Ohio Passes School and College Trans Bathroom Ban

Posted on November 14, 2024 by Ampersand

My alma mater Oberlin, and all schools and colleges in Ohio (private schools and colleges included) is going to be forced to ban trans students from using bathrooms aligned with their gender.

The Ohio legislature just passed House Bill 183, a ban on colleges allowing trans students to use bathrooms designated for their gender – that is, trans women can’t legally use women’s rooms, and trans men can’t legally use men’s rooms.

The Ohio legislature has successfully overturned vetos on anti-trans bills before, so it’s unlikely the governor can successfully veto this. (And he might not want to.)

Making the bill even more spiteful, it also bans multi-gender or “anyone can use” bathrooms.

The only loophole this leaves for Oberlin, as far as I can tell, is that building “family” bathrooms that aren’t multi-occupancy (which I think means, they can only have one toilet) is still permitted.

But even if Oberlin and other colleges build plentiful “family bathrooms” so trans students always have a nearby bathroom to use – and most colleges won’t do that, I suspect – it’s still an assault on trans people’s dignity, just like having segregated bathrooms was an assault on Black people’s dignity.

Posted in Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans and Queer issues | 6 Comments

Cartoon: A.I. is Coming and Will Change EVERYTHING!

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Ampersand

Another comic strip wonderfully rendered by Nadine Scholtes!

I mean, who knows? Maybe years from now, A.I. really will be all that. But for now, it feels like a bunch of very wealthy people have made a strategic decision to spend incomprehensible amounts of money pushing A.I. at us – at a considerable cost to the environment. Computer scientists Shaolei Ren and Adam Wierman wrote:

Even putting aside the environmental toll of chip manufacturing and supply chains, the training process for a single AI model, such as a large language model, can consume thousands of megawatt hours of electricity and emit hundreds of tons of carbon. This is roughly equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of hundreds of households in America. Furthermore, AI model training can lead to the evaporation of an astonishing amount of fresh water into the atmosphere for data center heat rejection, potentially exacerbating stress on our already limited freshwater resources.

All these environmental impacts are expected to escalate considerably, with the global AI energy demand projected to exponentially increase to at least 10 times the current level and exceed the annual electricity consumption of a small country like Belgium by 2026.

It would be one thing if A.I. was actually miraculously improving our lives. But although A.I. does have some genuine uses, most ordinary people’s encounters with A.I. are not just useless, but intrusive and sometimes actively harmful, in ways large, small, and stupid.

A.I. has created a great deal of work for teachers and professors trying to keep their students from having A.I. write their papers. The prestige science fiction magazine Clarkesworld had to stop accepting submissions because they were being flooded with terrible A.I.-generated stories.

I had to stop using Google to search, because Google insists on showing A.I. generated summaries above search results. But A.I. doesn’t reliably get even facts right, and the only way I have to tell if the information is accurate or not is… more searching. (I now use the Duck Duck Go.search engine, which is comparitively minimalistic and provides better results. )

(But apparently even Duck Duck Go occasionally offers A.I. summaries of search results, aaargh! I didn’t know that, I found that out searching as I was writing this Patreon post. Although, to be fair, they apparently come up infrequently and unobtrusively enough that I’ve never noticed, and that function can be shut off if you go to settings).

The annoyance I experienced with Google search’s intrusive A.I. is, obviously, an incredibly minor issue – but billions of people search with google (which has over 90% of the search market), and that adds up to a lot of minor annoyance. And a lot of energy usage. And virtually no one asked for this!

I’ve gotten distracted. The point of this cartoon – remember this cartoon? This is an essay about a cartoon – is that I just find the plethoric claims of A.I.’s hyperbolic pushers to make a funny contrast with the dull and annoying reality.

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon has four panels, each showing a difference scene.

PANEL 1

A large caption at the top of the panel says “PITCH.”

The image shows a woman speed-walking while walking her dog. In the background, a homeless man sits against a wall reading a newspaper. The woman is wearing headphones, and a speech balloon points to the headphones.

HEADPHONES: Artificial Intelligence is almost here – and it’s gonna rock your world!

PANEL 2

A woman sits at a table scattered with board game pieces and reads a manual. In the background, a TV is on, and a slick-looking blonde man wearing a suit and tie is grinning and lifting his arms high in excitement.

MAN ON TV: Get ready! Your personal A.I. will do everything for you! Tax returns! Therapy! Pet care! Foot massages!

PANEL 3

Inside someone’s apartment. There’s no human in sight, but there is a dog and a cat. On the sofa is an open laptop, and on the laptop’s screen a blonde pitchwoman is grinning. The dog sits watching the laptop, tail wagging.

PITCHWOMAN: With Artificial Intelligence, no one will ever be sad or lonely again! A.I. is life!

PANEL 4

A large caption at the top of this panel says “REALITY.”

A young guy sits with his feet up on the sofa and his cat beside him. He’s reading his smartphone. A caption shows us what’s on his smartphone.

SMARTPHONE: A.I. powered toenail clippers $179.00

CHICKEN FAT WATCH

“Chicken fat” is cartoonist slang for unnecessary (but hopefully amusing) details slipped into the cartoon. (You can stop reading now if you’re not interested.)

PANEL 1

The homeless man also has a dog, a cute little dog with a big white mustache – probably a schnauzer? The dog has a weary expression as it watches the bigger dog walking past.

The big dog walking past looks kind of snooty, and is wearing sunglasses.

There’s graffiti on the wall behind the homeless man. The graffiti says, respectively: “Steve.” “Sondheim.” “Lovett + Todd 4ever.” “Nice is different than good.” and “Withers wither with her.” Those are all references to the musicals of Stephen Sondheim. There’s also “BG,” which stands for “background.”

