Ball poiunt pen on newsprint and paper napkin Over the past few months I've been having a blast posting my daily doodles, these next few days however, will mark the first weekday without a new drawing. I'm headed to the beach for a long weekend, and even though I'll do some drawing, I won't have access to a scanner. Here is my version of the summer re-run.... a few of my favorite doodles over the past few months. Be back on Monday with an all new drawing! ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint The Fed basically has one tool in the shed. If inflation is detected, they could increase interest rates and slow the economy. If a slowing economy is detected, they could lower interest rates and spur the economy. Since business is reluctant to raise prices during a slowing economy, inflation and a recession are almost always mutually exclusive. But our government has thrown another variable into the mix; a huge debt and a falling dollar. Even if world prices stay the same, the shrinking buying power of the US dollar will make it seem like inflation. Now we have a slowing economy and inflation, so what can the fed do?.... nothing. Yesterday the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged. ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint The simplest solution is the best. Sometimes I callenge myself to draw a likeness with the the greatest economy of strokes. If the strokes are in the right place, nothing more is needed. In politics, nothing ever seems as simple as, we need oil, we have oil within our borders, lets get the oil. ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint Growing up, I had a Great Uncle Nick who would captivate us with the tales of how he and his family escaped from Russia as a boy; Alexander Solzhenitsyn wasn't as fortunate. Having survived eight years in a Russian gulag, his Nobel Prize winning books chronicle the horrors of Stalin's slave labor camps. Solzhenitsyn died yesterday. He was 89. ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint Some bloggers, armed with strong hit counts, have an over inflated view of their contribution to the public discourse and have developed an adversarial relationship with traditional media. I'm not in that camp. I'm a full time illustrator. I don't have the time, nor the budget to track down a story. I have never filed a freedom of information request. I rely on traditional media to stay informed, not just as a blogger, but as a responsible citizen. Some may have noticed the Star-Ledger's bylines peaking out from behind my daily doodles. The Ledger is New Jersey's largest daily paper. My brother and I had a Star-Ledger paper route as boys. and I've been a subscriber and reader ever since. In recent years the Ledger has won two Pulitzer Prizes and numerous other national awards, but like many in the news industry it's suffered financially of la ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint Yesterday, US District Judge William Martini, sentenced former mayor of Newark Sharp James to a slap on the wrist, proving that in New Jersey, crime does pay. The corrupt pol was tried for illegally steering public land to his mistress and cronies and was convicted of fraud and conspiracy. Martini ordering Sharp to serve 27 months and pay $100,000 fine. ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint I have a photo shoot in New York for a book cover illustration I'm working on, so today is another quicky. Right or wrong, I think that tapping our domestic oil reserves is a good place for McCain to go drilling for votes, but his gas tax holiday for the summer months crusade is loosing it's window of effectiveness. It's almost August and congress will soon be headed home to their districts until after Labor Day. It's beating a dead horse. ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint Rich (Goose) Gossage was inducted into Baseballs Hall of Fame yesterday. Goose was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 1970. After five seasons with Chicago and a cup of coffee with the Pirates, the hard throwing reliever came to the Yankees in 1978. As a relief pitcher, he helped define the modern day closer, pitching the final out to clinch a Division, League or World Series title seven times. The Yankees, with the help of Goose, pioneered the set-up/closer configuration that every major league team has used since. He was named an All-Star eight times, played for nine major league teams, but I thought it was fitting he entered the Hall of Fame wearing a Yankee cap. ...
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