30 March 2017

Corn is big, big business between the US and Mexico, and that relationship is now threatened because of Trump's "fuck everybody but 'murica" trade policy. If Mexico decides to buy the billions of dollars of corn that it currently buys from us from somewhere else, you know who's going to lose all that business? That's right, the farmers of Iowa and Nebraska, two states Trump won in the election. I'm sensing a pattern here. I mean, it's a nonsensical, idiotic pattern, but it's a pattern.

29 March 2017

Two days in a row now that I've drawn some dude holding up a large item. I kind of hope I have a chance to do it again tomorrow; it's not often I get to work with a specific image several days in a row (Oroville Dam being the sole exception thus far this year).
So yesterday it was the environment, and today it's online privacy. The category, of course, is "Things the Republican-controlled Congress will ruin so that some asshat can make more money." That list is getting really long, my friends.

28 March 2017

Hoo boy, there was a lot of stuff about team sports on the front page today. The raiders are moving to Vegas, because gambling and sports go together like Trump and environmental degradation. Yes, we get it, they're practically made for each other, but somebody's gonna get hurt. Anyway, if the Donald wants to eradicate the Clean Power Plan, he's got one hell of a fight ahead of him. So here's a case where his inherent laziness and inability to follow through on pretty much anything will stand to benefit the country. Sorry, coal industry; chances are your orange knight is not gonna close this deal, either.

27 March 2017

"Invisible" popped up twice on the front page today.  There was plenty of ink expended on sussing out the invisible thing, the unseen hand, the machinery churning behind the scenes, whether that scene be trial or protest or assassination. Or, on a much less grim note, the experience of being Latina and a Muslim convert, and how wearing a hijab can erase your Latina identity in the eyes of the rest of your community.

26 March 2017

So the front page showed up adorned with a bunch of really nice photos---it was a Sunday paper, gaze-at-all-this-loveliness kind of front page (and let's just give a shout-out now to Luis Sinco and Allen J. Schaben, who really made A1 a thing of beauty today). After days and days of wading through the sewer that is our national politics, it was mildly disconcerting! But very welcome. So thank you, photographer folk. We'll consider this Sunday an unofficial day of rest, and gird ourselves for whatever bullshit arrives on our doorsteps tomorrow morning.

25 March 2017

As much fun as it is to bask in the schadenfreude generated by the GOP's pathetic attempt at governing, it's best not to let such things consume all of our attention. A well-constructed front page is the perfect vehicle to thwart single-mindedness, because it will not limit itself to whatever's happening in your little corner of the globe. Today, for instance, A1 led off with the GOP healthcare fiasco (because how could you not? It's a story that triggers, all at once, joy and sadness and anger and WTF and OMG and like 17 other emotions that can only be summed up with emojis at this point), and right underneath that was a story about a coalition airstrike in Mosul that killed something like 200 civilians. Those are people that we were attempting to liberate from ISIS. It's a horror scenario, and it's a perfect, awful example of life in a war zone. And since we are a country that manufactures and maintains war zones, the very least we can do as citizens is be aware.

24 March 2017

The Republican party this week was like that dude who comes into the party all cocksure he's ready to have the fuckin' night of his life, bro, who then gets superdrunk in about an hour, pukes on someone, passes out on the ping pong table in the basement, and then gets unceremoniously dumped on the back lawn, where he remains, in a pool of his own vomit, for the remainder of the night.  Oh, and his friends totally write "penis" on his forehead with a sharpie.That's how the GOP is waking up today. You need a washcloth, bro?

23 March 2017

Well, that was a big news day. The biggest story---the attack in Britain near Parliament---is mostly absent from this drawing. The pixelated edge of Chuck Barris (RIP) comes from the A1 photo accompanying that story, but that's about it. I mean, it's a little complicated marrying a portrait of Chuck Barris to a homicide scene. You either draw the homicide scene, or you draw Chuck Barris. Of course, if Mr. Barris is to be believed, he himself was responsible for creating a few murder scenes. Still, the breakdown of the House Intelligence Committee's look into Russian meddling felt like a bigger story to me; I think it has much bigger ramifications down the road, no matter where it eventually leads.

22 March 2017

I had to do this drawing twice, and now I'm too damn tired to write about it. But I think you get the idea.

