Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Help Unions

Hey, I just got a personal email from Democratic Party Chairman, Gov. Dr. Howard Dean!
Okay, just another spam forward, but this much of it was interesting and important:

The House of Representatives is set to debate and pass a bill that will restore American workers' right to freely choose whether or not to form a union. Join the Democratic majority in the House and show your support for the Employee Free Choice Act:

http://www.democrats.org/StrengthenUnions

Research shows union members earn 30% more than nonunion workers. What's more, union workers are 63% more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, and are four times more likely to have a guaranteed pension.

The benefits of union membership are clear. That's why nearly half of American workers who are not currently represented by unions -- 60 million people -- say that they'd join one if they had the chance. But every year since 1981, union membership has declined. And a major reason for that fall-off is the many obstacles workers face when they try to form a union or negotiate a union contract.

The Employee Free Choice Act is a simple, effective solution to restore the right of workers to form unions and bargain for better wages and benefits for themselves and their families. It has three key provisions:

  • Require employers to recognize a union if a majority of workers sign authorization cards saying they want union representation.
  • Provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
  • Strengthen penalties for companies that illegally intimidate employees to prevent them from forming a union.

No management coercion, no waiting period, no stacked deck -- just the freedom for workers to stand up for their rights.

Is anybody paying attention?

US Indirectly Funding Al-Qaeda Linked Sunni Groups in Move to Counter Iran
Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh joins us to talk about his explosive new article in the New Yorker Magazine. Hersh reports that John Negroponte’s decision to resign as National Intelligence Director was made in part because of the Bush administration’s covert actions including the indirect funding of radical Sunni groups - some with ties to al-Qaeda - to counter Shiite groups backed by Iran. Hersh also reports the Pentagon has established a special planning group to plan a bombing attack on Iran and U.S. military and special-operations teams have already crossed the border into Iran in pursuit of Iranian operatives.

Hear or read the a full interview with Hersh on 'Democracy Now'

War With Iran: How Will It Affect the Troops?

The BBC reports that we are, indeed, planning for military strikes against Iran.

Meanwhile, the President seems to found his reason to attack Iran, pinning American deaths in Iraq on the Iranians...

If we were to launch strikes against Iran, their response would be somewhat predictable. Their Mahdi Army in Iraq, which has largely laid low for a while and replenished its forces, would be unleashed to attack our forces in Iraq, probably where we are most overstretched, in the west. Even with the escalation of troops that the President proposes, we wouldn't have enough forces to fight both a Mahdi uprising and the current Sunni insurgents. American forces would be getting attacked from both sides, when each side wasn't fighting with each other. The Pentagon would most likely recommend indefinite extensions of our forces in the region to handle the uprising, some of whom already have spent the majority of the past couple of years in Iraq.

Read more on the Huffington Post

What you can do about Iran
by General Wes Clark

I believe it is critical to give voice to the vast majority of Americans who want to avoid a military conflict with Iran, and I hope you will visit StopIranWar.com to add your voice to our efforts.

The Bush Administration seems headed for a showdown in the Middle East over the issue of Iran’s nuclear capacity, and it’s clear that all Americans want to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons and interfering on the ground inside Iraq.

That said, military force must be viewed as the last resort, and not the first option. Yet the Bush administration refuses to engage in direct talks with Iran, and with each passing month that we remain stalled and the Iranian program progresses, we come closer to the US military option.

Jointly sponsored by Clark and VoteVets.org, www.StopIranWar.com. In just 24 hours, more than 10,000 people sent letters to the White House, Congress, and their local paper, urging some sanity in our military policy. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to go to the site and use the tools. Believe me, if every office in Washington and newspapers all around the country get 10,000 emails a day, we will be heard. Read more HERE

What else could this mean? A huge spike in oil prices that will encourage recession and hyper-inflation (possibly even world depression). Intervention on Iran's behalf against the United States from either or both Russia and/or China (Why not just use missiles? Can you say WWIII?)

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Seymour Hersh & Alan Greenspan speak, the world trembles

NYSE drops over 500 points.

Seymour Hersh blows the lid off another White House scam. Bush is using
US dollars to fund Sunni terrorists that are sympathetic to al Qaeda. All this at Saudi Arabia’s behest and in the name of fighting Iranian influence in the Middle East…gee, how about just talking to Iran instead of arming people who want to kill us?

Afghanistan is working so well that at least two Americans were killed in an attack on Cheney in Kabul…the closet thing to a “green zone” in Afghanistan. The Taliban actually knew where Cheney would be.

VIDEO: Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Gen. Peter Pace, warns that military is so worn out that we very likely couldn’t handle anything else. In plain English, IT’S BROKEN!

In the middle of another show-and-tell for the media designed to prove that Iran was equipping Iraqi militias, some other findings clouded the issue

The boxes appeared to contain shipments of tubes directly from factories in the Middle East, none of them in Iran. One box said in English that the tubes inside had been made in the United Arab Emirates and another said, in Arabic, “plastic made in Haditha,” a restive Sunni town on the Euphrates River in Iraq.

Hurdle one has been cleared for the REAL mission accomplished – getting Iraqi oil profits into the pockets of US oil companies. Yeah, that won’t cause additional generations of resentment, right?

POLL: The majority of Americans want a deadline for pulling out of Iraq.

Congressional hearings on Walter Reed begin Friday.

Meanwhile, Alan Greenspan warns that a recession is coming.

And gas prices are climbing again…too bad we can’t have elections every six months.

These stories and much more were on Air America Radio today
First, I went sent an email to the President from Wes Clark's new website, pleading with him not to provoke or attack Iran. I'm sure this was a big mistake because now the CIA, FBI, and NSA will really start padding my dossier...
Dear Ted,

Thank you so much for joining the effort at StopIranWar.com. I
really appreciate your support.

If you haven't already done it, I hope you'll take a moment
right now to invite your friends and family to take action at
StopIranWar.com:

http://ga4.org/campaign/stopiranwar/forward/wssixwn2y6kkwtn ?

This is a critical issue facing our nation. You can keep up with
the latest news at StopIranWar.com.

Thanks so much for your support! We can't do it without you.

Sincerely,

Wes Clark


Then I got a lame email back from the President's email answerer. I should have remembered that he doesn't use email.
According to the Lefties on Air America Radio, there is now evidence that the Bush Administration has been
funding Suni extremist groups in Afghanistan and Packistan.

Al Queda is a Sunni extremist group? What the hell is up here?
Remember 15 out of 19 Sept 11 hijackers were Soudi- Saudi are Suni, Iran is Shia
Ready for $5/gal gas?


On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.
We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.
The President is committed to continuing our economic progress,
defending our freedom, and upholding our Nation's deepest values.

Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House
cannot respond to every message. Please visit the White House
website for the most up-to-date information on Presidential
initiatives, current events, and topics of interest to you.
In order to better receive comments from the public, a new system
has been implemented. In the future please send your comments to
comments@whitehouse.gov.

Thank you again for taking the time to write.

StopIranWar.com

StopIranWar.com
Military force against Iran is not the solution now, and if we adopt the right strategy, perhaps it need never be. Urge him to work with our allies and use every diplomatic, political, and economic option at our disposal to deal with Iran. War is not the answer.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Letting the dream die

The following is from the blog of a professional cartoonist who also happens to run a small syndication service. I guess that I should just be happy that I get to do this as a hobby in two tiny, tiny newspapers. They always said, "you can fall back on teaching." Good thing I like teaching. It really made me feel dumb when he said the thing about lifting photos from the web and using computer fonts instead of hand lettering. But hey, YOU can still read my cartoons at http://tmal.multiply.com/photos/album/2

Too Many Cartoonists, Too Little Time

By Daryl Cagle

Whenever cartoonists get together we complain about syndicates (the businesses that sell our cartoons to newspapers). Cartoonists are no businessmen -- we want syndicates to be like mothers to us, selflessly nurturing our careers so we don't have to sully our minds with yucky business thoughts, when we'd rather be thinking about cartoons. But syndicates don't act like mothers, and cartoonists have some very colorful names for the syndicate executives who sell their work - in fact, some of these colorful names include the word "mother."

