He’s dead, as it turns out. I heard the news oh boy on Wayne Resnick, KFI. I always try to catch him each week, but this time I only listened about half an hour before I realized all the TV stations might run the President’s announcement, too, and so they did.

I’m glad they caught that SOB, but at the same time, I honestly don’t feel glee knowing that the Navy Seals set it up like an assassination. I mean, what do you call it when they target someone in particular and shoot to kill? That’s not war, it’s like illegal capital punishment.

And now we find out all the facts, like hiding behind one of his wives, and his being armed, are false. Some kind of mess there, for sure. Daily Caller talks about some of these conflicting accounts.

My first reaction to the announcement of his assassination, in spite of my personal problems swirling around me now, was to make a joke about it on Facebook, and turns out a lot of people liked it. So I’ve turned it into a cartoon. (cartoon after the break)

Osama cartoon about how his death affects single women - is he good marriage material?

Notes on art: one of the best ways to start experimenting in art is to have something happen by mistake. In this case, I just swooshed a bunch of color on the floor, thinking about the pine floor of a bar. Then I used a purply wound color for the background area. I also colored the TV a pale blue in other versions, but didn’t have time to do it here. (I’m going to try this cartoon out in Psychology Today tomorrow. They’re a rather conservative crowd (not in politics, in humor), so I’m not sure how this cartoon will go over there!)

Cartoon caption: Girls Night Out, with 3 women at a bar. One says, Okay, but let’s be honest, girls. Now there’s also one less available man around. Behind them is a TV with the news of Osama’s death.

Ann Coulter says her dog knows more about Arabs than Obama does. I thought she was going to say, knew more about how Osama died – like dogs have better noses, etc.

Image via Wikipedia- a Navy Seal posing

Speaking of Psychology Today, this writer says when we misspeak and say Obama, when we mean to say Osama, that’s meaningless. I’m not so sure. I’ve been doing it myself, and hear announcers say it, too.  Well, at least no one is talking about his birth certificate this week.

More cartoons:

1. The official Osama bin Laden cartoon.
2. Navy sonar is like unsolicited sales calls to whales.

obama cartoon on sotu address

I like a tech-y, green President. But what about what he didn’t talk about, or made little jokeys about?

He pointed out people who were shot, but didn’t mention his thoughts on gun control. He made a joke about his health care bill, but is that really funny? I think it’s sad that he has to keep pushing it, and look what the newest ruling against the health bill started: trouble ahead, my friend. And many of us still hate the whole thing!

He did encourage businesses to hire…after all the big bailouts went to the big guys last year, with no trickle down at all.

Well, Obama delivered a cheerful message to a crowd wearing ribbons. But I expect flowers and candy with the pretty card.

Something futuristic and dramatic to make Obama happy. Image via Wikipedia

Cartoon caption: STATE OF THE UNION:  Obama says, higher education, clean energy, faster internet. SUBTEXT OF STATE OF THE UNION: Obama’s subconcious says, What guns? I’ll defend Obamacare to the death! I HOPE they find jobs!

Kind of fooled around in Photoshop for the second panel, to try to make Obama’s figure paler and more ghost-like. Now I think I should have just kept it as the  ink outline.

More cartoons:

1. Obama sends a Valentine’s Day Card to the GOP.
2. Ink spill cartoons for the LA Times for May, 2010.

chandra levy trial cartoon by mike lester

Caption: Jury convicts Ingmar Guandique, illegal immigrant and MS-13 gang member, of murdering Chandra Levy.

Mike Lester has a super-casual style, quite the opposite of old time editorial cartoons! This take on the Chandra Levy trial is a pretty straightforward idea, but I included it because I agreed with it. :) For one thing, I love trials and murders, and the Opinion pages rarely cover them. More importantly, this cartoon is about the media, which totally ignores important details in stories they cover, if they think it might “taint” the piece.

