To put some context to the latest local cartoon I feel compelled to explain who I placed in the position of God in my parody of Michelangelo's famous painting "The Creation of Adam". It's Michael Baldesaro, and most Hamiltonians know who he is. For the record, here's a photo essay I created after I was invited for a visit in February 2004.

An update on onetime federal PC leadership candidate, and mayoral candidate, the Rev. Michael Baldesaro, and his campaign manager, Brother Walter Tucker.

When you put the words "politics" and "Hamilton" together, the first name that springs to mind is Sheila Copps. But did you know that along with left leaning Coppsian politics, steeltown is also known for the political movement to legalize cannabis? The crusade has been led for years by the two founders from the Hamilton based Church of the Universe. On February 9, I was invited to their temple. Here is my photo essay:

The first thing one notices upon entering the temple is the high security system. Before being allowed in, I was observed from a closed circuit surveillance monitor. Following admittance, the door was secured behind me. Brother Michael tells me the building has been prey to trouble makers desiring free access to the church's leafy sacrament.

Notice the George Foreman grill to the left of the door.

Once comfortably seated in the temple kitchen, Brother Walter spoke about previous busts, jail sentences, and court challenges, as Brother Michael rolled a joint.

And they worshipped the sacrament...

We talked about some of the cartoons I had drawn of them, and they presented me with a framed drawing I had done in May, 1999.

The brothers, also known for advocating naturism, lobbied the city to consider creating a nude beach at the edge of Hamilton Harbour. Brother Walter, pictured in the cartoon on the right, confided that the cartoon motivated him to lose weight.

I had them pose together with the cartoon:

After an hour and a half visit it was time to get back to the office. Brother Michael offered me a brownie cooked by members of the church's ladies auxillary. Unfortunately, I had to decline consuming the brownie owing to the fact that I've been limiting my carbohydrate intake recently. He suggested I offer it to a colleague, and I obliged by handing it over to my office neighbour, The Spectator's City columnist. THE END

For more information, visit the Church of the Universe website at:
http://www.iamm.com

Nowadays I don't do a lot of cartooning on International issues, particularly anything having to do with Israeli-Middle Eastern affairs. Every editorial cartoonist knows from experience that if they stake even the most subtle position on any given issue regarding the Middle East they'll risk facing the wrath from irate letter writers. Take, for example, one response I received after drawing a cartoon marking Ariel Sharon's massive stroke...

This is not to say comments like this turn me off from drawing on Israel, but if enough people complain to my editor, which is always the case regarding anything having to do with Israel, then I start hearing demands from my masters to be more "nuanced" in my approach to such subjects. Unfortunately, and I know editors will back me up on this not so nuanced declaration, when one chooses to satirize or critique policies carried out by the state of Israel one must be prepared to face some local backlash, such as being branded as anti-semetic.

This week I kept myself in the safe zone as each of my 3 cartoons dealt with the Canadian connection to the conflict between Israel and the Lebanon based Hezbollah. Generally speaking, my targets were this week's most vocal complainers. Bill Graham complaining about Stephen Harper choosing not to mince his words by saying Israel's bombardment of Lebanon was a measured response to aggression by Islamic extremists. who complained endlessly about the Canadian effort to rescue them from being killed by rocket attacks. And finally the media, cocooned in the bubble around a travelling Stephen Harper which seemed complain to about his every word, from abandoning Canada's traditional stance of indifference in the mid-east, to his government's handling of the evacuation.

It wasn't easy to criticize Stephen Harper for much of what he said and did this week. It was refreshing to hear a Prime Minister lead without a script and it was noble of him make available his jet to rescue stranded Canadians. From wishy washy Liberals, to whinning media, to evacuees complaining about not being fed on a rescue ship, it was far easier to satirize those who were complaining than ridiculing Stephen Harper.

Yesterday it seemed Canada was destined to be the last country on the planet to remove its nationals who've been stranded in war torn Lebanon since Israel began its huge offensive against Hezbollah last week. Naturally, Ottawa's opposition leaders have been hugely critical of the Harper government's perceived slowness to act. The Lebanese community has been hugely critical, quite naturally, since they're concerned about the well being of their loved ones being evacuated safely out of Lebanon.

