Presidential Campaign (1979)

September 27, 1979

Today's cartoon is from 1979. In the 1980 election that followed, Jimmy-One-Term was defeated.

Now, in 2012, another American Presidential campaign is in progress, and once again, disingenuous pronouncements of support by an anti-Israeli incumbent are the order of the day.

Latest Technology

Am I missing something? Or am I right?

Syria's Chemical Weapons

The situation as reported in Turkish Weekly:

Netanyahu: Israel Prepared to Deal with Syrian Chemical Weapons
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is prepared to act to neutralize the threat posed by Syrian weapons of mass destruction in a post-Assad era. The prime minister was interviewed by two U.S. television networks.
Benjamin Netanyahu says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s days are numbered.
“I think the [Syrian] regime will go," he said. "I do not know if it is days or weeks or months, but I do not think it is sustainable.”
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, the prime minister said he worries chaos in Syria could allow chemical weapons to fall into the hands of sworn enemies of Israel.
“Can you imagine Hezbollah - the people who are conducting, with Iran, all these terror attacks around the world - can you imagine that they would have chemical weapons? It would be like al-Qaida having chemical weapons. It is something that is not acceptable to us,” he said. -more

* * * And Saturday evening is the start of Tisha Be'Av!

Tisha Be'Av (2002)

July 18, 2002

Today's cartoon is from 10 years ago in 2002. This year, 2012, Tisha Be'Av begins on Saturday evening July 28, and ends on Sunday July 29th at sunset.

For previous Tisha Be'Av cartoons please click on Tisha Be'Av.

Part of the Language

A friend reported hearing someone say that an unruly Union group "had gone all Arab Spring" on management. English is filled with phrases whose origins are lost to us. The British "Bob's your Uncle" and the American "I'll be there with bells on!" come to mind.

The other night, while out to dinner, I tried to impress the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) with my knowledge of the origins of those two phrases and she responded by pointing to the restaurant's "Powder Room" saying "So where did the British euphemism 'the Loo' come from?". "Could 'water closet'have morphed into 'Waterloo' and been shortened to 'Loo'?" she asked. "and why the 00 sign?" she went on.

By that point I lost interest in the topic and got down to doing a cartoon. Today's effort is what came out.

Investigating Terror (2002)

November 24, 2002

Today's Golden Odie cartoon was published on November 24, 2002. Ten years ago.

Back then investigators of 911 were careful not to hint at the Saudi Islamist background to the attack on America. Now, after the Iranian Islamist attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria, it seems convenient for much of the West and its Media to "not see" the Iranian fingerprints all over it.

Olympic Threat

Last week's scenes of the horrific attack on innocent Israeli tourists in Borgas Bulgaria were followed by the scenes of the horrific attack on innocent Americans in a movie theater in Aurora Colorado. These images were in my mind as I saw disturbing reports on the growing security fears about the London 2012 Olympic Games.

According to ESPN's Olympic News:

London's Olympic security under renewed scrutiny

LONDON -- "Britain's Olympic security plans fell under fresh scrutiny Sunday, with a newspaper reporting that several people on a terror watch list have been waved through airport border controls without being flagged and officials trying to calm the uproar over a security contractor's failure to provide its promised number of staff.

The Observer newspaper's report is the latest in a series of last-minute concerns to surface as London gets ready to host the Olympic Games from July 27 to Aug. 12.

The paper said that, since the start of the month, immigration staff at London's Heathrow Airport had missed several people on a security watch list whose arrival in the country was meant to have been reported to counter-terrorism police or Britain's domestic intelligence service.

The newspaper cited unions as suggesting that staff brought in to help relieve the pressure at Heathrow, which has faced recurring problems handling large influxes of passengers, weren't being properly trained. The airport, Europe's busiest, has recently struggled to clear huge lines that build up at immigration checkpoints during peak times, leading to fears of Olympics-related chaos as tourists fly in to watch the games.

The report left it unclear whether the people on the watch list were still in the country, whether they were intercepted later, or exactly why they had attracted the attention of counter-terrorism officials in the first place. Britain's Home Office declined to comment Sunday on the Observer story." -more

Another Islamist Attack

Sometimes I use my cartoons to simply express the way I feel.

This is one of those times.

Telephone Reform (1997)

July 4, 1997

Bezeq was the Israeli monopoly that controlled all international calls coming out of Israel. In 1997, 15 years ago, the monopoly was broken, competition was allowed, and telephone rates dropped through the floor! International calls became cheap. And in the days that followed, we understood how "our" phone company had been ripping us off for years!! And we were angry!

Now in 2012 we are experiencing the same understanding and the same anger as we leave "our" mobile phone companies in droves. Yup. they've opened the field up to competition and rates are dropping through the floor. And we now understand how "our" cellphone companies have been ripping us off for years!! And we are angry!

