France: Suicide by Political Correctness

I dashed this cartoon out last night to show my Patreon members. One of them pointed out that the cartoon was done before. He was right--it had already been done before. It was an obvious idea and I should have done an Internet search first. I was rushing and didn't think about doing that. Regardless, mine features France and how political correctness has done them in.

They welcomed Muslims in and expected them to be 'just like us.' They also banned guns. They banned free speech. Nobody was allowed to criticize Islam without being called 'racist.'

This is the result. While many Muslims ARE peaceful, many are not. Stating this fact does not make me 'racist.' Besides, Islam is a religion, not a race! ISIS members do not want to assimilate. They aren't about to assimilate into western culture. They want to conquer. By force of arms or numbers. France has allowed this to occur. It's suicide by political correctness.

It's time to stop 'welcoming' millions of ISIS 'refugees' into Europe. Obama wants to import millions here, too. It won't turn out well. Multiculturalism and diversity sometimes end up in balkanized divisiveness. --Ben Garrison

SJWs Shut Me Up!

The tyrannical SJWs, who don't believe in criticism or free speech, have ganged up on me and shut down my Facebook page. Since my IP address is 'banned' for 24 hours as punishment....I can't even comment on my private page. My wife Tina can't post to a weather page there. Nothing. Our free speech has been placed in a 'safe space,'  i.e. silenced. It was not just about removing the 'offensive' cartoon, it was about shutting me up completely. Facebook readily complied.

Ironically, I have spent many hours complaining to Facebook when trolls have used my name and face and vandalized cartoons and published many pages calling for the murder of African Americans and Jews. Let me emphasize--they were using my name and face. Stealing my identity. In 2014 alone, there were TEN such pages and nearly every time FB told me 'the page does not violate community standards.' Horrific things were published using my ID and Facebook didn't care. In one instance my lawyer had to get involved. It was very difficult to get the libel removed. It cost me a lot of time and money. All of the libel showed up on search engines, thus degrading my free speech and muddying the waters so much that many really thought I was some kind of Nazi nut job.

Yet how easy it was to get my own, legitimate free speech removed. The cry bullies only had to gang up on Facebook and they caved. The SJWs proved the point of the cartoon. There was nothing racist about the cartoon, but all it takes is an imagined slight. Someones 'feewings' were hurt and that was enough. It was my opinion based on events unfolding and a great many people agreed with the cartoon.

Facebook is NOT a 'safe place' for free speech.

Ben Garrison

March of the Crybullies

I like the fact that college students are angry enough to revolt against the massive debt being piled on their backs just because they want to get a college degree and a good job. They should be protesting because the expenses involved have gotten ridiculous. Then, if they do graduate, a great many of them can’t find employment. Too many are forced to remain living with their parents without a chance at the American Dream, which has now become just that—a dream.

Unfortunately, too many of these young people are also upset about ridiculous things. They are part of a hypersensitive, hyper-politically correct group known as ‘Social Justice Warriors.’

A few years ago when I first heard the term 'Social Justice Warrior,’ I wasn’t sure what it meant. I thought SJWs were doing some kind of noble, laudable work. I pictured them as volunteers at food banks. Maybe they were trying to help senior citizens get the prescription medicine they couldn’t afford. I pictured them trying to help the downtrodden in society. Instead, SJWs epitomize political correctness gone amuck. They are 'special snowflakes' who are also incredibly thin-skinned. They browbeat and scold others into giving up freedom of speech or expression. Want to wear a Halloween costume? You’d better check with the campus commissar of political correctness first. (Yes, the protesters want some sort of official on campus who will determine what can and cannot be said or done). Don’t want to date a tranny? What a hateful person you are! Now we hear terms such as ‘micro-agression’ which can mean a tone of voice or expression that might cause slight discomfort to the recipient. Micro-transgressors are vilified, shamed and screamed at. Slights don’t even have to be real—they only need be imagined. Political correctness has now become a form of mass insanity. Do you still say ‘Merry Christmas?’ Watch out! Did you accidentally call a man from China a ‘Chinaman?’ OMG—look out for the pearl clutchers—you’re a horrible human being who needs to be shunned! It doesnt’ matter if the man from China was offended or not. He probably wasn’t. After all, he’s a man and he came from China.

What matters is YOU said the WRONG thing. During the Spanish Inquisition, people who said wrong things were labeled ‘heretics.’ A heretic was seen as someone who was contaminated with erroneous thinking. A heretic was going to go Hell. A heretic could be tortured because such a person had lost a connection with the omniscient church. Now that word is ‘racist.’ A racist can be scolded, driven out of jobs or forced to make a blubbering apology because they are no longer seen as connected with humanity. It doesn’t matter if the person is actually racist or not…all that needs to happen is for a SJW to perceive or imagine such a heinous transgression. It’s not only insanity, it can be amusing at times. The liberal scolds are now themselves being scolded by the generation they mollycoddled.

