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cartoons/20260924-gold-tier-treadmill.html
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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
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<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
<title>Gold Commuter — P24 Cartoon Desk</title>
<meta name="description" content="Original P24 editorial cartoon in classic editorial-ink style: motorists circle a toll bridge all night on a treadmill of asphalt, chasing 'Gold Commuter' status." />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="../assets/style.css" />
</head>
<body data-mood="politics" class="cartoon-page-frame">
<figure>
<div class="frame">
<svg viewBox="0 0 900 620" role="img" aria-label="A toll booth sits at the hub of a giant hamster-wheel of bridge asphalt turning in the night; exhausted cars trudge around and around it chasing a dangling gold 'GOLD TIER' carrot, headlights tracing an endless loop under a crescent moon.">
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<!-- night sky wash inside frame top -->
<rect x="0" y="0" width="900" height="250" fill="#08210f" opacity="0.10"/>
<!-- crescent moon -->
<path d="M792 70 a44 44 0 1 0 20 78 a34 34 0 1 1 -20 -78z" fill="var(--accent2)" stroke="#0b1a0e" stroke-width="4"/>
<!-- THE TREADMILL WHEEL of asphalt -->
<g stroke="#0b1a0e" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-linecap="round">
<circle cx="450" cy="360" r="230" fill="none" stroke-width="10"/>
<circle cx="450" cy="360" r="180" fill="none" stroke-width="4" stroke-dasharray="24 18"/>
<!-- lane dashes around the rim -->
<circle cx="450" cy="360" r="205" fill="none" stroke="var(--accent2)" stroke-width="6" stroke-dasharray="20 26"/>
<!-- hub = toll booth -->
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<rect x="418" y="300" width="64" height="22" fill="#0b1a0e"/>
<rect x="424" y="332" width="52" height="34" fill="var(--panel)"/>
<text x="450" y="356" text-anchor="middle" font-size="13" font-family="system-ui,sans-serif" font-weight="900" fill="#0b1a0e">BOOTH 3</text>
<!-- boom gate -->
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</g>
<!-- the dangling GOLD carrot on a stick from the booth -->
<g stroke="#0b1a0e" stroke-width="5">
<line x1="450" y1="300" x2="450" y2="150"/>
<line x1="450" y1="150" x2="560" y2="150"/>
</g>
<g>
<path d="M560 150 l40 -16 -6 32 z" fill="var(--accent2)" stroke="#0b1a0e" stroke-width="4"/>
<text x="596" y="120" text-anchor="middle" font-size="14" font-family="system-ui,sans-serif" font-weight="900" fill="var(--accent2)">GOLD TIER</text>
</g>
<!-- exhausted cars trudging the rim, headlight beams tracing the loop -->
<g stroke="#0b1a0e" stroke-width="4" stroke-linejoin="round">
<!-- car 1 (top) -->
<g transform="translate(450 155) rotate(0)">
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<circle cx="-14" cy="10" r="7" fill="#0b1a0e"/><circle cx="14" cy="10" r="7" fill="#0b1a0e"/>
</g>
<!-- car 2 (right) -->
<g transform="translate(655 360) rotate(90)">
<path d="M-26 8 q6 -20 26 -20 q20 0 26 20 z" fill="#0b1a0e"/>
<circle cx="-14" cy="10" r="7" fill="#0b1a0e"/><circle cx="14" cy="10" r="7" fill="#0b1a0e"/>
</g>
<!-- car 3 (bottom) -->
<g transform="translate(450 565) rotate(180)">
<path d="M-26 8 q6 -20 26 -20 q20 0 26 20 z" fill="#0b1a0e"/>
<circle cx="-14" cy="10" r="7" fill="#0b1a0e"/><circle cx="14" cy="10" r="7" fill="#0b1a0e"/>
</g>
<!-- car 4 (left) -->
<g transform="translate(245 360) rotate(270)">
<path d="M-26 8 q6 -20 26 -20 q20 0 26 20 z" fill="#0b1a0e"/>
<circle cx="-14" cy="10" r="7" fill="#0b1a0e"/><circle cx="14" cy="10" r="7" fill="#0b1a0e"/>
</g>
</g>
<!-- faint headlight cones as motion smear -->
<g fill="var(--accent2)" opacity="0.5">
<polygon points="476,150 520,140 520,168"/>
<polygon points="650,384 662,430 636,424"/>
</g>
<!-- odometer-style tally slumped at bottom -->
<text x="450" y="606" text-anchor="middle" font-size="15" font-family="system-ui,sans-serif" font-weight="800" fill="var(--accent)">CROSSINGS TONIGHT: ∞</text>
</svg>
</div>
<figcaption>
<div class="cap"><span class="q">“Three more laps to Gold, honey. Then we can afford the toll.”</span></div>
<div class="sub">P24 Cartoon Desk · in classic editorial-ink style (device: the doomed loop) · on the Ashtabula story “Drivers Circling Toll Bridge Overnight to Reach Gold Commuter Tier.” Invented satire.</div>
<div class="back"><a href="index.html">← Back to the Cartoon Desk</a> · <a href="reference/index.html">the editorial-ink style reference</a></div>
</figcaption>
</figure>
</body>
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