Saturday, December 14, 2013

December 14, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, December 14, 2013

Hamilton police arrest video goes viral

A citizen’s video of Hamilton police subduing a screaming female suspect, while using minimal force, has gone lightly viral, garnering hundreds of thousands of views since being posted Wednesday.

“Honest Cops” was posted on You Tube and then linked to a popular reposting site.

It quickly sparked thousands of comments and was closing in on 400,000 views by Thursday night.

In the nearly 8-minute-long video, shot outside The Source store on Mohawk Road near Upper Gage, Hamilton constables Mark Morelli and Chantelle Wilson are shown first subduing and then arresting an out-of-control suspect in what police say was “a domestic related” incident. The arrest took place Sunday.

The woman can be heard screaming and seen thrashing about on the sidewalk in front of the store, ignoring Morelli and Wilson’s commands to stop resisting and to put her hands behind her back. Seemingly hysterical, she claims “I can’t breathe” repeatedly, and complains that her chin is cut and she’s lost a tooth.

For several minutes the officers struggle to control and cuff her and take her to the waiting patrol car. They treat her sternly, but with evident restraint, employing force only to contain her, not hurt her. Eventually Wilson and Morelli succeed in placing the 21-year-old Hamilton resident in the waiting cruiser.

During the arrest and afterwards Morelli, aware they are being videotaped, attempts to answer the complaints of the videographer and other bystanders, explaining what they are doing and what the law permits them to do.

“You can’t do that … she’s only a weak girl” the videographer admonishes the officers repeatedly as they struggle to cuff the woman.

“I’ll explain it to you in a second,” Morelli says, holding up one hand in a “wait there” gesture.

True to his word when the woman is finally securely in the rear seat of the cruiser, he catches his wind and proceeds to explain the law and the use of force choices they made during the arrest.

Hamilton media relations officer Debbie McGreal-Dinning would offer no information on the arrest, citing the service’s policies against commenting on ‘domestic incidents.’ (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Feedback

Last Saturday’s editorial cartoon not only disrespected a fine officer but every member of the Hamilton Police Service.

Officer Mark Morelli went the extra step, trying to — and accomplishing — make the arrest a learning experience for not only the bystanders but for everyone who eventually watched the recording. His action was a credit to him, his superiors, every member of the force and the entire city of Hamilton.

The cartoon appears to accuse Morelli of grandstanding and preparing for a photo-op rather than taking a moment to recover after a rough arrest.

I know that it is much more difficult and draining, both physically and mentally, to hold back rather than going all out with full force.

I have dealt with Morelli in his official capacity and he is the type of officer you would want on the scene regardless which side of the law you are on.

If you are a victim, he will do his utmost to protect you and see to your needs. If you are a perpetrator, he will be no rougher than necessary to affect an arrest, but he will work even harder to help a person turn their life around. He deserved better than what you gave him.

If you want an idea for an editorial cartoon, how about a judge and lawyer waiting to give the young woman a mani-pedi in the back of the cruiser after the arrest.

Hans-Peter Boergers, Hamilton

Saturday, September 21, 2013

September 21, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, September 21, 2013

Pope Francis blasts abortion as part of ‘throw-away culture’

Pope Francis offered an olive branch of sorts to the doctrine-minded, conservative wing of the Catholic Church on Friday as he denounced abortion as a symptom of today’s “throw-away culture” and encouraged Catholic doctors to refuse to perform them.

Francis issued a strong anti-abortion message and cited Vatican teaching on the need to defend the unborn during an audience with Catholic gynecologists.

It came a day after he was quoted as blasting the church’s obsession with “small-minded rules” that are driving the faithful away and urging it to focus instead on being merciful and welcoming — an interview that has sent shock waves throughout the church.

Even before the interview was published, conservatives had voiced disappointment that Francis had shied away from restating church rules on such hot-button issues as abortion, homosexuality and gay marriage. Francis explained his reason for doing so in the interview with the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, saying church teaching on such issues is well-known, he supports it, but that he doesn’t feel it necessary to repeat it constantly.

He did repeat that message on Friday, however. In his comments, Francis denounced today’s “throw-away culture” that justifies disposing of lives, and said doctors in particular had been forced into situations where they are called to “not respect life.”

“Every child that isn’t born, but is unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of Jesus Christ, has the face of the Lord,” he said.
He urged the gynecologists to abide by their consciences and help bring lives into the world. “Things have a price and can be for sale, but people have a dignity that is priceless and worth far more than things,” he said. (Source: CBC News)

FEEDBACK

This cartoon was featured on Yahoo! Canada News, with a bit of discussion on its Facebook Page. Lots of likes and a few comments were left in its link on Cagle Cartoons. It also showed up on a blog called the American Catholic. A positive letter was printed in the September 24th edition of the Hamilton Spectator: “With regard to Saturday’s editorial cartoon featuring the Pope, a big bouquet to Graeme MacKay for a witty, timely, insightful comment.” – Keith Moody, Binbrook

Saturday, September 14, 2013

September 15, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, September 14, 2013

Charter of Quebec Values: Daycares risk losing Muslim educators, group warns

During the one year that Karima Al-Ouatiq has worked at a daycare in the St-Laurent borough, not one parent has complained about the fact that she wears a hijab.