I remember when I first moved to Los Angeles, I was confused when the LA Times never reported the complete story about criminals or crimes. Was it an illegal alien or gang who did the deed? Wasn’t that, alone, enough to arrest someone? Never! Even when they were indicted, important info about the bad people was kept out of the papers. Mike points out here that Ingmar Guandique, the killer was indeed here illegally (and was already guilty of other crimes).

Chandra lost her life, Gary Condit lost his career. Yet the media, by and large, lets criminals keep their secrets and whitewashes the facts.

obama care cartoon by eric allie

Caption of Obama and Nancy Pelosi looking at Obamacare: We should have spent more time on the birth announcement.

I laughed out loud at this cartoon by Eric Allie on Obamacare! Something about the octopus in the baby carriage…He includes recognizable sketches of Obama and Pelosi staring at their little darling, too! There’s an Uncle Sam running in the corner, a rather tired old symbol, but his bug eyes and running legs are amusing. (Secret PS: I admire Eric for not drawing all 8 legs on the octopus (sorry, no link now, explained below), as I did. He’s carefree!)

dangerous north korea cartoon by paresh nath - naval exercise

Caption: The US and South Korea circle around the shark of North Korea with a big stick.

Let’s get serious, now, less fluff and more danger. And another Uncle Sam, but he carries a big stick, like certain states.

I don’t know if South Korea is really bff with the US, but certainly North Korea is on its own. South Korea wants a strong Navy, and that makes North Korea skittish. Very clever use of Kim Jong Il’s strange pouffy hair as a shark fin! Paresh titles this cartoon Naval Exercise, but I would call it every other country’s idea of America as surfer dudes on water skis.

Most political cartoonists, especially overseas ones, don’t use straight dialogue, and so they’re sometimes forced to add labels. The labels in this cartoon are unobtrusive and clear, and they don’t detract from the amusing and striking drawing, so good enough. I like the monarch floating in the water, too. Will a big stick work to keep him underwater?

Thanks to Cagle Cartoons for all good work from these guys!

My own recent cartoons:

In case you missed it, my DADT cartoon was picked as one of the best cartoons of the year for Slate. (Sorry, no link now. Uclick Gocomics threw away 2 years of my cartoons on Slate, Gocomics and Yahoo News when they kicked me out.)

don't ask don't tell cartoon

Okay, so it’s the last one in the list. Whatever, right?!

I also did this snazzy cartoon on Miss Sarah Palin. (Sorry, no link now. Uclick Gocomics threw away 2 years of my cartoons on Slate, Gocomics and Yahoo News when they kicked me out.)

cartoon of liberals making fun of sarah palin

It has 28 comments so far on Gocomics. (Sorry, no link now. Uclick Gocomics threw away 2 years of my cartoons on Slate, Gocomics and Yahoo News when they kicked me out.)

Related article on examiner.com:

• Cartoons on Obamacare, the media, and North Korea’s dangerous games. (examiner.com)

More cartoons:

1. Who doesn’t hate AIG?
2. Yahoo! News Editorial Cartoon on food stamps.

Paul Conrad, whose fiercely confrontational editorial cartoons made him one of the leading political provocateurs of the second half of the 20th century and who helped push the Los Angeles Times to national prominence, has died. He was 86.

“When it comes to editorial cartooning, I am unabashedly biased: Paul Conrad was simply the best ever,” Times Editor Russ Stanton said Saturday.

He was great, that’s for sure. He won an amazing 3 Pulitzers. He was an exceptionally wonderful cartoonist, and I can’t imagine why the liberal loving Times let him go – he never got a venue as good as that again. Of course, Russ Stanton wasn’t editor when Paul Conrad was the cartoonist there, and none have been hired under your watch, Russ. So your experience is like, nil. (Side note: The LA Times is 4th biggest in circulation, but has fewer editorial cartoons than at least the 100 biggest papers in the country!)

