LARRY ROIBAL

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Yokio Hatoyama becomes the presumptive prime minister of Japan after leading the opposition Democratic Party to a landslide victory over the Liberal Democratic Party. Hatoyama campaigned on a platform to end American-dominated globalization, to reorient Japan towards Asia and to reconsider American military presence in Japan….stay tuned.

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Monday was Independence Day in the Ukraine, celebrating their declaration of independence in 1991 from the Soviet Union. But one year after the war in Georgia, Russia is now rattling is sabers towards Ukraine. Moscow’s mayor, Yuri Luzhkov claims the Ukraine port city of Sevastopol belongs to Russia and President Dmitri Medvedev denounced Ukrain for anti-Russian policies last month… Stay tuned

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Maybe it was the sailor in Ted that enabled him towards the end to take his bearing and change his course, learn to navigate a life filled with tragedy and become a better husband, father, uncle and senator. He was 77.

Always in the news, it seems I’ve doodled the Kennedy’s many times.

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President Obama’s budget director Peter Orszag was the bearer of bad news yesterday when he announced via his agency’s website that the projected deficits are even higher than previously forecast. Citing the dire fiscal situation that they inherited, The ten year tab climbed by another two trillion dollars. I don’t know about you, but these numbers seem abstract to me. A trillion dollars is a million million. If you laid one dollar bills end to end, you could make a chain that stretches from earth to the moon and back again 200 times. One trillion dollars would stretch nearly from the earth to the sun. It would take a military jet flying at the speed of sound, reeling out a roll of dollar bills behind it, 14 years before it reeled out one trillion dollar bills. The deficits are now projected to total 9.05 trillion dollars over the next ten years.

Tomorrow, Ted Kennedy

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Attorney General Eric Holder named a special prosecutor to do something President Obama initially said he was against, look back to the previous administration’s possible abuse of prisoners.

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A little over a year ago I blogged about Julia Child being an international spy. Alas, it had no impact on sales of her book. But Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Nora Ephron have managed, in spite of people trying to eat healthier, to put “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child, butter and all, on top of the New York Times Best-Sellers List 48 years after it was first published. Julia & Julia opened in theaters on August 7th.

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Tom Ridge asserts in a new book, due out in September, that in his position as Secretary of Homeland Security, he felt pressure from John Ashcroft and Donald Rumsfeld to raise the national security threat level one week prior to the ‘04 presidential election, even though no intelligence suggested a new attack and there was no support for that position within his department. Ridge suspected that some within the Bush administration were attempting to politicize the threat level, which he never did raise. He resigned weeks after the election.

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Legendary newsman, Don Hewitt has passed away. His accomplishments in news and broadcasting are too numerous to list, most notably, he invented a whole new genre of television when he created the news magazine 60 Minutes. He was 86.

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The hard nose, shoe leather, Washington reporter turned right wing political pundit, Robert Novak, has passed away. Love him, or hate him, his reporting skills always made the Evans and Novak column a good read. I always liked the format of the CNN show Crossfire. He had strong beliefs and was willing to stand toe to toe with his opposition in a spirited debate, It stands in contrast to what’s become of todays cable news channels where each channel has chosen sides and presents a monolithic point of view. He was 78. Continue Reading

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Readers Digest was founded in 1922 and grew into the nations most popular general interest magazine, but Mary Berner, the CEO of the family orientated publishing company, has found a tough row to hoe. Advertising dollars are trending away from print as traditional media is loosing market share. Yesterday the publisher announced it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

For years, the highlight of going to the dentist or doctors office was picking up the Digest in the waiting room to see the C.F. Payne illustrations on the back covers.

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Ever wonder how fast Jamaican, Usain Bolt would have ran the 100 meters if he hadn’t pulled up and jogged on his way to setting a world and Olympic record during the 2008 Olypics? Yesterday, Bolt was pushed to sprint from start to finish by American, Tyson Gay. Gay ran a great race and set a national record of 9:71. Bolt shattered the world record by running the 100 meters in 9:58.

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Born Eunice Mary Kennedy in 1921 to Joseph and Rose Kennedy. She earned a bachelors degree in sociology from Stanford, married Sargent Shriver, raised five children, including Maria Shriver (the first lady of California) founded the Special Olympics, and devoted her life to improving the lives of those with intellectual disabilities. She was 88.

NOTE:. I’m taking a long weekend, be back on Monday with a new drawing. Due to spam issues, the comment feature will turned off until I return.

L

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Winston Churchill said “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

At a town hall meeting, Senator Arlen Specter came face to face with some citizens concerned with the future direction of health care in the US.

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Surveillance cameras reveal a weak link in the US, Mexican fight against drug trafficking - 53 Prisoners walking out of a Mexican prison to waiting SUV’s and the guards never drew a gun. The overcrowded Mexican prisons system is often used as a base of operations for drug cartels. After a Supreme court ruling clearing the way for extradition, President Felipe Calderon has sent a record number of prisoners to the United States for justice. From top to bottom: Gilberto Higuera Guerrero and brother Iamael Higuera Guerrero extradited in 2007 on charges of trafficking large amounts of drugs through Tijuana and Texicali. Osiel Cardenas Guillen, extradited in 2007 on charges of leading the Gulf Cartel and continuing to run the organization from his Mexican prison cell. Jesus Labra Aviles, extradited on charges of leading the armed wing of the Arellano Felix Cartel.

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Kenneth Feinberg is the man within the Obama administration in charge of sorting through the convoluted language of Wall Street’s pay packages, where oxymorons like “guaranteed bonuses” are standard operating procedure. While he can’t retroactively do anything about bonuses that were already paid by companies that received bailout money, (thank you Chris Dodd) he is presently reviewing the top earners within said companies and has the authority to adjust their pay packages.

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Writer, director, producer, John Hughes has passed away. Hughes had a great gift of capturing teenage angst in his films and giving misfits their day in the sun. Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, Home Alone, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He was 59.

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It was very touching to see four year old Hana and her Dad Michael Seldate welcome Euna Lee home from detainment in North Korea.

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Former President Clinton offered Kim Jong-il what every megalomaniac wants - the world stage. In exchange Clinton was able to secure the release and pardons for the two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, being held by the rouge nation.

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Former Prime Minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen took office yesterday as the new Secretary General of NATO and immediately called for a stronger European contribution in the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. “I would urge Europeans to look closer into how to ensure a better balance in the alliance.”

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Chris Dodd will undergo surgery for prostate cancer. The 65 year old Senator from Connecticut vowed to continue his campaign for a sixth term in the US Senate.

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Thirty years ago today New York Yankee catcher Thurman Munson was killed in a private plane accident. On a team with Reggie Jackson, Lou Piniella, Graig Nettles, Cris Chambliss, Bobby Murcer, Goose Gossage, Ron Guidry, Catfish Hunter, Tommy John, and Jim Kaat, they called Thurman Munson the Captain. He was named Rookie of the Year in 1970 and was the corner stone on which a great Yankee team was built. Munson led them to three consecutive World Series Championships 1976-78 . In the 1976 World Series he batted .529 and had a combined World Series batting average of .373. He was 32 years old.

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