DNR deer count

There has been a whole lot of hoopla about the DNR count of the Wisconsin Deer Herd. Hunters think the DNR has been grossly overestimating the size of the herd, and therefore has been advocating for unsustainable hunting practices, like "earn a buck" which forces hunters to shoot an antler-less deer, before allowing them to shoot a trophy Buck. Hunters cite the dramatically lower deer kill this year (which was down about 30%), as evidence of the DNR faulty numbers. Of course, the DNR suspended the "earn a buck" program this year, and hunters killed a very few antler less deer. Perhaps the change in policy explains the change in the deer kill.

But the cartoon is still a lot of fun.

Tax Heck

I thought this cartoon was pretty funny. I like the idea of HECK, some sort of watered down, not so bad version of eternal damnation.

Weekend Cartoons

These cartoons ran in the State Journal on Saturday and Sunday.

Both are pretty funny, but neither are particularly hard hitting. Also, I need to draw fewer animals. I don't really care for our furry friends.

Update

Here are the cartoons I've drawn since my last post.

Barrett Runs for Governor

Here is the cartoon I drew for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's decision to run for Governor in 2010.
I drew the cartoon earlier last week, because I had to head out of town for a funeral.

I had two separate captions for the cartoon one in case Barrett declared he would run, and one for in case he decided to stay put. Here is the cartoon that didn't run.
And I was pretty perturbed that Barret waited until Sunday to announce his candidacy. I had stayed up until 3am last Thursday morning drawing the cartoon so my editor could use it over the weekend. I then awoke at 5am Thursday so I catch my flight to the east coast for the funeral. By announcing on Sunday, when there is no one at the editorial desk at the Wisconsin State Journal, my cartoon didn't run until Tuesday, and I stayed up to 3am for no reason.

Consider yourself warned Mayor Barrett, you've gotten my bad side, and now I will relish every opportunity I get to draw a cartoon about you. That's right, don't mess with the cartoonist.

Radioactive

The issue of using student test scores to evaluate teacher performance has become rather toxic.

It all seems rather silly to me. I understand that teachers should not be evaluated solely on student test results, but test that measure a student's learning progress are essential to evaluating how well teachers are performing, and whether they should keep their jobs. There are thousands of dedicated teachers in this country that are woefully underpaid for the innovative work they do to help their students learn. Likewise there are thousands of unimaginative and apathetic teachers who are concerned more with their next vacation, than they are with how well their students learn. Good teachers need to be paid for their trouble, and bad teachers need to be removed from the classrooms, and there's nothing wrong with using student test scores to help separate the good from the bad.

Edgewater and Library projects in Madison

Here is a cartoon from today's Wisconsin State Journal.

I usually agree with Ald. Schumacher. I've found him to be pragmatic and he has a healthier dose of common sense than most council members. But he's wrong to delay the Edgewater and Library proposals. Both proposals hinge on cheap construction and material cost because of the recession, and both will cost significantly more money and become less viable as the economy improves.

Michael Schumacher is pretty smart and knows this. He wants to kill these projects.

He should have to guts to say so.