But I wrote a big long report about the incompetent killing machine, the LA County Animal Shelters, and you might like to take a look. It’s in my animal/park blog, Griffith Park Interrupted. This was my first blog I started, and I have been able to see results from it, fortunately.

There are lots of pictures, too, taken by some of the worst photographers in the state, some of the shelter employees. Here’s one to whet your appetite.

Cold Water. Yes, that's what this is labeled. I'm going to guess there is a fish in here somewhere... Half the horses listed don't have a pic at all.

Excerpt from the post:

The photographs are so bad that I started making copies of them, and put them in my collection of Worst Shelter Pictures Ever. Some look like experimental art, and others like the animal is being tortured. I’ve asked several shelters if they need new cameras. No, they have several.  Each animal is photographed on intake (or should be) by the intake officer who picked them up, so the blame (or praise?) is on them. Shouldn’t the worst photographers be disciplined or trained or put on another job?

But let’s be honest here – EVERYONE has a camera with them at all times, in their cell phone if nothing else. No one needs itraining on how take photographs anymore. And no one would take pictures this bad of their friends or family. It’s unfathomable.  So what is their excuse for photos this terrible? This is the point at which we should seriously examine their motives: are these bad pictures a way to keep animals from being adopted…job security for the shelter workers, in other words?

More cartoons:

1. Ted Rall scolds Time Magazine for their Top 10 cartoons.
2. Who’s your rac-ist?

Nothing funny about this environmental and financial disaster, but cartoonists have a way of pointing their pens towards BP’s negligence in a way that the newspapers and sources have only begun to do the last month or so. News sites were so neutral before, it was disgusting! That’s not reporting, that’s siding with the enemy! I think cartoonists are more honest.

The great eight

daryl cagle oil spill at the dance cartoon, at cagle.com

I was really impressed by Daryl Cagle‘s cartoon of Obama dancing with the devil BP (who looks rather like a Smurf. And is that a Snidely Whiplash mustache on Obama?) I’ve seen dancing steps before, but not in oil!

Side note: I wonder if Daryl is a fan of Dancing with the Stars…:)

I found a few clever cartoons on who bears the ultimate responsibility for this tragedy, but I chose this one by Mike Scott because it’s not just a blame game – there is horror in those grey faces. Halliburton is obviously Frankenstein! Does Mike have a special issue with them?! I like the quiet colors and the hand-lettered red title at the top. Different. From Cagle.

And we go from horror to a beheading! What is a good collection of cartoons without some morbid chuckles? I really laughed at this.

And in case you haven’t guessed, now you know for sure that I’m not selecting these particular oil cartoons for my LA Times editorial  roundup. (That comes next time.) This cartoon would not be proper for the Times, I assure you! But it’s just right for us here in the bleachers. (And just to show you how neutral I am as a (self-appointed) editor for the LA Times, Steve and his good friend Ted Rall were judges on a small contest of editorial cartoons, and when they were informed that I was to join them as a judge, they told the foundation that “they would walk.” Nice.) From Gocomics.

dana summers little dead mermaid cartoon

Dana Summer’s cartoon of the little Mermaid drowned in oil made me laugh! So much more amusing than dead pelicans, which are WAY overdone, guys, and also very sad. And who doesn’t like a joke at Disney’s expense? I like Dana, who also does a comic strip, which I forget the name of, but this cartoon is another that wouldn’t be right for the LA Times. More of Dana at gocomics.com.

j.d. crowe cartoon of oily lawyers from cagle.com

I love these flying lawyers! It took me a minute to understand what was going on here, but this is a wonderful piece of art by J. D. Crowe, as the lawyers morph into birds of prey. I like the subtlety of  these mid greys; it would have been natural to paint the lawyers in dark suits, to have them stand out in the water, but this is far more effective. And I like the way there’s no punctuation in the captions, as if the men are thinking, not speaking. From Cagle cartoons. PS, I like lawyers, in case I’m involved in any lawsuits right now…

mike luckovich cartoon on the price of oil in the gas station

I picked this cartoon by Mike Luckovich to illustrate oil in the eyes of the consumer. I like this – Mike is an excellent cartoonist – but to my way of thinking, this is only half done! He should have added the loss of life – both man and animals. And this would have been much much better in color. Why do so many cartoonists hold back from color? Because it takes a lot more time – probably tripling the cartoon-hours. And that’s not just photoshop, that’s decisions and contemplation. Big guys like him don’t need color for the newspapers, but most artists should, if they’re going to go that new-fangled internet route.

stuart carlson cartoon on uncle sam getting strangled at the pump on the 4th of July.

