Stop The ACLU / Pile On

Click cartoon for larger image. Super Size Me.

Faithmouse appears regularly on the Sunday Funnies post at Stop The ACLU, which following a December algorithm tweak has been progressively making its way back into the TTLB Top Ten.

Didn't nearly have enough ferrets or moles available for the usual suspects so I settled for a sampling of mainly the worst offenders as documented by Progress For America.

Thanks to big guy Chad at 4 The Little Guy for adding faithmouse to his blogroll.

Faithmouse has received a few visits from Cardinal Hayes Catholic High School in the Bronx (I attended O.L.P.H. in the Sunset Park neighborhood) and which just happens to have a cartooning club. Now that's hip. I imagine I'm one of the few editorial cartoonists on the net who doesn't mind posting cartoons in progress, a process which I hope is as helpful to other cartoonists as it's proved itself to be for myself. There's something peculiarly informative about seeing drawings backlit and surrounded by text.....

For Michael at The Waffling Anglican.

A new Blogs4Life promo cartoon, also in progress.

Stop The ACLU / Pile On, In Progress

For the Sunday Funnies at Stop The ACLU.

Blogs4Life / Natalie Jost, In Progress #2

Blogs4Life sponsor cartoon in progress, for web designer Natalie Jost.

Blogs4Life / Cross Blogging

Click cartoon above for larger image. Largest.

There!

The domains Catholiccartoon.com and Prolifecartoons.com have been added to the family of faithmouse redirects.

Thanks to conservative agnostic and faithmouse fan CT at Severe Writer's Block for including a link to an older Martin Luther King cartoon in his post regarding Dome Village entitled Left Wing Compassion. Missed this nice mention from last month on FRANKTalk as well. Thanks, Frank!

Blogs4Life / Cross Blogging, In Progress #2

Toon still in progress for Lennie at Cross Blogging.

Blogs4Life / Natalie Jost, In Progress

Toon in progress, for web designer Natalie Jost.

Go Stephen Go!

After twelve years of Canadian cultural folly and corruption, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives look set to prevail in the special election on January 23. As of this writing the Tories are leading by 10 points in public opinion polls, a significant turnaround from last November and a gap which could widen even further lest the marvelously stead Mr. Harper blurts out something dreadful to derail his own campaign, which is about as likely to happen as Samuel Alito skipping into his confirmation hearing dressed as a beautiful, beautiful butterfly. The possibility of sanity officially returning to our neighbor to our north is tantamount to the return of Rip Van Winkle from the Adirondacks.

Long time-no see, good neighbor!

Blogs4Life / Holycoast

Click cartoon above to view larger image. Super size me.

For Rick Moore at Holycoast. Thanks, Rick!

I hope to have both Lennie's toon for Cross Blogging and Natalie's for Natalie Jost completed and posted late this evening/Thursday morning.

I received this question last week from David-

Is support for abortion heresy? I am being told by my friend that support is not heresy, and that it is not taught in the Magisterium. He wants "proof" that the Magisterium teaches support for abortion as heresy. I have tried to give him many things like "The Twelve Step Program" by Bishop Rene Henry Gracida, but my friend's response was that the Bishop was just one Bishop, that Rome had not ratified the letter and it was not enough to "change the teaching of the Magisterium". So are there any other Bishops that agree with Bishop Gracida? Are there any other Bishops that have written or said that support for abortion is indeed heresy? What are some good things I could give him to show that indeed support for abortion is heresy? Was it right for my friend to say Bishop Gracida was trying to change the teaching of the Magisterium?

Peace in Christ God save the Unborn!
David Messick

Here's my reply-

Thanks for the question, David.

