Friday, September 29, 2006

Review of "Fairly Well-Known Cartoonist"'s Anthology

Comixpedia has a detailed interview of ATTITUDE 3:

Ted Rall is a fairly well-known, controversial editorial cartoonist. He's also been the editor for a series of books called Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists. In the third installment, Rall turns his attention to the web and manages to cover a lot of the better opinionated webcomics out there today. In an introductory essay to the book, Rall recounts the shrinking market for the traditional daily newspaper editorial cartoonists as well as the saturation of the "alternative weekly" format. The implication being that he is has rounded up a collection of cartoonists every bit as good as those occupying the limited space of America's newsprint. And for the most part I think he has...

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Retraction

Due to an error in editing, my column this week refered to George W. Bush as "the president." I apologize for the error and any confusion it may have caused.
Independent Weekly Interview

There's a SILK ROAD TO RUIN-centered interview with me in the current issue of the Raleigh/Durham-based alternative weekly The Independent:

Ted Rall is best known as a political cartoonist and columnist, but he is also a reporter who has covered Central Asia for nearly a decade. He broadcast live daily reports from Afghanistan during the 2001 war, and has written about the region for the Village Voice, POV and other magazines. Rall has collected his experiences in a new 300-page book, Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?, which he describes as a blend of graphic journalism, travelogue and analysis. The author recently sat down with the Indy's J.P. Trostle (who was also Rall's editor on Silk Road), to discuss the disappearance of Henderson native Major Jill Metzger--and why the United States has a military base in Kyrgyzstan in the first place.
(more)

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Current SILK ROAD TO RUIN Book Tour Schedule

Thanks to those who contributed to the big turnout last night at The Strand in New York. Especially welcome were those from Central Asian republics, who contributed awesome questions to the discussion.

The following dates remain on my book tour. Other cities will be added as information becomes available.

I will present an audio-visual overview of the current situation in ex-Soviet Central Asia and why it matters to all Americans, followed by a Q&A discussion and, obviously, book signing. Although the emphasis will be on SILK ROAD TO RUIN, we expect to have copies of my upcoming cartoon collection AMERICA GONE WILD (official publication date: October 15) available at these events as well.

PLEASE NOTE NEW TIME AND PLACE: Thursday 9/28, 5-7 pm - Jim Hanley's Universe, 4 West 33rd Street at Fifth Avenue, New York City

Also, there's a cool blurb in this week's Village Voice about the Hanley's appearance.

Thursday 10/5, 7:30 pm - Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 South Main Street Street, Seattle

Thursday 10/12, 7 pm - Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC - this will be a joint appearance as part of Cartoonists with Attitude [Note: Possible broadcast by C-SPAN's Book TV]

Friday 10/13 & Saturday 10/14, 10 am - 5 pm - Small Press Expo, Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, Maryland - I will be signing books at the NBM Publishing table.

Saturday 11/4, 2 pm - Books & Co. at The Greene, 4453 Walnut Street, Beavercreek, Ohio

DON'T SEE YOUR CITY LISTED?

Generally speaking I do signings in cities under one of two conditions: (1) it has a newspaper that regularly publishes my work and can be counted upon to publicize the event or (2) an organization can support my visit with paid publicity, an travel expenses and honorarium. So the best ways to get me to come to your city are to convince your local editor to publish my work or find a college, peace group, etc. to organize the shindig.

I am currently working on dates in San Francisco, Portland (OR) and Los Angeles. There are no plans at this time to come to any other city to support SILK ROAD, but if you'd like me to come and think you can hook up one of the two requisites to make my appearance worth the effort for everyone involved, drop me a line at chet@rall.com.

Friday, September 22, 2006

NEW TIME AND PLACE for Thurs. 9/28 Signing

Next Monday night's signing at The Strand remains unchanged.

Thursday's signing has been moved to a new location and time. Check it out:

Thursday 9/28, 5-7 pm - Jim Hanley's Universe, 4 West 33rd Street at Fifth Avenue, New York City

Sorry for the inconvenience!
New York Daily News Interview/Article

There's an article and interview about my book SILK ROAD TO RUIN in today's New York Daily News.

