Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • mackaycartoons

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

February 5, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ready to go into space

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared he is prepared to risk his life and become the first human to be sent into space by his country’s fledgling space programme.

Iran declared last week it had successfully launched a monkey into space and retrieved it alive, which officials hailed as a major step towards their goal of sending humans into space.

The launch added to western concerns about Iran’s space programme because the same rocket technology could potentially be used to deliver a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile.

“I am ready to be the first human to be sent to space by Iranian scientists,” Ahmadinejad told a group of scientists in Tehran gathered to celebrate the country’s space achievements, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency. Ahmadinejad was speaking at an event organised for the anniversary celebration of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“Sending living things into space is the result of Iranian efforts and the dedication of thousands of Iranian scientists,” he said.

It was unclear if the suggestion was a serious one, but one group of Iranians declared they would do everything in their power to help Ahmadinejad achieve his goal.

Within minutes of the news breaking, a Facebook page was set up called “In support of sending Ahmadinejad into space”. (Source: The Guardian)

Saturday September 29, 2012

September 29, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Saturday September 29, 2012

Stephen Harper accepts World Statesman of the Year award

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in New York City Thursday night to receive an impressively named award — the World Statesman of the Year — bestowed by a U.S.-based inter-faith group.

In a speech salted with reminders about Canada’s partnership with the United States and other “like-minded” nations, Harper told a black-tie crowd he was accepting the honour not for his own qualities, but “on behalf of the unique and magnificent country I have the privilege of leading.”

But while Harper was being honoured in the U.S., he was facing criticism at home. Opposition politicians say if Harper truly was a statesman, he’d make time during his trip to New York to speak at the United Nations.

World leaders have been addressing the UN General Assembly this week. Everyone from U.S. President Barack Obama to Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has taken the podium to address the world. But when Canada’s turn to speak comes up, Harper won’t be there.

The job of representing Canada will fall to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

The prime minister has only spoken to the General Assembly twice since taking office in 2006. To the opposition, it’s a clear sign the prime minister simply doesn’t like the UN.

“He’s going to New York to receive an award. That’s nice. I’m happy for him,” said NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar.

“But his responsibility as a prime minister — one of his responsibilities — is to go to the UN to explain what our foreign policy is. Particularly now. We have no shortage of issues to deal with.” (Source: CBC News)

Letter to the Editor:

Cartoonist Graeme MacKay missed the mark with his caricature of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The biggest joke of the opening session of UN General Assembly was the “red-line” speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the Wile E. Coyote-style cartoon of a grenade with a wick. The Israeli leader, whose country has a nuclear arsenal and who hasn”t signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, is accusing the Iranian leader, who has signed the NNPT and declares he has no intention of making a bomb, of being a threat to the world.

As for the words “hate, hate, hate” coming out of Ahmadinejad’s mouth, The Spectator has a duty to its readers to provide accurate translations from the original Farsi of the statements made by the Iranian leader, rather than self-serving, twisted simulations manufactured in the US and Israel. Demonstrations will take place across Canada, the U.S. and the UK on Oct. 6 because ordinary people worry we are being led down the warpath against Iran based on the same falsehoods which led to war in Iraq.

D. Rennie
Stoney Creek
Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War

Monday February 27, 2012

February 27, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Monday February 27, 2012

Canada claims win in EU oilsands vote

The Conservative government and Canadian energy sector are girding for several more months of intense lobbying after European Union officials Thursday blocked a draft fuel law that would label the oilsands a dirtier form of crude.

The Canadian government is trumpeting the outcome – which saw more EU officials reject the fuel directive than support it – as a temporary victory in its ongoing efforts to persuade European Union countries not to slap a higher carbonemissions rating on oilsands crude compared to conventional oil.

It also means Canada’s threats of launching a trade war with the European Union and taking the proposal to the World Trade Organization are on hold for now.

But the result has environmental groups digging in their heels in the “dirty oil” fight and even more determined to prevent bitumen-derived fuels from being used in Europe.

With many of Canada’s allies abstaining from the vote, European Union countries supporting the proposed Fuel Quality Directive failed to win enough support at a Thursday committee meeting of technical experts to have it pass.

However, there also wasn’t enough support to kill the measure, so a council of EU ministers will now vote on the fuel directive, likely in June – but not before the Conservative government and petroleum producers ratchet up their efforts to quash it outright.

“There was a sound win,” federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said in an interview. “We will continue to advocate our position. It has obviously resonated.” (Source: Ottawa Citizen)

September 21, 2006

September 21, 2006 by Graeme MacKay

Subtitle: Or, how to draw a really bad editorial cartoon

Iran’s Mahmoud Amadinejad berates George Bush and world diplomacy in his U.N. speech, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez calls George Bush the devil during his own address to the U.N. General Assembly, outrage continues among the Islamic world regarding Pope Benedict’s condemnation of holy wars, the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis is delayed due to mysterious space debris flying around close by, the head of the CBC is canned for suggesting Bestiality is legal in Lebanon, and that defecation is one of life’s greatest joys… and what do I draw on?… the Hungarian riots. Yes, I blew an opportunity to pick from a bevy of several juicy issues to focus on a pretty obscure story from yesterday’s newspapers. Just when it was looking like things were gaining momentum I check the headlines this morning only to read ones like this: UPDATE 4-Hungary opposition calls off weekend rally, and Small radical fringe behind violence at Hungarian protest . I suppose my thinking was to be ahead of everyone else just as revolution was unravelling in the streets of Budapest. To get the first cartoon comparing the angry mobs against the Hungarian PM, against whatever anger remains among Ontarians against Dalton McGuinty for broken promises and added taxes. Boy, do I ever look like an idiot.

Combo cartoons are risky executions, and with my ‘I’m-still-mad-at-McGuinty-for-the-health-premiums” attitude, the cartoon comes off pretty out-there, pretty contrived. Wanna know what the original caption would’ve read like had I gone with it? It would’ve said, “I hereby order all paprika off store shelves across Ontario effective immediately.” Yeah, pretty bad. What’s worse is having to throw in a newspaper with wordy headlines to explain the story. The wordier a cartoon is the less people are going to read.

Without the reference to Dalton the cartoon could be considered for publications in places like, Budapest, but with the Dalton reference it’ll go nowhere… except the Hamilton Spectator, and there must be a lot huhs? being uttered and head scratching going on right now in the Hamilton area. Still, I throw it out through my syndicate for whichever paper wants to run it.

September 20, 2006

September 20, 2006 by Graeme MacKay

Picking subjects to cartoon about is a tricky thing. I wrote in an earlier entry about how the summer silly season makes it a bit challenging to pin down a topical subject that’s the current talk of the water cooler circles. I took this Monday off leaving some delicious issues to bake and grow stale…and then become fresh again (after I initially thought the issue was long past expired.) So drawing cartoons is a balance between covering the different levels of news goings-on, i.e. world, national, provincial, and local stuff, and being sure not to miss the really topical news stories of the day. The big story may not gel for a few days, so it’s easy to get ahead of yourself by cartooning too early, or missing the the story altogether in case the story gets overtaken by other events. What I’ve got to keep reminding myself is that I can’t cover everything. By missing one day in the news cycle, however, you can’t help getting upset when good news stories come and go.

Today I face a whole list of great stories I can draw on, but the trick is figuring out which one will appeal to a broad audience and have the most shelf life. The Muslim world vs. Pope Benedict XVI issue continues to go on. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ranted in front of the U.N. last night, and Stephen Harper appears tomorrow. The Chairman of the CBC quit his job for a rather comedic reason, and the Liberal leadership race goes on with some interest which I haven’t had the opportunity to comment on since early June.