Raymond Arotin

I like to draw and read. Usually not at the same time.

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

LOL... It's just a doll. Just kick it or sit on it.
#Svengoolie

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

Is that Gracie Allen?
#Svengoolie

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

How is he ugly? Most days I struggle to look as good as an unshaven Boris Karloff.
#Svengoolie

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

Head Gorilla = Edgar Allen... after forty seven beers.
#Svengoolie

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

Hey, you got Technicolor in my black and white movie!! Boo! (Switched from Fiend to Godzilla). #Svengoolie

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

Ok, so THAT'S the look Imp should have 24/7. #Svengoolie

[vivi @mooncatvivi]

anyone else really exhausted every single day no matter how much sleep they get no matter how many vitamins and minerals they take no matter how much they try to get sun and work out no matter how much the try and try and try

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

@sym4dvl All of my life I never knew what he was saying until now.

[Peter W. Kruger @pwk]

My dear American friends, let me give you the clear picture of what’s really going on with Europe now.

For the last 80 years, Western European public opinion was essentially split in two. On one side, about half of us truly hated you: the hard Marxist-lefties, who, living in the Soviet paradise delusion, viewed you as the embodiment of imperialist capitalism; the extreme-right who resented you for defeating them and for kicking them out of power back in 1945.

But, on the other side, mostly in the center (but not only), you had the rest of Western European public opinion that was enormously grateful for what you had done during World War 2 and after: for freeing Europe of nazi-fascist oppression, and even more for protecting us against the Soviet threat.

I was part of the latter group and, boy, did we love you. We loved your pop culture, your consumer products, your innovation, the spirit of freedom, originality, and optimism that came from America. We defended you against our own cynics. And guess what? We were also among the loudest critics of Europe, accusing it of being too complacent, reliant on others, bogged down by bureaucracy, and failing to ensure its own security and freedoms. (Not that your protection didn’t come with massive returns for you in terms of market-access and the trillions of US treasuries that we bought to prop up your ridiculously gigantic public debt...).

Here is the problem now. Over the past few years, and especially since you brought Mr Brain-Rot MAGA Uber-Moron in Command back to the White House, not to mention the whole gang of globally corrupt and Russian-fed tech-broligarcs from Silicon Valley, you’ve managed to really hard piss off even that part of Western public opinion that loved you and respected you.

Yeah, you may think that now you’ve made new friends in Europe. But don’t be fooled by the apparent Euro ultra-right enthusiasm for Trump, from the likes of Orban, Fico, Salvini etc.. They see you as instrumental in tearing down the EU edifice, but deep down, believe me, they hate you more than even the most radical euro-communist. Their ideology is pure "Blood and Soil." They will never forgive you for what you did to them 80 years ago (just as Putin will never forgive you for what you did to the Soviet Union 40 years ago). Plus, as true suprematist-racists, they believe that no society is more culturally and racially corrupt than the USA with all its racial and ethnic diversity. You’re the epitome of rot to them. They are using you to dismantle the European Union. Once that is done, you will find that their nationalism excludes you just as fiercely as it excludes everyone else. And good luck with selling them your junk food and products (you have no freaking idea how protectionist, conservative, and reactionary they are). You’ll discover it soon.

And don’t get me even started with Central-Eastern Europeans. Everyone loved you in Poland, Romania, the Baltics, etc. (even the communists, though they could never say so publicly). They know the cost of occupation. But they also know all too well the price of Western backstabbing (as when they were abandoned to Stalin by Roosevelt & co.). Now that you’ve decided to leave them totally exposed to resurgent Russian genocidal imperialism, you are converting their love into a profound sense of betrayal.

Though, be reassured. No matter how difficult the situation may be for us, Europe is going nowhere. We’ve been here for the last 5000 years, since the first Indo-European nomads started roaming west from the steppe plains (yes, modern day Ukraine…). We survived multiple civilization collapses, plagues, invasions, religious civil wars, the wildest revolutions, an almost continuous state of war, including inflicting on ourselves the most devastating World Wars of all time. There's absolutely no place on earth that has gone through so much history as Europe has (forget the Sumerians and Egyptian pyramids). And yet, we’re still here. Going nowhere. It may take time (and a lot of suffering), but we’ll adapt also to your betrayal.

In the meantime, good luck dealing with the New Imperial Global Multipolar Order that your current leadership is so enthusiastically willing to negotiate with the Putins, Modis, and Xi Jinpings of the world (on the spoils of “weak” Europe). You have no idea. As a society, you are even more fractured, polarized and weaker than Europe is. Putin, Modi, and Xi Jinping are just going to eat you up for breakfast.