The homeless man’s newspaper is called “Background Tribune.” The headline says “Capybara to Rule World.” The sub headline says “‘It’s time for the grown-ups to take charge’ says adorable rodent.”

PANEL 2

The thick book the woman is reading is entitled “The Overly Complex Board Game Directions (vol 3 of 12)”. Parts scattered on the table include tokens, chips, six-sided dice, a twenty-sided die, a rook (the chess piece), an hourglass timer, playing cards, and a rubric’s cube.

On the TV, a chyron at the bottom of the screen says “Man loses sight from reading tiny print.”

PANEL 3

Apparently the pets have wrecked this apartment – the wallpaper is torn, the cat has done serious damage to the leg of the sofa, and there’s a urine puddle near the dog. The cat is sitting on the windowsill staring at a small bird on the other side of the window, who is sticking its tongue out at the cat and doing the thumbs-on-ears gesture that accompanies the tongue, as well as it can manage since it has wings.

PANEL 4

The cat is sitting like a human on its butt, back leaning against a cushion, with a bowl of food lying on its tummy. (I love this cat! 100% made up by Nadine.)

A magazine on the coffee table is entitled “Rich Pretty People.” The magazine shows a beautiful woman in a fancy gown with dollar bills falling down around her. The caption at the bottom of the cover says “They’re just like you but much better!”

The newspaper on the coffee table is entitled “End of Comic,” and the headline says “Goodbye!”

A.I. is COMING and will change EVERYTHING! | Patreon

Posted in Cartooning & comics | 3 Comments

Well this sucks

Posted on November 6, 2024 by Ampersand

“Instructions on Living in a Broken World

lean into community
seek out love
applaud the good you see
keep paying attention
talk to your neighbors
dance to the music and embrace art
look for love and small joys
take breaks and relish in nourishing your body
donate what you can
linger at the dinner table with friends
check in with your people
let yourself grieve
love one another as deeply as you can

the storm is upon us and we must hold on

don’t give up, we’re here together.”

Credit: “still we rise”

Trump’s re-election is a disaster, but anyone who claims to understand with certainty exactly why this happened (and how it could have been avoided) is

1) far too confident, and

2) almost certainly pushing a narrative that affirms whatever their ideological preferences are.

I’m going to give it time before I come to any conclusions about why this happened. I want to read some analyses based on better data and more thought than anything available right now.

In the meanwhile, my best advice is to please take care of yourselves and those around you.

Posted in Elections and politics, In the news | 47 Comments

Cartoon: We Could Let In More Immigrants

Posted on October 29, 2024 by Ampersand

Immigration is great for the U.S.. It’s great for the economy. It’s great for our culture. Compared to those of us born here, immigrants are disproportionately of working age, disproportionately working, and disproportionately law-abiding. Immigrants are more likely to work in “essential” jobs. Immigrants are more likely to start new businesses than the native-born, creating more jobs than they take.

There’s probably no one policy which could do more to improve the U.S. economy than making it easier for people to immigrate.

And a huge number of Americans are convinced that immigration is a terrible thing. And they’re listening to their racist leaders.

In 2023 Donald Trump said immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of Americans, racist rhetoric that echoes Hiter’s writings. At the time, Trump’s apologists claimed that Trump was suggesting that immigrants are bringing drugs and disease to America – also racist myths – but that he wasn’t suggesting genetic inferiority.

But in 2024, Trump said about immigration and crime, ” it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.”

A survey found that 34% of Americans – and 61% of Republicans – agreed with Trump’s “poisoning the blood” remark.

All of this links into “The Great Replacement Theory,” a racist conspiracy theory which is becoming more widely believed by right-wing Americans.

The great replacement narrative provides the central framework for the global white supremacist movement. The racist conspiracy says there is a systematic, global effort to replace white, European people with nonwhite, foreign populations. The ultimate goal of those responsible — Democrats, leftists, “multiculturalists” and, at times, Jews — is to reduce white political power and, ultimately, to eradicate the white race. The theory has motivated multiple terror attacks, including the 2018 attack at the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Tree of Life Synagogue, the 2019 attacks at two Christchurch, New Zealand, mosques and an El Paso, Texas, Walmart, and, most recently, an attack targeting Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

As America’s demographics have shifted, the narrative of white replacement has become ingrained in the rhetoric of right-wing pundits and an increasingly extreme wing of the Republican Party. “This administration wants complete open borders. And you have to ask yourself, why?” U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin asked during a Fox News segment in April. “Is it really [that] they want to remake the demographics of America to ensure that they stay in power forever?” His statement echoed others made recently by U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, U.S. Senate candidates J.D. Vance and Blake Masters, and, most consistently, Tucker Carlson.

And although conservatives are the worse, and the most overtly racist, anti-immigration sentiment is increasing across all American groups, including Democrats. From Vox:

Gallup notes in its most recent public opinion report that the desire to decrease immigration has jumped 15 percentage points among Republicans, 11 points among independents, and 10 points among Democrats — the group most supportive of immigration.

An Axios poll from April suggested 42 percent of Democrats would support mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

Talk of “poisoning the blood” and mass deportations is dangerous, and if Trump wins the election I really fear what will happen to immigrants. Anti-immigration Americans seem quite willing to hurt anyone – including themselves – as long as their vitriolic hatred of immigrants can be fed.

Man, now I’ve bummed myself out. Reminder to self: Trump hasn’t won yet.

Speaking of the election, I’ve been donating via Oath, and I recommend it. It’s a site for targeting donations to close elections with underfunded candidates. And unlike ActBlue, they don’t share email addresses or phone numbers with the campaigns.

And while I’m making recommendations, let me say – ignore the polls. The race is neck and neck, at least according to polls, and it’s overwhelmingly likely to keep on polling that way. Watching polls is hard to resist, I think because it gives us an illusion of being in control and knowing what’s coming. But it doesn’t actually do either of those things. I think it just makes us more anxious and unhappy.

