p3 - Persuasion, Perseverance, and Patience

(Mis)Quote of the day: What Obama said Lincoln said and what Novick said Lincoln said

2012-01-31T09:13:00.000-08:00

What President Obama said Abraham Lincoln said:

I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more.

What Abraham Lincoln said:

The legitimate object of government is "to do for the people what needs to be done, but which they can not, by individual effort, do at all, or do so well, for themselves." There are many such things—some of them exist independently of the injustice in the world. Making and maintaining roads, bridges, and the like; providing for the helpless young and afflicted; common schools; and disposing of deceased men's property, are instances.But a far larger class of objects springs from the injustice of men. If one people will make war upon another, it is a necessity with that other to unite and coöperate for defense. Hence the military department. If some men will kill, or beat, or constrain others, or despoil them of property, by force, fraud, or non-compliance with contracts, it is a common object with peaceful and just men to prevent it. Hence the criminal and civil departments.

• • • • •

The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves, in their separate and individual capacities. In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere.

I'd call that a difference that makes a difference. Of course, Lincoln's actual remarks probably wouldn't have gone down quite so well in a House chamber half-full of sullen drown-the-government-in-a-bathtub Republicans.

Hat-tip to Steve Novick, who spotted this immediately and who's been pointing it out to everyone who'll listen since Tuesday night.

Sunday morning toons: Items for your consideration

2012-01-29T09:13:00.000-08:00

(Update: Second link in the "Tom the Dancing Bug" item, below, is now fixed.)

Item: In one of the slickest operational ploys since the Greeks built that big wooden horse, this week President Obama gave a speech to both houses of Congress, the Joint Chiefs, the Supreme Court, and the Cabinet -- simply to create a diversion while Navy SEALs rescued hostages from Somali pirates.

Item: Mitt Romney released two years' worth of tax returns, which generated so much bad press for him that most people now assum that whatever's in the prior years' returns, the ones he refuses to disclose, must be politically horrendous.

Item: After 68 years of faithfulness to planet Earth, Newt Gingrich has announced that he wants permission to start seeing the Moon on the side.

Today's selections have been selected by unnamed multimillion-dollar political donors from week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, John Cole, Paul Fell,Deb Milbrath,Tom Toles,Nick Anderson,Stuart Carlson, Daryl Cagle, R. J. Matson, Randy Bish, Jimmy Margulies, Steve Sack, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: Clay Bennett.

p3 "Great Premise, But That Should Probably Be 'Lynyrd Skynyrd' Rather Than 'Beatles'" Award: Steve Benson.

p3 "I Won't Be Ignored!" Medal: Dave Fitzsimmons.

p3 World Toon Review: Cam Cardow (Canada), Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland),Paresh Nath (India), and Ingrid Rice (Canada).

Ann Telnaes captures Newt just being Newt. Is that supposed to be his fault?

Mark Fiore looks at the SOTU and sees the same old socialist claptrap. (See how far into it you get into it before you figure out what's going on. It's choice.)

Taiwan's Next Media Animation gives you a crash course in the history of game consoles, and it all leads up to the Wii U, which a lot of people thought was an Abbot and Costello routine at first.

The Oregon Cartoon Institute is holding a public meeting at the 5th Avenue Cinemas on Sunday, February 12th. Topics include an update on the Mel Blanc Project.The John Carter movie that never was: The story is told by animator Bob Clampett, whose shameless self-promotion was legendary. (He openly credited himself with creating Bugs Bunny while at Warner Bros., although it was a team effort in which Tex Avery probably stood as first among equals. Clampett actually got his name and animated face into the opening theme for the Beany and Cecil Show. And notice his remark about Donald Duck in the clip below.)Nevertheless, there's pretty good evidence behind his story that, with Edgar Rice Burroughs' support, Clampett pitched the idea of a feature-length “John Carter of Mars” animated film to MGM in 1936. MGM liked the idea at first, but pulled the plug when they decided it might be too weird for American audiences. All that survived are some fascinating bits of animated test footage used to make the MGM pitch. That's Bob Clampett narrating, by the way.

The Simpsons? And fine art? Together? Actually, yes.

Tom Tomorrow reminds readers that the East Haven (CT) police department, four members of which were taken down by the FBI last week for racial profiling and worse, didn't just get into the “bad actor” thing recently. There's a long, ugly history.

Keith Knight celebrates Gingrich Values. It's almost too easy.

Tom the Dancing Bug brings us the latest adventures of Lucky Duck, the poor little duck who's rich in luck. (Readers who may not remember the source of the “Lucky Duck” meme should go here.)

Comic Riffs has the story: DC is launching a “two-year, multi-platform, multimillion-dollar campaign” to promote awareness and relief for the hunger crises in the Horn of Africa, dubbed We Can Be Heros. The campaign, featuring the full cast of Justice Leaguers, will work with the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, and p3 favorite Mercy Corps.

Red Meat's Ted Johnson is in search of his past.

Hard to believe he wouldn't have swabbed the deck with Jeff Tweedy: But I suppose that when you pay for your own video, you get to make up your own rules. Just for grins and giggles, here's Wilco's “Dawned on Me” (2012), featuring cameos by Popeye, Bluto, Olive Oyl, J. Wellington Wimpy, and Swee' Pea, directed by Darren Romanelli. It's the first hand-drawn Popeye toon in 30 years. The plot features a romantic four-way (take that, Newt!) in which Popeye and Bluto compete with the Wilco frontman for Olive's always-erratic attention.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

The p3 Big Oregon Toon Block:

Jack Ohman chronicles the latest painfully unsuccessful attempt by Mitt Romney to demonstrate that he gets it.

Matt Bors presents $#*! Mitt Romney doesn't say.

Alexis Kellum nicely captures the essence of Oregon.

Jesse Springer notes Oregon's arrival at Number 43 (yes, out of 50) on Education Week's “Quality Counts” annual report on education in the US:

Test your toon-captioning kung fu at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday morning tunes: I believe that in 1978 God changed his mind about black people!

2012-01-28T09:13:00.000-08:00

Honoring the likely victory on Tuesday of the SuperPAC not coordinating with Mitt Romney's campaign over the SuperPAC not coordinating with Newt “Angry Little Attack Muffin” Gingrich's campaign in the Florida GOP primary, here's the Act II show-stopper from the multple-Tony Award-winning “The Book of Mormon.”

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

And, for the record, her coining of the wonderful phrase “Angry Little Attack Muffin” is probably the only reason Peggy Noonan should be allowed to continue sharing the same oxygen as decent~~, sane~~ people.

(Note: After re-reading that last line this morning, decided it was unfair to Noonan to suggest she's not sane.)

Quote of the day: On the absence of coherent message

2012-01-25T12:33:00.000-08:00

Charlie Pierce responds to those who insist the Occupy movement must be a failure because it refuses to reduce its message to an evening news-friendly sound bite:

Make no mistake: Without all the hell-raising, and all the shouting at the right buildings, and all the drum circles, we would have heard a very different State of the Union speech last night.

And he's got four or five pretty good examples.

The unforgiving minute: Obsessions

2012-01-24T16:18:00.000-08:00

Actual headline from NPR's actual web site this week:

State Bill Outlaws Use Of Fetuses In Food Industry

The bill in question prohibits “the manufacture or sale of food or products which use aborted human fetuses.”

You may or may not be surprised by the following:

(1) This happened in Oklahoma.

(2) The fellow who authored this law, State Sen. Ralph Shortey, cannot point to any evidence of any company in Oklahoma manufacturing or selling food products containing aborted human fetuses. Apparently he's just making sure.

So I must return to a question I've asked before (usually in connection with the oft-repeated claim that legalizing man-on-dog sex would be the inevitable consequence of legalizing same-sex marriage):

Can you really be this worried about stopping something that you haven't already been thinking about -- a lot?

However virtuous these people pretend to be, this sort of thing reeks of an unclean mind.

Minute's up.

Right-winger Mad Libs

2012-01-24T09:13:00.000-08:00

Last week, Digby examined this passage from a right-wing radio fulminator whom we'll leave in well-earned anonymity (source here, via Right Wing Watch, if you really must know):

This, again, brings us back around to the larger subject of this Occupy Wall Street, this astroturf movement that's been funded from [George] Soros down and from every other angle, taking a bunch of over-educated, over-indulged white youth and attempting to force change ... So we shouldn't be surprised that this group, this Occupy Wall Street movement, which has been endorsed by the Messiah himself, President Barack Obama, that they are now trying to infiltrate the schools and corrupt the minds of children.

I think the Occupy Wall Street movement, the larger movement, is anathema to the idea of American Exceptionalism. In fact, I would go so far as to say that many of those involved in this movement hate America as it was originally formed and founded as a free market country rooted in the Judeo-Christian ethic.

Now Digby's point is that talk like this works by taking memes from the opposition, or conventional wisdom, and turning it wrong-side out. It exemplifies a point many critics on the left have been making for years: A lot of right-wing talk comes down to “I know you are, but what am I?”-style projection of their motives onto their enemies. (A corollary of this principle is that, if Republicans accuse Democrats of doing something, it's almost certainly something that the Republicans have already done themselves.) I agree with the Big D's point, and that passage is certainly a textbook example of the rhetorical move in question.

But that passage is more than simply a manifestation of the uncommonly angry minds populating the right end of the dial in America for the last twenty years -- it's much more.

With only minor continuity edits that don't affect the content, it's the basis for a fabulous party game: Right-Wing Mad Libs!

Rules: This is a game for multiple players. One player asks each of the other players, in turn, to select a word as specified on the numbered list below. Following this, the completed passage is read aloud with the selected words filling in the blanks.

If multiple teams compete, the creators of the best version are eligible for positions on a high-profile group blog funded by a right-wing think-tank.

Before the passage is read aloud, players must select:

1. An organization or movement.
2. A person.
3. An adjective.
4. An adjective.
5. An adjective.
6. A person.
7. A verb.
8. A plural noun.
9. A verb.
10. A plural noun.
11. An adjective.
12. An adjective.
13. An adjective.

Try it and see! Before you know it, you and your friends will be hooting and howling at the moon like Rand-quoting, hippie-punching, government-hating Tea Partiers!

This, again, brings us back around to the larger subject of this _____1_____, this astroturf movement that's been funded from _____2_____ down and from every other angle, taking a bunch of over-_____3_____, over-_____4_____ _____5_____ youth and attempting to force change ... So we shouldn't be surprised that this group, this movement, which has been endorsed by the Messiah himself/herself, _____6_____, that they are now trying to _____7_____ the _____8_____ and _____9_____ the _____10_____ of children.

I think the movement, the larger movement, is anathema to the idea of American _____11_____-ism. In fact, I would go so far as to say that many of those involved in this movement hate America as it was originally formed and founded as a/an _____12____ country rooted in the _____13____ ethic.

It's a sure-fire hit at parties, and an easy way to prove that, thanks to your enemies, America is going to __________ in a __________.

(Hint: A place, and a noun.)

Feel free to post your entries in the Comments.

The unforgiving minute: The GOP's Gingrich Gambit

2012-01-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a thought-experiment:

If the GOP were willing to sacrifice the White House in 2012 in order to guarantee they captured the Senate, could they find a candidate much better suited to the job than Newt Gingrich?

Minute's up.

Sunday morning toons: Poor, poor Mitt*

2012-01-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

Sure, Mitt's rich, he knows how to fight dirty (or at least he has advisers who certainly do), he's got a SuperPAC to disguise his allies and misdirect critics, and he bused in Mormon cheerleaders to pad out the crowd at his final South Carolina rallies. But to connect with the voters in the state that has a has played Mordred to America's King Arthur every day since 1776, you have to be prepared to attack a black debate moderator for asking a fair question on Martin ~~Luthor~~ Luther^** King Day.

You have to be Newt. The man was born to connect with the GOP lizard-brain; he's named after a garden reptile.

A lot of the toons about the SC primary are behind the curve, still expecting a Romney Victory of Inevitability in the Palmetto State, so the pickings may be a teeny bit slim today. Also, I'm not sure what to make of the fact that the picking seem pretty slim regarding the defeat of SOPA/PIPA; political toonists are another group worried about losing control of their intellectual property rights, but I expected more coverage. And the absence of any reference to Stephen Colbert's South Carolina work makes me wonder just how much anyone gets his spot-on attack on Citizens United and SuperPACS.

Well, we'll see where these topics are on the great radar screen of toony goodness next week.

^*Having lost South Carolina to Newt is the only sense in which Romney can plausibly be called “poor,” of course.

^**Sorry about confusing the slain civil-rights leader with Clark Kent's boyhood friend (and Superman's nemesis). Thanks, Ryan.

Today's selections were chosen in a flurry of last-minute ballot box-stuffing from among the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, R. J. Matson, Jeff Parker,Clay Bennett,Nate Beeler,Bob Englehart,Walt Handlesman, Matt Wuerker, Ted Rall, Matt Davies, Chris Britt, J. D. Crowe, David Fitzsimmons, Steve Sack, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show (With Hood): Jeff Danziger.

p3 Legion of Merit (With Supplemental Schedules): Tom Toles.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium: Mike McKeefe.

p3 World Toon Review: KAL (England), Michel Kitchka (Israel),Christo Komarnitski (Bulgaria), and Cam Cardow (Canada).

Ann Telnaes absolutely nails the GOP's desire to have it both ways. (Notice to viewers: No one will be seated after the horrifying bed lamp scene!)

Mark Fiore extends his appreciation to the concern for our security on the part of the people still fighting the war against the audiocassette tape and BetaMax video..

The Joy of Mashups, Part 1: In a seldom-seen collaboration between “Peanuts” creator Charles Shultz and Marvel Comics artist John Romita -- no, seriously -- Charlie Brown finally achieves his dream, with a little help.

The Joy of Mashups, Part 2: This gem, from Atomic Laundromat, goes out to p3's snow-encumbered readers who are fans of The Avengers and Calvin & Hobbes

And speaking of Calvin and Hobbes snowmen, here's a little treat for you:

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

Tom Tomorrow's take on the Romdroid One may have uncovered the deadly secret of the South Carolina primary results.

Keith Knight looks behind the scenes at the South Carolina primary run-up.

Tom the Dancing Bug provides a handy guide: How to determine if any sexual act you are considering, consensual and harming no one, is moral.

Comic Riffs tells the back-story of ”Haiti's Scapegoats,” a short video by Cartoon Movement on the treatment of Haiti's LGBT community following the devastating earthquake two years ago. (Click the CC button on the YouTube viewer for English subtitles.) The video is co-produced by Portland-based political cartoonist Matt Bors, who's also co-founder of Cartoon Movement, about which you'll be reading more in the p3 toon reviews to come.

Red Meat's Bug-Eyed Earl shares an insight about travel safety.

The Comic Curmudgeon notes that when death finally, inevitably comes to Marmaduke's owner Phil, it seems to have a gentle, almost Emily-Dickinson quality of relief to it.

Ah just cain't abide that word! Commemorating Newt Gingrich's win in the South Carolina GOP presidential primary, here's a quick historical tutorial, featuring Rocky, Bullwinkle, Boris, Natasha -- and Colonel Beauregard of the League of Confederate Correctors. The 12-episode “Wossamata U” story was broadcast during R&B's fifth season (1963-64). Voice work by Bill Scott, June Foray, Paul Frees, and Daws Butler. (If you need the back-story for this clip it may not help, but here it is: Bullwinkle, by dint of his mighty hurling ability, becomes the passer for Wossamatta U's football team, bringing them an undefeated season -- and the nefarious notice of Boris and Natasha, who bet heavily against WU in the game against the school's traditional rivals, Tick Tock Tech. B&N then attempt to rig the game by stealing WU's playbook and substituting battle plans from . . . well, you'll see.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

The p3 Big Oregon Toon Block:

Jack Ohman puts yesterday's GOP presidential debate in South Carolina into its proper historical perspective.

Matt Bors is suitably unimpressed by a silly-sounding soft drink rebranding itself as for men only, no matter how tongue-in-cheek its creators might think it is. (and see the item above, about Bors' production “Haiti's Scapegoats.”)

Jesse Springer notes that something's falling like snow from the skies over Oregon's First Congressional District, but it's not snow:

Test your toon-captioning skills at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

The unforgiving minute: Our fools

2012-01-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

If anything, The Vagabond Scholar is too kind to the two states enjoying the pride of place in the presidential election cycle:

[W]hile the Iowa Caucus does hold some real consequences (candidates with very low numbers dropping out), there's no doubt that its importance is massively and artificially inflated. It should not hold the prominence it does. The same goes (to a lesser degree) for the New Hampshire Primary. Their predictive value regarding the eventual nominee is quite poor, and neither state is populous or demographically representative of the nation as a whole.

Read more at TVS's post about the traveling kabuki theater that is the quadrennial cycle of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

Other states look at the system as it's played out so far and say to themselves, Yes, if we were first in the nation, our voters would probably looks like fools, too -- but they'd be our fools.

Minute's up.