Support for abortion is most certainly heresy. Heresy is refutation or denial of an essential point of faith. The Magisterium as I understand it is simply the living church, which I suppose can be said to be the the total of current authority embodying the tradition of the church. I know that there were Bulls by certain Popes against abortion in the past, and more recently (in the past fifty years) there's been a series of writings from Papal authority specifically condemning abortion. There isn't any need to declare abortion specifically as being heretical (although that might already be true, sorry I don't know the answer to that question) ...it just is. Whatever one or another Bishop might declare about abortion is nonsense if the statement is at odds with established church teaching.
I've discovered a very good site recently by a Catholic clinical laboratory tech in molecular biology called 'Mary Meet Dolly'. Under 'Catholic Teaching' on her site she has a list of relevant writings on the subject of abortion and links back to the original documents on the Vatican site. You may also be interested in this page at New Advent on abortion- http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01046b.htm

My answer is far from definitive. If you the more knowledgeable visitor have any additional information or corrections to my answer please feel free to leave your comments.

I highly recommend Rebecca Taylor's Mary Meets Dolly (A Catholic's Guide to Genetics, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology). If you wish to speak knowledgeably on this essential though highly intimidating field of research, Rebecca's site is a great resource. I'm flattered that she chose to add my link to her site; which I take as God's way of sowing a seed for future cartoons on the subject. Of particular relevant is Rebecca's Clone The Truth campaign. Please, check it out!

Thanks to Alexa in Singapore for posting the recent Pro Life Blogs toon on her always relevant Birth Story (must be because she's more than half a day ahead of the rest of us). Eaglet has helped to propagate the Blogs4Life message by posting the original promo toon on his Adam's Thoughts. Good work, and thanks!

Blogs4Life / Cross Blogging, In Progress

For Illinios blogger Lennie at Crossblogging.

Justice Sunday / Thanks For The Light, And A Poem

Click cartoon above for larger image. Even larger.

From two photos taken by Family Research Council event blogger Stacy Harp at Justice Sunday. Cartoon delayed from the promised post time; thanks for stopping back.

Just noticed that the cartoon is #1 in Google under Christian editorial. Pretty nifty.

Thanks to Mike at the Violence Worker for the kind email and post of yesterday's cartoon. There are a number of rightfully recognized 'stars' in the blogosphere and many, many more adjunct bloggers such as Air Force Veteran and defense industry employee Mike (who's blog could just as aptly be named The Peace Activist) whose perspective reflects those of most moderate Americans but who suffer the label 'extremist' and do so rather well.

And now for the poem-

I'm a Conservative Extremist. Who Are You?

I'm a Conservative Extremist! Who are you?
Are you--a Conservative Extremist--Too?
Then there's a pair of us?
Don't tell! they'd banish us--you know!

How dreary--to be--Markos Moulitsas!
How public--like a Frog--
To tell one's name--the livelong day--
To an admiring Blog!

-hat tip, Emily Dickinson

Stop The ACLU / Smile, It's Justice Sunday

Stacy Harp has arrived in Philadelphia as an event blogger for Justice Sunday and has posted a few camera pics of the inside of a swanky Philly hotel room on her Mind and Media site. My experience with photographs on blogs is that they are usually too dark, so I've taken the liberty of lightening one of Stacy's camera pics in Photoshop (the same procedure which USA Today claimed caused Condi's cat eyes a few months ago) and labeled the shot for easy reference.


Click for bigger picture
I've decided to put the 'Pledge Allegiance To The New Quebec' Stop The ACLU toon on simmer and post the one below instead. The pledge toon had just too much detail to finish in time; as usual my eyes proved bigger than my clock. Thanks to Air Force Vet The Violence Worker for inspiring the toon.

Thanks to Possum at D Dot's Rants for adding the updating feed. GOP Christian has added a link as well as the cartoon itself to their news page. Thanks to Catholic Family Campaign which has also added the toon. Honors, all.

