2017???

Happy New Year to all. Conjecture about the relevant goodness or badness of 2016 is raging ... but, circumstances concerning my wife's health place me in the 'it was a baddie' corner. Almost the whole year was expended in getting her back to reasonable health and mobility after a nasty fall on the 18th of January 2016.

I hope our experiences in 2017 will be happier.

The Innocents??

This cartoon was constructed yesterday but not posted pending the outcome of a court order served on the Victorian Government to desist from incarcerating children in a maximum security prison meant for adult offenders only. The deadline was supposed to be Friday night... but somehow the so-called 'children' remain in Barwon prison as I write.

Children or not... the detainees are in Barwon prison after destroying most of the specially designated facility in which they were previously being held. Criminal vandalism (or similar) will be the charges they face once the accommodation imbroglio is resolved.

Malcolm at the zenith?

After a summer of discontent (ask the 'Grey Army' once they digest this week's assault on their pension entitlements) there inevitably comes the 'fall'.

A Budget Holiday...

... or summertime dreaming?

DIY Santa.

The trick (if one exists?) is to consume the rewards for service after the event at another location!

Three Blind Mice

I've been idle on the cartoon front for week or so and, as this little example of flap doodling was already in the works, I figured it would fill a space while I get my usual act together again.

Dutton's Christmas?

Our Lord of the island prisons laments the meaning of xmas is being destroyed as children are allegedly being deprived of the right to sing christian carols in schools due to mis-application of 'Political Correctness'.

You postulate as a practicing 'christian' sir, but your works indicate other than a christian ethic in the main thrust of your calling as a minister of the crown. It's 'posers' like you that helped cancel-out any child-hood allegiance I may have been encouraged to show to the christian religion. When I was a child, I acted as a child. Now I am an octogenarian, I act and judge others as an adult. With your recent blathering about christian ethics and standards ... I don't think you're going to make it cobber.

Don't panic!

Sco Mo has been on TV telling us not to panic about the sagging OZ economy.Echoes of Dad's Army I reckon.

This scribbled reaction was done on an ancient Wacom tablet which, like a lot of my computer equipment, has suffered greatly over the past decade or so...but, refuses to die!

Political Gymnastics

Not the thrilling physical kind as seen in real circus. This is mostly boring verbiage (known as cant)  performed by largely spineless creatures inhabiting 'circus OZ' in Canberra.

Exiled?

Josh Frydenberg, federal minister for wild weather and bad smelling stuff, created a noxious odour among some coalition colleagues when he recently uttered the words carbon and pricing in a ministerial statement without first clearing it with party policy makers.

Within hours of that indiscretion he was on a ship bound for Antarctica. Pure coincidence we suppose... but easily misconstrued as being exiled as a punishment for breaking ranks?

Ape pad.

This cartoon first appeared on July 7, 2011 in an earlier blog of mine where space limitations meant accompanying illustrations could not exceed dimensions of 12 x 12 cms.

This one was supposed to laud man's mass adoption of the iPad and, since it was created in vector format, can now be displayed at 20 x 20 cms without any loss of sharpness.

 

Jungle George?

Apparently still not enjoying a firm footing on this planet... National party leader Barnaby Joyce reckons he can 'groom' loose cannon George Christensen from Whip to a senior parliamentary leadership position within the foreseeable future.

Bearing in mind that Christensen's political philosophy seems well to the right of Genghis Khan, we can only wish Barnaby good luck before he proceeds too far into such a hare-brained endeavour.

Counting down!

Is the 'dumbing down of Australia' confirmed by the latest international survey of  'Trends in Mathematics and Science Study' which shows our performance has plummeted since 2011 in relation to other countries?

I wonder if anyone similarly rates the performance of 'leadership' groups who are responsible for declines like this... either by example or simple indifference to the importance of education in the well-being of nations?

Untidiness?

A bit like the last election ... a flagship piece of legislation finally scrapes through the legislative process missing a substantial portion of its original elements. Hardly anything to crow about one would think.