I love chatting with my old friends; many of them are back home in Hattiesburg, or are from Hattiesburg, grew up with me, and live in other parts of the country (or world).  facebook is like a barometer. It tells me where I was three to five decades ago, and real life and even Twitter tells me to a certain degree “where I am now”.

By Londons Times Cartoons (Click To Enlarge)

I love hearing of my friends both old and new successes, overcoming obstacles and illnesses, falling in love, and sometimes even out of love because they may have found themselves with the wrong mate. It happens, and it is not a failure (to break up or divorce); in fact I imagine it is a failure not to, if one is in the wrong relationship and makes it the status quo and surrenders to unhappiness.  That saddens me.

Divorce by Londons Times c2011 (Click To Enlarge)

But nothing saddens me more than running into old friends who I know to be very bright who have gotten stuck in some political dogma and it is basically all they can discuss.  I know they don’t mean it.  I know they do not even know they are more or less in a cult.  It can be “on the far left” or “far right”.  They are so predictable.  It is like being in a physics 101 class.  You can say one thing and they say the opposite. You can agree with them, and they’ll find a way to disagree and find a monster under the bed and describe it in rapid detail because it is only seconds away from taking over America.  Usually it is somehow connected to The President, some senator or congressman, a tv network, or you name it.  The conspiracy is as real to them as the glass of bourbon they have just downed to fuel it and keep it alive.

Osama Bin Banana In His Birthplace Of Lemon

I make light of it, but it is not funny at all. I have lived and worked all over this great country and I know the ending of people who are like old 45 records that get stuck because of a big scratch.  They talk about it and as the years go by the conspiracies get more real (they find real researched blogs and books to back it up) and they describe it louder and louder.  In Los Angeles, I was at the death bed of a man who I admired but he was like that.  He told me at the end he knew he was wrong but it was “like a gang”. There was no way out.  He would have become persona non gratis in his small town. He commuted to L.A.  I told him he had enough open-minded friends in L.A. who didn’t care what he believed and he could be who he wanted.  It was too late. He died while I was there.

by Londons Times Cartoons

It was a lesson for me; one of the most valuable lessons I would ever learn.  Though I was then in my 30′s, it was time for me to get educated. I mean really educated.  That meant re-evaluating everything I learned from my teachers, my parents, my Sunday school, my college, and my experiences. It did not mean they were all wrong. It meant it was important for me to write them down and study them closely. Many of the ideas of which I hung onto are ideas I formulated decades before. Did they still serve me? Some did but most didn’t.  But that left “the great unknown”. If I let go of a lot of this political, religious and educational dogma that was no longer valid, but of which I identified myself and bonded me to my friends, and dropped it, what then.

I wasn’t getting any younger nor any happier. Nor were my friends. It was mandatory that I be honest with them.  I was changing. They may or may not like the changes but that was their issue, not mine. It took some bravery on my part, bravery I didn’t think I had.  But I had it, which led me to believe that most if not everyone has it if need be.

Nobody needs to die in their own toxic dogma.  They can change midlife.  The average college student is now in his/her 40′s and when I went back to college at 51, many of my colleagues were in their 60s-80s. As I got to know them, and my professors, I discovered they were going through healthy mid-life changes, as opposed to mid-life crises.

By Londons Times Cartoons

We never quit learning. If all we are doing is teaching, we might as well be dead.  Socrates and Aristotle even knew that.   Perhaps rethink your ideas.  Many of them may work for you, but many may no longer serve you well.  You can learn new things.  My wife and I do almost every day.

God gave us this beautiful planet to enjoy.   Yes, life can be a struggle but if all your doing is struggling, fighting, arguing, fighting, etc., I can almost guarantee you, its time to rethink your life.

