November 20074 November 2007 Miss Hautpanz, It appears today that some of Tim's nightmares of martial law are not too far from reality (I always think of the Back to Funny Cartoons strip). Several of Tim's strips feature the President claiming total political power "for the duration of th' emergency". Well, it looks like EXACTLY that is happening in Pakistan. Musharraf's dismissed the constitution, cracked down on opposition, and imposed martial law. I think that this has caused the US government to finally come to the realization that supporting a country that is a military dictatorship is not good P.R. Meanwhile, in "Amurr-ca", the House of Representatives
has passed H.R. 1955...a bill with the ridiculously Orwellian title "The
Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention bill". The
bill basically is amending the Homeland Security Act to include the establishing
of an institution focusing
solely on determining what groups or ideologies are a threat to homeland
security (paraphrase of words: "...the use of force or violence with
political or ideological goals..."). That wording is so vague that it
could apply to the "Raging Grannies". It's possible that, should
this bill become law, that a good deal of people like you and Tim and me
could be taking a long
vacation to Cuba...or worse. I mean, shit--I know for a fact that my 4th
grade teacher (a pacifist Quaker with Veterans for Peace and others) has
already been
under Fed surveillance for quite some time (as an "enemy of the state").
Hell, I'm a Wobbly (Industrial Workers of the World), an anarcho-syndicalist,
AND an editor of a radical student 'zine--there's no doubt that I might somehow
be implicated by this bill. Who knows? You and Tim might also be deemed as "inciting
political violence" someday. Well, I wish the best for the both of you--keep doing what you do. It makes me laugh, and it makes me think. Peace, Love, Beer, Happiness, Smoke Weed, Brotherhood etc. etc. etc., -Mike Kowalski
8 November 2007 Dear Ms. Czochula-Hautpänz, P.S. I would think that Remembrance Day would provide some inspiration, or dread, for a topic next week.
14 November 2007 Ms. C.-H: Please inquire of Mr. Kreider the following: My best ideas: 1.) Drive down to 1600 Pennsylvania
with a huge stereo and blast Guns and Roses until
they give in. (Used on Noriega, albeit unsuccessfully.) The rest are all semi-rational notions, such as "Get the hell out of here," and "Autodefenestration". I feel that the latter could be taken to mean either "to throw myself out a window", or, "to be thrown from a moving car"; either is appropriate. I am highly appreciative of Mr. Kreider's work and would not be annoyed in a litigous manner if this concept is committed to comic form by him. Please pass along my regard for his work as well as the inquiry. Köszönöm,
15 November 2007 Dear Tim The idea of a Muslim death robot makes me, a lover of giant robots evil & kind, cackles with deep ferocity. But much like Godzilla has his Mechagodzilla, who does the West roll out against the Jihadist mecha? I'm betting on a 200 ft. tall Karl Rove with ultra-flashy exploding head action, a la the AT-ST in "Jedi". Jess Morgan
15 November 2007 I've been reading your comics
for a year and I love your approach. You really
push the limits of whats acceptable and appropriate,
which is something a lot of published cartoonists
don't do. I first saw it in the Washington City
Paper, and although it no longer appears there,
I do read it online. Too bad it's not in the
paper
anymore, it was the best one. I don't really
mean to be so doting. I don't exactly know what
I
want to write to you about. I'm assuming you're
simply like me and enjoy feedback on your work
that isn't: "Hey,
that's sorta funny. But you And of course it would be much better for this
to be coming from some guy like Ware or Clowes,
but far more people are shmucks like me than
guys like them. Oh, I know what I wanted to say
now. I figured since I like reading your comics,
maybe you'd like reading mine. The artwork isn't
professional (I was never actually taught how
to make comics),
but http://downwardbound.comicgenesis.com/ And C.H. I like your shit too. Writing humor in a second language is near impossible I think. I'm impressed. - Jason
24 November 2007 Dear Ms. Hautpanz, The smaller and finer lettering in the first panel of your latest comic was severely mangled in its transfer between media. When I set out to satisfy my curiosity as to the definition of the word in the thought bubble, I misread the 'u' as an 'o,' and was baffled to see that Wiktionary (Wikipedia's interlingual dictionary) returned the information that it was the Finnish word for 'ear.' A few seconds' deduction sufficed to correct my mistaken impression. In the future, write a little larger. Sincerely, Scott Stiefel
24 November 2007 I stumbled upon your cartoons and I think they put America in a bad light.I love these United States. It would be a better place if your cartoons were less likely to tear it down or try to make people feel bad about important events. Can you think of things you like about AMERICA??? Think on what you can do for this nation, not in the ways you what to slam it around. please, it is time to grow up. Roofer
Thanks for your reply. OK, I too love that you are free to draw cartoons and I do think you are one of those assholes. I do appreciate and understand these things. Lets help others learn to love. Aristotle's quote for 11-27-07
is... Enjoy, Andy |