Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "A Strong Primary Challenge"

From DC's anarchist cartoonist

"A Strong Primary Challenge"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3666

Well, kiddies, for those of you following the little Democracy™ game, 
it's no secret that DNC voters are about as enthusiastic over Joe 
Biden next year as they'd be over having to eat glass. So, for all 
those desperate Dems who can't seem to bust out of the electoral 
prison, the idea of a primary challenge sounds made of awesome.

So, who do they get — a fresh, bold progressive insurgent in the 
Bernie Sanders mold? Nahh, hell no, man — they get a xenophobic 
antivax Kennedy spawn and a bougie self-help guru who's the "spiritual 
adviser" to Oprah. OPRAH, f'crissake. Hell, man, if that's not a prime 
qualification for the White House, I'd like to know what is.

Hello, Second Trump Administration.

----------

"Marianne Williamson to run for president again to 'help repair 
America'", The Guardian 02.27.2023 
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/27/marianne-williamson-2024-white-house-race

"Marianne Williamson formally launches likely long-shot Democratic 
primary challenge to Biden", Shania Shelton at CNN, 03.04.2023 
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/04/politics/marianne-williamson-democrat-president-biden-2024/index.html

"Anti-Vax RFK Jr. Says Media Treats Him Worse Than Trump", Peter Wade 
at Rolling Stone, 07.25.2023 
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/rfk-jr-media-worse-than-trump-1234793849/

"How Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Became the Anti-vaxxer Icon of America's 
Nightmares", Keziah Weir at Vanity Fair, 05.13.2021 
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/05/how-robert-f-kennedy-jr-became-anti-vaxxer-icon-nightmare

"Anti-vaccine activist RFK Jr. challenging Biden in 2024", Michelle L. 
Price at the Associated Press, 04.05.2023 
https://apnews.com/article/robert-kennedy-jr-presidential-campaign-9fb5ed5c8e1fd31d2a4458d44b086593

"Robert Kennedy Jr's racist, antisemitic and xenophobic views go back 
decades, report says", David Smith in The Guardian, 07.19.2023 
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/19/robert-kennedy-jr-racist-antisemitic-xenophobic-views

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Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "It's Delightful, It's Delectable, It's De-Dollarization!"

from DC's anarchist cartoonist -

This is a piece I'd sketched out earlier but originally tossed for 
being too complex, too obscure an issue... but then, a couple of weeks 
ago I was reading about how BRICS was strengthening, 
"de-dollarization" was spreading, how the spread of de-dollarization 
was starting to get people shook on the Hill and how this means the 
issue might finally break out into public media, and about how the 
BRICS countries were contemplating creating an alternate reserve 
currency and  — and suddenly, that goofy-ass dollar-bill parody gag 
was starting to look pretty good...


"The Rise and Fall of US Dollar Supremacy and How Sanctions Backfire", 
Prabhat Patnaik and Rania Khalek at Breakthrough News, 06.06.2023 
https://breakthroughnews.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-us-dollar-supremacy-how-sanctions-backfire-with-prabhat-patnaik/

"US Congress plots to save dollar dominance amid global 
de-dollarization rebellion", Ben Norton at Geopolitical Economy 
Report, 06.20.2023 
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/06/20/us-congress-dollar-dominance-hearing/

"BRICS bloc is adding members, planning new currency to challenge US 
dollar", Ben Norton at Geopolitical Economy Report, 06.03.2023 
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/06/03/brics-adding-members-currency-us-dollar/
____________________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "We Will Return"

from DC's anarchist cartoonist -

"We Will Return"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3658

Still smarting from MSNBC's thrilling re-enactment of the O.J. Simpson 
Police Chase on the day of Trump's arraignment, my daily random 15 
seconds of MSNBC the other morning included the morning babblers 
queefing out the phrases "above the law" and "rule of law" more times 
than I could count. All I could think of in that moment was Richard 
Nixon, who committed a metric shit-tonne of crimes against 
international law and the U.S. Constitution and who avoided an 
impeachment trial and accountability by resigning; and George W. Bush, 
a thug with a record as long as his goddamn arm who not only avoided 
accountability through impeachment and the International Criminal 
Court, but who also scored a one-man show at the goddamn Kennedy Center.

But naahh; nobody is above the law. Somebody hold me back.
___________________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Mar-A-Lago Decor"

From DC's anarchist cartoonist -

"Mar-A-Lago Decor"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3652

Well, hot damn diggety; Trump's been indicted again, and Liberals' 
nipples are exploding with delight all over the US of goddamn A. MSNBC 
was actually showing us continuous helicopter shots of the motorcade 
taking Trump to the courthouse while the anchors were babbling, just 
bashing our heads in with it.

