I see him in my rearview mirror



ROLLER COASTER SCARY OR EXCITING?: A target



HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE?: I check the voicemail later.



FUTURE CHILD' NAME? When I get someone to have kids with, I'll let you know, won't I?

DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST? Not particular.



DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? My dog isn't that fat. I sleep with him.



STORMS - COOL OR SCARY? We don't get many where I live.



WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? : Porche ... it was a loaner.



IF YOU COULD MEET ONE PERSON DEAD OR ALIVE:  Can't this question be: "If there's someone you never want to meet again, who would it be?"



FAVORITE DRINK? Guiness



EVER BEEN IN LOVE?: Yes

WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? My go-bag



FAVORITE COLOR CLOTHES TO WEAR:  Dark green. Best for camouflage



Do you believe in Heaven/Hell: I'm in Ireland. I live in Heaven.



Who is the person(s) you despise most?: Sean A.P Ryan

What is your computer desk made of? I'm not allowed a desk. I'm not at the office that often.

What did you do last night?: Broke up a drug lord's penthouse.

Dream car?: A private plane.

Have you ever won any special awards?: Yes. Mostly martial arts awards.

Fast or slow?: Fast and low

Music blog: Tom Smith; Cheap Cyborg, Fake it better, Granito.

It's the columbus day weekend.  Most people don't show up on the blog on long weekends.



However, for those of you who have shown up, some music....



First, ever wonder what would happen in the future? Ever consider that technology would enable you to have laser beams and stuff?  Well, the future is here ... what happened?

One Mr. Rob Granito is a liar, a thief, and an art forger -- only what he does is steal other people's comic book artwork and claim it as his own.

This song is rated R for language -- the only language strong enough to adequately describe the little punk.

Music Blog: John Williams marches

I figured that this was going to be one of two items today: another character filling in another survey, or a music blog.

You're in luck: music.

First: the march of the Wedding Party at one of my friend's wedding last year .....

The theme to Superman....

Mainly because his wife forbade Star Wars. Otherwise, it would have been the Imperial March




And, speaking of Star Wars ...

Characters answering surveys: Manana Shushurin

Resume of

Manana Shushurin

Have you ever gotten an internet survey?  It has strange questions like your favorite foods, and flavors, that sort of thing.



Ever wondered what would happen if you had a novel character answer one of those?



I decided to have a little fun this week, so I decided to fill one of them out .... as my character Manana Shushurin, German spy, breathtaking beauty, and possible assassin.



I don't talk about her as much as I do the others, mainly because I don't want to try luring people to my site with photos of beautiful women.



But, I figured, now would be a good time to talk a little more about her.

[More below the break]

***********

1) Your Name: Manana Shushurin

2) Nicknames: Mani

3) City where you live?: Berlin, German.

4) School?: Wittenburg university. Degrees in philosophy, history, and political science.

5) Parents Names?:  Iosef and Andrea

6) Eye color?: Hazel

7) Hair?: Brunette

8)Pets?: Goldfish

9) Siblings?: Mikhail

10) Best Friends: Do colleagues count?

12) Best Enemies: See #5 and #9

13) Can you dance?: Yes. Usually with training partners.



Favorite TV Shows

Comedy: Tinker Tailor Solider Spy (tv miniseries)

Drama: The Avengers

Reality Show: Get Smart (too many old American reruns in Germany)



Favorite actor: Any American president. I've read their files.



Favorite novel: Every Spy a Prince. (I've read too many intel reports to consider that a historical work)



WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING: Michael Dibdin's "Aurelio Zen" mystery series.



WHAT CD's ARE IN YOUR PLAYER RIGHT NOW?: E Nomine's Vater Unser..



WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?: BND symbol



FAVORITE BOARD GAME?: Risk



FAVORITE MAGAZINES: SWAT Magazine



FAVORITE SMELLS?: Pipe smoke.



WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?: When someone who should love you actually hates you.



BEST FEELING IN THE WORLD?: When I kill him.



ROLLER COASTER SCARY OR EXCITING?: Relaxing



HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE?: Depends how fast I can check caller ID



FUTURE CHILD' NAME? Never thought of it

DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST? I grew up on the autobahn. Slow is not an option.



DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? Yes. It hides my gun.



STORMS - COOL OR SCARY? Sounds to go to sleep to.



WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? : Mercedes



IF YOU COULD MEET ONE PERSON DEAD OR ALIVE:  Only two. They are alive. They won't be after I meet them.



FAVORITE DRINK? Lager



EVER BEEN IN LOVE?: no

WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? Things the ATF is afraid of



FAVORITE COLOR CLOTHES TO WEAR:  black



Do you believe in Heaven/Hell: I live in what used to be East Germany. I believe in Hell.



Who is the person(s) you despise most?: See #5 and #9

What is your computer desk made of? A cheap wood impersonation.

What did you do last night?: Slept on my office couch.

Dream car?: Panzer

Have you ever won any special awards?: Yes, but I can't tell you about any of them.

Fast or slow?: Fast, you're a harder target then

Sex, DC Comics, and ... wtf?

Long term readers know my opinion on sex in writing.  I'd say my opinion on sex in general is very Catholic, but since no one understand that, I'm not even going to bother.



However, I can sum up my thoughts on sex in fiction very easily: who needs it?



As Rebekah says, we all know the mechanics. What possible reason is there for a blow by blow description? Pardon the pun, but you know what I mean.



Since my first article on sex, I've written a few sex scenes .... by few I mean two, and they were in the same book.  However, the "sex scene" was in someone's dream, and the protagonist was having a conversation with his dead wife through most of it. The sex was incidental, and mostly has to do with the fact that she was killed on their honeymoon.  The second sex scene was so vague, any less detail would be as clear as a Salvatore Dali painting, only with words.

Yes, I brought in Dali to an article on sex. I'm weird. However, there is a point.

Even during these scenes, there's no blow by blow description. (I'm going to stop apologizing for that phrase, just roll with it.).  It's not necessary, unless someone's writing porn.  Even something as intimate as noticing a tattoo on someone during sex doesn't necessitate that much detail -- the audience does not need to know what specific act the individual was doing when s/he noticed the tattoo.  It's sex. Nudity happens.  Next chapter.

So, what prompted today's rant?

DC Comics seems to be going back to the 1990s, where the artistic style was summarized by my friend Jason as "Big boobs, big guns."

The current version seems to focus on women and sexuality, with an overemphasis on the sex.

I've no problem with sexuality, or with women -- look at my model for Manana Shushurin if you don't believe me --  it's that it's bad writing.

Starfire, in costume

Take, for example, the character of Starfire.  She's an alien with red hair, green eyes (and I don't mean with two green irises, I mean the entire eye is green), orange skin, with measurements somewhere in the 36 DD battery range.

Normally, I would stop reading at green-eyed redhead (I grew up with a crush on the female lead in Riverdance, leave me alone).  The character has always been sexually relaxed, it was mostly a cultural thing.  And, for the most part, it was used properly -- as comedy.  For example, in the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths, Starfire walks in with Nightwing, meets an old friend, and introduces him as "This is Nightwing, my lover."

Nightwing's reaction is such that you suspect he's glad that he has to go and face the end of the world.

And that was it.  One panel. Move on.

[More below the break]