In addition to being a political cartoonist myself, I run a small syndicate that specializes in editorial cartoons; I see that there must be one thousand aspiring cartoonists for every working professional, as I'm deluged with unsolicited submissions that are truly awful. At times like this, when people are passionate about politics, the inner political cartoonist emerges from the psyche of the talentless "wannabe."

Many wannabe cartoonists recognize that they have no drawing talent, but it seems that everyone thinks they are a writer. I get many submissions from writers who are looking to collaborate with editorial cartoonists. These writers want to send me gags, or want to find cartoonists who will draw their gags. Here is a typical gag submission:

"So, we have President Bush standing there, and he says, 'Things are improving in Iraq' and behind him you see two massive armies, the Shiites and the Sunnis, about to fight each other, and the sky is filled with thousands of U.S. helicopters, then, in the next panel ..."

These are people who think in words, not pictures. For some reason, this group of wannabes includes lots of lawyers who think they are funny. I think lawyers are funny, but I laugh at-them, not with-them; and it is a dark humor that makes me want to go take a shower afterwards. These guys just don't get it. The cartoon writers often send obvious or trite gags that they think are brilliant and original. Sometimes the writers follow up with angry mail when they notice that another cartoonist has "stolen" their gag.

The second group of wannabes do their own drawings, but can't see how truly awful their drawings are. These guys like to use computer fonts in their cartoons instead of hand lettering. Often they will use clip art in their cartoons, or lift photographs from the web, or they will use simple objects like squares and circles, and then have these objects making comments in speech balloons. These wannabes frequently don't know how to work their scanner and will send murky gray images that show crinkled paper backgrounds from the napkins they drew their cartoons on.

One thing aspiring editorial cartoonists have in common is paranoia. I get inquiries like this: "I'm really funny and I have some great ideas, but I need to know how to get them copyrighted first so you won't steal them."

I have a notice on our syndicate web site that that says: "We do not accept and will not review unsolicited submissions from cartoonists." Often the submissions come in with a note saying, "I know you don't accept submissions, but ... "

Ambitious aspiring cartoonists see syndicates as gatekeepers, guarding a barrier to the success they deserve. Sometimes the passion and perseverance of these wannabes can be frightening. They find my home phone number and my home address. Drive and perseverance in the face of adversity is a virtue, so their quest never ends.

Some horrid amateur cartoonists are convinced that the world of professional cartooning is a closed shop, an old-boy's network where success is a matter of who you know. Wannabes try to be friendly with my employees or cartoonist colleagues, hoping that the relationship will get them past the barrier. Many terrible submissions are forwarded to me by friends.

When I was an aspiring cartoonist I thought the syndicates were arrogant for sending form-letter responses, or for ignoring submissions - but now I understand why. For many wannabes, any response is an invitation to argue. The aspirants are convinced that their work is great and anyone who doesn't "get it" needs educating. Giving a polite brush-off sometimes fuels their anger.

Ironically, editorial cartooning is a terrible business. Newspapers pay only a few dollars a week for packaged groups of talented cartoonists who are, in turn, poorly paid. The professionals compete for fewer and fewer staff cartoonist positions at papers that are cutting back, as the internet crushes print. More and more professional cartoonists can't make ends meet. The syndicates aren't really a barrier to success for the aspiring cartoonists, just a hurdle on the road to more frustration in a dying profession.

My profession is fading away, I'm poorly paid and there are thousands of rude, talentless wannabes who want my job - but Britney Spears shaved her head - at least the life of a professional editorial cartoonist has its little pleasures.

Want to comment on this column? E-mail mail us at cari@cagle.com



--
_______________________________
Ted's cartoons, artworks, photos, and commentary at:
http://tmal.multiply.com

"The gospel is meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." ~Garrison Keillor

Websites for 2008 Presidential Candidates

Websites for 2008 Presidential Candidates
Posted by US NEWS & World Report 2/26/07
Ted's quick comments in RED

DEMOCRATS

Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware- Smart, old, racist, plagiarist

www.joebiden.com

Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York- Too presumptuous, too divisive, and too much of a hawk

www.hillaryclinton.com

Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut- Good choice, not enough buzz

www.chrisdodd.com

Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina- The working class candidate, ready for a fight

johnedwards.com

Former Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska- Hey, there's oil in them there mountains and preserves

www.gravel2008.us

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois- The buzz is good, I only just started his book, 'The Audacity of Hope', but so far I like

www.barackobama.com

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico- First Hispanic? I've liked what I've heard, but I know a life ling Dem who had to work under him when he was head of the Dept of Energy who can't stand him.

www.richardsonforpresident.com

Draft- Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin- Every single time that Congress authorizes another pay raise for itself, Russ Feingold votes against the raise. Isn't that enough?

http://www.draftruss.com

Sen. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio- Heh heh, that's a good one

http://www.denniskucinich.us

Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee- He's eloquent, passionate, relentless, undaunted. The first political figure to oppose the Iraq war, Al Gore is also the lead champion in the fight against global warming, a passionate defender of our Constitution, and an unyielding voice against the Bush Administration's abuse of power. Oh yeah, HE ALREADY WON a Presidential election! If all that weren't enough, he just won an Oscar and he's been nominated for THE Nobel Peace Prize! Hello? PLEEEEASE!!!

http://www.draftgore.com


REPUBLICANS

Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas- Please read 'What's the Matter with Kansas?' before taking this religious right-winger seriously. Seriously, PLEASE read it!

www.brownback.com

John Cox- Who?

www.cox2008.com

Former Gov. Jim Gilmore of Virginia- Huh?

jimgilmore08.com

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas- There must be something wrong with me, because I kind of like this guy, he's a man of faith, but unlike most religious rightie tighties, he sees Christianity as not just rules, but helping others- see interview with George Stephanopoulos

www.explorehuckabee.com

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani- Whatevah, Fuggetabouteet.

www.joinrudy2008.com

Rep. Duncan Hunter of California- Who?

www.gohunter08.com

Sen. John McCain of Arizona- Two words, Flip-Flop, another word, PANDER

www.johnmccain.com

Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts- Everything the Conservative Christians want, except that he's not Christian

www.mittromney.com

Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado- I said it before and I'll say it again, Who?

www.teamtancredo.com

We ALREADY elected him...


HOLLYWOOD, California February 25, 2007- Al Gore won an Oscar for his global warming documentary but did not announce a bid for the 2008 presidential election. Speculation had been rife that he might use the Academy Awards platform -- with more than one billion people said to be watching -- to launch his candidacy for president.

Accepting the Oscar, for his documentary An Inconvenient Truth, Gore said, “My fellow Americans, people all over the world — we need to solve the climate crisis. It’s not a political issue. It’s a moral issue. We have everything we need to get started with the possible exception of the will to act. That’s a renewable resource. Let’s renew it.”

OSLO, Norway February 1, 2007 - Former Vice President Al Gore was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his wide-reaching efforts to draw the world’s attention to the dangers of global warming, a Norwegian lawmaker said Thursday.

“A prerequisite for winning the Nobel Peace Prize is making a difference, and Al Gore has made a difference,” Conservative Member of Parliament Boerge Brende, a former minister of environment and then of trade, told The Associated Press...