Personally, I got some serious giggles about the way he went about 
snagging the documents and storing them — like, in the ballroom. 
Forgetting for a moment that that pile already looks like the set of 
an old Hercules movie — the goddamn ballroom, f'crissake. It looked 
like the scene after Ferdinand Marcos was deposed from power and he 
and Imelda were racing around their place trying to shred all their 
incriminating secret documents before they fled the country — boxes of 
documents stacked, open and strewn all over, garbage bags full of 
shredded documents, jammed shredders abandoned all over the place, 
real amateur-hour shit.

If the Donmonster had any class at all, he'd have just hired an 
interior decorator to help him hide that stuff in plain sight.

----------

"Trump indicted on 37 charges including Espionage Act violations in 
classified records case", Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times, 
06.09.2023 
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-06-09/trump-indictment-details-espionage-obstruction-charges

"Photos from Trump indictment show boxes of classified documents 
stored in Mar-a-Lago shower, ballroom", PBS NewsHour, 06.09.2023 
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/photos-from-trump-indictment-show-boxes-of-classified-documents-stored-in-mar-a-lago-shower-ballroom

___________________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Thanks For Covering Our Debt — Suckers!"

From DC's anarchist cartoonist...

"Thanks For Covering Our Debt — Suckers!"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3647

And so, yet another Debt Ceiling Wrestlemania comes to a close — and 
as predicted, the ruling class gets the payoff, Zelensky gets new 
toys, and we get austerity.

14.5 x 17 inch medium-res color .jpg image, 700kb

----------------

"Debt ceiling hypocrisy: US boosts military budget while restricting 
food stamps for poor", Ben Norton at Geopolitical Economy Report, 
06.02.2023 
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/06/02/debt-ceiling-us-military-food-stamps/

"Biden's debt deal: A bipartisan blueprint for war and austerity", 
Barry Gray at World Socialist Web Site, 05.02.2023 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/06/03/aavt-j03.html

"Zelensky, Biden Seek To Rally Support; Ukrainian Leader Visits DC 
Amid War", Yasmeen Abutaleb and Tyler Pager at the Washington Post, 
Page A1, 12.22.2022 
http://www.sinkers.org/posters/thanksforcovering/wapoA1_Dec2222-01zelenskyspeech.jpg

_________________________________________________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "The Cake Was Not A Lie"

from DC's anarchist cartoonist -

The Cake Was Not A Lie
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3640

Yeah, I know the Florida Legislature Dancing And Cake Story broke 
nearly 2 weeks ago, but at the time, I was busy finishing the job of 
"Finishing The Job".

So, aaaa-aanyway... if the almighty Fact-Checking Industrial Complex 
is to be believed, the dancing was not at the end of the session, but 
before they settled down to the business of otherizing, criminalizing, 
villifying and immiserating a major portion of the whole goddamn state 
with a legislative horrorshow.

Luckily for me, though, the part of the story that was true was the 
cake part. According to this big, hot steamy bucket of gloat in the DC 
Enquirer*, a Florida legislative staffer mocked protesters at the 
State Capitol at the time by eating cake at their desks in front of 
them.

So, it seems that just this once, the cake is not a lie.

12 x 12.5 inch medium-res color .jpg image, 384kb

---------------
*CONTENT WARNING: Yet another fascist rag in DC — as if the Examiner 
and the Times aren't enough; article cites Andy Ngo tweets, and some 
shit-take dropping fascist tool declaring "Make America Florida". They 
did, however, get the cake-eating part right.

---------------

"Florida lawmakers danced 'after passing anti-trans legislation': 
Mostly False" Politifact 05.04.2023 
https://api.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/may/05/tiktok-posts/were-florida-lawmakers-dancing-after-passing-anti/

"Protestors Arrested In Florida State Capitol Following DeSantis' 
Success, Staffer Hilariously Mocks Them By Eating Cake", Connor 
Cavanaugh at the DC Enquirer 05.06.2023 
https://dcenquirer.com/protestors-arrested-in-florida-state-capitol-as-workers-watch-eating-cake/

"A staff member eats cake at the front desk in Gov. Ron DeSantis' 
office in the Florida Capitol while dozens of activists state a sit-in 
on Wednesday.", Ana Gofil-Lessan on Twitter, 05.03.2023
https://twitter.com/goni_lessan/status/1653946315573805058?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1653946315573805058%7Ctwgr%5Ebc11c3f64e507830399cb57c005a5b8819dc8de2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdcenquirer.com%2Fprotestors-arrested-in-florida-state-capitol-as-workers-watch-eating-cake

"DeSantis' staff literally eat cake while they strip immigrants, 
women, LGBTQ people, teachers, unions, and tenants of their rights..." 
Breakthrough News on Instagram, 05.03.2023 
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cr3vtRiu9nV/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

_________________________________________________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Finishing The Job"

From DC's anarchist cartoonist -

"Finishing The Job"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3635

It is with anxiety, chagrin and dread that I present this, my first cartoon of the 2024 Presidential "election" slog...

