Caricatures Ireland

“NEW YORK POST MONKEY/STIMULUS BILL CARTOON

This cartoon is currently causing quite a stir in both the political realm and the blogosphere

http://contexts.org/socimages/files/2009/02/18delonas2_480.jpg

The question is, is this a racist cartoon? According to the NYT,

The chimpanzee was an apparent reference to the 200-pound pet chimpanzee that was shot dead by a police officer in Stamford, Conn., on Monday evening, after it mauled a friend of his owner.

via Sociological Images » NEW YORK POST MONKEY/STIMULUS BILL CARTOON.”

I’m giving the benefit of the doubt here. It’s the infinite monkeys and infinite typewriters trope.

Tags: Barack Obama, Cartoons, controversial by Allan
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From Galway Water Crisis:

FREE RECYCLING OF WATER BOTTLES WILL BE AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY. Just put them in clear plastic bags and put them out at your normal day/time. This was announced at the 23 April meeting of the City Council in a letter to the councillors from the manager.
Here is an excerpt of the city manager’s letter:
This issue of disposing of the bottles is primarily bulk and not weight. The best advice is to squash the bottles after removing the caps. This allows a reduction in bulk in the green bin and also allows the refuse freighter to compact the bottles more efficiently.
The following measures are being put into place:
(i) Bottles which are put in clear bags will be collected with green bins as per normal collection dates. It is important that water bottles are not mixed up with other waste to facilitate recycling. Free clear bags will be made available from the Environment Department, City Hall, on request.
(ii) A container will be available in Sandy Road Depot from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Saturday to facilitate this collection of plastic bottles.

Also let me give a plug to the Galway Wants Water forum, which has been set up to give Galwegians a voice in the current crisis.

Tags: Galway, Plop, controversial, cryptosporidium, dick roche, galway city council, galway water crisis, health, protest by Allan
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Tags: controversial, cryptosporidium, dick roche, galway city council, galway water crisis, health by Allan
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My take on the Galway water crisis. And when global warming kicks in we’ll have plenty of sand to bury our heads in.

And on a related note some Galway citizens are taking a proactive role in questioning exactly what’s being done about the current crisis:

Small turn-out but I believe it was an ad-hoc meeting and the questions asked are very valid. Personally I think this is going to hurt our tourist season badly. I hope to be wrong on that. If you are a potential traveller to Galway reading this, you should know that an alternative water supply will be in place soon, and the only inconvenience to you is having to brush your teeth with bottled or boiled water.
God, it’s like Jaws, only microscopic!

Tags: Cartoons, Connacht Tribune, Double Vision, Galway, charlie adley, controversial, cryptosporidium, galway water crisis by Allan
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I’m really disappointed to read that the Macnas Parade won’t be happening this year during the Arts Festival. I had my suspicions that something like this was coming but it’s still a blow when it comes. It’s clear that between the Arts Council and the Galway City Council that the value that the parade lends to the city during the summer is meaningless. The Arts Council especially is culpable in this: in my last years in Macnas it was becoming increasingly antagonistic to Macnas and actually froze its funding. I don’t know whether this was ever remedied but an institution has been allowed to flounder and let’s be clear, this could mean the end of Macnas in the not too distant future. Consider the Macnas Parade to a white elephant like the Abbey Theatre: good millions are being thrown after bad there, while all Macnas needed was something in the region of €70,000 (my estimate) to keep the ball rolling. After years of loyal service Macnas are like the greying mutt kicked out into the back yard.
What is needed is a cash value being put on the parade: the first thing most of the audience does is turn around and find the nearest pub or restaurant. This year that nice little spike in takings one Sunday in the middle of July won’t appear. Therefore it makes good economic sense for every business that does well from the parade to put a little outlay, tax-deductable, into ensuring an event that fills their premises actually occurs. In short the arts aren’t just for looking at but can present a genuine marketing opportunity for the enterprising trader. But by the sounds of it, the eleventh hour has come and gone as regards this year’s parade.

So long the Macnas Parade. You gave me the shteart in my career. Hope to see you next year but I won’t hold my breath.

Tags: arts council, controversial, galway city council, macnas, parades by Allan
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