30 November 2017

Yes, that's Matt Lauer. Not to be outdone in disgusting behavior (as if), Trump decided now is a good time to retweet racist videos from Britain First, just to remind you all that he is still, and probably ever will be, the most repulsive sack of shit to ever slither across this earth. And even though I know you are itchin' to blow your whole rage budget on these two stories, the one you should be saving it for is the tax bill that Republicans are trying to cram down the throat of America so that they can justify all those fat donations they've been getting for years from assholes like the Koch brothers.

29 November 2017

The Grammy nominations are officially out/reported on in this here paper. As a help to their older/less with it readers, the LA Times provided pictures on A1 of all of the folks up for album of the year. Except Donald Glover. That's just weird, LA Times. What do you have against Donald Glover, man? Anyway, I drew Kendrick (not very well! Sorry, Kendrick).

28 November 2017

I would expect to have to draw certain categories of events no matter what year I do this project---there's always wars, there's always natural disasters, there's always shitty politicians doing shitty things, and, because I'm dealing with American news, there are always mass shootings. British royal weddings, however, are not one of these things. But here we are. In 2011 I drew William and Kate (twice, I think), and this year it's Harry and Meghan. well, their engagement anyway. You get the idea. In other news, the grammys will never be interesting, but the story of how those statues are made? Well hey, that's pretty interesting.

27 November 2017

Michigan Democratic Congressman John Conyers Jr. is stepping down from his position on the House Judiciary Committee while he faces an ethics investigation for alleged sexual harassment. At the same time, sexual predator Roy Moore is being heartily endorsed by fellow sexual predator Donald Trump to take over a senate seat. Clearly neither side has a monopoly on virtue, but come on.

26 November 2017

Boy, nothing says "your long Thanksgiving holiday is over" quite like a picture of California's lethal injection chamber on the front page of the Sunday paper. We get it, LA Times; tomorrow is Monday. If you're in need of further reality check to wrench you from the sweet, narcotic embrace of a surfeit of free time, dive into the piece about the disaster that is Mexico's housing market.

25 November 2017

Back when I did this project in 2011 I was drawing Egypt-related things all the time---it was the year of the Arab Spring. Remember that? And today is, I think, one of maybe two times I drew anything about Egypt this year. And to have it be for such a horrendous terrorist attack---well, this is sort of the tenor of the news cycle this year, so I shouldn't be surprised.

24 November 2017

Oh Michael Flynn, you mean-spirited dumbass, 2017 has been quite a rollercoaster for you, champ. How could you ever think that doing grunt work for a foreign government while you were involved, at high levels, in the machinery of our own government wouldn't ever come back to bite you in the ass? Is it hubris or are you just fucking stupid? I imagine, in your case, a little from both columns.

23 November 2017

Happy Thanksgiving, casual observers. Fittingly, the main news item above the fold today was about Native American tribes using their newfound political and financial capital to reclaim the remains of their ancestors that had been dug up and sold/put on display/left in unmarked boxes in storage rooms by the descendants of those first pilgrims. It's worth a read: it won't help you digest that big meal you just consumed, but it'll be good for you.

22 November 2017

There were a lot of public figures sliding out of public view on the front page today---John Lasseter, Charlie Rose, Robert Mugabe (finally!). Oh, and guess what else is sliding out of public view these days? Net neutrality. There's a vote scheduled next month to decide whether to keep the Obama-era net neutrality rules in place or chuck them and, you know, trust that giant telecommunications firms will not overcharge/throttle traffic for/fuck with anybody who uses the internet, which is pretty much everybody. I mean, if there's one thing we know from history, it's that companies always do the right thing when left to their own devices.

21 November 2017

I think it's interesting to note that Charles Manson was on the front page again today. I didn't find it interesting enough to draw him again, because fuck that guy. You know what's interesting? The  impeachment of Mugabe going on in Zimbabwe. It doesn't look like it'll be quick or clean or painless, but Zimbabweans seem pretty fucking determined to see it through, because the alternative--living under authoritarian, kleptocratic rule--is simply unacceptable. As it should be, always, everywhere.