I’m not one for a lot of  old symbols in my cartoons, but this cartoon by Stuart Carlson of Uncle Sam is such great design that I couldn’t resist it. Here’s the power of color, people! From Gocomics.

tom toles cartoon of the oil spill as a monopoly game

I don’t think I’ve included Tom Toles in any of my roundups before. He’s the cartoonist for the Washington Post, and I think he’s won a Pulitzer, but I think he’s too stylistic (or too cool?) for my taste. And every single time, I think the PS he adds in the bottom right corner detracts from the cartoon itself. Unfortunately, this has that, too, but I enjoyed the little monopoly player pieces, like the thimble, the iron, the dog, the ship, and the captions attached! Nice, Tom! From Gocomics.

Extra cartoon stuff

If you’re counting, this would be the 9th and 10th cartoons, but I’m way too modest (or too savvy?!) to include my own cartoons in the 8 best BP oil cartoons. Here’s a peek, if you want to look.

BP meets their match: Dr. Phil

Comments on Dr. Phil. (Sorry, no link now. Uclick threw away 2 years of my cartoons on Slate, Gocomics and Yahoo News when they kicked me out of Gocomics.)

turtles being burned alive by BP oil

Comments on turtles. (no links there now)

And as always, many thanks to Cagle Cartoons and Uclick for allowing me to reproduce these cartoons. Go find your favorite cartoonists there, and you can comment, as well!

For search engines, who can’t read cartoons…yet. Cartoon captions:

Obama and BP doing a slow dance together: I’m getting tired of this dance. Not my fault.

Couple spots something coming out of the water:It’s the little mermaid! (covered in oil on the shore.)

Look at all those oily birds. So tragic. Those are lawyers. (lawyers turning into pelicans on the beach)

Couple at oil pump: Oil prices: I miss when it cost $2…Pumps have words instead of prices: The gulf of Mexico, Our national security, the world’s climate.

Fingerpointing: bird, Obama, BP, Mineral Management Service, Halliburton.

I want my head back – Tony Hayward says, with his head blown up.

Uncle Sam says: I’m looking forward to a true Independence Day, (strangled in oil pumps).

Current Oil Spill Strategies with Monopoly toys: Top Hat to collect oil, old shoe to walk on oily beaches, battleship to drag oil booms around, wheelbarrow for excuses, flatiron to iron out wrinkles in story, dog to wag tail at executives, thinble to distribute damage payments, race car to leave scene, legal strategy get out of jail free card.

PS. Have bugs? You’ll want to check out my insect cartoon.

My most popular BP Oil cartoons: BP Oil: When everyone knows your name, but nobody likes you.

More cartoons:

1. The beach, the surf, and California’s political campaign. Aah.
2. Political cartoons for the LA Times for May 10, 2010.

I thought everyone could use some help on this. I’ve been doing cartoons on California and the upcoming elections for almost 6 months now for CalWatchdog, this extraordinary journalism site for a think tank in Northern California, but haven’t posted many of them here yet. It’s time.

demon sheep campaign by Carly Fiorina vs Tom Campbell

Okay, now this was  a pretty impressive campaign move. This Youtube on Tom Campbell as a demon sheep – or is it all other Republicans in general are sheep? – by Republican Carly Fiorina is classic Hollywood, and it went viral in days! Gather calls it “the most bizarre political ad ever.” And oddly enough, the makers of this video, just set up their own website 2 days ago, calling this a trilogy!

I think Fiorina’s…exaggerating. Plus, it’s not my voting dealie, so no comment on that election. More cartoons below.

meg whitman vs steve poizner in a technical Mexican standoff

I found the California Governor campaign much more shocking!! CalWatch journalist Steve Greenhut (formerly of the Orange County Register, and author of the best-selling Plunder: How Public Employee Unions are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives) said he thought these exchanges between the 2 candidates for Republican governor were rather silly and much ado about nothing, but I was truly horrified. (the words in the cartoon caption are what they really emailed each other.) I had no idea such arrangements happened in the backroom of fierce political campaigns!

