HURRICANE KATRINA

First of two panels.

DAVID STEIN AND FRIENDS AT WORLD YOUTH DAY

Faithmouse fan and world traveler David Stein of The Cave has posted a collection of photographs taken from his trip to Cologne for World Youth Day.

I happened to catch a little of the final mass at 3 A.M. Minnesota time on EWTN, as I sat on the couch nodding off over an unfinished cartoon.

A big hat tip to Mr. Stein and friends for doing such a great job representing U.S. Catholics.

THE PUNISHMENT OF PAT ROBERTSON

The news oriented 700 Club currently garners 1 million viewers a day and growing, and yet I've never seen this figure compared against the nightly news numbers for the major, secular networks-but they should be. The 700 Club audience rightly belongs to the major networks, but they've long decided to abdicate this part of their traditional base audience. Taking hard shots at Pat Robertson, as wrong as he certainly is for his recent pro-assassination commentary, is a no lose situation. Considering the insanity coming out of the mouth of their created darling The Peace Mom, it's been a welcome diversion for the MSM.

I've spent more time than I intended on this toon, so the finished version of Tuesday's toon is delayed. The good news is that I have a great headstart on my Garrison Squealer/Grunt Noir toon planned for Saturday.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Sure do hope people like unfinished cartoons. I should have the completed versions of both of these cartoons posted later this evening.

WE'RE GOING TO THE HUNTER S. THOMPSON SUICIDE PARTY

I'll fix George's tie in a day or two...
Some Decry Glitz of Thompson Blastoff - Breibart.com

Suicide-awareness hike ends in time for funeral - The Aspen Times

Living and Dying According to the Voice of Faith:
A Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of the State of Michigan- Michigan Catholic Conference

STUPID EXPERIMENTS IN INFINITENESS

Here's a variation of yesterday's cartoon. Technically, I was playing with the convention of the infinitely repeating panel, which as a result of this experiment I hereby dismiss. This convention is normally accompanied by an oppressively thick sky of dialogue which hovers over the speakers, and manifests itself usually in the form of a rant, which helps to mask the frozen artifice below. Nothing can mask the artifice. I do my best to avoid cliche structures, and I only delved into this one up to my ankles to see if the water was hot or cold. It was cold. Today's variation helps clear my conscience.

Eric Eranko at his Christifidelis has posted the Brother Roger toon for a few days ago. Eric has a great archive of photos from his trips to both Italy and Israel available for viewing at his Eranco page. Little Bit Tired, Little Bit Worn has linked to one of the Planned Parenthood toons, as has Amy at Real Catholic. A poster at Protest Warrior has given a previous faithmouse Pro-Life toon a link. I don't know how long this has been up, but The Church in Misamis Occidental, Philippines is showing one of the Pope John Paul II/Terri Schiavo toons, which really makes me want to find the time to refine the image.

PIECES FOR ISRAEL

Well, the neighborhood bully, he's just one man,
His enemies say he's on their land.
They got him outnumbered about a million to one,
He got no place to escape to, no place to run.
He's the neighborhood bully.

The neighborhood bully just lives to survive,
He's criticized and condemned for being alive.
He's not supposed to fight back, he's supposed to have thick skin,
He's supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in.
He's the neighborhood bully.

The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land,
He's wandered the earth an exiled man.
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn,
He's always on trial for just being born.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized,
Old women condemned him, said he should apologize.
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad.
The bombs were meant for him. He was supposed to feel bad.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Well, the chances are against it and the odds are slim
That he'll live by the rules that the world makes for him,
'Cause there's a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac.
He's the neighborhood bully.

He got no allies to really speak of.
What he gets he must pay for, he don't get it out of love.
He buys obsolete weapons and he won't be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Well, he's surrounded by pacifists who all want peace,
They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease.
Now, they wouldn't hurt a fly. To hurt one they would weep.
They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Every empire that's enslaved him is gone,
Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon.
He's made a garden of paradise in the desert sand,
In bed with nobody, under no one's command.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Now his holiest books have been trampled upon,
No contract he signed was worth what it was written on.
He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth,
Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health.
He's the neighborhood bully.