...and despite the massive disappointment and lack of enthusiasm of huge swaths of Democratic voters, Gropin' Joe announced his re-election campaign kickoff with a promise to "finish the job"... at which point yours truly, like millions of others, is cringing and asking themselves: what job would THAT be — immiserating the poor and the working class? Terrorizing immigrants and bullying our next-door neighbors? Fattening up the war profiteers and Wall Street? Beating down anti-war dissent in public media? Dragging us into World War III?

Lotta big jobs to finish there, Joester; guess you're going to need four more years to thoroughly fuck shit up, huh?

------------

"'It's Time to Finish the Job,' Biden Tells Union Workers as He Starts '24 Race", New York Times, 04.25.2023 
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/01/20/us/biden-2024-president-election-news

"Biden seeks reelection amid war, COVID and inflation", Patrick Martin at the World Socialist Web Site, 04.25.2023 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/26/ckws-a26.html

"US jobs massacre accelerates, as ruling class confronts growing upsurge of class struggle", Marcus Day at the World Socialist Web Site, 04.28.2023 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/29/jobs-a29.html

"Biden sending 1,500 active-duty troops to Mexican border", Kevin Reed at the World Socialist Web Site, 05.02.2023 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/05/03/ynmm-m03.html

"American imperialism demands new bloodbath in Ukraine", Andre Damon 
at the World Socialist Web Site, 05.08.2023 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/05/08/pers-m08.html

"US makes up c 40% of global military spending, 10x Russia, 3x China", 
Ben Norton at the Geopolitical Economy Report, 05.02.2023 
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/05/02/us-military-spending-russia-china

"Biden approval slips to new low in wake of 2024 campaign launch: 
survey", Julia Mueller at The Hill, 05.07.2023 
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3992413-biden-approval-slips-to-new-low-in-wake-of-2024-campaign-launch-survey/

"'Independent' Ukrainian 'Kill List' Actually Run By Kiev, Backed By 
Washington", David Miller at MintPress News, 05.12.2023 
https://www.mintpressnews.com/independent-ukraine-kill-list-actually-run-by-kiev-backed-by-washington/284639/

Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Apropos Of Nothing (Cliff? What Cliff? no.2)"

From DC's anarchist cartoonist Mike Flugennock -

"Apropos Of Nothing (Cliff? What Cliff? no.2)"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3629

Apropos of entirely nothing, really... just stumped for a gag, smoking 
and doodling at an ungodly hour the other night, vaguely inspired by 
this alarmist headline in the Washington Post, though this cartoon was 
not at all intentionally related to the whole debt ceiling pissing 
contest on the Hill this week... and while I'm at it — is it a cliff, 
or the ceiling? Quit jerking us around, Washington Post.

I also fully confess to an equally boneheaded literal interpretation 
of the whole beat-ass "cliff" metaphor. Hell, I'm old enough to 
remember the FIRST time around with that "cliff" horseshit.

...and besides, if you really take a good, close, hot steamy gawk at 
Biden's real priorities — and the current attitude of the American 
general public towards more unemployment, inflation and austerity — 
you couldn't exactly say we were "drifting".

-----

"Cliff? WHAT Cliff?" cartoon by Mike Flugennock, 11.18.2012 
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=1224

"The GOP wonks trying to get their party not to detonate the debt 
limit bomb", Jeff Stein in the Washington Post, 04.27.2023 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/27/debt-limit-gop-policy-wonks/

"Failing to raise the debt ceiling will create financial chaos", 
Edward Correia in the Washington Post, 04.28.2023 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/28/failing-raise-debt-ceiling-will-create-financial-chaos/

"US jobs massacre accelerates, as ruling class confronts growing 
upsurge of class struggle", Marcus Day at the World Socialist Web 
Site, 04.28.2023
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/29/jobs-a29.html

"Corporations lay off thousands as US economy heads toward recession", 
Jerry White at the World Socialist Web Site, 04.28.2023 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/28/mpod-a28.html

"NATO to surge troops to Russian border", André Damon at the World 
Socialist Web Site, 04.17.2023 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/18/tzhv-a18.html

"Republican House bill on debt ceiling sets stage for bipartisan 
assault on social programs", Barry Grey at the World Socialist Web 
Site, 04.27.2023 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/28/dtuv-a28.html

"Biden seeks reelection amid war, COVID and inflation", Patrick Martin 
at the World Socialist Web Site, 04.25.2023 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/26/ckws-a26.html


Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "A Successful Launch"

From our local anarchist cartoonist, Mike Flugennock -

"A Successful Launch"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3625


"With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and we 
learned a tremendous amount about the vehicle and ground systems today 
that will help us improve on future flights of Starship. Thank you to 
our customers, Cameron County, and the wider community for the 
continued support and encouragement. And congratulations to the entire 
Space team on an exciting first flight test of Starship!"