Saturday morning tunes: Fortunate son

2012-01-21T09:13:00.000-08:00

Dedicated to Mitt Romney, a man born to wealth and privilege who's never known a day since without it, a presidential candidate who's the son of a presidential candidate, a lucky lad who spent his draft age years during the Vietnam war in Paris, a one-percenter whose worth is somwhere in the ~~eight~~ nine figures, a constant candidate who bankrolls his repeated unsuccessful campaigns out of his own pocket, an office-seeker who declines to show ~~his last year's~~ anything beyond last year's tax returns until it won't matter although his father happily released six years of returns when he was a candidate, a vulture capitalist whose tax rate hovers somewhere between fifteen percent and zero, and a mechanized mountebank who claims to understand the rest of us because he's middle class.

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

Bonus tune: For a GOP South Carolina primary twofer, go here.

Quote of the day: Life is not fair.

2012-01-20T19:20:00.000-08:00

Charlie Pierce, after spending some quality time among the Ron Paul supporters in SC, meditates on the bitter ironies of life:

Apparently, both Benedict XV and the upper echelons of Goldman Sachs are rife with socialists. Why in hell isn't Bernie Sanders richer than he is? Life is not fair.

Bonus tune:

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

The unforgiving minute: My day of solidarity

2012-01-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my blog, p3, in solidarity with Wikipedia, BoingBoing, and numerous other websites, went dark in protest of the proposed SOPA/PIPA legilslation that would kill intellectual freedom on the American Internet in defense of the outdated business models of Hollywood and the music recording industry, dinosaurs who are still fighting, respectively, the battle against BetaMax and the battle against audio cassette tapes.

Thanks for noticing we were gone. Really.

Minute's up.

Sunday morning toons: The Cold War revisited

2012-01-15T09:13:00.000-08:00

I went to see the long-awaited (either since last spring or since 1979, depending on how you slice it) film version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy this week. Set in 1973, it's a classic Cold War story about the search for a Soviet deep-penetration agent who's made his way to the highest levels of British Intelligence. I'll have a post about the film later this week, but for now that's going to be our running theme: Revisiting the Cold War.

So in addition to a big-name-actor-packed film about the Cold War, we've also got:

A no-holds-barred war against capitalism -- waged by Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry.

And a bunch of foreign-policy cowboys itching to have a seagoing standoff over nukes (only it's Iran this time, not Cuba).

Today's selections have been lovingly hand-selected from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Paul Fell, Scott Stantis,Joe Heller,Tom Toles,Matt Wuerker,Joel Pett, Signe Wilkinson, Bill Day, Mike Keefe, Brian Fairrington, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Legion of Honor: Pat Bagley.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium (tie): Mike Luckovich and R. J. Matson.

p3 Certificate of Harmonic Toon Convergence: Rick McKee and Cam Cardow. (See the Cartoon Riffs link below, too.)

p3 World Toon Review: Rachel Gold (Canada), Pavel Constantin (Romania),Jiho (France), and Deng Coy Miel (Singapore).

Ann Telnaes celebrates a special ten-year anniversary with a little fine white domestic.

Mark Fiore also celebrates the occasion with a visit from Knuckles, who used to be worried about his job, just like the rest of us.

Taiwan's Next Media Animation says, ”Face it, Republicans: Romney's your nominee.” Strangely enough, their computer-animated Mitt looks less robotic than the genuine article.

Tom Tomorrow explains why it's probably just as well we haven't made contact with extraterrestrials.

Has Keith Knight discovered Rick Santorum's worst nightmare?

Tom the Dancing Bug shows that even Republicans aren't born understanding all that GOP campaign double-talk.

Comic Riffs presents a Tim “45 to 10” Tebow six-pack.

Red Meat's Ted Johnson remembers drivers education class the exact same way I do.

Remember, you can't spell “Nasty” without “Nast:” He's called “The Father of American Political Cartooning.” He invented the image of Santa Claus that so captured the American imagination that most of us can't picture the jolly old elf any other way. He gave the Democratic and Republican parties their symbols and mascots, the donkey and elephant. He gave us all Uncle Sam as the symbol of America. He was the scourge of some of the most corrupt politicians in American political history (and that's saying something). So why are state legislators trying to head off the induction of legendary 19th century artist Thomas Nast into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, where he would otherwise take his rightful place next to such Garden Staters as Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Meryl Streep, and Yogi Berra? (By the way: The connection between “Nast” and “Nasty?” It's pure etymological coincidence.)

And, almost wrapping up our Cold War edition: In 1967, MGM cashed in on the popularity of the “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” TV series, which was an MGM studio production, with a Tom and Jerry send-up called “The Mouse From “H.U.N.G.E.R.” directed by Abe Levitow and produced by Chuck Jones and Les Goldman. I'm not a huge fan of most studio animation by this point, even Jones' work, but this one's kind of amusing. The opening credits theme by composer Dean Elliot is especially well done.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

The p3 Big Oregon Toon Block:

Jack Ohman finds unexpected common ground between vulture capitalist Mitt Romney and bomb-throwing Newt Gingrich.

Matt Bors raises a disturbing question that we here at p3 have also wondered about.

Jesse Springer has some mixed feelings about an enemy of long standing in these parts who may be about to come in from the cold:

Put your toon-captioning skills to the test at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday morning tunes: “I think. I think I am. I think I am, therefore I am. . . . I think.”

2012-01-14T09:13:00.000-08:00

By request for MR, whose karma it apparently is to be part of the hiring process for me about every 20 years, here are the Moodies. The first part is called “In the Beginning,” but it's basically the generic hiring process set to ambient music background.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

Sunday morning toons: The dog barks, the caravan moves on . . . to New Hampshire

2012-01-08T09:13:00.000-08:00

(Update: The Red Meat link is fixed. Thanks, Ryan.)

Today's selections have been lovingly hand-selected from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Steve Sack, Dan Wasserman,Rick McKee,Bruce Plante,Signe Wilkinson,Tom Toles, Jeff Danziger, Bill Day, Adam Zyglis, John Cole, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Legion of Honor: Glenn McCoy.

p3 Best of Show: Clay Bennett.

p3 Certificate of Appreciation for Reminding Us There's Anything Else Going On Besides the GOP Primaries: Jim Morin.

p3 World Toon Review: Cam Cardow (Canada), Petar Pismestrovic (Austria),Rachel Gold (Austria), and Ingrid Rice (Canada).

Ann Telnaes looks at one possible future for the GOP.

Mark Fiore reveals the horrible weapon deployed 500 feet below an Iowa silo. Flannel visible! Flannel visible!

Tom Tomorrow celebrates a group we don't get to hear enough of: sensible thinkers.

One from the vaults: The K Chronicles dedicates this strip to that one black kid.

Tom the Dancing Bug presents the latest edition of Super-Fun-Pak Comix! Note that “Incomprehensible Suffering Funnies” comes perilously close to duplicating the joke from the cover of the National Lampoon's October 1973 “Banana” issue, but at the last minute rescues itself.

Comic Riffs observes the passing of cartoon artist Ronald Searle. (As it turns out, I own the Tom Lehrer sheet music described in the opening paragraphs. It's from a Broadway revue of his music called Tomfoolery, and the illustrations are indeed wonderful.)

Red Meat's Milkman Dan either narrowly averts a cataclysmic temporal paradox, or he doesn't.

The Comic Curmudgeon has, without a doubt, the funniest one-sentence take on an Archie strip that I've ever seen.

And speaking of Archie: Why is the ACLU paying attention to the adventure of the Riverdale gang? Funny you should ask: Wedding bells are ringing this month.

So what’s the big deal? And, as we are always asked by outraged Facebook fans when we write about pop culture, why does the ACLU care/don’t you have bigger fish to fry?

For this comic book fan, the big deal is seeing a same-sex, (interracial!) loving relationship portrayed in Riverdale. LGBT relationships in Gotham, or discussed in the politically liberal living rooms and offices of Doonesbury, sure that’s what you may expect. But Riverdale, and the wider Archie universe have long stood for the mega-wholesome ideal of the American Midwest of yesteryear — a place where writers and artists have long told us there is no room for diversity, regardless of what the truth may be.

Archie first appeared in 1941, and since then has served as the archetype for the typical, small-town American kid. In fact it wasn’t so long ago, 2003 to be exact, that Archie Comics was threatening to sue an Atlanta theater company for a piece they were set to perform depicting Archie coming out of the closet because they thought “if Archie was portrayed as being gay, that would dilute and tarnish his image.”

Best p3 wishes to the adorable couple.

There's nothing in the world that can compare with a hamburger, juicy and rare: No sign of Olive in this 1936 Popeye, “What -- No Spinach?” directed by Dave Fleischer and animated by Seymour Kneitel and Roland Crandall, but fans of J. Wellington Wimpy will get to see one of the rare stories where their hero triumphs. I had forgotten that this short even existed -- until Wimpy began his song, and I realized I still remembered the whole thing, word for word. Not sure how I feel about that.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

The p3 Big Oregon Toon Block:

Jack Ohman presents the wistful side of Newt. (Of course, Newt is so last-week, but he's fundamentally funnier than either Romney or Santorum. Yes -- even Santorum!

Matt Bors celebrates the return of man who knows his way around a coal chute.

Jesse Springer notes that everyone can breath a little easier now that UO has won its first Rose Bowl since 1917.

Test your toon-captioning kung fu at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday morning tunes: A farewell (for now) to Michele Bachmann

2012-01-07T09:13:00.000-08:00

Her departure this week from the GOP presidential primary race will leave America's political discourse a little smarter, but arguably less fun.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

(Hat tip to Charles Pierce.)

Reading: Pierce on life after Citizens United

2012-01-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

I look at his argument about where the Iowa caucus results are inexorably pointing us from every direction, and I wish I could find some reason to disagree, but I can't.

It moves forward now. A staggered frontrunner who has shown himself to be the best one of them at fighting on this new terrain, and an outright Papist nutter who thinks the states can and should ban birth control, and who loves all human life, except those lived happily by his fellow citizens who are gay, who he believes need to remain second-class citizens. Both of them confronting each other in a system that has become so sodden with anonymous corporate money that it would make liars out of the most sincere politicians who ever lived, which these two guys certainly are not. There is nothing to stop it. There are no sensible politicians who willingly would disarm themselves first. The election of the next president does not belong to the country any more. But we will pretend that it does. We are very good at that.

(Emphasis added.)

Even this tiny pinpoint of light, important as it is, is unlikely to offer much help.

Pierce's utterly depressing piece is going onto the long-neglected p3 Readings list on the sidebar.

Quote of the day: Wild oats as an Iowa cash crop?

2012-01-03T11:27:00.000-08:00

(Updated with a link to one possible Hail Mary, below.)

Rick Perlstein summarizes the four-decade old pattern of GOP primary voters flirting wistfully with fringe-y candidates:

The same thing always happens next: The insurgents fall by the wayside. The base comes around. Democrats fall in love; Republicans fall in line.

After sowing a few caucus and primary wild oats in Iowa and New Hampshire with the Robertsons, Buchanans, and Huckabees, GOP voters generally end up dutifully electing the candidate whom the Republican Establishment considers to have the next turn, usually a runner-up from a previous campaign cycle: Nixon lost in 1960 (and 1962); Ford was a one-off; Reagan lost in 1976; Bush Sr. lost in 1980; Dole lost who knows how many times; Bush Jr. was a one-off; and McCain lost out in 2000.

Romney's patiently betting that the Tea Party insurgents won't change that. Hard to argue with him.

Right now I'd predict a Romney nomination, followed by a Hail Mary VP pick, followed by a general campaign that leaves the GOP base about as enthusiastic for Romney as they were for McCain in 2008.

Sunday morning toons: This is your brain on spinach

2012-01-01T09:13:00.000-08:00

I'm not finished working on my new year's resolutions but I already feel fairly confident that 2012 -- even with the prospect of the most expensive and nationally embarrassing election cycle in American history -- still will manage to be less of a dog's breakfast than 2011 was.

Yes, I have a dream.

Today's selections have been lovingly hand-selected from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Jimmy Margulies, Lisa Benson,Mike Peters,Steve Artley,Steve Breen,Bob Englehart, John Trevor, and J. D. Crowe.

p3 Best of Show: Pat Oliphant.

p3 “Let's Ditch this Meme for 2012” Citation: Rick McKee.

p3 “What's in Your Wallet?” Award: Mike Luckovich.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium: Jeff Parker.

p3 World Toon Review: http://www.caglecartoons.com/media/cartoons/86/2011/12/27/103618_600.jpg (China), Cam Cardow (Canada), and Ingrid Rice (Canada).

Ann Telnaes presents 2011: The Year in Review.

Mark Fiore, on the other hand, presents 2011: The Year in Crazy, and the differences are less than you might have hoped.

Taiwan's Next Media Animation gets in the fray with the 2011 edition of “Celebrities Flunking Science.” You'll never look at high-heeled shoes -- or sea water -- the same way again.

Tom Tomorrow presents This Modern World's Year in Review, Part 1 and Part 2.

Keith Knight examines the rigorous screening process for hiring local police.

Tom the Dancing Bug brings news of a strange message from space, but don't worry -- the experts have it coverred.

Celebrating the Marvel Comics legend's 89th birthday last week, Comic Riffs serves up The Top 20 quotes by Stan “The Man” Lee.

Red Meat's Ted Johnson can't wait to break out his new Christmas toy. You might feel differently.

The Comic Curmudgeon assumes the worst and, given the context, he's probably right. (At least you'll learn a new word. It means “living in a cooperative group in which usually one female and several males are reproductively active and the nonbreeding individuals care for the young or protect and provide for the group,” such as termites, ants, and -- sweartogod -- naked mole rats.)

Matt Bors offers help for sufferers of PCLD.

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman presents Profiles in Discourage. It's not fun.

This is your brain. This is your brain on spinach. Today's pick, “Rodeo Romeo,” was directed in 1946 by Izzy Sparber. I mentioned this one in passing last January, in connection with a 1934 Betty Boop short in which everyone gets wasted on a dentist's laughing gas; there was a lot of unsubstanted internet chatter that the content had caused the Boop toon to be censored. But in “Rodeo Romeo,” Popeye and Bluto halucinate (and fantasize about nontraditional sexual practices) while on “locoweed” -- and I can't find so much as a hint that any TV programmers or audience groups lifted an eyebrow. Go figure.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer assesses the state of learning in Eugene right about now.

Test your toon-captioning chops at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday morning tunes: Well? What are you doing New Year's Eve?

2011-12-31T11:39:00.001-08:00

It's been recorded by everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Lena Horne to Harry Connick, Jr., to Diana Krall to Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. This version, by the Orioles, is one of the earliest (the song was written in 1947).

With a little over twelve hours to go, I hope it's not too early in the game:

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

(Update: No idea why the title originally said this was Sunday. Hope the error didn't cause any confusion.)

Quote of the day: Will to live

2011-12-30T13:19:00.000-08:00

Roy Edroso's benediction on the the Jon Swift Memorial Blog Roundup (in which p3 played a modest part):

It's a good way to remind oneself that not everything written for the internet is purposefully designed to sap your will to live.

“He didn't purposefully try to sap your will to live” -- it's a fitting epitaph for any blogger.

Happy to be judged by the company I keep

2011-12-28T15:47:00.000-08:00

I launched p3 seven years ago this month with a simple mission: In those pre-WikiLeaks days, where could someone post important information, like the formula to Coca-Cola or the DOD's nuclear launch codes, while remaining secure in the knowledge that no one was ever likely to stumble upon it?

Where, indeed.

Since December 2004, p3 has let me indulge my passions for free speech, civil liberties, and the workings of persuasion and the media, largely uninterrupted by comments or web traffic. It's also let me extend myself in such areas as limericks, celebrity separated-at-birth images, plus classic animation and political cartooning. It has covered a wide base of topics while doggedly retaining what one friend of the site called “an almost Rain Man-like inability to connect with a steady audience.” (Yes, it was a friend.)

Which is why I'm delighted to see p3 among the Best Posts of the Year, Chosen by the Bloggers Themselves, a celebration of the “small blogs” we all probably would be reading if we actually knew they were out there. The p3 post in question is this meditation on the difference between the smallpox virus and the (dis)appearance of the word “nigger” in “Huckleberry Finn.” The full list of nominees, as well as the tradition behind the event, are described here by Batocchio, who did the heavy lifting this year in the lamented absence of tradition founder Jon Swift.

Even though it was a self-nomination (what? Markos Moulitsas never promotes his own site?), as I cast my eye down the list of the singled-out, I'm delighted to see such p3 friends as Mad Kane, Lance Mannion, Melissa McEwan, and Batocchio -- none of whom, come to think about it, do I really think of as running a “small blog.”

Reading the list, I also realized there are a lot of other blogs I regularly read when recommended (often by someone else on the list) but should be reading regularly anyway. The annual end-of-year site design overhaul will be a good time to bring more of those onto the p3 blogroll.

Meanwhile, what better occasion to look back at some of the p3 big hits and near misses of years gone by?