Please, SJWs, if you really want to do something useful, hold a mass protest calling for the end of the Federal Reserve. You’d be doing all races a favor. It’s also time to END the tyranny of ‘political correctness.'

Special thanks to John M., whose ideas helped in the creation of this cartoon.

—Ben Garrison

If you like my cartoons, I could use your help. $1 per month would help me buy time to draw more of them. Thanks! https://www.patreon.com/grrrgraphics?ty=h

P.S. I came across this--the 'diversity police' would make a great cartoon!

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/11/universities_have_become_totalitarian_gulags.html

UPDATE:

The ‘Crybully’ cartoon has already had many thousands of shares and retweets…and now I have more Patreon members...and someone also donated $50 today! We had a record amount of views on FB—many many thousands of views so far. Then I was gang-attacked on Facebook and the cartoon was removed--and I was 'banned' for a full day. So much for free speech on Facebook.

Also, the famous author and scientist Richard Dawkins re-tweeted it. In other words, it went ‘viral.’

We’re now up to 35 ‘patreons’ who are donating $270 per month! Who knows...I might be finding myself drawing cartoons for a living, ha ha.

Ben

T-shirts

https://www.patreon.com/grrrgraphics?ty=h

We have a new offering on Patreon.  T-shirts made featuring the slogan, "It's Happening." When we get up to the $1,000 per month donation level, everyone who contributes $10 plus per month will get a free t-shirt in addition to the other benefits starting at that level.

OK, I know I'm drawing libertarian cartoons and not animé, and I'm not covered in tats. Nor do I have big black checkers in my earlobes or piercings...but I'm trying to make a difference and I want to draw the cartoons not seen in the mainstream media. So if you can help me overcome the constant trolling and my lack of income due to lack of commercial art jobs...you will be helping to spread the message of liberty.

I convey my sincere thanks to anyone contributing--even $1 helps a lot. Also, I listen to my Patreon members and will consider all cartoon ideas. I reply to your questions and comments. Your name and info is always kept private. Contrary to what they say on /pol, I will never 'dox' anyone.

Please join our 'anti-troll, anti-corruption army' at Patreon!

Thank you!!

Ben Garrison

https://www.patreon.com/grrrgraphics?ty=h

New cartoon: Fed Lifting Rates

UPDATE: Well, I was wrong. They did raise rates. And they made sure the stock market got its 'Santa Claus Rally.' G. Edward Griffin recently commented that he's surprised they can keep the con game going so long. I agree. 

Let's see how long they can go before they're forced to lower rates again.

-------

Can the Fed raise rates in the face of massive debt? I have long maintained that they can't. In fact, there has now been a bit of talk about negative rates. The Fed desperately needs higher rates right now--so they can lower them. The economic data are looking bad as usual, and spinning of that data to make 'em look better defies reality.

So...the Fed won't be raising rates anytime soon. Not without crashing the system. The can will be kicked down the road indefinitely. The stock market will continue to rise while gold and silver are held down. It's becoming a closed system. Those in charge of a printing press print it up for themselves for their derivative gambling and 'their' stock market. After all, they own almost all of it.

The money creation that benefits the central banker elite and Wall Street won't be going to Main Street or the average Joe. The average Joe will get poorer and angrier as he continues to struggle even harder to make ends meet. There will be more debt and the 'American Dream' will continue to fade into obscurity.

It's time to end the Fed and IRS and have a complete 'reset,' or 'jubilee.' Forgive all debt obligations and start again with sound money--gold and silver. Oh--and put some of the banker criminals in prison. --Ben Garrison

Washington Post and Anonymous

UPDATE 2: 'Anonymous has taken my name off their KKK list and tweeted that I should never have been on their in the first place. If that group wants to maintain any credibility at all, they'll resist the temptation to succumb to ridiculous trolling. This escapade was yet another minor tempest in a tiny teapot. Nothing to see here, move along. --BG


UPDATE: The story was updated and I appreciate the reporter taking the time and trouble to do that.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/11/05/anonymouss-operation-kkk-leak-targets-the-elusive-online-world-of-white-nationalism/
---------

I was mentioned in the Washington Post early today because of Anonymous' release of a 'KKK list.' The reporter contacted me and I expect the story to be updated and all the doubt about me having any association whatsoever with the KKK to be removed. Anons added my name to that list for chuckles. It was trolling, plain and simple. They wanted to fool the MSM and to a certain extent they succeeded.

Most people are starting to learn about the REAL Ben Garrison and the trolls' evil doppelgänger invention is losing power and mystique. Because after all, it's a lie that can't be sustained.

I'm gaining more and more FB and Twitter followers as well as Patreon members. I'm turning things around. Now I just need more commercial art assignments.

--Ben Garrison

Thank You, Patreon Members!

I continue to get more Patreon members and I'm humbled by their generosity. I thank them heartily and I plan on drawing more cartoons--some will be serious and some...well, I'll try to make them more funny, even though I'm not much of a comedian. On Patreon I will also listen to your input. That is, your ideas and your suggestions. My dream is to be a full-time cartoonist who exposes corruption and the faulty thinking that results from protracted exposure to political correctness.

https://www.patreon.com/grrrgraphics?ty=h

Here's the 2nd part of "Things You Will Never See." One thing for sure, we will continue to see strange things as long as the central bankers are running the show.