Dance a bit, sing a song even if you’re alone.  Do something nice for yourself and/or someone else.  Smile.  Be yourself.  Experiment being your new self.  That does not mean letting go of  your moral or ethical principals. It is understanding and celebrating others opinions that might be different. It is re-learning tolerance. It is re-learning understanding.   It is celebrating life.  And do it often, even, no especially when you get the urge to flex your political muscles and “show them the light”.  We’ll never get perfect at it.  But we will make progress; and with that progress, love ourselves and others a lot more for it.  It’s scary at first..no absolutely frightening….then so sacred and positive, there’s really no going back.

Shirley Temple Of Doom by Londons Times Cartoons c2011 www.LondonsTimes.us

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I am a mountain man from rural Arkansas. I founded Londons Times Cartoons in 1997 and it has been Google and MSN’s #1 Offbeat Cartoon since 2005. I founded numerous stores that sell over 1/4 million funny greeting cards, tees, mugs etc.  I design unique shoes and clothes at shops like Shoes That Amuse that sell the world’s only famous love quotes shoes & Shoeshies.com which sell Sushi Shoes, Clothes & gifts.

Then came college. The importance of specializing became even more important though it was demanded of me to pick a major and minor which I did about ten times at four different colleges. I didn’t finish but I did study hard and a lot of subjects. I was always a hit at cocktail parties because I learned words like “ethnocentric” and “Kierkegaard” and phrases like “To thine own self be true”. I stopped using that Shakespearean gem as it seemed to depress most of my fellow college students (including me) as, which of us was truly being true to ourselves if we were sitting at a desk listening to the most boring professors on the planet? Do as I say, not as….

In my twenties I simply decided to go out and conquer the cold cruel world and almost did so a few times. I worked on a few major projects for others and a few of my own and learned a good deal about how the world works. Of course the more I learned, the more I learned I needed to learn.

The years passed and early important lessons never left. “Learn to do one thing and do it very well”. I learned to do a few dozen things and none of them all that well.

I went back to school in my mid-40s and everything had changed. The new mantra was “Be flexible. Learn to do a lot of things because things are changing so fast you are most likely to be doing something else tomorrow”. In fact none of the nearly 100 hours I had accumulated my first time in college applied (even though I didn’t need to take the classes again as I was tested for life experience and apparently had learned my lessons). But the new pragmatic (right in your face) lessons were harder than anything I could imagine. But some of them manifested and transferred into the workplace.

Do I do any one thing very well? Not really. I co-create Londons Times Cartoons with my very talented team. I founded it in 1997. I founded several funny gift shops which feature my cartoon products with an inventory of over a quarter million of them.

I founded ShoesThatAmuse.com in 2007, the world’s only famous love quote shoes. APWire and USA Today wrote a very nice story about them.

This past month, I launched ABoyNamedSushi.com a division of ShoeShies which are sushi shoes and gifts and I enjoy that very much though sales are far from brisk, but then again inventory is far from full. So I keep plugging away.

Sadly, most of my early professors who (not on purpose) misled me to do one thing and do it well (how in the world could they see how technology would change our lives and future) are now deceased.

My more recent professors and students from Western Governor’s University are now on Twitter and facebook and, like me, are attempting to become more renaissance every day (as am I). We all have so many balls in the air, at times, it looks like an online juggling convention.

My wife Lee started with a simple photography blog HikeOurPlanet.com which has turned into a very popular nature wildlife blog and she makes her own line of gift and home decor products, LeeHillerDesigns.com.

On the way to doing what we do now, Lee and I did what we had to do to survive; that is, SEO, article marketing, blogging, promoting on Twitter and other social networks; you name it.

We do all this and still have time for our favorite charities and causes such as wildlife, environment, Japan recovery, domestic animals and much more.

We’ve learned to do a lot, and though we may have received an “F” for that 40 years ago in college, it is what is the norm today.