— SpaceX statement 04.20.2023


"Where's the KABOOM?
There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering KABOOM!"

— Marvin The Martian


So, I was hitting some sativa bud and banging my head on the table the 
other day trying to shake loose a decent France uprising cartoon, and 
THIS weirdness fell out. I'd given up on a France cartoon at the 
moment and was just doing my daily space geekery, reading about the 
spectacular SpaceX launch failure and the attendant "hah, I MEANT to 
do that" spin from SpaceX, when I found my train of thought wandering 
to the Twitter valuation crash and the Paid Blue Check shitshow and 
was suddenly, like...

...like, yeah; Musk was really laughing off the Twitter valuation and 
the hot mess about the paid Blue Check accounts that's been all over 
the news lately, and then a day or two later another one of his 
goddamn Starship tests goes sideways on him and the SpaceX PAO flacks 
are babbling a bunch of balloon juice about how much they learned 
today, and it was one of those moments of inspiration and serendipity 
that screamed "quit twisting your panties trying to think of a France 
cartoon for a moment and jump on THIS shit, man! Here it is!" Like, 
yeah — crashing and burning, in metaphor and reality.
___________________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Barbie Anchorbabe presents 'The BarbWire'"

From DC's anarchist cartoonist, Mike Flugennock:

"Barbie Anchorbabe Presents: The BarbWire"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3618

Those of you who know me well enough have heard me often joke about my 
now-customary Daily Accidental Random 15 Seconds Of MSNBC. For the 
past two weeks or so, it's been the Donald Trump Indictment Show 
almost 24/7, to the exclusion of everything else going on in the world 
— uprising in France, poisoned air and water in Ohio and Indiana, 
Pentagon leaks exposing Amerika's ugly naked ass over its action in 
Ukraine, you name it.

One morning about a week or so back, for the entire 15 seconds it took 
me to bring in Mrs. F's coffee and Washington Post to the master 
bedroom, the babbling anchorbabe creaming her panties over the Trump 
indictment must've burbled the word "democracy" at least a dozen 
times. Normally, I'd suggest a drinking game, but I wouldn't want to 
be responsible for anyone ending up in the ER after trying to throw 
back a shot every time some talking Barbie doll queefed out the word 
"democracy" on MSNBC.

The really hysterical thing is that — as per usual in this goddamn 
town — the Pushing Wing of the Party is more than willing to instigate 
the arrest and trial of a former guy — uhh, former President who leads 
the Shoving Wing of the Party, but not for any actual crimes against 
the People, as the leaders of the Pushing Wing of the Party are 
entirely complicit and would expose themselves. So, a cheap-ass sex 
scandal it is — again.

And what especially sucks is that the sonofabitch will never, ever see 
the inside of a prison cell for any crime ever, because the Democrats 
need him to run against. Hell, why provide a viable progressive 
alternative when you can just make up an enemy to jerk the Left back 
into line, amirite? LBJ never went to trial for any crimes, or Nixon, 
or Reagan, or Clinton — hell, George W. Bush not only never stood 
trial for his crimes, he got a goddamn one-man show at the Kennedy 
Center. Bah, fuck art.

17.5 x 18 inch medium-res color .jpg image. 1.1mb

-------------

"The indictment of Donald Trump: A politically bankrupt diversion", 
Joseph Kishore at the World Socialist Web Site, 03.31.2023 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/01/pers-a01.html

"The Indiana fire disaster: Another case of US industry polluting and 
killing with virtual impunity", Niles Niemuth at the World Socialist 
Web Site, 04.12.2023 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/13/faie-a13.html

"Trace compounds of vinyl chloride found in East Palestine, Ohio 
residents after derailment and chemical spill", Samuel Davidson at the 
World Socialist Web Site, 04.11.2023 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/12/ohio-a12.html

"The Pentagon leaks and the US media", Andre Damon at World Socialist 
Web Site, 04.15.2023 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/15/pnpm-a15.html

"Riots erupt across France as Constitutional Council validates 
Macron's pension cuts", Alex Lantler at the World Socialist Web Site, 
04.14.2023 https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/15/mwio-a15.html

"Highlights and analysis: Donald Trump indicted in hush money probe", 
NBC News, updated 03.31.2023 
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/live-blog/live-updates-manhattan-grand-jury-indicted-donald-trump-rcna75172

------------

The Previous Adventures of Barbie Anchorbabe:

"Based On A True Story", July 2012
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=1132

"Lockdown!", April 2013
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=1291

"Government Shutdown News Network", Oct 2013
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=1385

"Chris Christie Festival", Jan 2014
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=1438

"Banana, Banana, Banana, Banana", Feb 2018
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2430

_________________________________________________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Balloonacy (don't panic!)"