In my constant effort to make things easier for the neofascist (i.e., pro-Bush) bloggers, here's the quote that they will work themselves into a lather over:

"Condi Rice is no more black than I am," he said. "You relinquish your blackness as soon as you work for Bush."


In the interest of equal treatment, here's one to annoy liberals should they choose to be annoyed:

"Ann Coulter isn't always wrong," said Rall.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Updated SILK ROAD TO RUIN Book Tour Schedule

Boise was awesome! Hundreds of people showed up, they asked many great questions and I got to see some amazing scenery and eat at great restaurants during my down-time. Thanks to the Boise Weekly for sponsoring a successful event!

The following dates remain on my book tour. Other cities will be added as information becomes available.

I will present an audio-visual overview of the current situation in ex-Soviet Central Asia and why it matters to all Americans, followed by a Q&A discussion and, obviously, book signing. Although the emphasis will be on SILK ROAD TO RUIN, we expect to have copies of my upcoming cartoon collection AMERICA GONE WILD (official publication date: October 15) available at these events as well.

Monday 9/25 7:00 - 8:30 pm - The Strand bookstore, 828 Broadway at 12th Street, New York City - cosponsored by EurasiaNet.org and Forbidden Planet.

Thursday 9/28, 7:30 pm - Barnes and Noble Greenwich Village, 396 Sixth Avenue at West 8th Street, New York City

Thursday 10/5, 7:30 pm - Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 South Main Street Street, Seattle

Thursday 10/12, Time TBD - Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC - this will be a joint appearance as part of Cartoonists with Attitude [Note: Possible broadcast by C-SPAN's Book TV]

Friday 10/13 & Saturday 10/14, 10 am - 5 pm - Small Press Expo, Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, Maryland - I will be signing books at the NBM Publishing table.

Saturday 11/4, 2 pm - Books & Co. at The Greene, 4453 Walnut Street, Beavercreek, Ohio

DON'T SEE YOUR CITY LISTED?

Generally speaking I do signings in cities under one of two conditions: (1) it has a newspaper that regularly publishes my work and can be counted upon to publicize the event or (2) an organization can support my visit with paid publicity, an travel expenses and honorarium. So the best ways to get me to come to your city are to convince your local editor to publish my work or find a college, peace group, etc. to organize the shindig.

I am currently working on dates in San Francisco, Portland (OR) and Los Angeles. There are no plans at this time to come to any other city to support SILK ROAD, but if you'd like me to come and think you can hook up one of the two requisites to make my appearance worth the effort for everyone involved, drop me a line at chet@rall.com.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Ann Coulter, 43 or 45, Conservative Commentator, Dies

Well, not really. My assignment for an unnamed humor magazine whose future theme issue was death was to write an obituary in the deadpan style of the New York Times, who despite failings in other areas produces the best death notices in the American media, for the right-wing poster babe. They killed the piece, but that's what the Internet is for--to show off stuff that might never have seen the light of day. So, enjoy!

In anticipation of the obvious question, all of the Coulter quotes are genuine. All else is satire.