Sure, when millions upon millions are spent – and both these candidates are made of  Croesus’s gold – I can see why they would try to keep costs down and expectations reasonable. But they actually try to bribe each other, and make backdoor promises? Do they really follow through on these promises?

What happened is that Steve Poizner made these emails from Meg Whitman public, and did report it to the FBI, or threatened to.

From the LA Times:

Steve Poizner’s allegation that Meg Whitman used attempted bribery and extortion in an effort to push him out of the gubernatorial race was merely an attention-grabbing stunt by a desperate dark horse, many contend. Hopefully, they’re right.Because if Poizner was sincerely angry and really does believe — as he wrote state and federal prosecutors — that the Whitman camp deserves criminal investigation, this is scary.

It raises the possibility that Poizner has no stomach for making political deals, the kind of mutual back-scratching needed for any democracy to function.

No, it’s not scary, it’s exposing the truth. I don’t think most people know or think these kinds of deals are “needed for any democracy to function.”

But the campaign has gotten even more violent, with car crashes, and worst of all, the name LIBERAL thrown like mud on each other! OMG, there’s nothing the right hates worse than being called that! And I agree! From the Times:

So it has come to this: Two Republicans who said they would bring cool business acumen to the governorship are, in the last weeks of their primary race, locked in a screaming match over immigration and welfare and the hot insult “liberal.”

This was not what either Steve Poizner or Meg Whitman said their campaigns were to be about….

For Whitman, the former head of EBay making her first bid for office, the turnabout from high-flying frontrunner to muddy brawler has been particularly brutal…

By last week, however, her once massive lead had diminished substantially and Whitman was firmly on familiar turf for a Republican primary — issues that play on cultural or racial notes.

The LA Times is on familiar turf, too, isn’t it? Saying if it’s Republican, it’s got to be rac-ist. UGH.

Who will win the sea lion prize? Whitman, Poizner, Brown political cartoon

Anyway, my last cartoon on them is ecological, of course. I seem to be the ONLY cartoonist on Slate who ever does cartoons on the environment or conservation. (except for the birds in oil, yuck, which are also cliche.) It’s true about the sea lions starving. I don’t know if it’s true that Meg Whitman doesn’t believe in green, or Steve Poizner said she’s not as pretty as he’s used to getting, or if Jerry Brown keeps a sea lion and other wildlife in his swimming pool. But he might.

You can find most of my California cartoons at CalWatchdog, the day they go up, and they have comments there, too.

Cartoon captions for blind Google: California: the most dramatic state in the union. I’m very rich. I’ll put you in the wood chipper! Don’t run for Governor – you can be a senator.- Meg Whitman. I’m mega-rich. Don’t threaten me! You bribed me! I’m telling. Hello, FBI? – Steve Poizner.

Does this picture make you think of Tom Campbell, Visine, or California’s need for a better Sheep Exorcist? Cartoon paid for by Carly Fiorina, For Senator.

Scientists say sea lions are starving because of El Nino. However, Meg Whitman doesn’t believe in El Nino, and Steve Poizner said she looks like a sea lion. Jerry Brown is keeping one in his swimming pool.

More cartoons:

1. Carly Fiorina would look good in shiny black leather.
2. The beach, the surf, and California’s political campaign. Aah.

A lot of very busy, important sites have linked to me in the past for some reason, but I was amused when I was linked on Google’s finance page for BP Oil for my recent cartoon on BP. I loved the high volume traffic from this, but there’s a reason editorial cartoons are on the OPINION page, and not in the Business section! I was one of the first 2 or 3 cartoonists to have a cartoon out on the oil spill, since I seem to be one of the only ones interested in animal rights and environmental issues. So I was furious at British Petroleum. But still, I am a capitalist, and it seems odd that a cartoon would end up on their finance page, when they are in business, as sleazy as it is this time…

Los Angeles Times roundup of oil disaster cartoons

So, anyway, back to the cartoons I’ve edited for this week’s LA Times roundup. (I explain how and why I do this roundup over here. Because the Times needs me, they really, really need me.) As I promised last week, we have a theme this week of the oil spill disaster. There were some really great, moving cartoons, and even the usual old-fashioned guys who still think the world is just black and white, look good with this subject.

