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Volume 33, Issue 1:
The HEURISTIC! Squelch

Justice League Offers Support to U.S.

In a unanimous vote, Green Lantern, Superman, Batman, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Plastic Man, Flash, and Aquaman have decided to offer support to the U.S. effort to combat global terrorism. “We helped rebuild Metropolis from rubble when it was destroyed, and even when Gotham was abandoned by the government, we remained vigilant against outside forces who sought to exploit the situation,” said Superman in a statement broadcast from Justice League Headquarters on the moon. “Furthermore, no organization has more experience with ridding the world of evildoers.”

Some still doubt the trustworthiness of costumed heroes whose identities remain unknown, but U.S. officials have thanked the superheroes for their support. Vice President Dick Cheney stated, “Winning this war means using whatever channels are available to us. If that means dealing with unsavory or superpowered individuals, so be it. Sure, Batman may have kept files on the weaknesses of his own allies, leading to their crushing near-defeat at the hands of Ra’s al Ghul when that information was compromised. He’s also been accused of perpetuating countless instances of what might be seen as human rights violations. But in these dire circumstances we’re not ruling out any options. The important thing is he’s on our side, and we’re glad to have him.”

As the League’s head strategist, Batman has reportedly begun drawing up plans for an campaign known as “Operation Infinite Justice League.” Batman plans to use his own detective abilities to locate terrorists, with the help of Superman’s reconnaissance and X-ray vision. Martian Manhunter will infiltrate terrorist cells using his shapeshifting abilities, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern will lead raids on camps as well as defending against terrorist attacks, and Aquaman will do something in the water while Flash runs really fast.

“Don’t even talk to me about Plastic Man,” Batman added, shaking his head.

Music Beat

Yes, Michelle Branch, I Will Have Sex With You

If you’re like me, you listen to music to escape reality. If I’m feeling depressed, I’ll listen to Kool and the Gang’s “Celebrate.” If I’m feeling lazy, it’s Huey Lewis’ “Sports.” If I haven’t eaten for a few days it’s time for Weird Al Yankovic’s “Food Album.” Throughout my life, music has always been there to provide me with temporary escape routes from my humdrum existence, and for that I am grateful. And after all these years I’ve come to tune my musical tastes to anticipate how I’ll be feeling when I listen to each record. And it is for this reason that the latest trend in the female R&B realm has passed me thankfully by.

Consider songs such as “Bootylicious” by Destiny’s Child, in which the formidable foursome/duo/trio smugly inform me that they don’t think I’m ready to bust their respective cherries. Or “Minute Man” by Missy Elliot, a sweeping condemnation of gents who are quick on the draw. Never in my life have I spent hours driving a woman to climax after earth-shaking climax only to think to myself, “Now if only I had finished a little quicker, I could hear her complain about my premature ejaculation. Man, that’d be sweet right now.” The basic message that we’re getting out of female R&B acts these days can be summed up as “Ooh, look at me. I’m so sexy. You can’t have sex with me, that’s how sexy I am.” While this may be a fitting slogan for the rising postfeminist pop culture movement, it hardly makes for a suitable alternative to reality. It’s difficult for me to imagine a situation in which there were so many women trying to swallow my cock that I would actively seek out pre-emptive rejection in the form of three-minute dance boogies.

This brings us to the much-needed antithesis to the aggressive, confrontational themes of female hip hop. Escape need not be sought any further than the soothing music of middle-class white women. If growing up in the ghetto hardens a woman and hones her self-confidence and assertiveness, growing up in the foamy lap of American suburbia reduces her to a submissive mound of sexual pudding, fostering every conceivable insecurity until she has no choice but to beg me to have sex with her in her music. I’m “everywhere” to Michelle Branch. Sarah McLachlan swears my love is “better than ice cream.” And if I could ever hack my way through Jewel’s turgid poetry, I’m pretty sure I’d find her asking me to bone her, too. And that’s plenty pleasing to my ears.

Not only are white female folk singers more forthcoming with their boxes, but they’re just as attractive as their hip hop counterparts, and in some cases more so. (At least in the case of Missy Elliot. Hey, Missy. You know what? Maybe the reason guys don’t last so long for you is that your mountainous flab squeezes their semen out like toothpaste before proper stimulation has been attained.)

In conclusion, I strongly encourage young men to mimic my music-buying habits, for the simple sake of self-esteem and escapism. Furthermore, I encourage young women to do the same, since I’d hate for all those self-confident, independent, successful female songwriters to put any ideas into their heads.

