I can die with a smile on my face.

No, I'm not dying -- but I am saying good-bye.

A little over two years ago (August 2005), I joined the staff of the Daily Herald as editorial cartoonist and graphic designer. In an industry where staff cartoonist positions at newspapers are dwindling, the Daily Herald gave me an opportunity to pontificate politically three or four times a week and to get a few things off my chest.  As an editorial cartoonist, the cast of characters I had to work with were priceless and many days the cartoons practically wrote themselves. In fact, that may be one of the hardest things in leaving -- I may not be able to control myself the next time Super Del Schanze does something "totally awesome!" (There may still be the possibility that I continue doing some editorial cartoons on a freelance basis for the Herald).

I'm glad I had the opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do. Unfortunately, I think I was born a couple of decades too late to make this my life-long occupation and I'm moving on to a new challenge as a creative director at a major construction company in Salt Lake City.

Being an editorial cartoonist will be an experience I'll never forget. Hopefully the readers have enjoyed the ride half as much as I have.

Thanks,
Aaron Taylor

When a teacher's life is threatened because of the name school children in her class named him, then it's time to take a lighthearted look at the whole thing.

Kurt in Pleasant Grove didn't see in any humor in the cartoon and wrote an email to me and the editorial board to let them know he was offended.

Daily Herald,
 
Shame on A. Taylor and the Daily Herald for the insensitive teddy bear cartoon on December 4. It is worse than bad taste. In effect, you are saying to the Muslim community and the world, “we do not believe in the tradition of our brethren, which was handed down to them by the childishness of their fathers; but we believe that thou hast elected us to be thy holy children.” (Alma 31:16) Apparently Muslims feel about this approximately as Mormons would feel if a teacher had dressed a teddy bear in little L.D.S. temple garments. If you wish to represent this community as a media source, please change your attitude and editorial policy to show proper respect for the deep beliefs of others. I would like to hear publicly on the editorial page from Craig Dennis, Randy Wright, and Jim Tynen on this matter.
 
Kurt M.
Pleasant Grove

And I saw this book doing some research on how to draw Winnie the Pooh. YIKES!

Mitt Romney ran into a little trouble this week when he said he would not consider including a Muslim as a member of his cabinet if elected.

It's that time of the year again -- need I say more?

This cartoon was in Daily Herald's Rivalry Week sports section on Sunday.

Rookie quarterback John Beck got his first start yesterday with the Miami Dolphins and did an okay job, considering the circumstances - no fumbles, no interceptions. I hope he survives, though.

I hopped on the Miami Herald site today to gauge the fans' reaction to Beck's play. Most of the comments of those who read the story about the Dolphins' loss to the Eagles said they couldn't complain about Beck's performance since it was his first start. In fact, there seemed to be a hint of optimism from some of the comments, particularly looking forward to Beck and Ted Ginn, Jr. being on the team next year.

Hopefully John Beck is aloud some time to grow as a quarterback. I grew up in Colorado and remember a young rookie named John Elway trying to squeeze Craig Morton out of the starting QB job (Morton was my favorite player and I was not happy some punk kid was coming along to squeeze him out of the starting role). Elway was pretty raw at first -- but I heard he went on to have a pretty good career in the NFL.

An Arizona developer hopes to create a new ski town in Utah south of Heber City called Aspen.

"Aspen?"

"ASPEN?!?!"

Is that REALLY the best name that can be come up with?

And I'm not totally convinced the area is high enough to support a ski resort -- but what do I know.

Thankfully, every November, we celebrate Veterans Day to remind us of the sacrifices many have made for the freedoms we currently enjoy. Sometimes we fail to recognize really how much some have sacrificed.

The debate leading up to the vote on Referendum 1 really put the "box" in ballot box, didn't it? Both sides really duked it out and the debates were heated. In the end, nearly two-thirds of Utahns voted to not have a voucher program that would allow tax money to be used for private education. Oreo cookies were used as a visual aid in commercials by the voucher supporters, so it was fun to carry that image on a little further in today's cartoon.

