Bearman Cartoons Charity Challenge 2012

Yes it is that time of year once again.  The Bearman Cartoons Charity Challenge, where you do stuff and I donate money to worthy charities.  I have been extremely fortunate that both my wife and I are gainfully employed during this tough economic times so I am upping the ante this year.

This is the Fourth Year I have done this so far donating $1656 ($336 in 2009, $630 in 2010, $690 in 2011) and it will run until the end of May.

Many of you know that I do this challenge each year to raise awareness of my blog while giving money to charities who need it.  Historically, this has been the majority of my advertising budget for the year so if you enjoy Bearman Cartoons, please help by spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, etc and/or thumbing up on StumbleUpon or Reddit.

As in previous years, the first $500 raised will once again go to the Cincinnati FreeStore Foodbank. This charity does great things not only to feed those in need but also to help families get back on their feet in other ways.   Anything donated above $500 to the max $1000 will go to support the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati.  I have a relative with Down Syndrome and this organization does an incredible job working with the families of those afflicted.

But that is not all.  Some of you know I donate 100% of my commissions directly to Crayons to Computers.  It is a free store for teachers allowing them to stock up on school and art supplies for their students/classrooms.  So I am going to match dollar for dollar anything you donate to Crayons to Computers up to a max $500.  When donating just make it in Honor of Bearman Cartoons and they will know how to notify me.

I will donate the indicated amount for each thing that you do in the month of May:

• $10 – For any cartoonists who uses ME in a cartoon in their strip.  Use “BEARMAN” somewhere in the toon.  Maybe it’s a character’s name, a name on a bar sign in the background, integrating my green haired gravatar into a background character or even loosely as “Check out that Bear, man!”  Be sure to link back to this post so I know to include you in my tally.   I know some of you work with a buffer so if you plan to post after May just contact me and let me know and I will add it to the list.
• $5 – Add http://beartoons.com to your blog roll (for those who don’t already have it)
• $5 – Add a Bearman Cartoons Banner Ad (found here) on your site or if you already have one upgrade to a larger size.  Link it to http://beartoons.com
• $10 – Blog about my challenge to your readers and link back to this entry in your post – http://beartoons.com/2012/04/29/bearman-cartoons-charity-challenge-2012
• $5 – Send a picture of yourself wearing a t-shirt from our shop OR send a picture that showcases that you are a BEARMANiac. Photos will be showcased in weekly updates and also appear ongoing in the BEARMANia section.    See below for my favorite fan pic from Lynn.
• $1 – Circle/Follow me on Google Plus – http://googleplus.beartoons.com.   Currently I have 13,218 followers.

If you add me to your blog roll, add/upgrade your banner, include this challenge in a post, please indicate in the comments. I’ll post a weekly update of the money raised and who did what to raise the money with links back to your site if applicable.

Thanks for your continued support.

Richie Rich and the 99%

Story by Dan Soto.  Another ToonMZ parody exclusive.  What happens when Richie Rich gets older and fat?  Probably this.

Capitol Hill
Washington, DC

At the behest of key Republican Senators, Richie Rich, the world’s richest kid, flew to Capitol Hill yesterday to testify before the Senate on behalf of the 1%. With his best friend, his dog, Dollar, sitting faithfully beside him, Richie adamantly defended the 1%.

“I made my money the old fashioned way” he exclaimed in his unmistakable high-pitched voice. “I inherited it!” He went on to explain, “These 99%-ers have no idea how hard it was on me growing up with the unlimited amount of money I had at my disposal. I’ve earned the right to be proud of my 1% status. That’s something you 99%-ers will never, ever understand. Right, dollar?”

After the Senate hearing, Richie flew all Senators and staff members to Disney World in Paris for fun, games and dinner with Mickey and Minnie.

Conservatives and Romney

With today’s editorial cartoon, I have no doubts that a conservative would never vote for Obama to spite Romney.  However it is true that many conservative groups are calling on him to move to the right or lose their support.  So isn’t that really the same thing?  Tony Perkins (no not the actor), of the conservative group Family Research Council said this:  “And so if the party is moving in a different direction, we are not going there.  The only reason there was an alignment with Rick Santorum from our constituency is because Rick embraced the ideas, the policies and the principles that our organization and our constituency believes in…If they don’t, they’re not going to get the unbridled enthusiastic support that Rick Santorum enjoys.”

So maybe they don’t vote for Obama but more likely just don’t vote.  If you have choice between supporting a guy who agrees with 50% of your beliefs versus one that supports 0% (obvious exaggeration), wouldn’t the logical thing to do is try to get something out of it?  Or do you enjoy bitching about the country for another 4 years?  I guess I will never understand the mindset of the far left/right.

 

On a different but not necessarily lighter note, I did a caricature tribute to Dick Clark this week.  New Years Eve won’t be the same without you (and please no Mayan jokes…I have heard them in every form the last week. haha)

Bamm Bamm Rubble Shot by Police

Story by Dan Soto.  Illustration by Bearman

Local residents in the small town of Bedrock are in an uproar over the shooting of Bamm Bamm Rubble. Bamm Bamm, the adopted son of Barney and Betty Rubble, was shot by Sgt. Boulder of Bedrock while peacefully walking towards the policeman and holding nothing more menacing than a turkey leg.

“It was cold blooded murder” cried Betty Rubble who lost her only son. “All Bamm Bamm was doing was was trying to offer Sgt. Boulder a bite from his turkey leg!”.

“I don’t quite understand this.” explained his father, Barney. “It’s not like he had a bag of candy or soda in his hand. For crying out loud, it was just a turkey leg!”

Local authorities have given the following statement regarding the shooting.

“This morning at 7:31 AM, Bedrock Standard Time, Sgt. Boulder was being approached by Bamm Bamm Rubble with what appeared to be a significant sized weapon. Sgt. Boulder attempted to warn Mr. Rubble to freeze but to no avail. Mr. Rubble continued in a threatening manner towards Sgt. Boulder while yelling the words “Bam Bam” in defiance of the officer’s direct order to freeze. As Mr. Rubble continued forward, Sgt. Boulder, who has been on our force with stellar credentials for 24 years, drew his weapon and, once again, ordered Mr. Rubble to freeze. Mr. Rubble defiantly disregarded this order and continued to advance toward Sgt. Boulder which left him with no choice. Sgt. Boulder has been questioned and released and is found to have complied completely within our code of ethics. There are no plans for further investigation at this point”

“Prehistoric profiling. This is nothing less than prehistoric profiling and neither I, nor Wilma will stand for this”, said Fred Flinstone, the Rubbles’ neighbor.

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