The winner is traditionally announced in mid-October, with the prize always presented on the Dec. 10 anniversary of the death of its creator, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel.

The secretive Nobel committee never comments on specific nominations, but members often note that anyone can be nominated. Last year, there were 191 nominations for the prize that went to Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded to help the poor.

Other announced nominations for the 2007 prize include Vietnamese Monk Thich Quang Do and Sail Training International, a British-based charity helping young people develop through sailing.
_________________________________________________

I almost hate to say it, but I would be content to have Barack Obama, John Edwards, or even Queen Hillary as VICE PRESIDENT, so long as we could somehow get Gore to run. I really don't think he will- which of course, makes him even more appealing (remember Mario Cuomo and Gen. Collin Powell?). Since he didn't announce last night, expect some decision in October or November of this year- be patient, remember that the Iowa Caucus isn't intil January 2008. Former President Jimmy Carter, himself a Nobel Peace Prize winner, all but endorsed Gore on This Week with George Stephonopolis on ABC this past Sunday morning before the Oscars.

Hot current issues


Saturday, February 24, 2007

I aint' no Senator's son

Most Military Recruits Come From Working Class Households


The right-leaning think tank, Heritage Foundation, prepared the graphic indicating the household income spread of military recruits 2003 - 2005.
Clearly neither the rich nor poor are supplying our soldiers, but rather the lower end of 'middle' income America.
Nearly 50% of all of the recruits came from $30,000 - $40,000 income families.
Neither the suburban nor inner city families are well represented here and it appears as though the so-called blue collar families are supplying the nations soldiers.
No wonder, then, that so few US Congressmen have children in the armed forces. After all, they are off the chart at the far end. Rather, it is the working stiff's children, the families that find it hard to make it from pay check to pay check who are doing the fighting and dying in Afghanistan and Iraq.

See more at Politics in Mudville

!!! Happy :-) Afro !!!

!!! Happy :-) Afro !!!

Wanna learn how to make bad, but happy landscape oil paintings? Bob Ross is the guy to see. This dead PBS Art instructor can help you from his happy afro website.

Paradigm Shift

In what universe is it the case that demands for an end to the Iraq War are emanating from the dreaded and cliched "antiwar left"? According to the latest Pew poll:

Public support for the war in Iraq continues to decline, as a growing number of political independents are turning against the war. Overall, a 53% majority of Americans believe the U.S. should bring its troops home as soon as possible - up five points in the past month and the highest percentage favoring a troop pullout since the war began nearly four years ago.
That's not a majority merely against the war, or against the surge, or wanting a gradual withdrawal. Those numbers are much higher. This is a majority of Americans favoring "bring[ing] troops home as soon as possible." That's quite an "antiwar left" we have here. And:
[I]n the current survey, 55% of independents say they favor bringing the troops home as soon as possible, compared with 40% who believe the troops should remain.


Click here to read the entire article on Slate

Friday, February 23, 2007

Swoosh

Just in case all you thought I did was paint and draw, here's some of my photography.

Sasha


Thursday, February 22, 2007

Dr. Suess, Political Cartoonist


Dr. Suess, Political Cartoonist
Did you know this? Me either- how cool!

Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel, 1904-1991) was a life-long cartoonist: in high school in Springfield, Massachusetts; in college at Dartmouth (Class of 1925); as an adman in New York City before World War II; in his many children's books, beginning with To Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street (1937). Because of the fame of his children's books (and because we often misunderstand these books) and because his political cartoons have remained largely unknown, we do not think of Dr. Seuss as a political cartoonist. But for two years, 1941-1943, he was the chief editorial cartoonist for the New York newspaper PM (1940-1948), and for that journal he drew over 400 editorial cartoons.

Why illegal immigration is a Republican red-herring

News item: The company that was contracted to build part of the wall between the United States and Mexico agreed to pay $5 million in fines for hiring illegal workers. U.S. Attorney Carol Lam says as many as a third of the Golden gate fence Company's workforce may have been in the country without proper documentation.

HELLO!?!?!? How many times have I got to point this out to people? We need to focus on the employers who don't want to have to pay a living wage, health benefits, or taxes and therefore seek out illegals for cheap (virtually slave) labor. But no, we keep targeting the poor migrant workers who are just looking for "the American Dream" of working hard and making better money than back home and make them out as a scape goat, illicitly making it into a race issue instead of an economic issue. Wake up, its not a world of national borders and nations made up of ethnically homogeneous populations anymore (if it ever was) and it is Republican corporatism that helped make it one big market in the first place. Save the middle class, abandon the NeoCons!

Telephone- it’s for you


Telephone- it’s for you
Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper — Schleswig Leader, Thursday, February 22, 2007 – Page 3

You’ll never believe who called me the other night.

I was sitting there at my daughter’s dance class, minding my own business when out of the blue, I received a call on my cell phone from someone I hadn’t talked to since high school.

I don’t mean to drop names but it was none other than Arizona Senior Senator John McCain. I hadn’t heard from John since I was at a press conference he held at the Arizona Republic/Phoenix Gazette building for teen journalists.

I was so excited, I couldn’t believe someone so prominent would have my cell phone number. He said he wanted to invite me to some barbecue in Des Moines. I tried to tell him that I’d really need to check my calendar and talk to my wife first and that’s when I realized that I wasn’t talking to John McCain, his answering machine was somehow talking to me. Only it didn’t beep and let me record a message. And I thought it was really strange that I’d reach someone’s answering machine when I hadn’t called him, he- that is, it called me.

And so it begins. The Iowa Caususes are almost a year away, and the general election won’t be for another ten months after that.

But this is Iowa after all, we’re like that rhinestone cowboy that Glen Campbell used to sing about, “getting cards and letters from people I don’t even know, and offers coming over the phone.”
Here are just a few- a few of the folks who you can expect mail, calls and visits from:
You already know several of the Democrats, now former Governor Tom Visack’s campaign for Vice President has been underway for a long time. Did you catch my crack? I know he SAYS he’s running for President, but come on.

Then there are the big two, Senators Clinton from New York (by way of Washington, by way of Arkansas, by way of Illinois) and Obama from Illinois, by way of Hawaii. You’d expect me to write about them, so I won’t.... this week.

There are a few other lesser known Democrats, Senators Fiengold from Wisconsin, Consinich from Ohio and Governor Richardson from New Mexico.

Did you even know that Indiana Senator Evan Bayh was running? Or what about Virgina Governor Mark Warner? Actually, I think he dropped out already, but there are a lot of people who are trying to draft him.

Speaking of movements to draft candidates, Al Gore recently was nominated not only for an Oscar for his documentary film about global warming, but also for a Nobel Peace Prize. Even if he doesn’t run, maybe if he wins either of those other awards, he’ll feel vindicated for having won the popular vote in 2000 and having the Supreme Court hand it to George W instead.

There’s always former North Carolina Senator John Edwards.

And Delaware Senator Joe Biden, even though he probably ruined his chances when he in a mildly racist way, referred to Barack Obama as “clean and articulate.”

Which makes Obama at least one up on the current president, who can’t speak about No Child Left Behind without saying “you know,” and “like” every other sentence.

Is there anyone in the Senate who’s NOT running for President?

The only people we really hear about on TV are McCain, Clinton, and Obama, but there are as many or more Republicans out there as there are Democrats.

I’ve talked about my favorite (no sarcasm or irony, I promise) Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. I think he’s the straight-talker that McCain wishes he still was.

Former 9/11 Mayor- oops, I mean New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani recently announced but odd are against him winning over the ultra-conservative religious-right base.