Over the years, some of my most-visited posts, not counting five years of railing against All Things Bush (which, statistically speaking, is a little like saying “some of of the top sites on the Internet, not counting porn”) have been predictable, but more often not:

One of the all-time crowd favorites remains this 2009 piece on the Supreme Court's “Mad Magazine exception” for parody as protected speech. I cranked it out in an hour following an appearance by Mad writer and p3 god Frank Jacobs on a PBS special, and it's been drawing hits ever since.

(A thematically-related piece two years earlier was one of my own favorites, but probably got lost in the swell of news that week.)

Another heavily-visited post earned its traffic much less on the merits than on the shameless concatenation of three can't-miss keywords in the title. I saw the lesson there but only partly learned it.

The popularity of one particular heavily-visited post from years gone by was an unfortunate side-effect of my love of Latinisms. The point of the article, a theme I kept to fairly often in the Bush years, was my suspicion that a lot of the current crop of conservative commentators had not merely been recruited and subsidized by the GOP and its funding auxiliaries, but were actually grown from pods in secret farms somewhere in the Plains States specifically to perform their function. Alas, the title contained two unpaired words that, while they seemed innocent enough to me, apparently tripped the search-engine triggers of a narrow but highly dedicated sexual fetishist demographic of whose existence I had been happily unaware. (For obvious reasons, no link on this one.)

One of my all-time favorite posts came in the second month of p3's existence, and combined my interest in free speech with Oregon news and my thing for open letters. It was inspired by this unlikely problem: What happens when the American Nazi Party adopts a highway roadside to clean up?

By tradition, every December I consider whether I'm going to continue p3 in the coming year. See you in 2012.

Saturday morning tunes: Muddling

2011-12-24T09:13:00.000-08:00

Seriously. Judy Garland could sell a gum jingle. So it's no surprise she could stop your pulse with this:

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

But Charles Pierce tells the story of how Frank Sinatra did his best to kill one of the most touching moments of this song.

The equinox hits in a few moments

2011-12-21T21:30:00.000-08:00

The winter solstice occurs tonight at 9.30pm Pacific time.

That means that, by Friday, there will be about 5 extra seconds of daylight every day -- and a little more each day after that.

And I'm going to know every one of those extra seconds. I don't mind the rain. I just hate the dark.

Sunday morning toons: 4500 American military deaths and $800 billion later

2011-12-18T09:13:00.000-08:00

America has finally withdrawn from our pointless and illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq (for which no one has been or ever will be forced to take responsibility).

Of course, that doesn't count the part about leaving thousands upon thousands of troops there, in a country far less stable than when we first rolled in to teach them a lesson about trying to kill Junior's old man.

Peace on Earth (void where prohibited).

Today's selections have been carefully wrapped and hung by the fire, chosen from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Nick Anderson, Randy Bish,Mike Thompson,Tom Toles,Matt Davies,Jeff Danziger, Lisa Benson, Clay Bennett, R. J. Matson, Joe Heller, John Cole, Matthew Bors, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Legion of Honor (not acceptable as a government-issued ID): Ed Stein.

p3 Best in Show: Bill Day.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium (tie): Dick Locher and Scott Stantis.

p3 Certificate of Harmonic Toon Convergence: John Darkow, Gary Markstein, and Mike Keefe.

p3 World Toon Review: Dario Castillejos (Mexico), Luo Jie (China),Cam Cardow (Canada), and Shlomo Cohen (Israel).

Ann Telnaes notes the reason for the season -- if you grew up reading Ayn Rand.

History buffs may recall that the Vietnam War ended twice: Once when Nixon declared victory, and again a couple of years later, when we finally left. Mark Fiore detects detects a similar pattern in the Middle East.

And speaking of the Iraq pullout: Taiwan's Next Media Animation spells out what it really means.

Oh, my. Isn't that lovely? Mmm. Yes. I don't spend a lot of time at p3 giving notice to The National Review, but when they bash Gingrich and use a wonderful Warner Bros mash-up cover image to do it, well, it's at least worth linking to someone who links to them.

Tom Tomorrow presents fun facts about Newt. (I'm not sure if that Bonus Fact is true or not; easy enough to believe, though.)

Keith Knight offers the most disturbing holiday wish I've seen so far.

Tom the Dancing Bug offers a special version of a beloved holiday story -- featuring an oddly familiar-looking snowman.

At Red Meat, the nine-foot long gift boxes were only the beginning.

The Comic Curmudgeon exposes an epistemological crisis in “The Phantom.”

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman spots a high plains drifter.

Not even a mouse! “The Night Before Christmas” (1941), directed by Joe Hanna and William Barbera, is the third of the golden age Tom and Jerry cartoons, released the day before Pearl Harbor. Like the earliest in the series, Tom is still very much a cat -- a Russian blue, in fact -- unlike the tall guy in a cat suit he eventually became on H&B's watch.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer notes that Oregon's unemployment rate hits a 3-year low of 9.1%, but many economists believe it is because discouraged job-seekers have left the labor market. His solution is a tad on the dark side, although it makes mathematical sense:

Test your toon-captioning skills at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday morning tunes: The season ended at 1:28pm PT, Thursday 12/15

2011-12-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

Worse -- or better, depending on how you feel about it -- it ended a second time about 15 minutes later.As some p3 followers remember, I make it a personal challenge to go from Thanksgiving Day until Christmas Eve without hearing “The Little Drummer Boy.”

Call it a dream. It's true, I have some bizarre affection for some covers of the song, but the reality is that the song itself just grates on me. (Anyone who saw the spot-on parody of the song at the Broadway Rose's A Very PDX-MAS knows what I'm talking about.)

Anyway --ironies of ironies -- I had just clicked on to Part 3 of the Christmas special on Strictly The Sixties when my old (and blameless) pal Keith, who hosts StS, let go with Lou Rawls' R&B version of “The Little Drummer Boy.” I had barely picked myself up off the floor when he followed up with the ultra-rare Jimi Hendrix cover of the same song. By then, I was nailed. Wham. There was nothing more I could do.

With the benefit of hindsight, this could be the reason I dislike the song so much. Maybe not, but it's certainly possible.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

My mixed feelings of irritation and envy about Larry Matthews are spelled out here.

Sic Transit Christopher Hitchens

2011-12-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

I characterized him six years ago as someone who, having exhausted all possible fights with the right, and then the left, was now finishing out his days beating the crap out of himself.

I now forgive much, but by no means all, simply for the sake of this heroically honest piece.

You may have read by now the official lie about this treatment, which is that it “simulates” the feeling of drowning. This is not the case. You feel that you are drowning because you are drowning—or, rather, being drowned, albeit slowly and under controlled conditions and at the mercy (or otherwise) of those who are applying the pressure. The “board” is the instrument, not the method. You are not being boarded. You are being watered. This was very rapidly brought home to me when, on top of the hood, which still admitted a few flashes of random and worrying strobe light to my vision, three layers of enveloping towel were added. In this pregnant darkness, head downward, I waited for a while until I abruptly felt a slow cascade of water going up my nose. Determined to resist if only for the honor of my navy ancestors who had so often been in peril on the sea, I held my breath for a while and then had to exhale and—as you might expect—inhale in turn. The inhalation brought the damp cloths tight against my nostrils, as if a huge, wet paw had been suddenly and annihilatingly clamped over my face. Unable to determine whether I was breathing in or out, and flooded more with sheer panic than with mere water, I triggered the pre-arranged signal and felt the unbelievable relief of being pulled upright and having the soaking and stifling layers pulled off me. I find I don’t want to tell you how little time I lasted.

Let this be your last brawl. Rest in peace, Christopher Hitchens.

Barry White returns to a frozen food aisle near you

2011-12-16T09:13:00.000-08:00

To get where I'm going, I often have to navigate some of the busiest intersections in Washington County. It's not fun. I'm a supporter of bike lanes, and bike lanes are fairly plentiful around here, but the plain fact of the matter is that sticking a lane at the side of a busy street doesn't necessarily make it safer for anybody, least of all the cyclist. Depending on traffic patterns, time of day, weather, etc., sometimes all a bike lane does is make it easier to predict where the accident will happen.

That being said, I do have a couple of things working for me. Cyclists have the advantage of being able to hear traffic, as well as see it. (Wear your iPhone's ear buds while you ride if you want; not me. Also, as most cyclists will attest, this advantage does not extend to having hybrid cars coming up behind you; they're dangerously quiet.) A second advantage is my trusty bike mirror, which I've used regularly for years and can't imagine riding in traffic without.

(Actually, I have a third thing working for me, if you count relentless paranoia in traffic, but that one really doesn't advance the present story.)

The thing is, the mirror -- which clips onto the temple shaft of my glasses --may look sort of odd to the bystander, but for the wearer it's no different than the rear-view mirror in your car: When you're using it, you focus on it immediately and unconsciously. When you're not using it, you don't even notice it's there.

Which is why I usually forget I'm wearing it when I go into a store. It's not that uncommon for me to be walking down, say, the frozen vegetables aisle and notice people staring surreptitiously, their eyes darting at me, then darting away. For a long time, it was sort of a Barry White moment. I would stand a little straighter, toss my head back, tuck my helmet under my arm military-style, get a certain swagger in my step. You know.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

Uh-huh. That's right. We got it together, didn't we?

Yes, it was a wonderful feeling, until the day the needle scratched across the record and I realized, Oh, damn -- they're just staring at the stupid mirror.

This was a serious let-down. All that time I was thinking Uh-huh, that's right, and they were thinking, Good lord, who let that cyborg geezer into the building?

All of which leads up to me stopping in at the local megafood place late yesterday afternoon and deciding, as I walked in the sliding doors, to take the damned mirror off and stuff it in my jacket pocket for once. The good news: No sidelong cyborg stares. The bad news: Somewhere in the store, filled with shoppers, I apparently dragged the mirror out of my pocket and onto the floor, where it got kicked under a display, or trampled under foot, or pocketed by some other shopper, or whatever.

I backtracked through the store but didn't find it. Lost and Found had nothing.

Faced with the prospect of making it home, in rush hour, in the dark, in a slight drizzle, without the mirror, I went straight to a bike shop a couple of blocks away and bought a new one.

And rather than risk losing this one by taking it off next time, I'm leaving it on. Stare if you want.

Uh-huh. That's right.

Quote of the day: Moral difference

2011-12-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

Here's an astute observation from Charles Pierce:

The only moral difference between for-profit colleges and check-cashing shops is that the former usually are located in better neighborhoods.

The good news: For-profit colleges don't have corrupt athletic programs.

The bad news: They don't need to, since the whole operation hinges on bought-and-paid-for insiders who protect their racket.

Bonus quotes:

The difference between Washington under any president and Versailles under Louis XIV?

Long pants and fewer wigs.

and:

The difference between the way the Village does business and the way things used to work in Russia under the Kremlin?

Better cars and Meet The Press.

Boy's on a roll. And it's a Saturday.

Sunday morning toons: Actions have consequences

2011-12-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

This week:

Rod Blagojevich turns penal justice lemons into lemonade (thereby triggering a Harmonic Toon Convergence).

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin finds it surprisingly hard to win even a fixed election (thereby giving the systematic vote suppressors of our own Republican Party some food for thought).

Newt Gingrich moves ahead in the Iowa polls (thereby offering yet another reason to scale back Iowa's disproportionate position in the primary/caucus season).

Obama seems to have no concerns on the morning after (thereby pissing off still more Democratic voters -- or, if you prefer, pissing them off still more).

Donald Trump continues to occupy a position of authority in the Republican Party (thereby making the claim of the GOP to any authority of its own just that tiny little bit less convincing).

Today's selections have been meticulously hand-selected from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Matt Wuerker, Nate Beeler,Chad Lowe,Steve Kelly,Eric Ramirez, Matthew Bors, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: Jimmy Margulies.

p3 Legion of Excellence: Pat Bagley.

p3 “Thanks for an Image I Can Never Get Rid Of” Award: Pat Oliphant.

p3 Award for Best New Use of an Overworked Meme: Nate Beeler.

p3 Certificate of Harmonic Toon Convergence: John Darkow, Glenn McCoy, and Ed Hall.

p3 World Toon Review: Cristo Komarnitski (Bulgaria), Cam Cardow (Canada),Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland), Ingrid Rice (Canada), and Paresh Nath (India).

Ann Telnaes take Syrian president Bashar al-Assad at his word.

Mark Fiore explores the difference between Mitter and Anti-Mitter, with a little help from Suzie Newsykins.

Taiwan's Next Media Animation has the story of Alec Baldwin's mysterious disappearance.

Tom Tomorrow presents a brief guide to class conflict in America. (Watch for a cameo by “Chuckles,” the sensible woodchuck!)

The K Chronicles examines the tricky business of language.

Tom the Dancing Bug reveals the most important rule in drawing Doug, and other treats from Super-Fun-Pak Comics.

One of the amusements that keeps us going here at p3 Sunday Toons is the discovery of instances of harmonic toon convergence (see above). Alas, Comic Riffs reports that a recent work by p3 Sunday Toons semi-regular Jeff Stahler appears to have converged perhaps a tad too much with the work of New Yorker cartoonist David Sipress.

At Red Meat, Milkman Dan wrestles with his conscience.

The Comic Curmudgeon examines the endless cycle of depression that is “The Family Circus.”

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman puts the sad decline of the Republican party in perspective.

Another world: It's amazing to be reminded what American conservatism looked like in the years after World War II: Last week, p3 presented “Make Mine Freedom” (1948), a sermonette about the dangers of “isms” in post-war America. “Going Places” (1948) has the same provenance: Sponsored by the conservative Harding University and produced by John Sutherland. This time, the topic is the value of hard work and initiative (it's noteworthy that Freddy never gets to go fishing and have fun, which was his original dream; my guess they found him at his desk one morning, of a heart attack at age 50). The Econ 101 tropes about the free enterprise system will probably sound familiar, but its view of the American business world would be almost unrecognizable today. Plowing profits back into R&D and benefits for employees (including high wages, steady employment, vacation time, and health insurance)? Learning his lesson about the evils of monopolistic practices and the wisdom of government regulation? Fair dividend prices creating more jobs? Building a strong labor-management team? Please. Taxes as a healthy system by which the government provides the infrastructure that business needs to flourish? Get real. You know what they call that kind of thinking today? Kenyan socialism. Despite Harding University's impeccable conservative credentials, American Tea Party “Starve the Beast” conservatives would chase them and John Southerland up a tree and set fire to it for advocating planned/mixed economic ideas like this and calling it free enterprise. On the other hand, the Rockefeller Center-esque “Soap City” is a pretty amusing image.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer offers some handy hints for making your recession dollar go a little farther this holiday shopping season.

Test your toon-captioning skills at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday morning tunes: Snowflakes in the air

2011-12-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

There actually were snowflakes in the air -- about five or six -- this morning here in my secure flyover-state location.

One of the greatest undocumented moments of the 1960s was on the day when Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson, producers of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” decided to bring in jazz composer/pianist Vince Guaraldi and his trio to create what is likely the most memorable soundtrack of the decade.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

Sunday morning toons: Freedom is many things to many people

2011-12-04T09:13:00.000-08:00

Today's selections have been lovingly hand-selected from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Clay Jones, Ben Sargent,Tom Toles,Joel Pett,J. D. Crowe,Jimmy Margulies, Steve Sack, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: R. J. Matson.

p3 Award for Best Variation on the “Occupy” Meme: Jerry Holbert.

p3 Legion of Extreme Merit Award: Adam Zyglis.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium: Pat Bagley.

p3 World Toon Review: Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland), Cam Cardow (Canada),Frederick Deligne (France), and Luo Jie (China).

Ann Telnaes sees a little problem with the current state of the First Amendment.

Mark Fiore looks at the “hard” in the hard science of climate change.

Taiwan's Next Media Animation presents The Student Loan Rap.

Sigh. You may remember a couple of weeks ago, when the p3 Sunday Morning Toons noted that a near-pristine copy of Action Comics #1, June 1938, which had somehow appeared from out of nowhere in someone's shed in California, was predicted to fetch $1 million at auction? Well, guess again.

Tom Tomorrow explores the somewhat-nuanced position of the anti-Occupy crowd.

The K Chronicles gives some thought to how to leave one's mark (even if it's a soot smudge).

Tom the Dancing Bug celebrates the American Dream.

In a touching edition of Red Meat, Bug-eyed Earl tells what he's thankful for.

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman looks at Mitt Romney's holding pattern.

"Freedom is many things to many people:" Several weeks ago, the p3 Sunday Mornign Toons featured three odd little toons from the 1950s on the fundamentals of traditional economics, produced by Warner Bros and underwritten by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This week, thanks to long-time p3 correspondent James the Elder, we've got an oddity that's even . . . odder. “Make Mine Freedom” was produced by John Sutherland for Harding College, a socially conservative, church-affiliated school in Searcy, Alabama. The politics of it are a tad dated, and aren't too subtle ("Freedom to work at a job you like?" Haven't heard it put that way before. Bit of a right-to-work spin, you think?). But in fairness they're probably a little more subtle than you might expect from an institution with a list of past lecture-series speakers like this.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer is of two minds about the ouster of UO president Richard Lariviere: a visionary? Or a guy who deliberately antagonized the people he needed?