Conrad was on Gocomics with me in Editorial cartoons – quite impressive and inspirational to me. I don’t look at the other cartoons all that much, but when I was doing my LA Times cartoons roundups here a few weeks ago he had one that caught my eye:

paul conrad cartoon of Obama as Nixon

I just checked, and Conrad is no longer on Gocomics – I don’t know whether they dropped it when he died, or whether Tribune dropped them, but I believe this is the last cartoon they used of his, so I’m glad I saved it.

Love the inky messiness. I know that’s Nixon’s famous victory? gesture, but I don’t know why Obama is doing it. Maybe it  hooked up to a news item a while ago.

I met Conrad a few times, as we were both in the Impolitic gallery in Santa Monica, CA. I wasn’t doing political cartoons at the time, but of course I knew his work – one of the few editorial cartoonists I ever read, with his bold, yet minimal drawings and wry humor. He was sort of egotistical and not very friendly at the parties; so, not a people person, at least at parties. He always had a crowd around him, however.

Paul Conrad via LA Times via Huntington Library ITVS

Paul at work. He kept drawing even during the parties (which were pretty damn great).

Your work was stand-out, Paul. Good job.

More cartoons:

1. Complete list of all Political Cartoons through 2011!
2. Giving out vaccines for Halloween.

The LA Times had a little item on this that had me laughing so hard I had to investigate further. (Why do I even bother to search latimes.com for the article? Man, their website STILL sucks for search.)

From Lehigh Times:

A game called “Alien Attack” at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Big Time celebration in Roseto encouraged players to shoot darts at the head and heart of an image of a suited black man holding a health care bill and wearing a presidential seal.

obama carnival fair game from lehigh times

Irvin L. Good Jr., president of Hellertown-based Goodtime Amusements, said it wasn’t supposed to be Obama.

“We’re not interpreting it as Obama. The name of the game is ‘Alien Leader.’ If you’re offended, that’s fine, we duly note that.”

Don’t you love it?!

Our Lady pastor the Rev. Jim Prior said:

“We’re used to this kind of bigotry and prejudice, and we abhor it but it’s the way of the world,” Prior said. “Even the Divine Father himself is vilified in today’s culture.”

Oh, my gah, this priest is comparing Obama to God!! And WAY to change the subject, Rev. Prior!

The Morning Call had more. The Secret Service is investigating now, and Good changed his tune:

“I guess we made an error in judgment, and we apologize for that,” said Good, who has had the game for about six weeks. “I voted for the man. It wasn’t meant to be him. If they took it that way, we apologize.”

Players paid $1 per shot, or $5 for six shots, to fire foam darts at targets on his head and heart. Those who hit their mark won a stuffed animal.

The White House issued a statement Wednesday through spokeswoman Moira Mack saying it disapproves of using the president’s name and likeness for commercial purposes. The longstanding policy precedes Obama.

Federal law prohibits anyone from knowingly displaying any print or likeness of the presidential seal. Violators can face a fine and up to six months in prison. The U.S attorney’s office in Philadelphia declined to comment on the matter.

I agree that making fun of the Presidential office in any way dilutes the importance of the office, and of our country. Even if it’s Obama. What retards. (I’m not Jennifer Aniston, so I can say it.)

But I still laughed at everyone’s incredible obliviousness.

More cartoons:

1. Obama won Nobel Peace Prize in spite of himself.
2. Fox News – We’re Foxy!

Of course, the PB oil spill continues to be the biggest story around. In one way, I’m happy about that, but before you label me an oil-hugger, let me explain that it’s because environmental issues, or green, as the kids call them, are almost always B or C stories in the news. Just blips most of the time. And now everyone is seeing what a terrible natural disaster (MANMADE, you BP asshats) does to the whole world.

Also, this is a great issue for cartoonists to dive into. Yes, it took an oil spill tragedy to get cartoonists to STOP dwelling on Sarah Palin. Forgot about sniping for a while, didn’t you, guys? SNAP.

