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2020-32

Friday October 2, 2020

October 9, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 2, 2020

The decline of the American Empire

July 14, 2020

Whatever went on between Donald Trump and Joe Biden on Tuesday night, it wasn’t a presidential election debate, it was an unpresidential disaster. 

For the TV viewers unlucky enough to have stuck it out through this 90-minute waking nightmare, the experience was like standing in front of a 10-storey fan into which heavy artillery were constantly firing mud. Or like watching two guys wrestle in the gutter over a nickel.

From start to finish it was a high-decibel cacophony of insults, accusations and angry interruptions as the ever-pugnacious President Trump — staying true to brutal form — mocked the intelligence of his Democratic rival, accused Biden of being a stooge for socialists and even attacked his son, Hunter.

May 14, 2020

And while even a saint would have been rattled by Trump’s rude and blistering attacks, it was nonetheless disappointing to hear Biden respond in kind by calling the president a “liar,” a “racist,” and “the worst president American has ever had,” as well as telling him to “shut up, man.”

No matter who you think won this ugly verbal brawl, the losers were clear: the American people and every American ally around the world that still looks to the United States for leadership.

One of the most common responses of the American pundits who watched this dumpster fire was that they were ashamed of what they’d witnessed. That’s a stunning admission in a country known for its patriotism — but it was entirely appropriate.

April 23, 2020

No matter who wins this election, the office of U.S. president has been diminished, for now, shorn of the respect that should be due to the world’s most powerful leader and, in turn, to the world’s most powerful economic and military nation. 

How can this supposed beacon of democracy continue to shine when the democratic process of choosing its highest official is debased in this way, its light heaped with dirt? And how can the widening fractures in the U.S. on racial, economic and political lines be brought together when Trump, who might still be elected for another four years, not only treats his opponents with contempt but refuses in a public debate to denounce white supremacists? “Stand back and stand by,” was his bizarre and troubling message to one of these groups, the Proud Boys.

April 29, 2020

No wonder the dismay over this debate, as well as the state of disunion it signifies, spread far beyond the U.S. “There is a consensus in Europe that this is getting out of hand, and this debate is an indicator of the bad shape of the American democracy,” observed Ulrich Speck, an analyst with the German Marshall Fund in Berlin.

“European leaders must (be) thinking, ‘The American leadership is over,’” concluded Nicole Bacharan, a political analyst living in France, adding that authoritarian leaders such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin “must be telling themselves … they can do everything because the U.S. isn’t a leader anymore.”

The gleeful reaction in China, the emerging powerhouse that is challenging America’s global dominance, was also instructive. “Such a chaos at the top of U.S. politics reflects division, anxiety of U.S. society and the accelerating loss of advantage of the U.S. political system,” said Hu Xijin, editor of the Global Times, a Chinese Communist Party propaganda sheet.

Pandemic Times

The relative decline of the U.S., and its global economic and military empire, had been observed before Trump’s rise. His presidency has accelerated this decline and even if it is reversible it will take years to do so.

For Canada, which remains America’s closest neighbour and ally, the debate should serve as a reminder of this sad reality. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Posted in: International, USA Tagged: 2020-32, America, American exceptionalism, burial, coffin, Democracy, freedom, liberty, Pandemic Times, tombstone, USA

Thursday October 1, 2020

October 8, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 1, 2020

Ontario’s 2nd wave of COVID-19 forecast to peak in October

Fresh projections suggest that Ontario’s second wave of COVID-19 will peak in mid- to late October and will likely send enough patients to intensive care that hospitals will need to scale back non-emergency surgeries.

September 22, 2020

The forecasts come from the COVID-19 Modelling Collaborative, a joint effort of scientists and physicians from the University of Toronto, University Health Network and Sunnybrook Hospital. 

Based on how quickly Ontario’s infection rate has been rising in recent weeks, the model projects the province is on track to exceed 1,000 new cases per day by the middle of October, unless stricter public health measures slow the accelerating spread.

The average number of new cases reported daily in Ontario is currently running four times higher than what it was at the end of August. Premier Doug Ford’s government has since shrunk limits on the size of private gatherings, reduced opening hours for bars and ordered strip clubs to close.

