CSotD: Monday Short Takes
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I'm not a huge fan of the Olympics, which somehow went from elitist shamateur exhibit under Avery Brundage to the commercial gigantism that followed, though I'm not sure when I switched from being a fan to being vaguely interested to dreading the event.
However, Robert Airial captures a factor that has run through that process, which does have to do with the commercialism: I was one of the Coloradoans who opposed holding the 1976 Winter Games there because of the potential impact on the environment and culture of the area, but I rather liked the Lake Placid Games in 1980, which, after all, only needed to be spruced up as a site.
Plus, the Lake Placid Games were an economic boon to Northern New York, because not only did it focus attention on the tourism splendor of the community, but the various dormitories were built such that they could later fuel a prison industry in a region in which jobs are hard to come by.
There's a metaphor buried in there somewhere, but, in any case, Airial is correct that whatever came to Brazil with the Olympics isn't likely to filter down to its poor.
What I find interesting is that, when Brazil was hosting the World Cup two years ago, there was, as I noted then, substantial attention being paid to the impact on the poor.
Cartoon Movement hosted this brilliant interactive feature on the homeless.
And also this equally brilliant piece on the move to relocate and, well, hide the favelas.
But the topic seems to have gotten a pass two years later and it certainly isn't because the World Cup brought such riches to Brazil that they no longer have poor people.
I also would suggest that it isn't because, while FIFA is an organization of corrupt fatcats, the IOC is pristine and admirable.
I suspect it is because, two years ago, Brazil had not gone into a state of freefall in which it was investigating and impeaching and otherwise turning upon its own head of government.
Which doesn't excuse anyone from ignoring the plight of the poor, but it might explain why there was not a loud chorus of "What about us?" to get the world's attention.
Not an excuse. Just an explanation.
Domestic reportage
Other countries are still in a situation where they are crying out for someone to pay attention to the looming disaster, and I probably wouldn't have singled out this Clay Jones cartoon were it not illustrating a brilliant report on what it's like to attend a Trump rally.
Usually, cartoonists do this sort of reporting with a series of graphic vignettes; Jones does not. Perhaps he should consider that approach, but, in the meantime, this isn't the first time his essay was equal to or perhaps a bit above his cartoon.
In any case, what I find appealling about his report is that it is refreshingly un-snotty. Enough people have looked down from the Ivory Tower at the unclean, uneducated followers of Trump, and it's refreshing to read a report that, while appalled at the overall phenomenon of Trump, doesn't simply dismiss his followers as poor white trash.
And he includes several photographs which, if he wanted to delay release of the report, he could have sketched into the aforementioned graphic vignettes.
I'm okay with the choice of getting the info out there faster.
Personal notes
Okay, Betty, I can explain this.
Once you've scooped, you're stuck with a Bag O' Poop, and, while those of us brave enough to wear cargo shorts despite the mockery of hipsters might have a place for it, others prefer to drop it by the side of the path to pick up on the way back.
And then you get distracted and end up taking a different way back and forget about it.
There are a couple of solutions, besides the obvious one of carrying the thing with you no matter how far it is.
I used to simply tuck it into people's rollaway bins at the curb, until I learned that not all collectors tilt-and-dump those bins, so that, while the big bags of trash go into the truck, smaller things remain in the bin and I understand why people don't like that.
But I have a mental map of commercial Dumpsters on the routes we walk, and I suppose if anyone questions the additional four ounces I've added to their monthly total we can work out a payment plan. In the meantime, it seems a no-impact way to improve the community.
In any case, dog owners have been known to pick up these orphaned bags, in part to help stave off nasty local legislation, and, in part, because we hope someone picked up the ones we've spaced out.
(Related policy: Zero-Sum Scooping, which is when you can't find your dog's poop in the leaves and grass at the park, so, after you've searched long enough, you give up and pick up someone else's dog poop on the theory that at least there now is no more poop on the ground than there was when you arrived.)
Easing into the new gig
This is the first day of Francesco Marciuliano's new job as writer for Judge Parker. I'm not expecting a lot right away, since he's being dropped in mid-storyline and presumably has a limited set of options while what's going on gets resolved.
(Context: Teen band coming home from a gig and forced to take a backroad in bad weather. The blonde is the continuing character. Or, the one we most expect to continue, depending on what happens next.)
Here's what he had to say about it.
Now here aren't the Eagles:
I was going to add the obvious musical salute to the new kid in town
but then, well, here's this instead.
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