Farscape’s John Crichton and Aeryn Sun

I made this illustration as a holiday gift for a friend of mine in the UK. She is a fellow fan of the science fiction television series Farscape. Farscape ran for 4 seasons on the SyFy channel from 1999-2003. I discovered the series recently on Netflix and became an instant fan.  The love story between the two main characters, John Crichton (Ben Browder) and Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black) is what really makes the show outstanding. I call it a love that transcends space and time. I became infatuated with the series and think that Farscape has to be one of the best science fiction shows ever created. All four seasons were released on Blu Ray this past November so I highly recommend checking it out. My hope is that a Farscape movie will be made someday but only if it stars Ben Browder and Claudia Black of course. Well I guess this is my last blog post for the year 2011. I want to wish all my blog readers a very safe and Happy New Year! See you next year.

Kim Jong Il's son Kim Jong Un

Kim Jong Il's successor, Kim Jong Un officially took over for his father today when North Korea's power brokers publicly declared Kim Jong Un the country's "supreme leader." The event took place at an enormous public memorial for Kim Jong Il, securing the family's power hold for another generation.

Occupy Bedford Falls

  I want to wish all my blog readers a very special Happy Holidays.

Christopher Hitchens, 1949–2011

Author and journalist, Christopher Hitchens

Ten Occupy Wall Street Heroes In Ten Days: Dan Siegel

Day ten and the final day in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Heroes in Ten Days series is former legal adviser to Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, Dan Siegel. Mayor Jean Quan authorized the raid on the Occupy Oakland camp on November 14^th. This was the raid where 24 year old Iraq War veteran, Scott Olsen was critically injured with a scull fracture. After the raid on the Occupy Oakland protest, Siegel effectively resigned as legal adviser to the mayor out of frustration and in support of the occupy movement. Shortly after the raid Siegel left this tweet: "No longer Mayor Quan's legal advisor. Resigned at 2 am. Support Occupy Oakland, not the 1% and its government facilitators."  Here Siegel talked with Rachel Maddow about his decision to resign and his belief that Mayor Jean Quan was pushed into going against her principles to authorize the raid.

That concludes the series. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed making it. I would like to give a big thank you to Author and Blogger for The Nation, Greg Mitchell, Mother Jones' publisher, Steve Katz and Boston Review magazine for sharing my artwork 

Ten Occupy Wall Street Heroes In Ten Days: Susie Cagle

Day nine in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Heroes in Ten Days series is journalist and cartoonist Susie Cagle. Cagle was tear-gassed and arrested during the Occupy Oakland protests while covering the event. I was on twitter following live updates of the Occupy Oakland protests when I heard of Cagle’s arrest as it happened. Cagle’s Dad, political cartoonist for MSNBC, Daryl Cagle posted this shocking video of Susie being tear-gassed on his website. Here Cagle talked with ABC7 News about her arrest by Oakland police. I really wanted to include Cagle because she is a fellow artist and as an artist I think her participation in the movement matters enormously.  In a way I feel like every artist should be involved in the occupy movement in some form although sadly, many of the artists that I know of have remained silent on the issue for the most part. For more info and to view some of Cagle’s illustrations from the scene, her blog “This Is What Concerns Me” can be followed here.

Ten Occupy Wall Street Heroes In Ten Days: Celeste Langan

Day five in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Heroes in Ten Days series is University of California Berkeley English professor, Celeste Langan. Langan was arrested during a protest on the UCB campus in November. In this video of the clash with police posted on youtube you can see Langan peacefully holding out her arms to police offering to be arrested. The police then grab her by the hair and aggressively pull her to the ground. It’s disturbing and heartbreaking to watch. If any of my college professors would have stood up like that they would have truly been my hero for life. Another video shows the police in riot gear hitting UCB students with their batons. I really wanted to include Langan not only because she was arrested but also because, like most of these incidents, it was largely ignored by the media. Here on her blog Langan describes how and why she got arrested.