Test your toon-captioning chops at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday Morning Tunes: You're a crooked jerky jockey and you ride a crooked hoss!

2011-12-03T09:13:00.000-08:00

Uncredited, here's the legendary voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft in the performance he's second-best known for (fifty years as the voice of Tony the Tiger for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes is the first):

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

And, once again, does anyone seriously wonder why American news consumers are so woefully uninformed?

2011-11-28T09:13:00.000-08:00

In 2005, PIPA survey research indicated that people who “get their news” from The Daily Show (The Colbert Report didn't exist yet) were better informed than Fox News viewers. This was at the time when, as Jon Stewart memorably pointed out, TDS was scheduled after a show about puppets making prank phone calls.

And recently, of course, has come survey evidence that Fox News viewers were less informed than people who watched no news at all.

(Fox News Channel, as of this week, is the top-rated cable news channel.)

But it's not just Fox News that's the problem. It's also the dumbing down pretty much across the board of the top middle-brow news sources for their American audiences. (Why? Possibly ideology, but certainly in large part because these for-profit institutions have determined that that's where the money is.) For example:

Compare the European English-language edition of CNN to what we get here in the states.And of course the way that Time and Newsweek dumb down their domestic-edition cover stories so that American readers won't fwy their widdle bwains.

Sunday morning toons: Things I'm thankful for

2011-11-27T09:13:00.000-08:00

I am thankful that pepper spray and pizza are apparently both vegetables now (although I may have ordered my last veggie pizza until the current unpleasantness ceases).

I am thankful that the Congressional SuperCommittee died without making things noticeably worse.

I am thankful that, although there are twenty-seven GOP presidential debates on the calendar so far, fourteen of them are already over. (GOP voters: Are you with me on this one? Huh? Are you with me? Anybody?)

I'm thankful that, after all these years, Newt is finally getting his fifteen minutes.

I'm thankful that his fifteen minutes are likely to be over by Cyber Monday.

I'm thankful that all those cops haven't gotten too much Occupy hippie blood on their nice, new riot gear.

I'm thankful for those people who stood in line all night at Best Buy for one of the two 40” HDTV flatscreens for $200 in stock on Black Friday.

I'm thankful I have sense enough not to have been one of them.

I'm thankful that Oregon is at least temporarily out of the state-sponsored execution business.

Today's toons have been carefully chosen from the finest of this week's free-range, cruelty-free political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle, stuffed with rice, onion, sliced almonds, water chestnuts, and fried turkey liver; then roasted for 17 minutes per pound of humor, basting about once per hour:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Dave Granlund, Charlie Daniel,John Darkow,Nick Anderson,Daryl Cagle,Adam Zyglis, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Legion of Honor (with Drumsticks): David Fitzsimmons.

p3 Best of Show (class Amphibia): Tom Toles.

p3 Certificate of Harmonic Toon Convergence: Chad Lowe and Clay Bennett.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium (tie): Steve Breen and Jimmy Margulies.

Special Massive Multiplayer Toon Convergence Event: (Kryptonian edition).

p3 World Toon Review: Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland), Cam Cardow (Canada),Ollie Johansson (Sweden), and Michael Kountouris (Greece).

Ann Telnaes celebrates the most wonderful time of the year (if you're in the right place).

Mark Fiore tells us what he's thankful for -- and can you blame him?

Via Matt Bors: Local police brainstorm for ways to win the social media PR war against Occupy.

Tom Tomorrow honors the real victims in the war against sexual harassment. Oh, the humanity!

The K Chronicles has one of the oddest heart-warming stories I've read in a while.

Tom the Dancing Bug reminds us of the main problem with being a super-hero with god-like powers: No one's ever satisfied.

From Comic Riffs comes the news that frequent p3 Sunday morining toons notable and Pulitzer winner Mike Keefe is semi-retiring after taking a buy-out from the Denver Post.

Red Meat's Ted Johnson is back again this week, with a valuable lesson.

You must remember this: Portland homeboy Jack Ohman is thankful (maybe) for the fundamental things that apply as time goes by.

I'm a pointer! Dere it is! Dere it is! Dere it is! Time for another Charlie the Dog story with Porky Pig. Charlie is one of those characters that just never seemed to catch on, even though he's one of my favorites (go figure, huh?). Written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones in 1949. Musical director Carl Stalling has great fun with the flip-chart gag at the beginning. According to Wikipedia, several scenes of cartoonish violence -- mainly characters kicking each other, it appears, which seems pretty much of a misdemeanor in the realm of cartoon violence -- got cut out for TV syndication. Charlie's “Russian cossack” voice is a Mel Blanc version of one of the famous tag-lines of popular radio and TV comic Bert “The Mad Russian” Gordon.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer knows something that Oregonians can be thankful for.

Test your toon-captioning skills at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday morning tunes: You'll know you're reasonably there

2011-11-26T09:13:00.000-08:00

I sort of had to give Arlo Guthrie a pass on Thursday because I've never been able to find a good online performance of “Alice's Restaurant;” so here's probably the most beautiful song he ever wrote.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

Lucky thing Bush never liked to travel much

2011-11-24T11:08:00.000-08:00

(Upated below.)

Because here's one more place he really can't visit:

Bush and Blair found guilty of war crimes for Iraq attack

A tribunal in Malaysia, spearheaded by that nation’s former Prime Minister, yesterday found George Bush and Tony Blair guilty of “crimes against peace” and other war crimes for their 2003 aggressive attack on Iraq, as well as fabricating pretexts used to justify the attack.

(Update: Oops. Now Switzerland's off the list too.)

For your Thanksgiving viewing pleasure: One of the two funniest scenes in 1970s sit-com history*

2011-11-24T09:13:00.000-08:00

From 1978, the finale of the legendary “Turkeys Away” episode of WKRP in Cincinnatti. It was written by veteran TV writer Bill Dial, who later wrote for Sliders, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek Voyager.

But no matter how big a fan of any of those shows you might be, you have to admit none of them came up with a line as good as this: As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here to see it on Hulu. The scene begins at 17:12 and ends at 23:36.

^*For the record, this is the other one.

Quote of the day: The vital Constitutional importance of the guest list for Sally Quinn's next party

2011-11-21T20:31:00.001-08:00

Here's Charles Pierce on ducking responsible governance by handing tough decisions over to elite insider cliques rather than just doing what the Constitution requires:

[T]he one lesson to be drawn from the debacle that is the SuperCommittee is that it's past time for people to abandon the notion that we can get out of our problems if just the right number of people from Sally Quinn's holiday party list can get together in a room and pretend to like each other. That's what got us the Nixon pardon, the Tower Commission that helped bury Iran-Contra, the reluctance to impeach Ronald Reagan over the latter, and the thumb-sucking over the conviction of lying weasels like Scooter Libby. It's a nice life there in Versailles.

Sunday morning toons: Eagle and Kitten Cuteness

2011-11-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

Today's p3 toon offerings have been meticulously hand-selected from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Pat Bagley, Bob Gorrell,John Cagle,John Darkow,Lalo Alcaraz,, R. J. Matson, Adam Zyglis, Clay Jones, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium (Part 1): . (Note: The “other medium” might not be what you think it is. If you're in doubt, go here.)

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium (Part 2): Stuart Carlson.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium (Part 3): John Darkow.

p3 Special Tribute to the Irreplaceable Service Iowa and New Hampshire Perform for the Nation: Ben Sargent.

p3 Special Mention for Being the Toon That Made No Sense to Me This Week Clay Bennett. Don't get me wrong: I like Bennett's layouts. I note with interest and approval that the “Occupy” guy is not depicted as a hippie, an ex-hippie, a dead-ender, or a stoner, although the “Stupefy” fellow appears a little older and is in a suit and tie. I just don't understand the playoff of the two signs, or the looks they're exchanging. Stupefy?

p3 “American Dream” Medal: Mike Keefe.

p3 World Toon Review: Cam Cardow (Canada), Jiho (France),Martin Sutovec (Slovak Republic), and Petar Pismestrovic (Austria).

Ann Telnaes explains why you won't be seeing a peace divident anytime soon.

It takes a minute or so to find its groove, but Mark Fiore's ad for ContagionEx ends up being the funniest thing he's done in a good while. Remember: When you're getting screwed by Wall Street, you're also getting screwed by everyone who's ever screwed Wall Street too! Protect yourself!

And for you Anglophiles out there, Taiwan's Next Media Animation brings you the happy news: The marriage of the heir apparent to the heir apparent to the British throne may soon be blessed with issue.

Perhaps the Republicans have been that close to getting it right all along: From Jen Sorenson comes the problem and the solution.

Tom Tomorrow presents an unearthly tale of horror and possession. And it's probably not going to end well, either.

Tom the Dancing Bug presents “Billy Dare: Into The Uncanny Valley.” Uhm, it's a tad meta.

Of all the Charlie Brown apps in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest: Comic Riffs brings the news that the classic Charlie Brown TV specials, including the legendary Christmas story, will soon be available as digital apps.

Red Meat's Ted Johnson faces the pain.

The Comic Curmudgeon looks forward to A Very Special Dick Tracy Hanukkah!

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman raises the question: Should we call the whole Supercommittee thing off?

Your Eagle-and-Kitten “Awww” Moment: “Go Fly a Kit” (1957) is a sort of empty-headed but endearing bit of fluff directed by Chuck Jones. Jones usually produces stories that are a little more cynical and self-reflexive, but this just seems to be one of his sweet moments. Let's just go with it. The characters' names are Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot. I don't know why.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

And for an extra dose of cuteness: Suzanne at FDL brings back a 1952 Disney minor gem: Susie the Little Blue Coupe. Note the voice talent names.

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer notes this unpleasant statistic: The average annual cost of child care in Oregon is $10,392 -- nearly $4,000 more than the annual state college tuition.

Test your toon-captioning skills at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

"The people" -- remember them?

2011-11-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

One hundred forty-eight years ago today, Abraham Lincoln picked up American political discourse and placed it on another track: His dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg honored an America “conceived in liberty,” to be sure, but also one “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

The previous fifty years had amply shown that a nation concerned merely (!) with liberty (and the attendant worship of states' rights) wasn't enough; it must also dedicate itself to the opportunity of all its citizens (and not just, for example, to that of the wealthiest and best-connected of its citizens -- or of its citizen-like contract-based life-forms).

It's 267 words long, and takes about two minutes to read it first to last. Seriously. Go for it.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Saturday morning tunes: It would be a pretty poor revolution that didn't inconvenience someone

2011-11-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

You say you got a real solution? Well, you know, we'd all love to see the plan. (Shoo-bee doo-wah!)

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here

(Dedicated to the folks who were happy to see the #Occupy Portland camp dismantled, and the participants arrested or driven off, because they found it to be inconvenient.)

The unforgiving minute: Connect the dots

2011-11-15T09:13:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Bob Costas and NBC for becoming part of the problem.

Accused pedophile Jerry Sandusky has a First Amendment right to make his case to the public (however much his lawyers probably wish he wouldn't exercise it).

That doesn't create some Constitutional obligation on NBC/Costa's part to cash in by giving him a national audience for his preposterous claims of innocence. Sandusky allegedly got away with child rape for years, while people connected with him at Penn State knew about it, because at the end of the day it was good business to indulge him.

Connect the dots, Bob.

Sunday morning toons: Priorities

2011-11-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

Lots of toons this week about Cain and Perry.

Oddly, there was not much of anything out there about the defeat of the “personhood of the blastocyst” amendment in Mississippi, the repeal of the anti-union laws in Ohio, the recall of the odious Russell Pearce in Arizona, or the restoration of same-day voter registration in Maine. What -- there's nothing funny about those things? Or is it just that Cain and Perry jokes are easier (which is certainly true, but . . . )?

I unearthed only one toon about the disgraceful covering-up-child-rape scandal at Penn State, and that's enough. If I wanted to support an organization that looks the other way on pedophilia, I'd be rooting for Notre Dame, thanks very much.

Today's selections have been lovingly hand-selected from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Mike Keefe, Stuart Carlson,John Darkow,Walt Handlesman,Nate Beeler,Steve Kelley, Chuck Asay, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Legion of Honor Award: Steve Breen.

Belated Celebration of Veterans Day: Tip of the p3 hat to Michael Ramirez, Marshal Ramsey, Gary Varvel, and Glen McCoy,

p3 World Toon Review will be back next week.

Ann Telnaes marks the observance of Veterans Day at Dover AFB. (Thanks so much, Former President Codpiece.)

From their headquarters at the Hall of Justice, Mark Fiore brings you the latest adventures of Super~~Friends~~Committee!

No, I changed my mind: One shot at Penn State this week isn't enough after all. Here's Taiwan's Next Media Animation appropriately un-awed report.

At This Modern World everything old is new again.

Keith Knight notes the latest round in the ongoing struggle by conservatives with the concept of “satire.”

Tom the Dancing Bug's Hollingsworth Hound endures injustice for the sake of his country.

Here's the hint: It was found in a shed in California, and it's got a big green car on it. Oh yeah, and it's probably worth over a million bucks. Give up? Comic Riffs has the answer

Red Meat presents Bug-eyed Earl's Halloween debriefing.

The Comic Curmudgeon pays tribute to the target that will never die, even if Bil Keane, its creator, did.

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman muses on Cain's chances of scoring.

Theology and home furnishing tips: You get them both in “The Heavenly Puss,” a Tom and Jerry toon directed in 1953 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with musical direction by Scott Bradley. (Home furnishing tip: Don't put your upright piano on the runner at the top of the stairs.) The Heavenly Express scene has some unusually-dark moments for Hanna and Barbera, beginning with Tom's worried look back at his (dead?) body, the sad image of Fluff, Muff, and Puff, and the very un-Hanna-Barbera renderings of Tom's face when he sees his possible fate.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

Bonus animation: Hat-tip to Suzanne at FireDogLake for unearthing this one: Gypsy mice, flying cat-bats, and Mighty Mouse -- as an operetta.

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer celebrates one more reason Oregon's such a cool place to live.

Test your mad toon-captioning skills at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday morning tunes: Don't you start away uneasy

2011-11-12T09:13:00.000-08:00

No. Really. Jethro Tull live.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here.

Quote of the day: Yes, sometimes things really are that simple

2011-11-11T13:07:00.001-08:00

(Updated below. Link fixed, too.)

Here's Will Bunch on the riots at Penn State last night:

“Of course we’re going to riot. What do they expect when they tell us at 10 o’clock that they fired our football coach?”

-- Paul Howard, 24-year-old Penn State aerospace engineering student, as quoted in the New York Times.
OK, so maybe Paul Howard is no rocket scientist. (Oh wait, actually he is a rocket scientist!)

Heh.

I give Bunch full marks for diagnosing the immediate problem (stunning lack of proportion about both rioting and football programs), but his prescription (dissolving the main campus at University Park and distributing its student population among the 19 commonwealth campuses) is pure fantasy.

It isn't that schools like Penn State are, to continue Bunch's downsizing analogy, too big to fail. It's simply that the phenomenal amounts of money floating around in a college athletics system that not only permits but almost demands dishonesty constitutes -- to return to the banking metaphor again -- a clear moral hazard.

Update: Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention the main point here: Children were raped. Adults knew about it.

Eleven!

2011-11-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

This morning at 11am (naturally) ET, my favorite live-streaming campus radio station WCCR-LP-FM will present “11-11-11: A Celebration” -- a one-hour tribute to Spinal Tap co-founder Nigel Tufnel (today is Nigel Tufnel Day; you did remember that, didn't you?) and the rest of the band (both living and mysteriously dead).

Bear in mind, of course, that 11am ET is about an hour from now on the west coast.

Classic Tap cuts will be mixed with never-before heard behind-the-scenes stories about the world's loudest -- and most punctual -- heavy metal band.

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here. And crank it to eleven.

Thrill! to the story of the secret wartime technology behind Tap's classic “crank it to 11” sound!

Marvel! at the self-improvement movement -- Become Your Eleven -- inspired by the Tap's music!

Quake in fear! at the secret messages revealed when you play “Number Eleven” backwards!

And for the record: I'm not saying I wrote any of the original material for the show, and I'm not saying I performed any of it either. I'm just saying it might sound a lot like I maybe did.

The show will be re-aired today at 3pm ET/12pm PT. After that, it could be like those Disney films that go into the vault, not to be seen again for another 20 years.

Sunday morning toons: The seven billionth person

2011-11-06T09:13:00.000-08:00

There are now seven billion people on the planet earth -- and over 50 of them have not yet been associated with leaking the Herman Cain harrassment story.

There are now seven billion people on the planet earth -- and about 700 million of them (or one-tenth, or roughly the equivalent of the population of the three largest states in the United States) control half of the wealth on the planet.

There are now seven billion people on the planet earth -- and by next September, over one-third of them will have spent a couple of weeks in the limelight as the GOP presidential frontrunner.

There are now seven billion people on the planet earth -- of whom over 900 million are underfed.