What's anybody indebted to him for?
Nothin', they say. He just likes to cause war.
Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed,
They wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed.
He's the neighborhood bully.

What has he done to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers?
Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill,
Running out the clock, time standing still,
Neighborhood bully

Bob Dylan, Neighborhood Bully track exerpt WMP

- Copyright © 1983 Special Rider Music

BROTHER ROGER, 90, MARTYRED AT TAIZE

Taize's founder stabbed to death during service
Leading ecumenical figure is slain at community he founded in France - MSNBC
Taize Founder Killed - Catholic World News
Taize Community Web Site, France
About Taize - East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh USA

Cartoon drawn between midnight and 3 A.M. Wednesday morning. The Taize symbol is the water below Brother Roger Schultz, inspired by John Paul II's quote about Taize being a place where one could pause on a spiritual journey and have a refreshing drink from a stream (the bridge passing over the stream).

Brother Roger attended the funeral mass for John Paul II.

As with many of the images I draw, it would be nice to find a week or so to refine this...

Roger Schutz-Marsauche was a Protestant theologian who left the safety of Switzerland during World War II and went to France in order to create a home for the destitute, which included persecuted Jews. The Nazi secret police forced him to leave in 42, but he returned after the war and began his monastic community.

Brother Roger was one of those brave and independent souls who have helped to bridge the gap between Protestantism and Catholicism, who's lifelong dedication to respect, reconciliation and powerful, world changing prayer was a rational rebuff to the devastating consequences of an imposed secular multiculturalism.

BLOG VISITORS JUMP 31% IN 2005 (Free Republic in top 10) & DAN RATHER REDUCK (taped)

Free Republic has this post on the blooming blogosphere, which sports one of my Dan Rather Toons from last year posted by thread initiator Cincinatus' Wife. The toon features a gray Faith with tail on 'Whoopieless' Slimfast (and which has since lost all of the weight). Faith's prehensile can now double as a very handy whip, which gives me an idea or two...

Funny to think that the antagonists in the collection's top-most toon have all departed their standard media altars.

Ratherbiased documents Dan's rather biased and chronic on-air God paranoia.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD'S 'A SUPERHERO FOR CHOICE' MEETS THE ISLAMO-FASCISTS

Sad to think that violent jihadists have more in common with us morally than many of our own countrymen.

Updates on Dianisis and the continuing Planned Parenthood 'A Superhero For Choice' expose can be found at Dawn Eden's The Dawn Patrol, in addition to many other stories and issues confronting the socially aware Christian. To one degree or another, that's all of us. Dawn's current post concerns former Saturday Night Live alumni Julia Sweeney, who's book debasing Christianity has earned her a curtaincall on the Christian bashing interview circuit.

Tim at Pro Life Blogs has posted the PP toon from last week, as well as a link to Dawn's information. Thanks to Serene Rachel for the kind mention on her blog, as well as to Christian Today which has added selected faithmouse toons to their cartoon page. Greetings to Catholic Shirts Online, which has added faithmouse as their daily cartoon. KC of Extreme Truths posts a comparison between yesterday's NARAL lie and the truth.

Don't forget...we'll be seeing you at the Pro-Choice riot!

8/14/05 NARAL TELEVISION AD CARTOON

An updated version of today's cartoon will be posted for Monday.

NARAL Scrapping Controversial Anti-Roberts Ad -GOP USA

NARAL Ad is a Pack of Lies says Operation Rescue - Christian NewsWire

CNN: 'No' to Mother Teresa, 'Yes' to NARAL - Christian News Wire

NARAL Communications Director Resigns - Washington Post


Thanks to our friends at Abortion Debate for regularly posting cartoons. The encouragement is appreciated!