21 March 2017

What tiny beverage is FBI director James B. Comey prying open with his big old mitts?  YooHoo? Martinelli's apple juice? Kombucha? I have no idea. That mysterious pony bottle only distracted me for a minute, because there's so much cool, refreshing information pouring out of the Congressional Hearings into Russian meddling in the election. Comey and NSA director Mike Rogers both calling bullshit on Trump's allegations that Obama wiretapped him; confirmation that the White House is being investigated for any role it may have had in the Russian meddling; local boy Adam Schiff (pictured just over the hangdog shoulder of Rogers) keeping it real and focused all through the hearings. I think everyone here's earned themselves a slice of cake! And after that, maybe there'll be time for a round of pin the tail on the donkey.

20 March 2017

I hope none of you Angelenos tried to drive across town on Sunday, because if you did you were probably foiled by the L.A. Marathon. Congrats to all of you who ran (and ran and ran and ran and ran). You officially accomplished more in your big day of extreme cardio than Trump and his band of saber-rattling numbskulls has in the past 60 days.

19 March 2017

Those hands making sweet sweet love to that Gibson belong, of course, to the late great Chuck Berry. Who helped laid the foundations of rock n roll. Who was idolized by young upstarts like John Lennon and Eric Clapton. Who spent a little time in jail. Whose music was engraved onto a golden disc and launched into deep space aboard Voyager as a way to explain our culture to any alien life that might find it. Not bad for a kid from Missouri.

18 March 2017

Tillerson's senseless agitation of North Korea did make it to the front page today, but of course there was so much other stuff going on that I was not able to work it in at all. Maybe when the war starts (I'm kidding but I'm not, and I hope I'm completely wrong).  Anyway, I went with the "Chancellor Merkel flew across an ocean for a babysitting gig" angle. An equally depressing story, in its own way. Not one that is going to lead to our planet being engulfed in a nuclear inferno, true, but man---can we have one state visit that doesn't end in embarrassment?

17 March 2017

The news everywhere today was chock full of budget talk; we all learned the term "skinny budget," which means, roughly, "this is a half-assed assemblage of numbers and names of departments whose functions I'm only vaguely aware of, for the purpose of making it look like I know what i'm doing." Well, if you knew what you were doing, Don, you wouldn't have proposed budget cuts that almost surgically fuck over the very people who allowed you to squeak into office. But hey, you go with that budget. We'll see how everyone feels about it in 2018.

16 March 2017

Taking into account the draconian, heartless budget that the White House proposed recently, it makes sense that so much of the language on the front page would invoke obstruction and regression. The glimmer of hope right now is that so many members of congress---Republican as well as Democratic---find much to dislike in this bill (congress---they're just like us!). Let's hope they don't chicken out when it comes time to push back.

15 March 2017

Happy Ides of March! I hope none of you got assassinated today. The non-creepy selfie-taker in today's drawing is Wendy Carillo, who's running in the April 4 primary for an open congressional seat in California's 34th district (so if you live there, don't forget to vote!), along with 18 other Democrats. I think there's a republican running too, but c'mon. This is Los Angeles, where we like our politicians like we like our marijuana laws: liberal.

14 March 2017

If you told me that the belt buckles on the Sheriff uniforms here in LA county did not match the color of the sheriff's badges, I most likely would have just stared at you blankly for a few seconds and then gone back to whatever I was doing before you interrupted me with that nonsense. If you showed me side-by-side comparison shots of the uniforms to illustrate the difference, I would've laughed, because for some reason I find before/after photographs completely hilarious. And if your before/after diptych is to illustrate a slight change in belt buckle color---well, that's comedy gold.

13 March 2017

If you, gentle reader, are a resident of our great golden state, get out to see some wildflowers this year. Apparently, with all the rains we've been having, they're bonkers. You know who should get out to see them this year, if only because he might be in jail the next time a bloom like this happens? Ex-Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.

12 March 2017

Today's front page was a kid's menu of fun facts designed to make your Sunday much more depressing than you had anticipated: did you know you can effectively pay your way out of county jail in California? Did you know that if you're a low-income, older Trump voter you're probably going to lose your healthcare when the GOP rams through its replacement for the ACA? Did you know that nuclear weapons spend time traveling on our highways because of the decades-old systems in place to maintain them? Oh, and did you move your clock forward?

