Peace on Earth and in my News Feed

Dear Wednesday,

It’s amazing how much you can hear when there isn’t a constant, droning, off-key noise in your ear at all times.

I’m not talking about a physical ailment, but about the saturation of news about a now ex-president that rendered everything a little soiled, a little ugly, and a lot crazy. Sadly there are still rabidly loyal soiled, ugly, and crazy supporters still in some governments and media, so I’ve fine-tuned my news feeds and sources to bypass this “news” and lo… spring flowers are sprouting from once infertile land, grey clouds are parting, curtains are being drawn, light and fresh air are flooding spaces previously heavy with toxic gasbags and inexplicable stupidity. Welcome to peace on earth and in my news feed.

These terrible people and problems won’t go away, but neither would they disappear when they spread like an oily stain on my consciousness. All my frustration and anger made not a whit of difference. Now I can make not a whit of difference without the anger, frustration, or oily stains. 

It’s nice. 

Of course, such news did serve to distract from issues closer to home, but home issues need to be heard and addressed, and locally those dealing with complicated problems are doing so with varying degrees of competence, empathy, good will, selflessness, and conscience. There is no smothering evilness or soul-crushing stupidity.

Very pleasant.

Apropos of nothing except that it is a glorious Wednesday, may I now present a few of my favourite cartoons?

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Peace!

~FP

Finding a Spine

Prompt: Believe Me

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Dear Wednesday,

Where have you been? In isolation? Quarantine? Hospital? Committing treason at the Capitol? It has indeed been a much too eventful 2021, which is why I think we’ll need cut this decade some slack and perhaps start in February?

All the crybabies who resist wearing masks and bully employees who follow company or civic direction are darn tired of this continuous breech of their freakdom. Those pathetic snowflakes think no one suffers as they do from this intrusion into their constitutional right to endanger others. Were you shocked that the thugs and white supremacists who erected a gallows and smeared shit around the Capitol were maskless? Me either.

Americans pride themselves on their system when things go unimaginably wrong. Since so many people were involved in this attempted coup, from the top down, we’ll see if the criminals receive the justice they deserve– we’ll see is the system is indeed the shining idol of supreme and superior justice, or whether rampant racism, lies, and corruption will continue to thrive. What’s your guess as to what will happen? What do you believe?

Me, I believe when the sun is out and the air is fresh, and when we can still call or text or zoom our loved ones whenever we want, we should all thank the lord we are alive. Despite everything.

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Love and peace,

~~FP

Democracy Sent Me

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Love and peace,

~~FP

For the Love of God!

Prompt: Titanic

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Dear Wednesday,

It’s so hot here at the moment that the thought of running into an iceberg is almost appealing, if only for a limitless supply fresh ice in my lemonade*. But no, the Titanic was an avoidable disaster, and like most interesting and intriguing mediations, the themes of hubris and excess were superseded by the presence of the embodiment of hubris and excess, with the added spice of stupidity.

Yes, sorry not sorry, this is the first passage that came into my mind with today’s prompt, an unattributed composition that is meant to be humorous and satiric, but these days, with this man, nothing really is:

If Trump was the Captain of the RMS Titanic

There isn’t any iceberg.

There was an iceberg, but it’s in a totally different ocean.

The iceberg is in this ocean, but it will melt very soon.

There is an iceberg, but we didn’t hit the iceberg.

We hit the iceberg, but the damage will be repaired very shortly.

The iceberg is a Chinese iceberg.

We are taking on water, but every passenger who wants a lifeboat can get a lifeboat, and they are beautiful lifeboats.

Look, passengers need to ask nicely for the lifeboats if they want them.

We don’t have any lifeboats, we’re not lifeboat distributors.

Passengers should have planned for icebergs and brought their own lifeboats.

I really don’t think we need that many lifeboats.

We have lifeboats and they’re supposed to be our lifeboats, not the passengers’ lifeboats.

The lifeboats were left on shore by the last captain of this ship.

Nobody could have foreseen the iceberg.

See what I mean about this being more depressingly true than funny? Still, I did laugh, since I am a sad clown in a black velvet painting now.

