Nance, ya nailed it

Democratic Underground's Nance Greggs writes here how she (and I) believe those who choose to serve our country in uniform should (and should not) be treated. As we conclude our annual Veterans' Day observance, let us now turn from moments of silence to making as much goddamned noise as we possibly can until these tenets are written into law and practiced as policy.

"Zero tolerance," my recovering-Catholic ass!

So, you thought the Roman Catholic Church in the US had finally gotten its act together with regard to sexually abusive priests in its ranks? Thought the cover-ups and the quiet relocations were finally at an end, and that any slimeball in a cassock who so much as laid a finger on any of the children in his care would be swiftly removed and punished? Thought the church's requirement of celibacy for priests wasn't an incubator for pedophilia after all?

Guess again.

Marvel Comics puts its back issues online (some of them, anyway)

In a bid to attract younger, more computer-using readers, Marvel Comics has announced it will make a portion of its ginormous library of back issues of its regular titles available free of charge, for a limited time, in a "screen-optimized" format. (See BBC News report here.)

Of course, this strategy may invite invidious comparisons of the stories written and drawn in yesteryear by giants of the field such as Lee, Kirby, Claremont, Steranko and Ditko to more recent work by today's often-lesser lights, so it could well backfire on Marvel. But any new effort to encourage literacy—not to say awareness of the legacy of the greats—is to be commended.

Detective Munch on the economy? Yep, you read right

Comedian-actor Richard Belzer, in addition to being an author of three books and playing one of the most popular fictional cops on TV, turns out to also be one of those annoying Hollywood actors who won't just shut up and do his work, but has to have a political opinion or two...and blog about them on the Huffington Post website. Check out his latest rant here.

Wikipedia notes that Belzer's character, erudite NYPD (and former Baltimore PD) Detective John Munch, is the only fictional character played by a single actor to appear on seven (!!) different television shows on three different networks: NBC (Homicide: Life on the Street, the Law & Order shows), Fox (The X-Files, Arrested Development), and the now-subsumed UPN (The Beat). Not bad for a guy who used to play dives as a stand-up comic.

(Bonus trivia: Belzer also played a recurring role as a muckraking TV reporter on a now-cancelled TV show in our favorite genre 16 years ago. Which one? And what was the character's name?)

Fellow cough-drop users, you are SO not going to believe this...

Most who know me are well aware that once or twice a year, I send the stock of Cadbury-Schweppes PLC up a point or two due to my utter dependence on one of their products for relief from the semi-annual attacks of bronchitis that follow a cold or the flu—and then hang on like a grasping in-law for weeks before I finally break down and go see the doctor for some real medication. Summer and winter, I can almost hear their people in the executive suite going, "Hey, we gained two points today! Leger must be sick again!"

The product, in case you hadn't guessed, is Halls® Mentho-Lyptus® Cough Drops (and its variants, Sugar-Free Halls and Halls PLUS® with the liquid cough-syrup center). Over the years, this little lozenge has succored me against sore throats, post-nasal drip and chest congestion where all other nostrums have failed, even the supposed strongest prescription cough syrups. Since its creation by the Halls brothers in England and through being bought out first by Warner-Lambert Laboratories (since gobbled up by Pfizer Inc.) and then by C-S, a couple dozen flavors have been trotted out for those (like me) who couldn't stomach the original plain menthol variety: cherry, honey-lemon (my personal fave), strawberry, spearmint, coffee and even green tea (in China only).

But tonight in a Rite Aid, I just ran into the weirdest flavor yet. I shit you not, people: in a bold experiment in co-branding with the folks over at their corporate sibling Canada Dry, the Halls makers are now selling ginger-ale-flavored cough drops. Behold and marvel. I bought some out of sheer curiosity, as I have guzzled many a glass of Canada Dry and/or of apple juice when ill in the past.* The taste was about what I had expected; while they might do in a pinch, I'd never choose them over my good old honey-lemon and cherry.

Am I the only one who thinks this is a way-out idea? Or does it make sense to anyone else who has had to (or chosen to) drink ginger ale when sick?
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*These two drinks always take me back in memory to my late maternal grandmother's house in Broussard, LA, just south of Lafayette where I was born; aside from her giving them to her sick grandson when she'd care for me to relieve my mother, these drinks, along with the old cyclamate-laden original Fresca, were among the few things she could safely quaff after she learned she had diabetes. (Diet 7-Up, now another Cadbury brand, would sometimes be in her fridge when she couldn't get Fresca.) Hospitals also seem to serve me apple juice, the [thankfully] very few times I have been in them as a patient.

Stupid Marching Band Tricks

Courtesy of YouTube by way of MilkAndCookies.com: A California college marching band plays the music—and reenacts the visual action—of several classic video games. If you're a fan of marching-band music (and an old Tetris addict) like me, you'll get a kick (and a giggle) out of this.
The Cal Band Video Game Halftime Show