This was kinda born out of two separate pieces of feedback. First, Billy really loved the t-shirt. Once he saw it, he IM'd me to rave about it and then placed an order. :) The second is the feedback from multiple sources that I should try to make some real money off of Pie2k. They all suggested certain things like: more frequent updates (everybody), pushing the merchandise (everybody), making more merchandise (Beth & Jon), making merchandise that's more than just character t-shirts (Tryon), and pushing for more donations (Jon). Nevertheless, I'm realizing that doing all that is a whole lot of work, and I don't expect any outpouring of support like R. K. Mulholland had. He kept getting e-mails from people saying how much the art was sub-par and that they hated it when he didn't get an update in. He basically told them, pay me a year's worth of salary, and I'll quit my job and take up the comic full time. Soon after, he had 20+ thousand dollars' worth of donations. So, he quit his job and took up the comic full time.
     This is actually one of three web comics I know of that have gone full time (or rather one of three that I actually read). The other two are Megatokyo and Penny Arcade. I would love to enjoy the kind of success they've enjoyed, but I know I don't put nearly enough time and energy into it to do so. I'm happy just looking at my trafic reports and seeing that I get a decent ammount of user sessions every day (about 100 user sessions in all, resulting in about 1000-1500 hits). Knowing that there's someone out there reading is good enough for me. So hit me up with message using the contact form on the menu on the right, and let me feel the love!
     So, time for some political stuffs. I don't know if you all have seen Fahrenheit 9/11 yet. If you haven't, go see it. Conservative or Liberal, the film is worth the viewing. At any rate, I'm sure you'll remember that there's a point when Moore is discussing the USA PATRIOT Act and he talks to a congressman who speaks in defense of it. He says that it's excellent legislation and that he'll stand by it. Then he says that he's got an 800 number and people can call whenever they have questions about it.
Well, according to the film, the 800 number doesn't exist, so Moore put the guy's direct office nubmer on the screen. So here's the guy's contact info.
     Porter Goss
     Chairman, House Inteligence Committee
     Washington, DC
     (202) 225-2536
     So, yeah.... he said in the interview that Americans can call him if they have any problems with, complaints about, or questions regarding the USA PATRIOT Act. I think I might give him a call Monday and complain that it sets a climate for deep abuses of civil liberties with no justification for those breaches whatsoever. Think I'm being overly critical? Do a google search for "Enemy Combatant USA PATRIOT Act." Better yet, check out this PDF (the first result from that search) authored by the Bill of Rights Defense Committee. It's an outline of the portions of the USA PATRIOT Act that abridge civil liberties. Some of it will really surprise you. Specifically, see Ammendment VI, provision #2 (page 8 of the document). Keep in mind while reading that declaring an "Enemy Combatant" has no criteria, no precident, and is left entirely at the President's discretion.
     And finally, one last piece of Liberal fun. Check out the site for the new documentary/90 minute investigative journalism project -- Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism. Definitely check out the trailer, along with the streaming videos from former Fox News employees. (Skip the other interviews, they're sickeningly self-righteous.)