Ten Occupy Wall Street Heroes In Ten Days: Scott Campbell

Day four in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Heroes in Ten Days series is amateur videographer Scott Campbell. Campbell was hit with a rubber bullet by police during the Occupy Oakland protests while recording Oakland police lined up in their riot gear. In this video that Campbell took of the incident you can see that he was fired at without warning and he wasn’t doing anything that would justify being shot at by Oakland police. Campbell later posted a gruesome twitpic of his injury. Here Campbell talked with Keith Olbermann about the unprovoked attack. When Olbermann asked if Oakland police gave him any notice before they fired Campbell replied, “What you see in the video is exactly what happened.”

Ten Occupy Wall Street Heroes In Ten Days: Ray Lewis

Day three in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Heroes in Ten Days series is retired Philadelphia police Captain Ray Lewis. On November 17^th Lewis changed the game and decided to willingly be arrested in solidarity during the Occupy Wall Street “Day of Action” in New York. As a former officer, Lewis offers an invaluable perspective from the side of the police. Here Lewis talks on the panel with Chris Hayes about his experience of being arrested by the NYPD and his unique position as both an occupier and a retired officer.

Ten Occupy Wall Street Heroes In Ten Days

I’m starting a new series and this time I’m paying tribute to outstanding heroes of the Occupy Wall Street movement. I will post one OWS hero a day for ten days. To be clear this is not a “top ten list” this is simply ten exceptional people in no particular order who I think deserve recognition for their contribution to the movement. I want to pay tribute to these heroes of Occupy Wall Street and remind everyone that their efforts are not forgotten and were not in vain.

To start the most obvious choice is 24 year old Iraq war veteran and Occupy Oakland protester, Scott Olsen. Olsen was reportedly working during the day and attending the Occupy Oakland protests at night. On October 25^th Olsen was hospitalized with a skull fracture after being hit in the head with a tear gas canister by Oakland police. In this video that surfaced on youtube you can see Olsen moments before being hit by the tear gas canister. Another video featured here on the morning show Up with Chris Hayes, clearly shows an Oakland police officer throwing another projectile into the crowd that rushed to Olsen’s aid after he was injured. More recently Olsen talked with political commentator, Ed Schultz about his ordeal. During the interview with Schultz it became clear that Olsen’s speech has been compromised as a result of his injuries. Because of his veteran status and his injuries Olsen has become a symbol of solidarity for occupiers everywhere and these kinds of clashes with police have only served to propel the movement further.

Ella and Cornucopia

This is an illustration that I made as a gift for my friend Charles of his beloved dog Ella. Isn’t she cute? Charles is program leader of SEED Wayne at Wayne State University in Detroit. SEED Wayne is the agriculture program at Wayne State University that works with community based organizations to promote food planning and policy development which allows urban areas better access to fresh, healthy produce. Here Charles talks with Youth Neighborhood News about the various programs that SEED Wayne sponsors.

The fruit and vegetable cornucopia is something my editor wanted for a Thanksgiving article in the November issue of CMP magazine. The cornucopia is unrelated to Ella but I just thought it was fitting to include it in this blog post that mentioned SEED Wayne. I would like to wish all my blog readers and their families a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for?