From Mike Flugennock, DC's anarchist cartoonist

"Balloonacy (don't panic!)"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3609


JEEEEEEzus christ, man, wotta goddamn shitshow, huh? Not that anyone 
with two synapses to rub together could tell you that the US boss 
media were pulling it straight outta their ass, that it wasn't a "spy 
balloon" and probably not even Chinese, given the US media's record 
over the past 30, 40 years.

Finally, about 2 weeks into this Mel Brooks movie, the Pentagon 
Amateur Hour crew starts shuffling and backpedaling and stammering 
like Porky Pig that well, OK, it wasn't really dangerous and probably 
not a surveillance balloon after all — and while that's going on, a 
bunch of Top Gun wannabes piss away $2m worth of our tax money 
shooting down what was probably some kid's science project, likely to 
get Marjorie Taylor-Greene to shut the hell up. And btw, when a 
fascist freak like MTG is allowed to sit in Congress and yell for 
something to be shot down as if it were "Call Of Duty" or something, 
you know your Rules-Based Order™ is circling the shitter.

So, if you're thinking that Uncle Joe's handling of this and other 
foreign policy batshittery he's stoking up is looking more and more 
like a rejected Pinky And The Brain plot — except that P & the B 
actually had their shit together a little more — join the club, 
kiddos. Hell, the Chinese were showing more class in their little 
finger than the US and the West at large, who spent the last 2 weeks 
filling every pair of BVD's in the drawer.

Ha haahhhhh, NARF.

----------

"US media report calls into question balloon 'spy mission' claims 
against China", Patrick Martin at the World Socialists' site, 02.16.2023
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/02/16/gcsf-f16.html

"US admits weather pushed Chinese balloon off course, US shot down 
hobbyists' $12 balloon in $2M missile attack", Ben Norton at the 
Geopolitical Economy Report, 02.18.2023
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/02/18/us-weather-chinese-balloon-hobbyist/

"Marjorie Taylor Greene urges fans to shoot down spy balloon", Matthew 
Chapman at Raw Story, 02.03.2023
https://www.rawstory.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-spy-balloon/

_________________________________________________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Oh, the Balloonity!"

From DC's anarchist cartoonist -

Oh, The Balloonity!
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3595


My daily accidental random 15 seconds of MSNBC has become more and 
more hilarious by the day lately, because balloons. The teleprompter 
readers are absolutely apoplectic about the freakin' BALLOONS which 
are supposedly from ZOMG BAD EVIL CHINA. Except now, they prefer to 
refer to them as "unidentified objects" for some reason likely related 
to the volume of snickering coming from the general public at the 
sight of corporate media drones panting, drooling and soaking their 
panties over the prospect of an F16 shooting down A FREAKIN' BALLOON.

OK, so we're shooting down UFO's now, is that it? I'm guessing they 
decided to stop mentioning that they're balloons because people were 
laughing so goddamn hard they didn't hear the propaganda and didn't 
get as scared as they were supposed to. So, now we've got four of 'em, 
and the last three were "unidentified"? And are we supposed to be more 
alarmed about allegedly being surveilled by China than we are about 
being surveilled for sure by at least half a dozen agencies in our own 
goddamn country?

Balloons, y'all. Freakin' BALLOONS. Or, I guess they're UFO's now, then.

And, does this mean that China is the source of UFO's? And so what 
have we got on ice at Area 51, then — not space alien bodies at all, 
but just some frozen Chinese guys?

---------

"U.S. denies sending balloons to China, forms interagency group to 
study flying objects", Clyde Hughes & Joe Fisher at UPI, 02.13.2023 
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2023/02/13/balloon-WangPentagon/6651676308008/

"4 flying objects have been shot down over North America: Timeline of 
key moments", ABC News, 02.13.2023 
https://abc7chicago.com/chinese-spy-balloon-flying-object-shot-down-over-lake-huron-unidentified-objects/12809246/

The Cramps, "Mystery Plane (My Daddy Drives A UFO)", 1979 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwkFlgKf-1s

_________________________________________________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: the Vasectomy Kid

"the Vasectomy Kid"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3580

"In 2020, U.S. Congress imposed secondary sanctions on banks that 
processed transactions related to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines 
and on ship insurers that serviced them.

When construction of Nord Stream 2 was finished in 2021, Washington 
imposed new sanctions on insurance and certification companies to keep 
it from opening.

Finally, both pipelines were sabotaged in an undersea explosion in 
September 2022.

As a result, the industries that had made Germany preeminent in 
Europe, such as steel, chemicals, machinery, and automotives, are 
suffering from high energy costs and the loss of Russia's aluminum, 
titanium, and palladium.

As a consequence, one in four German companies is considering moving 
production to other countries, amid the energy crisis..."