There are now seven billion people on the planet earth -- and their average annual income is $7000.

There are now seven billion people on the planet -- and the GOP's ambitious plan is to make sure that none of the ones living in America will ever be eligible to vote again.

There are now seven billion people on the planet -- and with each tick of the clock, a few less of them care about the NBA lock-out.

Today's selections have been lovingly hand-selected from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Bill Day, Eric Allie,Mike Keefe,Dave Granlund,Rob Rogers,Clay Jones, Jim Morin, Clay Bennett, Steve Sack, Bok, Chad Lowe, Matt Davies, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: Nate Beeler.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium (tie): Gary Varvel and David Fitzsimmons.

p3 Legion of Merit: Rob Rogers.

p3 “You May Think It's a Superman Reference, But It's Really an Incredibles Reference” Award: Nate Beeler.

p3 World Toon Review: Martin Sutovec (Slovakia), Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland),Ramzy Taweel (Palestine), and Ingrid Rice (Canada).

As Ann Telnaes reminds us, every barbecue hs its winners and its losers.

Mark Fiore demonstrates the political power of taking a very bad idea to its logical conclusion. Will you end up with a priceless golden scepter? Or a wooden squirrel stick?

Herman Cain's not the only one in hot water this week: Taiwan's often-ineffable Next Media Animation brings us the latest word of the unlikely-sounding Justin Bieber paternity suit.

Follow along on This Modern World as we learn two new words from Officer Friendly.

The K Chronicles present: Only In L.A.

Tom the Dancing Bug has a lovely little dream.

Thirties magazine cartoons: They weren't all about Thurberesque bloodhounds and tweedy upper-West Siders trading mots about domestic wines. Comic Riffs celebrates the work of Depression-era cartoonist Syd Hoff, whose work appears new again in the age of the Occupy movement.

Red Meat's Ted Johnson explains that gradually sinking feeling you've been getting for years.

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman says, don't think of them as millionaires versus billionaires; think of them as workers and job creators who don't see eye-to-eye yet.

The better mousetrap: That's what Tom thinks he's invented, anyway, in “Designs on Jerry,” directed by Joseph Hanna and William Barbera, with musical direction by Scott Bradley (produced in 1953, but not released until 1955):

(Note to Facebook friends: If you're reading this in FB Notes, click here to see the video.)

p3 Bonus Toon: Here at p3, we join Jesse Springer in saluting Oregon's Senator Jeff Merkley, who, with a handful of other senators, has sponsored a proposed Constitutional amendment aimed at overturning the Citizens United decision, allowing Congress to set limits on campaign spending. If you care about the US being a democracy in anything other than name, this is a no-brainer, although it's merely the beginning of a bitter fight that could easily take a decade to resolve. (Not pictured: Oregon's other US Senator, Ron Wyden.)

Test your toon-captioning kung fu at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

"Death is a distant rumor to the young."

2011-11-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

CBS mainstay Andy Rooney, dead at 92.

Saturday morning tunes: I'm looking for pound notes, loose change, bad checks, anything

2011-11-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

Next Friday, as you probably don't really need to be reminded, is Nigel Tufnel Day.

Yes, 11/11/11 is the day when fans around the world will take a moment to pay their respects to the legendary lead guitarist, who, along with David St. Hubbins and Nigel Smalls, founded the world's loudest -- and most punctual -- rock band: Spinal Tap. The date was selected, of course, in honor of Nigel's famous custom-made Marshall amp which . . . well, let him explain.

In fact, I'm at work with my old friend and colleague Keith Semmel, producer and host of “Strictly the Sixties” (available live-streaming on WCCR-LP-FM) on a a very special tribute show for Nigel and the lads, going all the way back to their early days in the 1960s as The Originals, then The New Originals, then The Thamesmen, in which latter incarnation they hit the charts with this skiffle hit “Gimme Some Money.”

The tribute show will be broadcast this Friday at 3pm Eastern/12pm Pacific. I'll let you know as further details float to the surface.

This performance was, I believe, on the short-lived 1960s pop music show “Hullaba-Dig-A-Go-Go.” It's especially significant because it captures a performance by early drummer John “Stumpy” Pepys, the first in a long line of drummers for the band to die horribly, or mysteriously, or both. (In Pepys' case, it was a freak gardening accident in 1969, which the authorities agreed was better left “unsolved.”)

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click here to see the video.

No! (Back regardless of popular demand)

2011-11-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

No sun--no moon!
No morn--no noon!
No dawn--no dusk--no proper time of day--
No sky--no earthly view--
No distance looking blue--
No road--no street--no "t'other side this way"--
No end to any Row--
No indications where the Crescents go--
No top to any steeple--
No recognitions of familiar people--
No courtesies for showing 'em--
No knowing 'em!
No traveling at all--no locomotion--
No inkling of the way--no notion--
"No go" by land or ocean--
No mail--no post--
No news from any foreign coast--
No Park, no Ring, no afternoon gentility--
No company--no nobility--
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member--
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds--
November!

-- Thomas Hood (1844)
(sometimes quoted by
Rumpole, the Old Bailey
Hack, even though it
doesn't appear in his
Quiller-Couch edition
of the Oxford Book
of English Verse)

Fifty-one days until the days start getting longer again.

Sunday morning toons: Why aren't Bush and Cheney getting credit for Obama pulling the US out of Iraq?

2011-10-30T09:13:00.000-07:00

After all, he couldn't do his “we're out of here!” victory dance if they hadn't lied their way into Iraq in the first place. A little respect, please!

That's only one of the cruel ironies to be found in this week's political toon round-up:

Why aren't the middle and lower classes more receptive to Cain's and Perry's flat tax proposals, which will shift the federal tax burden down onto them?

If teachers, firefighters, etc., are destroying the economy, why are they as obscenely rich as the top cats at Wall Street?

They're called “the Super Committee,” but it's just as useless and compromised as the regular GOP-gridlocked congressional committee system it was supposedly designed to leap in a single bound.

Turns out that the worst thing you can do to America is isn't^* destroying a big chunk of its wealth while pocketing fat bonuses; it's urinating in the bushes.

^*(Double negatives: tricky business.)

Today's selections were taken from the p3 Trick or Treat Bag (after throwing away anything that could have razors, needles, or poisons in it) from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Jerry Holbert, John Cole,Ed Stein,Tom Toles,Nate Beeler,Steve Sack, Jeff Danziger, Rick McKee, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: Adam Zyglis.

p3 Legion of Merit, with Golden Showers: Pat Bagley.

p3 Monster Mash Award: David Fitzsimmons.

p3 See the Elephant Award: R. J. Matson.

p3 Day of the Dead Award: Stuart Carlson.

p3 “Darwin Was Right” Award: Paul Szep.

p3 World Toon Review: Heng (Singapore), Hassan Karimzadeh (Iran), and Christos Komarnitski (Bulgaria).

And you thought he was a Python! No such luck: Ann Telnaes reveals the latest frightening GOP presidential hopeful.

Bagels in Bagdhad! Camels in the sky! Via Mark Fiore: Why Obama still isn't enough of a foreign policy hardass for conservatives.

Taiwan's Next Media Animation has their own special take on the Cardinals' game seven victory.

Barry Deutsch counts down the top ten ways teachers unions caused the economic crisis.

Tom Tomorrow presents the good news: Poverty in America has been eliminated.

The K Chronicles examines the scourge of Massachussettes, the shame of Florida. Wait -- doesn't Rush Limbaugh live in Florida?

Tom the Dancing Bug asks: Has Lucky Ducky no shame?

Comic Riffs takes you behind the scenes of The New Yorker's cartoon issue. In the right hands, the Grim Reaper kills!

Red Meat presents Your Tax Dollars at Work, featuring Bug-eyed Earl.

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman considers the awkwardness of the NBA lockout at this particular moment in time.

It's shameful, but, eh! It's a living: We're in the Halloween home stretch, and winding up our p3 tribute to scary theme music by Warner Bros musical director Carl Stalling. This week's entry is “Hyde and Hare,” directed in 1955 by Fritz Freleng, written by Warren Foster, voiced by Mel Blanc, with musical direction by Himself. The Liberace joke and the Ralph Kramden joke would have to be explained to kids now, but they were Bang! Zoom at the time the short came out. (“Carry me?” is also a classic Warner Bros tag line from the 50s.)

(Note to Facebook friends: If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click here to see the video.)

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer likes the good news of an increase in jobs, but there's still a problem:

Test your toon-captioning kung fu at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday morning tunes: Ride of the Valkyries/Silver Machine

2011-10-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a year since we last featured the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, which is too long, I now realize.

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click here to see the video.

This is also, I'm pretty sure, the first appearance on p3 Saturday Morning Tunes of either Richard Wagner or Hawkwind. Probably too long for that, too.

Quote of the day: Distractions versus issues

2011-10-28T15:39:00.000-07:00

Charles Pierce examines the criterion by which Serious Republicans distinguish between “distractions” (e.g., Birtherism, an obvious political loser) and “issues” (e.g. Swift Boating, a disgusting but surprisingly effective tactic):

Make no mistake. Swift Boatism is different from birtherism only in two ways. First, the target is obviously different. But, second, and most important, there was serious money behind Swift Boatism and there is little behind birtherism. (In Republican campaigns, the difference between an "issue" and a "distraction" is whether the Koch Brothers have busted out the checkbook yet.)

And there you have it.

Thursday, 8.45am

2011-10-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

Sunny and clear, but in the upper 30s. Football weather.

I'm sitting at my keyboard. The parrot, perched nearby, begins softly muttering. His head is cocked to one side. He's listening, so I listen too. In a moment, I hear it: Geese, flying in formation over the house.

“What are they saying?”

What we usually think of as a parrot's shoulders are actually his wrists. He shrugs his wrists at me.

I shrug back. “Rough translation,” I say.

He uncocks his head and looks at me. “Roughly? 'Screw this. We can try it again in April.'”

Geese don't play football.

I look at the parrot, and the parrot looks at me. Seventy million years since mammals split off from birds and lizards, but I think we're both thinking the same thing:

April sounds like a long time.

I voted

2011-10-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

Mail-in ballots for the November primary hit the mail last Friday.

The Voter's Pamphlet (English/Spanish/Audio) came out a couple of weeks ago, although some more info, including OR US1 candidates, was tucked inside the envelope with my ballot. (Is that usual?)

Last day to mail ballots: Friday, November 4th. (Eligibility is based on arriving on time, not getting mailed on time!)

Absolute deadline for hand-delivering ballots to local Elections Office: 8pm November 8th.

Ballot drop-off sites.

Bad dreams

2011-10-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

Over the last year I have, from time to time, been sort of a buzz kill -- a political Eeyore, if you will -- in conversations with friends at DL, on FB , and such places, when talk of a “GOP dream ticket” like Bachmann/Palin for 2012 comes up. (It's considered a dream ticket from the left's point of view, of course, on the assumption that it would be so self-evidently dreadful that Obama could coast to re-election. Me, I'm not sure why we'd want to give Obama even more sense of freedom to drag his feet on issues I care about, but let that pass.)

My objection at this point usually runs along these lines:

Yes, yes, it's funny to imagine such a “dream ticket” for 2012, one that would expose the ridiculousness, the fecklessness, the foolishness of American conservatism as it currently exists in the GOP. The trouble is, the mainstream media won't treat them as foolish -- it hasn't so far, has it? And the Obama 2012 campaign won't call them out on even the craziest things they say, so the “center” point for every issue I care about will be dragged inexorably to the right -- further to the right, I should say.

Case in point, this headline from ABCNews.com:

By Gary Langer
Oct 25, 2011 3:00pm

Flat Tax Outpaces 9-9-9 in Poll, Notably Among Conservatives

A flat tax like the one proposed today by Republican presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry engenders a split decision in public opinion — if not the warmest reception, a better one than the public’s broader disapproval of his rival Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan.

While a flat tax divides the nation overall, moreover, it resonates most strongly in a group of particular interest to Perry – “very conservative” Americans, a key GOP voting group. They hold favorable views of a flat tax by a broad 68-28 percent in this ABC News/Washington Post poll, suggesting a strategic rationale for Perry’s initiative.

More broadly, there’s greater division: Americans overall split by 47-48 percent on the notion of a flat tax – that is, removing most income tax deductions and charging all taxpayers the same tax rate, instead of charging higher rates on higher incomes. That’s almost identical to the 48-48 percent split on a flat tax in a different ABC/Post question back in August 1996.

The nub of article is the question of which flat-tax proposal would be more popular, and the polling numbers give the horse-race treatment a comforting scientific sound.

But you can read that article first-to-last and never find the word “regressive,” never find a hint of the almost certain consequences of flat-tax policies for government programs that the readers might happen to like, never find any clue that the debate between the Perry tax “plan” and the Cain tax “plan” is simply haggling over details about the best way to redistribute the federal tax burden from the top brackets onto the middle and lower class.

It's all very interesting, in a reality-TV kind of way, to read how these competing flat-tax schemes poll, but what would really be nice is coverage of what they mean.

There's a mention in the article's final paragraph that as education level increases, voters might be more skeptical of the whole flat-tax idea, but it's a stretch to equate more education with more information on the issues. So it's by no means certain that even that group's skepticism is because they've rejected the underlying framing of the issue.

If political coverage like that goes on unchallenged and uninterrupted for another twelve months (and remember: the more knavish and anti-expertise the GOP finalists next fall, the more, not less, of that kind of "even-handed" coverage you should expect to see), then a lot of voters might well think that this is what the tax reform debate is about: Which regressive flat-tax plan is better?

The unforgiving minute: Short answers to simple questions*

2011-10-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

Incredibly, Salon.com wasted pixels today on this:

Is Will Ferrell the New Mark Twain?

Answer: No. No he isn't.

(And the same could be said for most of the other winners of the Mark Twain Prize, but that's another story.)

Hemingway said that Twain invented the American novel with “Huckleberry Finn.” Think anyone will say anything remotely comparable about Ferrell a hundred years from now?

^*All internet traditions respected.

Minute's up.

Quote of the day: Preventing the powder keg from blowing completely

2011-10-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Matt Tiabbi on why everyone on the left and the right seems uncomfortable about #OccupyWallStreet:

The reality, of course, is that people like Rush, Romney and Obama are all becoming cognizant of the deep frustrations that exist across the political spectrum and are growing desperate to prevent the powder keg from blowing completely – hence the intense effort to describe OWS as a top-down manipulation.

Of course the notion that this is all a media fabrication is ludicrous. Dylan Ratigan didn’t invent four million people in foreclosure, he didn’t invent ten trillion dollars in bailouts, and he didn’t invent Wall Street’s $160 billion bonus pool the year after the crash of its own creation.

Sunday morning toons: Wormer -- he's a dead man!

2011-10-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

Marmelard -- dead! Neidermeier -- dead!

Gaddahfi -- dead!

The GOP candidates and news media are going out of their way to withold credit from Obama, Democrats, or even America for the end of Gaddahfi's reign. Of course, if 2008 had gone the other way, they'd be singing the praises of John McCain . . . Oh. Wait. Maybe not.

(Awkward archival bits like this are a recurring problem for the GOP, like cold sores. Remember the videos of George H. W. Bush toasting those two bulwarks of democracy, Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, not long before each man was driven from power -- in Noriega's case, by US troops under Bush's command? Or the famous mid-1980s photo of Dick Cheney shaking hands with Saddam Hussein? Handy hint to third-world dictators: When a high-ranking Republican praises you publicly, the clock is ticking -- time to dig your spider hole.)

Today's selections have been lovingly hand-selected from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Deb Milbrath, Clay Bennett,John Darko w, Pat Bagley, Randy Bish, Joe Heller, John Deering, , and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: Clay Bennett.

p3 Legion of Merit: Adam Zyglis.

p3 Certificate of Harmonic Toon Convergence: Steve Artley and Gary Varvel.

p3 World Toon Review: Manny Francisco (Philippines),Cam Cardow (Canada), MED (Albania), and Ollie Johansson (Sweden).

Ann Telnaes salutes Sen. Lindsey Graham, who obviously knows what fuels Lady Liberty's lamp.

Mark Fiore's Dog Boy and Mr. Dan say, Thank you, Wall Street!

Taiwan's Next Media Animation predicts the trailer for the 2012 Avengers movie. Wasn't sure I wanted to see it before, but now I confess: I'm kinda intrigued.

How democracy works: As Barry Deutsch shows, it's all a matter of perspective.

The American Prospect's blog (yes, you read that right) considers the unbearable whiteness of Batman: Year One

Do you know who Mary Blair was? If you grew up in the second half of the 20th century in America, you probably should. Seriously. You should.

Tom Tomorrow spies the man who can save Wall Street. (And remember: If you think the US faked the moon landing, you're a crank and a loon, but if you believe an invisible hand guides the economy toward optimal outcomes, you're a Chicago School economist.)

Yes! It's the return of Life's Little Victories at The K Chronicles.

Tom the Dancing Bug presents the latest installment of Darthfield, plus other great strips from Super-Fun-Pak Comix.