Joe Frazier and Heavy D

This past week the world tragically lost two great men, boxing legend Joe Frazier and legendary rapper Heavy D.  Frazier (aka Smokin' Joe) was best known for his battle with Muhammed Ali in 1971 where he became the first man to beat Ali during the Fight of the Century at Madison Square Garden. Frazier died Monday November 7^th at the age of 67 after his final battle with liver cancer. As I was working on this tribute illustration to Frazier I heard the shocking news of Heavy D’s passing at the age of 44. I grew up listening to Heavy D and remember many of his fun hits including “Now That We Found Love” and “Girls They Love Me” where he proclaimed himself as the "overweight lover." I was especially fond of his contribution to Janet Jackson’s song and music video “Alright” because I think this was when he established himself as, not merely a rapper, but a true pop star that was outstanding enough to perform with the best in the business. Throughout his career he also dabbled in acting where he played small roles in the films The Cider House Rules and Life, as well as parts in the television shows Bones and Boston Public. His last film role was a cameo in the recent blockbuster Tower Heist. He was known for his optimistic tweets and ironically one of his last tweets was in tribute to Joe Frazier where he said, “SMOKIN JOE FRAZIER..RIP.. truly one of the best heavyweight champs that ever lived.. GODS SPEED,MR FRAZIER!"  In one of his last interviews with TMZ when asked which he liked better, singing or acting he replied “I really love anything artistic, it’s kinda my freedom.” On Tuesday November 8^th Heavy D would leave his final tweet, “BE INSPIRED!” I promise I will try.

Occupy Wall Street Scene 4

There is so much to talk about regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement. This week a general strike was held in Oakland, CA by occupy protestors and supporters. Recently Rachel Maddow talked on her show about the rarity of a general strike and Bank Transfer Day which is the Occupy protestors’ commitment on November 5^th to move their money from big banks to credit unions. Later she talked with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author, Ron Suskind about President Obama’s support for a federal transaction tax which would raise revenue and stamp out speculative trading and behavior. Last night Maddow also had this interview with Author, Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snicket about his thirteen observations on the Occupy Wall Street protests that he wrote for the Occupy Writers website. Earlier this month Ms. Maddow reported about how the income gap has grown enormously in the last thirty years since Reagan’s trickle down economics.  Columnist Frank Rich wrote this piece about the Occupy movement for New York magazine entitled “The Class War Has to Begun.” The Huffington Post recently featured this article about how a new poll shows even millionaires want to raise taxes on other millionaires. 

Rick Perry Cuddling Syrup

Okay so by now everyone has probably seen the Rick Perry New Hampshire footage. I tried to avoid it. I didn’t want to see it. But finally I have seen it and now I can’t get the image of Rick Perry cuddling syrup out of my head. Come on, Rick Perry cuddling syrup that’s funny!

Occupy Wall Street Scene 3

The Occupy movement has been growing all over the country. As I mentioned in my previous post, a big development happened recently when 24-year-old Iraq War veteran, Scott Olsen was critically injured by a police projectile and was hospitalized with a skull fracture during a raid on the Occupy Oakland protest Tuesday. On the first hour of his new morning show Saturday, Chris Hayes talked with Director of Progressive Advocacy Group Demos, Heather McGhee and Senior Editor of The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates about how these clashes with police have only propelled the Occupy Movement further and how the movement has now gone international from England to Tahrir Square. Later in the same hour Hayes had a great talk with former New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer about how the Occupy Movement has focused the national debate to inequality and the propaganda campaign on the right to demonize the protests as anti-semitic. Later in the show Hayes also talked with U.S. News and World Report Editor in Chief, Mort Zuckerman about the dysfunctionality of the current tax system.

Mayor Jean Quan

There is more developing news regarding the Occupy Wall Street protests. Police raided the "Occupy Oakland" protestors’ camp in Oakland, California Tuesday. One of the protestors, an Iraq War Veteran, Scott Olsen was apparently hit in the head with a projectile by police. Olsen was critically injured and suffered a fractured skull as a result. Oakland Mayor, Jean Quan said during a press conference yesterday “I feel that we are all part of the 99% including the police and city workers.” It is now being reported that Quan will attend an Occupy Oakland demonstration where she is expected to address the protestors. This comes after Political Commentator, Keith Olbermann called for Quan’s resignation in an emotionally charged Special Comment on his show after news of the police raid broke. Quan was at a meeting in Washington D.C. when she authorized the Occupy Oakland raid.