Elizabeth at Daily Inklings has come onboard as a sponsor. Thanks, Elizabeth! Thanks also to Michael at The Waffling Anglican for doing the same. I'll be placing all of these donor cartoons into a booklet which I'll make available at the conference and foist upon anyone who may or may not seem interested. Concerned Women For America (the same group which had the bloody pro-choice protestor a few days ago) has offered its facilities as a rest stop along the march route, so I'll try to drop off a few copies there as well.

Blogs4Life / Holycoast, In Progress

For Rick at Holycoast.

Stop The ACLU / Pledge Allegiance To The New Quebec, In Progress

For the Sunday Funnies at Stop The ACLU.

Blogs4Life / Prolifeblogs

For Pro Life Blogs, one of the co-organizers of the Blogs4Life conference.

Blogs4Life / Prolifeblogs Toon, In Progress

I'm failing trackbacks. That's equal to failing recess. Like dancing, everyone seems able to do it but me. I've decided to abandon the process and wait to be struck with my moment of trackback epiphany (however, I need to give the good Mr. Yoest one more try).

The above is a sponsor toon for Tim at Prolifeblogs, which will be followed by a sponsor toon for Rick at Holycoast. Then we'll have a toon for the Sunday Funnies at Stop The ACLU. Monday will start with the first of two more sponsor toons, for rare female web designer Natalie at Natalie Jost and Lennie at Cross Blogging.

Cheers to our sponsors! These designs are a lot of fun and remind me of my 'T-Shirt' days in Lake Havasu City during the 1980's when I designed hundreds of shirts for the local businesses and the tourist trade. If you made a fool of yourself on a boat on Lake Havasu in the summer, or ran over something with your R.V. near London Bridge in the winter, you were probably doing so wearing one of my 'Spanky's Silkscreening' designs.

I've decided to follow the lead of my friend Jean at Catholic Fire (which has a great new look) and enable comment moderation. I apologize for the inconvenience, especially to past posters. I've lucked out (shouldn't that be lucked in?) with excellent commentators, but Jean's experience reminds me that I should do what I can to make the site more child friendly, something I've neglected for the sake of being accessible. The popular media refuses to acknowledge the possible presence of children at all audiences. I'm guilty of that as well, especially by way of my linking to people who curse at the cartoon; I'll get my wheels back on the right track.

The Book Of Daniel

Second NBC Affiliate Blocks Daniel -Newsmax
NBC has an interesting science fiction series scheduled for mid-season -Midwest Conservative Journal
Thanks to the sites who have come onboard to sponsor our trip to the Blogs4Life conference. The first was Stacy Harp of Mind and Media, who also sent out an email to sites on her Blog For Books blogroll. Thanks, Stacy.

The next toon in the works is for Tim at Pro-Life Blogs.

Blogs4Life / Book Of Daniel, In Progress

Thanks to Stacy Harp who posted yesterday's Blogs4Life toon on her Blog For Books and Writing Right, as well as the well respected La Shawn Barber for giving the sponsorship drive a much appreciated plug. Christian Media virtuoso Danny Carlton at Blog Ad Swap, Jack Lewis and Family Net Home has kindly donated a number of free ads to help promote the conference, which is sufficient motivation for adding a third column to this site, something I've previously considered.

I'll be using the template above for non-sponsor toons (see previous post) during the next few weeks, which will feature mini-versions of current events cartoons such as the 'Book Of Daniel' NBC T.V. series toon in progress. Independent versions of these toons will be posted adjunctly here on the site.

Please Sponsor faithmouse at Blogs4Life

Chris (the original faithmouse) and I are traveling to Washington in a few weeks to participate as conference bloggers at the first annual Blogs4Life, which is being sponsored and hosted at The Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. Immediately following the conference we'll be participating in the March For Life, where we'll be on the prowl for Starbucks and using up a lot of hand and foot warmers.

