Ted Rall on his Favourite* Subject

* For obvious reasons, may not actually be his favourite subject.

Cartoonist Ted Rall's Firing from the LA Times: How You Can Help (Even if you don't personally like Ted Rall)

Links to petitions & letters to the LAT, links to encourage various media-outlets to cover the story, or to just buy Ted's books or donate directly here.

Update: So apparently, Ted is reviewing his legal options, but perhaps more importantly whether he can afford the costs of what could be a difficult legal battle.  So if you'd be willing to support him with that, you could let him know so in the comments here.

Horsey on Amazon

His editorial on the NYT piece here: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-amazon-brutal-workplace-20150818-story.html*

Meanwhile, Ted Rall's book on Snowden is coming out this month: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2489393,00.asp


* Would it make a difference writing about that subject if he still worked for a paper in Seattle I wonder.

Ted Rall v. the LAPD/LA Times, Continuing

Slowly, slowly, media-outlets are coming around to covering Rall's apparent vindication in his firing by the LAPDLA Times.  Boing Boing above.

They really shouldn't have fired* Ted without an appropriate investigation in the first place, but...that window's come and gone.  And, I'd guess that any legal advice the LA Times may be getting at this point probably goes basically along the lines of  'Keep your mouth closed and shut the fuck up whatever you do.'  There's a lawsuit coming here, and my guess is we won't hear one word further from the LAT** till that result is concluded.  After which exercise, perhaps a retraction...on page 54 or so.

Here's hoping Ted's got some damn good lawyers lined up.

And as for apologies from the various right-wing outlets that convicted Ted online immediately, well we may be waiting a while there also.

Meanwhile, Ted has this, er, on-topic piece on his site from South African cartoonist John Curtis, who does a pretty decent imitation of Ted's style at that:

Damn.  I'd go for a legal disclaimer there myself, but then, I ain't Ted...by a long shot.


* IANAL, but I suspect the definitions/rules regarding termination of employment may vary with freelance-work.

** Whose last word on the subject currently remains this note from 28 July: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-oe-rall-20150728-story.html

*** Multiple things I'd change about my own previous coverage of this subject (including the damned title), but for honesty's sake, here it is: http://nofarhorizons.blogspot.com/2015/07/welcome-to-modern-day-fascist-reality.html

Welcome to Modern-Day Fascist Reality

In which Ted Rall is apparently fired by the LA Times over a question with the LAPD of jaywalking, a decade and a half ago.

A lot of folk in the US don't like Ted Rall.  The man's earned himself a lot of enemies by daring to question the establishment...on every level.  I don't agree with any of such assholes, whilst questioning the wisdom in such fascistic times as we find ourselves, of openly and repeatedly calling as a public figure, as Rall has done, for revolution again the capitalistic order of the day.

Ted knows the odds, knows the consequences, knows that he could be setting himself up here as a future martyr.  He's far braver than I would be in his shoes.

Politics aside, as if that were ever possible, the man is one of the sharpest minds of his generation, and, crude drawing-style aside, would probably be one of the pre-eminent (and perhaps even, most profitable) cartoonists of this age, were it not for the enemies he earned during the Afghan & Iraq Wars.  Think now, when it comes to voting for Auntie Hillary, Jeb, Uncle Marco, or Leader Walker, what kind of future you want for the US, and how such a leader, more democratic, or utterly un-democratic would treat such a voice as Ted's.

Ted doesn't ask for any particular action here, that I can see, and I have my own suspicions about where he's likely to end up.  I'd guess, that he'd want you to just act on your own conscience.  We're all, as we ever were, on our own in this shitty modern world.


Update:

Here's the LA Times' official statement: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-oe-rall-20150728-story.html
And Ted's full statement on the matter: http://anewdomain.net/2015/07/27/ted-rall-lapd-convinced-la-times-fire-criticized-cops-exclusive/

The more I review this, I have to say, while the evidence provided, which is entirely under the control of the LAPD, doesn't prove anything, it doesn't really look good for Ted either.  Although he mentions, and then rejects, the idea of conflating different events, I do have to wonder about that, given than this incident took place a full fourteen years ago.

Not that he wouldn't likely still be canned, were that the case, given the treatment of Brian Williams, who was the news-anchor of a prominent national network, never mind a freelance cartoonist commenting on local stories.

I do also wonder about the timing, given that Ted has mentioned this story several times previously over the years.  Is it the fact that he wrote about it in the Times that finally got the LAPD's attention, or the detail of his accusations, or something else entirely ?

All this over a charge on the victimless crime of jaywalking, almost fifteen years ago...


Update (2nd):

Guess Ted was right to push for people to listen to the audio.  An 'enhanced' version he received, and posted online, seems to strengthen his version of events, with the woman in the background appearing to be protesting his treatment over jaywalking, though I still can't quite tell myself if that's the word 'handcuff' she says.  And it does sound like the cop's whistling may have been intended to obscure those sections of the recording.

Plus that sound at 5'42...And the bizarre statement at the end about not knowing any local eateries, suddenly sounding less like a question to the cop, and maybe an answer...to a question from one of the onlookers, wanting to discuss the case ?

Next step, Ted takes legal action ?  And if he wins ?  Maybe a settlement by the LA Times and/or the LAPD ?  A slap on the wrist perhaps for a certain one-time 'officer of the year' ?  And Ted's career, his reputation meanwhile ?...

A US 'Nuclear Umbrella' for Saudi Arabia ?

From the LA Times:

Obama administration officials are promising a major strengthening of U.S. defense commitments to Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf allies, possibly including a nuclear commitment to their security, in an intensifying effort to win their support for the proposed nuclear deal with Iran.

Officials say they hope to reassure nervous gulf Arab states by providing more military aid and training to their defense forces, and by making more explicit commitments to help them repel external attacks.

The administration is studying whether to make any nuclear assurances, though officials emphasize no decision has been made.

...

One challenge for the White House is whether it can expand a defense relationship that already is enormous.

...

It's also not clear that U.S. nuclear security commitments would be useful or welcomed by the gulf states.

The administration would have a hard time trying to get Congress, which has been skeptical about the U.S.-Saudi relationship, to enact a treaty that put a U.S. nuclear "umbrella" over Arab Sunni nations, as the United States has over Japan and South Korea.

Such agreements aim to deter nuclear attack by warning foes that the United States would retaliate with overwhelming force if an ally is attacked with a nuclear weapon.

...

Another possible gesture would be to declare the gulf states "major non-NATO allies," said Thomas Lippman, a Saudi specialist at the nonpartisan Middle East Institute in Washington. The designation, applied to close allies like Japan, Australia and Israel, provides special help in buying weapons and obtaining U.S. weapons.

This, if true, is insane.  Though I do wonder about the article's provenance.  Sure are a lot of unspecified 'officials' mentioned in the article.  And it doesn't appear to actually be a new story at that.  Seems it was being reported in the Israeli media over a month ago:

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Analysis-US-Sunni-states-talk-about-regional-nuclear-umbrella-393131

http://www.haaretz.com/news/1.645573

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/192178

From the latter two, it seems their source was an Arabic paper, al-Hayat.  Huh.


I want to be sceptical.  But this is Barack Obama & John Kerry we're talking about.  Given the completely ham-handed way they've handled Ukraine...I think I could believe it.  And so what happens next ?  Does Russia do a deal with Iran to promise them their own 'nuclear umbrella' ?  What could possibly go wrong with drawing the battlelines of a new Cold War between the West and Russia across the heart of the Middle East and the Sunni/Shia divide ?  Have we learned nothing in the hundred years since, from the Great War of 1914-18 ?

Insane.