Setting it Up (1991)

July 1, 1991

Tomorrow is July 1 2011.
Today's Golden Odie cartoon is from July 1 1991.

Exactly twenty years ago. The President attempting to dictate his New World Order back then was George Bush and not Obama.

But another one of those cartoons that I could run today.

2011 in History

Mr. History is a fairly new Dry Bones character. As it becomes more and more obvious that we are at a major turning point in history I find myself using him more and more frequently.

Delivering bad news through a gag cartoon is a challenge, but Mr. History makes it easy through his "looking back at today" approach.

Terrorism (2001)

Today's Golden Odie cartoon is from June 11 2001. Ten years ago this month.

Lethal Injection:

"Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was a United States Army veteran and security guard who became infamous for detonating a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. Commonly referred to as the Oklahoma City Bombing, the attack killed 168 people, injured 450, and was the deadliest act of terrorism within the United States prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks.[3] McVeigh, a militia movement sympathizer, sought revenge against the federal government for its handling of the Waco Siege, which had ended in the deaths of 76 people exactly two years earlier. He also hoped to inspire a revolt against what he considered to be a tyrannical federal government. He was convicted of 11 federal offenses and sentenced to death. His execution took place on June 11, 2001 at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute."-more

* * * A State of Their Own:

"The Arab League plans to ask the United Nations to grant full membership to a Palestinian state based on borders with Israel that existed before the 1967 Middle East war, according to the state-run Qatar News Agency.

The move comes after President Barack Obama made official the long-held -- but rarely stated -- U.S. support for a Palestinian state based on those borders, a position that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said can never happen.

The 22-member Arab states will seek membership for a Palestinian state -- with East Jerusalem as its capital -- during the next United Nations session in September, according to a statement released through QNA Saturday by the Ministerial Committee on the Arab Peace Initiative." -more

Faulty Conversions

During the heyday of the Spanish Inquisition, converts to Christianity who backslid into their old non-Christian ways were broken on the rack and burnt alive at the stake. Converts to Judaism who backslide into the worship of alien gods can be excommunicated. But I don’t know how Islam deals with “faulty conversions”.

I wondered about this when I read the news story about two American converts to Islam who were just arrested for planning a machine gun attack on a U.S. Army base in California. Apparently, one Joseph Anthony Davis of Seattle, now Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, and a certain Frederick Domingue Jr. of L.A.,, now Walli Mujahidh were busted when they arrived at a warehouse to pick up machine guns they (it is alleged) intended to use in an alleged terror plot.

If true, then their conversions to the religion of peace were clearly faulty. If they confused the self-cleansing concept of Jihad with the blood-bath murder of infidels, then they must have totally misunderstood ...Right?

According to authorities, Abdul-Latif and Mr. Mujahidh were inspired by the 2009 Fort Hood shootings, which killed 13 people. In that case, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a US Army psychiatrist, apparently acted alone using his personal military weapons.

Pulling Out of Afghanistan

And ...according to the Telegraph:

France to follow US out of Afghanistan

"France is to follow the US in starting a gradual troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Nicolas Sarkozy has announced, in a move that could boost his popularity before a 2012 election.

Mr Sarkozy said troops sent for reinforcement would start returning in a time frame similar to the US force withdrawal. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday the United States would pull out 33,000 troops by late 2012.

"Given the progress we have seen (in Afghanistan), France will begin a gradual withdrawal of reinforcement troops sent to Afghanistan, in a proportional manner and in a calendar comparable to the withdrawal of American reinforcements," Mr Sarkozy's office said after he spoke to Mr Obama by telephone." -more

Western Europe (2001)

Today's Golden Odie cartoon is from June 22 2001. Exactly ten years ago.

But back then it was a "retelling" of an earlier quote by Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965).

What Churchill had said was "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." True when Churchill said it, true 10 years ago when I drew it, and certainly true today.

* * * I've finally adjusted to being back here in my Herzlia Pituach studio after five weeks in America. And about time that I began posting "Golden Oldies" again.
Enjoy.

Iranian Nukes

As the cartoon points out, we don't know what Iran is planning. But we're getting ready for any eventuality. Israel has just launched a five-day civil-defense drill.

According to the V.O. A:

"With the Middle East in turmoil, Israel is preparing for the possibility of a regional war.

