David Baldinger - Cartoonist & Photographer

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Some thoughts on the acts of major stupidity occurring in the USA this week. 1) Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel has called for reinstating a military draft . Forget it Rangel. No one is interested in your call for more war fodder. You should be finding ways to keep the US out of misadventures like Iraq instead of making it easier to throw troops at every international problem. After the results of the November elections, I have to wonder how you can be so disconnected to the public’s dissatisfaction with King George the Dunderhead’s Middle Eastern fiasco. 2) Demand for help from food banks has dramatically increased but donations and resources have fallen according to USA Today. They claim that actual numbers requiring assistance has fallen. That is sure not the case in my area. And then I find this: 3) The Pentagon wants 127 billion dollars more for the Iraq/Afghanistan fiascoes. Apparently this is on top of the 70 billion already in the budget. This article states that the US ...

[BREAKING NEWS]: Student shot with Taser by UCPD officers Incident occured around 11:30 p.m. in the Powell Library CLICC computer lab From The Daily Bruin UCPD officers shot a student several times with a Taser inside the Powell Library CLICC computer lab late Tuesday night before taking him into custody. No university police officers were available to comment further about the incident as of 3 a.m. Wednesday, and no Community Service Officers who were on duty at the time could be reached. At around 11:30 p.m., CSOs asked a male student using a computer in the back of the room to leave when he was unable to produce a BruinCard during a random check. The student did not exit the building immediately. The CSOs left, returning minutes later, and police officers arrived to escort the student out. By this time the student had begun to walk toward the door with his backpack when an officer approached him and grabbed his arm, at which point the student told the officer to let him go. A second...

Both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are subservient to corporate interests. We will wait and see if the Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives and the Senate will make any difference.

So, Bush is planning a summit on Malaria in December. http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/malaria/ I wonder if Bush is planning on sending troops to Malaria?

This is so pathetic it can't even be considered funny. Is this truly the level of incompetence at work in the White House? US citizens of all political parties and beliefs should be embarrassed that this is what the presidency has fallen to. Today, President Bush visits Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, “ looking to burnish his foreign-policy credentials .” He’s off to a miserable start. Yesterday, the White House website featured a graphic with the flags of the three countries he’s visiting on his trip — Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. One problem: instead of displaying the Vietnamese flag, the White House graphic featured the old flag of South Vietnam . That flag hasn’t been the official flag of Vietnam since South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam in 1975. The display of the old flag is highly incendiary to the current Vietnamese government. NPR reported last year the display of the old flag anywhere in the United States — much less...

Image by Carlos Latuff by Gabriel Freeman Eat The State Last week (October 27, 2006) , Brad Will , a founding reporter of the New York Independent Media Center and an old friend, was killed while videotaping the mass crackdown by state police against the people's movement in Oaxaca. His killers were quickly identified by residents of the neighborhood as local officials and off-duty police, working (presumably) for the governor of Oaxaca, Ulysses Ruiz. The governor's office immediately announced that the four had been arrested, but several days later this report turned out to be false and their whereabouts remain unknown. Brad was a videographer who covered everything from tree-sits in the northwest, housing squats, the WTO and IMF protests, and for the last two years, mass movements throughout Latin America. Brad lived the last seven years of his life at the crossroads between activism and journalism. When we both witnessed the birth of the Indymedia movement here in Seattle in...

GW Bush takes the blame for the massive Republican Party election loss. The elephant is the Republican Party symbol.

Speech by Felipe Pérez Roque, foreign minister of the Republic of Cuba, under issue 18 of the General Assembly agenda, titled “The necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.” November 8, 2006, New York Madame President: Ladies and gentlemen of the Assembly: For the 15th consecutive time, Cuba is presenting to the General Assembly a resolution entitled, “The necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.” We do so in defense of the rights of the Cuban people, but also in defense of the rights of the people of the United States and the rights of the peoples that you all represent in this Assembly. The economic war unleashed by the United States against Cuba, the longest and cruelest ever known, qualifies as an act of genocide and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations. Over the last 4...

Report by Jameela al-Shanti in Beit Hanoun (*) . Yesterday at dawn, the Israeli air force bombed and destroyed my home. I was the target, but instead the attack killed my sister-in-law, Nahla, a widow with eight children in her care. In the same raid Israel's artillery shelled a residential district in the town of Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip, leaving 19 dead and 40 injured, many killed in their beds. One family, the Athamnas, lost 16 members in the massacre: the oldest who died, Fatima, was 70; the youngest, Dima, was one; seven were children. The death toll in Beit Hanoun has passed 90 in one week. This is Israel's tenth incursion into Beit Hanoun since it announced its withdrawal from Gaza. It has turned the town into a closed military zone, collectively punishing its 28,000 residents. For days, the town has been encircled by Israeli tanks and troops and shelled. All water and electricity supplies were cut off and, as the death toll continued to mount, no ambulances ...