Speaking of, I’ll do another oil cartoon roundup later this week, as there are a couple of great cartoons on that, but will focus on other news with this LA Times editorial cartoons selection.

nate beeler on incumbents from politicalcartoons.com

I thought I knew what incumbents are – those people already in office- but wondered why there were a number of cartoons about them recently. Ask and ye shall receive. Half hour ago from the LA Times:

Discontent with incumbents and anti-Washington anger are adding up to a potentially record-breaking crowd of congressional challengers this election year.

More than 2,300 people are running for the House and Senate in the midterms, the highest number in at least 35 years…

Like Senator Specter was tossed out on his heinie. Well, there aren’t any dramatic incumbents in California, but I think LA needs to think about other cultures, like the East Coast, more. Like this homeless man. He’s very rude, which is natural back there. Nobody in LA would ever talk like this, nor would they throw food. ( I thought this was a general wearing medals at first, but now I see that it’s fruit on his suit.) However, we’ve all worked on or visited a movie set, so we get the pandering part.

Nice colors, Nate Beeler!

dick locher graduation cartoon from gocomics.com

Lotsa people looking for graduation cartoons lately. I liked this one by Dick Locher, as it didn’t have the usual stage with graduates setup. Location is king! Plus, I’ve never been to a tailor, but I like the details from an old department store. And clever use of just one word. I think this would have been better in color, however.

nuclear energy cartoon by rainer hachfeld from politicalcartoons.com

Time for an international cartoon for the great LA Times! I love this purposely stiff, comic-book style cartoon by Rainer Hachfeld! Obviously, it’s about nuclear energy, and it must be a very important news item, but mostly I love the amusing way the men toss the nuclear bombs back and forth without the guy in the middle even noticing! Oh, okay, these European cartoonists really know their stuff, and I don’t want to be an ignorant slut Angeleno, so off I run to Google to try to figure out who these men are. I do recognize Ahmadinejad – I think – from a previous cartoon, and the other 2 guys are…Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, suggests the New York Times.

I’m not going to read the whole thing.

But it looks like all 3 of them know about the nuclear weapons, including the guy in the middle. Was funnier the way I interpreted it. Note how the nuclear symbol switches from black to white according to its placement in the drawing. Very nice, Rainer! This is the kind of cartoon the LA Times should use as illustration, instead of the forgettable ones it has now. It would look fine at any size, it actually has something to do with the news, and it’s a very compelling visual.

obama cartoon with democrats by eric allie from politicalcartoons.com

I saved the best for last! I was so taken by this arresting cartoon by Eric Allie that I think my heart beat faster! Wow. Turning the black coattails into a pit in hell is pretty scary. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be oil or not, but that makes it even more intriguing. I mean, why is Obama dressed up in black tie, anyway? And will the Dems suffer this badly in his wake that they’ll go under? Great cartoon, Eric.

Great job, everyone, and thanks to Politicalcartoons.com and Gocomics.com (where you USED TO see my new ones each week) for continuing to employ such talented cartoonists. Later this week: more BP oil cartoons!

Captions for Google:

Get a real job, ya freeloader! Sign: incumbent, will pander for re-election. 3 world leaders from Turkey, Iran, and Brazil toss nuclear footballs around. Graduate has to suck it up for a limited job market – set at the tailor in a department store. Obama has Democrats struggling for their lives, riding on his coattails.

My recent cartoons:

Dr. Phil on oil spill cartoon!

Comments on Dr. Phil 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.)

Lost cartoon by d. barstow

So sad to see LOST go! Comments on Lost cartoon here. (NO LINK, read above)

memorial day ipad cartoon

Comments on grave and ipad here. (NO LINK, read above)

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, as well as why I started this project: the Times needs a Los Angeles cartoon editor for the Los Angeles Times.

More cartoons:

1. June political cartoons on Obama, Helen Thomas, soccer and oil spill.
2. Editorial cartoons for the Los Angeles Times Opinion section.