Times change and so do people. I was thinking recently if Einstein came back and lived in our generation, a 6th grader would have to not only have to teach him how to work a PC, but tell him what it is.
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Rick London is the founder of Google’s #1 ranked offbeat cartoons, Londons Times and its licensed shops such as The Rick London Collection which is currently seeking associates. There is no fee (EVER), our manufacturer Zazzle pays YOU for sales, you never pay us a penny. You visit my Zazzle Shop, sign up for a free shop and affiliate account.  Post items you like from my shop, promote, sell, earn. Just like in the olden days.  To sign up CLICK HERE.
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Though sushi has been a part of civilization longer than one might imagine, it was not always in the current form in which we are used to devouring. It started as a simple “fast food” dish in 2 A.D. in China and was an excellent way to preserve food (there was no refrigeration then). In the early days chefs fermented rice, placed raw fish on the rice, threw the rice out, and ate the fish when hungry.

By 7 A.D. sushi made its way to Japan, where seafood is a staple entrée. However they started making the rice a “side order” with the fish. About 1600, Matsumoto Yoshiichi of Edo (now known as Tokyo) began experimenting with flavors such as rice vinegar and selling this “new dish”. By doing this, they created the world’s first “fast food” and it was more often than not eaten immediately.

Below is a wonderful short YouTube video by my very talented wife Lee Hiller London.

The majority of “sushi” eaten in American restaurants is nigiri (finger sushi) and California rolls, almost no resemblance to the original Chinese food known as “sushi”. An ethnic food that swept the world by storm was developed yet further by the artful experimental restaurant entrepreneurs of north American creating a fusion of food and art.

So not all, but a good deal of the history of my favorite food was familiar. Also familiar was my limited knowledge of design; that is, the best design often reflects the vision of a culture; a modern trend if you will.

Though pizza, hamburger, etc all have their “beauty”, I was not inclined or motivated to purvey the beauty of thousands of mg of trans-fat artery-clogging foods.

But sushi was and is a different story. I started with shoes (mostly womens) but now make mens too. I named the store ShoeShies.com. Then I started designing aprons, mouse pads, mugs, postage stamps, key chains, caps, and just about everything else showcasing dishes of sushi and sashimi and its all available now at Shoeshies.com. I am loving doing it and it has “recharged” me to continue to make cartoon products for Londons Times Cartoons and my love quote Shoes That Amuse…and eat more sushi.

But now, when all the sushi places are closed at 2am and I have a hunger for it, I can look at the sushi mouse pad next to my pc and drool…or drool on my shoes; knowing they will lead me to the nearest sushi bar….tomorrow.

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Today The Obama Administration decided was the right time to release his real birth certificate.  The immediate predictable announcement by Donald Trump was more or less, “I solved a big problem…Obama should have done earlier…America couldn’t have done it without me”. Blah blah yadda yadda.

To be clear, I’m no Barack Obama fan. I don’t feel he has the experience to be a President, much less a President with all that is going on in the world today. I happen not to think he has what it takes to be re-elected.

But I will give him this.  Back when the “birther issue” was gaining momentum, did you notice who was bringing it up the most?  You guessed it. Not Sarah Palin. Not Glenn Beck. Not Michelle Bachman, no not even Trump…It was  Barack Obama always “claiming innocence”.  Did that not give anyone a clue as to what he/Obama was doing?  He was luring bigots dressed as carnival barkers into starting a “He wasn’t even born here” campaign… and guess what. It worked.  Does that hurt? If so, you might want to check your soul within. Don’t hate Obama due to his color (or his perceived religion). It’s  not a reason of which God would approve.  Hate the mediocre job he is doing in the White House.  I hated that about GW Bush too; but I didn’t hate him. Obama kept the issue alive (like a good attorney) as he knew “he had the answer” in a vault.  He only had to await the right moment.  That came today.  If only Obama could use all that “legal smartness” to be a good President.  It appears he cannot.

Of course Obama knew he had the certificate from the start (obviously) and he knew he could have shown it quite promptly but didn’t.  Why didn’t he?

If you are a “Birther Tea Party-er or Republican or even a leftist” this might not sit well with you, but some lessons are the most painful.

My prediction was, for a long while, that Obama was going to pull it out when Trump called him on it in the 2012 debate (or whatever “Birther” he was at the debate podium. That would have been the ideal time and it would have been “a sure fire win” for Obama. He knew it, and of course everyone else knows it now.

