The Google Images filter settings are nothing more than a sham. Type in the names of pretty much any cartoon characters, and you'll get fanart of a sexually explicit nature sprinkled among the more innocuous results. And this not just with the "recommended" Moderate SafeSearch setting, oh no; even if you set the filters to Strict, you will still in all likelihood get NSFW results within the first ten pages (and often on Page 1).
Adding insult to injury, the "report offensive images" option is usually pretty much useless, as the images tend to stick around, both on the screen and burned into the backs of your retinas.
On any given search, you are likely to find :

• Full frontal nudity
• Close-ups of genitalia
• Explicit coitus
• Explicit coitus involving a she-male for added mental trauma
• Threesomes
• Foursomes
• Incest
• Child pornography
• Bestiality
• Tentacle porn
• Sadomasochism
• Oral sex
• Masturbation
• Rape
• A staggering variety of fetishes
• Two or more of the above at once

Plus, do not ever use any Pokemon-related keywords whatsoever if you want to preserve your sanity.

TODAY'S BOOK: "1776", by David McCullough ((c) 2005)

Labels: cartoon

It all started on my other blog, with some bleeptard writing anti-Semitic slurs on a post showcasing my cartoon about the Demjanjuk Trial. Defiantly, I answered with an uncompromising statement of my principles.
Today this person

found said post, ask me not exactly how--it's at times like this that I really, REALLY wish the Sitemeter was able to track Google Images search words--and, apparently being a moron of few words--albeit somewhat limited grammar--contented him/herself with saying:


The commenter, of course, was anonymous.
And I just have to laugh, I really do. Tell me, Brazilian Bozo, when was the last time a Nazi accomplished anything? I'll tell you: when your heroes reached the gates of Stalingrad.
That was your last hurrah, wasn't it, you Nazi scumbag? Once you lost the siege and couldn't solve the Britons and then the Americans landed, it was nothing but retreat, retreat, retreat. Then your glorious Fuhrer shot himself in his bunker and it was all over for you.
Kaput.
Finished.
And every Nazi since then can only dream of accomplishing anything at all, much less genocide. Your absolute pinnacle of achievement is scrawling messages of hate on Jews' blogs.
And if you're not in fact a Nazi, then please in the name of all that is holy please explain to me what has made you so messed up that you read a post whose entire point is to denigrate Nazis, some of the vilest human beings of the 20th century, and the only thing--the only thing--you can focus on is that the writer is Jewish.
Well, hombre, let me reiterate my message to you--in a language I think you may understand better:

And that is positively all.

TODAY'S BOOK: "Stay Fit and Healthy Until You're Dead", by Dave Barry ((c) 1985)

Labels: biographical, cartoon

That there's my 130th cartoon drawn for The Jerusalem Post, submitted yesterday and slated to appear exclusively online. That's the twelfth of the thirty I drew since the last update in the 356th post to be seen by the general public (overall total: 67, or just a touch over half of the total).
Subjects of said 12 'toons break down as follows:
Radical Islam (2)
Hizbullah (2)
Iranian sanctions
The Palestinian Authority
Unilateral withdrawals
Gilad Schalit
Corruption
The Conversion Bill
The Israeli Comptroller's Report
Jewish holidays

The stars!
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (four times, once unpublished)
Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu (four times, thrice unpublished)
US President Barack Obama (twice)
Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah (twice, once unpublished)
Syrian President Bashar Assad (once)
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (once)
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (once)
Uncle Sam (once)

Plus all of the following none of whom made it in:
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Israeli Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman
Israeli politico Moshe Feiglin
Helen Thomas
Inspector Clouseau

Bibi had the hardest fall, only appearing once out of four submissions (the most of anybody), leaving him at 22 overall. Obama made both his appearances count, and Ahmadenijad led the pack with three printings, putting him at a stunning 12-for-15 (80%) success rate historically. Startlingly missing completely is PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who seems to have dropped off the news radar completely.
And now, the bonus you've all learned to look forward to: my favorite unpublished cartoon from this period!


It's a no-brainer, really--the only cartoon I ever literally begged the Post to print, and they wouldn't. I already featured it on The Eighth Day, and here it is again. Soak up the bitterness!

TODAY'S BOOK: "The City of Ember", by Jeanne DuPrau ((c) 2003)

Labels: cartoon

9,000 DAYS, people.
Another milestone comes and passes...