--Ben Garrison

Happy Halloween!

I drew this last night on Halloween night. It shows how Trump is at least shaking up establishment politics.

Things You'll Never See

Patreon members get to see all my cartoons first. This one was published yesterday. Shown here is one panel from my latest cartoon. It points out the fact that there's plenty of space in the Middle East, but for some reason Syrian Muslim refugees want to go into Europe. Why don't they go to a Muslim country such as Saudi Arabia instead, for example? And what would happen if European Christians tried to 'migrate' to Saudi Arabia?

Well, it wouldn't be pretty. Saudi Arabia outlaws all other religions. It's 'against the law' to have a Bible in that country. Women are also oppressed there and yet Hillary Clinton accepts donations from Saudis to the corrupt 'Clinton Foundation.' So much for her helping women.

The point of the cartoon is that many Muslims are eager to go to Europe and enjoy freedom as well as 'free stuff.' But will they assimilate into the culture? In many European countries, they don't. They'd rather impose their own culture on their hosts instead. They turn their host countries into Saudi Arabia, and if the native population gets upset, they're labeled 'nazis' or 'racists' and 'haters.' That's just not right. America has been a melting pot of all races and religions, but we have a common denominator and that's the Constitution--not Sharia Law. We also have the English language. We're not evil people because we want to keep the glue that holds us together.

Thank you to all my new Patreon members. If more of you would like to help me out so I can produce more cartoons, here is the link:

https://www.patreon.com/grrrgraphics?ty=h

Fed Cries Wolf--Again!

"Not yet," says the Fed.  "In December...maybe."  

  The U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, but downplayed global economic headwinds and left the door open to tightening monetary policy at its next meeting in December. The Fed's policy-setting committee also noted that U.S. job growth had slowed and the unemployment rate had held steady. Most Fed policymakers have said they expect to raise rates in 2015, but. . .   

  Place your bets, folks!  The Fed said at the end of 2014 that it would finally raise the Fed Funds rate from it's near zero percent rate sometime in 2015.  The committee dealing with the problem meets once more this year...in December. Don't be surprised to hear at the end of the December meeting, "We're almost there!  Really and truly.  But not quite.  Prospects for an interest irate increase are very strong and we'll undoubtedly raise the Fed Funds rate very early in 2016.  (Unless we don't!) 

http://www.wrisley.com

Breitbart Cartoon and Interview

A big THANK YOU to breitbart.com/tech for putting my cartoon on the front page. Good luck with your new endeavor!

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2015/10/27/welcome-to-breitbart-tech-a-new-vertical-covering-tech-gaming-and-internet-culture/

https://www.patreon.com/grrrgraphics?ty=h

Free Chicken

Here are a couple of new cartoons I drew recently. The first is Bernie Sanders as Colonel Sanders--an obvious joke, but Bernie is serious about bring socialism to America. That has great appeal to many who see the great wealth disparity in this country. The 1/10th of 1 percent continues to get fabulously richer while the rest of us get impoverished. That's not due to capitalism--it's due to CRONY, capitalism, or fascism. We are run by criminal gangs--starting with the central bankers that own a private printing press known as the Federal Reserve. Bernie should strike the root and call for a complete audit of the Fed and then we can end that vile institution. Instead, he blocked Ron Paul's audit the Fed bill. Come on, man. Bernie. Seriously. If you want to do something for the working man, end the Fed and the Gestapo IRS. -- Ben Garrison

I drew this cartoon for a college student in Mexico City. He and his friends want to promote the Libertarian party in Mexico as an alternative to the corrupt, PRI-controlled parties there.

Rest in Peace, Irwin Schiff

http://www.schiffradio.com/death-of-a-patriot/

A very brave patriot died on October 16, just two years away from getting out of prison. He was serving an unjust and very long sentence because he stood up against the Federal Income Tax, something all Americans should be doing. While some in the liberty movement spread fear while doing nothing and leading comfortable lives, Mr. Schiff actually stood up and DID something. He refused to pay obeisance to illegal actions by a corrupt Federal Reserve and IRS. 

We've seen many criminals receive pardons from disgraceful presidents such as Bill Clinton (Billionaire Marc Rich being an example), but they made very sure an old man would remain locked up to the very end because he dared challenge their corruption. 

Toward the end, Mr. Schiff suffered terminal cancer and shackles. No pardon given. Our government is a disgrace.

Rest in peace, Mr. Schiff. You will not be forgotten.

--Ben Garrison

Halloween is Coming!

Join my Patreon team and help me come up with an idea for a Halloween cartoon! Join for as little as $1 per month! Help me become able to draw more pro-Liberty cartoons that the mainstream media cartoonists won't draw. I listen to my members' input.

