Creative Director, Designer, Motorcyclist and Urban Atheist.
The real meaning of the current Gadsden flag trend. #p2 #confederacyofdunces
Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) put Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) on the spot by asking some pertinent questions today in a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing.
“Your proposal would require unions to hold annual votes to continue representing their own members. Can you please explain to me and members of this committee how much money this provision saves for your state budget?” asked Kucinich.
“Did you answer the questions? How much money does it save, Governor?”
“It doesn’t save any,” replied Walker, essentially admitting his legislative campaign aimed at stripping public employees’ collective bargaining rights did nothing to help solve Wisconsin’s budget deficit.
Kucinich then produced a document from the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal bureau that listed Walker’s “Public Employee Collective Bargaining Modifications” among nonfiscal policy items that would not save the state significant money. He stated the document proved that the changes to collective bargaining were motivated by politics rather than any effect on the state budget shortfall. “The attack on collective bargaining right is a choice, not a budget issue. …Governor Walker has inadvertently done a public service …and brought this issue to the forefront.” Walker is one of a growing number of newly elected Republican Governors who ran on jobs and anti-tax platforms but who, once in office, proceeded to enact seemingly kneejerk, partisan and highly unpopular policies aimed at diminishing the power of public employee unions and labor in general. Kucinich was on the ball with his 5 minutes today. 
the tea party isn’t racist,
now let me explain why not by
being incredibly racist.
Happy birthday Christopher Hitchens.
Played the Catskills
A few months ago, I was invited to submit a design for a signage/logo contest for a new scenic byway in New York state’s Catskill Mountains. The byway will run along NY Route 28 from just outside of the city of Kingston, on the Hudson River, to the mountain hamlet of Andes. The winning logo will be used on official road signs, as well as on brochures, websites and collateral.
While I was chosen as one of six finalists, my design didn’t win. However, I wanted to display it here in its two forms. The first version shows a Catamount or Eastern Mountain Lion, which are all but extinct East of the Mississippi and the second, final version shows a Bobcat, which are known to actually dwell in the Catskills (the contest organizers requested the change from Mountain Lion to Bobcat). I’d also tweaked the kerning and other small details from version to version. Since the sign was to be for highway use, I focused on producing a very graphic image with clean, bold knocked-out type and open line art for the cats. The bobcat has a little more scruffiness in his “fur”.
The original Catamount’s body was sketched from life with the help of my 8 year old domestic shorthair, Ruby.
The War of the Rebellion
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War when on April 12, 1861, the rebellious Confederate Army, under the command of Brigadier General. P.G.T. Beauregard fired the first mortars at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor and the U.S. Army, lead by Major Robert Anderson. While much has been said and written about this uniquely American war, there is no denying that it is one of the defining conflicts in our history. And for all intents and purposes is still being fought in the minds and psyches of many who identify themselves with the Republican and Tea parties.
In a recent poll from CNN almost 25% of Americans queried sympathize more with the Confederacy than they do with the Union. Unsurprisingly, more so among white Southerners, while the number for Republicans alone is 28%. In the question of Slavery as the main cause of the war, Republicans tallied 52%, while the number rose to 54% among Tea Partiers.
What stands out most about the Civil War are not so much images of battlefields littered with the fallen or Abraham Lincoln’s pensive, harried appearance during the ord
eal, but the concept that it was a war which had to be fought. Not only to preserve the Union, but to end Slavery; an unapologetic blight on the nation enjoying an almost 240 year long run, particularly in the South, where it was an unparalleled economic powerhouse. The war had to be fought and won. And with the perseverance of the North and leaders such as Lincoln, Grant and Sherman, it was.
However, the reunion, or Reconstruction of the nation after the war, and after Lincoln’s assassination, was poorly implemented, left much to be desired and amongst other things resulted in almost a century of institutional racism and stultification by many sectors of the white, especially Southern, population. Lets not forget that. It was never a lost cause. Lets make sure that future generations of Americans continue to learn about and understand the true causes and lessons of this terrible conflict, and its legacy.
