John McCain: in the open

self portrait 2

Originally uploaded by badger beth

I am not very pretty today. As you can see I am wearing my favorite pearl snap western shirt, the only pair of pants that’s not too tight or falling off of me and flip flops. A hair cut would help, but that would still leave the wardrobe.

On the political front, have you read John McCain’s web site?

Here he is on balancing the budget.

Here’s an excerpt, a real doozy,

A one-year spending pause. Freeze non-defense, non-veterans discretionary spending for a year and use those savings for deficit reduction. A one-year pause in the growth of discretionary spending will be imposed to allow for a comprehensive review of all spending programs. After the completion of a comprehensive review of all programs, projects and activities of the federal government, we will propose a plan to modernize, streamline, consolidate, reprioritize and, where needed, terminate individual programs.

And here he is on the military.

And another excerpt of course,

…John McCain believes that the answer to these challenges is not to roll back our overseas commitments. The size and composition of our armed forces must be matched to our nation’s defense requirements. As requirements expand in the global war on terrorism so must our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard be reconfigured to meet these new challenges. John McCain thinks it is especially important to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps to defend against the threats we face today.

One more issue he feels passionately about is the second ammendment. On which I can agree with except for the following,

Assault Weapons
John McCain opposes restrictions on so-called “assault rifles” and voted consistently against such bans. Most recently he opposed an amendment to extend a ban on 19 specific firearms, and others with similar characteristics.

Importation of High Capacity Magazines
John McCain opposes bans on the importation of certain types of ammunition magazines and has voted against such limitations.

Compare and contrast, talk amongst yourselves. Are his ideas sound? Here, read some more.

Being secure in your geekity

These guys are really secure in themselves. You’d have to be to be out dancing in the front driveway of a suburb in your house coat.

Knoxville church shooting

There’s been a lot said about the shooting that happened in a Knoxville church this weekend. Some want to blame the conservative media for making this liberal church a target. Some blame the lack of gun control. I’ve even seen comments that suggested that this church asked for it. (I know right?!)

The thing is this happened at a church where there was no expectation of violence (much like a school shooting). The congregation was kicked back enjoying a children’s program when a madman burst into the sanctuary with a shotgun and shot 5 people. Two of those people are dead. As far as I know this kind of thing has never happened before actually it has, several times.

The fact that they were liberal matters as much in this situation as the gunman being a truck driver.

NYPD: Tackling bicyclist

I find this pretty remarkable. Nobody else tackled. Why this guy?

The biker was arrested and held for 26 hrs (oddly enough charged for attempted assault and resisting arrest)

The officer was stripped of his badge and gun pending investigation.

This ride is for a thing that is called Critical Mass which is a mass bike ride to promote environmental awareness and in most cases the rights of cyclists. 200 people were arrested during the ride that took place during the 2004 Republican convention.

I don’t know what took place before the rider came into the frame, but I do know that he wasn’t in line to hit the officer. In fact the officer starts moving in for an intercept before our biker gets there. It looked like a scene from Wild America.

mr. mouse: bachelor extraordinaire!

“uh-oh, look who’s got a case of the mondays!”

This cartoon dedicated to Phil Grahm

This is pretty rough, sorry. You can tell it was done in a hurry from all the eraser marks and the crossed out misspelling. In case you don’t know, Phil Grahm was the McCain adviser that said that the recession was all in our heads and that we should quit whining about it. Ummm…okay Phil baby, whatever you say. I can tell he’s never been to West TN.

Obama in Berlin

The above screenshot comes from the live MSNBC broadcast. Live from Berlin. You can just make out the top of his head obscured by the adoring crowd. While I was watching the speech I couldn’t help but think that I wasn’t listening to a candidate, I was listening to the president of the United States.

Update: Here is the transcript

Ode to Joy! With Beaker

Feel free to sing along. The words  are meep meepmeep…

John McCain: Is still in the race

…but he just can’t turn heads like Obama. Well, let’s face it, Obama is doing more interesting things in his campaign. He’s gone to Europe, Iraq and the West Bank. McCain, well he’s been to King’s Supermarket
in Bethlehem PA. I don’t know who’s running John McCain’s campaign, but he’d be fired if it was me.

The Olympics Monkey

The animation is done by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, you know the guys from the Gorillaz. Enjoy. In other Olympics news Iraq has been banned from attending the Beijing games. American swimmer Jessica Hardy tests positive.

Estelle Getty: Ain’t no quitter

By now you’ve already heard that “Sophia” has passed away at 84 years old. She was a woman of grit and determination. This from CNN,

It (Golden Girls) culminated a long struggle for success during which Getty worked low-paying office jobs to help support her family while she tried to make it as a stage actress.

“I knew I could be seduced by success in another field, so I’d say, ‘Don’t promote me, please,”‘ she recalled.

See, long struggles pay off if you don’t quit. Something I need to remember.

Blade Britain

from The Daily Mail

In America you’re likely to get shot. In Britain there’s a greater likelihood that you will be stabbed. The story is here at The Daily Mail. I came to that story from this at Boing Boing. And if you think that America’s gov is security mad check this out from The Daily Mail article from the mouth of Ian Johnston president of The Police Superintendents Association,

Mr Johnston called for more robust stop-and-search tactics.

‘We must get back to the time when members of the public accept that even if they have done nothing wrong, and are not carrying a knife, they must not object to a police officer questioning them and in some cases searching them,’ he said.