Meanwhile, may I present a few of my favourite cartoons relating to “Titanic” that are not meant to be satire but just… jokes, I think?

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*Not necessarily lemonade.

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Peace, love, and ice in your drinks,

~~FP

Imagination

Prompt: Arctic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s hard to imagine the Arctic cold when it’s 32F and there are waves languidly lapping the sand. Just as it’s difficult to remember the feeling of a hot sun on your skin on a frozen winter day.

Or a teenager utterly unable to relate to an older person; and an older person critical of the young, having lost the memory of being young themselves.

Or a conservative trying to understand a liberal; and a decent, progressive human being trying to understand a Trump supporter.

(That last one doesn’t really work.)

Empathy, which requires imagination and good intentions, seems in short supply these days. That’s why there are such unnecessary divisions in the world: From politics, to art, religion, and generational, environmental, cultural and gender issues.

Trump supporters skew older, among other things, and like Trump, they often resemble the stereotypical angry old man ordering the kids off his lawn. They also tend to be culturally isolated; i.e. live in white communities with very little interaction with Black or brown people. They have a strong sense of entitlement and are hostile towards those who have more than they do— more money, maybe (but America worships the rich in general) but also in terms of education and status. They tend to favour authoritarianism, which is obvious not just in their blind support for Trump, but for their steadfast believe in a God, no matter how outlandishly her commandments are misinterpreted. But mainly, they lack imagination and good intentions.

It’s hard to imagine creatures actually suffering from the effects of climate change. It is much more convenient to side with those for whom the truth is too frightening to consider. It feels better to believe the authoritarian figures —not scientists, but politicians and religious leaders— who soothe their fears about horrific truths at the same time as they stoke fears about imaginary enemies, all the while being manipulated into accepting attitudes and policies that are damaging and harmful to them but which serve the wealthy elite.

Whew. I had no intention of dragging Trump into this post. Let’s step away from the Tr*mp, and browse a few of my favourite cartoons relating to the prompt, “Arctic”:

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Stay safe, warm, and imaginative!

~~FP

Fear Gas

Dear Friday,

Wednesday asked me to write to you, since Wednesday is struggling a bit with some difficult life circumstances but we both feel that cartoons need to rise above our personal challenges.

I think we are all experiencing our own individual psychic breaks during these times— or is it just me?

Funny thing is, where I live it is verdant and peaceful at the moment. Spring is lush and fresh. The people in my community are rational and caring, for the most part, and our government is dealing with this health crisis responsibly and armed with facts. We are safe, my family is safe. We see friends from a cordial distance, and we zoom with family.

But how can anyone not be distressed at witnessing the collapse of a society that was once a beacon of democracy (however flawed), a world leader and influencer, a country full of contradictions that were inspiring and bold and infuriating? I lived in the US for many years, I have an affinity for the place despite its fumbling tolerance of the intolerable. American people are nice.

I understand what prayer is now. Even in a godless world, it is a fervent hope for change. Hope, we are learning, is not quite enough. We need to act.

Without further ado, here are some cartoons that reflect my distress in the only way possible to cope—- with dark humour, but followed by an image of a cute baby animal, just for balance.

 

 

 

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Be kind.

~~FP

Fun with Poverty

Prompt: Poverty

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Hello Wednesday,

No, there is nothing fun about poverty. Poverty means you don’t have enough of the things you need, often compounded by being looked down upon for something that is not only not your fault, but that you struggle to overcome against impossible odds on a daily basis.

Ok, sometimes people cope with poverty with integrity, courage, and grace. Sometimes people without material possessions learn to appreciate what is truly valuable. I know that because I grew up poor and that happened to me. But those are stories for another time.

Meanwhile, I have a few of my favourite cartoons to present under the prompt, “poverty”, which does not mean that poverty is fun, but that the trappings around poverty can be gobsmackingly nonsensical and that sometimes we deal with suffering by poking our fun stick at it.

So, here we go:

See also:

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Stay safe, everyone!

