Not often you come across a trouble making armed cartoonist

[Boyo_Jim]

The AP story isn’t much but the headline really caught my eye.

[Bumbazine]

So it wasn’t Dave Barry?

Good.

[GIGObuster]

Some background:

Jose Varela, a free-lance cartoonist who had worked for the Herald’s Spanish-language sister publication, El Nuevo Herald.

…

Ferreira said Varela had been in the newsroom a week ago and told former colleagues he had bought a sawed-off shotgun and an Uzi submachine gun because he felt unsafe in Jupiter, a Florida town he moved to after his recent divorce.

Acquired by McClatchy Co. last June in its more than $4 billion purchase of Knight Ridder Inc., both the Herald and El Nuevo Herald have seen their share of controversy and drama.

The Spanish language newspaper fired several reporters in September after the English language Herald reported that they also were being paid by the U.S. government-funded Radio and TV Marti to help undermine Cuban President Fidel Castro.

The revelation touched off a furious debate about journalistic ethics.

Bombarded by criticism from angry Cuban Americans who argued that opposing Castro was the duty of all Cuban exiles, and that there was therefore nothing unethical about receiving U.S. government money for anti-Castro broadcasts, publisher Jesus Diaz Jr. ordered the reporters to be reinstated and himself resigned in October.

Earlier this year El Nuevo Herald was found to have doctored a photo of prostitutes in Havana to make it look like Cuban police were in cahoots with the prostitutes.

[Snooooopy]

All hell broke loose after someone said to him, “Draw, pardner!”

[Mindfield]

All I can picture is a disgruntled fellow walking into his editor’s office wielding a Dobiematic[sup]tm[/sup]

[Cartooniverse]

Trust me, he is no longer in my circle of trust !!

Cartooniverse

[Bites_When_Provoked]

Hehe. For the last few days, the comic strip Arlo and Janis has been running a short skit about how the artist hurt his thumb after accidentally breaking some stemware he was holding during a heated argument.

Seems these cartooning types are just way too high-strung.

[Cartooniverse]

You’ve got that right, buster !!!

[JacksonRoykirk]

@Bumbazine

So it wasn’t Dave Barry?

Good.

[nitpick]Dave Barry’s not a cartoonist.[/nitpick]

[Cartooniverse]

Dave ??

Is that you ??? Uncloak man, you are amongst friends !!

[Sunspace]

Ever since that Danish thing, we cartoonists have been under a lot of stress.

Stress. That’s it.

Stress. But we get used to it, and a suitable program of dancing, exercise, nutrition and massage* relaxes us and puts us in a healthy, creative frame of min–WhAT? WHADDAYA mEAN the VIDeo CArd has flipped out AGAIN!!! ?%$$#@ *& comPUTER! ARRRDGGGHH!!! *THUD bang SMASH tinkle tinkle *

:: pant pant ::

Now, what was I saying?

[sub]*I.e, wine, women, and song[/sub]

[guizot]

@GIGObuster

Some background:

The Nuevo Heraldo is crappy, as is the SF Cronicle and the SD UT. It doesn’t surprise me that they’d doctor photos. Havana police get prostitutes whenever they can. They even arrest women who simply happen to be on the streets at the wrong time, if they’re with a foreigner.