You might (or might not) ask yourself “why knives?” Because it is nearly impossible for an average British citizen to get ownership rights to a gun. From Wikipedia on Britain’s gun laws,

To obtain a firearm certificate, the police must be convinced that a person has “good reason” to own each gun, and that they can be trusted with it “without danger to the public safety or to the peace”. Under Home Office guidelines, gun licenses are only issued if a person has legitimate sporting or work-related reasons for owning a gun. Since 1946, self-defence has not been considered a valid reason to own a gun. The current licensing procedure involves: positive verification of identity, two referees of verifiably good character who have known the applicant for at least two years (and who may themselves be interviewed and/or investigated as part of the certification), approval of the application by the applicant’s own family doctor, an inspection of the premises and cabinet where guns will be kept and a face-to-face interview by a Firearms Enquiry OfficerFirearms Liaison Officer (FLO). A thorough background check of the applicant is then made by Special Branch on behalf of the firearms licensing department. Only when all these stages have been satisfactorily completed will a license be issued.

So you see, quite impossible. Explains why knives are so prevalent.

Dracula

My good friend Newscoma started this drawing out with the head, eyes, mouth and chin. I finished it off with the scribbling. It’s fun to collaborate this way and passes the dreary hours very well. We had a lot of fun with it. This drawing was done in low light level with a cheap ball point pen on random scratch paper during beer consumption. (in other words, the corner bar)

Mystery!

I loved this show as a kid, it appealed to my inner Poe. My favorite part of the show of course was the intro animated by Edward Gorey who can even make the alphabet grim (see for example his Gashlycrumb Tales). This particular intro is older (I think) and it isn’t used anymore by PBS. The one below is the current intro and is just as dark.

There’s a kind of grim humor in it. Croquet? In the dark? During a lightening storm?

Zombies! and Mr. Mouse too

I’ve been drawing this weird little dude with large whiskers for a while now so I decided to give him a name. Meet Mr. Mouse. Does anybody have a good caption for this one, cuz I dunno.

All Hail

I probably shouldn’t draw when angry. I guess by now that you know that George Bush has yet again cited Executive Privilege to keep his boys out of trouble. Nice real nice. I challenge any of you to do that.

I can’t wait till this dude is out of office and his “Executive privilege” expires. Hope he looks good in orange. Of course with all the precedents he’s set, our next guy will probably be even worse. That’s what happens when you give a mouse a cookie.

Teddy Bear

Awwww...ain't it cute! ssssssss Twang!!!

It started out as a cute little teddy bear, then somehow during a frustrating phone conversation an arrow was put through him.

Strange Days: more from Scratchy’s litterbox

And some days are stranger than others. Lately I have been alternating between mild panic and depression. Neither of those give a body warm fuzzy feelings. But oh well. There’s still drawing utensils and paper. It could be worse. I could be sick or dead. I could be blind. My arms could be amputated. I could develop a deadly beer allergy. Or worse I could wake up a gay Republican. Shudder.

Honky Tonk Man

Charlie Daniel: 50 years in ink

Charlie Daniel has been drawing cartoons for 50 years. Charlie started his career with The Knoxville Journal in 1958. He is currently at the Knoxville News Sentinel and has been since 1992. Here is the News Sentinel’s write-up. Be sure to look at some of his cartoons, he’s pretty sharp.

The G-8 Summit: Let them eat cake!

So while the G-8 Conference were discussing what to do about food shortages they were chowing down on expensive delicacies. So that big feast on the table isn’t for you it’s for the ruling class (politicians). You are the peasants, the little guys under the table.

Lack of compliance is another reason to abolish G8 meetings, given the huge costs involved and the slight connection between the words of the G8 leaders and their subsequent actions. Japan times, Eric Johnston

Immune to the rule of law: FISA

Well, congratulations you greasy bastards. You won, we lost. Newscoma breaks it down here. I’m too mad to write about it. I wish I could get immunity, but I think you have to be a government entity or a corporation to get that. I’m neither so I guess I have to follow the rules.

The amazing Mustachio!

mustachio

Originally uploaded by badger beth

Did you know that John Oate’s mustache is going to be starring in its very own cartoon? Well now you do!

Now I can’t stop thinking about mustaches.

The American Mustache Institute? m’kay…

There are even competitions, no really.

Mustache activism. (I didn’t realize there was prejudice, guess so)

Can’t grow one? Then there’s a club for you too baldy.

Change your mustache like you change your socks!

Turkish women wielding mustaches! Also a petition to stop the men with silly mustaches. Am I done with this silliness? No, by God I’m not! Meet the Handlebar Club out of UK where the qualifications for membership is as follows “a hirsute appendage of the upper lip, with graspable extremities”. Sorry mate, no beards allowed.

Best quote of the day!

I nearly choked to death when I read this comment at the Daily Cartoonist today. I’ll give you a link to the post. Don’t go there if you don’t want to see the cartoon the discussion was about, it is very visceral and will get a rise out of you. Just remember that I gave the option to look or not to look.

So anyhow, I was scrolling through the comment thread and came across this little jewel.

Malc McGookin June/21/2008 @ 4:43 am

Phil, you make Carl look like an intellectual colossus. If your collective grasp of the issue was rubber, you wouldn’t have enough to make a condom for a spider.

Where the sidewalk ends

downtown sidewalks

Originally uploaded by badger beth

Our little town has (almost) finished their downtown renovation. The sidewalks are pretty with plants, trees, plants, benches and old timey looking street lights. It’s all very nice, but all that nicety ends where downtown ends. The sidewalks there aren’t very good if they exist at all. I just wish our town would be more walker friendly. Put a sidewalk down the main drag, it would be safer for pedestrians and drivers. We’re going to walk it anyway, why not make it safer?

America’s got talent

talented skunk

Originally uploaded by badger beth

That show is a train wreck! After two male burlesque attempts and a woman smashing things with her HUGE GIGANTIC TITS the cloggers were a refreshing change of pace.

The Chicken Little Police State

Unbelievable, well until you realize that fear has been the mode of operations for our government since that awful day in 2001.