Occupy Wall Street Scene 2

Weeks have passed and there’s still so much to talk about regarding the Occupy Wall Street protests. The other day Freelance Writer and Photographer, John Gatta sent out this great tweet about the Occupy Wall Street Protestors: "If only they'd walk around in Colonial costumes, call prez hitler and carry rifles, police and msm would treat 'em as heroes." I thought that summed it up nicely. One of the main demands of the protestors has been tougher regulations on Wall Street. Rachel Maddow recently had this really great talk with Columnist for The Washington Post, Ezra Klein about how the current crop of Republican presidential candidates actually want to roll back regulations to before the Enron scandal. Tulane Professor, Melissa Harris-Perry had an outstanding talk recently with Author, Tom Wise about the new Occupy Wall Street development in Harlem, white privilege and the meaning of race work in a solidarity movement like Occupy Wall Street. On a much lighter note the website Funny or Die posted this hilarious parody video "Occupy Main Street." I highly recommend it for the entertainment value.

Occupy Wall Street Scene 1

I’m working on a new series of illustrations about the Occupy Wall Street protests. This time I’m going to focus on all the evidence of police brutality surrounding the protests. There has been mounting evidence of the unnecessary treatment of the protestors by the NYPD and it just keeps getting weirder and weirder. The website Gawker posted an article with a video recently describing how a woman was arrested allegedly after her and a group of protestors closed their accounts at Citibank. Another video has surfaced from inside the bank which seems to further back up this claim.  San Francisco based Reporter for Mother Jones, Josh Harkinson has been in New York covering the demonstrations and he just wrote this article about how some NYPD officers are sympathetic to the cause.  Finally, Political Reporter for the Huffington Post, Jason Linkins wrote a separate article about how the protests are actually changing the media narrative. Hopefully in a positive way. I’m going to be making more illos of OWS scenes so stay tuned.

Barbara Gittings: Gone But Not Forgotten

I made this montage illustration for an article in Central Mass. Pride magazine that paid tribute to the late Barbara Gittings (1932 – 2007). Gittings was a champion of the civil rights movement for the LGBT community in the 50s, 60s and 70s. In the 70s she was instrumental in getting the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from being classified as a form of mental illness. Gittings received several honors for her tireless work as an activist for LGBT civil rights, including awards from the American Library Association and The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Shortly after her passing in 2007, a memorial service was held in honor of Gittings in Philadelphia. When the director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Matt Foreman spoke at the service, he said of her efforts for the LGBT community, "What do we owe Barbara? Everything."

City Hall Common

This is an illustration of the Worcester, Massachusetts city hall building for Central Massachusetts Pride magazine in honor of the city’s annual pride celebration moving its location. It was originally for an interior illustration with the article but my editor surprised me and decided to use it for the magazine’s cover illustration. Big ups to Editorial Director, Mike Monopoli and Art Director, Chris Miller.

Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days: Vikki and Raena

The Tenth and final day in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days series is mother and daughter, Vikki and Raena. Okay so I cheated a little because there’s two and technically that makes it eleven demonstrators. 

For a better understanding of the reasoning behind the protests I want to recommend to everyone the 2010 documentary film Inside Job narrated by Matt Damon.  The film meticulously documents the financial crisis and lays it all out in a way that anyone can understand. Inside Job won an Oscar in 2010 for Best Documentary Feature.

That concludes the series I hope everyone enjoyed it. I want to give a big thank you to everyone who sent me nice messages on twitter and thanks to some of the journalists who shared my artwork on Twitter which include Mother Jones Senior Editor, Michael Mechanic, Senior Editor at AlterNet, Joshua Holland, Deputy Managing Editor of Truthout.org, Jason Leopold, Freelance Writer, Anna Pulley, Radio Host, Sam Seder and The Week. It’s important to note that Americans have the right to peacefully protest in a lawful way and this series was not meant to promote violence or chaos of any kind in any way. 

Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days: Tao

Day Nine in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days series: Tao

Now in its fourth week, the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon continues to gain momentum nationwide. There’s been much talk about the ninety nine percent verses the top one percent. Yesterday Senior Editor of Mother Jones, Dave Gilson posted this chart on who the one percent are. Last night Rachel Maddow had an interview on her show with former Congressman, Alan Grayson about the growing Occupy Wall Street movement. When Ms. Maddow asked Grayson about why he thought the protests are resonating so much with people despite the campaign on the right to demonize the protestors and erroneously portray them as scary, Grayson responded: “I think that they have their eyes open and more and more people are seeing the scales fall from their eyes as well. Because the Occupy Wall Street people are saying first that there's no accountability on Wall Street. They wrecked our economy. Years ago they took a healthy economy and they gave us 9%, 10% or more unemployment and they destroyed 20% of our national wealth in the course of just 18 months from the middle of 2007 till the end of 2008. Destroyed 20% of our national wealth accumulated over the course of two centuries. And nobody's been prosecuted for it. Nobody’s been indicted nobody’s been convicted. So first there's no accountability. The second thing is that they've created a system that is enormously unequal and the result of that is that people are struggling to find a job to pay their bills, to pay their rent, to pay their credit card bills. According to wikipedia there are only five countries in the entire planet that are more unequal than the United States in the distribution of our wealth and that’s a system that Wall Street created, that Wall Street maintains, and that Wall Street enforces. And the way that they enforce it is the third gripe. The third gripe is that Wall Street controls and dominates our political system. One party is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street and the other party caters to Wall Street all too much. So people have got into the situation right now where they feel that the system is completely unresponsive and they're driven deeper and deeper into debt and misery.”

Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days: Julio

Day Eight in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days series: Julio

Occupy Wall Street demonstrations continue to appear in New York and other cities across the country like Chicago, L.A. and Boston. Earlier in the week a sign was posted in the windows of the Chicago Board of Trade that read "We are the 1%" mocking the protestor’s stance that they are the 99 percent. The sign caused anger amongst some protestors. Yesterday Chris Hayes talked on his new morning show with Vice President Joe Biden's son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden about the financial collapse and his work with other Attorney Generals to fight corruption. 

Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days: Todd

Day Seven in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days series: Todd

The Occupy Wall Street protests still show no signs of slowing down. Yesterday Editor of The Nation, Chris Hayes spoke at length about the Occupy Wall Street protests with Naomi Klein, Author of the book “The Shock Doctrine” and Van Jones, co-founder and President of “Rebuild the Dream,” on his new morning show.

Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days: Dean

Day Six in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days series: Dean.

Critics of the Occupy Wall Street protests keep calling the protests undefined. For more of an explanation of the reasoning behind the protests Rachel Maddow talked last night with Lawrence Lessig, Professor at Harvard Law School and Author of the new book, “Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress -- and a Plan to Stop It.” Lessig’s talks about money and politics are now being remixed with video of the Occupy Wall Street protests and his new book provides theoretical solutions to stop the corrupting influence of money in American politics.  Maddow also spoke earlier in the day with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell explaining why she believes that the Occupy Wall Street Protests being undefined is a good thing.

Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days: Ginger

Day Five in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days series: Ginger.

There is so much news to talk about regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement. A video has surfaced on The Huffington Post that allegedly shows a NYC police officer striking protestors with a baton. A  New York Police Department spokesperson was asked about the incident but could not comment because they had not seen the video. President Obama acknowledged the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in his news conference yesterday morning where he said “The protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works.” Reporter for Mother Jones, Andy Kroll compared the occupy Wall Street protests to the ones in Wisconsin earlier this year in a new article posted yesterday entitled “From Wisconsin to Wall Street, an Economic Reckoning.” Finally, the Author, Naomi Klein spoke at the Occupy Wall Street demonstration in New York last night. She wrote a speech which can be read on The Nation’s website here.

Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days: David

Day Four in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days series: David. 

