This week's new comic strip at BallpointAdvetures.com was all about that douche in the White House.

Click here to see the full-size comic strip!

This is the reality behind our new "leader" and his tough talk.  You know this, right?

Check out more great BALLPOINT ADVENTURES comics at BallpointAdventures.com!!

Hey, download the first digital BALLPOINT ADVENTURES mini-comic right now!  For FREE! Just go here to get the 12-panel PDF: http://finetip.ballpointadventures.com!  Feel free to let me know what you think of it by commenting below or hit me up on Twitter (@thepete)!

ALSO: I have a Patreon you can support!

On #thepete #podcast this week: Why "#Skittles" represents the #worst of #America

This week on #thepetepodcast: #DonaldTrump Jr makes an ultimately nonsensical comparison between Skittles and #refugees and in the process validates America's #paranoia and #cowardice. May have to do a sequel to this ep. So much to say!

Here's that graphic I mention in the podcast this week:

Yes, because deciding to eat a piece of candy is JUST LIKE
deciding whether to accept refugees into your country.

Here is a direct download of the 10 minute mp3 of this week's #thepete #podcast, or you can subscribe to #thepete #podcast! ;)

Got iTunes? Sure, we're all forced to! Subscribe to #thepete #podcast on iTunes!

You can also listen to this podcast on Audioboom!  In fact, you'll get to listen one day earlier than iTunes and RSS subscribers!

Let me know what you think of this podcast! Leave a comment here or on Twitter or where ever you found my podcast. THANKS!

Like what I do online? Support me on Patreon or by buying my long-form comic, INKSTREME BALLPOINT ADVENTURES!  Or, hey, just buy me a cup of coffee!  Seriously--every bit helps!!  Thanks!

You can always find more episodes of #thepete #podcast at podcast.thepete.com!

This week on #thepete #podcast: #humanity, #stupidity, #douchebaggery

#thepetepodcast this week is all about my personal #fears and #concerns regarding #idiots and #assholes in positions of #power.

Here is a direct download of the 10 minute mp3 of this week's #thepete #podcast, or you can subscribe to #thepete #podcast! ;)

Got iTunes? Sure, we're all forced to! Subscribe to #thepete #podcast on iTunes!

You can also listen to this podcast on Audioboom!  In fact, you'll get to listen one day earlier than iTunes and RSS subscribers!

Let me know what you think of this podcast! Leave a comment here or on Twitter or where ever you found my podcast. THANKS!

Like what I do online? Support me on Patreon or by buying my long-form comic, INKSTREME BALLPOINT ADVENTURES!  Or, hey, just buy me a cup of coffee!  Seriously--every bit helps!!  Thanks!

You can always find more episodes of #thepete #podcast at podcast.thepete.com!

#thepete #podcast 7/26/16: Post-#RNC2016 edition! + #voting for bad +#CultureOfIgnorance

This week on #thepetepodcast: #TedCruz did something good for humanity and reminds us how we should always vote! (Yes, Margaret, this IS Bizarro World.)  Meanwhile, #stupidity may elect #DonaldTrump in November. Weee!!  Listen for all the gritty details!!

Here is a direct download of the 10 minute mp3 of this week's #thepete #podcast, or you can subscribe to #thepete #podcast! ;)

Got iTunes? Sure, we're all forced to! Subscribe to #thepete #podcast on iTunes!

You can also listen to this podcast on Audioboom!  In fact, you'll get to listen one day earlier than iTunes and RSS subscribers!

You can always find more episodes of #thepete #podcast at podcast.thepete.com! !

Let me know what you think of this podcast! Leave a comment here or on Twitter or where ever you found my podcast. THANKS!

Like what I do online? Support me on Patreon or by buying my long-form comic, INKSTREME BALLPOINT ADVENTURES!  Or, hey, just buy me a cup of coffee!  Seriously--every bit helps!! Thanks!

thepete's take: America is a Fearist Country

How does it feel to live in an fearist country?

That's right--whether any citizen of another country wants to say it to your face or not, if you're an American, you believe in fearism.  As Americans, we go on and on about how we need guns to keep us safe from a potentially abusive government, never quite realizing that the US government is supposed to be run for the people, by the people.  So, if it works the way it's supposed to, why are we afraid of our own people abusing us?  And why do we need to cling to our arm-bearing rights  with the ferocity of an actual bear?

Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association, likes to remind us from time to time about how many threats we American citizens face, beyond just an abusive government.  Here is a cutting from a 2014 article I found quoting a speech LaPierre gave:

"We know, in the world that surrounds us, there are terrorists and there are home invaders, drug cartels, carjackers, knockout-gamers, and rapers and haters and campus killers, airport killers, shopping mall killers, and killers who scheme to destroy our country with massive storms of violence against our power grids or vicious waves of chemicals or disease that could collapse our society that sustains us all."

