Categories
Blog Syndicate

Texas Disaster

Back when I was a local cartoonist for the now-defunct Honolulu Advertiser newspaper, there was a disaster where a negligent captain allowed his submarine to be controlled by a stupid celebrity who rammed into a Japanese High School fishing boat, killing and failing to rescue many of the kids. I reacted with cartoons strongly criticizing the Navy and the captain of the sub – but I missed the mark. The paper had a second cartoonist, Dick Adair who drew a memorial cartoon with leis floating on the water. Dick’s cartoon was better.

When a disaster first strikes, and people die, mourning should come first. I was thinking about that with the Texas floods as my colleagues were drawing gags and cartoons criticizing Trump’s visit to the scene, or cartoons championing the first responders, I thought I should take a step back and remember Dick Adair’s cartooning wisdom with a flowers on the water memorial cartoon, this time including a cowboy hat to signify Texas. Maybe readers and editors are in the mood for gags, but I’m in more of a somber, sympathetic mood.

Categories
Blog Syndicate

California’s “Drought”

We live with a never-ending drought in California – especially in Santa Barbara where I was just hit by a whopping $906.15 water bill for December from my local Montecito Water District. The bill included a $480.00 penalty, a $144.90 “surcharge” and a $44.59 “meter service charge.” The charge for the actual water used was $236.66. I have no idea why I had a higher reading on the meter last month. I’m guessing that the gardener may have left my low-flow sprinklers running – but that is just a guess.

I might try appealing the bill, but I’m allowed to appeal only the $480.00 penalty portion of the bill and the water district charges a non-refundable fee of over $200.00 to appeal a penalty (they tell me my appeal would be rejected because I can’t explain the high meter reading).

In “drought stricken” California we live with the random threat of crazy water bills bloated by penalties, along with our “gold is the new green” lawns. No amount of rain seems to impact the drought perception. Our local reservoir, Lake Cachuma, remains at alarmingly low levels compared to other lakes because it isn’t much of a lake; it is sustained with deliveries of water from the California state water system, which have been curtailed because of the drought. Other, better planned California reservoirs have been overflowing from the recent storms. As much as I hate to say it, I have to agree with Donald Trump that the California drought is more a matter of poor planning and poor priorities.

Nothing will turn a liberal cartoonist into a conservative like receiving a $906.15 water bill when the whole state is flooded.

Categories
Cartoons

Pakistan Relief Effort

Pakistan Relief Effort Color © Daryl Cagle,MSNBC.com,Uncle Sam,terrorism,islam,muslim,USA,Pakistan,flood,disaster,relief,foreign aid,bomb,turban

Categories
Cartoons

Afghan War Leaks and Obama

Afghan War Leaks and Obama COLOR © Daryl Cagle,MSNBC.com,Military,Afghanistan,war,leaks,wikileaks, Julian Assange,Barack Obama,President,pipe,faucet,flood,paper,documents,

Categories
Cartoons

Dropping Billions

Dropping Billions © Daryl Cagle,MSNBC.com,New Orleans, billion, dollars, helicopters, flood, Katrina, disaster, budget, congress, funding, weather, Category 5, destroy, aid