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams reported about the demonstrations again last night. This time mentioning how the protests are now getting support from unions and how the movement has moved beyond Wall Street and gone national. Weirdly, the mainstream media keeps describing the Occupy Wall Street movement as “undefined.”  However, as Rachel Maddow pointed out so well on her show last night the Occupy Wall Street movement’s message is clear. That “big business and the financial industry and the richest 1% of Americans have not just taken everything for themselves but they have ruined everything for the rest of the country and prevented anything from getting fixed.” More importantly, Ms. Maddow also pointed out during her talk with Pollster for Democratic polling firm Anzalone Liszt Research, Jeff Liszt that this message of a more fair tax system is mainstream according to the latest polls.

Steve Jobs 1955 - 2011

In tribute to Steve Jobs. He will be missed enormously.

Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days: Gilberto

Day Three in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days series is Gilberto. The protests are showing no signs of slowing down and are gaining momentum.  Protests are now popping up in some of the major cities all across the country. Digital News Editor, Tasneem Raja and Author, Lauren Ellis at Mother Jones have compiled this map of protest hot spots.  Yesterday I saw this awesome tweet from someone named TheNewDeal on twitter: "0 Bankers Were Arrested After Purposely Crashing Our Economy. Nearly 1,000 Have Been Arrested for Speaking Up About it." On a lighter note, the hashtag #OccupySesameStreet has appeared. I highly recommend checking it out because it’s funny.

Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days: Steven

Day Two in my Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days series: Steven. The Occupy Wall Street phenomenon is taking off. Last night NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams featured a piece on the demonstrations and later the same night Rachel Maddow featured the "people's mic" as best new thing in the world for the day on her show.

Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days: Mike

I had so much fun making my Ten Journalists in Ten Days series that I’m going to do it again with a different and much more serious theme: the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrations. For ten days, one demonstrator will be featured each day. Each demonstrator will have a dollar bill taped over their mouth which speaks to ending the silence on the offenses of oppression, corporate greed, tax breaks for millionaires, social injustice, corruption, predatory lending and classism.  I won’t be profiling any of these protesters because, apart from their likeness and first names, they remain anonymous.

Chris Hayes recently had a really in length, smart talk with his panel of guests on his new morning show which shed some light on the Occupy Wall Street protests. His show featured an outstanding interview with one of the thousands of victims of predatory lending, Dixie Mitchell. The panel talked in detail about the reasoning behind the Occupy Wall Street protests. Members of the panel included Writer for The Nation and Co-Host of Citizen Radio, Allison Kilkenny, Independent Journalist and Contributor for Alternet.org, J.A. Myerson, Contributor for CBS Sunday Morning, Nancy Giles, Michael Brendan Dougherty of “The American Conservative” Magazine, Contributor for New York Times Magazine, Rebecca Traister, Sports Writer and Contributor to The Nation, Dave Ziron and Executive Director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Robert Johnson.

So without further ado, Day One of my Ten "Occupy Wall Street" Demonstrators in Ten Days: Mike.

Republican Candidates: Like Peas in a Pod.

The Republican debates are in full force and all the 2012 Republican candidates are just like peas in a pod. Many of them believe in these ridiculous falsehoods, for example, Ben Bernanke is “the most inflationary Fed Chairman of all time” or that the stimulus created "no jobs." Both of which are completely factually incorrect. As Rachel Maddow pointed out so eloquently on the September 13th edition of her show, The hilarity is not only that the candidates are perpetrating these erroneous, deceitful falsehoods, but that the discourse has become so stupid that they are actually operating and debating with each other on the premise of these falsehoods. The next debate airs October 11^th and is hosted by Bloomberg.

Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer

Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer return to America after being held in an Iranian prison for more than two years for accusations of spying.

Troy Davis 10.09.1968 – 09.21.2011

Georgia executes Troy Davis after his last pleas fail. The Innocence Project has listed ten things anyone can do to help exonerate innocent people and prevent wrongful convictions.

