Winter

Friday December 23, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 23, 2022

Winter storm in US and Canada causes power outages for over a million

The storm has brought damaging winds and freezing temperatures that can quickly lead to frostbite.

December 24, 2013

Much of Canada and the US are under winter weather alerts that stretch from coast-to-coast and as far south as the US-Mexico border.

Major airports have cancelled thousands of flights as the storm intensifies.

As of Friday morning, more than 1,130,000 people from Texas to Maine were left in the dark, as the intense winds brought damage to power lines across the eastern US.

Power outages have also been reported in Canada, affecting 260,000 people in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario.

January 31, 2019

The US National Weather Service said that over 200 million people – or roughly 60% of the US population – are under some form of winter weather advisory.

Much of Canada, from British Columbia to Newfoundland, is also under extreme cold and winter storm warnings.

Several school boards in Ontario, including Toronto, have cancelled classes. The airline WestJet has also cancelled flights on Friday due to “prolonged and extreme weather events” across Canada.

This storm is set to bring the iciest Christmas in decades, say forecasters, even affecting the sunshine state of Florida. (BBC) 

From sketch to finish, in 30 seconds, 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.

 

Tuesday December 20, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 20, 2022

Happy Winter solstice 2022 – Good riddance to a dreary past year

December 21, 2012

For most of us in the northern hemisphere, the drop in temperature over the last few weeks has become apparent; frosty mornings and cold air is the order of the day. Marking the first day of astronomical winter, the winter solstice lays claim to the shortest day of the year, but it’s also the date after which the Sun starts to make a welcome return.

The winter solstice is one of the oldest known winter celebrations. Not only does it mark the changing of the seasons, but it marks an end to the long winter nights.

Although Stonehenge is one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments, remarkably little is known about these ancient standing stones. They have, however, become synonymous with the solstices, and it’s difficult to avoid news of throngs of people flocking to the monument in mid-winter and mid-summer. But they have good reason, and have done so for millennia.

October 21, 2021

Most archaeologists believe that Stonehenge was erected as a giant astronomical calendar, as the standing stones are oriented towards the rising and setting Sun at the solstices. However, there is some debate as to whether they were originally built for a specific solstice, or both.

At the winter solstice, the Sun would have set between two uprights, however the effect is somewhat lost today as one of these stones has since fallen down. Laser analysis of these stones has revealed that they were carefully shaped using hammerstones, creating vertical sides that perfectly framed the movement of the Sun.

This year, because the precise time of the solstice occurs at 9:48pm on 21 December (i.e., after the Sun has set), the winter solstice will be celebrated at sunrise on 22 December. But, if you don’t fancy heading out into the brisk winter morning, you can livestream the event over at English Heritage. (BBC) 

 

Tuesday October 25, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday October 25, 2022

Municipal action on affordable housing is in everyone’s interest

The affordable housing crisis in Canada is putting people on the streets or forcing them to live in inadequate or even dangerous housing.

October 15, 2022

Because this crisis is caused by several complex and interrelated factors, it unfortunately can’t be solved with a single magic bullet. We urgently need to accelerate action on affordable housing on four fronts: the construction, acquisition and retention of affordable housing, and housing supports.

The National Housing Strategy is a great leap forward in Canadian housing policy. Much of the funding goes directly to municipalities for construction of new, affordable rental housing units, primarily built and managed by the non-profit sector.

Municipalities need to find ways to accelerate affordable housing construction by streamlining the planning approval process, providing land for affordable housing, reducing or creatively financing development charges — a major cost driver — and helping non-profit organizations develop more homes faster.

But most “affordable” rental housing in Canada (i.e., places with modest rent) is in private market buildings. We can’t possibly build new affordable housing fast enough to compensate for the simultaneous loss of affordable market housing.

December 28, 2021

As a result of processes that inflate rents, the loss of affordable market rental housing has accelerated over the last several years. From 2011-2016, Canada lost 322,000 homes renting for under $750 per month. This extended to a further loss of 230,000 units under $750 from 2016-2021.

Investors seek buildings with below-market rents. As tenants leave (either forcibly or by attrition), owners can substantially increase rents. This inflation is made possible by vacancy decontrol, where rent is only regulated if the same tenant stays in a unit. Once a tenant vacates, rent can raised to whatever the market will bear.

To help preserve affordable properties, non-profit organizations need tools for acquiring existing market rental housing with modest rents. This is much faster than new construction, helps mitigate the erosion of affordable housing stock and avoids the sometimes slow processes for new construction. (The Toronto Star) 

 

Friday February 18, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 18, 2022

Canada beats rival U.S. to reclaim Olympic women’s hockey supremacy

Canada waited four long years for Olympic women’s hockey redemption.

February 20, 2010

In 2019, it failed to even reach the final of the world championship. That’s when the countdown began — literally.

General manager Gina Kingsbury gave each team member a clock displaying the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the 2022 Olympics.

Now, after the clocks hit zero, there’s Olympic gold medals around Canadian necks once more after beating the U.S. 3-2 on Thursday in Beijing to claim their first title since 2014.

Captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice — including her third career Olympic game-winning goal — while Sarah Nurse’s goal and assist pushed her past Canadian great Hayley Wickenheiser for most points in a single tournament with 18.

It was quite the journey even since the clocks were distributed. Canada won its first worlds since 2010 in August. Last October, it centralized with a group of 29 players in Calgary to prepare for six months for the Beijing Olympics. In January, that centralization became a bubble following a COVID-19 breakout.

Friday February 4, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 4, 2022

A recipe for hope: How to vaccinate the world and end the pandemic

January 7, 2022

Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the Olympic Winter Games open on Friday, during a subdued opening ceremony that is following less than six months after the end of the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Summer Games.

Athletes from more than 90 countries are settled into Beijing’s National Stadium, a.k.a. the “Bird’s Nest,” for the opening ceremony of these Games — a familiar scene as the city is the first to host both a Summer and Winter Olympics, with many venues repurposed for winter use after the 2008 Summer Games. (CBC) 

Meanwhile, there is new reason for hope in ending unequal vaccine access and finding a global resolution for the pandemic.  Researchers at Baylor College in Texas have developed a vaccine  based on established technology and common handling and refrigeration techniques. Best of all, they have no intention of filing a patent but have concrete plans for large-scale manufacturing in the Global South.