Former New York Governor George Pataki is rumored to be thinking about it.

Some people think that former Florida Jeb Bush would have little or no chance since his brother has become so unpopular even with Republicans.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mit Romney wants to be the first Mormon President, which means he has a Salt Lake City snowball’s chance in Hell (pun certainly intended).

Another guy I think you should seriously look at (seriously) is a former Governor of Arkansas... a man from a place called “Hope”...

No, not that guy, the other former Governor from Hope Arkansas, Mike Huckabee. He lost 110 pounds, he plays guitar, he ran a marathon with Tom Vilsack, and he’s a former Baptist minister but he has been critical of some stances taken by the conventional “religious-right.”

I didn't have room in the newspaper to mention Elizabeth Dole, Condaleeza Rice, Colin Powell, Sam Brownback from Kansas, Former Wisc. Gov. Tommy Thompson, and of course the architect of evil before Carl Rove took over from him, Newt Gingritch! God save us!

Ted Mallory lives in Charter Oak and teaches at Boyer Valley Schools in Dunlap. ‘Ted’s Column’ has appeared weekly in the Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper since 2002. If you’d like to see any of Ted’s editorial cartoons bigger and brighter, you can visit http://tmal.multiply.com/photos/album/2

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Spy's Spice

Spy's Spice

This under-cover, sneaky, photographer of intrigue, who calls himself (herself?) "Xenmate" has some fascinating and compelling images on their blog. I wish I knew what Xenmate's day job was.

Don't worry, nothing explicit that I saw on his site- that's not to say that there's nothing intellectually provocative. Good stuff.

Monday, February 19, 2007

It could happen here | Salon.com

It could happen here | Salon.com
Can it happen here? Is it happening here already? That depends, as a recent president might have said, on what the meaning of "it" is.

To Sinclair Lewis, who sardonically titled his 1935 dystopian novel "It Can't Happen Here," "it" plainly meant an American version of the totalitarian dictatorships that had seized power in Germany and Italy. Married at the time to the pioneering reporter Dorothy Thompson, who had been expelled from Berlin by the Nazis a year earlier and quickly became one of America's most outspoken critics of fascism, Lewis was acutely aware of the domestic and foreign threats to American freedom. So often did he and Thompson discuss the crisis in Europe and the implications of Europe's fate for the Depression-wracked United States that, according to his biographer, Mark Schorer, Lewis referred to the entire topic somewhat contemptuously as "it."

If "it" denotes the police state American-style as imagined and satirized by Lewis, complete with concentration camps, martial law, and mass executions of strikers and other dissidents, then "it" hasn't happened here and isn't likely to happen anytime soon.

For contemporary Americans, however, "it" could signify our own more gradual and insidious turn toward authoritarian rule. That is why Lewis's darkly funny but grim fable of an authoritarian coup achieved through a democratic election still resonates today -- along with all the eerie parallels between what he imagined then and what we live with now.

For the first time since the resignation of Richard M. Nixon more than three decades ago, Americans have had reason to doubt the future of democracy and the rule of law in our own country. Today we live in a state of tension between the enjoyment of traditional freedoms, including the protections afforded to speech and person by the Bill of Rights, and the disturbing realization that those freedoms have been undermined and may be abrogated at any moment.

Read the whole article here

Edvard Munch- style painting

Here's my Munch style painting. I guess I could've made it more sinister by making it darker ot making her a vampire or a temptress or something, but I wanted to make it school-appropriate since I'm the teacher, I think that would be going over-board and kind of trite, and I used a photo of my artist goddaughter and I already enlarged her head and changed her eyes from brown to pale blue so I just couldn't bring myself to make her too much more weird.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Some random shots on a Saturday




These are all mine. A friend of mine suggested to me that I'm not always clear on who the artist or photographers are on this blog, so there it is.

"Finger Painting"

These came in an email from one of my students, Dana Anderson, a Junior. I suppose they're going around the world the way that email forwards do, but they're so impressive, I thought I'd post them here. No clue as to who the artist is. I assume he/she paints other people's hands- I can't see how you could possibly do this on your own hand. Wow!

Friday, February 16, 2007

Good Quote

No matter what side of the argument you are on, you always find people on your side that you wish were on the other.
- Jascha Heifetz

Help Republicans Stand with Democrats

Help Republicans Stand with Democrats

It's time for Americans everywhere -- no matter the party -- to stand with the Democrats in Congress and oppose escalation in Iraq. House Democrats have introduced a resolution that, in simple language, represents a vote of no confidence in the Bush Administration's policy in Iraq.

This is the first opportunity House Republicans have had to join us and oppose the president's failed policy. Just like the overwhelming majority of Americans, many Republicans know escalation is wrong.

That's why we all need to speak up and let House Republicans know just where the American people stand. As the resolution states:

Congress disapproves of the decision of President George W. Bush announced on January 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq.
Click on the link above to tell House Republicans how you feel

Day by Day Cartoon by Chris Muir

Day by Day Cartoon by Chris Muir
While this guy is a right-winger, even a libertarian, I like his strip. His humor is like graet coffee, hot, dark, a little bitter. He's hip and stylish- very 20-30 somethingish professional. Although, his drawing style is almost a little too stylish, sexy even. He's sleek, reminds me a little of the Frank Cho's Liberty Meadows- if it were crossed with Doonesbury only conservative. But hey, Fox and Rupert Murdoch are smut mongers who've contributed to the degredation of our society as a whole, yet they're bastions of conservative politics. Strange bedfellows.

I gotta stop posting other people's cartoons. A blog is not a refridgerator door.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

For Valentines' Day

Here are three of the most sensual paintings I know of. Above is "The Kiss" by the artist we're studying this week, Edvard Munch.
This is also called "the Kiss," this is byFrench Impressionist Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1921)
And I would think that small town Iowans could relate to this scene from a summer night by Edward Hopper (1882-1967).

Draft Gore

Click on the image to enlarge it

From the Onion

Bush Cuts Off Diplomatic Relations With Congress

February 14, 2007 | Issue 43•07

WASHINGTON, DC—President Bush announced Monday that his administration will permanently sever ties with the democratically controlled United States Congress, ending a nearly 220-year-old alliance between the two governmental branches.

"Our administration no longer recognizes the authority of this rogue body," said Bush in a televised Oval Office address. "Clearly, these combative men and women have a political agenda in direct opposition to our own. They have no concern for my national interests, and have left me no choice."
Read more at theonion.com

Al Franken for U.S. Senate

Al Franken for U.S. Senate | Meet Al

This makes me wish I lived in Minnesota instead of Iowa. I think Franken will make a helluva Senator. Go Blue!

"The future belongs to those who are passionate and work hard."

When Al's son went off to Princeton, Al and Franni found themselves empty-nesters and decided to move back to Minnesota. Al's political philosophy had always been informed by his friend and hero, the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, and when he moved home at the end of 2005, he found that the spirit of Wellstonian progressive politics was still very much alive.

Al founded a political action committee, Midwest Values PAC, which raised over $1.1 million for Democrats across Minnesota and around the country. He made more than 50 appearances on behalf of DFLers and local party units in the state in 2006 alone. He was especially inspired by two candidates he met on the campaign trail: Tim Walz, a high school geography teacher whose relentless energy propelled him to an upset victory over a Republican incumbent in the 1st Congressional District (Al stole his "boots" line from Tim); and Amy Klobuchar, whose strong positive message of change helped her follow in the footsteps of Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and Paul Wellstone as she was elected to the United States Senate.

