I’m in NYC for a Cartooning for Peace interview with fellow cartoonists Liza Donnelly and Jeff Danziger. The filming was done at the historic Society of Illustrators building. We discussed the state of cartooning, free speech, and what limitations we deal with here in the US.
Category: society
Fallen Disney Princesses
These photographs by Dina Goldstein are great; I especially love the Rapunzel one. There’s a short interview where the creator explains how her princess-obsessed daughter was her motivation behind the series. I did several comic strips along the same line during my Six Chix days. Here’s the title page from the chapter “Happily Ever After” in my book, Humor’s Edge:
Jeff Bezos of Amazon buys The Washington Post
I work from home so I only go into the actual Washington Post building about once a month to meet with my editor and touch base. Since it was such a beautiful day, Jim suggested we talk over coffee at the corner Starbucks. As we waited for the elevator, groups of WPost employees were making their way down to a company wide meeting where everyone expected the announcement of the location of their new offices to be made (there were plans for months to sell the iconic 15th Street building). Right as we sat down Jim received a text and said something like “Holy sh**! The Washington Post was just bought by Jeff Bezos!” I thought he was kidding at first but as soon as I started scrolling my twitter feed, I could see it was true. Amazingly, no one saw this coming- it seemed like everyone at the WPost was caught by surprise and genuinely shocked.
More to come….
Congress does it again- for the 40th time
One more post about Congress before they leave for their 5 week break. On Friday they voted for the 40th time to repeal the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare. You do know why they continue to schedule these votes, don’t you? Since the Senate is controlled by the Democrats the bill won’t get beyond the House but that doesn’t matter to Speaker Boehner. The reason for having all these votes is to allow new members of Congress to vote on repealing the health care law so they can talk about curbing big government spending when they start campaigning for re-election. Isn’t that great? You, the taxpayer pays for their time as well as keeping the Capitol open, the staff, security and whatever else it costs while Congress continues doing nothing.
Manning found not guilty of aiding the enemy
Bradley Manning was found not guilty yesterday of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy. However, he was found guilty of several charges of espionage. The sentencing hearing begins today and Manning faces over 100 years in prison.
Bradley Manning verdict today
Today a military judge will rule on the Bradley Manning Wikileaks case. If Private Manning is convicted on the “aiding the enemy” charge, he could face life without the chance of parole in a military prison. Regardless if you feel Manning is guilty or innocent, this could have a serious impact on investigative journalism and how much we know about what our government is doing. It’s a big deal.
More Weiner
There’s something wrong when I, as a cartoonist, feel I shouldn’t comment on the latest Anthony Weiner scandal. The reason for this is because the so-called news media seems to think sexting is the most important story (and the royal baby) this morning rather than minor issues like what the NSA is up to or what Congress is doing to America (which is sort of what Weiner is doing).
Dear Malala: I am writing this letter to explain why we tried to kill you
In a bizarre development, a senior member of the Pakistani Taliban has written a letter to Malala Yousafzai explaining why the Taliban tried to murder the then 15 year-old school girl. The handwritten, rambling, 4-page letter (which jumps around from British colonialism to pointing out that Henry Kissinger is Jewish) insisted that she was not targeted because of her support for education, but because of her “smearing campaign” against the Taliban. Last Friday Malala delivered a very inspiring speech at the United Nations supporting girls’ education and received a standing ovation. It’s as though the Taliban just realized that they need to launch a PR campaign to fix their misogynistic image.
WANTED: hoodie
I’ve heard many pundits dismiss the issue of “Stand Your Ground” laws in the discussion of the Trayvon Martin case because it wasn’t part of the defense strategy but I think that’s missing the underlying issue. When you combine people’s prejudices with guns and the right to use force in self-defense outside of your home, there will be more killings. Don’t buy it? Well, think about how people act in their cars when you accidentally cut them off. Now put a gun, a perceived threat, and no obligation to retreat first all together.
Americans and surveillance
Turkey has her ‘Standing Man’, America has her ‘Sitting Man’.
Standing Man in Turkey-AP
A historic week at the Supreme Court
Here’s a few photos from this morning at the Court: 
SCOTUS update
We’re down to the last week of the Supreme Court’s 2012 term and still no opinions on gay marriage, affirmative action, and voting rights. SCOTUSblog will begin live blogging Monday at 9am and expect opinions to start coming in at 10am. As I mentioned before, I’ll be doing live sketches of the action outside of the Court so check back here and at the Washington Post. 