Cartoonists With Attitude

Halloween is the greatest holiday of the year. Trust me. I have my reasons. One day I’ll post my detailed rankings of all the major American holidays. (Sorry MLK Day, but you are boring.) Until that time, here are some facts about Halloween that will interest you, if you are me. (Chances are you’re not.) (more…)

The "Terrorist Busters" logo that I mention in the cartoon has apparently existed for a few years, but it exploded across the blogosphere just last week. For a peek at the original, go here. It's still unclear to me whether this is an example of CIA "humor" or a semi-serious undertaking. In any event, the design is an object lesson in Things Not to Do With Photoshop. Also, the terrorist is just plain anatomically incorrect. Look at his left arm, the one not holding the gun. It appears to be tapering to a point (this is more pronounced in the original than in my rendition). Either he blew up his forearm making an IED, or somebody needs to take some life-drawing classes.

I'm not above making Ghostbusters references myself (see "Memebusters" cartoon from last year). But then, I'm a cartoonist, and the CIA is... well... the CIA. I guess it's nice to think that someone there has a sense of humor. Maybe the logo is intended as an ultra-ironic statement on War-on-Terror jingoism and bad Photoshopping. In that case, it would be very sophisticated.

I think ectoplasmic green is my new favorite color.

In Tuesday’s cartoon, Nikko works hard, in his own way. Click on the fragment below for the full cartoon at comics.com:

The more you click on my cartoons at comics.com during 2007, the better the chances they’ll appear in daily city papers in 2008. If you like Minimum Security, please see a new cartoon each weekday!

The final installment of the “Jesus Powers” story line is up at Webcomics Nation.

Man, I hate to say it, but I’m gonna miss drawing Bush when he leaves office. And Cheney, too. As characters they are perfect for satire, like Gilligan and the Skipper, only more malevolent and destructive.

Thursday will see the return of more topical targets of satire. Provided I survive this sore throat and pink eye combo currently running me down.

I guess I’m just less attuned to politics than I thought. I had the impression that Barack Obama was really doing well, and so over the last few days I simply don’t understand why he just decided that he doesn’t want to be president anymore.

The bulk of Obama’s support are younger voters, mostly college students, the majority of whom can be nothing be increasingly offended by all of this. Hiding behind religious values to dislike gays is one thing- a terrible thing that I personally find odious- but at the very least that would be more palatable that flat-out endorsing a man who openly hates and spews bigoted rhetoric about gays. This is crashing and burning on an epic level.

From The Observer:

In the words of one soldier: ‘The truth? When there is chaos, I like it. That’s when I enjoy it. It’s like a drug. If I don’t go into Rafah, and if there isn’t some kind of riot once in some weeks, I go nuts.’

Another explained: ‘The most important thing is that it removes the burden of the law from you. You feel that you are the law. You are the law. You are the one who decides… As though from the moment you leave the place that is called Eretz Yisrael [the Land of Israel] and go through the Erez checkpoint into the Gaza Strip, you are the law. You are God.’

The soldiers described dozens of incidents of extreme violence. One recalled an incident when a Palestinian was shot for no reason and left on the street. ‘We were in a weapons carrier when this guy, around 25, passed by in the street and, just like that, for no reason - he didn’t throw a stone, did nothing - bang, a bullet in the stomach, he shot him in the stomach and the guy is dying on the pavement and we keep going, apathetic. No one gave him a second look,’ he said.

The soldiers developed a mentality in which they would use physical violence to deter Palestinians from abusing them. One described beating women. ‘With women I have no problem. With women, one threw a clog at me and I kicked her here [pointing to the crotch], I broke everything there. She can’t have children. Next time she won’t throw clogs at me. When one of them [a woman] spat at me, I gave her the rifle butt in the face. She doesn’t have what to spit with any more.’

Yishai-Karin found that the soldiers were exposed to violence against Palestinians from as early as their first weeks of basic training. On one occasion, the soldiers were escorting some arrested Palestinians. The arrested men were made to sit on the floor of the bus. They had been taken from their beds and were barely clothed, even though the temperature was below zero. The new recruits trampled on the Palestinians and then proceeded to beat them for the whole of the journey. They opened the bus windows and poured water on the arrested men.

Curtsy: Informed Consent.

I’m a bit late posting this, but what the heck. If you haven’t already done so, check out the newest Carnival of Feminists up over at Cubically Challenged, which is exceptionally well organized. (I love it when people number things.)

From Three Wise Men:

Crazy, racist, hate mongering Congressman Tom Tancredo has announced he will not seek re-election, regardless of the outcome of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. I pretty much can’t think of anyone in the House that’s more clearly a bad human being than him.

I agree. For more on Tancredo, check out these posts at Migra Matters: 1 2 3 4.

dirtylibrarian posted photos she took this weekend, including several of Owen doing cute Owen things yesterday in the park on Killingsworth. Hope you don’t mind, Dawn, I post for the sake of family and friends.

Here’s the full version of that Tracy Jordan song I posted a couple weeks ago.