20 November 2017

I'm getting toward the end of this yearlong project, and so I'm doing sort of an informal mental assessment of where it has been going, and one idea that I keep coming back to is that one of the stark contrasts that this year has with the first year of mixed media daily (that would be 2011) is that this year has been one of incredibly dark subject matter, pretty much wall to wall. And then, as if to punctuate this thought, who shows up on the front page? Charles fucking Manson. Not for any new horrendous thing he did, but simply because he died. And so we get his obit, and by extension, his life story, which is essentially a shit show from the day he was born. It's certainly a cautionary tale about the dangers of an utterly broken social welfare system. If we, as a country, don't take care of our institutions, be it the juvenile justice system or our system of free and fair elections, they are more likely then not to breed some monster.

19 November 2017

We're now a few days shy of the Thanksgiving holiday, and thus we're in the home stretch for a year that has been almost completely devoid of any good news whatsoever. It's tough, I know. But hey, good citizens stay informed. The fewer people that are truly paying attention, the more likely the chance that a conniving piece of shit like Trump gets his hands on the wheel. So do a little something for yourself on this day of rest---read some poetry, meditate, smoke a joint, whatever---and when you're ready read up on the sorry state of the State Department, and the heartbreaking homicide statistics in Harvard Park, and, if you can stomach it, the whole miserable Russell Simmons/Brett Ratner story. And then, I guess, you should probably go take a shower.

18 November 2017

Africa, though it is still a continent rife with political problems, is doing what it can to end the "Big Man" era, which is defined mostly by postcolonial rulers who develop extreme autocratic and kleptomaniacal tendencies. And, hey, good for them. They'll be better off. Kick those fuckers out, Africa. We, on the other hand, seem to be sliding ever deeper into our own "Big Orange Man" era, and it's anybody's guess as to if and when this already year-long national nightmare will be over. Maybe Mueller can give us a timetable?

17 November 2017

Ok, so I know that tax legislation isn't at the top of your Friday night "to do" list, but yesterday  House Republicans passed their shit sandwich of a tax plan. So now it will be merged in an unholy union with the Senate's shit sandwich of a tax plan, and then that shit sandwich will be served to you, the taxpayer (and, unless you're a corporation or a crazy fucking rich person, you will still be on the paying end of the tax cut. Specifically by 2025, when all of the tax cuts for folks earning less than 75,000 per year will expire. But if you're a corporation, your lowered tax rate never expires.), and you will be expected to eat that shit sandwich. And like it.

16 November 2017

Why yes, that is Dame Judi Dench with the cannon from one of the Zimbabwe army's tanks nested in her hair.

15 November 2017

It's certainly true that the smart decisions made under enormous pressure by both the teachers at Rancho Tehama Elementary and the local police greatly diminished the death and mayhem caused by the shooter in their town, and they all deserve all the thanks and accolades they have been given for their incredible service. It really could have been a lot worse in Rancho Tehama if not for these fine individuals. That truth can and should be acknowledged. However, acknowledging that truth does not mean we can ignore other truths that this tragedy illuminates. First, that even though this time the damage was contained, there's no guarantee that the next time this happens the right people will be there to do the right things to make the outcome not so shitty. Second, that this will happen again. And again. And again. And again. And again, until either we all die or we actually do something about America's lurid love affair with firearms. When guns are as easy to get and as plentiful as, say, ice cream cones, these things will keep happening. Every single day.

14 November 2017

If Donald Trump is the devil, then surely Jeff Sessions is one of his four apocalyptic horsemen (but which one? The horseman of Racism? Of Idiotic Drug Policy? Of Betrayal? Of Enabling a Total Piece of Shit Like Roy Moore to Get this Close to a Senate Seat?). Sessions had to slither over to a House hearing today to explain to everybody in attendance why he's suck a lying sack of shit. As you can imagine, he denied it. But c'mon, Jeff---the stench drifting off you tells a different story.

13 November 2017

I spend so much time drawing the perpetrators of crimes (how many times have I drawn Trump this year?) that, given the chance to represent the people who truly represent, I'll take it every time. There was a march in Hollywood on Sunday for Survivors of sexual assault. Marches like these are great ways to keep the momentum going for an issue and for keeping the pressure on the powers that be, and in fact State Sen. Connie Leyva announced that she is going to introduce legislation to ban secret settlements in cases of sexual harassment. I have no idea if she'll be able to get that through the legislative meat grinder, but it's certainly worth a shot. If there's one thing power hates, it's transparency.