On Monday, Ontario reported an additional 700 cases of COVID-19, the most on a single day since the outbreak began in late January. The figure surpasses the previous high of 640 from April 24.

May 29, 2020

On Sunday, Ontario’s Ministry of Health reported 112 patients in hospital with a confirmed case of COVID-19, nearly triple the number of two weeks ago. The research team says the impact of the second wave on Ontario’s hospitals will depend on the demographics of who gets infected in the coming weeks. 

The team of researchers has run four scenarios for how Ontario’s second wave could play out from here.

The best-case scenario would mimic Ontario’s first wave in March and April, when case numbers increased rapidly but were then reined in by a lockdown. 

Two moderate scenarios would resemble how a second wave hit jurisdictions comparable to Ontario: the Australian state of Victoria (home to Melbourne, a city of five million), and the U.S. state of Michigan. 

None of those three scenarios shows COVID-19 patients filling Ontario’s hospital wards or ICUs beyond their capacity. That happens only in the modellers’ worst-case scenario: a second wave as severe as the first wave that hit Italy when the pandemic began.

However, in all but the best-case scenario, the researchers foresee ICU demand that exceeds the capacity required for patients undergoing scheduled surgeries. (CBC)

 

Posted in: Canada, Ontario Tagged: 2020-32, anti-science, anti-virus, Canada, Coronavirus, covid-19, deniers, masking, masks, Ontario, pandemic, tsunami, virus, wave

Wednesday September 30, 2020

October 7, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 30, 2020

It’s time to consider shutting down casinos, theatres and malls, leading health expert says

As COVID-19 cases continue to pile up, a leading health expert says the Ontario government should consider shutting down casinos, movie theatres and shopping malls. Industry defenders, meanwhile, say closures would be unnecessary and unfair.

July 17, 2020

“Closing them completely should be a last resort. But I think we need to consider everything right now. How surgical can we afford to be?” said Dr. Abdu Sharkawy, an infectious disease specialist with the University Health Network.

Tuesday, Ontario had 554 new COVID-19 cases, down from a record-setting 700 the day before. But Sharkawy warns we haven’t come close to the peak of the second wave.

“I have no doubt that we’ll be seeing a thousand cases per day within the next two to three weeks,” said Sharkawy, who was surprised to see some Ontario casinos reopen on Monday for the first time since March. Casinos had been allowed to open since the province hit Stage 3 in mid-July, but casino operators had been negotiating unsuccessfully with the province to boost a 50-customer cap.

June 17, 2020

Those casinos are all managed by Great Canadian Gaming Co., which runs 11 casinos in Ontario, including at Woodbine and Mohawk.

Shutting casinos down wouldn’t be fair to the industry’s 17,000 workers in Ontario, said Paul Burns, president and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, the casino industry’s national trade association.

A spokesperson for the provincial ministry of health said the government is still monitoring the COVID situation across Ontario, and could implement further restrictions.

“The government, in consultation with public health experts, continues to review trends from a range of criteria on an ongoing basis to determine if public health measures need to be adjusted or tightened,” said Anna Miller. 

Allowing just 50 customers into a casino that’s designed for thousands isn’t a money-maker, said Burns. Not that it’s being done for charitable purposes, he admitted.

“They wanted to demonstrate to public health officials that they could open and operate in a safe manner. It’s not economically viable at 50 people,” said Burns. Eventually, Burns said the casino industry would like to see more gamblers coming through the doors. (The Hamilton Spectator) 

 

 

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: 2020-32, casino, Coronavirus, covid-19, Doug Ford, Gambling, OLG, Ontario, pandemic, reopening, seniors

Tuesday September 29, 2020

October 6, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 29, 2020

Long-Concealed Records Show Trump’s Chronic Losses and Years of Tax Avoidance

Donald J. Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. In his first year in the White House, he paid another $750.

October 4, 2016

He had paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money than he made.

As the president wages a re-election campaign that polls say he is in danger of losing, his finances are under stress, beset by losses and hundreds of millions of dollars in debt coming due that he has personally guaranteed. Also hanging over him is a decade-long audit battle with the Internal Revenue Service over the legitimacy of a $72.9 million tax refund that he claimed, and received, after declaring huge losses. An adverse ruling could cost him more than $100 million.