Oh, yeah. In the darkest moments, don’t come whining over the Atlantic. No matter what, no one trusts you anymore here. We may still help you, but it won't come free ad it will require a lot of forgiveness. After all, that’s the fate reserved to all traitors.

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

Truth.

[Keira Connolly @keira_con]

Wise words

“My name’s Frank. I’m 64, a retired electrician.
Forty-two years I spent running wires through houses, fixing breakers, making sure people had light in their kitchens and heat in their winters. Never once did anyone ask me where I went to college. Mostly, they just wanted to know if I could get the power back on before their ice cream melted.

Last May, I was at my granddaughter Emily’s school career day. You know the drill — doctors, lawyers, a software guy in a slick suit talking about “scaling startups.” I was the only one there with a tool belt and work boots.

When it was my turn, I told the kids, “I don’t have a degree. I’ve never sat in a lecture hall. But I’ve wired schools, hospitals, and your principal’s house. And when the hospital generator failed during a snowstorm in ’98, I was the one in the basement with a flashlight, keeping the lights on for newborn babies upstairs.”

The kids leaned forward. They had questions — real ones. “How do you fix stuff in the dark?” “Do you make a lot of money?” “Do you ever get zapped?” (Yes, once, and it’ll curl your hair.)

When the bell rang, one boy hung back. Small kid, freckles, hoodie too big for him. He mumbled, “My uncle’s a plumber. People laugh at him ’cause he didn’t finish high school. But… he’s the only one in the family who can fix anything.”

I looked that boy in the eye and said, “Kid, your uncle’s a hero. When your toilet overflows at midnight, Harvard ain’t sending anyone. A plumber is.”

Here’s the thing nobody told me when I was young — the world doesn’t run without tradespeople. You can have all the engineers you want, but if nobody builds the house, wires the power, or lays the pipes, those blueprints just sit in a drawer.

We’ve made it sound like trades are what you do if you can’t go to college, instead of a path you choose because you like working with your hands, solving problems, and seeing your work stand solid for decades.

Four years after high school, some kids walk away with diplomas. Others walk away with zero debt, a union card, and a skill they can take anywhere in the world. And guess what? When your furnace dies in January, it’s not the diploma that saves you.

A few weeks ago, that same freckled kid’s mom stopped me at the grocery store. She said, “You probably don’t remember, but you told my son trades are important. He’s shadowing his uncle this summer. First time I’ve seen him excited about anything in years.”

That’s the part we forget — for some kids, knowing their path is respected changes everything. It’s not about “just” fixing wires or pipes. It’s about pride. Purpose. The kind that sticks with you long after the job’s done.

So next time you meet a teenager, don’t just ask, “Where are you going to college?” Ask, “What’s your plan?” And if they say, “I’m learning to weld,” or “I’m starting an apprenticeship,” smile big and say, “That’s fantastic. We’re going to need you.”

Because we will. More than ever. And when the lights go out, you’ll be glad they showed up.”

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

I was working on my sketch while watching Young Frankenstein. #svengoolie

[Prez @PrezLives2022]

The Hyundai plant was going to provide 8500 jobs to Georgians now multiply that 22 other factories they were going to build that they have now stopped.

One woman cost this country 200,000 good paying jobs by calling ICE. South Korea planned to invest 350 billion dollars into this country and most likely not do so now after Trumps ICE brigade left hundred of South Koreans in shackles.

This was a mistake of epic proportions and I do hope South Korea takes that many to other countries who will welcome them with kindness.

MAGA claims to love Trump, but at every turn he is fkg them over.

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

Trump was an informant for the FBI. His code name was Agent Orange.

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

We'll make him lungs out of...um... balloons. #svengoolie

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

That was Kristi Noem, she spotted a dog fish. #svengoolie

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

Ugh, I don't like this one. The creature looks terrible. He's no fun on land. #svengoolie

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

You know... Wolfmen losing all their hair when they change back really doesn't make any sense. Hair doesn't disappear?! They should just be forced to shave their face. #Svengoolie

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

The wolfman is all chill like a labrador retriever. #Svengoolie

[Raymond Arotin @raymondarotin]

Actually... Now that I know these idiots graduated from Harvard... I'm not that impressed with Harvard anymore.

[Don Winslow @donwinslow]

Dear @Harvard

This is an unbelievably good idea. I don't think you will do it, but you should.