They do have 3 cartoons on Sunday, however, here and in the paper (tiny). But they’re edited by Joel Pett, a cartoonist in Lexington, KY. Lexington, really?? As far as I know, Joel has never lived here, and is Lexington in any way similar to Los Angeles? Well, they both begin with L, I guess. Anyway, Joel only chooses cartoonists in his particular cartoon group, which leaves out 15 or 20 of the top editorial cartoonists in the country.

I’m the only New Yorker cartoonist who also does editorial cartoons, so I have a good background in both. As an award-winning cartoonist and editor, and since I’ve been a cartoonist for the LA Times for 6 years, and, maybe, most importantly, actually live IN Los Angeles, I decided it’s time I stepped up to do the job myself. :)  Now, let’s pick today’s winners!

Tony Auth is a great cartoonist. I picked this one for several reasons: he was first out of the gate on this issue,  on the new coastal oil drilling Obama just approved. (boo, hiss, even though I don’t have all the environmental facts yet. Just because I don’t trust Obama.) It seems to be pretty common that editorial cartoonists will pick a name or word and then decorate it like an insane calligrapher. But he did a good job here, and the oil spatters are truly dramatic, spilling over the name itself.

People from other states (like Kentucky) might not realize that in LA oil rigs are common. Not out to sea, but they have baby ones like 12 feet tall in people’s backyards! They call them grasshoppers or some insect, and they are SO CUTE bobbing up and down. I hate driving to the airport, but I take the long way just to watch them.  I love industrial things. (more cartoons below.)

Next, I chose Marshall Ramsey‘s cartoon of an Easter egg hunt, and the big golden egg of Jobs hiding behind the tree! Very amusing! Good spring colors.

I have rarely, if ever seen this style of cartoon in the LA Times, and of course they don’t have color – even online. They rarely have holidays, either. But it’s time to shake things up there, and use cartoons people are AMUSED by – especially when they appear on a holiday, don’t you think?

Also, unemployment is much higher here  in Cali than almost any other state. Staggering.

I also picked this one by Michael Ramirez, the last fulltime opinion cartoonist for the Times. He actually lives here in SoCal. Did anything happen with Israel this week in the news? I don’t know. I don’t know that much about middle east issues. But I assume Michael does. Sometimes cartoons are used to instruct, or point something out to us, and the Times deserves an international cartoon. I like the design and rhythm in this.

Runner up is Walt Handelsman, below, both because I like the message, and I really like jigsaw puzzles. (I just saw some in Costco for like $17. Yowza.) Obama has a lot of work in front of him, but you know, life is more fun when you look at it as a game.

More on why I’m doing this: I edited a Barnes & Noble calendar and 2 books, and I was recently invited to be a judge for a national cartoon contest, so this is a piece of cake. I’ll edit the cartoons for the LA Times, thanks, and post my selections right here! I’ll pick from Gocomics.com and from Politicalcartoons.com, neither of which Joel covers; but if you are a cartoonist in another venue, and would like to be considered for my weekly roundup, by all means submit your best cartoon of the week (only one per week, please) to me at my email on my Contact page.

Also, Joel often picks his own cartoons for the roundups. I won’t be doing that. You can see my California cartoons, most of which appear in the Sunday LA Daily News in print, here or in CalWatchdog, and my Slate cartoons are both here and in Yahoo.

Thanks for playing, everyone, and more next week!

And let me know what you think of my choices!

My own cartoons this week: (Sorry, no links now. Uclick threw away 2 years of my cartoons on Slate, Gocomics and Yahoo News when they kicked me out of Gocomics.)

Bad priest cartoon.

Canary cartoon.

Evil health insurance cartoon.

More cartoons:

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

I missed the 60 Minutes interview the LA Times is talking about here. (Is that show still on the air?)

Discussing in strikingly personal terms his order to escalate the war in Afghanistan, President Obama said Sunday that sending 30,000 new combat troops was the hardest decision of his presidency so far.

Can you understand now why I get so annoyed with the Times? WTH, “strikingly personal”??? Because he said he felt bad talking to the cadets? Geez, what a revelation.