Red Meat's Karen and Milkman Dan contemplate the world of tomorrow.

This week, it's a Mostly Boobs Edition of The Comic Curmudgeon. Match that, Meet the Press.

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman presents Gadhafi, Unlamented.

Enter the inevitable amorous babe who's just ca-razy about us hard-boiled gumshoes! We're rolling up to Halloween with a tribute to Golden Age Warner Bros musical director Carl Stalling's creepy music. “The Super Snooper” (1952) was directed by Robert McKimson, written by Tedd Pierce, voice work by Mel Blanc (not sure who voices the femme fatale). Musical puns in the score include “Little Brown Jug” and “It Had to Be You.”

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click here to see the video.

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer chronicles the search for common ground in Oregon. Good luck with that.

Test your toon-captioning powers at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday morning tunes: An end to need, and the politics of greed

2011-10-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

I've never made my peace with synchronicity, but when the same song pops up in three different contexts within as many hours, it'd be silly not to wonder if something's going on.

From 1989, this shot across the bow of 1980s go-go capitalism as well as an homage to the Magical Mystery-era Beatles:

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click here to see the video.

A p3 True Animal Story: The seldom-considered down-side of borderline extinction

2011-10-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

There's a great moment in Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (the company motto: “We solve the whole crime. We find the whole person.”) when a protagonist finds himself face-to-beak with one of the last of the dodo birds, on the island of Mauritius not long before the poor creatures were finally clubbed into pointless anthropogenic extinction near the end of the seventeenth century:

A large cross bird was looking and Richard and Richard was looking at a large cross bird. Richard was looking at the bird as if it was the most extraordinary thing that he had ever seen in his life, and the bird was looking at Richard as if defying him to find its beak even remotely funny.

Once it had satisfied itself that Richard did not intend to laugh, the bird regarded him instead with a sort of grim irritable tolerance and wondered if he was just going to stand there or actually do something useful and feed it. It padded a couple of steps back and a couple of steps to the side and then just a single step forward again on great waddling yellow feet. It then looked at him again, impatiently, and squarked an impatient squark. It then bent forward and scraped its great absurd red beak across the ground as if to give Richard the idea that this might be a good area to look for things to give it to eat.

“It eats the nuts of the calvaria tree,” called out Reg to Richard.

The big bird look sharply up at Reg in annoyance, as if to say that it was perfectly clear to any idiot what it ate. It then looked back aty Richard once more and stuck its head on one side as if it had suddenly been struck with the thought that perhaps it was an idiot it had to deal with, and that it might need to reconsider its strategy accordingly.

“There are one or two on the ground behind you,” called Reg softly.

In a trance of astonishment Richard turned awkwardly and saw one or two large nuts lying on the ground. He bent and picked one up, glancing at Reg, who gave him a reassuring nod. Tentatively he held the thing up to the bird, which leaned forward and pecked it sharply from between his fingers. Then, because Richard's hand was still stretched out, the bird knocked it irritably aside with its beak.

Once Richard had withdrawn to a respectful distance, it stretched its neck up, closed its large yellow eyes and seemed to gargle gracelessly as it shook the nut down its neck into its maw. Whereas before it had been a cross dodo, it was at least now a cross, fed dodo, which was probably about as much as it could hope for in this life.

It made a slow, waddling, on-the-spot turn and padded back into the forest whence it had come, as if defying Richard to find the little tuft of curly feathers stuck up on top of its backside even remotely funny.

“I only come to look,” said Reg in a small voice, and glancing at him, Dirk was discomfited to see that the old man's eyes were brimming with tears that he quickly brushed away, “really, it is not for me to interfere -- “

Richard came scurrying breathlessly up to them.

“Was that a dodo?" he exclaimed.

“Yes,” said Reg, “one of only three left at this time. The year is 1676. They will all be dead within four years, and after that, no one will ever see them again. Come,” he said, “let us go."

Part of the problem for dodos is -- or, I suppose, was -- that they just weren't shrewd enough to realize the vital importance of keeping their distance from the big featherless bipeds. A bad move, it's true; but there's a reason that “dodo” isn't much of a compliment nowadays.

While Adams was researching dodoiana for that scene, he became interested in learning more about those other creatures teetering on the brink of extinction in our own time. The result was a fascinating, wistful travelog called Last Chance to See.

In 2009, the BBC launched a television series of the same name in which Stephen Fry, as stand-in for his late friend Adams, travels to remote spots on the globe to record some of the creatures still barely hanging onto existence by their toes, claws, talons, or prehensile tails.

(One of the ironies that Adams discovered while researching Last Chance is that some endangered species, such as the komodo dragon, may be able to survive only to the extent that they can be made into a spectacle for public broadcasting documentarians and ecotourism marketers. The fanciful notion that they might deserve to survive simply on their own ontological merits, apart from their place in anyone's business model, has never really seemed to catch on.)

I bring all that up because of this cult-following incident which, at first, reminded me of Adams' fictional human-dodo encounter. An example of an almost-extinct species, sporting a bizarre-looking beak, more grumpy and irritated than alarmed about the presence of these ridiculous looking creatures without feathers, stalks out of the cover of the forest, waddles directly up to a fascinated human, and stares him down, clearly expecting, feeling entitled to . . . something.

Then it all goes terribly, terribly wrong:

(If you're reading this in FB Notes, click here to see the video.

And believe me -- you really want to watch the video before going any further.)

Oh, dear. Talk about taking one for the team. Zoologist Mark Carwardine, for whom the epithet “the ultimate wingman” does not seem extreme, was an astonishingly good sport about that experience, although he clearly didn't find the whole thing nearly as amusing as (the unmolested) Fry did.

(Before looking it up, I had deduced that the poor fellow must be an extremely dedicated zoologist rather than, say, a mere production assistant or a co-host. The latter groups would surely have contractual protections against that sort of on-camera treatment by the talent.)

Looking at the incident from the point of view of the bird (a male kakapo dubbed Sirocco), though, I suppose we should be at least a little forgiving. A seldom-considered down-side of borderline extinction must surely be the severely limited opportunities for makin' whoopee. And unlike the hapless dodo, this fellow was not about to march blithely into extinction without putting up a fight. No going gentle into that good night for Sirocco. He rode that poor man's head like a rented mule -- a little feathered Slim Pickens astraddle his own H-bomb.

(Of course, why the zoologist allowed the bird to begin a second ascent into the saddle is another and altogether more disturbing question.)

All that being said, though, I should assure p3 readers that my own parrot, Pardoe, has never behaved like this. But I'm also not letting him watch this clip. No sense putting ideas in his head at his age.

(Hat tip to Mario Piperni.)

Quote of the day: Locking it in

2011-10-20T15:56:00.000-07:00

Here's Charles Pierce on the competition for the most gimmicky tax plan among the GOP presidential candidates:

This isn't really about taxes. It's about establishing a permanent plutocracy and about locking in income inequality. And "starving the beast." Oh, and about looking tough for the mouth-breathers.

Tough to argue with that.

Six years ago at p3: I liked Colbert, but didn't get him

2011-10-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

Yup, this week marks the sixth anniversary of the launch of The Colbert Report.

I didn't completely get it. That's painful, because I'm a major fan and student of satire and irony. But I didn't get it. I accept that now. I do.

I wanted it to be good, and while I couldn't ignore some of the shakedown problems, I could certainly excuse them.My main problem was that I never watched Bill O'Reilly, so I wasn't prepared to recognize -- let alone appreciate -- a pitch perfect parody of him.

Also I was slow -- as were a lot of right-wingers like Dinesh D'Souza, Bill Kristol, and Tony Perkins, I'm delighted to remind you -- to realize that Colbert's character could be lethal as an interlocutor. Many are the irony-challenged interviewees who thought that Colbert was a safe haven, only to find them unwittingly led by his siren call to make even worse-sounding claims than the ones in the book they were there to promote.

So yeah. My bad.

A Peabody, one-and-a-half-Emmys, and countless nominations and special recognitions later, the Report is going strong. And with gambits like his characters absolutely-real superPAC, he's taking satire into the highwiare, wait-is-this-a-joke? regions that nobody's quite sure what to make of.

He has the thanks of a grateful nation, and Nation.

Quote of the day: For the love of first sentences

2011-10-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

It's been some time since I've posted anything about my one of my minor passions, the love of a good first sentence. I've said before that the search for a good closing sentence may blind you to the fact that you've already written it.

Here, via Bryan Garner (not to be confused with Brian Gardner), is advice that feels somewhat familiar:

The best practical advice that can be given [on how to frame the opening sentences] is don't start. That is, don't start anywhere in particular. Begin at the end, begin in the middle, but begin. If you like you can fool yourself by pretending that the start you make isn't really the beginning and that you are going to write it all over again. Pretend that what you write is just a note, a fragment, a nothing. Only get started.

Stephen Leacock, How to Write 27 (1943).

Sunday morning toons: Items from the week's news that you may have missed

2011-10-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

Item: The GOP has a new savior for 2012. (Offer expires 10/31/11.)

Item: Pundits and pols who figure the kids in “Scooby-Doo” were hippies are now convinced that #OccupyWallStreet must be overrun with them.

Item: Political assassinations can be attempted all kinds of different ways. Some of them we like; some of them we don't.

Item: The GOP position on “pro-life” is perfectly clear. Except for the part about “life.” And the part about “pro.”

Today's selections have been lovingly hand-selected from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, John Darkow, Jim Morin,Tom Toles,Dan Wasserman,,R. J. Matson, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: David Fitzsimmons.

p3 Legion of Extreme Merit: Jeff Danziger.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from the *Same* Medium: Joe Heller.

p3 World Toon Review: Cam Cardow (Canada),

Alex Falco (Cuba),Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland), and Ingrid Rice (Canada).

Ann Telnaes gives a nod of appreciation to the sanctity of life, Congressional GOP-style.

Mark Fiore discovers the greatest hippie of them all.

Taiwan's Next Media Animation picks up the story of the cheap, rude restaurant customer who couldn't spell.

Occupy Gotham! The newest #occupy talking point: Alfred Pennyworth pays more in income taxes than Bruce Wayne!

The greatest achievement of 1992: Not the announcement by Boris Yeltson that the Russia would no longer target US cities with their nukes. Not the end of apartheid in South Africa. Not even the 1 billion people watching the Freddie Mercury tribute live from Wembley Stadium, raising millions for AIDS research. (Although those were all pretty good. I mean, come on.) No, the high-water mark of 1992 was the launch of the MTV for the celluloid crowd, the Cartoon Network.

Tom Tomorrow salutes the couragous and intrepid journalists trying to make sense out of #OccupyWallStreet. “His lips are moving, Wanda -- but I can't understand a thing he's saying!”

The K Chronicles recounts a truly unpleasant-sounding experience: and it's not the part about his thumb.

Tom the Dancing Bug presents the continuing adventures of Definitely-Not-Gay Man. Heh.

Comic Riffs salutes the Pearls Before Swine/Cul De Sac/Family Circus mash-up you've been waiting on.

Red Meat's Mister Wally considers the special disappointments of summer's end.

The Comic Curmudgeon and Dick Tracy team up on a For Better or For Worse throwdown that FBOFW totally had coming.

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman gives us those two words that should make every American (not to mention every Republican) cringe: Refried Newt.

Carl Stalling scary music, take two: Last week we saw “The Hair-Brained Hypnotist,” a Bugs-and-Elmer outing with great scary opening theme music, by Carl Stalling. As we move closer to Halloween, why not milk it? Here's “Hair-Raising Hare” from 1946, directed by Chuck Jones, written by Tedd Pierce, voiced by Mel Blanc (even the Peter Lorre character), featuring more creepy Stalling music, plus such musical puns as “Oh, You Beautiful Doll” as the theme for the mechanical rabbit fem-bot, “California, Here I Come” for the suitcase-packing scene, and “Shuffle Off to Buffalo for the lampshade exit bit.

(Note to Facebook friends: If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post, below, to see the video.)

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer welcomes the Occupy movement to Oregon.

br Test your toon-captioning skills at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Quote of the day: Disturbing

2011-10-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

Nineteen years after it was originally recommended to me, I'm finally working on Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum. In a note file on a floppy disk, on the computer of a man who has gone missing under increasingly worrisome cirumstances, is the following:

If you can't even decide what the story is, better stick to editing books on philosophy.

Yipe.

Saturday morning tunes: We're in trouble deep

2011-10-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

“Wake Up, Little Susie” was the first single by the Everly Brothers to hit #1, and it did it 54 years ago yesterday.

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post to see the video.

Everly Brothers Story #1 (apocryphal): Billy Joel, at some point after his career took off in the 1970s, met Paul McCartney. Feeling a little sheepish, Joel thanked McCartney, saying, If the Beatles hadn't done the things they did, I couldn't have done the things I've been able to do.

McCartney, as the story goes, shrugged politely. Don't worry -- I said the same thing to Phil Everly.

Everly Brothers Story #2 (I was there): Sometime in the late 1980s -- roughly 30 years after this song topped the charts -- I saw the Everly Brothers perform in the campus auditorium at Ball State. (Long story. Don't ask.) About halfway through the first set, a couple who'd been sitting near me -- I'd have guessed them to be younger than me, but certainly no older -- got up and left, their irritation evident. I didn't think this was going to be rock and roll, one of them huffed as they threaded their way out to the aisle.

The unforgiving minute: Excerpt from the GOP SAT Exam Prep Guide:

2011-10-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

Identify the next element in this series:

Mitch Daniels, Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Chris Christie, Herman Cain, ____________.

[Hint: No credit will be awarded for the answer "Mitt Romney."]

Minute's up.

Sunday morning toons: Positively Occupied Wall Street

2011-10-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

There were two^* top stories this week:

1. In 2008, John McCain got the GOP presidential nomination not because he was the most popular, or had the right policies; he got it because he was the last man standing at the end of the primary season. In 2011, the uneasy alliance of the GOP establishment, the mainstream media, the GOP's Tea Party Base is gradually coming to an ugly conclusion: They've created a candidate selection system where that's a feature, not a bug. The person who takes the podium on Thursday night next September in Tampa Bay may very well be the one who simply happened to be ahead in the polls when the music stopped. They're burning through “next big thing” candidates at the rate of about one every three weeks. Good luck with that.

2. The mainstream corporate media has also begun to give more than merely dismissive coverage of #OccupyWallStreet (now starting its fourth week) and its siblings around the country (including Occupy Portland). The demonstrations themselves are important, arguably historic, but I think I'm more astonished that the corporate media is finding itself having not only to acknowledge their existence, but having to give them a measure of respect. That's gotta sting.

(^*If you are an Apple product owner, there were three top stories this week.)

Today's selections were chosen, using a 99-cent iTunes app, from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Steve Breen, Rob Rogers,Signe Wilkinson,Chip Bok,Steve Sack, Tom Toles, Daryl Cagle, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best in Show: Mike Thompson.

p3 Certificate of Harmonic Toon Convergence: Nick Anderson, Jack Ohman, Mike Luckovich, and Joe Heller.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium (tie): Pat Bagley and Mike Luckovich.

p3 World Toon Review: Ingrid Rice (Canada), Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland),Cam Cardow (Canada), and Michael Kountouris (Greece).

Sigh. Okay, fine. Here.

Ann Telnaes expresses her appreciation for the biggest non-story of the week -- and the genius who made it possible.

Mark Fiore reviews the Change that Obama has brought to America. It's pretty impressive -- could any other American leader have accomplished it?

Taiwan's Next Media Animation in one of their more wonderfully odd pieces, asks: Can Herman Cain deliver for the GOP? (Deliver. Pizza. Get it?).

Tom Tomorrow presents the GOP's newest -- or oldest? -- energy policy. (Hint: According to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: “There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened.”)

The K Chronicles considers Stuff I Believe (Since Becoming a Parent).

Tom the Dancing Bug presents Rick Perry's Guide to Good Science. It's all so simple; but then, so is Governor Perry.

#OccupySpringfield! In a show of solidarity with the demonstrators at #OccupyWallStreet, Comic Riffs counts down the fifteen best “Simpsons” quotes about labor and greed. (Note: “The Simpsons” has been renewed for its 24th and 25th seasons on FOX, although it hadn't yet at the point that the 15-quotes piece was posted.)

Red Meat reveals the real reason people want to underfund scientific research in this country.

I couldn't decide which revelation of the horrors of the daily comics page by The Comic Curmudgeon to share with you, so I'm going to give you both S & M on the daily funnies and a character savagely killed for his drug crimes. (Plus, the secret origins of “Thirsty” Thurston.)

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman examines what's keeping the Wall Streeters occupied these days.

Unbe-wiev-able! “The Hare-Brained Hypnotist,” directed by Fritz Freleng, written by Michael Maltese, and voiced by Mel Blanc, was released on Halloween, 1942. (The cool scary opening theme music, by Carl Stalling, was used again in “Hair-Raising Hare” (1946), “The Super Snooper” (1952), “Hyde and Hare” (1955). The musical theme we hear when the bear and Elmer start flying is the piano-bench classic from 1855, “Listen to the Mockingbird.”)

