Attribution: LABOR DAY BEFORE AND AFTER by Graeme MacKay

[Graeme MacKay born in Ontario, Canada, his worked as staff editorial cartoonist for The Hamilton Spectator since 1997, earning multiple national awards and nominations, including citations from the United Nations and the Association of Canadian Cartoonists.]

Attribution: by Bill Day

Bill Day is a two-time winner of the RFK Journalism Award in Cartooning, and his cartoons are syndicated internationally by Cagle Cartoons. He is currently the editorial cartoonist for FloridaPolitics.com

Quartet in A major, op2 by Richard Strauss

Composed by Strauss, early in his career, when he was 18. Amazing especially when I think of what I was doing at 18

From some research

While Strauss did not, in later life, devote much time to chamber music, in his earlier years he tried his hands at several different types of chamber works composing a string quartet, two piano trios, a piano quartet and several instrumental sonatas.

During his early years, Strauss took Schumann and Mendelssohn as his models. The String Quartet, which dates from 1882, is typical of his style at this time. Later, of course, he came under the influence of the new tonalities of Liszt, Berlioz and Wagner. Although the Quartet is the work of an 18 year old, knowledgeable critics have never considered it a juvenile work. Wilhelm Altmann, the Dean of Chamber Music Critics, writes, “There are so many pleasing features and it is so delightful to play, and so full of sound musicianship, that it will always be sure of a welcome among players and listeners.” Link

Enjoy, Jack

“Slop the hogs” is a rural, agricultural idiom that literally refers to feeding leftover food waste — called slop — to pigs.

Sixty Days to the Midterms…

Labor Day weekend marks the campaign kickoff. Budgets are set, and ad time is purchased. Operations wind down chasing the mythical “persuadable” middle to focus on identifying their actual supporters for GOTV (Get-Out-The-Vote) drives.

This year, Democrats face a special, exhausting challenge: educating millions of voters who are currently under siege by Republican suppression efforts. It is no longer just about getting out the vote; it is about giving voters a survival guide to actually cast a ballot under fire.

What are the most blatant suppression tactics you are seeing in your state, and how are local groups fighting back? Drop your frontline reports in comments throughout the campaign.

No hedging. No pundit fog. Just your best prediction. (Add independents to the party where you expect them to caucus).

Prediction Resources:

• Sabato’s Crystal Ball
• The Cook Political Report
• Inside Elections

DARK MONEY DISPLACING DEMOCRACY

Attribution: Paul Duginski, CagleCartoons.com

Paul Duginski has spent a half-century in journalism, including 27-1/2 years at the Los Angeles Times, and 13 years at the Sacramento Bee. His cartoons have appeared in the L.A. Times, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the San Jose Mercury News, the San Francisco Examiner and the McClatchy Bee newspapers in California, among other places. He was an award-winning graphics journalist at the L.A. Times.