Ten Journalists in Ten Days: Chris Hayes

The tenth and final journalist in my Ten Journalists in Ten Days series is Washington Editor of The Nation and newly named MSNBC host, Chris Hayes. Today Hayes debuted his new two-hour morning show "Up with Chris Hayes." Hayes’ first guest was house minority leader, Nancy Pelosi. The show airs live on Saturdays from 7:00 – 9:00 a.m. ET and Sundays from 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. ET. Before making his debut as host of his own show, Hayes had previously filled in as guest-host for Lawrence O'Donnell, Rachel Maddow, Ed Shultz and Keith Olbermann. Here Hayes talks with Rachel Maddow about how Republican politicians in congress have been avoiding dealing with the President’s jobs bill.


That concludes the series Ten Journalists in Ten Days. I hope readers of my blog enjoyed this series/tribute as much as I enjoyed making it. I want to give a big thank you to everyone who left me nice comments on twitter and also a very special thank you to the journalists who saw their respective illustrations and gave me props for them, Andy Kroll and Amanda Terkel. Everyone who liked this series should stay tuned because I might return to this idea of "Ten in Ten Days" again with a different theme.

Ten Journalists in Ten Days: Ayman Mohyeldin

The ninth journalist in my Ten Journalists in Ten Days series is newly named Foreign Correspondent for NBC News in Egypt, Ayman Mohyeldin. Mohyeldin formerly worked as Gaza Correspondent for Al-Jazeera English where he extensively covered the fall of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his regime. Soon afterwards, Time Magazine named Mohyeldin as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. In this clip from Al Jazeera English, Mohyeldin talks about how he was detained for several hours by the military in Tahrir Square during his coverage of the revolution. On August 22, 2011 NBC News President Steve Capus announced Mohyeldin’s return to the network where he originally began his career in 2001.

Ten Journalists in Ten Days: Jose Antonio Vargas

The eighth journalist in my Ten Journalists in Ten Days series is journalist and founder of the website defineamerican.com, Jose Antonio Vargas. Vargas has written articles for The San Francisco Chronicle, The Philadelphia Daily News, The Washington Post, and The Huffington Post. Vargas was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for his work on coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre. In June, 2011 Vargas wrote a personal and incredibly revealing piece for the New York Times entitled “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant.” In the article Vargas reveals that he is an undocumented immigrant and was unaware of the fact until the age of sixteen. Here Vargas talks with Rachel Maddow about coming out as a gay man, exposing the secret of his immigration status and the state of  the immigration debate in the United States.

Ten Journalists in Ten Days: Lou Dubose

The seventh journalist in my Ten Journalists in Ten Days series is editor of The Washington Spectator, Lou Dubose. I had to include Dubose because he just wrote an outstanding, meticulously researched piece exposing how Texas Governor and Republican presidential hopeful, Rick Perry knowingly created a budget deficit in his state. Unbelievably, Perry took $17 billion in stimulus money to help fix his state’s budget hole while the whole time he railed against the President’s stimulus program publicly. Here Dubose talks with Tulane Professor, Melissa Harris-Perry about decoding what Perry really means when he talks about Social Security, a balanced budget and job creation.

Ten Journalists in Ten Days: Eugene Robinson

The sixth journalist in my Ten Journalists in Ten Days series is columnist for The Washington Post and MSNBC contributor, Eugene Robinson. Robinson was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for his work at The Washington Post on Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign. Robinson is also a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and a current Board Member at the International Women's Media Foundation. Here Robinson talked with Tulane Professor, Melissa Harris-Perry in August about the conflict over when President Obama was supposed to deliver his jobs plan and what he expected from the plan. The President’s job speech aired on September 8^th.