March 26, 2019

The tax returns that Mr. Trump has long fought to keep private tell a story fundamentally different from the one he has sold to the American public. His reports to the I.R.S. portray a businessman who takes in hundreds of millions of dollars a year yet racks up chronic losses that he aggressively employs to avoid paying taxes. Now, with his financial challenges mounting, the records show that he depends more and more on making money from businesses that put him in potential and often direct conflict of interest with his job as president.

June 2, 2020

The New York Times has obtained tax-return data extending over more than two decades for Mr. Trump and the hundreds of companies that make up his business organization, including detailed information from his first two years in office. It does not include his personal returns for 2018 or 2019.

The COVID-19 Pandemic

The returns are some of the most sought-after, and speculated-about, records in recent memory. In Mr. Trump’s nearly four years in office — and across his endlessly hyped decades in the public eye — journalists, prosecutors, opposition politicians and conspiracists have, with limited success, sought to excavate the enigmas of his finances. By their very nature, the filings will leave many questions unanswered, many questioners unfulfilled. They comprise information that Mr. Trump has disclosed to the I.R.S., not the findings of an independent financial examination. They report that Mr. Trump owns hundreds of millions of dollars in valuable assets, but they do not reveal his true wealth. Nor do they reveal any previously unreported connections to Russia. (Continued: New York Times) 

 

Posted in: USA Tagged: 2020-32, Benjamin Franklin, cliche, death, Donald Trump, marble, Mark Twain, quote, sharpie, taxes, USA

Saturday September 26, 2020

October 3, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday September 26, 2020

COVID-19 precautions to curtail Thanksgiving gatherings

With a little over two weeks before Thanksgiving on Oct. 12, a growing chorus of public health and political leaders are urging Canadians to scale back any plans for a sprawling dinner party.

April 11, 2020

The pleas started with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s sobering national address Wednesday, and were amplified Thursday by officials in Ontario and Quebec — where the bulk of infections and deaths have occurred.

Health Minister Christian Dube urged Quebecers to avoid parties over the next few weeks — including the Thanksgiving long weekend — while Quebec’s public health director suggested private gatherings are driving infections rather than restaurants, where restrictions are in place.

“Which is very different from a party where … we forget (to maintain) your two metres,” said Dr. Horacio Arruda, referring to social distancing guidance.

Earlier on Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford also acknowledged the temptation to gather with extended friends and family but stressed the importance of maintaining precautions.

“Nothing is more important than family and loved ones getting together,” said Ford.

“But in saying that, we’ve got to keep it under 10.”

Life in a Pandemic

Alberta’s chief medical health officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, said Thursday that Thanksgiving can still happen as long as people practice caution and stick to gathering within their “cohorts,” which in the province is a bubble of up to 15 people.

“Smaller is safer. This is not the time for large gatherings,” Hinshaw said.

Infectious disease specialists warned any relaxation of the rules could undo months of sacrifice.

Dr. Gerald Evans, chair of the division of infectious diseases at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., advised against travel and merging bubbles that share extended family members, even if it’s for just one night.

“Some families there might be a bubble of them in Toronto, a bubble of them in Ottawa, a bubble of them in Kingston,” notes Evans.

“But if at Thanksgiving they’re sort of saying well you know winter’s coming this is our last chance (so) let’s all get together, then all of a sudden you’ve got a conglomeration of what could be up to 30 people, and whatever other little connections they have.” (CTV)


“Graeme MacKay (Hamilton Spectator) reminds us that Thanksgiving is coming up in less than two weeks, though not perhaps as we remember it. Canadian Thanksgiving is October 12 this year, which is ironic, I suppose, since down here we call that Columbus Day or Indigenous People Day or something, and then we celebrate the mystical love of Pilgrims and Indians next month.”

Posted in: Canada Tagged: 2020-32, Canada, Coronavirus, covid-19, Daily Cartoonist, Family, Norman Rockwell, pandemic, Pandemic Times, parody, Thanksgiving, zoom

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Please note…

This website contains satirical commentaries of current events going back several decades. Some readers may not share this sense of humour nor the opinions expressed by the artist. To understand editorial cartoons it is important to understand their effectiveness as a counterweight to power. It is presumed readers approach satire with a broad minded foundation and healthy knowledge of objective facts of the subjects depicted.

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