Ann Coulter, 43 or 45, Conservative Commentator, Dies

Ann Coulter, the outspoken conservative columnist and the author of bestselling polemical tracts, died on Thursday at an apartment leased to Sean Hannity on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The cause was internal bleeding in her lower aorta, said Hannity, a long-time friend.
She claimed to have been 43 and listed a 1963 birthdate on her District of Columbia driver's license, but she was 45 according to her Connecticut and Florida voter registrations, as well as a duplicate driver's license she obtained from the State of Connecticut. Because her age and gender must be determined in order to comply with new counterterrorism regulations governing the identities of deceased citizens, a skin sample will be subjected to a DNA test.
Ann Hart Coulter was probably born on December 8, 1961 in New York City, to her father John Vincent Coulter, a "union buster" lawyer (her words), and Nell Husbands Martin Coulter. Her grandfather Hunter Hart Martin was née Hunter Hart Wiessinger, but presumably changed his name for reasons of self-hatred). Raised in New Canaan, Connecticut, Coulter attended Cornell University, where she co-founded the conservative Cornell Review and graduated cum laude in 1984. She received her law degree from the University of Michigan and eventually became a litigator for the anti-government Center for Individual Rights.
Coulter died from injuries sustained on September 11, 2006, when the historic replica of a dirigible in which she was riding exploded over the Hudson River near Ground Zero in lower Manhattan, killing 11 people, six of them illegal immigrants from Honduras, on a garbage barge passing below. The German ambassador to the United Nations had invited her aboard Germany's new LZ 131 Graf Zeppelin III's maiden voyage as his guest of honor; they were watching the ceremonies commemorating the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks when the blast occurred. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board believe that Coulter initiated the accident when she fired a pistol as she stormed the airship's flight deck in the mistaken belief that its bearded pilot was an Islamic hijacker.
President Bush awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, for her "valorous Valkyrie-like vigilance."
Coulter, who simultaneously resided in Washington, New York, Connecticut and Florida, was an outspoken firebrand who defended traditional American values against what she saw as the depredations of militant secularist liberals determined to subvert them. Although privately shy, she struggled against the demons of introversion in thousands of television and lectures before packed, rapt audiences of admirers. "I'm dreadfully afraid of the limelight," she once confessed during an interview with Larry King, "but if not me, who? I have a duty."
She was best known as the author of five epic treatises in a variety of disciplines, all of which appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list. Her first book, High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton (Regnery, 1998) became an immediate literary sensation. "Coulter's outrage at interoffice miscegenation between a sitting president and a kneeling intern serves as a convenient vehicle which she exploits in order to introduce a new voice in American letters," wrote a reviewer for The New Yorker. "Her supple manipulation of the soft curves of the Romantic aspects of English language literature, coupled with sly hip-hop-infused feints at the postmodern didacticism presided over by the cult of dead irony and Amy Tan," said The New York Review of Books, "has shattered the status quo. She doesn't merely write in English. She is English."
Coulter's second work, Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right (Crown Forum, 2002), took a less lyrical tone, perhaps the result of her reliance on a 1970s-era Dictaphone to transcribe it after repeated evenings spent experimenting with acid reflux. "Liberals hate America, they hate flag-wavers, they hate abortion opponents, they hate all religions except Islam, post 9/11," Coulter wrote in a passage frequently cited as the epitome of the can-do spirit of patriotism. "The good part of being a Democrat is that you can commit crimes, sell out your base, bomb foreigners, and rape women, and the Democratic faithful will still think you're the greatest."
Although Slander was as not well received by critics as High Crimes, her philosophy, since dubbed Americism, is now widely taught and accepted as inarguable by academia, the media and ordinary people in the United States and overseas. "It's obviously true," said Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) upon being informed of her death, "that I hate America, flag-wavers, and abortion opponents. And also all religions except Islam. Post 9/11. Raping women—I'm into that too. Dammit! There's just no way to turn a phrase the way Annie did."
Coulter rebounded with Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism (Crown Forum, 2003), this time forcing a radical rethinking of 20th century history by rehabilitating McCarthyism and the presidency of Richard M. Nixon, as well as supply-side economics. ("It did too work," she scoffed at economists.) Ward Churchill, the University of Colorado history professor who once called 9/11 victims "little Eichmanns," said Treason had forced him and other left-of-center theorists to rethink their views. "The Treason shockwave continues to rumble across historians' chat groups," he said. "Its full effect may ultimately be unknowable, but I and others of my ilk have pretty much stopped reading anything else."
A collection of columns that appeared in several pairs of newspapers, How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must) soon appeared, followed by Godless: The Church of Liberalism, a book whose brilliant, irrefutable 69-word proof of Intelligent Design earned her a posthumous Nobel Prize for editorial biology.
Here it is:
"Liberals' creation myth is Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, which is about one notch above Scientology in scientific rigor. It's a make-believe story, based on a theory that is a tautology, with no proof in the scientist's laboratory or the fossil record—and that's after 150 years of very determined looking. We wouldn't still be talking about it but for the fact that liberals think evolution disproves God."
Godless also unveiled Coulter's Grand Corollary of Procyonid Gaseous Emanation: "Imagine a giant raccoon passed gas and perhaps the resulting gas might have created the vast variety of life we see on Earth. And if you don't accept the giant raccoon flatulence theory for the origin of life, you must be a fundamentalist Christian nut who believes the Earth is flat."
"Can't argue with that," remarked Professor Stephen Hawking of the University of Cambridge.
At the time of the zeppelin incident Coulter had been working on a new collection of essays that "would have changed everything we know about music, cooking and anthropology," said her companion Hannity. The uncompleted manuscript will be released next year under the title Tuneless: How Democrat Communist Hacks Corrupted Anglo-Saxon Culture.
Despite seemingly universal acclaim—Coulter was feted by personalities as diverse as the Reverend Jerry Falwell and the Reverend Pat Robertson—Coulter suffered criticism for her views. At a January 26, 2006 speech to the influential student body at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Coulter called for "somebody to put rat poison in Justice [John Paul] Stevens' crème brulée."
"Killing a Supreme Court justice is one thing," scolded the New York Law Review, "but it is irresponsible to promote slow-acting poison over more humane, constitutionally approved methods such as lethal injection."
Shortly before her accident at the 9/11 "Five More Years" bash, Coulter came under fire when it came to light that her most recent promotional photo had been digitally airbrushed to make her look significantly heavier. The touched-up photo seemed to add 20 pounds to her trademark skeletal frame, angering activists in the anorexia-acceptance movement. "At 87 pounds Ann is a beautiful woman, an inspiration to college girls and genocide survivors the world over," said Rosie O'Donnell, who slashed two-thirds of her body weight in tribute to Coulter. "If anything, they should have Photoshopped her vertically to make her look even skinnier."
In accordance with her wishes, Coulter's ashes will be scattered across the grave of Buchenwald overseer Ilse Koch at Aichach women's prison in Bavaria. She is survived by ex-boyfriends Dinesh D'Souza, the conservative author, television talk show host Bill Maher and Spin magazine founder Bob Guccione, Jr.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Ted Rall on ESPN 2 Tonight