I'm changing my modus operandi for naming posts. Less artful, but Blog readers should be able to find and categorize the material a little better. Expect the eventual MAN CUTS GRASS, TAKES NAP or MOUSE LOSES PATIENCE, WHACKS TEDDYBEAR headline coming soon to a blogreader near you.

Steven Vincent

I was quite moved by the story of independent journalist Steven Vincent, former art critic, author of The Red Zone, who was murdered earlier this month in Basra, Iraq. His brave Iraqi female translator was wounded in the same attack. Part of her motivation for assisting Mr. Vincent was her distress that western reporters were consistently uninterested in news of how grateful the Iraqi people were for their freedom.

Some people will forever wonder why folks such as myself stress the connection between politics and faith, between the way we allow others to manage our lives and what we believe about our lives. Rabid secularists promote the fashionable yet dysfunctional belief that these two worlds need to be disconnected, and well minded spiritual people help them in their destruction, assuming this is the essence of fairness. The result is the loss of our western definition of freedom; freedom as it's flawlessly defined through the personal, atoning sacrifice of Christ. Free in Christ, we understand the true value of life. Free in Christ, we know that it is honorable to sacrifice for the freedom of others; that we shouldn't allow tyrants to mold our beautiful world into an expression of hell.

Steven Vincent was on the side of freedom, not fear. That's reason enough for Christians and Muslims who love freedom to celebrate his bravery.

Toon 8/12/05 Greetings From Ground Zero

Take Back The Memorial.org
Debra Burlingame-'The Great Ground Zero Heist'

Thanks to Bob Ellis of the very capably reported Dakota Voice for posting the toon on his front page. DK is an insight into the news and issues which matter in the state of South Dakota, faithmouses' good neighbor to the west.

Squarepants Cartoon #666

Faithmouse daily #666 just happens to be the long promised Spongebob Squarepants cartoon. If you have no idea what this cartoon is alluding to, Charmaine Yoest will be happy to bring you up to speed.

The ingenious Maureen Martin at CatholicNews.org has added a much appreciated graphic link to faithmouse, and also offers the observation that the cartoon makes good points without being meanspirited. Joe at Soldier Of Christ Jesus is using a cartoon from the military collection as a backdrop; I've emailed him a lighter image to use. On the flipside is this PopAnime thread which asserts that faithmouse is awful and the cartoonist is a dingus. An MSN page called Pioneer Pegagus has posted an older faithmouse toon from last year, but, as the page is written mostly in Chinese I can't tell if the operator consider the toon unmeanspirited or dingus-driven, although I'm inclined to believe it's a positive posting. As for the last two plugs, I'm finding the cartoon commented upon and/or posted on more Anime oriented sites.
I wonder how Faith would look dressed as Sailor Moon?

Pizza Therapy

The original faithmouse and I are headed to the Franciscan Sisters in St. Paul today for a little prayer therapy. Before that we'll stop at Punch for a little pizza therapy. Both fill gnawing hungers.
Kudos to Dawn Eden for the recent link and kind words. Father Phil Bloom at Simple Catholicism has posted today's (well, yesterday's) toon in his online homily. Nods also to KC at Extreme Truths and Jeff Miller at The Curt Jester who's site offers a small graphic which would make for a dandy postcard at that little general store on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica-

Toon 8/9/5 Panned Parenthood

Today's cartoon references the touted/jettisoned Planned Parenthood cartoon which encouraged violence against peaceful Pro-Life protestors. This article at The Media Report sums up the continuing silence...

I first learned of the story by way of the very capable Mark Nicodemo's blog. Dawn Eden broke the story and offered assistance during research for the cartoon; her Dawn Patrol site features a number of video captures from the original flash animation, which I largely relied upon as I had a rotten time displaying the Quicktime video. I also made use of Saint Kansas' post of the decapitation of Mr. Blue, the most unfortunate of the anti-abortion hicks. I suspect Mr. Blue was originally a priest, but the artist backed off the presentation, not wishing to alienate some highly secularized and PP friendly clergy. The storefront is modeled after the same in the animation.