And a LOT of people agree with that guy.  So, guns.  Guns are the answer for many Americans.  Even to many of those who don't want to ever own a gun, it's OK for guns to be generally legal.  Because, you know, the 2nd Amendment, and because of that thought in the back of your head that the 2nd Amendment is there for a reason.  It's because we might need it some day. And what that really means is that you think guns trump everything.  Even the deaths of 49 gay people.  Even the deaths of 20 children.

Ballpoint Adventures for April 11, 2006: Maybe Barbie is Really Progressive After All?

As a white guy I've gotten messed with by non-whites over the years--less so these days but when I was a kid and even in college, people assumed I was easily frightened by "the other". In some cases I was, because I was stupid, but over time, I came to be afraid of very little. Again, it's really about the neighborhood or context of the person that determines how afraid of or cautious around a person I am. These days, a guy in a business suit raises a bigger red flag to me.

Ballpoint Adventures for April 10, 2006: Barbie experiences real fear.

Lots of folks *think* they're progressive.

Ballpoint Adventures for April 9, 2006: Barbie Asks Bulah Why White Folks are so Afraid of Her.

It's a mystery to me why people let skin color determine their fear-level. For me it's more about what kind of neighborhood you're in. Any ethnicity can be scary in the right neighborhood--black, latino, and yes, even white folks can turn to violence and crime if they're desperate enough.

Ballpoint Adventures for April 8, 2006: Billy and Barbie talk about "the other"

In 2006 the idea of a president with an African name was pretty unbelievable even to progressives. How far we've come... seriously. I'm not even being sarcastic!

Ballpoint Adventures for April 7, 2006: Billy and Barbie find something else to fear!

I wrote this back when Obama was first being talked about as a possible future presidential candidate. I loved how subtextual politicians and reporters became with their racism. This is what I was trying to capture with this storyline.

Ballpoint Adventures for April 6, 2006: Billy and Barbie are too smart to be afraid

Like terrorists with no resources, aliens that are millions of years away just aren't much of a threat.

Ballpoint Adventures for April 5, 2006: Billy and Barbie discover the catch with space travel

Some aliens are patient, I guess!

Ballpoint Adventures for April 4, 2006: Billy looks a gift Xbox in the mouth.

This is what I'd do to an Xbox if an alien gave one to me.

Ballpoint Adventures for July 9, 2012: Mr. Alien explains just how he'll threaten America

You rarely hear about Saddam switching to the Euro, but it happened--right in the middle of the mess with the Bush/Gore "election." Yeah, that's why we didn't notice. Oops.

Ballpoint Adventures for July 6, 2012: Billy realizes the good Mr. Alien can do!

I swear this is what's going to happen--aliens are going to suddenly be discovered and the Republicans will spin the story so that they're our new enemies.

Ballpoint Adventures for March 27, 2006: Billy finally concedes to Barbie... sort of...

When I was growing up during the Cold War, it was as black and white a world as it is now--where there was good and evil and we were the good guys and blahblahblah. The difference is that back then, we were bravely standing up against the communist threat. We wore our freedoms on our chests like medals of honor. I, for one, was ready to die for my freedom if I had to (still am). Flash forward a few decades and we're all a bunch of scared kids afraid of the boogie man. What happened to us?

Ballpoint Adventures for July 5, 2012: Billy finally lets Mr. Alien explain himself

It's true, we do like to be afraid. It's our "go to" emotion, I think.

Ballpoint Adventures for March 26, 2006 Yes, Billy is still laughing at Barbie's joke about Al Qeada getting a nuke.

What else is there to say? Statistically, we are way more likely to be killed by a car, than killed by a terrorist. This has ALWAYS been the statistic since before 911, even. Why, then, are so many Americans willing to give up what brave men and women died to protect just because they have a tiny fraction of a chance they might get killed by a terrorist?

Ballpoint Adventures for March 25, 2006: Billy still enjoys Barbie's joke about Al Qeada getting a nuke.

It's such a silly thing to be afraid of. Sure--we should definitely stop terrorists and I don't want anyone to be killed by terrorists, but for Americans to be scared of terrorists? I'm sounding like a broken record, but so does anyone who still insists that AQ could ever "destroy America."

Ballpoint Adventures for March 24, 2006: Billy enjoys Barbie's joke about Al Qeada getting a nuke.

It is pretty silly, when you think about it--I mean--the USSR had almost as many nukes as we did and there was no Patriot Act in the 1980s. And now we're supposed to be afraid of a handful of guys in the desert getting a single nuke when those of us who remember the cold war were staring down the barrel of a gun firing thousands of nukes at us? Seems like America has turned into a bunch of fraidy cats.