hot tub

Saturday July 29, 2023

July 29, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday July 29, 2023

July 2023: A Stark Wake-Up Call to Confront Climate Crisis

August 13, 2021

As the scorching temperatures of this past July have shattered records, the world is confronted with the undeniable truth of climate change. However, despite the alarming evidence, there are still those who met the news of July being the hottest month on record with skepticism and indifference, dismissing it as a mere summer heatwave. But the stark reality, backed by overwhelming data, calls for immediate radical action, as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres aptly put it: Earth has entered an “era of global boiling.”

The impact of this blistering heatwave is felt across the northern hemisphere, affecting regions in Europe and the Americas. Devastating wildfires have ravaged countries such as Greece, Italy, and Algeria along the Mediterranean, leaving destruction and loss in their wake. In the face of such extreme weather events, Guterres has aptly termed it a “cruel summer” for the entire planet. The urgency of the situation cannot be overstated, and Guterres emphasizes that we are in the midst of a global disaster.

News: ‘Era of global boiling has arrived,’ says UN chief as July set to be hottest month on record  

The data collected from the European Union-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service reveals that the first three weeks of July marked the warmest three-week period ever recorded. Furthermore, it is almost certain that this July will be the hottest July and month on record. The average air temperature across the entire world for the first 23 days of July was a staggering 16.95 degrees Celsius, well surpassing the previous record set in July 2019.

July 21, 2022

Many climate scientists believe that this is not just a cyclical event but a critical turning point in our planet’s history. The evidence from millennia of climate data extracted from various sources, including tree rings, coral reefs, and sediment cores, strongly suggests that we are experiencing the hottest temperatures in more than a hundred thousand years.

The consequences of this extreme heat are dire. As temperatures soared above 120 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of the US, heat-related deaths increased, and people suffered severe burns from contact with scorching ground. Wildfires have claimed dozens of lives in the Mediterranean, while heatwaves in Asia are not only causing casualties but also threatening food security.

It is crucial to recognize that human-caused climate change is the primary driver of this exceptional heat. The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is directly linked to the global air temperature. Recent studies have shown that climate change played a decisive role in the heatwaves experienced in the US, China, and southern Europe during this summer.

Although the natural climate fluctuation known as El Niño has not had a significant impact on this year’s temperatures, experts warn that it may exert a more considerable influence next year, further escalating the situation. We must be prepared for even hotter conditions in the future if we fail to act decisively now.

News: July on track to be hottest month ever recorded, analysis shows  

June 8, 2023

The records broken in June and July are part of an alarming pattern that shows the relentless progression of global warming. We are already seeing the consequences in ocean heat, which reached “unprecedented levels” in mid-May. These events are not isolated incidents but part of a broader trend that demands urgent attention and action.

As Kim Cobb, a climate scientist at Brown University, rightly pointed out, what we see now may be viewed as relatively mild in the future if we fail to take action against climate change. The urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has never been more evident. Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), emphasizes that climate action is not a luxury but an absolute necessity.

The data is clear, and the message is unambiguous: we must confront the harsh reality of climate change. Denying the overwhelming evidence and dismissing it as a mere heatwave is not an option. It is time for collective action and the implementation of measures to address the root causes of this crisis. Each passing day without meaningful action only takes us closer to a future we cannot afford. We owe it to ourselves, future generations, and the planet to make a difference now. (AI) | Also printed in the Toronto Star.

 

Saturday November 5, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday November 5, 2022

Where is Pierre Poilievre as the facts come out about the ‘Freedom Convoy’?

One story about the convoy protest is not aging well in 13 days of public hearings into events that rattled through Canada last winter.

October 20, 2022

This is the story — still embraced by some Conservative MPs and strident fans of the demonstrators— that the so called “Freedom Convoy” was merely a giant party that would have ended if the participants got a fair hearing from Justin Trudeau’s government.

One OPP intelligence assessment on Feb. 14, as the Star has reported, warned that “potential for conflict or an act of violence is likely increasing as the Ottawa blockade continues.”

This same assessment also served notice that some protesters “appear to be largely unconcerned about potential legal consequences, as they view the state’s institutions as illegitimate and their own ‘fight for freedom’ as all important. Some view themselves as being at war with the Canadian government and everything it represents.”

August 26, 2022

This may be why Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre hasn’t been seen anywhere near these hearings, giving the kind of support to the convoy he did last winter. Ditto for former leader Andrew Scheer or any of the other MPs who cheered on the protest, even after it was deemed a full-fledged occupation of Canada’s capital in its earliest days.

It may still remain an open question on whether Canada was in the throes of a full-fledged emergency when Trudeau’s government invoked the declaration to end the protest on Feb. 14.

But the notion that this was just an innocent protest romp — a cold-weather Canada Day with trucks and hot tubs — is simply unsustainable in the face of all the testimony to date at the hearings.

June 30, 2022

As recently as June, Poilievre was also still insisting on social media “that Trudeau could have ended the trucker protest in one day, if he’d had the guts to listen to the people — and let them go back to their jobs.”