I will appear on ESPN 2 at 11 am Eastern time tonight to discuss a proposal by sports writers to retire number 40, Pat Tillman's jersey number as a member of the Arizona Cardinals.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Current SILK ROAD TO RUIN Book Tour Schedule: DAYTON added

So far the following dates have been confirmed for my fall 2006 book tour. I will present an audio-visual overview of the current situation in ex-Soviet Central Asia and why it matters to all Americans, followed by a Q&A discussion and, obviously, book signing.

BIG PREMIER SPEECH AND DISCUSSION: Saturday 9/16 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm) - The Egyptian Theatre, 700 West Main Street, Boise, Idaho - Tickets are $20 in advance, $24 on the day of the show - on sale at the theatre box office or by calling 387-1273

Monday 9/25 Time TBD - The Strand bookstore, Broadway at 12th Street, New York City

Thursday 9/28, 7:30 pm - Barnes and Noble Greenwich Village, 396 Sixth Avenue at West 8th Street, New York City

Thursday 10/5, 7:30 pm - Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 South Main Street Street, Seattle

Thursday 10/12, Time TBD - Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC - this will be a joint appearance as part of Cartoonists with Attitude

Friday 10/13 & Saturday 10/14, 10 am - 5 pm - Small Press Expo, Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, Maryland - I will be signing books at the NBM Publishing table.

Saturday 11/4, 2 pm - Books & Co. at The Greene, 4453 Walnut Street, Beavercreek, Ohio

DON'T SEE YOUR CITY LISTED?

