Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for September 20, 2023

Oh, dear. Even for a good reason, lying on a broadcast is going to haunt the Puckstar…

Yes, Puck. Yes they do.

Oh dear, Pucky Bear .. the moles will be furious and they’ll turn against you. You’ll no longer be The Puck… think about this carefully, Bear

Maybe Puck can do a report radio drama style, a la The War of the Worlds? Sentient lawn mowers come to lay waste to the fields, sending the moles into a panic?

The other 5 cats present are smiling in - relief? Gratitude?

And this is why Pucky is everyone’s hero. He’s always willing to sacrifice for others’ good.

Well, so much for journalistic ethics..

Elvis is not gonna like this.

I think Tabitha could carry it off as well. She has a no-nonsense air about her. After all, she Caught the Red Dot.

Beatrix is shocked! Elvis has taught her well.

Good ol Pucky Bear is the hero we all need.

I reckon Elvis must be off on some top secret mission.

Puck doesn’t have to fib to get the moles’ attention. He could, for instance, do a report on the hunting habits of raptors, with a particular emphasis on the dietary requirements of owls …

I think I may have solved the mystery of where my backyard raccoons are finding their treasure! Today’s “toy” was a beautiful, perfectly intact, well-cared for and sharp pair of what my mom would have called The Good Scissors. Singer brand, hefty, solid metal, the kind you take down to the fabric store and pay the guy to sharpen rather than buying new ones. Tangled up in a bunch of apple green organza. And I happen to know one of my neighbors, whose backyard connects to mine by way of the lane for utility access, makes Quinceañera dresses for the neighborhood on a semi-professional basis. Evidence suggests that these little stinkers may not be getting into their attic but into their actual HOUSE! I’m going to take the scissors and the manatee figurine over after sunup and see if anyone recognizes them. In the meantime I have rescued the scissors, which seem like a dangerous toy for a bunch of baby raccoons!

It doesn’t have to be a fib! he could chose to do an, Q and A, with his mole fans!

P.S. I see Puck’s lil’ white patch and…TOE BEANS!! Cover your ears, folks, it’s about to get loud!

Pucky chest patch. ❤

So brave to take one for the team!

I love the (artistic) perspective in panel 4!

OT: Funny Cats

For some reason I expected Pucky’s last line to be “Anyone else would have gotten it wrong.” :P

Watching Puck consider lying is like watching Walter Cronkite consider lying. If we can’t trust Pucky Bear who can we trust?!

I keep expecting Ora Zella.

Meanwhile, Back on the Nile

Puckmosis: Thank you, ladies, for your help with my collage.

Adobe Style: It was our pleasure. Art should be enjoyed by everyone.

Maat-Tilda: And now it’s time to enjoy Thomios’ master creations for lunch.

At the Royal Dining Room

Thomios: Welcome fellow diners! We will start our salad course with a tomato and mozzarella salad!

Elvis-Anum: Delicious as always, Thomios. How did you come by so many tomatoes?

Thomios: The Royal Procurers brought an abundance from sources we know not.

Beatrixia: I wonder if this has to do with the Lawn Potato game this Saturday.

Elvis-Anum: Lupinium did say he was working on a spectacular halftime show.

Bea: That could mean one thing.

Enter Pink Lupinium

Pink Lupinium: I’m here, everyone!

Elvis: Now we know what the tomatoes are for.

There has to be a way of giving a technically accurate report, but that would misdirect the Moles. Pucky Bear’s journalistic reputation is too important to cast away.

No wonder why Pucky Bear was the cleric in Vaults and Vacuums…..he is always looking out for others. Love that cat, so very dear.

There is precedent. During WWII not everything was reported accurately; omitting certain information, such as the extent of shipping losses, was common. A false story can simply omit some vital information, such as that where the raccoons are moving (regrouping) to, that the opossums have joined them, or that they know Wicket is behind the whole scheme, while being literally true.

“I will take it. I will take the ring to Mordor.”

Beatrix in panel 1, in childlike shock. Beatrix in panel 2, stunned with this new adult perspective, staring wide-eyed.

He is the most trusted newscat in the country. Who wouldn’t trust that face?

London — It was October 1940, Europe was being overrun by the Nazis, and Britain stood alone against a relentless German bombing campaign. Reporting it all over the radio waves to the American public, from his office across from the BBC, was legendary CBS News correspondent Edward R Murrow.

Murrow’s reports were broadcast from the BBC studios, and they brought the war directly into American homes.

At the start of World War II, America was officially neutral. As CBS News contributor Simon Bates explains, Murrow’s broadcasts are believed to have played a large part in shifting U.S. public opinion in favor of joining the conflict in support of the British.

There was a sizable isolationist movement in the U.S., and it accused Murrow and others of acting as a tool of the British government — and of not telling Americans the whole truth. You might call it a very early accusation of “fake news.”

