Comics That Made Me Laugh Out Loud in Late December

I think the difference between fathers and mothers is that fathers deliberately embarrass their pre-teen and teenage children, while mothers just… do.

The Coin Toss

In Virginia, Judge James Michael Shull was faced with of two divorced parents, each wanting custody of their child for Christmas. Since there was no compelling reason to choose one parent over the other, Judge Shull tossed a coin. The Virginia Supreme Court ruled last week that Judge Shull “failed to uphold the dignity of the judiciary,” and removed him from the bench: a rather draconian punishment, given the behavior of some judges who are allowed to keep their gavels and robes (such as Philadelphia judge Teresa Carr Deni, appointed to another 6-year term earlier this month, despite her decision last month to downgrade the alleged at-gunpoint rape of a prostitute to a “theft of services” charge).

And exactly how should Judge Shull have resolved this issue? This was the proverbial coin-toss decision, which made tossing a coin rather appropriate. Would the Virginia Supreme Court have preferred he ask for a sword and suggest a more Solomonic solution?

• No Charges For 10-Year-Old Firestarter and other crime news both serious and not

Heavy, Man…

Is the not-quite-three-year-old being metaphorical, or am I missing something?

See also the toddler’s uncanny understanding of the principle of time travel

The Complete Funky Files

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High Five

Nicole: “EWWWW — it’s not just for poop jokes anymore”

More Ewww Files.

Donatello (not a CIDU)

Arlo and Janis is consistently one of the best comic strips out there, but every once in a while Jimmy Johnson hits a home run the way nobody else does: Just as Zits nails the way parents and children act, Arlo and Janis nails the way they think.