Mr apologies to our friends at Something Awful who I notice are ruminating over the mysterious meaning of a number of older toons and possibly wondering whatever became of the promised SpongeBob cartoon. Unfortunately I just had a grand idea for a cartoon concerning those nine female pseudo Catholic clergy self-ordained in a boat in the middle of the Saint Lawrence River.....

Toon Roundup 8/8/05

A collection of images I've posted over the last few days. The Spongebob toon is one of two I'm planning for the week. Nothing like waiting half a year after a controversy in order to have a subject completely to yourself.

Thanks to Brent at our Webnet77 hosting company for giving the cartoon a blurb in various mailings. Thanks also to Karen at Karen's Korner for linking to the toon, as well as Serene Rachel at Abortion Debate for creating an avatar from a recent Neverborn toon.

Toon 8/5/05

Today's cartoon is just a revision of yesterday's cartoon, which was the result of a suggestion by Robert Phillips, as mentioned in Wednesday's blog post.

Christian blogger Glenn Braden of Thought Crime has recently returned from a house building trip to Kenya. You can view his 275 pics here.
Diguna provided logistics for his church group, as well as 2 cooks and 2 driver/mechanics with Lorries as well as a few extra bodies.

I'm working on a Bill Frist toon, as well as what I can safely say must be the first Christian cartoon based upon one of the porch scenes from George Romero's original Night Of The Living Dead.

Briggs and Stratton Uber Alles

Today's a day to cut grass and write bills, and to perform a little cyber-maintenance as well. This includes thanking-

Highway 777, for including faithmouse as an RSS feed and actually getting the feedburner code to display the toon on their site-

To Stacy Harp for the nice commentary regarding the graphic I created for her site, which also serves as today's cartoon and as a promo graphic for any other Christian blogger who would like to purloin it's use-

To Mr. End The Christian Right (.org) for his recent Faithmouse Uber Alles (faithmouse over all) post which makes the indirect charge that in a heavily stylized toon from a few weeks ago Faith is actually sporting an, um, swastika. Nods also to The Rain Barrel and The 522 for recent and decidedly friendlier faithmouse activity.

While we're on the subject, I've received a number of emails condemning Mr. Coyle's continuing commentary. The repeated assertion is that Shawn is so over the top, nothing he posts should be taken seriously. In my own continuing quest to evangelize the cartoon, Shawn is helping to take my characters into places they probably wouldn't think to visit. All I can say to that is...thanks!

Here's an email from a long time supporter of the cartoons with a nifty suggestion at the end-

I applaud you for the way you (are handling) the guy from endthechristianright.com.... Well done sir!
On another note, you mentioned you were planning to do another Canadian cartoon. I thought that the events yesterday regarding the Air France plane that crashed in Toronto, Ontario would serve as excellent material. All 300+ (yes, every one) of the passengers escaped. Not a single person died in the crash or ensuing fire. It was a real miracle, with fewer than 30 of them sustaining minor injuries. It was truly the hand of God at work, and I thought the subject might make for an excellent cartoon by a talented artist like yourself. Keep up the good work! ~Rob Phillips

Good suggestion. Tomorrow's toon is decided then. I'll mentally configure the image whilst whistling the rousing Lawnmower Uber Alles.

Two Toons 8/2/05

Update of yesterday's toon. Added Maureen Dowd and Gary Wills. Not quite enough room for Al Franken, and Richard Dreyfuss, and Ted Turner, and Charles Schumer, and Moby, and .....

New Neverborn toon in progress. Still love those honking large rainbow color pens, which I predict will rise up from the glove compartment of history and completely replace the blogosphere. You read it here first.