Generally speaking I do signings in cities under one of two conditions: (1) it has a newspaper that regularly publishes my work and can be counted upon to publicize the event or (2) an organization can support my visit with paid publicity, an travel expenses and honorarium. So the best ways to get me to come to your city are to convince your local editor to publish my work or find a college, peace group, etc. to organize the shindig.

I am currently working on dates in San Francisco, Portland (OR) and Los Angeles. There are no plans at this time to come to any other city to support SILK ROAD, but if you'd like me to come and think you can hook up one of the two requisites to make my appearance worth the effort for everyone involved, drop me a line at chet@rall.com.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Detailed Information for NYC Signing on September 25

Here's the official deal:

EurasiaNet.Org and Forbidden Planet Present

An Evening with Ted Rall - Monday, September 25, time TBA

The Strand Bookstore, Broadway at 12th Street, New York City

Rall's new book, SILK ROAD TO RUIN, combines articles with comics chapters relating his experiences beginning with the sublime history of the Silk Road and ending in the absurdity of the petty dictatorships of the “The ‘Stans.” Part exotic adventure, part satire and part history a part of the world that looms in importance with its immense reserves of oil and rising Islamic fundamentalism. Hilarious and frightening, Silk Road to Ruin is graphic journalism at its vivid best.

Ted Rall, 43, is a syndicated editorial cartoonist and columnist for Universal Press Syndicate. Author of the award-winning "To Afghanistan and Back: A Graphic Travelogue", Rall was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and two-time winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award.

This event will be filmed for "Arts and Minds" on CBC Television.

Saturday, September 9, 2006

3 Pages of Color Comics About Ah-nold

The current issue of Los Angeles CityBeat features a three-color full-color cartoon by yours truly about the looming reelection bid of Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Friday, September 8, 2006

SILK ROAD TO RUIN Book Tour

So far the following dates have been confirmed for my fall 2006 book tour. I will present an audio-visual overview of the current situation in ex-Soviet Central Asia and why it matters to all Americans, followed by a Q&A discussion and, obviously, book signing.

BIG PREMIER SPEECH AND DISCUSSION: Saturday 9/16 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm) - The Egyptian Theatre, 700 West Main Street, Boise, Idaho - Tickets are $20 in advance, $24 on the day of the show - on sale at the theatre box office or by calling 387-1273

Monday 9/25 Time TBD - The Strand bookstore, Broadway at 12th Street, New York City

Thursday 9/28, 7:30 pm - Barnes and Noble Greenwich Village, 396 Sixth Avenue at West 8th Street, New York City

Thursday 10/5, 7:30 pm - Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 South Main Street Street, Seattle

Thursday 10/12, Time TBD - Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC - this will be a joint appearance as part of Cartoonists with Attitude

Friday 10/13 & Saturday 10/14 - Small Press Expo, Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, Maryland - I will be signing books at the NBM Publishing table.

DON'T SEE YOUR CITY LISTED?

Generally speaking I do signings in cities under one of two conditions: (1) it has a newspaper that regularly publishes my work and can be counted upon to publicize the event or (2) an organization can support my visit with paid publicity, an travel expenses and honorarium. So the best ways to get me to come to your city are to convince your local editor to publish my work or find a college, peace group, etc. to organize the shindig.

I am currently working on dates in San Francisco, Portland (OR) and Los Angeles. There are no plans at this time to come to any other city to support SILK ROAD, but if you'd like me to come and think you can hook up one of the two requisites to make my appearance worth the effort for everyone involved, drop me a line at chet@rall.com.

Thursday, September 7, 2006

Creature Feature

Once again, that loathesome toad Bush had outdone himself in the creepy fascism department. As an election year gambit the king of anti-Americans is transferring the victims of his CIA concentration camps to Guantanamo and asking Congress to rubberstamp his gulag system as an end run around his own pet Supreme Court and the Constitution. Politically, it won't work, of course, but the mere fact that he's trying to legalize torture to this extent is sickening.

Please, please, please let the Democrats take the House this November. Then, please impeach the psychotic motherfucker and send his worthless ass to Gitmo.