But the Canadian media, whether over the airwaves or in print have spewed nothing but bile against the Harper government ever since the PM left Canada last week to attend the G-8 summit in Russia. Its over-the-top reportage of how slow the government has been to evacuate Canadians from Lebanon is just one of the overblown items which make us look like a nation of whiners. Consider the news that is now coming out of the U.S., Australia, and Great Britain that they too are finding their governments facing similar criticisms and you'd think the whole western world is made up of complainers.

From the U.S. media, "I can't believe the Americans," said Danni Atiyeh, a civil engineer from Kansas City, Mo., waiting earlier Wednesday with his pregnant wife and sons, ages 6 and 10, for a bus to take them to the cruise ship. "Everybody else has gone home ... We're still here."

From Australian media, "Members of Australia's Lebanese community have criticised the efforts of the Federal Government to get stranded civilians out of Lebanon."

From the U.K., "The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office came under fierce criticism yesterday after evacuation efforts were condemned as woefully slow."

It seems as though we've been through this before in recent years. The Tsunami in Indonesia, and Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf states. It doesn't matter what catastrophe strikes it seems to only take people and the media mere hours before it starts to complain about the slowness to act.

I drew this cartoon last Friday (July 7) hoping Hamilton Tiger Cat coach Greg Marshall wouldn't get fired for losing all 4 games of the year, and after a couple of huge losing seasons. Turns out he got sacked today so there's a bit a timeliness to it. Seems the cartoon isn't so popular on some of the sporting blogs. Here's some comments I read from the Tiger Cat forum at CFL.ca:

Check out Mackay's editorial cartoon in todays spectator entitled "A Halftime show that's sure to keep crowds coming". It shows Coach Marshall tied to a skyrocket as part of the halftime show. I found it rather tasteless, but to tell the truth I never found Mackay's cartoons very humorous or thought provoking anyway. It is in the front section, you know, the last section us sports fans read. Yes, I saw this as well. What can you do, welcome to the world of pro sports, at this level anyone and everyone can be a target. I also found it tasteless but then, I certainly don't have the mind of a journalist that's for sure. I don't see the humour in his cartoon.....The old Spec cartoonist "Blaine" was the best there is! I find that this guy is just not funny....but that's only my opinion. I suspect Coach Marshall will just use this cartoon to line the bottom of his birdcage. I like Mackay. His cartoons are found in a lot of places, he doesnt hold anything back, just tells it like it is. Today's made me smile...it rings true. He's a very popular cartoonist, known throughout canada. He's in pro sports (Marshall) this type of stuff bothers you guys more than it bothers him. A classless dolt like Mackay wouldn't know good taste if reared up and bit him.But what do you want from the Spec anyway?Good luck Greg.You don't deserve this kind of treatment.

 

In a bilingual country like Canada one would expect every city to have at least a small percentage of its population to be made up of french speaking people. After attending the bilingual University of Ottawa in the late 80's I met Francophones who came from all over the country, and I'm not just talking about Acadians from the Maritimes but people from all across the west aswell. From Ontario, they weren't just from the north or the Outaouais, but from places like Windsor, and Welland, and Niagara Falls.

Hamilton may have a few migrant Canadian francophones but one never hears French spoken here. (According to the 2001 census there are 9,845 French speaking people out of the metro Hamilton population of 655,060, which is hard to believe, unless they're all from Drummondville, Quebec, which, I suspect may be the case.) Here, the French language is mostly confined to street signs advertising places like Chez Sassy's lingerie. People from France just aren't in Hamilton. The only time they've ever been here was when we held the 2003 Cycling Championships and that only lasted a few hours.

According to a story in today's Spec, a local flag sales and distribution store reports the Portuguese and German flags have been put away for another four years, while boxes on boxes of Italian flags continue to flow through inventory.

Thousands more are likely to be sold before Sunday, through street-corner vendors, department and convenience stores.

Yet during the entire World Cup soccer championship, the owner of the flag store figures he has sold possibly three or four of the bleu-blanc-rouge.

"Let's put it this way," he says, "there's no French fans around here."

Hamilton has a good mix of people from around the world but for years and years up to the present, it's the sons and daughters of Italy, in particular the Abruzzo region, who've played significant roles in the city's politics, business, sports, and arts. I can't help myself from hoping Italy will win the final game on Sunday, if not for bringing cheer to Hamilton, but for being the greatest overseas country I've ever set foot in.