Thought Bubble #50

Messed-up-potamia!

Thought Bubble #49

The opposite of terrorism is tranquilism.

Cartoon #269: “Gas Prices”

As gas prices and concerns about them continued to rise, the Disney/Pixar movie “Cars” generated the most box office sales for two consecutive weekends after its nation-wide release June 9, 2006. But its second weekend percentage drop was one of the highest in Pixar history. Compared to its debut, Cars grossed $31.2 million from 3,988 theaters — a loss of 48%. One reason could be that, as critics pointed out, the story runs out of gas. Still, moviegoers drove to theaters to experience the movie’s escapist fantasy of affordable gas.

Cartoon #268: “2500 Iraq Milestone”

The death toll of U.S. soldiers hit the 2500 milestone last week, while Congress debated withdrawl from Iraq. At a press conference upon his return from a surpirse visit to Baghdad, President Bush again said he disagrees with those who are calling for a timeline for the withdrawl of U.S. troops from Iraq. Last November, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel raised the question: If Iraqis can discuss a date, why can’t we?

Bush is sticking to the same default exit strategy used in Vietnam from 1964 through the end of that undeclared war. The majority of U.S. citizens, however, want a strategy that brings home all of our troops alive, and whole mentally and physically

Cartoon #267: “Rove Unindicted”

After five appearances before the grand jury, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove will not be indicted in the CIA leak investigation, according to a statement his attorney made Tuesday, June 13, 2006. Mainstream news reports claim this decision by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald signals that his probe is not likely to target any other Bush administration officials.

But according to the alternative news blog The Raw Story, lawyers directly involved in the case told Raw Story that Fitzgerald is extending his probe and pursuing much more serious charges against senior White House officials.

“The lawyers said that in the past month Fitzgerald has obtained explosive information in the case that has enabled him to pursue broader charges such as conspiracy, and civil rights violations against targets like Rove. Rove could also provide information that would allow Fitzgerald to target additional officials,” Raw Story reported.

Whether or not Rove is off the hook, his ultimate legacy will be his role in lowering the bar for occupants of the White House.

Cartoon #266: “Flag Desecration”

The eternal flag desecration proposal is being debated again this week by the U.S. Senate. It is the second of two “wedge issues” debated this month to distract citizens from President Bush’s low approval ratings. A proposed amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage failed last week.

Opponents of the proposed “flag-burning” amendment, including civil liberties groups and first amendment defenders, point out the rarity of flag desecration in the United States, and assert that the proposed amendment is the epitome of “a solution in search of a problem”.

They also say that an amendment making such activity illegal would undermine the very principles for which the flag stands; jailing protesters of dissenting opinion — such as those who burn national flags — is common under authoritarian regimes.

Another argument stems from the fact that groups such as the American Legion and the Boy Scouts of America regularly burn flags as a way to dispose of them in a respectful manner in keeping with the United States Flag Code. According to this argument, the amendment would single out people who committed the same act with different intentions — thus, the amendment would regulate free thought, in contradiction to the First Amendment. Read more.

Cartoon #265: “Unemployment”

Almost a year has passed since Hurricane Katrina, and displaced families are still struggling.

Last Sunday, their unemployment benefits ran out. About 29,000 workers
in Texas got Disaster Unemployment Assistance benefits. Nationally, about 83,000 were cut off. Now it can be said that they are on the “Bush Jobs Program”: pray you’ll find a job soon.

In another story, Albertson’s grocery store chain is closing 10 Central Texas stores. With its purchase by a group of investment firms completed June 2, the
newly formed Albertson’s LLC announced Tuesday it would close 30 stores
described as “under-performing” in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma,
including 10 in Central Texas.

Then there are those with really bad luck — Katrina evacuees who had jobs at Albertson’s.

Cartoon #264: “Inconvenient Truth”

When Al Gore’s documentary on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth”, debuted the weekend of June 2, 2006, media pundits used it not to educate news consumers on weather, but as a forum on whether Al Gore was considering running for president in 2008. The same week, the article by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., “Was the 2004 Election Stolen?”, debuted in Rolling Stone magazine. Kennedy’s article comes on the heals of the book “Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election & Why They'll Steal the Next One Too (Unless We Stop Them)” by Mark Crispin Miller.

Cartoon #263: “Enron Verdict”

Former Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were found guilty by a Houston jury today of multiple counts that resulted in the collapse of their former company. Former Chairman Lay was convicted of all six counts against him. Former CEO Skilling was convicted of 19 out of 28 counts. Sentencing was scheduled for September 11th.

Cartoon #262: “Clifford Antone”

Clifford Antone died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack. An all-night jam session by some of the world's greatest Blues musicians will honor him at his namesake club in Austin beginning at 4 PM.