— Renate Bridenthal at the Geopolitical Economy Report, 01.10.2023



-----

"How Western sanctions blow back, hurting Europe, deepening Asian 
integration" Renate Bridenthal at Geopolitical Economy 01.10.2023 
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/01/10/sanctions-blowback-europe-russia-china/

"How Russia Pays For War", Lazaro Gamlo and Ana Swanson at the New 
York Times, 10.30.2022
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/10/30/business/economy/russia-trade-ukraine-war.html

"When Russia invaded Ukraine, countries imposed sanctions and vowed to 
sever economic ties to cripple Russia's economy. But, so far, that has 
proven problematic, according to an analysis of trade data by The New 
York Times." — New York Times on Twitter, 11.01.2022
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1587599133191409666

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1587599133191409666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1587599142301609987%7Ctwgr%5Ef5208200510af829621cc556d613de2303c90b86%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fgeopoliticaleconomy.com%2F2023%2F01%2F10%2Fsanctions-blowback-europe-russia-china%2F


--
______________________________________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "2023 and Me"

From DC's anarchist cartoonist -

"2023 and Me"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3574


Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "America's Favorite Fascist"

From Mike Flugennock, DC anarchist cartoonist...

"America's Favorite Fascist"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3568

So, a few days back, a follower on Mastodon (spit) posted this article from the Union Of Orthodox Journalists from May 2018, about a Ukrainian postage stamp series honoring great thugs — uhh, soldiers — of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician) on its 75th anniversary. Yeah, that's right, Ukraine fought proudly on the fascist side, and venerates these filthy bastards to this day.

Then, I had to ask myself — why no stamp with Zelensky? God only knows they still loves them some Nazis over there, and I've pretty much lost track of how many times Mr. Z has been busted doing happy-snap foto ops with Azov Battalion and Right Sector thugs showing off their cool 3rd SS Panzers and Waffen SS gear.

The guy is hanging with Nazis, stomping all over the Left, beating  down the working class, walking like a duck and quacking like a duck.

If you're going to #StandWithUkraine that's your business, but at least take a good, steamy gawk at what you're standing with and own it.

---------------

"Chaplain of SS Galicia featured on postage stamp", Union Of Orthodox Journalists, 05.03.2018
https://spzh.news/en/news/53086-kapellana-ss-galichina-izobrazili-na-pochtovoj-marke

"14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician)" via Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_Waffen_Grenadier_Division_of_the_SS_(1st_Galician)

"Ukrainian Collaboration With Nazi Germany", via Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_collaboration_with_Nazi_Germany

"Nothing unusual, just the President of #Ukraine #Zelensky publishes a selection of photographs on #VictoryDay over fascism, the first of which shows a #Ukrainian #Nazi with the chevron of the 3rd SS Panzer Division"
—Peter Pobjecky @Peterpobjecky on Twitter, 05.09.2022
https://twitter.com/peterpobjecky/status/1523654575429144576

"Ukrainian President Zelensky posts image of soldier wearing Nazi patch", Financial Assets, 05.09.2022
https://fa.news/articles/ukrainian_president_zelensky_posts_image_of_soldier_wearing_nazi_patch-185833/

"Zelensky Suspends 11 Left-Wing Political Parties", Paul Knaggs at Labour Heartlands, 03.20.2022
https://labourheartlands.com/ukraine-zelensky-suspends-11-left-wing-political-parties/

"President Zelenskyy Bans Opposition Parties in Ukraine", Juan Andrés Gallardo at Left Voice, 03.21.2022
https://www.leftvoice.org/president-zelenskyy-bans-opposition-parties-in-ukraine/

"Zelensky and NATO plan to transform post-war Ukraine into ‘a big Israel’", Alexander Rubinstein at The Grayzone, 09.17.2022
https://thegrayzone.com/2022/09/17/zelensky-nato-ukraine-big-israel/

______________________________

_____
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

 

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "'White Paper' Revolution"

From Mike Flugennock, DC's anarchist cartoonist

"'White Paper' Revolution"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3554

Welp... (siggghhh) another day, another US-cheered and instigated  protest "movement" for "freedom" in China, slavishly "reported" by the 
US boss' media. Hell, they've even got a cute gimmick and a cute  nickname to go with it already. The "White Paper" Revolution, the wags 
are calling it at the State Department, NED, USAID, New York Times, 
Washington Post, and every goddamn cable news network on Earth, and it's supposedly all about some Ayn Rand concept of "freedom" from the testing and quarantine requirements of China's largely successful 
public health response, which is aimed at getting as close to 
completely eradicating the virus as they can get — as opposed to the 
US, which abandoned the population to its own devices to sicken and 
die of COVID19 to the tune of just over a million people last year.

Freedom, my ass — the freedom of ignorant, Ayn Rand brutalists whose 
twisted ideas of "bodily autonomy" include no concept 
whatsogoddamnever of acting conscientiously or making small sacrifices 
for the public good. It's the freedom of selfish chuds who want 
haircuts and ice cream, who want to be "served" no matter what the 
actual human cost.