steve breen carbon footprints cartoon from gocomics

This is a gorgeous cartoon by Steve Breen- really more of a poster or illustration look. It reminds me of botanical illustrations in a way. I’ve seen a couple exhibitions of them – it’s so inspiring, the way they marry science and art! The stiff way these animals are all profiled, and the fact that one is half way out of the picture is interesting, too. And on a personal note, birds are kind of my thing, so I picked live rather than dead ones for these cartoons. This drawing is not reminiscent of SoCal beaches – well, maybe down in Oceanside a bit – but birder culture is very big in LA, and growing here.

drew sheneman oil spill cartoon from gocomics.com

I picked Drew Sheneman’s cartoon right away, because it really made me laugh! Whoever said Republicans don’t have a sense of humor must have been a Dem. I don’t know Sheneman’s work that well, but Gocomics says he is on the left. So is he making a leftie jab at Republicans? Or did he know how funny this was when he wrote it? I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt! Funny. This cartoon would probably have looked better in color, but this at least has lots of shades.

signe wilkinson on buying oil at the pump, from gocomics.com

Signe came out with this cartoon very early after the disaster. It just makes a good point in an effective way. I didn’t get why it was 2 panels at first, as I would have done just one, but that’s probably because she’s much more experienced than me, and won a Pulitzer, too! This is a great cartoon. And I’ve seen cars here and there in LA /sarcasm, so I think the Times readers will get and appreciate this one.

cummings on Louisiana gumbo from gocomics

Ah, Cummings, another cartoonist with just one name. Cummings is one of 3 honorable mentions this week, for an excellent and attractive rendering of a sad situation. (Back to note above: yes, this crawfish is dead, but we can’t see any details, so still okay.)

marshall ramsey mother's day and bp oil cartoon from gocomics

Another cartoon that made me laugh! It’s rare that I find 2 cartoons a week that make me laugh. It’s this guy’s expression and his flyaway hair and reluctance. Or maybe I shouldn’t even try to analyze it.

matt davies bp blame cartoon for gocomics

Matt Davies works only in black and white, that I have seen, but he appreciates the beauty of white, and you can actually see what is happening – a lot of action here- which is nice. An amusing idea to illustrate the fact that BP, Halliburton and TransOcean are all blaming each other for the catastrophe. And I don’t usually like puns, but this works. Thanks, Matt.

Thanks, indeed, to Gocomics, where I got all of my cartoons this week (and where they have hundreds you can see for free, and even sign up to get them delivered to your email), and all of the excellent cartoonists who work so hard to give us expression even in an emergency like this. As I write this, it looks like BP is making progress in containing, and even cleaning up part of the spill. I wish them the best, hurry up, and NEVER EVER do this again, you stupid stupid idiots.

My cartoons this week:

illegal immigration in az cartoon

Love this one!!! LA really did declare war on Arizona! More later! Comments on Hollywood Liberals are here. (Sorry, no link now. Uclick threw away 2 years of my cartoons on Slate, Gocomics and Yahoo News when they kicked me out of Gocomics.)

medical marijuana cartoon

Comments on pot cartoon are here. (no link now, see above)

endangered fish in california cartoon

Captions spelled out for Google: Happy mother’s day to mother earth from bp oil,

Dispersant for gulf spill blame game, with bp, halliburton, and transocean all running from the responsibility,

Cartoon of Louisiana gumbo of BP crawfish in a dish,

At gas station: news reporter says authorities are investigating who is responsible for this massive oil spill: guy at pump says, would someone turn this stupid thing off?!

2 people at water’ s edge of Gulf Coast: What a terrible tragedy. Republican: I know. Look at all that wasted oil.

Illustrations of marine life. Title:Carbon footprints, with egrets, mallards, crab, maybe a pelican walking out of ocean.

Drill, baby, drill history

Notice that I didn’t use any cartoon that says Drill, baby, drill, or Spill, baby, spill. So very tired and old – even the usually cool LA Weekly used one by Patrick O’Connor this week that said that. You can see tons of these drill cartoons over in Daryl Cagle’s roundup – and he has some very good ones without those words, too, thank goodness.

Btw, Sarah Palin did NOT start that annoying phrase, “Drill, Baby, Drill”. From The Hill:

Two senior Republicans on Tuesday distanced themselves from the controversial “drill, baby, drill” phrase first used by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and repeated prominently by 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

“That was not a Senate Republican phrase,” Kyl said. “I think there was a candidate that used that. I think our phrase was ‘drill here, drill now,’ meaning here in the United States and as quickly as oil and gas leases are going.”