JOIN BEN GARRISON'S TEAM ON PATREON!

Thank you! --Ben Garrison

European Vacation

This cartoon is a farcical peek into the future of Europe, brought to you by your hosts, ISIS.

OK, before I get called a ‘hater,’ let me be clear I don’t hate Muslims. I realize there are over a billion of them living on the planet and most of them aren’t terrorists. However, it’s time to recognize that outfits such as ISIS are out to conquer the world. They believe in beheadings, oppressing women, blowing up ancient monuments such as the Temple of Baal, as well as taking over countries through mass immigration. They are completely intolerant of other religions.

My cartoon might be funny, but could it also become reality considering the continued mass migration of Muslims? The ones from Syria are young and male--70 percent are young men. Will they assimilate into European culture or change it as they see fit?

Many will live to see if this happens or not. The women may not see it clearly if they’re looking through a burqua.

Of course, ISIS was made possible by the traitors running America. 9-11 was a false flag that enabled Bush and Cheney to make up lies to go into Iraq. They took out Saddam, a bad guy but a stabilizing force. Now we have worse guys trying to retake Iraq. The global banker criminals running our country did the same for Libya to take out Gaddafi, another stabilizing force in the region.

Obama talks about 'terrorists' and yet supports ISIS to take down Syria. Putin is doing the job to solve the trouble our president helped create.

It's all about the dollar and middle eastern countries that show disrespect for the Fed dollar hegemony get taken out or destabilized. Our hijacked country no longer creates peace and democracy. It has created hell holes in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and for what? The dollar. It's always about the debt buck.

Too bad we didn't listen to Ron Paul.

--Ben Garrison

The Last Hand

UPDATE:
Thanks to Ray K., a master carpenter in Kalispell, I now have a beautiful barn wood frame that matches the ambience of my painting, "The Last Hand." The handmade frame is from a barn built on the Mary J. Ritchey Homestead, Kalispell, Montana. Mary, originally from Iowa, purchased the land on June 14, 1898 from Michael and Christina Grieg for $237. The barn was built between 1900 and 19020. It was torn down in 2013 and Ray bought the wood. Despite its rusticity, it is very high quality.

Here's my latest painting, which I recently completed. It's a 30x40 inch oil painting on linen. Our son, who is here for a few days, saw the work and commented on two of the figures who were eyeing each other. He suggested the title, "The Last Hand" because sometimes poker games in the Old West involved gunplay.

I plan on getting a barn wood frame put on it when I can. I already have three more paintings sketched out. Fine art is my number one passion, but commercial art pays the bills and I am concentrating on that this week.

I also plan on drawing more cartoons and I've received several good ides from one of our Patreon members. There's just not enough time in the day for me to do all I want to do--and there's more sand in the bottom of my hour glass than at the top. It's a good thing I have a good work ethic!

This painting also features a man I've seen a few times at a local watering hole. He's the man on the left. Yes, you CAN capture the essence of likenesses using a cubist style.

Eventually I plan on reverting my bengarrison.com site back to commercial art and I will resurrect westerncubism.com. I also have plans on finding another gallery next year. OR--if you galleries out there are smart--you'll come to me! After all, I've sold a lot of my work. This painting, once framed, will be offered for sale on my site.

--Ben Garrison

You can follow me on Facebook, too.

https://www.facebook.com/WesternCubism

Freedom House and the Independent Gazette

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/let-freedom-ring-project-open-house-and-launch--2/x/12321407#/

Why support some independent journalists who get fabulously rich by pitching snake oil such as penis juice when you can help support REAL JOURNALISTS trying to make a difference? 

The publisher of the Independent Gazette paid us a visit here in Montana last spring. He could have retired in comfort but instead he saw the spreading corruption as our liberties were being stripped from us. He decided to do something about it and started a newspaper. Newspapers have closed down throughout the country. Readership has been in a long-term decline. Not so with the Independent Gazette. They believe in old-fashioned muckraking journalism, for which the general public is hungry. Their small chain of newspapers quickly became a success. Readership has grown by leaps and bounds. I had the privilege of redesigning the eagle at the top of their paper. 

They will now have a centralized location--the Freedom House--and it will also host a radio station that will broadcast liberty. These people are the real McCoy. They HAVE made and ARE making a difference. They aren't merely talking about it. They are about action. They deserve our support. 

So go ahead and donate a few bucks and ring that Freedom Bell!

--Ben Garrison

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/let-freedom-ring-project-open-house-and-launch--2/x/12321407#/

One of my original cartoons will be featured in the lobby of the Freedom House. I'm honored!

Patreon for GrrrGraphics

Hello everyone,

I am now on Patreon and I invite you to take a look. I will draw the cartoons that the MSM won't draw. Anti-Federal Reserve cartoons. Anti-New World Order cartoons. Anti-gun confiscation cartoons. Anti-crony capitalism cartoons. Pro-freedom and liberty cartoons.

