A VERY TINY STORY AND A HOLIDAY MESSAGE

A VERY TINY STORY AND A HOLIDAY MESSAGE FROM CATMAN COMIX AND THE KITTY MAFIA ART WORX: If you have just a minute, please take the time to read it.

     Being a superhero in San Francisco can be a lot of work and a lot of fun. There’s crime to prevent, evil doers to apprehend, and when things are quiet, there is always time to fly around the Transamerica Pyramid and Coit Tower, or do aerobatic exhibitions for the tourists. And then, when the day is done, you get to go home to a nice meal and a warm bed.

     Both Catman and Super Sumie have a very nice home indeed, located high up on Russian Hill next to the cable car line, with a view of Alcatraz and San Francisco Bay, dry food in a bowl all day and night, plus tuna or salmon, sometimes with bonito flakes, three times a day. There are lots of toys to play with and a soft warm bed to sleep in. However, in flying about the city, tiny Sumie had noticed that things were not always so pleasant for other people in the city. She became curious, as cats will do, and one day decided, without telling anyone, to pack a few of her belongings and then to head off on her own down to the Tenderloin District, where she might be able to find out about the “other side” of life.

     Once she arrived, having walked all the way from home, and dragging her suitcase behind her, she quickly found that things were indeed not good — not good at all. Down in the Tenderloin, things were anything but tender. The neighborhood was cold, dirty and smelled bad. And the people — why, many of them were mean, ugly, smelled bad, and some were dangerous — very dangerous! She spent the entire day walking around the streets looking first for a friendly face, but she couldn’t find one. Then, as the day wore on, she grew hungry; however, she hadn’t brought any money with her. As the sun set and it grew dark, it started to rain; and there she was —cold, wet. no friends, no food, and no place to go.

     Sumie walked and walked until at last, she found a dry place to rest beside an old wooden shack in a dark, weed-filled alley. She took a rolled up blanket she had strapped to the top of the suitcase she had pulled around behind her all day, covered herself with it, hoping to fend off the cold, and then took out the one true friend she did have with her — her teddy bear.

     There she sat for hour after hour, alone, cold, and afraid, until she fell asleep. Then Catman, who had never been very far off, and who had watched over her all day, picked her and her belongs up and took her home where he tucked her safely into her warm, soft bed.

     Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who don’t have a Catman to watch over them, or to take them home to bed. A lot of folks have no home, no money, and no food —not even a teddy bear. On Thanksgiving Day, we have a lot of things, things we often take for granted, to be thankful for. But what about the others? If you have the means, drop by your local food bank and make a donation, or if you have nothing else to do that day, you might consider volunteering some of your time at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter, to make Thanksgiving just a little bit better for someone who doesn’t have much at all. There’s still time if you’d like to.

     Happy Thanksgiving from Aoi, Hayato, Catman and Super Sumie.

TEAMING UP TO MAKE SAN FRANCISCO SAFER

Copyright © 2013 by Aoi Tokugawa, Hayato Tokugawa, Shisei-Dō Publications, and the Kitty Mafia Art Worx. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without prior written permission of the artist, author, or publisher.

ABE AND TEPCO: More than meets the eye.

    

 Is there a relationship between Abe's lack of decisive action on Fukushima Daiichi and TEPCO? One wonders.

ABENOMICS = REAGANOMICS: THE "TRICKLE DOWN" ECONOMY

By Aoi & Hayato Tokugawa

ABENOMICS: Just a rehash of Reganomics...which marked the decline of the American Middle Class...trickle down economics which turned out to be more like "tinkle down" economics.

Copyright © 2013 by Aoi Tokugawa, Hayato Tokugawa, Shisei-Dō Publications, and the Kitty Mafia Art Worx. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without prior written permission of the artist, author, or publisher.

A PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGE FROM CATMAN

    

    This is Shinjuku - seedy tech underbelly of Tokyo. The catch basin of a shocking segment of Japanese youth, addicted to “tech.” Here, day and night, rain or shine, you can find the youth of Japan, “jonesing” for a “fix.” And their numbers increase daily, their minds numbed by apps, tweets, twitters, social media – sometimes they just stare blankly at vacant screens…their batteries having worn down.

     There are both “tech” addicts here and dealers – the perverse purveyors of the latest in “apps,” games, tablets and “pods.” The “pod society.” Addicts flock here hoping to get the latest app from the Apple cult, Microsoft, and a myriad of other manufacturers. Perhaps, they hope, they can “score” the latest Apple pod or some knockoff or imitation.

     You can sense, almost feel, their intelligence being sapped from their brains, right before your eyes. The “dumbing-down” of our future. Kids with finger tips inflamed from texting – kids with severe hearing losses from the blasting of music from iTunes and YouTube. Young bodies and minds damaged beyond repair.

But it’s not too late. There is something you can do to stop this tragic downward spiral to intellectual oblivion. Kids and perhaps a nation with no future. Take away your kids “tech” toys. Ignore the hype that they are harmless. Give your kids a book, some paper, art supplies. Make them go outside and play…even if it means locking them out for a few hours. And don’t whimper and whine that., “Oh, they might get hurt!” Cuts and bruises, scrapes and scratches are part of being a kind. They’ll be better adults for it.

     There is still hope…but time is running out.

     For Eyewitness News…this is Catman reporting.