12 November 2017

The front page offered precious little to go on it terms of visuals today. The two photographs on view were a slope of dirt and a cloud of dust, I shit you not. Fortunately (in this instance, at least) Trump is very good at doing colossally stupid things that make for good headlines. Today's colossally stupid thing was his statement that he totally believes Putin when he tells him that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 U.S. elections. The man who had the hardest time wrapping his tiny brain around the idea that Barack Obama was born in this country somehow has no problem taking the word of an ex-KGB agent at face value, in spite of the fact that his own intelligence agencies believe the opposite to be true. Not that you needed one, but here's another example of America's declining stature on the international stage. Are we finally great again?

11 November 2017

Well, here we are right back to all of this shit. This whole affair is being dissected/unpacked by better writers than me, so I'll just add two things and leave you to your weekend. First, all you gentleman out there in positions of power, in case this has somehow not been made abundantly clear to you in the past several weeks, this kind of behavior is never ok. Have some respect for your female colleagues. And, frankly, have some self respect. Second, Louis' portrait of shame on the front page was in a circle and was framed by a border that resembles---if you kind of squinted at it---a life ring, like you would find on a boat. Like, say, a cruise ship. Possibly one made for love. Which of course made me think of a certain cornball, maritime-themed romantic sitcom of the 70s. Which, you know,  is a super awkward association considering why he's on the front page to begin with. And so here we are.

10 November 2017

Kevin Spacey was all that was going on at the top of A1 today, and it's a hell of a story (Hollywood will eventually turn it into something, you can be sure of that), but man, I just couldn't today. And then there's Gustavo Dudamel (who I have drawn twice on this project) and Frank Gehry below the fold, busily preparing for the LA Phil's Centennial, which will happen in 2019. Oh, and Frank is designing a building for YOLA. Adults being adults! I'll take it.

9 November 2017

Perhaps the only thing funnier/more depressing than a kleptomaniacal, morally bankrupt scumbag like Trump braying about draining the swamp in DC is a Saudi Prince "getting tough" on corruption in his spoiled circle of royals by unceremoniously incarcerating all of his competition for the throne. Call me crazy, but I am more than a little suspicious of the intentions of somebody who will reap large financial benefits by throwing a whole bunch of people in jail.

8 November 2017

Hey, that election on Tuesday went pretty well! Between that and Trump being out of the country, you can almost feel like we're not hurtling at breakneck speed toward an apocalyptic ending for humanity. Almost.

7 November 2017

What does it say about a leader when they go abroad to visit other heads of state and they are made to feel comfortable with gifts of silly hats and are fed precisely the same foods that they get at home? It may seem at first glance like a sign of respect, but isn't it pretty much the same M.O. an adult employs to mollify a moody child. This is pretty much the world saying to Trump, "We are well aware that you are an unstable, petulant, dimwitted manchild, and we will treat you as such until you go back to your own fucked-up country and leave us all alone." And you know what? They're not wrong.

6 November 2017

You know, let's be honest. Trump and the Republican leadership have no interest in doing anything at all about gun violence in this country. Twenty-six men, women and children were slaughtered in a church and their response, essentially, is, " Aww, that's a bummer. Hey, who wants some sweet tax cuts?!" Sure, there was some half-hearted muttering about mental health, but just this year they passed a bill to allow mentally incapacitated people to own guns, so we all know that that's a load of horseshit. But they're totally looking out for you. You can use that tax refund to buy a kevlar vest.

5 November 2017

I mean, if you had to have a tour poster for Trump's 10-day trip through Asia, this will do about as good as any.  We have sent a charmless, feebleminded lunatic to hash out important economic and security arrangements with other nation states. I do love the report that while he was in Hawaii, there were protesters holding up "Welcome to Kenya" signs. Well played, Hawaii.

4 November 2017

Between the ongoing revelations about sexual abuse in the entertainment industry and the Groper-in-Chief paying visits to various strongmen who currently hold the reigns of power in some nations in Asia, there's a lot of terrible male behavior on display on today's front page. What to do with all that hot air?

3 November 2017

I think enough time has passed that we can now address the ending of the World Series. OK, in other news, allegations of abuse continue to pour out of Hollywood, and our port has incredibly poor air quality.  Oh, and the Republican tax plan (i.e., the government handout to very rich citizens and corporations) seems to be specifically designed to hurt California. We're in a tough place here in the Golden State, to be sure. But hey, fortunes can reverse, and sometimes faster than you expect. Just ask Trump dancing monkey and non-scientist Sam Clovis.

2 November 2017

Yes, we're still thinking about New York. But I suspect the news cycle is mostly done with this story for now.

1 November 2017

More on this tomorrow.