Thoughts Before The Alarm Sounds

     I don't know why I do it, but I admit it: I read the letters to the editor in the local newspaper. But on any given day, I have a pretty good idea what I am going to find there:       35% will be from Republicans castigating the President and the Democrats' stand on the national debt, immigrants, the troops and gun control. (This is a conservative area.)      25% will be from Democrats praising the President and castigating the Republicans' stand on the national debt, immigrants, the troops and gun control.      20% will be from people who think we have gone morally astray, and the only thing that will prevent God from wreaking Armageddon on the USA is to turn to Jesus and the Bible.      15% are from folks praising or ridiculing the governor's plan to privatize the lottery and the state's monopoly on the sale of liquor.      3% are from folks who wish to thank the...

      Today’s blog again takes a look at some of the popular comic strips of the 1930s, 1940s and later. If you are a member of the post-youth set, see how many you can remember. If you belong to the younger set, perhaps you will enjoy seeing what your parents and grandparents thought was funny. Please keep in mind that those who remember these strips were struggling through the great depression. We took our humor where we could find it.       If you missed our first comic strip review, check the July 25th blog.       Blondie (1930 - ) was originally a flapper named Blondie Boopadoop. In 1933 she married Dagwood Bumstead, who was immediately disowned by his well-to-do family for marrying beneath his class. Almost overnight Blondie settled into the role of a housewife.       In 1934 Alexander, nee Baby Dumpling, was born, and a daughter, Cookie, was born in 1941. Both children were all...

      Today’s blog takes a look at some of the popular comic strips of the 1930s, 1940s and later. If you are a member of the post-youth set, see how many you can remember. If you belong to the younger set, perhaps you will enjoy seeing what your parents and grandparents thought was funny. Please keep in mind that those who remember these strips were struggling through the great depression. We took our humor where we could find it.        Alley Oop (1932 - ) was a stone age character, who along with his Friend, Foozy, and his girl friend, Ooola, rode around on his pet dinosaur, Dinny. In 1939 they were brought into the 20th century by virtue of a time machine invented by Dr. Wonmug. As to be expected, complications followed.       Bringing Up Father (1913 – 2000), the official name of this strip, was commonly called Jiggs and Maggie after the two main characters. They were immigrants from Ireland; Jigg...

Continuing along the same vein as yesterday's blog, I think it’s about time for newspapers to create a new three-part comic section. Part 1, the “Funny” part, would contain all the regular comics: Beetle Bailey, Hagar the Horrible, Blondie, etc. Part 2, the “Inexplicable” part would be devoted to the activities of corrupt politicians, e.g. Vincent Fumo, the Pennsylvania state ex-senator recently found guilty on 137 counts of illegal use of funds. This part would include the activities of those political “ladies men” who have trouble keeping their zippers up: Eliot Spitzer, Mark Sanford and John Edwards come to mind. Religious leaders with over-active hormones, e.g. Ted Haggard, Tony Alamo, various priests and others too numerous to mention would have their escapades posted here. Also a very important component of this part would be all “Letters to the Editor” of the newspaper, including those which I occasionally write. Part 3, the “Unbelievable” part, would contain the goi...

I usually read the Letters to the Editor. As I mentioned yesterday, I wrote one myself - I have done that a few times before. I don’t know whether or not they will print it. Some of the letters I agree with, others I disagree with, some are ridiculous, and some I don’t care about one way or another. I have often thought that the Letters page should be placed next to the Comics page. Most of the comics are not funny, and many of the letters are, so lets place them close to each other. Except for the one I wrote yesterday.