Roberts said Republicans were always uneasy with the catchphrase.

Steele is believed to have used the phrase first in his address at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota, where the delegates took to chanting it. Conservative blogger Erik Rush also used it around the same time, and Palin employed it that October in an exchange with then-vice presidential candidate Joe Biden.

So it sounds like no one knows who first said this expression. Daily Kos adds:

There are political reasons for shouting “drill, baby, drill.” It’s a feel-tough bounce for folks who want to give a kick to “tree hugger.”

Whatever.

More on BP: The 8 Oil Spill Cartoons You Have to See.

More cartoons:

1. The beach, the surf, and California’s political campaign. Aah.
2. Political oil, immigration, Facebook cartoons for the LA Times for May 2, 2010.

I think I’m on the other side, though. And I couldn’t let the whole week go by without pointing out the best cartoons of the week…for the Los Angeles Times crowd, that is! (Speaking about editors and awards, I used to write bitter posts here about Time Magazine’s Cartoons of the Week. I don’t bother anymore. Turns out Time chooses cartoons from only 3 syndicates – BORING – and so their choices are extremely limited, and are only what they pay for. Like every newspaper in town. So their famous award…not so meaningful now.)

Aside from the BP oil spill – which according to my own stats, ranks right up there with Tiger Woods in the public’s interest and concern – not that many big stories last week. The headline on USA Today for Friday’s big news was about the weather: Gloom predicted in several states. That says it all.

As it happens, all my picks this week come from Cagle Cartoons, which is the most local syndicate to Los Angeles, anyway.

cameron cardow cartoon on bp oil spill and goldman sachs

What a great looking cartoon! Cameron Cardow is not only pretty, but has combined two issues in one: both the oil spill and the Goldman Sachs dustup (piggy activity).  Even though we are home to movie stars (and of course, oil wells, if you remember Beverly Hillbillies) all of us here know that even the stars love a good bargain! Why do you think  swag bags proliferate at every single event? And so, the LA Times gets a double header with this cartoon.

Great colors, limited gradient or fade tool (my least favorite effect in Photoshop) and super concept. Funny, there are an awful lot of Goldman Sachs rear ends in this cartoon…  

(I love this cartoon, but there are so many good oil slick cartoons out right now that I think I’ll also make it the theme for next week.)

jimmy margulies cartoon on the greek economy

I just love a little mythology thrown into the mix! Kind of like Lost does, but Lost is rather sucky this season, so let’s concentrate on Icarus. I knew Icarus was a Greek hero who made his own wings and flew too close to the sun and died, very sad. But Wiki also adds that he could have been the person who invented sails on boats, which is somewhat like flying, I guess, since roller coasters hadn’t been invented yet, and then he still died by falling out of the boat and drowning. (like Fate, in Lost…)

I like the Jimmy Margulies’ imagery of the Mastercard and Visa melting. Does this really represent Greek’s meltdown? Who knows? But it does relate to our own country’s confused and dysfunctional relationship with credit cards.

nate beeler cartoon on fannie mae and freddie mac and greek crisis and obesity

Here’s an article about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, since I’m unable to help you with this. It’s something about mortgages, and if I am ever lucky enough to own a house in my lifetime, I’ll read about it then. Even though houses are out of reach for so many people here,  real estate is super important in LA, so the Times will dig this cartoon by Nate Beeler!

At first I thought the cartoon was on the running theme this year on obesity, so it works that way, too. I didn’t even see Uncle Sam squeezed between them – I’m not a fan of donkeys, elephants, or Uncle Sam as symbols – until I had already downloaded the image. Oh, and it’s something about the Greek Debt Crisis, as well. Here’s a triple-subject cartoon for you, Times!

Honorary Mention: here’s one by Mike Lester, on National Prayer Day.

mike lester cartoon on national prayer day

I didn’t know there was such a day, but it’s a great idea, isn’t it? It’s kind of a lightweight cartoon, and the very loose drawing style matches that. I like all the sketchy pen strokes here – casual, yet controlled. I don’t know why his name is so childish and dark, however; it distracts from the easy lines.

People think of LA as being Godless. That’s not true. We don’t talk about it much, but we pray, we do.

Thanks, everyone, for the terrific cartoons I was allowed to share with everyone today! And thanks to Daryl Cagle for letting me borrow them.