Yes, as incompetent as Obama is at governing, he’s much, much, smarter than Trump (and every other Birther for that matter at “Playing Politics).  He proved today; NONE of the others were even in his league.  Does that hurt? Again, time to look within.

Obama had to pull the certificate today. Trump was overshadowing real news…Japan, Arab uprisings, War In Libya and so much other important news stories and the “birther issue” was becoming priority news, keeping us, the general public from hearing real news.

The important stories were becoming almost non-stories while Donald’s bad hair blew across our TV monitor and his headache-producing voice through our psyche.

Obama could have ignored all that and waited until his golden moment, the 2012 debates.  It would have been a no-brainer who would have won the debate no matter how good the “Birther Opponent” performed on every other issue.

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It should have been apparent to most “Birthers” when even the “former birthers” like Palin and Bachmann & Gov. Brewer of Az began removing themselves from the Birthers and the issue.  They finally figured out that Obama had them over a barrel,  and he was just waiting for the right time.  But leave it to Trump and his ego to keep it going.   His “I put this issue to an end thanks to me” is so reminiscent of Charlie Sheen’s, “Winning…winning”, that it was almost funny, if not so sad. Trump would never have imagined in a zillion years that Obama had him over a barrel. But we know now he did.

Rarely, very rarely, you will find a candidate who understands the job of a U.S. President.  Do you know what that job is? I didn’t think so.  There actually are two major jobs A. Balance The Budget…AND  B. Keep the U.S. citizens safe.

Trump has been bankrupt 3 times but told one national news reporter, “We buy these companies and go bankrupt.  Then we can make a deal that is FANTASTIC!” He doesn’t mention that the creditor gets pennies on the dollar.  America has loans owed to many countries and vice versa. We’ve been known to pay our bills as a nation. But given Trumps philosophy; if we borrow several billion, go bankrupt, and you (the other country) gets a “FANTASTIC” deal, you should be happy”.  But in reality, if that country owns an atom bomb, he’s not done much to keep the citizenry of our country safe.

Here’s something that is not going to make lefties nor right-wingers feel so great.  I worked long enough in Washington to continue to chant my mantra, “Do not vote for the party. Research each candidate, then do another research and then another. Have a friend review those research results and another friend  research his/hers.  Whichever party you have chosen, you are going to find things you don’t like; let me rephrase that, if you are honest, despise.  There will be things that click and you love, but the majority you’ll probably find is “the same old self-interest B.S.). If you really make this your voting formula, and you have at least a high-school education, you will never even think about voting “party” again.

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If you can tell me with a straight face that there’s one in office now, or one that you’ve seen running who understands that, and could perform it, never mind being “Our Moral Mommy & Daddy”, that does not even appear on the job description (though it is the reason so many vote); which makes me a shame of our education system.  It is probably why we’ve had so few decent presidents.  How many have done the real job in my lifetime?  Only Clinton. Can you name another.

The news heads tonight are going to be brutal…well beyond brutal to Trump; as well they should. He doesn’t understand it now, but of course, he is history, last years news.  Do you think anyone with any type of sanity would ever take him seriously again?

We know much of it is about race. That is a given. I am a white man who grew up in Ms. I am sensitively aware of politicians who teach me the differences between the races, rather than the similarities. I know what racism, or perceived racism) did to my beloved beautiful state of Ms. Most of us were not racist, did not wear sheets, were absolutely fine when integration occurred yet financially will and will for many years to come. Mississippi continues to come in #50 in almost every important issue from education to tourism (we’re a bit better on tourism now due to casinos but the good jobs and most monies travels out of state).  I am very surprised when I see my fellow-Mississippians go along with Trump, especially given what such racists did to us nationwide (if not worldwide). It will take Ms many years to pull out of that alligator pit.  And it won’t be in our lifetime and if they keep marching to Trump’s racist drum it won’t be in our grand children’s lifetimes.