This astroturf circus isn't about freedom, it's about the likes of 
Tesla, Intel, Apple and others who are impatient to literally work 
people to death in China the way they have in the US for the past two 
years.

----------

"China Protests and Covid: Myths and Facts" Brian Becker and Tings 
Chak on Breakthrough News, 12.06.2022 
https://breakthroughnews.org/china-protests-and-covid-myths-and-facts/

"China pushes lifting of Zero-COVID after anti-lockdown protests", 
Peter Symonds at the World Socialist Site, 11.30.2022 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/11/30/chin-n30.html

"'White paper' protests: China's top stationery supplier says it's 
still selling A4 sheets", Laura He at CNN Business 11.29.2022 
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/29/economy/china-white-paper-protests-stock-run-intl-hnk/index.html

"Memes, Puns and Blank Sheets of Paper: China's Creative Acts of 
Protest", Chang Che and Amy Chang Chien at the New York Times 
11.28.2022 
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/world/asia/china-protests-blank-sheets.html

"Umbrella Revolution", cartoon by Mike Flugennock 10.03.2014 
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=1582

"Sorry About The Airport", cartoon by Mike Flugennock 08.16.2019 
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2781

"Tough Decisions at Tesla", cartoon by Mike Flugennock 05.13.2020 
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2993

"Freedom Isn't Free", cartoon by Mike Flugennock 07.17.2020 
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3034

Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Elon Musk's FashFone™ by PhoneX"

from DC's anarchist cartoonist Mike Flugennock -

"Elon Musk's FashFone™ by PhoneX"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3548

After Elon Musk bought Twitter, declared it a "free speech zone", 
started letting all the fascists back in and shutting down the Left, 
there was some understandable online rioting this week, and the 
predictable calls from America's boutique anarchist media to join an 
exodus to Mastodon. Oh, how I laughed.

So, late last week, Apple and Google finally got off their goddamn 
duffs and declared that Twitter would be shut out of the Google Play 
and Apple App stores if the enabling of fascist hate speech and 
harassment was allowed to continue. Musk, at his very Muskmost, 
announced that he would develop his own brand of smartphone whose App 
Shoppe would allow Twitter.

...which basically leaves Gab and Parler in a spot, when you think 
about it. Now, you don't have to go to some seedy, fringey fascist 
social-media site to spew your shit; you can just go to Twitter.

Sometimes these gags draw themselves.

9x17 inch high-res color .jpg image, 589kb

----------

"Elon Musk says he'll create an 'alternative' smartphone if Twitter is 
kicked out of the Apple App Store", Kali Hays at Business Insider, 
11.25.2022
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/elon-musk-twitter-make-his-own-phone-apple-app-store-2022-11?op=1

"Elon Says He'll Make His Own Phone If Apple and Google Deplatform 
Twitter", Jody Serrano at Gizmodo, 11.25.2022
https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-alternative-phone-apple-google-ban-twitter-1849822836

"This Is America #177: Fediverse Grows as Musk Tanks Twitter; 
Far-Right Beaten Back from Eugene to Penn State", It's Going Down 
podcast 11.13.2022
https://itsgoingdown.org/this-is-america-177/
_________________________________________________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Nearly 90 Percent"

From DC's anarchist cartoonist Mike Flugennock -

"Nearly 90 Percent"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3540

Y'know, it's truly amazing when clowns like these just come right out 
and say it, and seem so obviously bummed about it — like, just exactly 
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is wrong with nearly 90 percent of the goddamn 
Earth, anyway? Can't they see we're fighting for democracy? Bwah ha ha 
ha ha ha hahhh.

Perhaps it's because nearly 90% of the Earth has already seen the USA 
in action in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Korea, Guantanamo, My Lai, 
Abu Ghraib, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Bolivia, Cuba, Hiroshima and 
Nagasaki.

Perhaps it's because unlike nearly 100% of Americans, nearly 90% of 
the rest of Earth isn't a bunch of goddamn indoctrinated idiots.

-----

"Nearly 90 Percent of the World Isn't Following Us on Ukraine", 
Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell in Newsweek, 09.15.2022
https://www.newsweek.com/nearly-90-percent-world-isnt-following-us-ukraine-opinion-1743061

"87% of world doesn't support West's new cold war on Russia", Ben 
Norton in Multipolarista 09.21.2022
https://multipolarista.com/2022/09/21/global-south-west-cold-war-russia/

"Many Global South countries blame US/NATO for Ukraine war, not 
Russia", Ben Norton in Multipolarista 03.28.2022
https://multipolarista.com/2022/03/28/global-south-blame-us-nato-ukraine-war-russia/

_________________________________________________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Little Twee Library"

From Mike Flugennock, DC's anarchist cartoonist --- (PS I own an LFL)