As part of preparations for such a scenario the country has begun a five-day civil-defense drill to deal with the threat of a massive missile and rocket bombardment from several fronts: Iran, Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. -more from voa

* * * In light of the above:

Many years ago the Tel Aviv Municipality, as part of its program to support the arts, decided to allow selected artists to use bomb shelters as studios. The LSW (Long Suffering Wife) is one of those selected artists. Today she's at her studio, but today she's not being a painter. Today she's an air-raid warden, being part of the massive drill.

Here's one of her paintings of Tel Aviv. It's of her favorite Juice Bar on a peaceful, tree-lined Tel Aviv Boulevard:

"Juice Bar Doggie" by Sali Ariel

No Fly Zone

Mr. Shuldig is my cartoon alter ego, and he (like me) is watching the news and trying to figure out how American and NATO Mid East policy could be going so horrifyingly wrong.

After YIISA

As Artist in Residence at YIISA, (Yale's Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism), I proposed the idea that antisemitism is a cultural virus ... a virus that is spread through the use of a specific set of viral graphic image codes. I wrote a YIISA working paper to analyze and describe the parasitic relationship between the antisemitism virus and the antisocial and dangerous mass movements which use it.

I am now planning to take the next step with a strategy based on those findings ...It'll be called "The Dry Bones Project to Fight Viral Antisemitism".

Stay tuned for further developments.

Back in the Neighborhood

I'm back in the neighborhood.

For me that's the Middle East. Part of the difficulty about being in America was seeing how the U.S. government and the Media just don't seem to understand the Mid East reality. "Arab Spring"? What are they talking about?

Sigh!

Yale

I just returned to Israel in time for the Shavuot holiday, then slipped and slept through a sleepy Shabbat, and, Jet-Lagged, on Sunday nite, I sat down to do my first cartoon. I'd been in the States to explain my YIISA (Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism) "Secret Codes" findings.

* * * The first news item that demanded my attention was the news that Yale was pulling the rug out from under YIISA. Hmmmm?

* * *When Yale censored the book about the Danish cartoons. I "defended" them because they'd shown bravery and honesty in admitting that they were afraid to stand up to the thugs.

I wish that there was more in their current statement that would allow me to find a way to similarly "defend" Yale in this matter.

But I can't find any so far.

The Court of Public Opinion

Right now I'm away from my studio.
I did today's cartoon before leaving for a U.S. lecture tour.

I'm in America on my "Dry Bones Campaign to turn Z Street into the Grass Roots Zionist Movement that America Needs", and to explain my YIISA (Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism) "Secret Codes" findings.

* * * You can keep up with my adventures in the U.S.A. by following me at facebook.com/drybonescartoon.

I plan to return home to Israel in time for for Shavuot (June 7).

Happy Holidays

Right now I'm away from my studio.
I did today's cartoon before leaving for a U.S. lecture tour.

We are so caught up in the battle for the survival of Judeo Christian Civilization and the Jewish State that we seem always to be in a "fighting mood". I hope no one is offended by today's cartoon. It comes with my best wishes for all of us. Happy Holiday(s)!

I'm in America on my "Dry Bones Campaign to turn Z Street into the Grass Roots Zionist Movement that America Needs", and to explain my YIISA (Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism) "Secret Codes" findings.

* * * You can keep up with my adventures in the U.S.A. by following me at facebook.com/drybonescartoon.

I plan to return home to Israel in time for for Shavuot (June 7).

Word Power

Right now I'm away from my studio.
I did today's cartoon before leaving for a U.S. lecture tour.

I'm in America on my "Dry Bones Campaign to turn Z Street into the Grass Roots Zionist Movement that America Needs", and to explain my YIISA (Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism) "Secret Codes" findings.

* * * You can keep up with my adventures in the U.S.A. by following me at facebook.com/drybonescartoon.

I plan to return home to Israel in time for for Shavuot (June 7).

Do It Yourself

Right now I'm away from my studio.
I did today's cartoon before leaving for a U.S. lecture tour.

I'm in America on my "Dry Bones Campaign to turn Z Street into the Grass Roots Zionist Movement that America Needs", and to explain my YIISA (Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism) "Secret Codes" findings.

* * * You can keep up with my adventures in the U.S.A. by following me at facebook.com/drybonescartoon.

I plan to return home to Israel in time for for Shavuot (June 7).