This whole Income Trust thing isn't exactly the most sexy issue cartoonists have been given the opportunity to draw on. I don't profess to have much knowledge in the field of finance, and when it comes to reading up on this income trust story it doesn't take long for me to imagine myself in high school calculus class wondering when the bell's going to ring. It definitely has to be the most complex and confusing one we've had to deal with in a while.

One day, my younger brother, who works in the Investment banking and asset management canyon on Bay Street might explain what Jim Flaherty's tax on Income Trusts means in layman terms. I get the political significance of this being the Harper government's "McGuinty moment" -- it being a colossal reversal, or flip-flop on an election campaign promise. And for that I suppose the Tories need to be spanked, or, forgive the pun, be given a half-assed spank. In the meantime, it'd be nice to return to those simpler days... like when the national focus was on Peter MacKay's dog.

The above cartoon was done in haste, cobbled out from imagery from past cartoons:

  

I felt the need to get something out for my syndicate the morning after the news of an Income Trust tax was announced. I had an 45 minutes to piece it together. Busy and wordy -- not exactly a work of art, but I suppose it illustrates my lack of enthusiasm for the subject. 

Still, getting it out of the way freed up the day ahead and for the rest of it I worked on a cartoon illustrating a story on how Canadian cities were petitioning the United States Environmental Protection Agency over lax emmission standards which is allowing American smog to blanket Canada. That story, forgive yet another bad pun, seems to have blown over, and will remain unpublished in the Spectator until an appropriate time comes... and the time will come, unlike another Income Trust cartoon.

Local activist, Spectator letter writer, college instructor, and Jack Layton apologist, Frank Bendek is a gifted cartoonist.  I'm so flattered by this piece from a magazine called "MayDay" that I just had to share it with you. While his rant and banal writing is enough to put one to sleep, his drawing is definitely something to appreciate:

Classify lottery ticket people in convenience stores as a social irritant of mine. Surely, I'm not the only person who seems to be wanting to purchase a newspaper or a pop, only to have someone at the counter hold up everybody's time because he or she is checking their lottery numbers, and buying tickets for the next one. Yes, it's a small irritant compared to the atrocities in the world, but one of several issues I like to illustrate on.

Don't get me started on what I think about lotteries in general

Lotteries are among the other less significant trouble spots I've highlighted in the past, such as drinking coffee on boiling hot summer days, icicle lights (here's another), suburban garage doors, radical vegetarians, Canadian comedians, summer news filler, and lousy neighbours.

While I may come off as irritating complainer, I'm just getting things off my back. My rants about drivers have barely been illustrated, and my wife can attest to how critical I get on every occasion we happen to share a drive some place.

Pet peeves are often occur as fleeting events. You get into everyday situations that aren't new but are enough to make you pound your head against the wall when they happen... and then you forget about it. A few weeks ago I was reminded about one of the most annoying thing that occurs during economy class flight travel. And it always happens to me. This time I took note... I'm buckled into my seat on a commercial airplane and the moment it becomes ok to recline your seat the person in front of me always, always, finds it's necessary to recline right to the limit and stay reclined for the duration of the flight. It doesn't matter that the reclining will cause the crunching sound of the newspaper I was reading and compounded with the tightening grip of my hands on that same newspaper hoping for some kind of retreat by the recliner. Some how I'll eventually get around to illustrating that particular pet peeve of mine... it's just a matter of remembering.

From time to time I'm asked to draw little graphics in the paper to illustrate articles and features. It didn't take long for an innocent graphic to inspire some Spectator readers to react, shocked and appalled.

The above graphic is the same 'shoulders' illustration the letter writer speaks of, but the head is of someone else other than the female (Teresa Cascioli) spotlighted for the "If I were Mayor" feature. Just a fun and entertaining typical local election thingy. You get the point. 

It seems, in order to be fair, I should've drawn a female head and shoulders with maybe, a nice fluffy feminine scarf. But lets not stop at gender, the hands should be coloured to illustrate the diversity which makes up Hamilton's population. I might want to consider representing physically challenged people running for mayor... come on... it's a cartoon. Besides, ties are not only worn by men.

I think the history books will mark the events of the past week in Iraq and Washington as the turning point of resolve in the Iraqi War. While others will argue it was unwinnable from the start without a formal international mandate from NATO or the U.N., others will say the turning point came after prisoner abuse was uncovered at Abu Gharib prison, or following news of the Haditha massacre. Perhaps it was the lack of clear evidence Iraq has built up an arsenol of weapons of mass destruction. I think it was the combination of factors which transformed a fighting force bent on bringing peace and order to Iraq to become a caretaking operation there to ensure that sectarian violence doesn't turn a war into a genocide.

The coalition has dwindled in the past few months. Today, the United States no longer has the support of nations who were once standing shoulder to shoulder, among them, Poland, Italy, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Spain, Romainia, and Japan, who combined, contributed over 10,000 soldiers. Worst of all for the U.S. is the strong likelihood that Britain may very soon pull out the bulk of its 7,200 fighting force, in response to the overwhelming unpopularity of the Iraq war among Britons.

But it's when George W. Bush acknowledges comparisons between this war and the war in Vietnam that I see little hope for further success in Iraq. The small victories, such as rejoicing the end of dictatorship in Iraq, the capture of Saddam Hussein and many more of his cronies and his bad apple sons, the election of a new government, seem to be fading even in the eyes of the most steadfast supporter of the war, the President.

I still find it difficult how the Vietnam war compares to Iraq with regard to American deaths which amounted over 58,000 in the former war. It's hardly a quagmire...yet.