My own cartoons:

census cartoon for republicans

Comments on Republicans are here. (Sorry, no link now. Uclick threw away 2 years of my cartoons on Slate, Gocomics and Yahoo News when they kicked me out of Gocomics.)

cartoon on hollywood unemployment

Comments on unemployment are here. (no link now, see above) And I hope you caught this one, one of my favorites!

cartoon on jack and jill -or illegal immigration, pick one.

Comments on illegal immigration are here.

Captions for blind Google: Icarus flies into the sun with Greek debt, Mastercard and Visa. An appropriate punishment for Goldman Sachs Executives: cleaning the Gulf shoreline of oil from BP. National Prayer Day – Governor says Pray! That’s a switch. The other 364 days they say Pay! Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Uncle Sam: Tsk! That’s what happens when you don’t keep yer house in order! Hey, buddy, ol’ pal! Can you spot me another $11 billion? Greek Debt Crisis.

More cartoons:

1. Political oil, immigration, Facebook cartoons for the LA Times for May 2, 2010.
2. Editorial cartoons for LA Times, April 2010.

High winds and choppy seas frustrated efforts to hold back the oil spill seeping into Louisiana‘s rich fishing grounds and nesting areas Friday, and the government desperately cast about for new ideas for dealing with the nation’s biggest environmental crisis in decades.

bp plc oil spill cartoon

Like it was just A problem, a natural disaster, instead of being entirely manmade by BP!!!

The spill — a slick more than 130 miles long and 70 miles wide — threatens hundreds of species of wildlife, including birds, dolphins and the fish, shrimp, oysters and crabs that make the Gulf Coast one of the nation’s most abundant sources of seafood. Louisiana closed some fishing grounds and oyster beds because of the risk of oil contamination.

A lawsuit filed this week by an injured technician on the platform claims that Halliburton improperly cemented the well. Cementing is a process in which a slurry is used to fill the gap between the drilled hole and the casing, or the pipe that brings oil and gas up out of the ground.

They STILL don’t name the company that caused this disaster! I had to read farther and look other places to discover that it is BP- British Petroleum. So then I just had to do a BP cartoon immediately, even though I’m suffering the aftereffects of a car accident – and let me be clear, when I say “accident”, that I mean this idiot crashed into me while deciding to take over my lane with his ugly huge Ford van. I’m still in shock, actually – I have been babying this car for the 4 years I’ve owned it, and have never loved a car before. We both have insurance, a miracle, but he put a hole in it, and in my time, and in my pocket, at least now.

Anyway, Donna Brazile writes in CNN:

The failure of the “shear ram,” the set of steel blades intended to slash through a pipe at the top of a well and close off the flow of crude, should not have surprised BP or the corporations that work for it. Eight years ago, the Minerals Management Service found that 50 percent of the shear rams tested failed. So calling the failure of the “last resort device” an accident is like calling the damage caused by a drunken driver an accident. Failure to take the proper precautions is not an accident; it’s negligence.

She goes on to plant a big kiss on Obama’s behind, and say how well he’s handling this, which remains to be seen, of course.

Anyway, it’s clear that BP lied about the extent of the damage, the amount of oil, what would happen, etc. However, I don’t think any of my papers printed this one…:) Libel, anyone? This cartoon is dedicated to marine animals everywhere, and those who didn’t make it through the scum.

Caption: BP PLC IS A LIAR.

(I could also have written, We’re not just initials, we’re jackasses. )

More cartoons:

1. The beach, the surf, and California’s political campaign. Aah.
2. Political oil, immigration, Facebook cartoons for the LA Times for May 2, 2010.

I had to wade through a lot of elephants saying no to Obama (for Supreme Court nominees), and a lot of  Tea Party ridiculers, and of course Sarah Palin haters, before I found these gems. (I think Glenn McCoy and I may be the only cartoonists who even attempt to shed light on the liberal wussy left.)

I’ll start off today with a cartoonist who is firmly conservative, however: Lisa Benson from Gocomics.com.

Lisa Benson of Gocomics

Lisa is very local – lives somewhat to the North of LA, and is the cartoonist for a California paper. She usually attacks Obama, rather than political issues in general, as is true in this cartoon. For instance, one (like me) might target the evil bombing countries, but she prefers to blame the President! I picked this cartoon because the Nuclear Summit was in the news this week, and Obama’s facial expression and casual whistle as he walks away made me smile!