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon shows two people talking as they walk through a hilly park with tall evergreens in the background. The first speaker is a woman wearing a yellow t-shirt, who has blonde hair held in a ponytail. The second speaker is a woman wearing a red hoodie who has black, spiky hair and glasses. I’ll call them PONYTAIL and SPIKEY.

Ponytail is walking in front, with Spikey following.

PANEL 1

Ponytail has a concerned expression. Spikey has a mellower expression, and is holding her hands behind her back (and does so for the entire comic strip).

PONYTAIL: I’m really worried about falling birthrates How will the economy grow with population declining?

SPIKEY: We could let in more immigrants.

PANEL 2

Ponytail holds out her open palms, in a gesture of concern.

PONYTAIL: Lots of businesses already can’t find enough workers, and that’s going to get worse!

SPIKEY: We could let in more immigrants.

PANEL 3

This panel shows a close-up of Ponytail, who is now in a panic, pressing her hands on the sides of her face. Spikey speaks from off panel.

PONYTAIL: Plus, America is an aging nation. We need young people to take care of us as we age!

SPIKEY: We could let in more immigrants.

PANEL 4

Ponytail now has her arms crossed, still walking, and for the first time has an angry expression. Behind her, Spikey looks pretty cheesed off, too.

PONYTAIL: And I don’t want the country to get any less white.

SPIKEY: We could let in more immi… Okay, I think I see the problem here.

CHICKEN FAT WATCH

“Chicken fat” is an old, obscure, you might even say for all practical purposes dead, term for unimportant but hopefully amusing details cartoonists slip into comics.

PANEL 1: A flyer nailed to a tree says “WANTED” in large letters. There’s an image of me (the cartoonist) shrugging with “?” floating in the air next to my head, and at the bottom of the flyer it says “background gag ideas.”

There’s a patch of mushrooms growing out of the ground. The largest mushroom has a window, and leaning out the window is a rather glum looking person.

PANEL 2: An evil bunny is on the grass, smoking a cig.

A newspaper, “Background Daily,” lies on the ground. The headline says “Nation’s Headline Writers Refuse to Continue Wri”.

A teenage mutant ninja turtle – I believe this one is named Raphael – is taking a nap under a tree. Very oddly, for someone of my age who draws comics and is as nerdy as I am, this is the first time in my life I’ve drawn any of the teenage mutant ninja turtle characters.

PANEL 4

A realistic tortoise is crawling along the ground – except the tortoise has a TMNJ head, including the mask. A tiny sai is under one of its feet.

We Could Let In More Immigrants | Patreon

Posted in Cartooning & comics, Immigration, Migrant Rights, etc, Racism | 14 Comments

Cartoon: Electoral College Confessions

Posted on October 5, 2024 by Ampersand

Let’s begin October with a little bit of meta!

I made a timelapse drawing video for this cartoon.

In 2019, Donald Trump tweeted about the idea of abolishing the electoral college:

….just the large States – the Cities would end up running the Country. Smaller States & the entire Midwest would end up losing all power – & we can’t let that happen. I used to like the idea of the Popular Vote, but now realize the Electoral College is far better for the U.S.A.

Although most people would say it with more coherent syntax, this is a vera popular argument in defense of the Electoral College: Without it, small states would lose all power.

Except the Electoral College really, really obviously doesn’t give small states power. It gives swing states power; the seven or so states that could go either way get an enormous amount of attention from Presidential candidates. But most small states aren’t swing states. Jamelle Bouie wrote:

Totaling the 2016 numbers, Sam Wang, a molecular biologist at Princeton who also runs a widely read election website, found that out of almost 400 campaign stops made after the conventions, neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump made appearances in Arkansas, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia or Vermont. It doesn’t matter that Trump won millions of votes in New Jersey or that Hillary Clinton won millions in Texas. If your state is reliably red or blue, you are ignored.

The actual reason Republicans support the Electoral College is obvious: Democrats have won the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections. That is the only real reason – and it’s one they’re loathe to say aloud.

A lot of political cartoon humor comes from exactly this – people saying things aloud that they’d never say in real life.

The drawing in this cartoon is nothing special – two people walking through a park while arguing is something I’ve drawn a lot. But I really had fun drawing it. Sometimes I draw and it feels like I’ve forgotten how to draw. Not this time; I just had fun drawing every element of this, and I barely had to redraw anything. And the final results look good to me.

Panel three is the simplest panel, but also the one I’m happiest with. That face just looks good to me.

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon has four panels, plus an additional tiny “kicker” panel under the bottom of the cartoon. All four panels feature two characters who are walking through a park and talking.

The first character is a woman with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a red tank top and jeans. Let’s call her TANKTOP. The second character is a businessman-looking man, wearing round glasses and a blue suit. Let’s call him SUIT.

PANEL 1

Tanktop and Suit are walking though a hilly park. Tanktop looks a little angry and is lecturing Suit, who seems calmer. Suit is walking in front of Tanktop, so he’s facing away from her.

TANKTOP: Conservatives say we need the Electoral College so small states won’t be ignored – but since the ten smallest states aren’t swing states, the Electoral
College guarantees they get ignored!

SUIT: I’m so sick of this argument.

PANEL 2

A close up of Suit, who is looking very annoyed.

SUIT: IT’s true our arguments for the Electoral College make zero sense! And they’re anti-Democracy! Who cares? It doesn’t matter if we make sense!

PANEL 3

An even closer close-up of Suit, who finally turns back to look at Tanktop as he speaks. His expression is angry and intense.

SUIT: With the Electoral College, we can lose the vote and still win the presidency! We will never let voters decide, because then we’d have less power, and power is all we care about! How do you not know that?