I have also been selling some of my original cartoons, and to my biggest fan (you know who you are) who has been buying them--a big THANK YOU . Every original cartoon offered on eBay has sold.

We are on Patreon in order to develop a stronger internet voice and fanbase.  We intend to reclaim our true Internet identity and become louder than any troll voice.  Our fanbase on social media continues to grow daily and we’ve received a great response. However, it takes time to draw the cartoons and encouragement alone doesn’t pay the bills. It requires money to host and maintain a website as well as purchase computer equipment and art supplies.

Expanding and connecting with our growing fan base in a creative and entertaining way is our goal on Patreon. We plan on offering rewards and a unique interaction with those who are willing to support us. This may include offering sketches and original cartoons, signed prints and special deals on souvenir items. One of our long-term goals is offering a ‘coffee table’ book of cartoons.  Memberships are monthly, you can change to a higher or lower level at anytime! 

We welcome your suggestions, your ideas and your support

--Ben and Tina Garrison

We are selling signed high-quality prints as well as original cartoons. So far, we've had a great response!

http://www.ebay.com/usr/grrrgraphicscartoons

https://www.patreon.com/grrrgraphics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NBCr_csTls

http://www.bengarrison.com

Tears of a Clown

John Boehner is known not just for his ridiculous, deep-orange suntans or his inability to restrain his tears, but also as a ‘consensus builder.’ Some Republicans might interpret that as an Obama butt kisser. Regardless, he’ll be resigning from Congress around Halloween. Many Republicans will say ‘good riddance.’ Now Boehner can enjoy a lucrative retirement while playing on the golf course with Obama.

Boehner epitomized 'consensus.' The MSM tells us that's a 'good thing.' That is, both parties working together to strip away our liberty while impoverishing the middle class with lies, open borders, 'free trade' (shipping jobs overseas). Both parties clamped down on dissent by bringing about a police state and an atmosphere of 'political correctness.' You don't like what's going on? You don't like big government getting bigger? You're labeled 'stupid.' You're labeled a 'racist.' You're labeled an 'extremist.' Nowadays just supporting the Constitution can get you labeled a 'Constitutionalist,' which is meant to be disparaging!

Meanwhile, both parties work together to increase the advantage of the globalist banksters while the rest of us become debt slaves. 

Boehner will retire with a comfy pension and plenty of perks. He'll be laughing--not crying--all the way to the bank.

Petrenko Solves the Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 Puzzle

Shostakovich's masterpiece, Symphony No. 4, was suppressed as being 'formalist.' It would not be heard in the Soviet Union for nearly 30 years. The Soviet authorities forced Dimitri to deliver something more simple and 'understandable.' He delivered. His 5th is perhaps his most popular symphony and it was instantly recognized as a great work. During its premiere, the audience was touched to the point of tears by the third movement--an elegy to the populace suffering under Stalin's tyranny. People 'got it.' The ending, however, is commonly seen as the 'weak link.' It didn't seem to match the rest of the work's seriousness. The ending in particular was often panned by critics, but in reality Shostakovich made it loud and simple on purpose. He was, after all, under orders. The string section's repeating note at the end seemed to say, "There. Is this simple enough for you?" 



The problem with the ending has now been resolved by Petrenko. He is a great conductor and he realized that, by slowing the tempo down considerably, it would make the ending match the rest of the symphony. It is now something monumental and profound. I only wish Shostakovich himself could hear what Petrenko has done. I'm sure the composer would be very pleased, indeed. Bravo, Petrenko. Bravo!

Info Graphic: A Trio of Trolls

It has been over five years since I began penning anti-Federal Reserve cartoons in my spare time. I started drawing them in 2009 and almost immediately I was attacked by Internet trolls. At first I was bewildered and perplexed. I knew nothing about trolling or why they would do such a thing. Many of my friends and family thought I should simply ignore them.

That works in some cases, but when trolling ramps up to libel and criminal harassment...well, that can be difficult to ignore. Just ask Kathy Sierra when she started dealing with trolls. The ringleader was a young man named 'Weev' who mercilessly hounded her so much that she decided to drop off the Internet completely. You can read her story in her own words here:

http://www.wired.com/2014/10/trolls-will-always-win/

Her story was very familiar to me and it DOES seem like the trolls always win. But then, one of them pushed things too far and he was arrested. I was able to obtain justice--even if indirectly. Joshua Goldberg began trolling at the age of 12 and he kept ramping up his activities until he crossed the line--he was promoting murder for laughs. For some reason the young man had a fascination with Australia and many of his aliases were Australian. This even threw off a cyber investigator who tried to help me by tracking down the identities of the trolls.

I can boil the trolling down to three main attackers. One of them is now in jail. It doesn't take a lot of trolls to ruin one's reputation and a few can wreak a lot of damage. My commercial art business has been hurt. I had to leave my art gallery because trolls began attacking the owner. Lawyers were not interested in my case due to the difficulty of prosecuting online libel. Just because justice can't be had, the trolls think what they're doing is 'right' and 'free.' Nope--it's still criminal to change my work into anti-Semitism and racism and then claim I drew them while spreading them around the Web. Copyrights do have meaning and my work is owned by me. It's satire, you say? Wrong. Satire would be to draw your OWN cartoons in my style to mock my work.