Top Ten Things You Would Do If You Ran the Zoo

  1. Ten lucky kids bring home a zebra stripe
  2. Cradle your torn-off arm in your remaining arm
  3. Cradle baby tigers in your arms
  4. Increase flamingo availability for use as croquet mallets
  5. Bleach everything, call it albino
  6. Many boring small cages become one big fun cage
  7. Turn giraffes into waterslides (by hollowing out their backs)
  8. Downgrade polar bears to 95% dangerous
  9. So much panda breeding
  10. Hourly shows of Mr. Lion Meets Mr. Deer

Top Ten Worst Things to Say in a Courtroom

  1. “They will be brought to justice or justice will be brought to them.”
  2. “Is she typing everything I say? Even ‘blarvemarf’?”
  3. “Not not not not not guilty.”
  4. “The only thing separating you from me is a law degree, a shitload of law experience, a bench appointment, and whatever else you need to be a judge.”
  5. “I killed that guy. That guy who died. I killed him.”
  6. “I didn’t see who took your gavel; I was too busy paying attention to the new gavel I just got.”
  7. “You can’t be the judge, you’re a woman!”
  8. “What the hell kind of stupid bullshit is that, your Honor?”
  9. “It’s my Bible now.”
  10. “Like the whole whole truth?”

Top Ten Signs You Might Be Psychic

  1. When you were five you said “Someday I’ll go to Berkeley and live in a shithole apartment.”
  2. You could win the lottery if you wanted to
  3. Is this your card?
  4. You’re homeless and need change
  5. You knew Original Sin was a terrible movie before it even came out
  6. You win every game of Minesweeper
  7. You’re friends with Dionne Warwick
  8. You had a feeling this list was going to happen
  9. You’re Jamaican and you have an infomercial
  10. All your spoons are bent

Top Ten Responses to “Are We There Yet?”

  1. “Don’t make me break your thumbs again.”

  2. “Kinda.”

  3. “We arrived an hour ago. We’re sitting in the kitchen.”
  4. “No, Moses says we’ve got 39 more years.”
  5. “Every time you ask, it gets a little farther away.”
  6. “No, when you were sleeping I turned around.”
  7. “Yes. This is it. Here.”
  8. “It’s the journey that matters. So we’ll drive forever.”
  9. “Oh, we passed it. When we were there you must have forgotten to ask.”
  10. “I don’t know. Are we?”

Top Ten Contingency Plans for a Magic Trick Gone Awry

  1. Explain that she won’t levitate because she’s heavy with sin.
  2. Accuse lovely assistant of sabotage
  3. Magically, the rings are attached and won’t ever come apart!”
  4. “Okay, you do it!”
  5. “And now I shall make an ambulance appear.”
  6. Just say, “Did you miss it?”
  7. “What you didn’t know was that that half was horribly infected with gangrene.”
  8. Rabbit stew
  9. “Don’t worry, folks, he was evil.”
  10. “Is this not your card?”

Top Ten Ways to Hit on the Attractive Person Driving Behind You

  1. Just be yourself
  2. Pop trunk, unleashing shower of prophylactics and birth control pills
  3. Pop trunk, unleashing shower of rose petals
  4. Any which way but loose
  5. Drive defensively, but not too defensively
  6. Befriend the less-attractive friend driving behind them
  7. Release silky soft smoke screen
  8. Pants-less Chinese Fire Drill … into the attractive person’s car
  9. Turn on hazard lights, all sexy-like
  10. Slam on the brakes (and brace for love)

Top Ten Ways to Avoid a Shark Attack

  1. Cover self with fun house mirrors so you look like a bigger shark
  2. Dress up like a girl shark and flirt (Warning: May result in shark rape)
  3. Play dead
  4. Be the lead character
  5. Your first day in the ocean, beat up a shark so they know who’s boss
  6. Drain world’s oceans
  7. Rethink pants made of chum
  8. Swim with a slower, fatter, more appetizing buddy
  9. Pre-emptively get mauled by bear
  10. Stop bleeding

Top Ten Alternatives to the Metric System

  1. Breadboxes

  2. Will it fit in my ear / will it fit in my mouth?

  3. Tall, Grande, & Venti
  4. Always rounding up
  5. Just hitting shit with hammer until it fits
  6. Inches & ounces & quarts & furlongs & leagues
  7. Tantric System
  8. Metric Anarchy
  9. “About yea long.”
  10. Not measuring stuff anymore