storm – DarylCagle.com

Texas Disaster

Post author By Daryl Cagle
Post date August 30, 2017

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.

Blog Syndicate

California’s “Drought”

Post author By Daryl Cagle
Post date January 13, 2017

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.

Tags atmospheric river, bear, california, climate change, drought, flag, flood, Montecito Water District, rain, santa barbara, storm, weather

Cartoons

California Rain

Post author By Daryl Cagle
Post date February 27, 2014

Tags bear, california, Cartoons, mud, rain, slide, storm

Blog

Fox News Schadenfreude

Post author By Daryl Cagle
Post date November 8, 2012

I watched Fox News while I worked, all day yesterday. Oh! Such sore losers. There is so much bitterness; so many recriminations. It was delightful, and it inspired the cartoon below. Here is my rough sketch, somehow, the rough sketch always looks the best.

Then I drew it up as the line art that most people will see in their newspapers that still print in black and white. I printed out a map of the continental United States and traced it for the storm cloud.