Cartoon Saturday

And here we are, with the final edition of Cartoon Saturday for the year 2011. What a year it's been, too. So long, 2011 ... don't let the door hit you in the backside on your way out.

Telecommunications giant Verizon scored a major public relations coup by imposing a $2.00 fee on customers for paying their Verizon bills, which it quickly had to scrap in the face of public outrage; the self-important and self-aggrandizing online group Anonymous hacked into the computers of security firm Stratfor.com and stole thousands of credit card numbers, which it then used to charge charitable donations; a spree of 21 fires set by an arsonist in Hollywood has caused an estimated $350,000 in damages and led officials to post a $60,000 reward for the capture of the arsonist; GOP presidential wannabes continue their slugfest in advance of Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, flooding the state's airwaves with attack ads; and Egypt's military government has said it will stop its raids on non-governmental organizations and return all equipment and materials stolen in the raids. In a related development, pigs flew.

Aren't you glad Cartoon Saturday is here to give you some relief from the rampant ass-clownery?

As we end a difficult year, with the unemployment rate stubbornly high and Congress unable or unwilling to do anything about it, it's always good to try to look on the bright side of things ...

It wouldn't be Cartoon Saturday without at least one terrible pun, would it ...?

Have you eaten yet in one of those restaurants that use electronic tablets instead of traditional paper menus? How do they work for you? If nothing else, they can help explain some things ...

I wonder if this approach would work on our local HOV (high occupancy vehicles) lanes ...

Texting while driving is pretty stupid, no matter where you do it ...

I've spent much of the last week trying to set up our new A/V receiver. I finally got everything connected properly (at least, I think I did) ... now, I've got to cope with a new "multifunction remote." This is how I see it ...

When we update the stories we tell our children so they can put them in context ...

A new twist on the old joke about the guy who thinks he's a chicken ...

You can do what you want, but we all end up here someday ...

And finally, as people cope with the falling values of their homes and local governments cope with the consequent decline in income from property taxes, we're going to great lengths to enhance the value of our property however we can ...

And there you have it: the final Cartoon Saturday of 2011. Be sure to check out my other post for today, in which I announced the winner of the first annual Ass Clown of the Year Award.

Agnes and I will be staying in tonight, having a nice dinner together, watching movies on DVDs, and sipping champagne in front of the fire ... our new favorite way of ringing in the new year, which will probably arrive whether we're awake or not.

Have a safe and happy celebration tonight, however you plan to do it, and be sure to come back and keep me company in the new year. The ass-clownery doesn't stop, and neither should we. More thoughts next year.

Bilbo