PANEL 4

Suit has turned away from Tanktop again and the two continue walking. Both of them have returned to speaking in ordinary tones, although Tanktop still looks annoyed.

TANKTOP: I did know, but I’m shocked you’re saying it aloud.

SUIT: Well, don’t forget this is a cartoon.

TINY KICKER PANEL UNDER THE BOTTOM OF THE CARTOON

Suit is talking to Barry the Cartoonist.

SUIT: I will never, ever, ever turn against the Electoral College! Unless Texas turns blue.

CHICKEN FAT WATCH

“Chicken fat” is an outdated cartoonists’ term for little details in a comic that don’t mean anything but are hopefully fun.

PANEL 1: Beaker from the Muppets is peeking out of a hole in a tree.

A sign in the background says “KEEP OFF THE GRASS (ink may smear).”

PANEL 2: A bird flying in the background has a cat head. (In the sense of its own head being feline, not in the sense that it’s carrying a decapitated cat’s head).

PANEL 4: An evil bunny smoking a cigarette is sticking its head out of a hole in the ground. In the foreground, a friendly looking pig wearing a fedora is glancing out towards the readers. On the path, a bored looking snail is on top of a tiny skateboard, and an ant is riding on top of the snail.

In panel one, Tanktop’s tattoo was a coffee mug with a smiley face on it. In this panel, the coffee mug has fallen on its side, spilling coffee, and the face on the mug is distressed.

Electoral College Confession! | Patreon

Posted in Cartooning & comics, Conservative zaniness, right-wingers, etc., Elections and politics | 33 Comments

Cartoon: Why We Say “As A Jew”

Posted on October 3, 2024 by Ampersand

This comic was drawn by Becky Hawkins, who writes:

I wanted to draw this cartoon. I feel like whether and how much I’m seen as Jewish fluctuates depending on where I am and who I’m with, so the conversation about who’s a “real Jew” hits close to home.

I always think that “2 contemporary people arguing” will be quick to draw. Then it seems to take me forever to come up with character designs and poses. (Wouldn’t the pro-Israel character be pointing angrily as in panel 2 the whole time, even if that’s repetitive and boring? I mean, what else would she do with her hands? OH NO, WHAT DO I DO WITH MY HANDS?! It makes me feel like a bad actress.)

Designing the pro-Israel character felt easy. I just visualized “person I would have gone to Hebrew school with” and everything came together. But I needed to look around to find details for the pro-Palestinian student that felt right. I scrolled on Facebook til I saw an ad for a wilderness survival class where someone had those blunt bangs, and the haircut fell into place. I looked up the indie cartoonist Cathy G. Johnson because I remembered Cathy as a snappy dresser in the genre of clothing I had in mind. I didn’t copy any one outfit, but the author photos were helpful. Then I remembered my sister, a crunchy musician and piano technician in Ypsilanti, telling me about buying a shirt from a band she likes… So I texted her:

Me: What was the thing on the band shirt where you were like “IDK if I want to be the person with that band shirt”?

Sister: hahaha an animal skull

Me: Yaythaaanks

Sister: Possum to be specific I believe.

Bingo.

And Barry writes:

I think the term “AsAJew” was coined by Eli Lake in Commentary magazine.

I don’t have much to say about this cartoon, except to say: The string of insults used in panels two and three are all near-direct quotes that real people have said about “asajews.” I edited it for space and to put things in the second person, but all the parts that might be making you go “no one would really say that” – those bits are real.

For example, in response to the news that Kamala Harris’ campaign was recruiting a “Jewish engagement director,” one person tweeted:

Here’s to hope that all normal, non-conditional, non-“asaJew”, non-Soros/Kapo-affiliated Jews will treat this hire as anything what it will be: a cardboard #tokenizer/Kapo POS. It’s time.

(Just imagine a “sic” after any bit of that that seemed to be word salad).

There’s a really extraordinary level of hatred, in some non-representative members of the Jewish community, for Jews that don’t toe the pro-Israel-no-matter-what line. But it’s important to remember that – contrary to what they might think – they don’t represent all of us.

Oh, two more things about this cartoon: I like the way it’s structured, with the fourth panel taking place a few moments before panel one. I’ve done a LOT of these cartoons, but I don’t think I’ve done that before.

And I love that gliding squirrel! The squirrel was entirely Becky’s idea; my only contribution was saying “squirrel, cool!”

I’m sure many of us spent much of the last week searching for news about the destruction of Hurricane Helene. As of this writing, there are still entire towns that are lacking cell tower service, water, and roads, and it’s way too soon for anyone to assess the damage.

I hope that everyone reading this is in a safe place, and that whatever you’ve lost can be restored.

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon has four panels. Each panel shows the same two women having an argument on a grassy area of a college campus (we can see a definitely collegiate brick building in the background). Both of them look like college students.

The student on the left has wavy green hair and is wearing a dark tank top with ripped armholes and collar and a drawing of a possum skull on the front. She has a septum piercing and is wearing leather boots.

The student on the right has wavy brunette hair and is rather nattily dressed in a blue sweater vest over a pink front-button shirt, rectangular glasses, and heeled boots.

Let’s call these two GREENIE and GLASSES.

PANEL 1

Greenie talks to Glasses with an earnest expression; Glasses has turned away from Greenie with her arms crossed, and looks annoyed.

GREENIE: I am Jewish, and as a Jew, I think what Israel’s doing is horr-

GLASSES: “As a Jew.” Hah! You know why anti-Israel Jews always say they’re speaking “as a Jew”?

PANEL 2

Greenie spreads her arm in an “explainy” sort of way, but it cut off by Glasses, who turns to face her, with an angry expression and pointing a finger accusingly at Greenie.

GREENIE: Because-

GLASSES: You say it because you want to tokenize yourself! You use being Jewish as a way to slander your people.