But police and intelligence officials, from all levels and despite their internal spats, have testified that negotiation of any type had its limits, especially because there was no one overall group controlling the protest or demonstrators. Demands, such as they were, ranged from ridiculous (oust the prime minister) to totally unrealistic (end all vaccine mandates immediately.)

Poilievre and the Conservatives haven’t been asked yet how they square their support for the convoy in light of all that has been put on the record so far — the steady, sustained refrain from police and security officials that this was not a good episode for law and order in Canada. How this fits with the Conservative brand as law-and-order advocates remains to be seen too.

February 8, 2022

Now, the all-fun-and-games narrative may re-emerge during the rest of this week when the commission moves from police witnesses to testimony from the convoy organizers.

Lawyers for those organizers, when they’ve had a chance to cross-examine the police officers and political types, so far appear to be making the case that the convoy was mainly a peaceful winter carnival, with a few bad apples here and there.

Judging from mail I’ve received recently about the hearings, some Canadians still fiercely cling to that view too. “We travelled from Hamilton to see for ourselves, and you know what? We saw fun, happy, peaceful people from all backgrounds and regions in Canada. A DJ, pancake breakfast, bouncy castle, fun for the kids and not one instance of the terror, violence and fear you described,” one letter writer told me last Friday.

Unfortunately, that view of the convoy just isn’t standing up in the face of all the evidence presented to date. It isn’t the “Liberal media” or government operatives saying the convoy was dangerous — it is police and security officials, from all levels.

A national emergency? Maybe, maybe not. But just a fun party? That story no longer stands up. (The Toronto Star) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro … These sped up clips are posted to encourage others to be creative, to take advantage of the technology many of us already have and to use it to produce satire. Comfort the afflicted. Afflict the comforted.

Saturday April 30, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday April 30, 2022

Ottawa police chief vows to stop biker rally as city braces for potential protests

February 19, 2022

Ottawa’s police chief has vowed to stop an upcoming biker rally from reaching the city’s downtown core as residents brace for a potential rerun of the so-called “Freedom Convoy” anti-government protests that paralyzed the Canadian capital earlier in the year.

Thousands of bikers are expected to arrive in Ottawa on Friday for the “Rolling Thunder” rally purportedly called in honour of military veterans.

The rally’s organizer, Neil Sheard, has denied that the event is a protest, but prominent anti-vaccine figure Chris Sky has been advertised as a “special guest” speaker, and Veterans for Freedom, a group which opposes public health measures, is also part of the event.

Organizers had planned to march on Parliament Hill on Friday and then meet at the war memorial the following day. But the interim chief, Steve Bell, warned that a “heavy police presence” and road closures would instead greet the bikers.

The city is still reeling from the February protests, when hundreds of commercial trucks blockaded the streets in front of Parliament Hill, honking their horns at all hours of the day and night and defying multiple orders to leave the area.

February 15, 2022

That event began as a protest against public health measures, but quickly transformed into a broader anti-government movement, with protestors calling for Justin Trudeau’s government to face criminal prosecution.

After weeks of disruption, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act, permitting officials to freeze bank accounts and suspend the commercial licences of truck drivers involved. On Monday, the federal government announced an inquiry into the use of the rarely-used legislation.

The protests ended after nearly a month when police stormed the blockades and arrested nearly 200 demonstrators. Ottawa authorities later revealed that the demonstrations cost the city more than C$36m (US$28m, £22m).

“I do not want our children, seniors and other vulnerable residents re-traumatized. Our businesses should not be forced to close again,” Ottawa city councillor Catherine McKenney wrote on Twitter Monday.

August 28, 2012

Zexi Li, a downtown resident whose exasperation with non-stop truck honking led to a C$306m class action lawsuit against the convoy, told the Guardian she and others fear that “mistakes will be made again” as officials attempt to prepare for the influx of bikers.

“Without a doubt, there was a loss of trust in the city, in our officials, in the police from the protests. We were just utterly disappointed by the people that were supposed to protect us,” she said.

Sheard warned earlier this week the event could turn into a “free-for-all” as bikers are forced to deviate from a previously planned route after police said they wouldn’t allow vehicles into the downtown core.

“We keep hearing that things never should have gotten as bad as they did if certain steps had been taken from the very beginning,” said Li. “Well, we know what those steps are now. So all the need to do, in theory, is take those steps.” (The Guardian) 

 

Wednesday November 6, 2002

Wednesday November 6, 2002By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 6, 2002

Tory Minister Demands Hydro Rates be Capped

Labour Minister Brad Clark is calling on his government to cap electricity rates for several years as Conservative MPPs try to head off the growing public outrage over skyrocketing prices.

Tuesday February 3, 2015Clark, the MPP for Stoney Creek, said rates should be capped “to prevent the wild fluctuations we are seeing.

“There has to be some kind of equalization of those fluctuations right now. I would suggest then if they were doing it over the next five to 10 years, while power generation is developed, it would be easier on the consumer,” Clark told reporters yesterday.

Experts blame the shortage of power generation in Ontario for bills going through the roof, since the shortfall has to be made up by buying more expensive imported power.

Clark said people in his riding are “having a difficult time making the payments, so I think that there is some just cause for alarm and we have to figure out a way to mitigate those wild fluctuations.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)