Al closed most of his speeches by quoting Paul Wellstone: "The future belongs to those who are passionate and work hard." And the harder he worked for DFLers in 2006, the more people asked him if he would take on the challenge of reclaiming Paul's seat in the Senate. When he decided to accept that challenge, Al spoke about it this way:

Americans have never backed away from challenges. And Minnesotans have always led the way. Our state has sent strong, progressive leaders to Washington—from Hubert Humphrey to Walter Mondale to Paul Wellstone, and now to Amy Klobuchar. Minnesota's public servants might not always look and sound like typical politicians, but they stand by their principles and lead by their values.

That's the kind of leader I think we need more of these days, and that's the kind of Senator I'll be.

Dissent is not treason


Happy Arizona Statehood Day!

Tired of sending all your hard earned moey to flower and card companies just to celebrate the day some Saint was hung? Then Arizona Statehood Day is the Holiday for you!

On February 14, 1912 Arizona became the 49th state in the Union.

Over 550 years ago Franciscan friar Marcos de Niza and Francisco Vasquez de Coronado both failed to discover the wealth of the Seven Cities of Cibola. Today, the wealth of Arizona can be found in the startling natural wonders of the state, in vast mineral reserves, in the healthful climate and in the rich cultural heritage of the "Pueblos".

One of the "Seven Natural Wonders of the World", the Grand Canyon attracts nearly five million visitors each year and Monument Valley's sandstone monoliths have served as the breathtaking backdrop for many classic western films.

Arizona leads all states in the production of copper and non-fuel minerals.

From about 700 A.D. to 1200 A.D. the Pueblo (Spanish for village) people flourished, building the great communal cliff dwellings that today, serve as testament to a remarkably unique culture.

This state with a tumultuous past was also the home of Geronimo and Cochise and set the scene for the "Gunfight at the OK Coral" where the score was finally settled between the Earps and the Clantons.

It's said that a mining speculator named Charles D. Poston first suggested the name Arizona in a petition to the United States Congress to make Arizona a legal territory.

The name, Arizona, is derived from a combination of two words from the Papago Indian dialect of the Pima language; "Aleh" and "Zon" together as "Aleh-zon" meaning "little spring." The "little spring", located in Mexican territory, is near a large silver discovery made in Arizona Creek.

The Grand Canyon State: This popular nickname for Arizona references the incomparable Grand Canyon in the northern part of the state, one of the world's natural wonders.

The Copper State: Producing more copper than any other state in the union, the Copper State is an apt nickname for Arizona. This nickname is reinforced by the copper star that is at the center of the Arizona State Flag.

The Apache State: Arizona was referred to as the Apache State because of the great numbers of Apache that lived in the territory. The Apache people fought bravely to keep newcomers from the state for many years in the 19th century.

The Aztec State: This nickname was probably in reference to the Aztec place names found in the Gila and Salt River valleys. Some of the ruins along these rivers may have been built by the Aztecs.

The Baby State: For a period of time, Arizona was the "baby" of the republic. It was the last of the contiguous 48 states to be admitted to the union in 1912. It was another 47 years later that Alaska and Hawaii gained statehood.

Italy of America: The Italy of America nickname compares the beautiful and scenic mountain regions of the state of Arizona with the mountains of Italy.

The Sand Hill State: This nickname is a reference to the desert-like appearance of many areas throughout the state.

The Sunset State: This nickname most certainly stemmed from the beautiful sunsets throughout the state and particularly at the Grand Canyon. Arizona does provide a magnificent foreground for dramatic sunsets. "Sunset Land," a variation of the Sunset State, has also been recorded. Patrick Hamilton, in his book, The Resources of Colorado, published in 1884, stated "...there is no region on the globe, not even excepting the Italian peninsula, that can show such grand effects of light and shade, such gorgeousness of coloring, or such magnificent sun-bathed landscapes. When the banks of clouds around the western horizon look like masses of burnished gold set in a sea of silver, then is presented a picture to which neither pen nor pencil can do justice."
So tell all those freaks in pink and red today to go jump in a patch of cholla cactus! You're celebrating a REAL holiday, a holiday for COWBOYS and Gunslingers!

CLICK HERE to hear some cool Arizona music.

Color Rules of Thumb

Color Rules of Thumb
This is an increadible website for understanding color and how it fits into the Elements of Design

Expressionism


This week we studied the Norwegian Expressionist, Edvard Munch (1863-1944). Munch is famous not just for works full of heartbreak and angst, but for his theatrical style- he didn't want his painting to be a painting, like the abstract expressionists, nor to be a window on another world like classical and romantic painters. He wanted you, the viewer, to be part of the scene. More often than not, he made his painting s seem as if you had accidently stumbled upon something that you weren't actually meant to see. This can be disturbing. It can make you feel as if you are an attacker at worst and at best a voyer.

Of course, you probably know his most famous work, the Scream (above). So do art thieves, it has been stolen twice.

This is called "Ashes," students speculated that the couple in the painting just broke up.
This is called "Dead Mother." Depressing. Munch lost his mom and his sister to teburculosis. He suffered numerous nervous breakdowns and spent his share of time in mental institutions. Perhaps this is why Hitler daclared his work "degenerate" and had much of it destroyed.

These are both self portraits. I think the one below makes him look like a murderer who just got caught in the act.

What to do with those old pencil stubs

Sorry, I don't know the name of this artist, these came in one of those email forwards that get sent around the planet several times, but these are really beautiful. What a lot of work! It just prooves that you can make art from anything.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Here we go again

Huh oh..."Those Who Forget the Lessons of History Are Doomed To Repeat It"~George Santayana

Monday, February 12, 2007

Willkommen Deutschlanders

guten label I’ve bemerkte jene dieses Gewebe zuweilen hat Besuche ab heraus die Vereint Zustände. ICH wollt zu danke als schauen am mein Seite und Hoffe jene Sie erfreuen it’s Abfassung. Seitdem meist das Übrige des Welt ist mindestens zweisprachig oder auch multilingual , Hoffentlich jene Sie erfreuen welche meines blogs und belegen Rezensionen. Falls Sie tat , Sie mögen bekommen bemerkte jene nicht alle Amerikaner beipflichten unserer Obrigkeit. Falls etwas , wir sind zuweilen befangen. Unserer Stifter glaubte jene anderer Meinung sein und einmal Aufwiegelung wart positiv und produktiv Rüstzeug als Besitz unserer Obrigkeit verantwortlich. Erlassen mich falls dies ist ungehobelt schriftlich , ICH - gefällt höchst Amerikaner , kennen nur bloss erst Englisch , so ICH gebraucht ein online - Lexikon zu übersetzen dieses. Falls Sie don’t liest menge Englisch oder auch eben didn’t gewählt zu liest menge , Hoffentlich jene Sie werden erfreuen mein politisch Zeichentrickfilme , Malereien , Fotos und sonstig Vorlage und jene Sie werden besuchen wieder. Bitte besuchen mein Kunst blog - www.malloryart.blogspot.com Ich habe ein anfahren entgegen fort jene Seite jene behalten Strang über wohin am Welt Volk besuchen ab. I’d gefällt zu übersenden es als entfernt herum die Welt als ICH könnt.