PANEL 3

A shot from Greenie’s POV, showing Glasses leaning forward, a furious expression on her face, pointing straight at the viewer like Uncle Sam in the “wants you” poster.

GLASSES: You “AsAJew” types are cosplay Jews! You’re modern day kapos giving comfort to the enemy! You’re the Jew who turns in other Jews to the Nazis because you hope you’ll be spared! And that’s why you said “as a Jew!”

PANEL 4

A large caption at the top of the panel says “A MINUTE EARLIER.”

Greenie is looking annoyed, arms akimbo, as she listens to Glasses, who is declaiming with one pointer finger held high in the air.

GLASSES: You wouldn’t say that if you were Jewish!

CHICKEN FAT WATCH

In panel one, on a tree in the background, a squirrel with a tiny blue backpack is crouched on a branch. In panel two, the squirrel has launched itself into the air, and the backpack has unfurled a blue parachute. In panel four – which takes place before panel one – we see the squirrel back in the tree, poking its head out of a hole.

There’s a newspaper lying on the ground near Glasses’ feet. The name of the newspaper is “Background Daily.” In panel one, the front page says “This repeats three times in this comic. No need to read the other ones!” In panel two, it says “seriously you can stop reading this.” And in panel four, it says “This headline takes place before panel one.”

Why We Say “As A Jew” | Patreon

Posted in Cartooning & comics, International issues, Palestine & Israel | 7 Comments

Cartoon: Objective Journalism is Coming! Objective Journalism is Coming!

Posted on October 2, 2024 by Ampersand

This cartoon was drawn by frequent collaborator Nadine Scholtes, who unlike most cartoonists (and by “most cartoonists” I mean “me”) is not afraid of drawing horses.

This week, I read a newspaper report about sex workers at massage parlors. The article was sympathetic to the sex workers, but aside from a couple of sentences didn’t quote them at all. Which is understandable, since they weren’t accessible or willing to talk extensively to a reporter. But the article also didn’t quote any ex-massage workers, or any advocates for sex workers.

In contrast, cops were quoted extensively.

Also this week, I read an article by anti-social-justice writer Freddie deBoer:

Those who are most intimately and personally connected to a given issue are often the very least well-equipped to engage effectively on that issue because they have too much baggage regarding that issue, are too close to the issue to think clearly about it.

DeBoer’s philosophy strongly implies that trans people are the “least well-equipped” to engage on trans issues, Black people the “least well equipped” on Black issues, and so on. But I doubt there will ever be a subject which Freddy deBoer, who is a straight cis white male, thinks straight white males are the “least well equipped” to think about.

I wrote this cartoon before I read either of those articles. Reporting like that, and attitudes like deBoer’s, are too common in modern journalism. Corporate spokespeople are quoted, but workers and union reps aren’t. Cops cracking down on homeless people are quoted, but homeless people are not. Israeli representatives are quoted, but Palestinians are not. Diet industry people are quoted, but fat people – and especially fat acceptance activists – are not. The list goes on and on.

I thought about how modern “objective” journalism would handle Paul Revere, and the strip pretty much wrote itself. (Well, it wrote itself, but after it was finished I had to spend a bunch of time editing it to fit in four tiny panels. Stupid lazy ideas not editing themselves.)

Once I thought of the horse grinning for the selfie, I knew I had to ask Nadine to draw this one, and fortunately she was available. Nadine added lots of great details that my script hadn’t asked for, like the guy in the window in panel one, or the church in the distance in panel one, or Garfield and Odie in panel two. Working with collaborators who add things is so much fun.

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon has four panels. All four panels show a Massachusetts street in 1775.

PANEL 1

This panel shows Paul Revere riding a galloping horse down a street, yelling “The British Are Coming!” (Revere yells this, not the horse).  He’s riding hard, and mice are scattering to avoid being run over.

REVERE: The British are coming!

PANEL 2

Revere, sweating from his hard ride, has dismounted and come to a halt, and is talking to a JOURNALIST. The journalist is dressed in a period suit and leaning against the side of a building, but he also has a piece of paper saying “press” sticking out of his hat. He’s looking at his smart phone.

REVERE: A journalist? Perfect! The British army is coming by way of the Charles River!

JOURNALIST: I can’t report that. You’re a revolutionary. What you say isn’t objective.

PANEL 3

The journalist has put his arm around Revere’s shoulders and is grinning as he holds out his phone to take a selfie. Revere looks very annoyed, arms crossed, face facing the camera but eyes glaring at the journalist.

REVERE: But what I’m saying is TRUTH! The British are attacking!

JOURNALIST: You’re in the group they’re attacking. That makes you too biased to quote.

PANEL 4

Revere raises his hands in a frustrated gesture. The journalist, smiling, points at Revere.

REVERE: No one even knows about this but us and them! Will you not report this at all?

JOURNALIST: No, I’ll report whatever the British say. People in power are never biased.

CHICKEN FAT WATCH

“Chicken fat” is a ye olden days cartoonists’ expression for little details in a cartoon that don’t matter but might be amusing.

PANEL 1: A man in a nightshirt is leaning out of a background window waving to Revere.

There are mice scattering from the road to avoid being trampled. The mice are Izzy (from The Simpsons), the Brain (from Animaniacs, Minnie Mouse, and Jerry (from Tom and Jerry).

PANEL 2: The journalist is scrolling on a smart phone.

Garfield and Odie, from the Garfield comic strip, are in the background – Garfield is sitting on a fence reading a newspaper (Ye Olden Times Background Times”) and Odie is peeking out through a window.

The back page of the newspaper has a huge headline saying “Ben Franklin and Beyonce Sex Scandal,” and smaller text (so distorted by the angle that it’s basically impossible to read) says: “Even ignoring chronology problems, she is just way out of his league,” says puzzled historian.”