(Note to Facebook friends: If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post, below, to see the video.)

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer asks, who says guns and education don't mix?

News Item: A three-judge panel of the Oregon Court of Appeals said that an Oregon University System ban on guns exceeds its authority and is invalid.

Test your toon-captioning chops at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday morning tunes: A thousand people in the street

2011-10-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

Today's tune is dedicated to #OccupyWallStreet and Occupy Portland.

The Buffalo Springfield's 1967 song sounds eerily prescient today. After all, look at what we've got:

Young people speakin' their minds, gettin' so much resistance from behind? Check.

A field day for the heat? Check.

And so on.

Paul Krugman began his most recent NYTimes column with these words:

There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear, but we may, at long last, be seeing the rise of a popular movement that, unlike the Tea Party, is angry at the right people.

When the Occupy Wall Street protests began three weeks ago, most news organizations were derisive if they deigned to mention the events at all. For example, nine days into the protests, National Public Radio had provided no coverage whatsoever.

It is, therefore, a testament to the passion of those involved that the protests not only continued but grew, eventually becoming too big to ignore. With unions and a growing number of Democrats now expressing at least qualified support for the protesters, Occupy Wall Street is starting to look like an important event that might even eventually be seen as a turning point.

What can we say about the protests? First things first: The protesters’ indictment of Wall Street as a destructive force, economically and politically, is completely right.

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post to see the video.

Horrifying quote of the day: When your basic rights are subjected in the bowels of perdition to the arbitrary whim of the iniquitous and the vile

2011-10-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

Charles Pierce on the latest chapter of the the GOP's systematic voter disenfranchisement efforts for 2012:

Answer without thinking: What's your opinion of your local DMV? (Really, young lady, such language.) Now realize that those are the people who will determine whether you get to vote.

As all fans of the lamented “Reaper” remember, the Gates of Hell are just as close as your nearest DMV Branch. Say hi to Gladys.

The unforgiving minute: Devolution deniers

2011-10-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

The conservative base believes that dinosaurs and humans once shared the planet, but refuses to acknowledge that reasonable Republicans walked the earth in our own lifetimes.

To fully comprehend the sad spectacle that has become American politics since the 1980s, you need not peruse the politics section of major periodicals. Or the opinion, news or business pages of illustrious publications.

No, lately you’d be best served by heading on over to the obituary section.

For example, this past week, a legislative giant from an earlier and more evolved Republican Party - that is to say, one in which dazzling audiences with tales of cantering saddleback on the family T-Rex was not considered “reaching out to the base” - former Senator Charles Percy, passed away. This sad news has come not long after the passing of another Republican legend, former Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield.

Minute's up.

The unforgiving minute: Detachment and devotion

2011-10-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

Dedicated to state-sponsored executioners, torture experts, and assassins -- and their enthusiasts -- everywhere:

The questioners had that beautiful detachment and devotion to stern justice of men dealing in death without being in any danger of it.

Ernest Hemingway
A Farewell to Arms

Minute's up.

Sunday morning toons: Say goodbye to all that!

2011-10-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

Say goodbye to:

Rick Perry's presidential prospects
Chris Christie's professional modesty
Dmitry Medvedev's presidency
The old marathon record
October

But don't say goodbye to America's Tahrir Square, 'cause it ain't gone anywhere yet. (Not sure what to think about how under-represented -- make that non-represented -- the third week of the #occupywallstreet demonstrations has been in this week's political cartoons.)

Today's selections have been lovingly hand-selected from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Paul Szep, Stuart Carlson,John Darkow,Ben Sargent,Bill Day,Clay Bennett, Joel Pett, Tom Toles, David Fitzsimmons, Eric Allie, John Cole, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: Milt Priggee.

p3 World Toon Review: Cam Cardow (Canada), Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland),Pavel Constantin (Romania), and Ingrid Rice (Canada).

Ann Telnaes celebrates the GOP “Idea Man” turning his attention to health care. His opponents won't have a leg to stand on. Heh.

Mark Fiore explores the new Tea Party budgetary concept of compassionate offsets.

Taiwan's Next Media Animation knows that the Onion is a satire source, not a news source. Why didn't official DC?

Tom Tomorrow brings us the latest confrontation between MiddleMan and his arch-rivals Captain Orange and Turtle Man -- will three years of getting the football pulled away make a difference? Or, you know, not?

The K Chronicles celebrates transitions.

Tom the Dancing Bug is just really, really depressing this week. Go see it. You'll have fun..

Red Meat returns to Papa Maori, who can sense a single atom's decay from nine galaxies' distance. Ah, if only . . .

For once, I'm not sure The Comic Curmudgeon has gone far enough. I don't think this is about Ditto's blood sugar; it's about why Mr. Fulton wanted Ditto to know about that hotel. Yeesh.

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman looks at the point where reality show and political reality meet. (By the way, no way Christie will get in the race for 2012. He has everything to gain by trailing his skirts for the media and the beltway pundits, but nothing to gain by actually becoming a candidate. By Thanksgiving he'd be the next/last Rick Perry.)

A tribute to the insanely fast Patrick Makau of Kenya: Here's the 1942 Disney short “The Olympic Champ,” starring that blithe everyman (everydog?) Goofy, directed by Jack Kinney and narrated by John McLeish. Roger Rabbit was right: Goofy was a GEEEE-nius! (And a dash of Tennyson, all for the same low-low price!)

(Note to Facebook friends: If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post, below, to see the video.)

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer isn't sorry to see Oregon opting out of NCLB.

Test your toon-captioning skills at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Oregon Banned Book Week concludes: A reading

2011-10-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

(Updated below.)

This is not exactly “Garbo Speaks!”, but it's nevertheless pretty rare to find my voice and moving image online. But I figured this was an exception worth making.

Here's an excerpt from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five.

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post to see the video.

Update: On the same subject, here's a happy-ending story about an attempt to ban Slaughterhouse-Five in Missouri, on the silly grounds that it creates "false conceptions of American history and government" and "teach[es] principles contrary to Biblical morality and truth." Kudos to the folks at the Vonnegut Library. (Are you taking applications?)

Saturday morning tunes: The latest from America's premiere surf combo!

2011-10-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

Or at least that's what it says on the cover of the late 1990's Blue Stingrays' “Surf-N-Burn” album -- which Wikipedia outs as the work of The Heartbreakers, Tom Petty's band, taking a surf-rock during the off season.

Which explains why the band is so amazingly tight This is a slick surf medley of "Goldfinger" and the "James Bond theme" written for the very first Bond movie, both composed by John Barry.

Hat-tip to June at my favorite coffee shop, who declared this whole week to be “Surf Music Week.”

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post to see the video.

This is the second appearance of “Goldfinger” on p3 Saturday Morning Tunes. The first was a great live performance by Shirley Bassey -- which I can no longer find on my own friggin' blog.(Not this one, although it's awfully good.) Ah well. Almost 7 years ago, when p3 was launched, tags and such indexical luxuries were the equivalent of the Jetsons' moving aerial sidewalks.

The unforgiving minute: Meta edition

2011-09-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

My old DL bud Lisa called this one exactly right -- I want a melting desk clock:

Minute's up.

Oregon Banned Book Week continues: Now playing at the p3 Banned and Challenged Book Cineplex

2011-09-30T09:13:00.000-07:00

If banned books are so bad, why do they make such cool movies?

To Kill a Mockingbird - Offenses committed by the book: Uses words “damn” and “whore lady” (nothing to do with depictions of race relations in the South).

.

Fahrenheit 451 - -Offenses committed by the book: Contains the words “God damn,” includes the Bible as one of the books burned (nothing to do with the theme of questioning authority).

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- Offences committed by the book: vulgar language, sexual explicitness, violence (nothing to do with treatment of mental patients or native Americans).

The Color Purple - Offences committed by the book: violence, sexual content (nothing at all to do with portrayal of racism).

Acknowledgement to the works of: Harper Lee, Ray Bradbury, Ken Kesey, Alice Walker, Gregory Peck, Alice Ghostly, William Windom, Robert Duvall, Paul Fix, Oskar Werner, Julie Christie, Cyril Cusack, Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Danny DeVito, Scatman Crothers, Christopher Lloyd, Vince Schiavelli, Will Sampson, Brad Dourif, Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery, Rae Dawn Chong, Laurence Fishburne, Robert Mulligan, Francoise Truffaut, Milos Foreman, and Steven Spielberg.

Oregon Banned Book Week continues: The Batocchio round-up

2011-09-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

It's Thursday of Banned Book Week in Oregon, the annual event organized by the Oregon ACLU and the Oregon Library Association.

Yesterday's post mused about the impulse to ban a Shel Silverstein book of children's poetry based in part on one particular poem that's about as subversive toward the existing social order as Eddie Haskel.

And it's really children's literature – or, often more accurately, children's access to literature – that's at stake in most efforts to ban books. That's the central theme of Batoccio's review of the year in banned books at The Vagabond Scholar.

If you imagine that freedom to read is someone else's problem, this is your must-read for the day.

Batoccio looks, in particular, at two books that had a rough time of it getting into the classroom last year: Aldous Huxley's “Brave New World” (a perennial target of the ban-the-book crowd) and Sherman Alexie's “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian” (a newcomer to the ire of book-banners). About the latter author:

This may come as a shock to some people, but many teenagers are not the most, um, diligent students. This doesn't mean they're necessarily bad kids, but they've got a great deal going on. Many are battling a cocktail of hormones (and sometimes medications, prescribed or otherwise), they're testing boundaries, they're trying out identities and what it means to be a young adult, and they're usually more intrigued or tormented over their social lives or lack thereof than anything going on in class. In their eyes at least, their lives can be dramatic and chaotic. Many are capable of depth and insight that would shock a number of adults, and they can connect powerfully, deeply and personally with certain works of art. They can make the classroom a lively, wonderful and impressive place. However, it can be a battle to get them to that state, to win and keep their attention.

Winning that attention sometimes requires an "by any means necessary" approach. The trick is often to meet students where they are – then take them someplace else. For instance, show a cool film clip for an opening activity, have students discuss its dynamics and theme, and then discuss how it connects to last night's Shakespeare reading, which suddenly doesn't feel quite so foreign. Many older teenagers try to adopt an air of studied disaffection and worldly cynicism, and in some areas, the teen culture dictates that school or even learning itself just ain't cool. However, it is possible to get teenagers to show passion and enjoy themselves in the classroom. Provocative material helps (age-appropriate, of course). I had a colleague who routinely used "A Modest Proposal" in classes, and would occasionally get students who were appalled because they took it seriously. The piece always lead to lively discussions. Introductory material the students connect with also helps, and anything perceived to be somewhat risqué or forbidden (such as a banned or challenged book) can seem adult and enticing. Now, obviously, educators have to pick age-appropriate material, but teachers have always discussed such matters. In any case, when it comes to teenagers, teachers may fare better selling a classic through its scandalous rep than its position in the canon. (Hey, if it gets them to actually read the book and remember some of it later, it's energy well spent.)

In my case, I taught one Alexie story to 12th graders. It was the start of the year, and the other section teacher and I wanted to grab the students' attention, so we picked three well-written, diverse and somewhat provocative short stories. The kids wound up having a very strong (positive) reaction to the Alexie piece, "Jesus Christ's Half-Brother Is Alive and Well on the Spokane Indian Reservation." (It's still my personal favorite from the book.)

The book drew the concerned attention of one parent (part of the problem, Batoccio diplomatically says, was that the book “doesn't explicitly say that drugs are bad.”). Unlike a lot of stories that begin like this, things actually turned out pretty well in this incident.

But that feels like the exception to the rule. (Don't miss the reason that Alexie's book was pulled from the classroom in one Oregon school!)

Still, it's hard to argue with Batocchio's bottom line:

Ultimately, good teaching and parenting has to involve preparing teenagers to deal with the world rather than denying to them that it exists. Reading a good book is a joy that should not be denied anybody, and reading some works, particularly in the case of students tackling difficult or complex ones, can be a much richer, more meaningful experience in a good classroom. (Interested parents can even sit in.)

Remember to stop by your local public library and pick up a bright yellow “I read banned books” button.

Oregon Banned Book Week continues: “How Not to Dry the Dishes”

2011-09-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

(Update: Forgot the damned button again. Still working off a new netbook that hasn't got all the shortcuts wired in like the other machine. Hoping that the "red button" line below makes sense now.)

It's Wednesday of OBBW, brought to you by those fine people at Oregon ACLU and the Oregon Library Association.

Stop by your local public library and pick up an “I read banned books” button. Last year, they distributed buttons to 279 libraries and 10 bookstores in 32 Oregon counties. (Their buttons are bright, festive yellow, rather than red.)

Today's feature is The Whoop, reciting “How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes,” from Shel Silverstein's A Light in the Attic, his 1981 collection of poems for children.

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post to see the video.

Yes, indeed. This book has been challenged and censored for a generation across America, on the grounds that it “encourages messiness and disobedience.” Seriously. How little faith do you have to have in your own children, and the upbringing you've given them, to think that this short poem is going to turn them into little anarchists? What must these parents think of harm lurking between the covers of "The Cat in the Hat?"

(Background story: When I was a kid my mom was concerned that I read “Tales of the Bizarro World,” a late-Silver Age recurring feature in Superman comics. These imperfect duplicates of Superman used bad grammar and did things backwards, and – what parents have worried about since the glaciers receded – she was afraid that I would begin entering rooms backwards and announcing “Goodbye!” to everyone. Yes, it really was that stupid. Her concern persisted for some time, until my dentist mentioned to her that I knew x-rays couldn't penetrate lead. After that, she mellowed; after all, if it impressed my dentist . . . See, when it comes to reading material you don't like, you have to take the good with the bad.)

Remember: If you're reading a banned book, or feel like reading a banned book, or just don't want to be told that you can't read a banned book, thank a librarian. Quietly.

Banned Book Week in Oregon begins

2011-09-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

(Greetings to C&L visitors, and thanks to Batocchio for the link!)

Every year at this time, the Oregon ACLU, with the Oregon Library Association, celebrate banned books. And what better way to kick things off than with this tribute to possibly the last American heroes:

I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength, their powerful political connections or great wealth, who, all over this country, have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and destroyed records rather than have to reveal to the thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles.

So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House, the Supreme Court, the Senate, the House of Representatives, or the media. The America I loved still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.

Kurt Vonnegut
A Man Without a Country

And here's a cool thing: Oregon.gov -- that's right, the government's own web page -- has an Intellectual Freedom Clearinghouse featuring advice on what to do if a library patron challenges a book. One more reason I'm so fond of my adopted home state.

Update: Almost forgot the button!

Quote of the day: So what's the deal with hippos?

2011-09-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

Charles Pierce (newly installed as Esquire.com's number-one political blogger), on the current governor of Texas and former darling of the GOP presidential selection process:

On his best day, watching Perry try to think on his feet is rather like watching a hippo try to ice-skate.

Note: If that line sounds vaguely familiar, it might be because of this gem, from about 16 months ago:

Watching [Ron Paul] try to outmaneuver Rachel Maddow the other night was like watching a hippo try to outrun the rain.

(Hippos. They're basically just a funny animal.)

Hard to believe I'm a reader this loyal and Pierce still won't friend me back on Facebook.

The unforgiving minute: An exchange of messages on belonging

2011-09-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

Jim Messina, Campaign Manager, Obama for America, to me:

From: Jim Messina, BarackObama.com
Date: Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 1:53 PM
Subject: 579 people in Beaverton, OR
To: Bill Nothstine

Bill --

Here's something you don't have in common with 579 other supporters of this movement who tell us they live in Beaverton, OR.

That many of your neighbors have decided to own a piece of this campaign by making a donation of whatever they could afford. For some, that meant just $5. For others, it meant $100 or more. But each had their own personal reason for giving.

Our records show that you aren't one of the 579 people where you're from who have stepped up for 2012. Now's your chance to change that.

Me to Jim Messina:

Jim--

Thanks for your invitation. Unfortunately, there's something I already do have in common with a much larger local group: the 1954 people in Beaverton who are unemployed.

And as long as I'm a member of that group, I'm afraid I'm not going to be a member of yours.

Thanks anyway.

Minute's up.

Sunday morning toons: A farewell to class warfare

2011-09-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

No one in this world, as H. L. Mencken famously said, has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. And nowhere is that truth more evident today than in the existence, to say nothing of the persistence, of the "class warfare" meme. But if any single act ever stood a chance of killing that idiotic shorthand sophistry dead, this is it:

(If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post to see the video.)

That bit by Democratic Senate candidate for Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren is so good I'm including it here even though it isn't animated. (It's good to be the King.)

Class warfare's also the theme of a lot of today's selections, every single one of which has been hand-picked from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Stuart Carlson, Matt Davies,Dan Wasserman,Ed Hall,Tony Auth,Chan Lowe, Clay Bennett, David Fitzsimmons, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: Mike Thompson.

p3 Legion of Merit: Pat Oliphant.

p3 World Toon Review: Cam Cardow (Canada), Tayo Fatunia (West Africa),Jeremy Nell (South Africa), and Christo Komarnitski (Bulgaria).