~~FP

First Thing to Go

Prompt: Doctor

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Hello Wednesday,

Apparently, my family doctor sees 6.1306 patients per day, if she takes no sick days or vacations, and if her patients see her no more than twice in a year. That’s with a patient roster of 800, which is what she informed us is the case.

She is leaving the practice, unhappy with it, to move into emergency care, which leaves approximately 700 persons without a family physician (since cancer and other special needs patients were somehow placed). This number is added to the countless others in our region who are without holistic, preventative care, in a country that constantly brags about its universal health care system.

The doctor shortage is serious and severe. It means relying on walk-in clinics and emergency departments. It means wasting the time of the caregivers in those places since your whole health history has to be related in order to get personal treatment, as opposed to a family doctor who knows you and your history. It means waiting, lots of waiting, and so encourages a tendency to only seek urgent care. It means taking a boat-load of responsibility onto yourself, especially in terms of monitoring medications and treatments, which many patients are simply not equipped to do.

Canada, you can stop bragging now. Sure, we can still lord our “free” health care over our southern neighbours, but the system is broken. It’s broken when thousands (tens of thousands? millions?) of mostly rural residents of all ages have no one to tend to their health needs and crises. It’s broken when it renders the entire system less efficient and more expensive.

I’ve written to local and federal representatives and received canned replies. I tossed and turned this morning composing scathing followup emails. Any suggestions, anyone?

Let’s never take our doctors and nurses for granted!

And let’s hope they have a sense of humour, since they are the topic of the following collection of some of my favourite cartoons relating to the prompt, “doctor”.

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Peace, love, and good health,

~~FP

The Jury

Dear Wednesday,

Well, the impeachment “trial” is over, conducted without evidence or witnesses, presided over by a corrupt senate. Poor America. The very worst aspect of the spectacle was that the outcome was predetermined; second worst part was the lack of any defence— Trump’s collaborators attacked everything but the evidence. Third was the humiliating position of the Supreme Court Justice who oversaw a massive joke trial without comment or action.

Naturally, this pretty much gives an already smug and remorseless president carte blanche.

And disgraces the Senate.

But I still have faith in the American people, if they can overcome the obstacles in the path of a free and fair election.

Peace and patience,

~~FP

Gather Round

Prompt: Google it

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Oh dear Wednesday,

When you look out a window and see the tops of trees and think only about trees for a moment, it’s hard to be upset with what’s going on in the world. The problem is that we can’t look at trees forever, all the time, and are instead bombarded with news of great injustice, which we attempt to mitigate in our small ways or big ways, but which stress us so much that we need the visions of trees to calm us down again.

Balance, that’s what life is about. So sure, I can hug and scratch Rosie the therapy dog for half and hour, and feel like Anne of Green Gables. Afterward, when I turn on my device or switch on the news I am faced with IT again. For the moment, IT is personified into the image of one person, who is ignorance, malice, greed, and egoism with two arms and two legs, fake hair, and a fake tan.

Please go and gaze at treetops if you can’t take either IT anymore, or criticism of IT’s personification. I won’t rant, or swear, or write graffiti, or stick pins in anything. I’ll just submit for your enjoyment/ dismay/ venting a few of my favourite cartoons and one angry quotation. Warning: Serious cussing ahead.

Donald Trump is also a coward. For all of his tough talk and bluster, the president of the United States is a punk ass bitch. And this has also been apparent for as long as we’ve known who he is. He slipped out of draft duty because of… bone spurs. Bone spurs don’t even get you on the NFL injury report, but he used it to stay the fuck away from actually having to fight. We know his history of bullying and insulting women. And, since he’s been in office, we’ve seen him cower to Kim Jong Un and literally get Deeboed by Vladimir Putin — two men who, for all of their faults, would definitely whoop Trump’s ass.

We’ve had racist presidents before. We’ve had malignant misogynists in office before. But never has our president been such a fucking wimp.

—Damon Young, Just Remember That Your Punk-Ass President Would Never, Ever, Ever Call LeBron James Dumb to His Face, in The Root, published August 4, 2018.

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Sincere wishes for peace and love from someone who is actually quite calm and gentle,

~~FP