The front page of the newspaper has three stories. The first headline says “Hamilton Not Yet Famous,” and the story says: “Just you wait until Broadway exists,” says unknown nerd. The second headline says “New Tea Party In N Jersey,” and the story says “nobody notices or cares.” The third headline says “Political Cartoons Relevant & Popular,” and the story says: “And that’s something that will never change,” say confident cartoonists.

PANEL 3

The journalist is taking a selfie, and the horse, grinning, is positioning herself to be included in the selfie.

PANEL 4

The horse is holding the journalist’s hat in her mouth.

In the background, two sleek cats can be seen in a window; one of them is licking the window with apparent enjoyment.

Objective Journalism Is Coming! Objective Journalism is Coming! | Patreon

Posted in Cartooning & comics, Media criticism | 3 Comments

Cartoon: The Birth Rate is Always a Crisis

Posted on October 1, 2024 by Ampersand

“Teen mothers are increasing!” has been a common “everything is getting worse!” my whole life – until recent years, when “fertility is down!” has replaced it. Like this CBS News headline: “Experts sound the alarm on declining birth rates among younger generations: “It’s a crisis”.”

Once upon a long-ago message board, I had an argument with a Christian sociologist who was arguing that more and more Black teens were becoming mothers. I pointed out that his claim just isn’t true – the percentage of babies born to Black teen mothers had gone up, but the actual number of Black teens giving birth were going down. (The discrepancy was because the number of post-teenage Black women giving birth was going down a bit faster.)

Much to my surprise, he became very angry with me, growled that I was missing the whole point, and quit the argument. It’s one of these disconnects that can happen easily with text-only disagreements: I thought we were having a fairly dispassionate discussion about fertility statistics, but it turned out we were having a passionate disagreement about… I’m still not sure.

There is a real argument that we need an increase in young workers to keep our economy and demographics healthy. The solution for that shouldn’t be nagging at young women to have more babies, but to allow in more immigrants.)

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon has four panels, plus a tiny kicker panel under the bottom of the cartoon. Each of the four panels show the same two people taking on a sidewalk. The first is a woman with short black hair, wearing an open yellow shirt over a light orange shirt, and knee-length purple shorts. The second is a young man with reddish brown hair parted in the middle, dressed more conservatively in a button-down men’s shirt tucked into blue pants. Let’s call these two SHORTS and PANTS.

PANEL 1

Shorts is walking down the sidewalk when she’s startled by Pants, who is waving his arms around and yelling.

PANTS: Teenagers having babies is a crisis! A catastrophe!

PANEL 2

The two of them talk calmly, Shorts making a “just explaining things” hand gesture, and Pants looking a little surprised and worrying his fingers.

SHORTS: Actually, the birthrate among teens has been plummeting for years.

PANTS: Really?

PANEL 3

A shot from over Pants’ shoulder, as he peers at the screen of Shorts’ smartphone, which she’s holding out to show him.

On screen, we are looking at a website with the “CDC” logo, and the headline “TEEN BIRTH RATE REACHES ANOTHER HISTORIC LOW.”

PANTS: Hmmm

PANEL 4

Pants rears back, hands clasped to his head, a huge expression of panic on his face. Shorts, still holding up her smartphone, rolls her eyes.

PANTS: Gasp! The birthrate is down! This is a CRISIS! A CATASTROPHE!

TINY KICKER PANEL UNDER THE BOTTOM OF THE CARTOON.

Pants is talking to Barry (the cartoonist). Pants looks stern, with his arms crossed.

PANTS: Whatever the birthrate is, people need to know women are doing it wrong!

CHICKEN FAT WATCH

In ye olden days, when cartoonists stuck in irrelevant details for fun, the term for that was “chicken fat.” Nowadays we call this “easter eggs.” Apparently the term for this must always relate to poultry.

PANEL 1: A shifty-looking bunny, smoking a cigarette, is peering out from behind a tree.

A newspaper littering the ground, with a masthead saying “Daily Background,” has the headline “Cartoonist Subsidy Bill Passes!” and a subheadline saying “‘About damn time’ –Nation.” The photo accompanying the story shows a happy cartoonist who looks kinda like me holding a huge bag with $ written on the bag.

A scrap of paper on the ground says “Good people read this.” So there, don’t go saying I’ve never said anything nice about you.

A rat is napping in the gutter. One of the rat’s paws rests on an open bottle with a label saying “X,” but using the logo of the company that used to be Twitter.

PANEL 2: On the side of the tree, a realistically drawn squirrel is staring face-to-face with Woodstock from “Peanuts.”

PANEL 3: On the CDC’s website, there are two smaller stories at the bottom of the smartphone screen. The first says “Poll: Americans want Scientists & Government to Pretend Covid is Over.” with the subheadline “‘We don’t want to know. Anyway, what harm could it do?’ says public.”

The second story says “Study: Most Studies In Tiny Print Don’t Actually Exist.” And the subheadline says “Headlines like this one are just cartoonists making stuff up to fill in backgrounds.”

In the lower left corner of the panel, a little man, with blue skin and a purple mohawk, sits on the panel border grinning at the reader. He has a sign which says “I’m not relevant.”

PANEL 4: A bird flying in the background is wearing an eyepatch.

PANELS 1, 2 and 4: In panel 1, the tattoo on Shorts’ forearm shows an unhappy young person with big hair. In panel 2, the same tattoo shows the person with shorter hair, some brow wrinkles, and a still sad expression. In panel 4, the tattoo person is now bald and old, but has a happy expression.