Cartoon #261: “Nazi Archive”

Fifty million files in a vast archive in the German town of Bad Arolsen will be opened for the first time to researchers according to an agreement on May 16, 2006. The decision was made by the 11-nation International Commission that oversees the archive. The panel has kept the archive locked away since World War II. The files are expected to be available by the end of the year.

An example of documents in the archive was shown to reporters in April. It was the the camp’s Totenbuch, or Death Book, for 1942 and 1943 at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. Three hundred prisoners were executed in just a few hours on April 20, 1942. The camp commandant did it as a birthday gift for Adolf Hitler.

On the same day, the Department of Defense released a video tape allegedly showing American Airlines Flight 77 striking the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Judicial Watch brought a lawsuit that resulted in the release. The legal action followed a 2004 Freedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch that was refused by the Pentagon. Judicial Watch, a self-described public interest foundation and legal watchdog, is an extreme right-wing group hoping to put Flight 77 conspiracy theories to rest. Are they joking?

At Nuremberg, General Franz Halder stated in an affidavit that Hermann Göring had joked about setting the Reichstag fire. The “joke” was heard at a lunch on April 20, 1942 — Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

Thought Bubble #49

The opposite of terrorism is tranquilism.

Cartoon #260: “Da Vinci Pfest”

Pflugerville’s Deutschen Pfest, an annual festival in Pfluger Park, happens every third weekend in May — the same weekend that the biggest blockbuster movie of the summer hits theaters, usually. This year is no exception. The nearest movie theater to Pfluger Park is about four miles away.

Cartoon #259: “Pflugerville Wal-Mart”

Mayor Cat Callen and other muckety-mucks broke ground last Thursday for the Pflugerville, Texas version of Wal-Mart.

In this local cartoon, we revisit the oft repeated story of the small town in financial trouble, courted by the latter-day robber barons of Wal-Mart.

Pflugerville’s lawmakers are certain, however, that their town will not meet the fate of so many others left high and dry — and back in financial trouble — when Wal-Mart decided it no longer needed them, left an abandoned building too large to sell at a profit, and unemployed residents.

Cartoon #258: “English Anthem”

In April, a Spanish song inspired by the national anthem heated up the debate over illegal mexican immigration.

“I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English,” Bush said at an April 28 news conference in the Rose Garden. “And I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English, and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English.”

It was soon remembered by some in the media that Bush’s scripted 2001 inaugural ceremony featured the national anthem sung in Spanish by Jon Secada. It was further reported that Secada sang the anthem in Spanish as a regular feature of the Bush campaign.

To that we simply say, “E Pluribus Unum.”

Cartoon #257: “Illegal Immigrant”

As national lawmakers debate the immigration bill, the summer movie season begins, and the much anticipated “Superman Returns” hits theaters nationwide June 30. The latest Superman movie reminds us that as a baby, Superman arrived from his home planet Krypton in a rocketship, crashed in a field, and was found and “adopted” by a childless farming couple, Jonathan and Martha Kent, who named him Clark. Superman became a hero by living a secret life, doing low-paid work that most could not, or would not do. As a hero, he is not like stereotypical illegal immigrants, who face racist abuse at the hands of their “adopted” country.

Thought Bubble #48

Beatitudunize!

Cartoon #256: “Mission Accomplished 3”

May 1, 2006 was the third anniversary of President Bush’s photo-op on an aircraft carrier, wearing a flight suit, in front of a huge banner reading “Mission Accomplished.” Today, another suicide bomber blew himself up. The attack was aimed at a line of recruits outside Fallujah’s police headquarters. The bomber killed at least 15 people and wounded 30. The purpose of the attack was to discourage Sunni Arabs from joining forces controlled by U.S. occupiers and their puppet government.

Cartoon #255: “PISD Dress Code”

This is another local cartoon. What happens in Pflugerville stays not in Pflugerville.

An article in the Metro section of the April 26, 2006 Austin American-Statesman detailed the 6-1 vote by the Pflugerville School Board trustees to allow stricter dress code policies if individual schools desired them.

The trustees had voted down strict dress codes a month earlier. With this second vote, they caved in to totalitarian voices calling for less freedom for public school parents. School leaders who make allowances in favor of repressive dress codes are clowns, and should dress accordingly.

The editorial accompanying this cartoon in the May 4th Pflugerville Pflag, which favors a universal, strict dress code, creatively spun the second vote as having unfortunately caused the death of a system-wide, strict dress code for the 2006-2007 school year, but leaving hope alive for the possibility of such a dress code next year.

Thought Bubble #47

It’s not the misstep, it’s the recovery.