I can look at a person and predict future meltdowns.  3 months ago I predicted to my wife Lee that I could see Glenn Beck beginning to melt down.  I gave him exactly 2.5 months left on Fox (I knew how Fox worked as I used to work there years ago when it was still Metromedia).  I was off about five days.

I think Trump will last about a month longer. After 4-5 months of the media virtually ignoring him, giving him a few crazy sound bites, he will be doing the “Glenn Beck cry” and fade away. His ego is a little stronger hence he’ll last a bit longer than Beck. But all its going to take is one news veteran to ask the right question and Trump will be back hawking his MLM pyramid scheme telling everyone he’s a billionaire (oh, many times over)

Donald, I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a bottle of Amway environmentally-friendly dish washing detergent today.  There is more shares of complaints regarding Trump’s MLM “Get Rich Quick” company on Scam.com than I care to read.  He’s done nothing to respond and/or remedy these complaints.  Too busy with his hired detective help in Hawaii, finding out things that “don’t look good at all”  (Admit it, like Obama or not, he got a BIG SMILE today).

There is only one person on the horizon who understands what a President does. Governor Gary Johnson (Republican) of New Mexico was interviewed on the news several weeks ago.  He emitted so much sanity, knew exactly what a President does and doesn’t do, I felt sad.  He’s just too sane to run. And yes, he knew the two main job descriptions of a U.S. President and had very little to say, even when quizzed over and over by the reporter on anything but those two issues.  Do you think we’ll ever get a President who knows his/her job?

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Rick London is a cartoonist, designer, and funny gift manufacturer.  He founded the net’s #1 offbeat cartoons, Londons Times and its licensed shops featuring funny tees gifts etc. He also founded and designs ShoesThatAmuse.com the world’s only famous love quotes shoes, and writes music. He and his wife Lee are nature lovers and spend a lot of time hiking in the Ouichata Mountains of Arkansas.

Londons Times Cartoons www.LondonsTimes.us

With important news saturating our airwaves such as the Japan tragedy, uprisings in the Arab world,  and so many more meaningful issues, Donald Trump’s timing could not be worse with the non-news issue of investigating if Obama was born in Hawaii much less America. Most educated Republicans are distancing themselves from him.

In response, a group of cartoonists led by Rick London, founder of Londons Times Cartoons is beginning an investigation on, not Donald Trump, but that creature that  lives on his head. London says, “Given all the money that Mr. Trump makes selling books and multi-level life coach junk,” you know he’s one of the few who could not only pay but persuade aliens to steal the hair off their best friend, and send it to Trump Towers. Of course it could be an alien animal, not hair at all.  A strand of it is still in a lab being evaluated.

We were able to swipe the strand of hair when we discovered he was sleeping with other fringe Republicans who needed the money and didn’t fall for his life-coach make-a-million MLM deal.

London says, “We know, for certain, it was not made in America much less this planet. We’ve seen creatures such as these in old horror films, but they were synthetically made in Hollywood. We’ve quizzed all the Hollywood studios who have assured us it had to come from another planet.  We’ve contacted Clive Barker and Steven King who are not returning our calls. I feel its because one of them have a book or film planned titled ‘Night Of The Donald’s Hair’.”

London adds, “In so many ways, Mr. Trump has our pity. Some men whose testosterone has long gone, but still have a deep intimidating voice feel the need to cover their balding heads. This could mean grabbing a small space alien, which we are almost certain Mr. Trump has done. If so, it is likely a living organism and he need not answer to us but to P.E.T.A. or even an inner-galaxy animal rights or hair follicle rights group.

Let’s just hope he is exercising it on a regular basis and feeding it food that is indigenous to it’s original habitat.

For more updates with the investigation tune into www.LondonsTimes.us blog.

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Rick London is a writer, cartoonist and designer. He founded Londons Times Cartoons in 1997 which have been Google and MSN’s #1 ranked offbeat cartoons since 2005. He also founded numerous shops featuring his funny gifts such as the Rick London Collection. He also founded and designs the world’s only famous love quotes shoes, Shoes That Amuse.