Here. One note: for personal reasons, I had to dip into the “backup” file this week. The cartoon has never run online or in any of my papers, but it was published in my last compilation — so if you’re one of the dozen or so people who bought that book, it’ll be a rerun for you.

From Bradblog:

Just two days after the Times described the “outlandish” dress of O’Keefe, the Congress of the United States passed legislation to remove federal funding for ACORN. (A federal judge later found the legislation to be “unconstitutional”.)

The Times has so far refused to retract, apologize, and investigate how and why it got the story so incredibly wrong, time and again, even though many have written to the paper’s Public Editor, Clark Hoyt (Public@NYTimes.com) to request that he recommend exactly that. Hoyt had previously chided the paper in his column, for being “slow off the mark” in having waited “nearly a week after the first video was posted” before covering the videos. A special editor was then assigned to devote attention to “issues that are dominating Fox News and talk radio.”

As Brad notes, the Times engaged in extensive self-criticism for “missing” a story that’s now been revealed as deceitful at minimum. I think it’s fine to have a “special editor” keeping an eye on wingnut concerns, as long as that special editor is given the leeway to point out that 99% of the time, they’re outright wrong if not batshit crazy.

If you feel inspired to send a note to Hoyt, be polite. Flies, honey, vinegar.

New ad from Americans United for Change:

I tried to make a similar point eleven years ago:

Corporate Americans!

I’m sorry to learn that my friend Keith Knight has parted ways with Salon. It has been a privilege and an honor to share the digital comics page with him lo these many years. But you can still keep up with his work over at his own spiffy, newly-redesigned site. I definitely will.

“Whatever just happened is the only thing that has ever happened!”

Two of my longtime page-mates from Salon, Cary Tennis and King Kaufman have been hit with serious health emergencies in recent months.

In November, Cary announced in his beloved advice column that he was diagnosed with a rare cancer (sacral chordoma) and was going to have to undergo surgery, which took place on December 17th. He’s been good at keeping us all updated since on his Open Salon blog.

In early January, King was suddenly taken ill and hospitalized for a devastating ailment none of us had ever heard of before. One minute he was banging out bellicose e-mails on our usage of the term “healthcare” (one word, not two), and the next his legs buckled under him as he ran for a bus. He ended up unable to walk or even get out of bed for two weeks.

King had developed Guillain-Barré syndrome on the heels of a bout of lingering pneumonia, which he contracted at the end of November. We all googled it frantically and our jaws collectively dropped as we watched him go from a belligerent grumpy cuss to a silent grumpy cuss, unable to move. After three weeks in the hospital and a physical rehab center, he is now home, on his way to what his doctors say is likely to be a full recovery.

When people are catastrophically ill, it seems that nothing you do can ever be enough. We brought food over. We sent e-mails and made calls. We volunteered baby sitting. And then we decided to mobilize and pull together a bake sale to help take care of all those unforeseen expenses that pile up. There are medical expenses and lost wages, and then there are things you don’t even think of, like the $16 a day parking fee King’s wife Jane had to pay at the hospital where King spent 16 days.

My contribution to the “bake sale” is a copy of the extremely rare white vinyl version of the Backspacer LP. The auction blog is here; the Backspacer auction is here. I can sign the cover, or not, at the winning bidder’s request.

… adding: holy crap! I’m thrilled that we’re raising some serious funds to help Cary and King, but keep in mind folks, there’s a week to go on this auction … and at this point, please don’t bid on this thing unless you can really afford it …

also: be sure to browse through the other items — signed books from numerous Salon authors, original art from Keith Knight, and a chance to have Joan Walsh debate your conservative relatives in person (seriously)!

In Madison, Wisconsin:

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Half-Price Books are teaming up to help kids in need of a book.

On Monday, they kicked off the 12th Annual Half-Pint Library Book Drive.

People are encouraged to drop off a lightly-used or new children’s books to bins set up at the two Half-Price Book locations in Madison.

Mayor Dave donated a book called, “The Very Silly Mayor.”

It’s about a penguin that unseats the mayor.

“This is the strength of education.” said Mayor Dave, “If kids read enough books, hopefully they’ll come to the conclusion the current mayor is ok, regardless of what they read in one particular book.”

(One small nit: the penguin does not unseat the mayor — because “you can’t just declare that a penguin is mayor! You have to have an election!”)

Also: you can buy it here.

Conservative Jones, Citizen Journalist.

This Friday, Feb. 5 I’ll be speaking at a fundraiser in New Haven along with a friend of mine, a very talented illustrator and cartoonist named Michael Sloan. The event is at Luce Hall Auditorium at 34 Hillhouse Ave., and tickets are $25 ($10 for students). We’ll both be presenting slide shows of our respective work, followed by a Q&A and a silent auction of a copy of the Backspacer vinyl signed by Eddie Vedder. There will also be signed copies of both Michael’s books and The Very Silly Mayor for sale. The event raises money for a local day care program, so all funds raised are for a very worthy cause.

… adding: at 7 p.m.

Update: many thanks to my co-presenter Michael, and to all who attended. It was a great evening, and we raised a bunch of money for a good cause.