Weblog
Thursday, October 09, 2008
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McCain's America
My friend Anthony interviewed McCain/Palin supporters at a rally in Strongsville, OH. The video speaks for itself. If Obama supporters need any further motivation to work our fingers to the bone to ensure victory, this is it.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
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Long time, no write...
Hello...at least to any of you who still remember me! I haven't been here in eons. I've just been busy with this thing we call "life." I mostly hang out at Facebook these days. It has its upside--I found two long-lost overseas friends just today! I also have a page at MySpace, but it's still under construction. I will probably move my blog to one or the other permanently. When I do, I will let you know. I sincerely hope that you'll come to visit. I've made some wonderful friends here, and I hope that you'll keep in touch.
I know that some of you like to read my political rantings and ravings. Yes, I'm still doing that at a blog that a friend and I created especially for this election: What The Puck??? (a reference to Saracuda Palin's "hockey mom" moniker). I cannot believe that this clueless, self-important BITCH could be anywhere in the vicinity of being President! What the fuck was John InSane thinking? Anyway, you can read what I'm thinking at the blog. Feel free to leave comments.
In the meantime, what have all of you been up to? I hope that all is well with each of you.
Best regards,
vj
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
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Toonorama Returns!!!
As some of you with loooooooong memories may know, I started Toonorama in 2002 to support political cartoonists who were being censored or outright fired for their opinions. With the fresh spector of September 11 causing terror in this country at the time, being critical of the Bush administration's policies and their fallout--the "Patriot" Act; the raping of the Bill of Rights; zealous, jingoistic nationalism; strong-arming anyone who dared to question whether we had the right to unilaterally declare war on a sovereign nation--was considered treasonous. Many cartoonists' careers were ended or derailed. Yet, these brave souls continued to be voices of reason amidst panic.Six years later, there is no doubt that they have been vindicated.
Anyway, here is a super-sized, smorgasbord edition of Toonorama! It is representative of my views over the past couple of months. Recession...spiraling corporate malfeasance...retirees' 401(k)s going up in smoke...our gummint conspiring with telcoms to spy on our phone conversations...a war that won't end...an administration whose greedy backers are making money hand-over-fist on that war...poisoned water for the troops...lead poisoning for our children, courtesy of our most-favored trade status buds in China.I am experiencing some of this personally. The bank that I work for is circling the drain. They bought up a bunch of smaller banks over the last four years trying to cash in on those extra-tasty mortgages. We are now choking on them--along with the Bear-Sterns deals we bought into. Today was the kicker. As I was about to walk in the door this morning, the Cleveland Plain Dealer was staring at me from the paper dispenser. The entire front page was plastered with a photo of our former CEO, Dave Daberko. The mega-type headline trumpeted that he had walked away with $46 million when he retired in December. Gee--what amazing timing! Exit stage right. Later, suckas!
Oh, yeah, I'm in a great effing mood.
But the main course in this crapfest is the 2008 presidential election. Folks, you would have to smoke copious amounts of crystal meth, crack, and heroin--followed by a mercury-laced white-lightning chaser--to dream up the fiasco that is unfolding this year. American democracy has officially become a completely over-indulgent, self-parodying, circle-jerk fraud.
In case you cannot tell from the following 'toons, I am an Obama supporter. Hillary Clinton and her backstabbing, race-baiting, cracker husband can BOTH kiss my (black) ass. I can't believe that I voted for that mofo Bill twice. That just shows how desperate we Democrats are to win.
Nevertheless, we are about to choke away a slam-dunk election. Usually when the party "brain trust" goes into Barney Fife mode, it manages to shoot the party in the foot. This time, they apparently have chosen the murder/suicide solution: they are going to cap the American people execution-style before turning the gun on themselves. The thought of President McCain and VP Huckabee is enough to make me double down on my anti-depressants.
OK, I'm done venting for the evening. I'm gonna go have a glass of wine, then take my depressed, pissed-off self to bed.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
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Putting a (red) price tag on war...
As I promised earlier, I want to blog about a young woman named Lauren Sammons. A grad student at the Cleveland Institute of Art, she is creating an art installation called The Red Tag Project. This will be a memorial commemorating the grievous, needless loss of American and Iraqi lives during the five years of this sham of a war. An intern at the Veterans Resource Center (part of Volunteers of America of Greater Ohio), a nonprofit agency that provides temporary housing and social services to homeless veterans, she will be assisted by the vets in building the installation.
Lauren wants to incorporate 100,000 red tags into the artwork. Printing charges are $12 per thousand tags. She is currently up to 41,500 tags, but much of that money came from her parents and grandfather. I want to see her reach this goal so that there will be tangible proof of the cost of this "war" on display to the public.
I would like to ask that you please visit her MySpace page and become a sponsor. Donations can be made through the PayPal link at the site. Also, please send this blog entry to anyone who would be interested in sponsoring Lauren's project. I know that times are tough; you may not be able to donate $12, but even $5 would be a help. Barack Obama's campaign has proven that we "little people," through small contributions, can become a force to be reckoned with. If we band together and give as much as we are able, we can help Lauren's vision become a reality. Also, please leave her some words of encouragement.
On April 20, my friend Judy Novak will host a Red Tag party for Lauren. Judy is the Cleveland coordinator for Drinking Liberally, a social network of progressives and liberals who get together once a week to discuss politics over a drink or two. (Even if you don't live in NE Ohio, subscribe to Judy's mailing list. If her weekly state-of-the-union messages don't get you stoked, you are legally dead). For anyone who shows up, Judy will provide drinks and munchies in exchange for donations and help in numbering the tags. Did I mention that EACH TAG needs to be numbered--manually?
Anyway, I will post photos from the party in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, please, please do what you can to help Lauren!
, vjP.S. You may need to create a MySpace identity to access Lauren's page.
Friday, April 04, 2008
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Boy, am I a slacker!
I can't believe that I haven't posted in two months! My only defense is that I've been crazy busy. Nonetheless, I've got a bunch of stuff to kvetch about, and I am going to try to get started tonight. Actually, the first post will be regarding a grad student who is putting together a very cool art installation that addresses the Iraq War. I am hoping that you'll be able to help her out with a small donation.
Anyway, gotta go to work. Hope that you're all having a great year so far!
Love,
vj