One of the lawyers suggested I should go on a PR campaign and tell my story. I've done that. I even wrote a book. I gave away more copies than I have sold. I have also been trying to stay afloat by selling originals of my cartoons. I've sold them all so far (with special thanks to one collector who loves them--you know who you are!)

Drawing political cartoons without editorial constraints is a good example of engaging in free speech. I drew cartoons that mainstream media cartoonists wouldn't draw. I had to be shut up. Whether or not the trolling was first instigated by government provocateurs or by chuckleheads doesn't matter. The only way to get out of this mess is to keep drawing them until my REAL cartoons begin to drown out the ones defaced by trolls. It would be great if I could draw them full time, but that requires some sort of support. It's why I signed up for Patreon. If only a few thousand supporters would pledge $1 a month, I could draw cartoons full time. That's a dream, but I had to try.

https://www.patreon.com/grrrgraphics

To my first three supporters, my hearty thanks and I will do my best to make it worthwhile.

Meanwhile, here is an info graphic that shows my three main tormentors and how they are all interconnected. When it comes to Internet trolls, it's a small world.

Rate Hike: Crying Wolf

Lew Rockwell writes,

 "Once again the Fed’s bite has failed to live up to its bark. Despite months of expectations that it would finally raise rates for the first time since 2006, the Fed continued to sit on its hands while pointing to some unspecified date in the future when all the economic and financial stars will align in a way that makes a 25 basis point increase appropriate. Am I the only one getting bored by the repetition?”

 https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/09/peter-schiff/the-weak-and-utterly-dependent-economy/

No, Lew, you aren’t the only one. I’ve been following their farce for quite a while. The Fed keeps barking about a rate hike wolf, but that’s all it is—barking. If the rate hike cycle DID return, the wolf would blow down the Fed pigs' house of straw. There’s simply way too much debt built up and rising rates would make that debt worse. It would crash the economy still further.

Savers are desperate to get some kind of return on their money. They get a fraction of a percentage while at the same banks gouge people with an average of 18 percent on their credit cards. The banks create money out of thin air due to fractional reserve banking and the people get the shaft. And before you tell me it’s the peoples’ fault for getting in credit card debt to start with, let me say many can’t find a job and if they can it’s part time and/or close to minimum wage. The under 5% employment the Fed brags about? More smoke and mirrors and data distortion. In other words, they’re lying. The economy is not humming along, or they would have raised interest rates years ago.

A record number of years at zero interest rates has not helped the economy. It has only helped the the super rich get more rich. Besides, if things are so rosy as the Fed tells us, why the perpetual ‘emergency’ zero rate position? The Fed continues to lie about economic data to help prop up their market and to pretend they’re ‘in control.’ They’re losing control and they have no more ammo. They have no leverage. They no longer have any credibility. They can’t lower rates without raising them first. They’re pushing on a string. They’re kicking a can down the road. They want to keep their corrupt casino game going for as long as possible. It’s a game that benefits an elite at the top while impoverishing the middle class.

 Yellen even talked about sparking inflation. This is clearly against the Federal Reserve Act and when the Fed says its inflation goal is 2 percent annually they’re really saying, “If you save $10,000 today, we want it to be worth $9,800 at the end of the year. The missing $200 is theft. Quoting Karl Deninger, "It is a giant middle finger erected toward every person in this nation and has stolen trillions of dollars of your, my, and everyone else's money over the last 100 years.” 

 http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=230679

The Fed’s mandate is to keep money stable. Instead, since the Fed got established just over 100 years ago, they devalued the dollar 98%. They installed a gestapo-IRS to intimidate Americans. The IRS is the real wolf in this situation. The Fed also created booms and busts instead of preventing them. The Fed is an abject failure.

 It’s time to end the destructive sham known as the Federal Reserve along with the pernicious IRS. Return the oversight of money to Congress where it belongs. —Ben Garrison

Joshua Goldberg, Glue-Sniffing Troll ARRESTED

UPDATE: Joshua Goldberg is confirmed as being European88, a troll who created hate screed boxes with my face and name on them. This garbage still abounds on Google searches. He also went by 'maymayposter' and Michael Slay, and he tricked the master troll, Andrew Anglin. Goldberg wrote essays for The Daily Stormer under the name of Slay. Andrew Anglin supposedly hates Jews, but he continues to harbor defamation against me including many disgusting meme images created by Goldberg. TAKE THAT LIBEL DOWN, ANDREW!

Goldberg was also many other sock puppets, both male and female. Goldberg apparently enjoyed plenty of lulz from his trolling, which became so extreme that he was toying with murder. Now he can laugh his way straight into prison!