I guess I’m not always the best critic, because at first I thought she was saying Obama did a good job! But since the bomb is National Security, I guess not. Still, good cartoon (even though I don’t agree with the point of view) and she draws a credible Obama. Some other cartoonists might want to practice him, since he’ll be around for a while. :)

Mike Luckovich of Gocomics.com

I picked almost all captionless cartoons this week. I prefer words, in general – no Wordless Wednesday for me! Also, I’m not a fan of black scratchy pen scrawls in online cartoons. Perhaps it looks better in the paper, which usually pays the bigger cartoonists like Mike Luckovich, so I see why they don’t want to change their style.  But nowadays, most people will see it online.

However, I couldn’t resist this one  of the Pope sweeping the pedophile scandals under the rug! (Why, they look like little children’s heads, disembodied from the horrible rapes from the offending priests… I have a dark soul.) And the Pope is obviously drawn with Uncle Fester of The Addams Family in mind! (from cartoonist Charles Addams, great New Yorker cartoonist.) 

Wordless, and it works, Mike Luckovich of Gocomics.com!

I’m making notes on a couple of the Catholic Church scandal cartoons I’ve come across, as the passivity and negligence and lack of responsibility unfold. (My own cartoon on the priest rapes (Sorry, no link now. Uclick threw away 2 years of my cartoons on Slate, Gocomics and Yahoo News when they kicked me out of Gocomics.) is here.) As of a year or so ago, the population of Los Angleles makes the former minorities (mostly Hispanic) now a majority. So, yeah, Catholicism would be the main religion here. How do they go to church and not ask questions now?!

Here’s a lighthearted cartoon from David Fitzsimmons  of Political Cartoons, about the Supreme Court nominee process.

David Fitzsimmons of politicalcartoons.com

Unlike most of the other cartoons I found, David has made the process into a game of basketball for Obama, and the elephants are part of the game, not the evil enemy. There are some famous basketball games in LA that go on for years! I think it’s mostly people in the industry and scriptwriters. “We’re not just rich cliques, we’re homeboys!”

It’s all a game, people.

I’m a fan of Fitzsimmons for the limited palettes he often uses – that is, limiting the colors in his cartoons to 2 or 3 colors. In this case, it’s a little bit more than 3, but still in the same palette area. The swirls on the wall don’t really make sense, but that’s what makes them fun!

I can only choose 3 cartoons for the Times, but this is a hearty Honorable Mention I wanted to include this week.

Steve Greenberg of politicalcartoons.com

Steve Greenberg is another local cartoonist of Political Cartoons, who lives just outside of Los Angeles, and a friend as well. (He came to my booksigning, didn’t he?!)

I don’t agree with the concept – we all get pollution, rich and poor – but the soft neutral coloring here, even though the cartoon is about toxic chemicals, won my heart! The LA Times deserves the pretty, even though they ignore it in their artwork. And pollution of any kind is something we in California, and in SoCal particularly, can NEVER EVER forget.

Thanks again to all the talented clever cartoonists I was able to include this week, and good luck for next weeks’ picks for the LA Times Opinion section!

Remember, if you want me to consider your work, the guidelines are here. And if one of your cartoons is chosen and you want me to link to your blog or site, just let me know.

My own cartoons this week:

No sex for war - C. Thomas

Comments on Lysistrata here. (Sorry, no link now. )

Dwarves  in a coal mine cartoon. (Sorry, no link now. )

Are really good brownies considered a medical miracle?

Comments on pot brownies here. (No)

Medical Marijuana requires munchies.

Captions for blind Google: The rich get richer, and the poor get their byproducts. Basketball game for the Supreme Court. National Security and nuclear warhead with Obama. The Pope sweeps messy pedophile priests under the rug.

More cartoons:

1. Editorial cartoons for the Los Angeles Times Opinion section.
2. Editorial cartoons for LA Times, April 2010.

Anyway, back to Christmas! I’ve been studying what the layout is of the White House, trying to see the furniture properly, which apparently changes with each new King and Queen. The Christmas tree shown on Oprah’s special took days to decorate, with dozens of volunteers. It was beautiful. I guess it stuck in my mind,  and that’s how this Christmas tree popped out.

Did President Obama really do a lot at the Copenhagen Climate talks? Besidess show up, I mean?

