Comic Strip Survey: For the First Time, We Check Out the Baltimore Sun

Greetings to our blog readers in Hong Kong, Turkey, and Germany........

This week for the first time in the eight-year history of this blog, we look at Sunday comic strips from "The Baltimore Sun." We were hoping to see "Zippy the Pinhead," and as it turns out, yesterday Bill Griffith's comic strip was truly a piece of art. Today, he made vintage fun of Donald Trump; even Bao Bao, the panda at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., isn't such an easy target.

Omigosh, we just made a major faux paux as it is considered rude to mention Washington, D.C., when one is talking about Baltimore. Fortunately, when I briefly met John Waters, a cult film director from Charm City, in 2002, I did not make this mistake. But, I only talked to him for about eight seconds, which is how long I spent talking to Willie Nelson backstage at a Farm Aid concert  around that same time.

"The Baltimore Sun" features several comic strips which we don't see in the other newspapers we survey, like "The Washington Post" (whoops again!), including "Mother Goose and Grimm," "The Middletons," and "One Big Happy." All three of those strips made our big list.

First place goes to "Foxtrot," which features the family going out for a Sunday picnic at a state park in a place like The Humpback Bridge State Park in Covington, Va., and they encounters all sorts of natural elements likes ticks (top image), poison ivy, and snakes. Of course, in Florida, they would also have to worry about alligators.

Third place goes to "Speed Bump," in which a judge (center image) tweets his verdict, somehow we can't imagine Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas doing such a thing (ahhh, that's the third D.C. reference).

And, in sixth place, we have "Mother Goose and Grimm," which ironically has a nursery rhyme themed strip (given its title) as Humpty Dumpty falls off his great wall. We actually didn't get the Obamacare gag (and, that makes four), but we liked the strip enough as it is.

Now, let's give this list which you can perhaps read on the Metro after you've come back from seeing that new Woody Allen movie at the Landmark E-Street Cinema...........now, we are up to five!:

1) Foxtrot

2) Pearls Before Swine

3) Speed Bump

4) Dilbert

5) Get Fuzzy

6) Mother Goose and Grimm

7) The Middletons

8) One Big Happy

9) Garfield

10) Zits

http://www.baltimoresun.com/

http://baltimore.org/

http://www.visitmaryland.org/

http://www.gocomics.com/foxtrot

The DC List (2 of 3): More Republican Members of Congress........and, when they turn 103

Greetings to our readers around the world, including those of you in Wales, Poland and Portugal.

Today, we continue making fun of Republican members of Congress (the House of Representatives) as we give you the year they will turn 103, which is when their comfortable perfectly gerrymandered seats might be vulnerable to Democrats, God forbid!!! (sarcasm intended)

There are actually two women on this list, including Cong. Ann Wagner (R-Mo, pict. bottom) and Cong-elect Mia Love (R-Utah), a black woman representing a 99-percent white district, who along with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas proves that Republicans are actually better at affirmative action than Democrats (David Duke and Rush Limbaugh must be fuming!).

Here is your list:

1) Cong. Randy Forbes (R-Va, pict. top) 2055

2) Cong. Patrick McHenry (R-NC, pict. center) 2078

3) Cong. Ann Wagner (R-Mo, pict. bottom) 2065

4) Cong. John Boehner (R-Ohio, house speaker) 2052

5) Cong. Jeff Miller (R-Fla) 2062

6) Cong. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okl.) 2080

7) Cong. elect Mia Love (R-Utah) 2078

8) Cong. Austin Scott (R-Georgia) 2072

9) Cong. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala) 2050

10) Cong. Matt Salmon (R-Az) 2061

http://www.mallardfilmore.com (Right-wing comic strip we don't agree with)

http://www.townhall.com (Nope, we don't agree with them either)

http://www.thenation.com (More inclined to agree with them)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/politics/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

Little Thinkers (8 of 16): Mahatma Gandhi

Greetings to our blog readers in Turkey, Croatia and Mexico.

Today, we quote the great Mahatma Gandhi, who was the subject of "Gandhi" (1982), which won the Best Picture Oscar as well as a Best Actor Oscar for Ben Kingsley, who played the Indian leader.

Here is the quote, which people as vastly different as conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Sister Helen Prejean, America's leading anti-death penalty advocate, can perhaps agree on:

"Even if you are a minority of one, the truth's the truth."

SIDEBAR: We are shocked and saddened to hear of the death of BBC journalist Komla Dumor (1972-2014), who was only 41 years old. A source in Ghana, his native country, reported that Dumor died of a heart attack at his home in London, but that was not verified by the BBC. Dumor joined the BBC in 2007. He leaves behind a wife and three children as well as a tremendous journalism legacy.

http://www.incredibleindia.com

http://www.sisterhelen.org

DC Week (4 of 8): A Quote from SCOTUS Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Today, we have a quote from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 80, who is one of the Supreme Court's more progressive justices. She recently made headlines by presiding over a gay wedding at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Ginsburg was also profiled for the cover story of "The Washington Post Magazine" in the Oct. 6th issue. The article was written by Robert Barnes. Reading it is on our 20 things to do list.

Before we get to Ginsburg's quote, I want to wish our readers in other parts of the world "Good Morning." It is now 8:30 a.m. (08:30) in Istanbul and Athens while it is almost 9:30 a.m. (09:30) in Dubai.

Here is Ginsburg's quote pertaining to the abortion debate:

"The state controlling a woman would mean denying her full autonomy and full equality."