The Birth Rate is Always a Crisis | Patreon

 

Posted in Cartooning & comics | 14 Comments

Comic: Election Year, Squishy Progressive Style

Posted on September 9, 2024 by Ampersand

This cartoon is less self-portrait than it is self-parody. ((Testing the footnotes plugin.)) It was conceived shortly after Joe Biden announced that he won’t be running for re-election, around when Kamala Harris announced Tim Walz, and like practically everyone else I was feeling very happy and optimistic. We might win! Look at all that joy! Look at this adorable video of Walz joking around with his daughter named – get this – “Hope”!

This year’s sudden soar from pessimism to hope was extreme, but I feel something like this almost every presidential elections season. For a while – if only briefly – I found a reason to like politicians like John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden – even thought I knew perfectly well that if they were elected, they would do some things I hate. (Especially but not exclusively in foreign policy.)

Because even though every Democratic administration has done things I disagree with – things I’d even call evil – the Republicans are objectively just as bad, or much worse, on every issue.

(By the way, contrary to panel ten, I don’t do volunteer get-out-the-vote phone calling, because I did cold calling for a living for a couple of years when I was young and I’m still not over it. Instead, I do get-out-the-vote postcarding, but for this cartoon I made it phone calling, because that’s an easier activity to convey in one small panel).

When I thought of this cartoon, my immediate thought was “oh maaaaan, twelve panels!” But I thought it was doable and wouldn’t be a confusing mess to look at, so long as I kept the panels simple and clear. I’m actually really happy with how the comic came out, especially the seasonal color scheme.

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon is a twelve-panel grid, with each panel labeled in large letters at the top with a month – January, February, and so forth. For this transcript, rather than labeling the panels “panel 1” and so on, I’ll use the name of the month.

In addition, there’s a tiny kicker panel under the bottom of the cartoon. Each panel shows the same character – a fat dude with round glasses, a circle beard (the name for “a chin strap and a mustache that meet to form a circle”), and dark hair held in a short pony tail. Put another way, it’s my self-caricature, so I’ll call this dude “Barry.”

JANUARY

Barry, wearing a long black coat and a scarf, is standing on a sidewalk yelling to the sky, his hands clutched in fists.

BARRY: The Democrats are sell-outs!

FEBRUARY

Barry stands outside, wearing a heavy coat with a hood and (again) a scarf. It’s snowing hard. Barry’s arms are crossed and he has a “don’t try talking to me, I already know everything” expression.

BARRY: They’re owned by corporations, just like the GOP!

MARCH

Barry is wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a floral patter over a black t-shirt. He looks angry and is waving a fist in the air.

BARRY: F#&@! the Democrats!

APRIL

Barry is talking into the phone, smirking a little.

BARRY: Democrats want my money? I’d rather donate to cancer.

MAY

Barry is explaining something to a somewhat impatient looking friend (or maybe just an unfortunate person who wound up at the same bus stop, who knows?).

BARRY: We so desperately need a third party!

JUNE

Barry is standing in a living-room type room; there’s a window in the background, and an armchair. Barry’s talking on the phone, a concerned expression on his face.

BARRY: Yes, Republicans winning would be a disaster.

JULY

Barry sits at a table, head resting on his palm, looking at an open laptop.

BARRY (thought): Actually, the Dem candidates are pretty good. On some issues.

AUGUST

Barry is standing outside, in front of a stone wall lined with flower boxes on top, talking to a friend (or, again, maybe just an unlucky passerby). Barry has both arms raised in the air jubilantly.

BARRY: I still hate them but I really like them!

SEPTEMBER

Barry stands looking pensively out a window.

BARRY: Hate? Like? Hate? Like?

OCTOBER

Hi, I’m a volunteer for the Democrats. Have you made a plan for voting?

NOVEMBER

Barry, looking extremely anxious, is standing and looking at a computer monitor, hands pressed against the sides of his face, sweating.

BARRY (thought): Please please let the Dems win…

DECEMBER

Barry is walking on a sidewalk past a hillside. It’s dark out, and Barry is wearing a long coat and a scarf again. He’s talking on his cell phone with an angry expression.

BARRY: God, I hate the Democrats!

TINY KICKER PANEL BELOW THE BOTTOM OF THE CARTOON

A woman is talking to Barry.

WOMAN: So you’re saying hypocrisy is bad?

BARRY: Sorta bad, sorta useful.

CHICKEN FAT WATCH

“Chicken fat” is an old cartoonist’s expression for unimportant but possibly amusing details the cartoonist sticks into the art.

JANUARY: A flyer taped to the wall shows a glaring bunny with a cigarette dangling out of its mouth. The text says “BEWARE evil bunny.”

FEBRUARY: A snowman in the background appears to be a snow alien, with three eyes and two antenna.

MARCH: Barry’s t-shirt has a picture of the evil bunny, surrounded by letters that say “evil bunny 1968 world tour.” Barry has a tattoo on his arm which says “I Have No Tattoos.”

JUNE: A man wearing a black fedora is peering in the window at Barry. On the wall is a framed picture of the evil bunny. A cat sits in the armchair, slouching like a human and looking at a smartphone it’s holding in its front paws.

AUGUST: Barry’s t-shirt has a drawing of the Death Star from “Star Wars,” and under the Death Star is a caption saying “Cici n’est pas une lune.” This is a real t-shirt that was described to me by Packy Anderson in the comments of a previous cartoon.

SEPTEMBER: Barry’s t-shirt has the planet logo from the covers of the “Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy” book series.

OCTOBER: Barry’s t-shirt says “your ad here.” The place on the back of the laptop where the manufacturer’s logo usually goes has a picture of Saturn.

NOVEMBER: Barry’s arm has a tattoo of Beaker from the Muppets. I’ve snuck Beaker into a lot of my cartoons because I just like him.

DECEMBER: A bird in the air in the background has Richard Nixon’s head instead of a bird head. A piece of paper lying on the sidewalk says “Last Panel. Phew! 12 panels is a lot.” And in the background, near a tree, is the evil bunny, smoking a cigarette.