First go round of this cartoon concept.

It goes on:

Critics have said his plan is confusing and contradictory because although it calls for the new deployment, it also sets a July 2011 date to start withdrawing troops.

I don’t know about contradictory, but I’ve found that the best way to broadcast your intentions, leak your war plans, and help out the enemy is to put the details on Twitter, Mr. President.

(another version of the cartoon is after the jump)

CNN says:

In his speech Tuesday, Obama said his strategy had three objectives:

• Deny al Qaeda a safe haven

• Reverse the Taliban’s momentum and deny it the ability to overthrow Afghanistan’s government

• Strengthen Afghanistan’s security forces and government

I hope it works out that way. This is a DayPlanner type strategy, isn’t it.

Does this cartoon make more sense? This is the one up on Slate now, but I think I prefer the first one.

Cartoon caption: RAW MEAT. One way to make military decisions. OR Is this the sign that made Obama order 30,000 more troops?

This seemed like such an obvious cartoon idea to me that I had to rush to draw it right away, for fear some other cartoonist would have the same idea, and beat me to it!! This happens to me a lot. As it turns out, other cartoonists don’t seem to think the way I do. There have been a couple of times when I suspected they copied me – will write about this in the future.

But for this event, I’m the only cartoonist who decided that word games was the obvious corollary to declaring war! Yes, RAW on the truck in big red letters transposed easily in Obama’s office, as he sat contemplating in the Oval Office, to WAR. And as war often has casualties :(, that leaves…dead meat, or raw meat laying on the battlefield.

What is really really strange about this is that after I had written, drawn and posted it on Slate, someone pointed out that meat spelled backwards was almost team; ie, which made it read (backwards) War Team.

I didn’t even think about this, but this happens a lot with cartoons, or my cartoons. Like alchemists turning lead into gold, you have the idea, add the drawing, and then things happen. If you’re lucky.

More cartoons:

1. Turn in your red meat! Guns are okay, too.
2. I’m going to the Royal Wedding in a pumpkin.

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.

I read something about the frou-ha-ha – something about Obama’s blue jeans not being fashionable.

From USA Today:

Fashion bloggers have been, to borrow Obama’s word, “cracking” on the jeans he wore last Tuesday to toss out the first pitch at baseball’s All-Star Game.

“For those of you who, you know, want your president to, you know, look great in his tight jeans — I’m sorry, I’m not the guy,” Obama told Meredith Viera of NBC’s Today show.

First of all, I never heard of the word cracking.  Is that black vernacular? Chicago lingo? The link goes to the Chicago Tribune.

Fashion bloggers are throwing spitballs at the high-waisted “mom jeans” President Barack Obama wore when he threw out the first pitch at baseball’s All-Star Game this week.

When I heard about mom jeans, I always thought they meant Michelle. I think Obama’s jeans look pretty good, at least in the photo below, but maybe this proves I’m out of it.

In any case, Los Angeles is the home of very expensive, chi-chi jeans, for men as well as women. To add to my tremendous ignorance on this subject – and we’re up to strike 3 on this, if anyone’s counting, I didn’t know this either until my friend Melinda confessed that she has something like 30 pairs of really really expensive jeans, and keeps buying. Her philosophy is that if they bag out in a day the store won’t take them back, since they’re worn, so she just buys more!!

Offhand, the only brands I can remember are 7 Jeans, Citizens of Humanity (for liberals?) and True Religion. Melinda can tell you any brand someone has on! Some have fancy stitching on the pockets which is like, whatever, to me. I can embroider and sew, so not that big a deal.

Anyway, back to the cartoon: just like Martin Luther King, President Obama has a dream, too: the health care plan, his way. At first I hated it, then I liked parts, and now it just looks like a big mess.

Everyone deserves a pair of great jeans, so good luck with that one, Barack.

More cartoons:

1. Star Trek for Mother’s Day?
2. Bill Clinton and the blue dress.