UPDATE 2: Joshua Goldberg was also behind the "Goldman Sachs Paper Rain" series of pages on Facebook during 2014. Many iterations were removed, but he had a lot of followers and the exact same tone of voice he used for European88. That is, very arrogant, profane and racist. He attacked me regularly on the page and pushed FB's community standards envelope. When his page got removed, he would simply start another one with a variant title such as "Goldman Sachs Paper Tornado." He would often 'tease' the moderators by posting pornography and extremely violent content and then remove the content within an hour or two. Now that he's been arrested, the attacks on me by 4chan 'anons' have also greatly diminished. He was a 1-man anonymous army who attacked me as often as he could. Why? Because I don't think hate speech belongs on Facebook. By 'hate speech,' I mean calling for the murder of human beings, which was routine for Goldberg.

Here the keyboard coward twists the truth in order to get 4chan to attack me. He succeeded. (I never 'backtraced' anyone on 4chan).

----------

My reaction upon hearing news of Joshua Goldberg's arrest:

I recognized his name. I especially recognized his Facebook icon because he was a troll that repeatedly attacked my wife Tina and me on our Facebook and Twitter pages. He routinely accused me of being anti-semitic, a 'Nazi,' a 'racist' and so forth. We saved evidence of this and I'm still investigating whether or not he is also the despicable troll who calls himself 'European88.' My cyber investigator found that European88 was based in New Zealand or Australia. He was either a retired real estate lawyer venting his racism, or it could have been his son doing the mischief. That could all be completely wrong. Goldberg is a young punk from Florida who carried his trolling too far. I hope you get what you deserve, Joshua! Take a good whiff of prison!

I'll continue my investigation. I'm also going to update my ebook...probably sometime next month. This will be included.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/unmasking-a-troll-aussie-jihadist-australi-witness-a-20yearold-american-nerd-20150909-gjil47.html

http://www.news4jax.com/news/accused-orange-park-terrorists-troubled-past/35225780

https://8ch.net/pol/res/3258486.html#3265210

Many on 4chan and 8chan have claimed that it was a Jewish troll who began defacing my cartoons and libeling me. I have no way of proving that, but in this case they may have been right. Sorry, but I'm not about to hate 'Jews,' merely because one of them was a pathetic twerp and punk troll. 

Apparently this bag filled with scum also used my name while setting up his myriad accounts to stir up shit and get others to attempt bombings and murder for him.

Here's Joshua Goldberg attacking me because of rense.com. Jeff Rense was the first 'big name' site to publish one of my cartoons. I admire Rense's determination to release news on Fukushima when other MSM 'journalists' ignore it altogether. I don't agree with Rense's anti-Zionism. Goldberg used the instance to defame me. Notice he posted this on the Goldman Sachs Paper Rain page. At that time, I was under ruthless attack by the entity behind this page--and I repeatedly filed claim forms with Facebook to get such material removed.

This is the same black background used by European88 on his vitriolic hate screeds to defame me.

Here the little bastard used my name to set up accounts

The tissue of lies runs deep. While pretending to be a white supremacist Australian, he also published articles on 'The Daily Stormer' and was part of Andrew Anglin's 'troll army.' He went by the handles of European88 and 'maymayposter' on Reddit. He used both of his handles to attack me repeatedly. His modus operandi was to also steal names and photos and create Facebook and Twitter pages/accounts to defame his targets. One troll can do a lot of damage and this young cretin made it his life's mission to stir up shit. Apparently as he aged and continue to 'get away' with it, he decided to up the ante and instigate terrorism and murder.

I penned an imaginary troll when I drew this cartoon. As it turned out, Joshua Goldberg was one of my biggest tormentors and he had hair just like the troll in the cartoon.

Quinn Norton wrote a short essay in which she hinted at worse things to come from Internet trolling and their identity fraud. In the case of Joshua Goldberg, she was right. He took sadistic pleasure in the creation of arson fires on the Internet. He stoked fires. He liked to watch things burn. He carried his trolling to such an extreme that he began encouraging murder. 

----

Social media generates these doppelgängers, memes are constructed of these doppelgängers. Increasingly they have a network life without us, looking like us, being talked to (and sometimes replying) as us. Some are better than we are, and some are Zyklon Ben. Some are trapped, and some slowly trap us — signaling terrible things, just as doppelgängers always did. Figuring out how to manage these rogue instantiations of our identities could be one of the more difficult tasks of 21st century life. When they are constructed by bureaucracies, like innocent victims of the no-fly list and cases of terrorist mistaken identity, they can be even worse and more dangerous than Zyklon Ben. --Quinn Norton

https://medium.com/@quinnnorton/4chan-tells-is-very-little-about-ben-garrison-but-it-tells-us-a-lot-about-the-net-bf3b75ccbc54

Here is Goldberg on our banned list. "Moon Metropolis" was just one of his many handles.

I'm now updating my book, 'Rogue Cartoonist,' since I know know the true identity of one my main tormentors, European88.

