Tomorrow, May 6th , the Brits are conducting the United Kingdom General Election.  Things have been pretty contentious across the pond with Labour, Conservative, and Liberal Democratic Parties all vying for control of the Empire.  Why is this important to the 17 people who read thedailyjim.com? Enter the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Among the campaign promises made by candidates of the stalwart, 43 year old  MRL Party are motorizing the shoes of the elderly (for speeding up a shopping trip with your grams), adding an extra sock to packaging (for when you eventually lose one), and banning superheros from going to the dark side and using their powers for evil (apparently not just a problem in America).

Thanks to the worldly but neurotic Billy D., who called at about 4am to give me his insight on tomorrow’s election, “Duke, if the Monster Raving Loony Party gets into power, I can finally stop worrying about whose side Magneto is on!  Because right now, if he comes to my house … I’m just gonna’ lie down!”

Simon Hopper over at CNN wrote an entertaining and comprehensive article on the Raving Loonies.  You can check it out …HERE!

*NOTE *  There is an American Monster Raving Loony affiliate party based in Florida, but they’re not making any promises, just cocktails.

Being British, my old pal Action Man regularly reads The Sun tabloid.  Mostly he just looks at the ladies on “Page 3,” but occasionally he hits geek gold, as evidenced by this article about a comic thief in Australia.

Also, you’ll be happy to know that the Queen of England has personally approved all the spelling in the article below.  Thanks, Mum!

By THE SUN STAFF REPORTER Published: 03 May 2010

SPIDERMAN foiled a would-be thief as Jedi Knights blocked his escape route.

No, it’s not a comic book plot but the scene which unravelled in a Australian book store on Saturday.

Store owner Michael Baulderstone, dressed as Spiderman, spotted the man trying to steal an X-Men book worth $160 (£97).

The 45-year-old called for back-up and the hapless thief was surrounded by superheroes within seconds.

Mr Baulderstone said: “We had about 40 people dressed up as their favourite superheroes to celebrate International Free Comic Day, so he didn’t have much of a choice but to hand the comic back after a little bit of a scuffle.

“Everyone in the store thought it was a play, that it was street theatre of some sort. It wasn’t until I said ‘call the police’ that people started to realise.

“One of the funniest things about the incident was that I called for people to stand near the door and it just so happened we had people dressed as Jedi knights there blocking the exit, the Flash was there at some point too.

“It was a bit serious at the time, but now we’re looking back laughing at what greeted police.”

My wife is worried about Richie Rich (the cartoon boy billionaire, not the nightclub fashionista –she stopped worrying about him a couple of years ago).  She is concerned that while he’s as wealthy as Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark, he’ll never be at their super genius level; therefore destined to make some bad choices.  “Professor Keenbean does all the heavy thinking and Irona, that weird Terminator maid, manages any real threats.  Plus his mom and dad are still alive!”  I love when she tries to talk nerd, so we start talking about Richie’s future.

Sure, he’s like 11, but she’s right; pretty soon, he’s going to have to choose a path.  And being the son of a billionaire industrialist, Richie has a surprisingly limited number of opportunities available to him.  He can become a costumed vigilante, a super-villain, or a mysterious recluse.  Each comes with its benefits and drawbacks.

He’s got the resources and the busy body attitude necessary to fight crime, but he also has that Shaggy from Scooby Doo streak.  I think he likes the idea of solving mysteries as long as his butler, Cadbury, walks down the creepy staircase first.  He doesn’t seem willing to put himself into harm’s way like Batman or Iron Man; but he is just a kid.  There’s still time for something tragic to affect his worldview enough for him to really get into the game.  Although it sure hasn’t happened yet.

Currently Richie is a gigantic show off.  He rolls his cash around in a wheelbarrow and  had his dog’s spots surgically replaced with dollar signs.  C’mon? It’s a slippery slope.  If you have the money to do anything, what’s to stop you from doing anything? That’s the kind of behavior that screams out to your less affluent superheroes, “Become my nemesis just so I can laugh as I watch you battle my red-headed robot!”

Of course all that excess could just drive him further inward, Willy Wonka style.  We might not hear from Richie for years only to find out that he’s sponsoring a global lottery to visit his estate, which will be run, of course, by genetically dyed singing dwarves.

Finally, I comfort my wife by telling her that he’ll most likely stick to the traditional path of taking over his father’s company, developing a costly hallucinogenic habit, then buying a small island off the coast of a non-extradition country where Professor Keenbeam can go all Dr. Moreau and Richie can visit on the weekends to live “primal,” the way the voices want him to.  Surprisingly, she’s okay with that.