TODAY'S BOOK: "East is East",  by George Mikes ((c) 1958)

Labels: cartoon, random

The above is my 100th cartoon drawn for The Jerusalem Post. Unfortunately it did not get submitted; in fact more than half lately haven't. Still, 15 of the 30 submitted since the 327th post have gotten in (making exactly 55% overall), so that's something. Four of those also appeared on the Post's website (two exclusively there) before they stopped featuring cartoons there for esoteric reasons.
The subjects of those 15 cartoons were:
Iran (3)
The "peace" process (3)
The Goldstone Report (2)
Settlements
Israeli political maneuvering
The war on terror
Airport security
The Mabhouh assassination
Miep Gies
Chanukah

Who featured in them?
Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu (seven times, thrice unpublished)
US President Barack Obama (thrice, once unpublished)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad (four times, twice unpublished)
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak (four times, thrice unpublished)
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas (twice)
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (twice)
Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni
Dubai Chief of Police Dahi Khalfan Tamim
Anne Frank
Anne Frank hider Miep Gies

Plus all of the following who did not make it to print:
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
Israeli Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin
Israeli Minister-without-Portfolio Benny Begin
Israeli Deputy FM Danny Ayalon
Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
US JCS Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen
Israeli Vice-PM Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon
Quartet envoy Tony Blair

Earlier this month a cartoon featuring Ahmadenijad failed to make it to print for the first time ever; he still wound up 9-for-11 overall. Netanyahu is by far the overall leader in both tries (21) and appearances (13), but both Obama (67%, 10/15) and Abbas (70%, 7/10) have a better average than him. And the current leader on the perfection board, at 3-for-3, is Hillary Clinton. What does all this mean? Absolutely nothing.
Anyway, here's my favorite unpublished cartoon from this period!

How fitting. (Also, see how I managed to work into one post both of Ahmadenijad's unseen appearances? Ha! I'm a sly little bugger, ain't I?)


TODAY'S BOOK: "The Last Patriot", by Brad Thor ((c) 2008)

Labels: cartoon

Wherever there is trouble, Israel is there to lend a helping hand. May G-d be with the people of Haiti. (Unprinted cartoon submitted to The Jerusalem Post.)

TODAY'S BOOK: "Miss Pickerell and the Geiger Counter", by Ellen MacGregor ((c) 1953)

Labels: cartoon

Happy Jesus Circumcision Day!
I bid you leave of 2009 CE with this li'l ditty:


TODAY'S BOOK: "The Tale of Despereaux", by Kate DiCamillo ((c) 2003)

Labels: cartoon

The above cartoon, which ran in The Jerusalem Post on December 7th, has also now been featured on some sort of German news blog. Of all things. Anyhow, it refers to the recent ban in Switzerland on building minarets. The blog editor took it to mean a protest against intolerance; actually I drew it from a purely reportingative point of view.
Well, publicity be publicity, I s'pose.

TODAY'S BOOK: "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH", by Robert C. O'Brien ((c) 1971)

Labels: biographical, cartoon

Yesterday I submitted my 70th cartoon to The Jerusalem Post. With today's appearance of it in both the print and online editions, this makes 18 of the thirty I drew since the 309th post published (3 exclusively online). Their subjects were:
Iran (3)
The Palestinian Authority (2)
The "peace" process
Turkey
The Goldstone Commission
Gilad Schalit
Swine Flu
Settlements
Healthcare
Weather
Sabbath
Switzerland
The Demjanjuk trial
J Street
The iPhone

And these are the figures, political and otherwise, that I have caricatured:
US President Barack Obama (six times, once unpublished)
Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu (five times, once unpublished)
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas (five times, once unpublished)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad (four times)
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh (thrice, twice unpublished)
Fatah Prime Minister Salam Fayyad (twice, once unpublished)
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Israeli President Shimon Peres
British PM Gordon Brown
Jordanian King Abdullah II
J Street executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami
Nazi John Demjanjuk

Plus all of the following who did not make it to print:
Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert
Former Israeli President Moshe Katzav
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal
Former Israeli Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano
Former Israeli MK Shlomo Benizri
Bernard Madoff
Murderer Dimitry Kirilik
Attorney Uri Keinan
Indiana Jones
A gremlin from Gremlins
Me (hidden cameo)

My conclusion? I'm getting better at diversifying my subject matters, and any cartoon featuring Ahmadenijad is a surefire winner (7-for-7).
Here's another peek at an unpublished tidbit!


Doubles as timely since he actually received the Prize yesterday. And yes, that's me (hair whitened) on the left.


