birthday – mackaycartoons

Friday April 5, 2019

April 12, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday April 5, 2019

The world still needs NATO after 70 years

The 70th birthday of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization this week deserved far more attention and celebration than it received.

November 23, 2002

There were no parades, no fireworks, no self-congratulatory gatherings of presidents and prime ministers clinking champagne flutes to recognize an alliance that has done so much for global peace and security.

Instead, and in marked contrast to the three-day extravaganza that saluted NATO’s accomplishments on its 50th anniversary in 1999, there was only a low-key ministerial meeting Thursday for the organization’s members in Washington, D.C.

This was likely because an ambitious, A-list gathering of NATO-nation leaders would have had to include the volatile, NATO-bashing American President Donald Trump. Having no party was preferable to having one he’d ruin.

Yet NATO was worthy of better. Whatever challenges it faces today — and some coming from disaffected members like Turkey are urgent — NATO must be judged a rousing success.

According to the Brookings Institution research group, NATO is one of the most enduring military alliances in the past 500 years. It rose from the wreckage of the Second World War, when European nations so recently freed from the scourge of Nazi Germany were confronted by an aggressively expansionist Soviet Union.

May 29, 2002

Some critics insisted NATO had passed its best-before date. Russian President Vladimir Putin showed how wrong they were. Today, and with support from Canada’s Armed Forces, the 29-member alliance has deployed troops in the Baltic States, Ukraine and Poland to halt Putin’s territorial ambitions. When the Russians annexed Crimea and destabilized eastern Ukraine, an impotent United Nations watched. NATO acted.

Despite Trump’s rants and threats, Congress and the American people are largely supportive of NATO. They know the alliance helped them in Afghanistan and how much the friendship of so many nations counts in a changing, uncertain world just awakening to the rise of a headstrong, authoritarian China.

Today’s world is very different from what it was in 1949. But for seven decades NATO has helped guide it through seas both calm and rough. Change it must and will. But NATO is still needed and we hope it lasts at least seven decades more. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Friday October 5, 2018

October 4, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 5, 2018

Teenagers who use e-cigarettes more likely to start smoking, study finds

Teens who use electronic cigarettes are more likely to start smoking regular cigarettes – and they are likely to use both products more often over time, a new study found.

February 18, 2012

The Rand Corporation study looked at more than 2,000 youths in California, starting when they were teenagers and continuing until they were young adults.

The researchers found that youth who reported vaping were more likely to also report smoking cigarettes.

When they were surveyed around age 17, more of the teens said they used e-cigarettes in the last month – 8% – than regular cigarettes, at 6%. By around age 19, 9% of the young adults surveyed were using e-cigarettes, but cigarette smoking had jumped to 12%.

“Not only are adolescents who start vaping more likely to start smoking in the future, but they’re also likely to go on and use e-cigarettes and cigarettes more frequently,” said Michael Dunbar, the study’s lead author and a behavioral scientist at Rand.

“Our work provides more evidence that young people who use e-cigarettes progress to smoking cigarettes in the future,” he said. “This study also suggests that teens don’t substitute vaping products for cigarettes. Instead, they go on to use both products more frequently as they get older.”

It’s the latest research to suggest a link for young people between electronic cigarettes and smoking the more dangerous, traditional tobacco-based variety.

For adults who already smoke, e-cigarettes have been promoted as a safer to help them quit. (Continued: The Guardian)

Saturday June 11, 2016

June 10, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday June 11, 2016

Britain expresses ‘profound gratitude’ for Queen Elizabeth as 90th birthday celebrations kick off

Britain celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday and her service to the country Friday with solemn pomp, pageantry and prayer at St. Paul’s Cathedral ahead of a weekend of festivities.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, set the tone by reminding Britain of the queen’s long life and dedicated service. In essence, he said the nation was lucky because Elizabeth only became queen by chance.

“We look back on Your Majesty’s 90 years in the life of our nation with deep wonder and profound gratitude,” he said. “Through war and hardship, through turmoil and change, we have been fearfully and wonderfully sustained.”

Gov. Gen. David Johnston is among thousands of people gathered in London for the celebrations.

He and 14 other governors general had lunch with the Queen following the service St. Paul’s Cathedral.

He says one of the topics discussed was the usefulness of having apolitical heads of state.

Johnston says the strength of a constitutional monarchy lies in the stability and serenity it brings, allowing countries to avoid extremes.

The celebration has been a lengthy affair, starting with her real birthday in April. The monarch’s official birthday is traditionally celebrated in June when Britain’s weather can be more favourable. (Source: Toronto Star)