"Little Twee Library"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3529

I don't know about your city, but here in the tonier 'hoods of DC, the 
Little Free Libraries are a big thing. Sounds really sweet and noble 
and grassrootsy mutual-aidy n'shit until you get a load of what's 
actually in the goddamn things. It's basically the kind of 
instantly-obsolete stuff you used to see stacked on the sidewalk in 
front of the fence in front of the house with a little post-it note 
reading "FREE" — old college textbooks, trendy disposable political 
tomes, pseudo-academic shartage by "public intellectuals", cute trendy 
late '00s millennial YA novels, trendy child-rearing stuff, trendy 
self-helpy shit, people unloading all the John Grisham and James 
Patterson novels they bought to read on the plane... Sure as hell 
didn't see anyone giving away their copies of "On The Road" or "To 
Have And Have Not" or "Sirens Of Titan" or Ché Guevara's Diaries or 
anything, y'know...?

So, if you're still expecting your neighborhood Little Free Library to 
be a little hotspot for the sharing of important, interesting ideas 
and literature, you're in for a massive disappointment as it's 
actually more of a solution for the heaps of used, outdated, 
past-trending books littering the sidewalk — and the perfect metaphor 
for the modern American "Marketplace Of Ideas": a kitschy little fake 
house full of ragged-out, out-of-date, past-their-prime, beat-to-shit 
ideas that some poor sucker out there is trying to fob off on some 
other suckers in your neighborhood.

The real deal, though, is that in the current climate, the real "free 
libraries" are going to be serious, important places to meet and share 
important, vital literature, thought and ideas and contribute to the 
network of "people's free libraries" and archives, and they're going 
to be truly "underground", not twee little toy houses in somebody's 
front yard where you unload those old Tom Clancy piles you bought at 
the DCA bookshop.

16x18 inch medium-res color .jpg image, 763kb

_____________________________________________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Opening Bell" Inbox

 

from DC's anarchist cartoonist, Mike Flugennock -

"Opening Bell"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3522


"...freedom has many manifestations but the most important for many is 
the ability to work for your benefit, for the benefit of your children 
and the want of your country. Ukraine is a story of a future victory 
and a chance for you to invest now in projects worth hundreds of 
billions of dollars to share the victory of us… This will be your 
victory and a new success story for your companies."
—Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, 09.06.2022

I've seen some pretty goddamn unctous fotos in the news in my time, 
but none quite as revulsive lately as this tableau featuring US stooge 
and Neo-Nazi Volodymyr Zelensky "virtually" ringing the opening bell 
via remote video link at the New York Stock Exchange — and none quite 
as apropos, given that shares in US "defense" industries are hitting 
the stratosphere, and Ford and IBM's infamous collaboration with the 
Nazis.

As reported at Grayzone and Multipolarista, Zelensky's economic 
"victory" is being won through the abolition of labor protection in a 
program not unlike that instituted by Pinochet in Chile in the 1970s, 
combined with some of that good old-fashioned globalized IMF/WorldBank 
"shock treatment". Ukraine is "open for business", the sonofabitch 
says — I don't know about you, but when I hear one of these bastards 
talk about how his country is "open for business", it's time to look 
the fuck OUT.

This crass stunt — along with Zelensky's suppression of Left 
opposition parties and his repeated foto ops with Nazis — would 
actually indicate that this is pretty much par for the course on Wall 
Street, which never met a war (or a fascist) it didn't like.

"We are pleased to welcome President Zelensky virtually to the NYSE 
bell podium, a symbol of the freedom and opportunity our U.S. capital 
markets have enabled around the globe. We are honored the President 
has chosen the NYSE to mark the kickoff of Advantage Ukraine and 
engage with the world’s business community."
—Lynn Martin, president, NYSE Group, 09.06.2022


------

"Zelensky is literally selling Ukraine to US corporations on Wall 
Street", Benjamin Norton at Multipolarista, 09.09.2022
https://multipolarista.com/2022/09/09/zelensky-selling-ukraine-wall-street/

"Zelensky rings New York Stock Exchange bell as Euro dips below 
dollar", Alexander Rubinstein at Grayzone, 09.07.2022
https://thegrayzone.com/2022/09/07/zelensky-new-york-stock-exchange-euro-dollar/

"President Zelenskyy Bans Opposition Parties in Ukraine", Juan Andrés 
Gallardo at Left Voice, 03.21.2022
https://www.leftvoice.org/president-zelenskyy-bans-opposition-parties-in-ukraine/

"Ukraine's Zelensky shares image of soldier with Nazi insignia", RT, 
05.09.2022
https://www.rt.com/russia/555202-zelensky-nazi-ss-insignia/

"How IBM helped the Nazis" book review at World Socialist Web Site, 05.2001
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2001/06/ibm-j27.html

"Nazi documents reveal that Ford had links to Auschwitz", UK Guardian, 
07.09.1999
https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/aug/20/julianborger1


_____________________________
Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
Mike's press kit: http://sinkers.org/stage/?page_id=2