Oliphant on BP's ownership of Congress

Them ain't radials

I really should keep this blog more up-to-date. For instance, I'm just now posting the poster for an event that's now in the past. It's a past poster post.

Les is more

Had the great honor of following Les Anderson's book reading and signing at Watermark this past Saturday, as our events were scheduled back-to-back. You should run out and pick up a copy right this minute. It's called "Never Take a Snake for a Ride." It's a collection of his columns from the Ark Valley News. Les is a wonderful writer, as you probably know, and the book is a fun read. The cover leaves a little to be desired but the content is outstanding.

Worse and getting worser

Today's KMUW commentary

The amazing thing about the tragic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico for me, is not that it happened. It’s not the gargantuan size of the spill itself. And it’s not that the three corporations involved are each blaming the other. What’s unbelievable about this disaster is the fact that the drilling industry had no plan for what to do in the event that such a spill took place. They seem to be scrambling and improvising in a way that reminds me of a 3-year-old who shattered Mom’s favorite flower vase all over the kitchen floor while trying to get to the cookie jar. The little tyke had no earthly idea that such a thing could happen and is now desperately using a Kleenex to soak up the mess and gather the shards.

Except these folks are destroying the Gulf of Mexico, the fishing and tourism industries and billions of nature’s ocean-dependent creatures, not just a pretty vase. They don’t even have a clue as to how much oil is spilling. We just know that it’s somewhere between 210,000 and 2 and a half million gallons daily. Apparently it never dawned on anyone to think about what to do if such a spill ever took place. Their eyes were on the cookies.

Our nation’s regulatory agencies, long since made impotent by the constant drumbeat of regulatory disarmament advocates, are now menacingly waving wet noodles at the corporations responsible.

And BP’s plan? Well, the first dome didn’t work so now they’ll try a top hat. There’s also talk of dumping garbage on the spill. Some are advocating hay bales. Yeah. That’s how ready they were for this. Sarah Palin, the Queen of Hearts at the mad Tea Party, loves to chant “Drill, Baby, Drill.”

But the slogan that comes to my mind is the Boy Scout one: Be prepared. If BP behaved more like Boy Scouts and less like 3-year-olds, how much better off our environment would be.
For KMUW I’m Richard Crowson.

Anger management time, Kelly

Sarah/Tammy

Glenn Beck absolutely nailed to the wall

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's
www.thedailyshow.com
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My first Final Friday opening is this week

Stop in and say hi. Karen and I will be picking and Reuben's got the best Final Friday beverages in town.

Sunday's toon

Der Arizona law

Hey. Is Oliphant borrowing my little dog?

Ok. I know. I ripped off Pat Oliphant's little-mascot-in-the-corner idea. Actually, lots of cartoonists have done it. But in this recent Oliphant masterpiece, it looks to me like my little dog (Al) is in an Oliphant cartoon.

Last Sunday's toon which I forgot to post, um, again

Ted Rall on idiotic liars

I don't advocate any violence. Except for that, I like this toon.

See you at Watermark tonight!

Last Sunday's toon which I forgot to post

Spring day at the Arb

Photo courtesy of Jim Boots. Thanks, Jim!

This week's KMUW commentary:

Spring is such a generous season. Without our having to lift a finger, nature showers us with spectacular abundance every April. It didn’t require a public vote on which trees would bud first. There was no legislation passed stipulating that by a certain date all tulips would burst open. The enthusiastic birdsong outside our kitchen windows every morning now does not have to be critiqued by a panel of celebrity judges.
It just happens. Just like it always happens. Whether we deserve it or not, every spring unrolls in front of us like plush carpet and strewn petals before royalty. Most of the time I stride with all the self-importance of Louis XIV right past the splendor as if I had regal duties to perform and no time to appreciate a simple waving daffodil. It waves anyway proffering it’s cheery bright yellow gift. No appreciation required.
I spent the past weekend as an artist (slash) vendor at the Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine. Through the guidance of owner Robin Macy and her many hard-working friends, the Arboretum is in bloom again, celebrating 100 years of nature’s generous abundance. Every April the gates are opened for an event called Art at the Arb. Artists and craftspeople set up their tables and exhibits all over the grounds. The juxtaposition of my smart-allecky cartoon display tucked amidst the spiritual brilliance of the dogwoods and the tulips made me feel a bit like Bart Simpson in a Zen Buddhist monastery.
But I found a few moments to close my eyes, feel that ever-present Kansas breeze, listen to sweet songs filtering through the fresh green waving branches and think to myself, “I know all this isn’t done just for humankind, but right now, in this moment, on this April day, I’m going to feel as grateful for it as if it were.”
For KMUW, I’m Richard Crowson.

Giving the term "dog sled" new meaning

Just watch these two, ahem, stocky labs enjoy the snow by turning their, ahem, stocky bodies into sleds.

Saw this vid on Neatorama and just had to post it here.