Willkommen ICH begleitete Eintracht Universität in Abwässer Nebraska und gelehrt am ein Lutheraner Gymnasium in Los Engel bevor beweglich Rücken zu Iowa. Die schulen wohin ICH nun jetzt unterrichten , wir Gastgeber manche ausländisch - Tausch Studentinnen. Welche meines favorites herstammen Deutschland. ICH Liebe zu erfahren ab Sie bei wie die Welt sieht die Vereint Zustände. Als ein Kind , wachsend rauf in Phoenixen Arizona , mein Familie öfters besuchte die Schulgeländen über Lutheraner Ordensschwestern. LUTHERANER Ordensschwestern? In Arizona? Es ist mir bekannt es Tone toll. Die Evangelisch Schwesternschaft über Marie war gestoben beim ein Gruppe schulpflichtig Kinder wer überlebte die Verbündet Bombenwurf über Damstardt in WWII. Führte beim Dr. Basallia Schlink , Sie haben Zusammensetzungen über und über die Welt , eingeschlossen Europa , Amerika , und Asien. Dieser Damen wahrhaftig half mich ermessen die Deutsch Kultur. Als ein Künstler und Kunst Pädagoge , ICH bewundern die wirken über Albrect Duerer und die Bauhaus. Als ein zuweilen - Journalist , ICH ermessen die Beitrag über Guttenburg. Aber natürlicherweise , als ein Christlich ICH danken Gott fürs mag über Lutheraner Melangthon Immanual Kant Karl Barth , und Schaden Bonhoffer. Erlassen mich als schweifend. Alle ICH wahrhaftig wollt zu stehen ist danke als besuche mein Netz - Seite. Hoffentlich jene Sie genoß mein Gewebe und wirst kommen Rücken wieder - Ich bin allemal addieren neu Sachen.



Hello. I’ve noticed that this website sometimes has visitors
from outside the United States. I want to thank you for looking at my site and
hope that you enjoy it’s content. Since most of the rest of the world is at
least bilingual or multilingual, I hope that you enjoy some of my blogs and
book reviews. If you did, you may have noticed that not all Americans agree
with our government. If anything, we are sometimes embarrassed. Our founders
believed that dissent and even sedition were positive and productive tools for
holding our government accountable. Forgive me if this is crudely written, I-
like most Americans, know only English, so I used an online-dictionary to
translate this.



If you don’t read much English or just didn’t chose to
read much, I hope that you will enjoy my political cartoons, paintings, photos
and other artwork and that you will visit again. Please visit my Art blog- www.malloryart.blogspot.com I have a hit
counter on that site that keeps track of where in the world people visit from.
I’d like to send it as far around the world as I can.
Welcome. I attended Concordia University in
Seward Nebraska and taught at a Lutheran High School in Los Angeles before
moving back to Iowa. The school where I now teach, we host many foreign-exchange
students. Some of my favorites come from Germany. I love to learn from them
about how the world sees the United States. As a child, growing up in Phoenix,
Arizona, my family often visited the campus of Lutheran nuns. LUTHERAN NUNS? In
Arizona? I know it sounds crazy. The Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary was started
by a group of school children who survived the Allied bombing of
Damstardt in
WWII. Led by Dr. Basallia Schlink, they have compounds all over the world,
including Europe, America, and Asia. These ladies really helped me appreciate
the German culture. As an artist and Art teacher, I admire the work of Albrect
Duerer and the Bauhaus. As a sometimes-journalist, I appreciate the
contribution of Guttenburg. But of course, as a Christian I thank God for the
likes of Luther, Melangthon, Immanual Kant, Karl Barth, and Detrich Bonhoffer.
Forgive me for rambling. All I really want to say is thank you for visiting my
web-page. I hope that you enjoyed my website and will come back again- I am
always adding new things.




Willkommen Deutschlanders

guten label I’ve bemerkte jene dieses Gewebe zuweilen hat Besuche ab heraus die Vereint Zustände. ICH wollt zu danke als schauen am mein Seite und Hoffe jene Sie erfreuen it’s Abfassung. Seitdem meist das Übrige des Welt ist mindestens zweisprachig oder auch multilingual , Hoffentlich jene Sie erfreuen welche meines blogs und belegen Rezensionen. Falls Sie tat , Sie mögen bekommen bemerkte jene nicht alle Amerikaner beipflichten unserer Obrigkeit. Falls etwas , wir sind zuweilen befangen. Unserer Stifter glaubte jene anderer Meinung sein und einmal Aufwiegelung wart positiv und produktiv Rüstzeug als Besitz unserer Obrigkeit verantwortlich. Erlassen mich falls dies ist ungehobelt schriftlich , ICH - gefällt höchst Amerikaner , kennen nur bloss erst Englisch , so ICH gebraucht ein online - Lexikon zu übersetzen dieses. Falls Sie don’t liest menge Englisch oder auch eben didn’t gewählt zu liest menge , Hoffentlich jene Sie werden erfreuen mein politisch Zeichentrickfilme , Malereien , Fotos und sonstig Vorlage und jene Sie werden besuchen wieder. Bitte besuchen mein Kunst blog - www.malloryart.blogspot.com Ich habe ein anfahren entgegen fort jene Seite jene behalten Strang über wohin am Welt Volk besuchen ab. I’d gefällt zu übersenden es als entfernt herum die Welt als ICH könnt.

Willkommen ICH begleitete Eintracht Universität in Abwässer Nebraska und gelehrt am ein Lutheraner Gymnasium in Los Engel bevor beweglich Rücken zu Iowa. Die schulen wohin ICH nun jetzt unterrichten , wir Gastgeber manche ausländisch - Tausch Studentinnen. Welche meines favorites herstammen Deutschland. ICH Liebe zu erfahren ab Sie bei wie die Welt sieht die Vereint Zustände. Als ein Kind , wachsend rauf in Phoenixen Arizona , mein Familie öfters besuchte die Schulgeländen über Lutheraner Ordensschwestern. LUTHERANER Ordensschwestern? In Arizona? Es ist mir bekannt es Tone toll. Die Evangelisch Schwesternschaft über Marie war gestoben beim ein Gruppe schulpflichtig Kinder wer überlebte die Verbündet Bombenwurf über Damstardt in WWII. Führte beim Dr. Basallia Schlink , Sie haben Zusammensetzungen über und über die Welt , eingeschlossen Europa , Amerika , und Asien. Dieser Damen wahrhaftig half mich ermessen die Deutsch Kultur. Als ein Künstler und Kunst Pädagoge , ICH bewundern die wirken über Albrect Duerer und die Bauhaus. Als ein zuweilen - Journalist , ICH ermessen die Beitrag über Guttenburg. Aber natürlicherweise , als ein Christlich ICH danken Gott fürs mag über Lutheraner Melangthon Immanual Kant Karl Barth , und Schaden Bonhoffer. Erlassen mich als schweifend. Alle ICH wahrhaftig wollt zu stehen ist danke als besuche mein Netz - Seite. Hoffentlich jene Sie genoß mein Gewebe und wirst kommen Rücken wieder - Ich bin allemal addieren neu Sachen.



Hello. I’ve noticed that this website sometimes has visitors
from outside the United States. I want to thank you for looking at my site and
hope that you enjoy it’s content. Since most of the rest of the world is at
least bilingual or multilingual, I hope that you enjoy some of my blogs and
book reviews. If you did, you may have noticed that not all Americans agree
with our government. If anything, we are sometimes embarrassed. Our founders
believed that dissent and even sedition were positive and productive tools for
holding our government accountable. Forgive me if this is crudely written, I-
like most Americans, know only English, so I used an online-dictionary to
translate this.