I have a pretty good deal for anyone who might like to co-sponsor our trip. For a donation I will-
1. Draw and post a cartoon similar to Stacy's toon above, which will appear and/or be linked for a day on both the faithmouse site and related domains (faithmouse.com, faithmouse.blogspot.com, christiancartoon.com, conservativecartoon.com and hellokiity.com) and accessible by one to ten thousand cartoon affiliates, link partners, and linked posts.
2. Add your cartoon permanently to my page of pro-life cartoons, which is ranked #1 on Google and Yahoo under both 'pro-life cartoons' and 'anti-abortion cartoons', with both a link to your site from the cartoon (complete with keyword rich alt tags) and beneath it. Spiders and robots prize these sort of highly ranked, rich content links, so in addition to any traffic generated from the link it should have the ancillary effect of positively affecting your site rankings.
3. Mail you a signed color copy of the finished cartoon (completed in Photoshop) along with the signed original artwork which I used for your cartoon.
4. Include your cartoon in my complimentary handouts at the conference in Washington and along the march route.

This is great publicity for your pro-life blog and a nifty way to participate in the conference without being there. It also helps to cover expenses for our trip, which would be very much appreciated.

I'll gladly accept a donation of any amount. Twelve $100 dollar donations would completely pay for the trip, as would one $1200 donation. If you're like me and subsidize your blogging with a job in the real world, you know how amazing it is to actually see a dollar from your work. So, if you can help, know that it's for a good cause, is a great value and is well appreciated. Thanks!

The Paypal button is below.
danlacey (at) faithmouse.com

How Great Thou Art!

This cartoon was inspired by the report last last night that the thirteen missing West Virginia miners had been discovered alive, and that family members waiting at Sabo Baptist had spontaneously burst into a rendition of 'How Great Thou Art' at the good news. I felt uneasy though while drawing the cartoon: a few hours later I learned why. I decided not to ditch the image but to change the tone and re-present it.

I imagine some may think the image inappropriate. It's meant to reflect both the heartbreak and the faith of those who even in their darkest hour declare resolutely that, no matter the depth of their personal tragedy, God remains great.

Thanks to the dapper Jack Yoest who posted the Blogs4Life promo cartoon from a few days ago, as well as Elizabeth at Daily Inklings and Peter at March Together. There may be others, but as I invited people to simply copy and post I can't backtrack the referrers. If you've done the same please let me know and I'll happily give you a hat tip in return.

Stop The ACLU / Happy New Ferrets

Click image for larger version. Larger.

Updated version of the image which appeared yesterday
on the Sunday Funnies post at Stop The ACLU.

If you compare this cartoon to the sketch in the previous post you'll notice that I decided to drop a ferret rather than risk the viewer surmising that the characters must be flying around in some sort of a UFO. I saved the toon in some of the feeds as a GIF image before converting it to a JPEG. You can create some dandy 'low tech' textures in this way (click the toon above to see what I'm referring to) and the JPEG setting reproduces the textures faithfully while creating an even smaller, faster loading file.

I'm planning on updating the Catholic feed of the cartoon much more often this year, and also to include in each of these cartoons information from the liturgical calendar. Here's an example.

I caught about an hour of Dick Clark's New Year's Eve show, and didn't once see a shared shot of him with any other host in the studio. He truly seemed alone in a crowd of millions.

Thanks to Chad who plans a link to faithmouse somewhere on his energetic and activist oriented Culture Jam For Life. Thirteen year old CartoonBaron at his ComixBlog has added a much appreciated link. Good duck joke! The missionary oriented A Tale Of Five Cities (under construction) has included faithmouse as a 'useful link'. Can't ask for more than that.

I have a notion for helping to promote both fellow pro-life sites and the upcoming Blogs4Life, and also to cover some of my expenses for the trip to Washington. I think it's a pretty good deal for a good cause (good publicity for your blog both by way of faithmouse affiliates, a number of other sites and directly at the Family Research Center, in addition to the opportunity to own some original faithmouse artwork). If you're a fan of the cartoon, I would appreciate any support you might be able to offer. More info tomorrow!