For a quote from one of the more, if not the most, right-wing SCOTUS member, check out a quote from Clarence Thomas (not an endorsement), one our sister blog: http://www.politicscultureanotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com

Sunday Night Tweets_ Remembering George

Here are some tweets from the 20:00/8:00 p.m. New York time hour; we should point out that the figure in the middle is Cam the Ram, the mascot of Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., and the judge beneath him is far-right Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. You will understand the reasons for these images as you read our tweet log. We also want to mention the passing of the great George McGovern (1922-2012) and we hope to have a full tribute to the man who lost the 1972 presidential election to Richard Nixon later in the week.

Gunaydin to those of you in Istanbul, Turkey, where it is not 9:30 a.m., and good morning to those of you in Dubai  where it is now 10:30 a.m., Monday morning.

Here are the tweets:

1) @PeterBeinart (Peter Beinart, a columnist for "The Daily Beast"): "George McGovern was a lousy pres candidate but not only was he right to oppose Vietnam, he was right to oppose to global containment itself.

2) @MarkKnoller (Mark Knoller is the CBS News, White House correspondent): "Moving statement from Nixon daughters, Tricia Nixon Cox and Julie Nixon Eisenhower on the death of George."

3) @denverpost ("The Denver Post"): "Presidential campaigns hit Colorado hard this week" (yes, that is our reason for Cam the Ram).

4) @HuffPostPol (Huffington Post Politics): "Michael Bloomberg invokes 'socialism' in criticism of Elizabeth Warren," in reference to the progressive Democrat running for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.

5) @thenation ("The Nation," a liberal magazine): "More than 1 in 3 Americans live on less than $46,042 for a family of four."

6) @CatalinaByrd (Catalina Byrd, a blogger in Baltimore): "I'm so sick of Black GOPs acting like they are victims, they things that are racist and insulting to Blacks supporting Obama" (yes, that is our reason for the image of Clarence Thomas).

7) @SarahkSilverman (Sarah Silverman, a provocative comedian/actress): "I could die of a broken heart from worrying if someone I pass on the street  is lonely."

Things We Learned On Twitter This PM- Bill O'Reilly Attacks Topless Gardener

Conservative talk show host Bill O'Reilly of Fox News fame called Catharine Pierce, a Boulder, Colo., woman who enjoys topless gardening a 'pinhead' on his show last night according to the Twitter page for "Colorado Daily."

Apparently, O'Reilly devoted an entire segment to Pierce instead of doing his usual lambasting of President Barack Obama, gays, Muslims and every African-American except Clarence Thomas.

In response to O'Reilly's verbal attack, the woman's husband Robert Pierce told "Colorado Daily" that his wife is not a pinhead (Bill Griffith's comic strip character Zippy the Pinhead is pictured here):

"Why would I respond to Bill O'Reilly," Robert Pierce said. "He is a pinhead. He is a true definition of a pinhead."

Actually, I have now entered 491 posts on this blog and I have yet to refer to anyone as a pinhead though I did compare current Virginia governor Bob McDonnell (R) to Darth Vader. But, that shouldn't count!

SIDEBAR: One might think that Cairo, Egypt, would not be affected by the eruptions from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull (I'm glad I'm not a radio reporter), but the BBC reported last night that 17,000 stranded European tourist were still in Egypt due to the air restrictions that have been in place since last week.

There is some good news though as "Iceland News" is reporting that as of last night the volcano is cooling down and only one of its three craters are erupting.

Quote of the Week- Spike Lee

Today, in honor of Black History Month, we quote two African-Americans with seemingly entirely different views of the world, both culturally and politically.

We start with filmmaker Spike Lee, who I saw in person during a talk at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., several years ago.

Our post on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" will be from ultra-conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and it will be quite a shocker! It actually relates to the subject of one of Lee's films?!

Thomas gave the commencement speech a few years ago at High Point University in High Point, NC. I was not in attendance!

Lee's latest film "The Miracle at St. Anna" (2008) is available on dvd. His beloved New York Knicks host the Sacramento Kings tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. The Knicks, who are having yet another tough year, are ranked 26th out of 30 teams by nba.com but the good news for them is that the Kings are ranked 28th!

Lee is known for breakthrough films like "Do the Right Thing" (1989), but he has never been nominated for an Academy Award, according to our records. This is perhaps a good time to plug my Oscar rant, which is still in production (pardon the pun). It should be posted here soon. In the meantime, here is our Quote of the Week from Mr. Lee:

"A lot of times, we censor ourselves before the censor gets there."

Political Confusion (Entry 10 of 21)

We continue one of our longest running and most popular series "Political Confusion" by asking you the blog-reader if you are a liberal/Democrat or a conservative/Republican.

In these politically confusing times when Colin Powell endorses Barack Obama and Joe Lieberman endorses John McCain, perhaps you aren't exactly sure where you stand.

When I had a political rift with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) in 2007, I asked myself some deep questions and realized there was no effing way I could join the likes of George W. Bush and Fred Thompson and those other vampires in the Republican Party.

So, to clear your own mind, we are asking yet another simple question:

"In your mind, would you like to see a Supreme Court which reflects American society in terms of race, age and gender or would you prefer to see eight white guys who are as old as Milton Berle* plus Clarence Thomas on the court instead?"

*- Just for the record, I know Uncle Miltie is actually dead! But, I did not know that Berle (1908-2002) actually outlived Imogene Coca (1908-2001) until tonight!

NOTICE: We initially promised to have a seven-entry blogathon today, but there are papers to grade and magazines to read. I can't believe that in these economic times, I somehow decided I needed to have five subscriptions! Needless to say, "National Review" is not one of them.......!