Editors’ Rant - Feb 2012
- February, 2012 ![]() If you’re a Tribune fan (and we guess you must be since you’re reading this and if you’re not reading this then we... |
Preface to a Counter Protest
- February, 2012 ![]() Defence of the Fertility Control Clinic The front gate of the Fertility Control Clinic in East Melbourne is a frontline of... |
I’m not a climate scientist but...
- February, 2012 ![]() Anyone who’s ever been in a car with children will know that when they’re not crying, pulling each other’s hair or... |
What We Talk About When We Talk About Socialism
- February, 2012 ![]() The taxi driver in Maui picked the accent straight away. “Look out!” he said. “The Aussies are here!” Turns out he used to... |
Science
- February, 2012 ![]() First of all, let me make it very clear: I do not have a problem with science. Secondly, let me make it even clearer: I... |
Intelligent Design - It's NOT Science
- February, 2012 ![]() Perhaps I should preface this article with “I’m not a scientist, but…”. A long time ago, people used to believe that it... |
Getting Rid of the Ute
- February, 2012 ![]() I never used to drive my car. It sat outside my house, different random parts either rusting or drying out depending on... |
Why I Can’t Get Behind Soften The Fck Up
- February, 2012 Soften The Fck Up is an initiative aimed at breaking down the “tough Aussie bloke” façade and getting men to open up to... |
Weddings
- February, 2012 ![]() In the last six weeks of 2011, I attended six weddings. Week after week I found myself donning a suit to spend the day... |
On SOPA
- February, 2012 ![]() I imagine most of you reading this have a blog or your own little website, a place where you’ve invested time and energy... |
A History Of Stupidity
- February, 2012 ![]() In 1796 a very special and very dangerous kind of idiot was born. Smallpox was running rampant throughout Europe until a... |
Gaming is for Grown Ups
- February, 2012 ![]() As a full-time technology journalist who has specialised in the critiquing of video games for over a decade, you’d be... |
Simulation
- February, 2012 ![]() Oh yes, I’m the great pretender |
Nigella, The Antechinus Family, And The West’s...
- February, 2012 ![]() I used to love watching acclaimed kitchen goddess, the luscious Nigella Lawson, when she first appeared on the small... |
Political Affiliation
- February, 2012 ![]() Some people hold political affiliations with an almost religious fervour. Their political beliefs shape everything, from... |
Lessons from A Caravan Park
- February, 2012 ![]() Most of us have memories of staying in a caravan park. Whether it was as kids, parents, schoolies or backpackers, the... |
Resurrecting the Hors d’Œuvre Course
- February, 2012 ![]() An hors d’œuvre course to the French, like antipasto to the Italians, is the start of the midday meal. Individual, small,... |
Wine Online
- February, 2012 Wine retailing, like the rest of the retailing world, is going through a bit of a seismic shift from bricks & mortar to... |
Cryptic Crossword - Feb12
- February, 2012 As always, first correctly completed cryptic crossword sent to |
Political Affiliation
- February, 2012 ![]() Some people hold political affiliations with an almost religious fervour. Their political beliefs shape everything, from... |
Preface to a Counter Protest
- February, 2012 ![]() Defence of the Fertility Control Clinic The front gate of the Fertility Control Clinic in East Melbourne is a frontline of... |
On SOPA
- February, 2012 ![]() I imagine most of you reading this have a blog or your own little website, a place where you’ve invested time and energy... |
Australia’s School Funding Quagmire
- January, 2012 ![]() Australia has one of the most complex, inconsistent and opaque school funding arrangements in the developed world. You... |
What We Talk About When We Talk About Socialism
- February, 2012 ![]() The taxi driver in Maui picked the accent straight away. “Look out!” he said. “The Aussies are here!” Turns out he used to... |
I Have A Question And My Question Is This:
- January, 2012 ![]() Who the fuck am I meant to vote for at the next Federal election? This is not a rhetorical question. I really want to... |
Lessons from A Caravan Park
- February, 2012 Most of us have memories of staying in a caravan park. Whether it was as kids, parents, schoolies or backpackers, the... |
A Conspiracy Of Feathered Simpletons
- January, 2012 And then, of course, there’s the question of the evolutionary future of pigeons. A while ago, through a series of... |
Weddings
- February, 2012 In the last six weeks of 2011, I attended six weddings. Week after week I found myself donning a suit to spend the day... |
Thank You, Batman
- October, 2011 Time is a mighty river, and I am an ominously unpiloted rental kayak floating past the picnic area. It’s my first day at a... |