In 1939, Murrow explained the rules under which he was operating in a series of wartime memos, recently unearthed by the BBC.

“We are not permitted to divulge military information calculated to be of value to a possible enemy,” he wrote. “Within these limits we are to have freedom of expression… there are certain matters of a military nature which we shall not be permitted to discuss; it does not mean that anyone is telling us what to say.”

Puck, you need to be the Edward R. Murrow of BCN….integrity, truth, and within the norms of broadcast journalism. Just your presence is enough to bring the diversion.

What? Not tell me you is going to broadcats FAKE MEWS?

It had to be me

It had to be me

I looked around, and I finally found

I’m somebody who

Can make this all seem true

And will make those moles shoo

I’ll even be glad

Out with the bad – whatever we do

Montague I’ve seen

Might always be mean

Might be rude and be cross, or try to be boss

But that just won’t do

For no one else has the will

With reports that are false, moles love me still

It had to be me

Wonderful Pucky

- Gus Kahn / Isham Jones – It Had To Be You

Puck, don’t do it!!!!! Next you will go to work for another unnamed news agency and begin to “report” news for money and ratings, be part of a multi million dollar law suit and end up on W formal known as Whisker.

Wheres Elvis?

‘Necessity knows no law’ – Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau

Walter Cronkite:People, Puck:Animals

Pucky could just host a meet n greet with the Opossums at whatever spot they want to divert them to? Could turn on him when/if they see they’ve been had, but Pucky Bear the Brave will always triumph!

But Pucky-Bear can still tell the truth! “Nothing happened today in Sector 83 by 9 by 12. We repeat, absolutely nothing happened in Sector 83 by 9 by 12.”

A slippery slope?

Goldie toe beans!

I’m not sure about this, Pucky.

I really admire how Georgia has created such a rich world full of dimensional characters, whose moral choices inspire such audience debate and investment.

Apologies if someone already mentioned this, but I just saw it today:

https://www.gocomics.Com/learn-to-speak-cat/2023/09/15

Plus, he’s the favorite—we all know the moles watch CN just for Puck. ;)

All right, everyone, relax – this seems to be one of those rare situations where lying is permitted to save a life, or perhaps even required to prevent a genocide. (At minimum, it’s a forgivable sin because it promotes a greater good.)

That being said, I do like the idea of a 100% factual in-depth report from Puck on raptor behavior & dietary preferences…

Including Li’l Ora Zella, according to the photographic evidence!

Puck will need a Fox News mic.

…no need to lie. Just don’t need to tell the truth…tell them something that is true, just not in the context that they are considering it…

" And he said, … ’ Breaker 1-9, is anyone there? … Come on back Critters and talk to PUCKY BEAR !! ’ " … :)

Reminds me of a Tom Clancy book, Debt of Honor, where the government convinces CNN to give false reports concerning the operational status of an aircraft carrier, leading the enemy to think it still was in dry dock in Pearl Harbor when it had actually been deployed.

As others have said, Puck need not lie to accomplish his mission. The best deceptions are based on truth, and letting the enemy make assumptions. Witness what was done with General George S. Patton in WWII: The Germans, with their military mind set and authoritarian regime, could not believe the Allies would keep him out of combat for any reason. He was the one Western general they were afraid of (the other was Russian Georgy Zhukov.)

German Intel officer: “Patton is in Crete.” (true statement)

German High Command: “Could the Allies be planning an invasion of Greece? Perhaps to link up with the Russians in the Balkans?” (false assumption by the German High Command.)

This can be the same thing.

OT

Way to be a team player, Puck! You’re one in a million.

Police sometimes lure folks with outstanding warrants by telling them they’ve won a sweepstakes prize. When they come to a neutral location to claim the prize, the warrants are served and they are taken into custody.

Puck is willing to sacrifice his reputation to save the world from Wicket.

That tablecloth reminds me of a brand of bakeware/kitchenware called Temp-tations. They even have a pattern commemorating our fur-babies called “pawfetti”.

All The Puck has to do deliver an extended broadcast full of diagrams on anything but the field. His fan base would eat it up.

Well one thing is clear – humans are really good at ideas on twisting the truth! Our minds just go there!

I think Pucky is smart enough to be able to steer the moles in the wrong direction without actually lying. Sort of obscure references might do the trick.

The creatures will stop trusting you Pucky if you lie, whether the reason is a good one or not.

Off-Topic (somewhat)

OT: Tiny Kittens

OT: Thank you everyone for your kind words and thoughts, it really helped, and I really appreciate it.

Yes. Everyone who lies thinks it’s “for a good cause”.

Georgia is such an incredible story-teller! Who else would have their readers so concerned about a comic strip cat’s ethics and morality?

Hmmmm

This is an incredible storyline!