Ten Journalists in Ten Days: Ezra Klein

The fifth journalist in my Ten Journalists in Ten Days series is economic and domestic policy columnist for The Washington Post, Ezra Klein.  I found this interview with Klein that he did in 2004 with laist.com where he pretty much summed up another reason that I wanted to create this tribute to journalists. He said “I think that the creation of a media environment that can sustain and propel progressivism is more important than any single elected official. The media is as effective and important an agent for change as the legislative bodies, and I think it's where I'm happiest and most effective.” I had to include Klein in this list because I think he’s amazing and brilliant. I’m consistently impressed at how prolific Klein is. On Thursday September 8^th The President’s job speech aired at 7:30 pm eastern time. By 8:29 pm Klein had already written a completely thorough rundown of what was in the President’s plan. I think The Washington Post hit the jackpot when they snagged him. Klein's column online was recently redesigned and renamed Wonkblog and it looks amazing.

Ten Journalists in Ten Days: Rachel Maddow

The fourth journalist in my Ten Journalists in Ten Days series is television host and political commentator, Rachel Maddow. Ms. Maddow is the host of MSNBC’s primetime hit, The Rachel Maddow Show. In 1995 Maddow was the recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy in politics from Oxford University in 2001. Maddow is the first out lesbian to host a prime-time news or political commentary show on American television and the first openly gay American to win a Rhodes scholarship. I think it’s fitting to mention today on the ten year anniversary of 9/11, the outstanding documentary that Maddow produced with NBC news’ chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel entitled Day of Destruction, Decade of War. In the two part special that aired recently on MSNBC, Maddow and Engel take a hard hitting look at the after effects of 9/11 and the impact it has had. The Rachel Maddow Show just celebrated their third year on the air on September 8th.

Ten Journalists in Ten Days: Amanda Terkel

The third journalist in my Ten Journalists in Ten Days series is senior political reporter for the Huffington Post, Amanda Terkel. Terkel was recipient of The Hillman Prize in 2008. The Hillman Prize is a journalism award given out annually by the Sidney Hillman Foundation. It is given to journalists "who pursue investigative reporting and deep storytelling in the public interest." Like John Nichols and Andy Kroll, Terkel was also instrumental in exposing the union busting tactics of Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and his Republican controlled administration. Here Ms. Terkel talks with Rachel Maddow about the Republican effort to attack labor unions on the federal level.

Ten Journalists in Ten days: John Nichols

The second journalist in my Ten Journalists in Ten Days series is political blogger and Washington correspondent for The Nation, John Nichols. Nichols was also instrumental in uncovering what was happening with the emergency financial manager legislation in Michigan. He also did some outstanding investigative journalism on Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker. Nichols is the author of several books including The Death and Life of American Journalism which he co-authored with University of Illinois professor, Robert W. McChesney.

Ten Journalists in Ten Days: Andy Kroll

I’ve never done this before but I’m going to try something new and post ten illustrations of my favorite journalists from print and television in ten days. I will post them in random order. Before I begin let me just say that I am a news junkie. In addition to being an homage to these highly respected journalists, part of what this series is about for me is embracing my addiction to news instead of being embarrassed about it. So there I said it, I’m a news junkie and I’m not going to be embarrassed about it or hide from it anymore.

The first journalist is a reporter in the D.C. bureau of Mother Jones magazine, Andy Kroll. Kroll has been the recipient of several awards for outstanding journalism and an associate editor at TomDispatch.com. I had to include Kroll in my list because he wrote a great hard hitting piece about the draconian, emergency financial manager legislation that Michigan’s Republican Governor Rick Snyder passed along with the republican controlled Michigan senate. Kroll was the first journalist that I know of to write about Snyder’s policies in detail.

Abby Wambach Montage

This is a montage illustration I made of outstanding, American professional soccer player and Olympic gold medalist, Abby Wambach. Ms. Wambach is currently the third highest all-time goal scorer for the USA Women's National Soccer Team.

Turtle Boy Statue

This is an illustration I made for an article in Central Massachusetts Pride Magazine written by Jayme Frazier about Worcester’s Pride. The illustration is of a statue in Worcester known as "Turtle Boy." The statue was created by sculptor Charles Y. Harvey and has become the mascot for Worcester Massachusetts.

Internet Dating

A spot illustration for an article in Central Massachusetts Pride Magazine about internet dating.