Science
- February, 2012 First of all, let me make it very clear: I do not have a problem with science. Secondly, let me make it even clearer: I... |
From Swords to Soundbites - HENRY I
- October, 2011 King Henry I of England, known to later generations as Henry Beauclerc, the Lion Of Justice, succeeded his flamboyant... |
Simulation
- February, 2012 Oh yes, I’m the great pretender |
On SOPA
- February, 2012 I imagine most of you reading this have a blog or your own little website, a place where you’ve invested time and energy... |
Gaming is for Grown Ups
- February, 2012 As a full-time technology journalist who has specialised in the critiquing of video games for over a decade, you’d be... |
Why I Can’t Get Behind Soften The Fck Up
- February, 2012 Soften The Fck Up is an initiative aimed at breaking down the “tough Aussie bloke” façade and getting men to open up to... |
A History Of Stupidity
- February, 2012 In 1796 a very special and very dangerous kind of idiot was born. Smallpox was running rampant throughout Europe until a... |
Credentials & Democratic Decline
- October, 2011 ‘People should be aware of what’s out there. And not believe what they read just because it’s written.’ Astro-turf... |
Liberal Monkeys Throwing Poo
The Liberal Party really have learnt how to tear apart a good foundation haven’t they? The once solidified, unbreakable, unbeatable political unit, united behind their geek in glasses, now seem a shambolic mess, unable to work out who they should be deifying.
One third of the party seem to be in agreement with current management, the second third are still sad because their beloved leader got his arse kicked in 2007 and they haven’t noticed that things have changed since then; and the remainder are chasing monkeys on bikes in circles somewhere in the depths of Parliament House.
Eleven years I had to suffer the reign of that little weasel, who I already despised after his term as Treasurer for Fraser. That said, I do appreciate the positives of that reign of terror. Which means that, YES, all you Howard-Lovers can stop pointing out to me the financial prosperity and huge budget surpluses, because most of you don’t remember that it was Costello and Treasury who provided most of that; and by the way, do you remember that Recession in the 80’s that everyone blamed on the Labour government? Yeh it happened because of Howard’s mismanagement in Treasury during the late 70’s, early 80’s.
Which brings me to the present......again......I hope. Excuse me for shouting for a moment but WHY THE FUCK ARE WE HAVING ANOTHER BOAT PEOPLE SAGA, FUELLED BY MIND NUMBING MEDIA AND ARSEHOLES IN PARLIAMENT NO MATTER WHAT SIDE OF THE HOUSE THEY ARE ON?
Luke’s already dealt with Iron Bar Tuckey so I’m not going to go there. I’d just like to address the people of Australia. This is a country founded on immigration, a country that would be worth approximately three Italian Lira and a packet of Juicy Fruit if it wasn’t for those families who packed up their entire lives and traversed the oceans to make a new life in a hopefully better place.
Setting aside, for the moment, the complications of who gets to come to Australia and how they get here, can we at the very least all agree that refugees SHOULD and MUST be welcomed? Have we become so hard-hearted in the last decade that we don’t have any empathy for those people that are attempting to escape severe political and religious persecution? In the last three days I’ve had the combination of Tony Abbot spewing out fifteen minutes of Howard love and refugee hate on morning television, two people that have my email address sending me a bigoted email about Australian culture stating if I don’t forward it on I’m not a proper Australian; and another friend trying to compare his situation (which is pretty horrendous but not life threatening) with those of our current crop of ‘boat people’.
I’m waiting, with baited breath, for the words ‘Children Overboard’ to be screamed out by an over-enthusiastic Opposition backbencher in an attempt to bring back just a little of the Howardist backbone. I’ll give the man enough credit to admit he fought the fight and didn’t back down. He lied to and cheated the Australian public but at least he had the balls to stand up and defend his stance. What I don’t like is the Australia he has left behind.
Due to a decade of, in my opinion, intolerance, this nation, that was once heralded worldwide as a nation of opportunity, is now perceived as bigoted and racist. We are all being tarred with a brush that the vast majority of us don’t deserve. The vocal minority who are seen to be speaking for all of us need to do more to learn about other cultures. We don’t have a racism problem, we have an ignorance problem, and it gives me the galloping shits..
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