But if the Quebec government has its way, Al-Ouatiq and three of her fellow daycare workers may have to choose between removing their hijabs or quitting their jobs.

“The fact that I wear a hijab is irrelevant,” Al-Ouatiq said on Tuesday. “No one should be able to tell me not to wear one, the same way we don’t tell people not to wear pants or T-shirts.”

The Quebec government released details of its controversial charter of values on Tuesday. If the charter is adopted by the National Assembly, it will ban government employees from wearing religious symbols in daycares, secondary schools and other educational institutions.

Al-Ouatiq said the daycare where she works is multicultural, and many Muslim parents are happy that some of the educators wear hijabs.

“You can’t tell a Muslim woman wearing a hijab that she can’t work with children,” she insisted.

She said she expects the Muslim community to protest against the government’s plan.

“The Muslim community and the Arab community will do something,” she said. “They won’t just sit on their hands.”

Al-Ouatiq said she believes Quebec’s proposed restrictions on religious symbols are part of a “wave that is coming from Europe.” (Source: The Montreal Gazette)

FEEDBACK

This cartoon was featured in a gallery of Editorial Cartoons in the Yahoo! Canada News for September 2013, and here. It received lots of likes, shares, and colourful commentary on the Yahoo! Canada News Facebook Page. It caught the attention of people on the Graeme MacKay – Editorial Cartoonist Facebook Page.

Saturday August 31, 2013 (Labour Day Weekend)

August 31, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

Is Labour Day still every day for women at home?

“Ask of me anything but doing the laundry.” – Napoleon

True, history suggests the diminutive dictator said to ask of him anything but time, but surely that was code for housework.

Times have changed from the days when men left all the chores to women while they brought home the bacon and conquered nations.

Isn’t it true that the division of labour in the home is no longer so imbalanced?

As a sociologist might put it, the answer is yes and no.

A Statistics Canada study says that between 1998 and 2010 men increased the time they spent on home chores by an hour in a given day, while women’s housework time remained constant.

And yet it found that Canadian women still do at least an hour more chores per day then men.

Moreover, women working full time spend nearly twice as much time caring for their children.

So is the egalitarian glass half-full or half-empty? Or should we measure using a smaller glass?

It bears noting that housework for both genders has decreased overall compared to the 1960s, in part due to such things as affordable home appliances, easier to prepare meals and paid home cleaners.

But chores continue to be mostly handled by women. Friction over the imbalance can doom a couple.

“The division of labour in and of itself can torpedo a marriage,” said Gary Direnfield, a Hamilton social worker and author of Marriage Rescue.

“And it’s not necessarily who is doing the laundry but how we feel about who is doing it. We take that as a statement on the relationship, attach meaning to these chores and fight over what we believe it means.”

Women’s lives have been transformed in the past 50 years, McMaster University sociologist Melanie Heath wrote in an email from Paris where she is conducting research. (Continued… Source: The Hamilton Spectator)

March 26, 2007

March 26, 2007 by Graeme MacKay

The future is animation…

For more than a year I’ve been dabbling in the animation of my editorial cartoons. Actually, the real hard work in bringing life to my cartoons is done by longtime friend Scott Blackett. We’re both rather new at this and we’re learning about it and getting better as we go.

The seal hunt was our first animated movie. At 30 seconds, it’s also our longest. It’s a bit graphic but it puts out a clear message about the seal hunt with great effect. White backgrounds, it seems, work best in terms of clarity with our type of animaton. Another cartoon about Victoria and David Beckham meeting the press after arriving in Hollywood came out rather blurry after it was uploaded to YouTube.

My end of the job is pretty easy, although there are extra steps taken as l execute each cartoon if an animated clip is in the offing. Specifically, the background and features need to be drawn separately. If a lot of movement is required, extra limbs need to be created.

Once all the parts are drawn and separated they’re shipped off by email to Scott who’s based in Toronto. I don’t know exactly what he does to bring about the magic of the movement but I always get a huge kick out of the end result. I’ll let him explain the process later.

So we’ve begun uploading these videos onto YouTube with hopes of getting some hits and feedback. You can find our profile here.

FEEDBACK

Newfies are an easy target. I don’t agree with all aspects of the seal hunt, but there are many worse culprits — like the shark hunt which is decimating the ocean’s eco-system.

Here’s my take on the seal hunt, with Pamela Anderson being clubbed instead.

http://www.weltschmerz.ca/blog/2006/04/thwunk_1.php

Still, technically, I think that animation really works well. And it’s always fun to draw blood.

– Gareth Lind (April 3, 2007)