Ann Telnaes presents a quick demonstration of the concept of privatization.

Mark Fiore gets points for milking two of the most annoying and overused political suffixes into one bit of heavy sarcasm: SolyndraGatePocalypse!

Taiwan's Next Media Animation notes that the GOP presidential debates are teaching viewers as much about the GOP base as about the GOP candidates.

Now you'll know why you either hated or loved the old X-Men uniforms: Here's a great infographic about how the color palatte comic books use for their images affects your experience of the stories and characters.

Somewhere, in a file folder in a carton in a closet, I have an article from 1983 or 1984 tracking how the people at the top of the Forbes 500 for the previous year made their money. In those go-go Reaganomics days, 499 of the people on the list got their money either by inheritance (in the parlance of the Tea Party, then, by untaxed death), or by manipulating paper in some way. There was exactly one person on the list who actually made his fortune by creating a product and bringing it to market in the true Galtian fashion: He was the inventor of the Fox radar detector, a device specifically designed, sold, purchased, and used to circumvent federal law. Here's Jeff Stahler on the logic behind that.

Tom Tomorrow brings us another episode of Tea Party Nihilists, in which the cliffhanger isn't at the end -- it's the whole story!

Keith Knight has Georgia on his mind.

At Tom the Dancing Bug, Charley the Australopithicene learns to upgrade his skills for today's marketplace.

Comic Riffs marks the passing of Tom Wilson, Sr., creator of "Ziggy." There's undoubtedly a cruel joke there, waiting to be cashed in, but I'm not gonna.

At Red Meat, Bug-eyed Earl has a plan.

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman looks at the Obama of the future. (It helps if you use a spooky voice and put a flashlight under your chin when you read that.)

He jumped around like a toad-y frog! “14 Carrot Rabbit,” written by Warren Foster and directed by Fritz Freleng in 1951, features Yosemite Sam during his brief Garth Brooksian phase as “Chillicoot Sam” (“the roughest, toughest, rootin'-est, tootin'-est claim-jumper that ever jumped a claim!”). According to Wikipedia, when ABC ran this toon, they cut out the part where Sam shoots Bugs but left in the part where Sam shoots at the prospector; when CBS ran it, they left in the part where he shoots Bugs but cut the part where he shoots at the prospector. Censorship is a tricky business. At p3 we give you the full, uncut work. (I couldn't find information about the song Bugs is singing when he meets Sam, and which turns up later as incidental music: “All I can see are rainbows in the sky.” Anyone?)

(Note to Facebook friends: If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post, below, to see the video.)

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer is still waiting for the trickle to trickle down, or the job creators to create jobs, or, you know, something.

Test your toon-captioning chops at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday afternoon tunes: I will feel a glow just thinking of you

2011-09-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

Tony Bennett, senior partner in the syndicate that owns the Great American Songbook, got in hot water recently for committing a gaffe -- i.e., for getting caught saying something that's true: US foreign policy was a factor that helped bring about the 9/11 attacks.

It's a measure of how completely broken our public discourse is that anyone would even need to say something so obviously, innocuously, even tritely true , let alone have to apologize for it later. (And -- apologize to Howard Stern? Please. Stern's a First Amendment hero precisely because his shtick is so puerile.) Do Americans think bin Laden and al Qaeda attacked us because they liked our foreign policy and wanted to make sure we did more of the same? Idiotic.

To hell with the thin-skinned "they always blame America first" faux-patriotic whiners. Here's Tony singing a Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields classic that Fred Astaire originally sang to Ginger Rogers in 1936:

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post to see the video.

And you thought Lawn Jarts were dangerous

2011-09-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

File this under "Childhood: Way Too Much Fun to Be Wasted on Children."

When "Dr. No" kicked off the spy craze in the early 1960s, leading toy company Mattel pivoted effortlessly from wild-west toys (guns and rifles with "Shootin' Shells" and "Greenie Stickem Caps") to spy gear under the "Zero-M" logo.

Best of all -- meaning most ridiculously dangerous and inviting of hair-raising abuse -- was the bazooka-like Sonic Blaster, which shot a column of compressed air at whatever you pointed it at. It also produced a 157-decibel blast-sound. As the ad shows, it came with little knock-down cardboard targets, but kids knew better: First thing every kid -- every kid -- did as soon as it was out of the box was pump that bad boy up, press the muzzle against the ear of the kid standing next to them (ideally, a younger sibling), and blast away. The resulting eardrum damage was often permanent.

Next thing you knew, screaming children, bleeding ears, upset parents, Consumer Reports, product liability, BFD, yadda, yadda, yadda, Nader, Nader, Nader, blah, blah, blah, the toy was banned, shelves were empty.

And conservatives today complain about "Sixties-era permissiveness." As if.

This ad features a very young (but still grim) Kurt Russell. The voice-over work is by William Conrad, who also played Matt Dillon on radio's "Gunsmoke" and was the breathlessly hyper narrator for Rocky & Bullwinkle adventures.

The unforgiving minute: Fool them once, shame on her . . .

2011-09-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Fool them dozens and dozens of times, shame on them.

SarahPAC: With time running out before Palin’s decision, send money

Alaska Republican Sarah Palin is “on the verge of making her decision of whether or not to run for office” – and her backers should write a check right away, a letter from her political action committee says.

The Sept. 20 letter from SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford says: “It’s one of the most difficult and important decisions of her life. And I want her to know that she has our support.”

Minute's up.

Sunday morning toons: This week in health facts

2011-09-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

Item: Michelle Bachmann provides stunning evidence linking HPV vaccine and mental retardation -- although not in the people given the vaccine.

Item: Pat Robertson announces that Alzheimer's is no longer a sickness -- at least as far as the phrase "in sickness and in health" is concerned.

Item: Congressional Republicans' gratitude to 9/11 first responders extends all the way up to -- but not including -- actually helping provide coverage for medical problems incurred that day.

All that and more on this week's toon roundup, scientifically selected from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Pat Bagley, Rob Rogers, Steve Breen,David Horsey, Clay Bennett, Nick Anderson, Glenn McCoy, Pat Oliphant, Drew Sheneman, Chan Lowe, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: Ben Sargent.

p3 Legion of Merit Award: Clay Bennett.

p3 Legion of Honor Award: Mike Thompson. .

p3 World Toon Review: Cam Cardow (Canada), Cristo Komarnitski (Bulgaria),Petar Pismestrovic (), and Pavel Constantin (Romania).

Ann Telnaes presents an unforgettable look at GOP bathroom reading.

Mark Fiore turns his page over to guest artists this week (for those who were getting tired of the usual "freedom hatin' cartoonist" fare).

Taiwan's Next Media Animation covers the story of the "rogue" UBS trader who lost $2 billion (of someone else's money).

Tom Tomorrow presents an emissary from another planet -- and Sparky has to hand him the bad news.

Keith Knight examines what "post-racial" really means. I do not thin' it means what you thin' it means.

Tom the Dancing Bug presents one of his most high-concept pieces ever: a strange world that is not quite the opposite of our own, but somewhat dissimilar in certain ways.

Comic Riffs has a great review -- with art -- from the Library of Congress exhibition celebrating comic art.

Red Meat's Ted Johnson is back, with an opportunity for some old-style family bonding.

The Comic Curmudgeon answers the question: Which is the worst comic strip out there when it comes to depicting responsible pet ownership?

This toon by Portland homeboy Jack Ohman reminds me of the classic line by Anatole France: "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich and the poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread." (Would that make this an Ohman homage?)

Olive Oyl's role in the endless cycle of Popeye-on-Bluto violence: Victim or enabler? That's the subtext of "Pleased to Meet Cha!" the 1935 short directed by Dave Fleischer. The animation by Willard Bowsky and Harold Walker has some wonderful moments: Watch Bluto's close-ups, and the move to an overhead shot up to set up one bit at the 1:38 mark.

(Note to Facebook friends: If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post, below, to see the video.)

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer writes:

I'd like to see our politicians sign a "No Child Goes Hungry" pledge.

News Item: According to a new report, Oregon's children experience the highest level of "food insecurity"-- hunger -- than any other state in the country.

Test your toon-captioning skills at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Quote of the day

2011-09-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

From Joan McCarter:

The tea party mantra: Noun, verb, unconstitutional.

Saturday morning tunes: She and Bobby were steppin' out / She and Bobby didn't know I found out

2011-09-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

I have a vivid memory from freshman year in college: Dancing to "Do You Know What I Mean" (the only breakout song Lee Michaels ever had) cranked up much too loud, with three friends in someone's dorm room.

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post to see the video.

(The dancing itself was a sort of trundling pre-disco white-kid two-step, not unlike the awesome move that blanket-weilding Linus busts during "Linus and Lucy.")

Memorializing the song today also allows me at long last to correct a grammatical howler in the third verse. Subjective case, Lee, not objective.

Six years ago at p3

2011-09-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

It was a matter of affirmation;

Somewhere along the line, jazz became the music I listened to when there was healing to be done.

Sunday morning toons: United we stood

2011-09-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago today . . . well, everyone knows where they were. I know where I was, and it wasn't that interesting in itself, just for the news I got while I was there. And ten years later, where are we? Clay Jones, Marshall Ramsey, Mike Luckovich, Cam Cardow, Bill Day, Jimmy Margulies. Jeff Danziger, and Gary Varvel.

Molly Ivins of blessed memory rarely missed a chance to tell a story about Texas politics, the punchline of which is, "There are things that won't hurt you but will scare you so bad you'll hurt yourself." It took three commercial jets -- flying bombs, really -- to destroy the two World Trade Towers and take a big chunk out of the Pentagon, but no one flew a suicide jet into the Bill of Rights; to our everlasting disgrace, we killed the Fourth Amendment ourselves, with its quaint medieval notions of "innocent until proven guilty" and "due process." (They hate us for our freedom? Problem solved.) On the other hand, there is talk that we may once again be able to keep our shoes on at airport security, so I suppose that's something to be grateful for.

Meanwhile, Obama has pivoted to jobs and the Republican presidential candidates had a quilting bee of crazy. Life goes on in these United States.

Today's selections have been lovingly hand-selected from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Pat Bagley, Chan Lowe, Mike Smith, Steve Sack, Clay Bennett, Joe Heller, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: Nick Anderson.

p3 World Toon Review: Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland), Manny Francisco (Philippines),Ingrid Rice (Canada), and Luo Jie (China).

Ann Telnaes considers our response to 9/11.

Mark Fiore calls for a return to America's originalist founding principles.

Taiwan's Next Media Animation presents a few things you should know about Rick Perry. Don't miss the cameos by a pole-dancing Abe Lincoln and a bemused looking God.

Lance Mannion presents his summation against the GOP's current star:

So let’s tally it up. Rick Perry doesn’t understand science. He doesn’t understand basic conservative economic principles. He doesn’t understand his own religion. And he doesn’t understand TV westerns or comic books.

Reminder for Portland's Mel Blanc fans: Tomorrow's your last chance to see the Mel Blanc exhibit.

Fifty years ago, or so, the phrase to know was I go Pogo, when cartoonist Walt Kelly ran the Okeefenokee Swamp's favorite marsupial for the Oval Office. This week, Jim Hightower has a new nominee from the ranks of classic animation.

Tom Tomorrow brings us another baffling adventure from the case files of Conservative Jones, Boy Detective. Oh, Moonbat -- how I envy you your blissful detachment from reality!

Keith Knight looks back to 9/11/2001 and thinks, What a difference a day makes!

Tom the Dancing Bug imagines what it would be like if American history were really a George Lucas movie. (Here was TtDB's first toon following the 9/11 attack.)

Comic Riffs' John Cavna compares two New Yorker covers: Septemer 24, 2001, and September 12, 2011.

At Red Meat, Ted Johnson works on community relations management.

The Comic Curmudgeon discusses the best installments of the comic strip "Momma" (adding: "and by 'best' I mean 'most horrifying and unsettling'). Not to be missed.

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman looks at the Republican Party and finds the postmodern prometheus. (I love Igor!)

Oh, hell -- why not! From "Anchors Aweigh," directed in 1945 by George Sidney, here are two of MGM's biggest stars: Gene Kelly and Jerry the Mouse. According to Wikipedia:

The movie is famous for a musical number where Gene Kelly dances seamlessly with the animated Jerry Mouse (voiced by Sara Berner). Tom Cat appears briefly as a butler in the sequence supervised by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The animation was entirely done by veterans Kenneth Muse, Ray Patterson and Irv Spence. Originally, the producers wanted to use Mickey Mouse for this segment. Some sources claim Walt Disney initially agreed to loan out Mickey, but Roy Disney rejected the deal. According to Bob Thomas's book on Roy Disney, the studio was in debt after World War II and they were focusing on trying to get their own films out on time. According to Roy, they had no business making cartoons for other people.

(Note to Facebook friends: If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post, below, to see the video.)

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer doesn't like the math: 7000 Oregon public school teachers laid off in two years.

Test your toon-captioning chops at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Saturday morning tunes: It's hard to understand, but the touch of your hand can start me crying

2011-09-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

Roy Orbison's 1962 classic (number 69 on the Rolling Stones list of 500 greatest songs) "Crying" is one of the few songs to make a second appearance on p3 Saturday morning tunes -- and in two languages.

It takes a hell of a range to pull this song off -- if two and a half octaves makes you step back, you shouldn't even try it. It's been covered by some really gifted singers, including Gene Pitney, Don McLean, k. d. lang, and of course Rebekah del Rio.

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post to see the video.

Quote of the day: Flaunt it!

2011-09-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

From No More Mister Nice Blog:

I think Romney should flaunt his wealth. I think he should try to use it to take on Rick Perry -- Hey, if you're such a great American patriot, why aren't you as rich as I am? Wouldn't you be stinking rich if you were really a great American? Wouldn't you be stinking rich if you really knew how to create jobs?

Sunday morning toons: The weekend cultural stock forecast

2011-09-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

From the p3 economics desk, here are our recommendations:

Buy:
* Rick Perry
* Think pieces on "Cheney's Vice Presidency: A Reappraisal"
* Cookout supplies

Sell:
* Hope for American jobs
* Hope for economic recovery
* Hurricane Irene coverage

Today's selections were hand-picked and marinated overnight in a special beer-based recipe, then barbecued until brown (but not black and crispy) over a Weber grill, and served with lettuce, tomato, onion, relish, ketchup and mustard, with a side of potato salad, using only the very best from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Jim Morin, Don Wright, Pat Bagley, Dana Summers, Eric Ramirez, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: Mike Luckovich.

p3 Legion of Extreme Merit Award: Rob Rogers.

p3 Certificate of Harmonic Toon Convergence (Part 1): Steve Sack and Joe Heller.

Certificate of Harmonic Toon Convergence (Part 2): Brian Fairrington and Jeff Stahler.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium: Daryl Cagle.

p3 World Toon Review: Peter Schrank (England), Cam Cardow (Canada), Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland), Ingrid Rice (Canada), and Michael Kountouris (Greece).

Reminder: This weekend is about more than great deals on mattresses! Here's our p3 Labor Day Special, courtesy of Stuart Carlson, Ed Stein, Jeff Parker, Mike Keefe, Randy Bish, R.J. Matson, and Marshall Ramsey,

Ann Telnaes celebrates Labor Day weekend with the clash of the Dueling Day-Timers.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Mark Fiore has had to travel by air recently. The clues are subtle, but they're there.

The title says it all in this story from Taiwan's Next Media Animation: "Cuckold O'Reilly allegedly used police to harass rival." Now that's news you can use. (And am I the only one who thinks the news media need to start using "cuckold" more?)

Tom Tomorrow prepares -- then -- for the toon apocalypse now. Sort of.

The K Chronicles looks at the up side of being a Tea Partier.

Tom the Dancing Bug presents a literary analysis of corporate America.

Comic Riffs presents political toons from around the world in solidarity with Syrian political cartoonist and activist Ali Ferzat, who was beaten -- had his hand broken -- by state-sponsored thugs for daring to criticize the al-Assad regime.

At Red Meat, Milkman Dan teaches little Karen a lesson that even John Galt would be proud of.

Portland homeboy Jack Ohman says it's all in the fine print.

Ahh! Le petite femme skunque fatale! There really is only one Pepé le Pew story; they just re-titled it from time to time and changed the location (here, it's the French Foreign Legion -- Pepé has enlisted in order "to forget," naturally). But it's always the same: Skunk meets cat, skunk loses cat, skunk chases cat, skunk loses cat. Repeat for six minutes and fifty-six seconds. As long as Pepé lives, Maurice Chevalier will never die. From 1952 -- when stalking and sexual harassment in the military were still considered charming -- directed by Chuck Jones, here's "Little Beau Pepé."

(Note to Facebook friends: If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post, below, to see the video.)

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer offers a Labor Day salute to Oregon's workforce.

Test your toon-captioning chops at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)

Quote of the day: Results

2011-09-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

From No More Mister Nice Blog, in six words:

Reagan policies, Reagan results. No surprise.