"We have to stand on our principles and we will be successful again," said former House Majority Leader Tom Delay , the Texas Republican who resigned in June after being indicted in a campaign-finance scandal. Democrat Nick Lampson won his old seat Tuesday. "This loss should remind us what we stand for," Delay said. "This country is center-right in terms of its values. We need to show this country that we can take leadership on those principles." Hey Tom! Shut the fuck up. What exactly ARE your principles? I know you think being handed cash is a political right. I know you think political favors are the way to run a government. I know you like to exceed your authority by calling out federal agencies to hunt down your home state's legislators. I know you like to bully opponents. I know you like to help out sweatshop owners in US territories. Explain to me where Christianity actually enters into your thinking except to dupe Fundamentalist voters? Princip...

Obviously, I take the position that no censorship is acceptable. It doesn't matter to me if the views being expressed are the most Fascist Right-Wing madness or Anarchist silliness. Everyone must be able to have their views heard. Today, no longer do those who own the presses control what gets printed. Two nights ago, I received an email from a gentleman who likened me to Hitler, Goebbels and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and that I should feel shame for my cartoons. Again, criticism of Israeli government policies is Jew hatred! I find this tiresome and am not going to defend my position for anyone. I have stated many times that all forms of terrorism must stop. I believe everyone has a right to a country of their own and I also object to Israel's attempts to expand it's borders by occupying territory. Israel's assaults on the Palestinian people remind me of a song by Roger Waters on his "Amused To Death" CD from the early 1990's. The Bravery Of...

From Reporters Without Borders . Why is the USA so far down the list, Mr. Bush? The ranking N° Country Score 1 Finland 0,50 - Iceland 0,50 - Ireland 0,50 - Netherlands 0,50 5 Czech Republic 0,75 6 Estonia 2,00 - Norway 2,00 8 Slovakia 2,50 - Switzerland 2,50 10 Hungary 3,00 - Latvia 3,00 - Portugal 3,00 - Slovenia 3,00 14 Belgium 4,00 - Sweden 4,00 16 Austria 4,50 - Bolivia 4,50 - Canada 4,50 19 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5,00 - Denmark 5,00 - New-Zealand 5,00 - Trinidad and Tobago 5,00 23 Benin 5,50 - Germany 5,50 - Jamaica 5,50 26 Namibia 6,00 27 Lithuania 6,50 - United Kingdom 6,50 29 Costa Rica 6,67 30 Cyprus 7,50 31 South Korea 7,75 32 Greece 8,00 - Mauritius 8,00 34 Ghana 8,50 35 Australia 9,00 - Bulgaria 9,00 - France 9,00 - Mali 9,00 39 Panama 9,50 40 Italy 9,90 41 El Salvador 10,00 - Spain 10,00 43 Taiwan 10,50 44 South Africa 11,25 45 Cape Verde 11,50 - Macedonia 11,50 - Mozambique 11,50 - Serbia and Monteneg...

In a recent newsletter by editorial cartoonist Daryl Cagle, he wrote about the results of the misidentified Iranian "Holocaust" cartoon contest. I was a little surprised at quotes attributed to the manager of The Iranian House of Cartoon, Massoud Shojai Tabatabai. The exhibit curator, Masoud Shojai , said the contest will be an annual event and added: "Actually, we will continue until the destruction of Israel." Iran's President Ahmedinejad has called for Israel to be "erased from the map" and has denied that the Holocaust took place. Shojai is a former contributor to our site, see his cartoons here . Shojai didn't disclose the name of a second place winner of the event, a cartoonist from France. Shojai is quoted saying, "You can call the ...

From Towards Freedom Public Law 109-364, or the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the commander in chief on October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office ceremony, allows the President to declare a "public emergency" and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder." President Bush seized this unprecedented power on the very same day that he signed the equally odious Military Commissions Act of 2006. In a sense, the two laws complement one another. One allows for torture and detention abroad, while the other seeks to enforce acquiescence at home, preparing to order the military onto the streets of America. Remember, the term for putting an area under military law enforcement control is precise; the term is "martial law." ...For the current President, "enfor...

From rcrentertainment on YouTube Meaning no offense to my Arab friends, this video is intended more as a satire on the current Republican scare ads. 9-11, Osama, terrorism and taxes are all key elements on their desperate desire to maintain power. On November 7th, let's end the Republican reign of lies and corruption! Boot the Repuglicans from Washington DC. They are the true "evil doers" and "haters of freedom" who threaten the fabric of the USA.

Carrion

AP Photo Posted on Truthdig Oct 30, 2006 By Rep. Dennis Kucinich Editor’s note: The Ohio Democrat sees desperation in the Republican National Committee’s attack on his potential 2006 ascent to a key national security subcommittee. The Founders envisioned and created a national government with an intricate series of checks and balances. One-party rule has demolished that system. It has led to a government which has abused the war power, corrupted the Bill of Rights, established a national security state, and sharply accelerated upwards the wealth of the nation. Under these circumstances, the American people, fed up with an illegal and untenable war, are demanding accountability and a true restoration of the two-party system. The 2006 elections will reflect the American people’s desire for a new start and a new direction. The desire for change is palpable. Few are more aware of this shift than the operatives of the Republican National Committee, who, in this election season, have attempt...