11 march 2017

It's Saturday night; do you know where your healthcare is?

10 March 2017

Recently impeached South Korean President Park Geun-Hye was not the subject of any article that appeared on the front page today, but she did appear (twice!) in an advertisement at the very bottom of the page, under a block letter heading that implored South Korea to "IMPEACH THE IMPEACHMENT!" Now, I don't know if the liberal use of all caps and exclamation points has ever overturned a political decision as weighty as an impeachment, but I'm guessing it still hasn't. And no, Madame President was not wearing a tie in those photos; the tie belongs to our very own Rep. Raul Ruiz, who, along with Rep. Tony Cardenas, are pictured in session debating the slow motion train wreck that is the GOP's replacement of the ACA. Stay hydrated, gents!

9 March 2017

There's still a lot of election post mortem happening on A1, but the front page gods were also kind enough to provide a photo of the "Fearless Girl" statue that's currently occupying Wall Street. Oh, and one other small thing to factor in: I've been using my scant free time these days to catch up on Game of Thrones.

8 March 2017

Happy International Women's Day, everybody! In honor f the occasion, only women appear in today's drawing. And hey, while we're at it, let's talk about issues that directly impact women, like the GOP defunding planned parenthood. Oh, and ruining the gains we made in national healthcare under the ACA. Apparently to become great again we need to have terrible healthcare. Who knew?

7 March 2017

Here in Los Angeles, where we perfected the art of the overdose, we held another election today, just a scant 4 months after we as a nation shat the electoral bed. Participation in this fundamental act of a free democratic society is expected to be somewhere between "There's an election today?" and "No, really, is there an election today?" Sigh. Tune in tomorrow to find out how low we can go.

6 March 2017

I was sure that the UAE's Happiness Minister would be the focus of today's drawing, but somehow Rex Tillerson's alarming, supervillain eyebrows claimed the dubious distinction of being today's featured subject. The way the State Department stands right now, "dubious distinction" might be the defining characteristic of his tenure there.

5 March 2017

Here we are, in a world where a sitting president is making wild, unfounded accusations about an ex-president at exactly the time when the current president is being investigated for treason (because that's where this sordid, brimstone path to the Kremlin's doorstep is headed, folks). I don't know if it's wise to ignore the signposts; they're pretty in your face at this point.
Speaking of signs, this drawing pulls reference from a photo attached to an entirely different, more classically American story, about the Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken franchise and how exactly its history intertwines with that of the Cambodian immigrant community. Consider it your Sunday night pick-me-up before you absorb another barrage of presidential bullshit on Monday morning.

4 March 2017

A public service announcement for all you Angelenos: this coming Tuesday, March 7, is election day! Get out there and vote on some seriously local stuff, like Community college board member, and mayor, and help for the homeless. Oh, and measure S, which I'm sure we're all totally sick of hearing about by now (but you still have to vote on it!). In honor of our upcoming exercise in low voter turnout, mixed media daily features a locally sourced cast for today's drawing. Pictured above are half of Jeanie Buss, part owner of the Lakers, and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. I...I'm pretty sure you know which half is which.

3 March 2017

Those reflections in those sunglasses (sorry---"spectacles") may send chills down your spine, and with good reason. On the right we have Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a man with a name perfectly engineered to be uttered in loving tones by evil cartoon snakes, and on the left lurks Russian Envoy Sergey Kislyak, who is actually, however improbably, an evil cartoon snake.
But what about the big picture, the man wearing the glasses?  Well, he's the VP of the NYSE listings and listing services (are you still awake?), and he donned that eyewear in honor of Snap's super massive IPO, which raked in like a bazillion dollars for the company. Well done, Snap! Now go finish your homework.

2 March 2017

Today's drawing focuses on modes of transportation that work, and modes of communication that don't. If you don't know what a funicular is, or why the hell anyone would want one in their city, read this. Or better yet, watch this movie. And if you don't know who Travis Kalanick (that fellow at the bottom) is--eh, he's Uber's CEO and he has a bit if an image problem.

1 March 2017

Here we are in March, and we've learned that...trump can read from a teleprompter. Goody. I feel much safer now. That remedial skill surely cancels out all of his shady connections to Russia. Oh, and you know who else was talking to Russia even though he said he wasn't talking to Russia? Newly minted Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. But hey, that teleprompter reading---that was pretty special.