Election Year, Squishy Progressive Style | Patreon

Posted in Cartooning & comics, Elections and politics | 6 Comments

Cartoon: A Concise History of Keeping The Immigrants Out

Posted on September 7, 2024 by Ampersand

[This post is written by Becky Hawkins.]

This cartoon was born over gChat over a span of about 12 hours:

Becky: It’s wild how every “neat old photo” from an aggregate account on social media will have some egregiously racist comments…

There was a “1903 and now” photo of a street in lower Manhattan and someone was complaining that it’s “dirty” now that it’s Chinatown and not Little Italy (I guess they ignored the crowding and HORSES in the first photo?) Is it worth doing a cartoon about complaining about immigrants through the ages?

or does that fall under “ugh, not worth the argument”

Barry: No, that could definitely be a viable cartoon.

Would have to be careful not to come too close to repeating this one: https://leftycartoons.com/2008/10/09/history-marches-on-nativism-marches-in-place/

Becky: Maybe we could do the inverse where people are reminiscing about the good qualities of the previous generation of immigrants (eg pilgrims, Nordic, Italian…) and then futuristic people extolling how 21st century immigrants from Latin America contributed to the culture, unlike these Martians.

Barry: That’s a good idea!

Becky: Welp, you know I’d enjoy drawing it and have no interest in writing it

Barry: Okay, glad I have a place in the process. :-p

Becky: You mad bro?

* u mad bro?

I do love drawing cartoons where I have to set very specific, very clear scenes! I looked up a ton of photos and drawings of gentleman’s clubs so that I wasn’t copying one famous building. The antlers, bust, wainscoting, urn, and chairs were all from different places. During my search, I stumbled onto a cringeworthy website about how Rhodesia was good, actually. I usually don’t model political cartoon characters after specific people, but I snagged this picture from that website and the blond man in panel 1 is based on the third guy from the left.

If you zoom waaay in, the painting on the urn has a fountain, a lady in pink, and the sheep that I used to draw on my math tests for luck when I was in middle school, which I called the A-sheep.

Barry is a generous comic writer in that instead of scripting “a boardwalk in the 30s,” he wrote “the boardwalk in Miami. There are palm trees and ocean; in the distance, on the ocean, is a ship that might be the MS St Louis. (See reference folder)” The folder contained several old photos of boardwalks and the specific ship, which was a time-saver.

I spent way too long trying to get the right amount of ocean, boardwalk, and buildings in the panel, while still focusing on the women and ship. I settled for having a tiny peek of art deco in the background to make it Miami.

The outfit with the sash and turban came from this photo:

The forest in panel 3 is based on some photos I took near the Oregon coast. Off the walking trail, there are a lot of waist-high ferns with larger trees in between. Hopefully this looks detailed without looking cluttered.

In panel 4, it was Barry’s idea to have one Martian holding a map and the other Martian holding a baby. I drew different-colored stripes on the map to indicate bus or train routes. The futuristic human fashion in the last panel is based on my own misreading of the script. I got 2146 and 2046 mixed up, and figured that 22 years from now would be time for more 1990s throwbacks. Hence the fanny pack, bucket hat, and most of the outfit on the right. Hopefully the hover-shoes are futurey enough. I want to believe in a future with Doc Martens, whether they hover or not .

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon has four panels, each showing a different scene in a different era.

PANEL 1

CAPTION AT TOP OF PANEL: 1871

Two wealthy-looking white Victorian men, middle aged and elderly aged, are sitting in armchairs in front of a fireplace in what looks like an expensive men’s club. One holds a glass of liquor, the other a cigar, as they talk to each other. In the background is a server with red hair, holding a tray with a bottle and glasses on it, and looking annoyed.

RICH GUY 1: We can’t let just anybody immigrate! The Irish are lazy and stupid!

RICH GUY 2: Better Irish than Chinese. I say keep ’em all out!

PANEL 2

CAPTION AT TOP OF PANEL: 1939

Two white women walk along the boardwalk. One woman is wearing a floppy hat, pearls, and a light purple dress, and is carrying a green umbrella to shield herself from the sun. The other woman is wearing a green sash and turban over a tan pantsuit. The second woman is pointing out to the ocean, where we can see a large ship which might be the MS St Louis.

SASH WOMAN: Even if Nazis are killing Jews – and we all know Jews lie – why is that our problem? We can’t afford thousands of Jews leeching off the rest of us!

PANEL 3

CAPTION AT TOP OF PANEL: TODAY

Two white women are walking through a park. One is wearing a broad hat, shorts, and carrying a backpack; the other is wearing a pink visor, and carrying a water bottle. In the background, a brown-skinned man carrying gardening shears watches them, not looking visibly annoyed but definitely aware of what they’re saying.

BACKPACK WOMAN: Central American “refugees” don’t want to work – they come here to live off welfare and crime!

PANEL 4

CAPTION AT TOP OF PANEL: 2146

Two people with ambiguous gender are standing. They’re wearing some sort of hover shoes, so they’re actually floating about a foot above the ground, with a yellow haze shooting out the bottom of their shoes. One is wearing a blue onesie with a wide futuristic looking yellow collar, along with a yellow hat and a fanny pack in front; the other is wearing a shawl over a crop top with lace trim, and a long green cargo skirt. The woman with the shawl is rudely pointing at a few obvious aliens (with tentacles instead of legs, gray skin, and huge black eyes) who are just a couple of feet away. One alien holds a map, which both of them are looking at, while the other is holding an alien baby.

LACE TOP WOMAN: Immigrants in the old days became good Americans. But these so-called “refugees” are lazy criminals! I say keep ’em out!

A Concise History of Keeping The Immigrants Out | Patreon

Posted in Cartooning & comics, Immigration, Migrant Rights, etc | 22 Comments