The Trump Tango

Trump continues to increase his commanding lead in the polls. There are a variety of reasons for this. For one thing, he’s not politically correct. I suspect most Americans, like me, are becoming very tired of being called ‘racist’ merely because we don’t want to go along with the New World Order. That phrase was first voiced by the first George H. W. Bush. To be sure, Trump comes from the 1 percent, but he’s not controlled by them. Trump seems to care about bringing back jobs and self-respect to the middle class. Will he do that? Can he do that? It remains to be seen.

Most Americans are sick of the Bushes. We're sick of the Clintons. We do not want dynasties. America is not set up to be run by royal families. We are not supposed to be a monarchy. We are tired of politicians who speak from a teleprompter. We are tired of politicians who are afraid to debate without first running issues through focus groups. We are tired of the fake liars who say one thing then do the opposite. We are tired of the phony baloney politicians who are run by lobbyists, special interests and the big-moneyed oligarchs who really run the show. Trump, for all his many flaws, is genuine. He does not dance around issues; he wants to solve them. Americans are saying, “Let’s face the music and dance.” They want to do the Trump Tango. —Ben Garrison

Enjoy Ben's cartoon takes on current events? ?  Please share on twitter and Facebook. If you would like to become a patron of Ben's cartoons and GrrrGraphics, please check out our new Patreon page, donate as little as a dollar a month and help keep cartoons rolling! Thank you!   GrrrGraphics on Patreon.com

https://www.patreon.com/grrrgraphics

Take 'er down, Wikipedia

UPDATE: PAGE HAS BEEN REMOVED. KEEP ME SALTY, WIKIPEDIA! 

I was surprised to see that I had a page on Wikipedia and for the record, I had nothing to do with it. It showed up out of the blue yesterday. It won't last. I'm not 'notable.' I don't care if Wikipedia considers me notable or not. I did not start drawing cartoons for fame or fortune. I drew them because I was disturbed by the corruption I was seeing. It was my duty as U.S. citizen to speak out against it. If I had to do it all over again, I'd be anonymous. I'm not a public figure. So take 'er down, Wikipedia.


Ben Garrison, the unknown cartoonist.

Wikipedia:

• Delete and Salt Not enough coverage in independent, reliable sources to verify or sustian article. Fails general notability guidelines, WP:NAUTHOR. Article has been recreated after being deleted as an Attack page and serious BLP violations are continuing per [1] Jbh^Talk 13:41, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

Yeah, delete and salt me already. LOL

http://www.naturalnews.com/051057_Wikipedia_blackmail_racket_corporate_propaganda.html

(NaturalNews) Natural News has long documented the scandal, debauchery and bogusness surrounding the "online encyclopedia" known as Wikipedia – and each time we've been proven correct that the media giant is little more than a corrupt operation that has always attempted to downplay or hide its seedy, shady side.


Learn more:  http://www.naturalnews.com/051057_Wikipedia_blackmail_racket_corporate_propaganda.html#ixzz3kn9Xt1v4

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), for example, was exposed by BBC News back in 2007 for tampering with content posted on the site. A tool known as "Wikipedia Scanner," which was hailed as being capable of identifying some of Wikipedia's user editors, revealed the CIA as an active manipulator of sensitive information. The U.S. military has also been caught editing tens of thousands of Wikipedia entries to suit its own interests.

"The sad truth about the Internet is that what started as a liberating multiplicity of informational sources has dwindled to a handful of knowledge-monopolies with Google and Wikipedia leading the pack," writes Micah White for Adbusters.org in an unrelated piece. "Wikipedia is a particularly unreliable source of knowledge and yet, because of a rumored secret-deal with Google, it ranks highly on many searches."

Learn more:  http://www.naturalnews.com/041406_Wikipedia_propaganda_disinformation.html#ixzz3knrFw8cP

Citizen Cattle

I sometimes get positive email from people with good ideas for cartoons. Surprisingly, all of the ideas have been good. I haven't been able to draw them all, but I have thought about them. The idea for this cartoon came from a certain Alex L. I realized it was a good idea worth developing and so I did. 

The more we let government decide things for us, the more we become their cattle. We aren't supposed to question government. After all, they have our best interests at heart, right? We fear our militarized police and they treat us like animals, not citizens. The government says we don't need to know if we're eating GMO foods. We don't need to worry about fluoride in our tap water. A little bit of rat poison can't hurt us, right? We don't need to worry about the falsehoods being told to us by mainstream media. We are burdened with debt (especially college kids) and debt slave money is designed to shackle us. We all become poor and on the dole. It's just big government taking care of us, right?

A few years ago I drew a cartoon that featured forced inoculations and I was laughed at. But now it has become a law in California and some presidential candidates such as Ben Carson are openly espousing it. It's inoculation by force. It's inoculation by the point of a gun. Do citizens no longer have a choice about what they eat and drink? Don't we have control of our own bodies? Don't we have say? Well, we'd better start speaking out against these things before the government decides we are ready to be sent to one of their slaughterhouses. --Ben Garrison

http://www.naturalnews.com/050994_Alzheimers_vaccines_mercury_exposure.html#