If you don’t read much English or just didn’t chose to
read much, I hope that you will enjoy my political cartoons, paintings, photos
and other artwork and that you will visit again. Please visit my Art blog- www.malloryart.blogspot.com I have a hit
counter on that site that keeps track of where in the world people visit from.
I’d like to send it as far around the world as I can.
Welcome. I attended Concordia University in
Seward Nebraska and taught at a Lutheran High School in Los Angeles before
moving back to Iowa. The school where I now teach, we host many foreign-exchange
students. Some of my favorites come from Germany. I love to learn from them
about how the world sees the United States. As a child, growing up in Phoenix,
Arizona, my family often visited the campus of Lutheran nuns. LUTHERAN NUNS? In
Arizona? I know it sounds crazy. The Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary was started
by a group of school children who survived the Allied bombing of
Damstardt in
WWII. Led by Dr. Basallia Schlink, they have compounds all over the world,
including Europe, America, and Asia. These ladies really helped me appreciate
the German culture. As an artist and Art teacher, I admire the work of Albrect
Duerer and the Bauhaus. As a sometimes-journalist, I appreciate the
contribution of Guttenburg. But of course, as a Christian I thank God for the
likes of Luther, Melangthon, Immanual Kant, Karl Barth, and Detrich Bonhoffer.
Forgive me for rambling. All I really want to say is thank you for visiting my
web-page. I hope that you enjoyed my website and will come back again- I am
always adding new things.




Hola visitantes; Saludo Español

Hola. He notado que este Web site tiene a veces visitantes fuera de
los Estados Unidos. Deseo agradecerle por mirar mi sitio y esperarlo
que usted goce es contenido. Puesto que la mayoría del resto del
mundo es por lo menos bilingüe o multilingüe, espero que usted goce
de algunas de mis blogs y revisiones de libro. Si usted lo hizo, usted
pudo haber notado que no todos los americanos convienen con nuestro
gobierno. Si cualquier cosa, nosotros se desconcierta a veces.
Nuestros fundadores creyeron que la disensión e incluso la sedición
eran herramientas positivas y productivas para llevar a cabo nuestro
gobierno responsable. Perdóneme si esto se escribe crudo, i tienen
gusto de la mayoría de los americanos, saben solamente inglés, así
que utilicé un en li'nea-diccionario para traducir esto. Si usted no
lee mucho inglés ni acaba de lo hacer eligió leer mucho, espero que
usted goce de mis historietas políticas, de pinturas, de las fotos y
de otras ilustraciones y que usted visitará otra vez. Visite por
favor mi blog- www.malloryart.blogspot.com del arte que tengo un
contador de golpe en ese sitio que no pierda de vista de donde en la
visita de la gente del mundo. Quisiera enviarlo tan lejos alrededor
del mundo como puedo.

 ¡Hola! Crecí para arriba en el Arizona y tomé a españoles en
escuela desde el primer grado, pero todavía no puedo hablarlo muy
bien, yo estoy apesadumbrado. Mi esposa y yo enseñamos en una escuela
cristiana en Los Ángeles por muchos años donde vine aprecio y admiro
culturas hispánicas mucho. Dos de mis todos los estudiantes
preferidos del tiempo eran Leon y estropean Enriquz. Trabajaron para
la compañía de su tío que dobló películas americanas en español.
Divorciaron a sus padres y su padre era pintor en Ciudad de México.
Leon es un guitarrista talentoso que jugó en los nightclubs en la
ciudad de Tequila, México. Amé hablar de política con marcha, que
se encendió a UCLA sentir bien a un abogado. Entreno cheerleading y
en Los Ángeles tenía cheerleaders de Cuba, de México, y de
Guatemala. Supongo el sonido de I como intentar americano racist
blanco típico justificar el patronizar de usted que usted dice de
cómo es no racist soy. Lo único que realmente deseo decir es le
agradece por visitar mi Web page. Espero que usted gozara de mi Web
site y se vuelva otra vez yo esté agregando siempre nuevas cosas.



Hello. I’ve noticed that this website sometimes has visitors
from outside the United States. I want to thank you for looking at my site and
hope that you enjoy it’s content. Since most of the rest of the world is at
least bilingual or multilingual, I hope that you enjoy some of my blogs and
book reviews. If you did, you may have noticed that not all Americans agree
with our government. If anything, we are sometimes embarrassed. Our founders
believed that dissent and even sedition were positive and productive tools for
holding our government accountable. Forgive me if this is crudely written, I-
like most Americans, know only English, so I used an online-dictionary to
translate this.



If you don’t read much English or just didn’t chose to read
much, I hope that you will enjoy my political cartoons, paintings, photos and
other artwork and that you will visit again. Please visit my Art blog-  www.malloryart.blogspot.com I have a hit
counter on that site that keeps track of where in the world people visit from.
I’d like to send it as far around the world as I can.



 



Hola! I grew up in Arizona and took Spanish in school
since first grade, but I still can’t speak it very well, I’m sorry. My wife and
I taught in a Christian school in Los Angeles for many years where I grew to
appreciate and admire Hispanic cultures very much. Two of my all time favorite
students were Leon and Mar Enriquz. They worked for their Uncle’s company that
dubbed American movies into Spanish. Their parents were divorced and their
father was a painter in Mexico City. Leon is a talented guitarist who played in
the nightclubs in the city of Tequila, Mexico. I loved to talk about politics
with Mar, who went on to UCLA to become a lawyer. I coach cheerleading and in
Los Angeles I had cheerleaders from Cuba, Mexico, and Guatemala. I suppose I
sound like a typical white racist American trying to justify patronizing you by
telling you how not racist I am. All I really want to say is thank you for
visiting my web-page. I hope that you enjoyed my website and will come back
again- I am always adding new things.



Hola visitantes; Saludo Español

Hola. He notado que este Web site tiene a veces visitantes fuera de
los Estados Unidos. Deseo agradecerle por mirar mi sitio y esperarlo
que usted goce es contenido. Puesto que la mayoría del resto del
mundo es por lo menos bilingüe o multilingüe, espero que usted goce
de algunas de mis blogs y revisiones de libro. Si usted lo hizo, usted
pudo haber notado que no todos los americanos convienen con nuestro
gobierno. Si cualquier cosa, nosotros se desconcierta a veces.
Nuestros fundadores creyeron que la disensión e incluso la sedición
eran herramientas positivas y productivas para llevar a cabo nuestro
gobierno responsable. Perdóneme si esto se escribe crudo, i tienen
gusto de la mayoría de los americanos, saben solamente inglés, así
que utilicé un en li'nea-diccionario para traducir esto. Si usted no
lee mucho inglés ni acaba de lo hacer eligió leer mucho, espero que
usted goce de mis historietas políticas, de pinturas, de las fotos y
de otras ilustraciones y que usted visitará otra vez. Visite por
favor mi blog- www.malloryart.blogspot.com del arte que tengo un
contador de golpe en ese sitio que no pierda de vista de donde en la
visita de la gente del mundo. Quisiera enviarlo tan lejos alrededor
del mundo como puedo.

 ¡Hola! Crecí para arriba en el Arizona y tomé a españoles en
escuela desde el primer grado, pero todavía no puedo hablarlo muy
bien, yo estoy apesadumbrado. Mi esposa y yo enseñamos en una escuela
cristiana en Los Ángeles por muchos años donde vine aprecio y admiro
culturas hispánicas mucho. Dos de mis todos los estudiantes
preferidos del tiempo eran Leon y estropean Enriquz. Trabajaron para
la compañía de su tío que dobló películas americanas en español.
Divorciaron a sus padres y su padre era pintor en Ciudad de México.
Leon es un guitarrista talentoso que jugó en los nightclubs en la
ciudad de Tequila, México. Amé hablar de política con marcha, que
se encendió a UCLA sentir bien a un abogado. Entreno cheerleading y
en Los Ángeles tenía cheerleaders de Cuba, de México, y de
Guatemala. Supongo el sonido de I como intentar americano racist
blanco típico justificar el patronizar de usted que usted dice de
cómo es no racist soy. Lo único que realmente deseo decir es le
agradece por visitar mi Web page. Espero que usted gozara de mi Web
site y se vuelva otra vez yo esté agregando siempre nuevas cosas.