3D Movies

These days the only real reason to see a movie at our local "Cinema City" is 3D. Which might actually save cinemas from dying ...or so they hope ...and that prompted me to think about the dying newspaper business.

Mobile Phone Ringtones (2002)

July 29, 2002

10 years ago, and the constant annoyance of ringtones going off was fresh and new to us all.

Terrorism Conference in Spain

"
From the Washington Free Beacon, July 10, 2012:

Counterterrorism forum excludes Israel despite state’s record of suffering terrorist attacks

"Despite pleas from Senators on Capitol Hill, the Obama administration excluded Israel from a new counterterrorism forum and neglected to mention its long and deadly struggle with terrorism during remarks presented yesterday in Spain.

Maria Otero, the State Department’s Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, delivered a speech entitled “Victims of Terrorism” before 29 members of the Global Counterterrorism Forum, an coalition of countries—not including Israel—that collectively combat terror.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sparked a controversy in June when she announced the coalition’s formation and neglected to include Israel on a list of countries that perpetually struggle with terror attacks. It is widely believed that Israel was overlooked as a member due to the opposition of Turkey, which has increasingly been at odds with the Jewish state.

Congressional sources and regional experts say that the Obama administration is intentionally downplaying Israel’s struggle with terrorism in order to appease and gain the cooperation of Arab nations that are often hostile to the Jewish state." -more

Israel's Citizen Army

Both minority communities are being betrayed by their own "leadership" ...or so it seems to me. But that's not what's causing an uproar in the country.

"Fairness to those who carry the burden" is what drives the growing movement for a national draft for all Israeli citizens, including Israeli Arabs and Ultra-Orthodox Jews(Haredim).

Ynet reports:

"A political crisis is looming over the Coalition, again: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Friday that he has ordered the formation of two teams to devised alternatives to Tal Law.

Earlier this week Netanyahu dissolved the Plesner Committee, originally tasked with devising alternatives to the universal draft bill. The move was slammed as one meant to both placate the religious parties and avert the Arab public's wrath; and ended up rattling the Coalition even further." -more

Iran and Syria against the Saudis (1988)

March 22, 1988

Today's Golden Odie cartoon was published on March 22, 1988. Twenty-four years ago.

Back then Israel did not feel the need to take out newly installed sophisticated Saudi missiles. The cartoon took a peek at Israeli thinking. You might have to read the cartoon a couple of times.

Interesting, don't you think, in light of the current civil war and slaughter in 2012 Syria?

Arafat: Back From the Dead!

I hope that Christians will understand that this cartoon is meant to mock the Arab attempts to userp Christian belief, as in the "Jesus was a Palestinian" or the "There was no 'Jewish Temple' in Jerusalem" libels.

Christian Plight (1997)

July 13, 1997

Today's cartoon is from July 1997. Fifteen years ago this month.

As it was back then, so it is now
...except that now the endangered and ignored Christian communities are in Africa.

Gathering War Clouds

And so we sit and watch as the story unfolds.

The God Particle

THEY'VE DONE IT!

Scientists have "seen" the absolutely smallest sub-atomic particle there is!
For sure!
So they're all ecstatic!

Except, of course, for the scientist who blinked ...and the cynics who still have doubts.

LA Airport (2002)

July 08, 2002

Today's Golden Odie cartoon is from 2002.

According to CNN's report:

"...both local and federal authorities said it was too early to say whether terrorists were to blame for Thursday's shooting."We have no information that indicates that this incident is connected to any terrorist event or anything else, but the matter is under investigation right now," Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn said.Added Richard Garcia, the FBI agent in charge of the bureau's Los Angeles office, "Right now, we're looking at it as an isolated incident." -more

Too Lazy to Read

Post-literacy is one reason that cartoons are destined to become more and more important in the online world ...along with YouTube and other image-based media.

So my latest plans include drawing a series of digital comics and launching a YouTube channel. Stay tuned for further developments.

Yizhak Shamir (1981)

March 06, 1981

Today's Golden Odie cartoon was published in 1981.

In 1981 Yitzhak Shamir was Israel's Foreign Minister. The news was that the Polish-born Jew was meeting with the Polish-born Pope. What a fascinating meeting that must have been for both men.

Shamir would go on to serve two terms as Prime Minister, the first from 1983 to 1984 and then 1986–1992.

Yizhak Shamir z"l, 1915-2012

Syrian Catastrophe - Newspaper Columnist

Today's news features the slaughter of thousands in the Syrian revolution, which led me to think about the main stream media experts and columnists who, in the guise of helping Israel in spite of itself, so misrepresented and continue to misrepresent the truth about the Middle East.

Your thoughts?