Free Delivery on all Books at the Book Depository

Browsing Archive: February, 2014

Is "Emperor" Colin Barnett the Jeff Kennett of WA?

Posted by Matt Hayden on Friday, February 28, 2014,
Colin Barnett certainly dominates politics in this state. No matter how hard his Labor opponents try, they just can't seem to land a punch on him. Desperate to turn voters against him, they constantly repeat this line that he's arrogant and out of touch. I don't think this is a majority view, nor will it ever be. Still, it is certainly proliferating. 

And I think it was one of the main reasons recent anti-shark-cull protests were so crowded. A substantial proportion of the crowd were not full-...
Continue reading ...
 

WA's green intensity and the nature of the state

Posted by Matt Hayden on Monday, February 24, 2014,
I have been thinking about the ferocity of the anti-shark cull campaign here in the west. I keep wondering why it is so intense. Sure, people get het up about these things all over the globe, but generally not to the extent we've seen here recently

For example, there have been drum lines and shark nets in Queensland and NSW for decades. Yet they have caused little controversy. There were even people demonstrating about the West Aussie measures in those states. Makes you wonder why they didn'...
Continue reading ...
 

Steven Sealberg confirms our desire to see animals as people

Posted by Matt Hayden on Sunday, February 23, 2014,
The older I get the weirder I think people are. One aspect of human nature that I'm particularly intrigued by is how we relate to animals. We herd, hunt, kill and eat them and use the remains of their bodies to make commodities such as clothing and fertilizer. Yet we befriend them as well. And we can even look up to them.

While some mammals such as dolphins, whales, and anthropoid apes are highly intelligent most beasts are pretty thick, let's face it. As well as being dumber than humans, they...
Continue reading ...
 

WA men earning more than women neither surprising nor sexist

Posted by Matt Hayden on Saturday, February 22, 2014,
Feminists will no doubt be unhappy about the latest wage related stats for workers here in WA. On average, men earn a huge $400 per week more than their female counterparts. While left-wing social engineers will see this as a great injustice and be motivated to redouble their efforts to see equality of outcome, not just opportunity, most other women (and men) won't mind a bit. 

While some wage disparity between the genders is unfair and sexist, it's clearly not the case here. The main contribu...
Continue reading ...
 

Memo to greenies: sharks are not the new dolphins

Posted by Matt Hayden on Friday, February 21, 2014,
When it comes to demonizing humanity and idealizing nature, greenies routinely go to extreme and shameless lengths. Recently, for example, they said that a dolphin was killed in the shark cull. Turned out there was no truth to this claim.

As well as being typical of how shark huggers are so fast and loose with the truth this assertion brought to mind one of their wider aims. That is to convince the wider public that these gruesome carnivorous fish are as deserving of respect and affection as ...
Continue reading ...
 

Carmen Lawrence leads predictable calls for female Governor

Posted by Matt Hayden on Sunday, February 16, 2014,
I'm sure you've been wondering whatever happened to Carmen Lawrence. Well, she did what many feminist politicians do after their disastrous reigns. She retreated to the halls of quackademe.

It's a well worn path, this. Natasha Stott-Despoja did it. Same with Julia Gillard. And what has Professor Lawrence been doing there in her ivory tower at UWA? Well, as well as making other po-faced PC pronouncements she's been calling for more feminists to be installed in positions of power, of course! 

Her...
Continue reading ...
 

Colin Barnett believes shark cull has public support

Posted by Matt Hayden on Thursday, February 13, 2014,
Considering the level of outrage about the policy of deploying drum lines and killing big sharks, you may be wondering why the WA State Government is going ahead with it.

I think that there are two reasons for this. Firstly, they are pretty sure that despite the noise created by the anti-cull protesters and their fellow travellers in the media, most West Aussies are quietly in support of this approach. Premier Colin Barnett said as much during a live blog session earlier today.

I doubt this is ...
Continue reading ...
 

Media focus on drum lines as shark debate intensifies

Posted by Matt Hayden on Wednesday, February 12, 2014,
It's amazing to watch how the shark wars are covered by the media here in Western Australia. People are intensely focused on this subject -- not least because they're worried that the next time they go for a swim at one of our beautiful beaches they might get bitten in half by a bloody great white pointer!

They're also forming into two polarized political groups. There are those strongly against what they feel is the brutal murder of these deeply misunderstood creatures. Or, more likely, they'...
Continue reading ...
 

Animal Justice Party's Katrina Love speaks at shark protest

Posted by Matt Hayden on Thursday, February 6, 2014,
As I mentioned in a previous post, there were some truly silly speakers at the Cottesloe protest against the "shark cull" on February 1. Katrina Love of the Animal Justice Party was one of them. I've included a video of her speech below for your amusement.

Now, if your average garden-variety greenie is out where the buses don't go then animal rights activists are well and truly off the beaten track. (Well, metaphorically speaking that is. It's one of the ironies of their movement that the more...
Continue reading ...
 

Anti-shark cull protest at Cottesloe had a surreal atmosphere

Posted by Matt Hayden on Saturday, February 1, 2014,
Having been an avid surfer in my youth, when the sport was a lot safer than it is now, I've taken a keen interest in how the local shark wars are progressing. So I went down to Cottesloe Beach earlier today to watch the latest protest against the so-called cull and get some video footage of it. 

And isn't it interesting that the term "cull" is the default description -- even for those who are for the State Government's mitigation strategy. In my opinion it shouldn't even be defined as a cull. ...
Continue reading ...
 
 
Good books about and set in Perth and Fremantle
Perth
Line of Sight
When War Came to Fremantle
The Devil's Garden
Follow ozblogsarticles on Twitter

DISCLOSURE: Occasionally I include affiliate products (such as books) in blog posts. If you do end up purchasing one or more of them as a result of clicking on a link, I receive a small commission which comes at no extra cost to you. 

Please check out my YouTube channel, which now has several videos of Perth.
Protected by Copyscape Unique Content Checker

NOTE: All images on this blog are copyright protected. I will take action against anyone found lifting them for their own use. 

Categories