Hello. I’ve noticed that this website sometimes has visitors
from outside the United States. I want to thank you for looking at my site and
hope that you enjoy it’s content. Since most of the rest of the world is at
least bilingual or multilingual, I hope that you enjoy some of my blogs and
book reviews. If you did, you may have noticed that not all Americans agree
with our government. If anything, we are sometimes embarrassed. Our founders
believed that dissent and even sedition were positive and productive tools for
holding our government accountable. Forgive me if this is crudely written, I-
like most Americans, know only English, so I used an online-dictionary to
translate this.



If you don’t read much English or just didn’t chose to read
much, I hope that you will enjoy my political cartoons, paintings, photos and
other artwork and that you will visit again. Please visit my Art blog-  www.malloryart.blogspot.com I have a hit
counter on that site that keeps track of where in the world people visit from.
I’d like to send it as far around the world as I can.



 



Hola! I grew up in Arizona and took Spanish in school
since first grade, but I still can’t speak it very well, I’m sorry. My wife and
I taught in a Christian school in Los Angeles for many years where I grew to
appreciate and admire Hispanic cultures very much. Two of my all time favorite
students were Leon and Mar Enriquz. They worked for their Uncle’s company that
dubbed American movies into Spanish. Their parents were divorced and their
father was a painter in Mexico City. Leon is a talented guitarist who played in
the nightclubs in the city of Tequila, Mexico. I loved to talk about politics
with Mar, who went on to UCLA to become a lawyer. I coach cheerleading and in
Los Angeles I had cheerleaders from Cuba, Mexico, and Guatemala. I suppose I
sound like a typical white racist American trying to justify patronizing you by
telling you how not racist I am. All I really want to say is thank you for
visiting my web-page. I hope that you enjoyed my website and will come back
again- I am always adding new things.



Sunday, February 11, 2007

Avahst!

I'm hoisting a new flag ye land lubbers! I shouldn't take more that the Good Book for ye to figure out what she stands for, but the repercussions for my presence on the web may take a while to sink in. I'll just say that there'll be no more Mr. Nice Guy. Argh

Realism, Symbolism, and non-objectivity

Some of the other teachers at my school didn't quite "get" the Jackson Pollock, Williem deKooning, and Mark Rothko stuff. Non-objective art is not something that everybody "gets." Granted, one of the reasons I started the semester with it is because many of the kids in painting class had not taken Drawing class, so I wanted them to be able to "succeed" even without a great skills base.

But I want people to understand and appreciate all art, even if they still don't quite like it or respect it, they should at least be able to "get it." Think of it as a continuum, at one end is naturalistic/realistic, at the other end is totally non-objective. Somewhere in between are varying degrees of abstraction. Maybe this will help. Scott McCloud has a great book called "Understanding the Comics." In it, he uses this illustration that I would think that Math, Science, and English teachers should all understand. He talks about non-objective and what I call "compositional" art in terms of "the picture plane." Essentially the picture plane is when you work exclusively with the elements and principles of design. Think of art that only deals with these, but does not show any images the same way you think of instrumental music.

Two good ones



These don't just speak to the state of the media, but more than that, they are very critical of we Americans as media consumers.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

quote

'The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.' ~Bertrand Russell

‘King George II’ should learn his place


All of my Republican friends like to give me a hard time because they think I never draw cartoons that pick on Democrats. Well, here ya are. But now to make up for it, you need to read the column below, which is more Bush-bashing than I've done in a few months:

Some of the Latin we were taught as History Majors are the phrases “Rex Lex,” and “Lex Rex.”
I’m not entirely certain which means which, but one roughly translates, “The king IS the law,” or at least “the king is above the law.”

This refers to absolutist rulers like the King George III against whom we fought our Revolutionary War, and Kaiser Wilhelm II who loused up the diplomacy and foreign policy left him by Otto von Bismarck and entangled Europe in World War I.

Waaay back during Robin Hood’s time, the English were sick of the absolutist Prince John (who was really just the substitute monarch for his brother Richard the Lion Hearted, who was off fighting the Crusades.) Those clever Brits made John sign a thing called the Magna Carta, which basically said that not even the king was above the law, but instead actually, the LAW is king.
We yanks like that idea so much that we adopted one big über-law called the Constitution. Bottom line is, in the United States, the Constitution is sovereign, over states, and over government officials; both law makers and those charged with executing the laws. They’re sworn to uphold and defend it, not circumvent it or erode it’s basic principles.

According to the Boston Globe, “President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.”
He has done this with things called “signing statements,” in which a President explains which part of a law he plans to enforce or not enforce when he signs bills into law that have been passed by Congress.

The American Bar Association has expressed their concern that President George W. Bush’s use of signing statements has been excessive and “contrary to the rule of law and our constitutional system of separation of powers”

Two glaring examples were when Bush claimed to be able to wiggle out of Congress’s ban on the use of torture and when he claimed the right to tap phone lines without first seeking a judge’s warrant.

A great controversy has been brewing over whether or not the new Congress should prevent President from sending a surge of more troops to Iraq. Many Bush supporters site the Constitutional division of powers. They claim that only the President is the Commander-in-Chief of American military forces.

The Constitutional problem with that line of reasoning is that the Constitution gives Congress, not the President, the power to “declare war,” “raise and support armies” and “make rules concerning captures on land and water.”

Unfortunately for this President, Congress has not declared war. Bush can use the rhetoric of “the War on Terror” all he wants, but Iraq did not attack the United States, or have any part in the attack that was made on us by terrorists. Almost four years after Bush ordered the invasion, we still have not declared war on Iraq.

“The constitution supposes, what the History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it,” James Madison cautioned. “It has accordingly with studied care, vested the question of war in the Legislature.”
Last week, hand written notes from Vice President Dick Cheney were entered into evidence in the perjury and obstruction of justice trial of Cheney’s former Chief of staff, Scooter Libby. The notes suggest that the Vice President would rather have Libby go down than Carl Rove, President Bush’s Deputy Chief of Staff for blowing the cover of CIA agent Valerie Plame in order to silence and/or get even with her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson because he criticized the Bush administration for misrepresenting intelligence in order to convince Congress, the United Nations, and the American public to let them invade Iraq.

Witnesses seem to have implicated Cheney, not Libby in leaking Plame’s identity. This could be to the Bush administration what Alexander Butterworth’s revelation that there were tape recorders in the Oval office was to Richard Nixon.

Republicans like John Warner of Virginia and Chuck Hagel are gradually coming around. They’re now supporting the Senate resolution opposing the President’s buildup of troops. Will it be another Arizona Republican, this time John McCain who will visit the President and talk sense to him, the way that Barry Goldwater did with Nixon in 1974?

This column highlighted just three ways in which George W. Bush likes to think of himself as above and beyond our 230 year old system. I’m not calling for impeachment, just stronger oversight and accountability. Should impeachment come, I hope Congress targets Cheney first. Bush could beat the Democrats to history by appointing Elizabeth Dole his replacement Vice President. Then she’d be the first woman President when Bush resigns or is removed from office. I think it would be fitting, since her husband Bob was Gerald Ford’s running mate.


Ted Mallory lives in Charter Oak and teaches at Boyer Valley Schools in Dunlap. ‘Ted’s Column’ has appeared weekly in the Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper since 2002. If you’d like to see any of Ted’s editorial cartoons bigger and brighter, you can visit http://tmal.multiply.com/photos/album/2

"War is Gods way of teaching Americans Geography" ~Anonymous