I am saddened by the deaths in Madrid.

I hope, for the sake of any innocent Basque people, and for the sake of The cartoonists at NAPARTHEID, some of whom I've met at the ICAF and SPX shows, that the Basque Separatist terrorists of ETA are not found to be involved.

That being said, this cartoon, which is the gateway into NAPARTHEID's website, www.napartheid.org, has rather sinister implications today to somebody who cannot read the Basque language. Scroll over the chained figures, and they seem to be laughing.

I have sometimes wondered if there were any ties between NAPARTHEID and any radical separatist activities. I can't read most of what is printed in the few zines of theirs I've received, but their mascot seems to have a predilection for throwing cartoon bombs.

For all I know, they could be strong supporters, and perhaps sponsors of terrorist activities, or they could simply be politically active, and no more threatening physically than American punk kids who publish "Fight The Man" type zines.

But an outsider, unfamiliar with their language, and having to judge by the visuals in light of yesterday's tragedy, could be led to draw the wrong conclusion, couldn't he?