TODAY'S BOOK: "The Odessa File", by Frederick Forsyth ((c) 1972)

Labels: cartoon

TODAY'S BOOK: "The Seekers", by Joshua Armstrong and Anthony Bruno ((c) 2000)

Labels: cartoon

Labels: :(, cartoon

Today marks the 40th cartoon I have submitted to The Jerusalem Post. So far, 22 of them have been published, 5 of those exclusively in the online edition.
The subjects of these 21 'toons break down as follows:
General security issues (3)
Iran (3)
Haredi riots (3)
The settlers (2)
The "peace" process (2)
Sweden (2)
Sports (2)
Crime (2)
Syria
Lebanon
A death

And these are the figures, political and otherwise, that I have caricaturized:
Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu (nine times, four times unpublished)
US President Barack Obama (six times, thrice unpubished)
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas (six times, twice unpublished)
Bernard Madoff (four times, twice unpublished)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad (thrice)
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (twice)
Syrian President Bashar Assad (twice, once unpublished)
Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert
Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan
Arab-Israeli MK Ahmed Tibi
Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat
Iranian politician Mir Hossein Mousavi
Holocaust denier David Irving
Levy Rosenbaum
Michael Vick
Batman
Laurel & Hardy
The Keystone Cops
Me

Plus all of the following who did not make it to print:
Former PA chairman Yassir Arafat
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak (twice)
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
US VP Joe Biden
British PM Gordon Brown
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill
Israeli Minister of Trade and Labour Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal
Kenneth Roth and two other members of HRW
Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi
Abdelbaset Al Megrahi
Incoming Director General of the IAEA Yukiya Amano
Christer Nordal
Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Kohout
Reverend Jeremiah Wright
Uncle Sam
Lady Justice

And for your general amusement, here's my favorite of the 18 pics that did not make it:


LOLzer.

TODAY'S BOOK: "Fields for President", by W.C. Fields ((c) 1941)

Labels: cartoon

They are Alina X, Milagro Reyes and Lian Harper, and they will KICK YOUR BUTT.

TODAY'S BOOK: "Zombies of the Gene Pool", by Sharyn McCrumb ((c) 1992)

Labels: cartoon

In his book "Soul Music", Terry Pratchett mentions books found in bathrooms filled with illustrations with captions like the one above--an obvious Far Side reference. I couldn't resist and decided to bring it to "life". The Larsonian style, incidentally, was drawn entirely from memory.

TODAY'S BOOK: "Holes", by Louis Sachar ((c) 1998)

Labels: cartoon

George Washington's mecha battle armor can also transform into a horse. Andrew Jackson's a crotchety old man with a trenchcoat. John F. Kennedy's the youngest member and responsible for tech support. Franklin D. Roosevelt's leg braces give him superspeed and jumping abilities. Teddy Roosevelt's Teddy Roosevelt. And Abraham Lincoln won't take no nonsense from anybody.
Their biggest enemy is, of course, turncoat Richard "Tricky Dick" Nixon and his legion of CREEPs.
Any questions?

"That's Not in My American History Book", by Thomas Ayres ((c) 2004)

Labels: cartoon

Newest Post cartoon: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad commenting on the arrogance of his Iranian subjects.



Note: from now on my political cartoons will be appearing on my brand spanking new companion blog, curently and tentatively titled Line_of_Fire.


TODAY'S BOOK: "A Long Way from Chicago", by Richard Peck ((c) 1998)

Labels: cartoon

Another Post cartoon. Barack Obama is making peaceful overtures to Syria's Basher Assad. Yeah, that's smart...



TODAY'S BOOK: "Down Town", by Viido Polikarpus and Tappan King ((c) 1987)

Labels: cartoon

Well, it took a week, but the Post ran another of my cartoons.



When Mahmoud Abbas releases Hamas-affiliated prisoners from PA jails to spite Israel and the US, he's running a bit of a risk...


TODAY'S BOOK: "No Promises in the Wind", by Irene Hunt ((c) 1970)

Labels: cartoon

How 'bout that! I get consecutive cartoons featured in the Post's print and online editions!
The ball's been in the Palestinian court many times... and Israel keeps serving 'em up.

TODAY'S BOOK: "Hoot", by Carl Hiaasen ((c) 2002)

Labels: cartoon

Well, it took a while, but I got another cartoon printed in The Jerusalem Post--and for the first time, it also appeared on their website! (No link as there is no archiving.)
It doesn't matter who "won" the Iranian elections; there's only one real winner... the puppeteer.

TODAY'S BOOK: "Anything Can Happen", by George and Helen Papashvily ((c) 1944)

Labels: cartoon