Auchtoon!

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
August 31, 2014

Yes, yes of course we have a racism problem. And we also have a problem when our first reactions to somebody being killed is hoping it was done randomly, not with a weapon we like, and not too close-by.  We (myself most definitely included) have lots of stuff to work on.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
August 24, 2014

Back when we bought our current house 15 years ago, I was feeling a bit guilty. In addition to  the house, we acquired from the previous owners a John Deere tractor with a motorized trailer attachment for collecting leaves. And my folks got us a leaf blower and a chainsaw. All items very necessary for a wooded acre lot, and I don’t regret having them. It’s just that for someone who tries to be a good environmentalist, that’s an awful lot of internal combustion engines. (My friend and motorcycle enthusiast, Monty, tried to assuage my guilt by telling me the one with the most internal combustion engines wins. Or maybe he was making fun of me…. Yeah, that was more likely it.)

So now, the same week that I draw a cartoon pointing out that Global Warming and the resulting Climate Change is having a ill effect on our drinking water supply, Jane and I became the owner of our fourth automobile. Is there anything less green than four actively used automobiles? I suppose by Monty’s standards, I am winning but not without feeling somewhat a hypocrite.

But, feelings notwithstanding, the problem of Climate Change and algae blooms threatening water supplies is real. Earlier this month, an algae bloom in Lake Erie contaminated water supplies for Toledo, Ohio and some southeastern Michigan communities. Satellite photos showed vast areas of bright green against the darker blue normal water of the lake. A wind shift caused some of the toxic algae to be drawn into the water system. Generally warmer temperatures create better conditions for this thick soup of slimy green algae to grow. More intense storms cause fertilizers to wash off to the lake and feed the blooms. It’s a real issue, and my point is that there is no sense in denying it. But also I am among the many who should consider what we might want to do about it.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
August 17, 2014

Yeah, I know — jumping the gun a bit on the “back to school” theme. But I figured this would give us parents a reminder to allow ourselves to focus on the kids before summer is over.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
August 10, 2014

So I printed a collage of slugs to tape to my table as a reference for drawing this cartoon. I stared at the slugs, noted their color, the sheen of their slime trails, etc. After I had done with the drawing and before I started to ink, I took a break for 10 minutes or so. When I came back I had to get rid of the slug collage because now it was making me queazy. I think I did the same thing a few years ago with a cartoon that included sea lampreys. The perils of editorial cartooning….

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
August 3, 2014

Ugh! Enough already! It’s really time to drop the whole “I’m a conservative because I hate Obamacare” bit and get on with moving our health care system forward. For some perspective, here are some health care related cartoons I was drawing more than a decade ago:

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
July 27, 2014

Not much to add to this one really. Tax structures, local revenue stabilization, business equipment values — it’s quite a lot to have to think about during the few weeks of nice weather we get here in Michigan. Except that it didn’t get out of the 60s yesterday. *sigh*

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
July 20, 2014

Last week there was a protest in the small town of Vassar in Michigan’s thumb about US immigration policy. That seems a curious place to have such a protest, but there were two main reasons. One, there was a possibility that some of the Central American children who have been entering the United States illegally in this recent wave of desperate refugees would be brought to Vassar temporarily to be processed. Two, fear.

And so in a very human and historically American reaction to fear, some folks grabbed flags and weapons and marched around with angry faces, blamed others for the situation, and offered emotionally satisfying but completely unworkable solutions for fixing everything. (The one that always gets me: build a wall with Mexico. The border distance of the Gaza Strip with Israel and Egypt is about 40 miles and obviously cannot be sealed. The US/Mexico border is almost 2000 miles. Uh-huh.)

It’s a tough problem with real human beings that will need thoughtful solutions and money to manage. It will also be helpful for folks in Vassar and the rest of the US to think about what is driving those kids north. As Bob Dylan said, “When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose.”

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
July 13, 2014

Can you tell I have one kid graduated from college, one in college, and one nearly there? Can you tell I’m a little bitter about a few things?

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
July 6, 2014

My little inside joke here is the guy wearing the American flag shirt with “Bud” on it — the parent company that makes Budweiser and Bud Light is actually Belgian.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
June 29, 2014

In general, I’ve given Governor Snyder more slack than an editorial cartoonist probably should in his approach to staying on task with his agenda and trying to stay out of the quagmire of day-to-day politics. But he is the governor after all, and it’s not wrong to expect a certain level of accountability (or, heck, even feigned interest) in a topic that is important despite not being at the top of his list. Last week when presented with some evidence that certain charter schools have not been the best stewards of our public money, Snyder came back with what I paraphrased in panel #2. Which sounded to me like what he says in panel #3. It was a condescending dodge one would expect from a slick politician. I feel the slack tightening….