CNN talks about the importance of rainforests and REDD:

The U.N.’s REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) program is a collaboration between the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Environmental (UNEP) and Development (UNDP) programs.

The idea is straightforward; If the function of rainforests — capturing carbon, water catchment, weather regulators and biodiversity — is recognized their value will rise.

The WashPost said, with unusual optimism:

That almost happened. The fact that it didn’t may pose a slight glitch, but is unlikely to halt the proliferation of such projects around the world.

Well, I have no idea if those projects will work, so I put my 2 cents in, with my very own Christmas tree ghost. Yes, I know there many not be many conifers or pines in rainforests (although I believe there may be a rainforest in Oregon, in which case there may be some there.), but that doesn’t matter, because this tree cares about all trees. He’s a good tree.

Cartoon Caption: “I’m the ghost of Christmas trees past. Why didn’t you win the rainforests measure, Mr. Softhead?”

Can I tell you how much “Mr. Softhead” makes me laugh? I don’t think I ever heard the word, but I keep a thesaurus right by my thinking cap. :!

More cartoons:

1. Santa was laid off. AGAIN.
2. Santa is unemployed and may need Prozac.

There are 4 different paintings, each one representing climate change in various parts of the world.

From the Times:

Though this is a global issue, it’s also a profoundly local one. For this reason, the Op-Ed editors asked writers from four different continents to report on the climate changes they’ve experienced close to home.

A serious, even scary subject, but the Times drew attention with a pop of color. Go see all of them!

I might have cut out the little bird in the corner – which I affectionately mock in my last post as a little bit overused by cartoonists who are afraid of inserting humor into the cartoon, so they have to add a PS to each one – not naming no names, but Toles and Oliphant might fit the bill – but I love the swishes of color. Now THIS is a paper that knows the importance of color when you’re online! Great job, New York Times.

More cartoons:

1. People who don’t read a newspaper are dull.
2. How many minority and women cartoonists are in the LA Times?

Thanksgiving is only 3 days away! So this is your warning: be sure to eat enough at dinner so you aren’t tempted to bite the other family or guests.

It’s cruel and inhumane.

This blog at Sephora says that monkeys (and people on a limited calorie diet look noticeably younger.

But from a beauty perspective, it does what we want every anti-aging product to do–makes you look younger. Check out the picture of Mike (scroll down in the article), a 36 year old who has been following a caloric restriction diet for 6 years. He’s practically emaciated (6 feet tall and 135 lbs) but he looks like he’s 16! This approach, called caloric restriction, involves eating about 30 percent fewer calories than normal while still getting adequate amounts of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. According to the Times article, aside from direct genetic manipulation, calorie restriction is the only strategy known to extend life consistently in a variety of animal species.

The original article from 2006 is at the Times:

Recently, the effort has begun to bear fruit, producing a steady stream of studies indicating that the rate of aging is plastic, not fixed, and that it can be manipulated.

Earlier this year, researchers studying dietary effects on humans went so far as to claim that calorie restriction may be more effective than exercise at preventing age-related diseases.

I had read this a couple of years ago. But this was interesting:

Earlier this year, four prominent gerontologists, among them Dr. Miller, published a paper calling for the government to spend $3 billion annually in pursuit of a modest goal: delaying the onset of age-related diseases by seven years.

Guess that never happened.

This couple has been eating less for 16 years, and are staying young.

However, ONLY the LA Times reported that the animals they tested were suffering. (Hey, get a real paper, people.)

“They bit people and were more agitated,” he said. In contrast, the mice who ate a normal diet “would just sit around and let you pick them up.”

I assume that monkeys would be much worse, but of course how would anyone know, since they cage them and probably never ever touch them. If you have any pets, you know how anxious they get at feeding time. Will you still give them food THIS time? Will they survive another day? In starvation mode of 30% less food…well, that is just cruel.

Cartoon Caption: Scientists cruelly gave mice, fish, and now monkeys limited-calorie diets – 30% less food. They are healthier, but bite more. (Unfortunately, no smiley-faces survived.)

This cartoon might be confusing, but I prefer to think of it as a little game. ;) It kind of grew organically – first the information, then the monkey holding on to the title board, and for some reason I threw in smiley-faces, one of which has starved, and turned into The Scream! I don’t know why! It just made me laugh!

More cartoons:

1. Who doesn’t hate AIG?
2. Mickey Mouse as human sacrifice for California budget?