Great Sunday!

Some days are better than others, but today in The Orlando Sentinel was laugh-out-loud funny!

"Zits" brought out "Gender: A Handy Guide To The Species" featuring separate panels dealing with a girl's P.O.V. ("This sandwich is incredible, want a bite?") versus a boy's P.O.V. ("This sandwich is incredible....loser!") - great stuff.

"Pooch Cafe" has been slowly working its way into my favorites list - it took some getting used to (like the great "Pearls Before Swine") but Poncho's fantasy-filled tea-party fiasco ("Sorry, 'biscuit' is sort of a button word for me") was hilarious.

Now, I've read a lot of "Peanuts" in my life, and "Classic Peanuts" is what I supposed were re-runs of the greatest comic strip of all time. But I've not run across any that I recall reading before. In fact, the strips published since the death of creator Charles Schulz seem to be as timely as ever. How far ahead did he pen this stuff? Or should I begin some "Chuck's not dead" rumors? As always, this strip is simply the best.

Ever since the return of Berkeley Breathed to Sunday funnies (with all of the dubious demands that came with him), "Opus" has been uneven both in subject matter and drawing (Berke's uncanny knack for making his human characters somewhat hideous is in full sway this go-round), with only the occasional zinger thrown in. Today's strip, dealing with prescription drugs, was actually pretty right-on. But what is it about this strip that seems so hit and miss?

I'm not the biggest "Dilbert" fan, but it is at least consistently funny, and today's riff on noise-cancellation headphones that recognize stupidity and block it from your ears was damn classic.

"Pearls Before Swine" - we need this kind of subversion.

"Non-Sequitur" has always been an odd little creation, from its one-panel jabs to its full-fledged flights into morbidity and whimsy. But this recent storyline involving the mythical city of Helios is a stunning leap upwards in quality both in draftsmanship and literary flair. With a sinister final panel today, this exciting serial has got me looking forward to next week's installment; a rarity in the funny pages these days.

But my favorite strip today came from a surprising source: "Beetle Bailey." Plato, who is always defacing camp walls with one kind of message or another, had this to say in today's strip:

Communism failed because it was against human nature. People want to be rewarded for their work. They want to own what they earn. You can call it selfish if you want, but "self" is the center of the universe. Even giving voluntarily to others is "selfish" in a way because you "get" a good feeling in return. Dictators take power promising to help the people but soon are only helping themselves. There's a bit of the dictator even among elected officials who use their powers for their own interests. Maybe the best system is to keep turning our officials over before they turn on you. Too long in power allows too many opportunities for corruption. People are more productive with fewer laws and restrictions. Even good laws have flaws and room should be left for exceptions, because everyone is different with individual needs.

And on that incredible note: amen.