Most years there's typically a low voter turnout and citizens are chastised by the media and columnists (and editorial cartoonists!) for not getting out to vote. But the voucher issue really pumped a lot of excitement into this election year and turnout was pretty good. In fact, the wait at my local polls was well over an hour.

The state of Utah is going through an identity crisis, don't you think? Can Utah really be considered The Reddest State if Bill Clinton can come in and raise $350,000 at a fundraiser?

If LaVerle from Orem hopped in a time machine in 1996 and showed up today, he'd have no idea what planet he was on.

With double digit leads in some polls over her competition in the race for President of the United States, Hillary Clinton is now a target. Candidates both Democrat and Republican are looking to chip away at her lead and have attempted to do so in some of the recent debates.

The presence of illegal drugs in a home is not enough to trigger a state law that says children are endangered when exposed to them, the Utah Supreme Court said Friday.

A couple of years ago, when the Goshute Indians in Skull Valley tried to host a nuclear project in Utah, state leaders fought very hard to shoot down the idea (one politician's stance on a Nuclear Utah was "over my dead body). Now this month, two legislators are proposing a nuclear reactor in the state, and politicians seem to be warming up to the idea.

If you haven't heard, the Red Sox wrapped up one of the most boring World Series in recent memory by sweeping the Rockies in a dominant fashion. It would have been nice to have the Rox win a game or two, but when all is said and done, it was good to see them in the Big Series and hopefully it's something they can build on for the next couple of years.

BYU's was to play San Diego State in football this weekend. But with the outbreak of fires in the San Diego area, the game appropriately has been rescheduled for December 1.

Mitt Romney is continually saying he will not be influenced by Mormon church leaders -- and I believe him. It's all of the other religious leaders, whom he has courted, that I can't say for sure won't have an influence over him if he becomes president. In fact, trying to get endorsements and votes from the Religious Right has apparently influenced Romney to change his stance on a number of political issues.

It's official -- the Colorado Rockies will meet the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.

I'm calling it the SCRUBway Series. When Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis throws the first pitch to Boston's Manny Ramirez, I'll have to rub my eyes and make sure I haven't inadvertently switched the channel to NBC.

"Who turned on 'Scrubs'? Isn't that J.D. throwing a curveball past Turk?"

Check out the photos below and decide for yourself.

Governor Huntsman signed the school voucher program into law in February and a few months ago voucher opponents gained enough signatures to put the program on hold and force a referendum on the issue. Since that time, Huntsman has been practically invisible when it comes to the voucher debate (He did attend a pro-voucher news conference last week for the first time in the since the the referendum was forced).

Perhaps the news that a majority of Utahns oppose the idea of school vouchers has kept the Governor away? Many times, what is NOT said speaks louder than what IS said.

Novell is laying off 250 software development and engineering positions in the U.S. (200 in the Provo offices) and offshoring the majority of those jobs to its research and development center in Bangalore, India. The layoffs will take effect this week.

Utah's state quarter was unveiled on Monday at the Denver Mint and will actually go into circulation November 5. The design of the state quarter commemorates the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 in northern Utah.

For a state that sometimes has to battle a stereotype of being out-of-date, I'm not sure putting transportation vehicles from the 1860s is the most prudent choice.

But that just might be me. I spent a number of years as a graphic designer in a marketing department and, in regards to the design, the biggest bang the state could've gotten for their buck (or quarter, I should say) would've been promoting the ski industry or some type of tourism. Free advertising that would've stuck around for decades.

Advertising tourism on the quarter can backfire, though. New Hampshire, in 2000, put a famous natural rock formation "The Old Man of the Mountain" in their quarter design. The formation collapsed to the ground three years later. According to Wikipedia, dismay over the collapse was so great that people left flowers at the base of the cliffs in tribute and many people suggested replacing the Old Man with a plastic replica -- an idea that was quickly rejected by an official task force.