So the main debate leading up to Australia Day was about changing the actual date of our day of celebration. I have already written my opinion on this issue, so I thought I would also briefly touch on the second issue that seemed to generate a bit of opinion. That lamb ad.
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Now that I have shaken off the last after effects of last year’s injury it is great to be able to start pushing my body again, as I start to regain my fitness.
Took myself for a pretty gruelling cycling/running session before breakfast. Many people would probably have chosen to spend their time differently (which half way through the run seemed pretty appealing to me too). Does this mean I have more self-discipline than them? “No,” is the correct answer to that question. But a common mistake people have made about me is that I have a high level of self-discipline. I feel like the case of the ten aid workers wrongfully sent home from Nauru should be raising more concern than it is. I have said elsewhere that I am against the policy of offshore detention for a number of reasons, but I am not even talking about that aspect of what is going on.
So this drought must be concerning governments and councils across the country. Certainly in Tasmania, our government is so scared, they won’t even admit it is a draught, only calling it ‘draught like conditions.’ Whatever they want to call it, recent modelling suggests water storage in the state could reach record lows this year. Coupled with bushfires across half the country, we are once again experiencing a year of costly extreme climatic events.
I don't need much of an excuse to bash Collingwood, but Dane Swan and Travis Cloke didn't really give me much to work with.
I was pretty unequivocal in my disagreement with men’s rights activists recently, but I also said that it was important there was a level of consistency and thought used when discussing gender-related issues. Consequently I wasn’t surprised by the backlash towards the media coverage of the Collingwood sexting story. I actually couldn’t really disagree with it. So like many people, my default position on Eric Abetz is that he is a bigoted political dinosaur who is only still in office because he must know where a lot of bodies are buried. But I would rarely be prompted to write anything about his behaviour because it is usually a case of, “Yes Abetz is ridiculously out of touch, but what is new?” but recent actions by Abetz and the equally arrogant Kevin Andrews even surprised me.
I have to admit I did not expect that. I guess after years of hearing about these possible consequences without them eventuating, I had kind of become desentitised to the possibility. It is a murky and complex issue that has plagued the AFL for a number of years. Reading about it this morning a range of thoughts quickly ricocheted through my brain.
It is hard to take men’s rights activists seriously.
That is not to say that men’s issues aren’t real, especially those around mental health, depression and suicide. It is also fair to say that gender stereotypes don’t always favour men in the way the more extreme feminist narratives would have you believe, or that men are not subject to unrealistic body image issues. Increased discussion of some of these issues, especially mental health, in recent years has been a positive development in Australian society. Congratulations to everyone that ran in the Cadbury Marathon last week. I was very happy for several of my friends, some of whom ran either a half or a full for the first time. I know what an awesome feeling it is to hit the finish line when you started the race not sure if you would actually complete it.
I tip my hat to Barak Obama. I had thought his audacious healthcare plan would be the bravest thing he did whilst in office. Despite being prevalent in other parts of the Western world, his idea that all Americans should have access to a minimum standard of free healthcare faced incredible opposition, both politically and legally, but he persisted with it. While it wasn’t the only move he made that was unpopular with the political right, no doubt he burnt some political capital there, which might be one reason he waited until well into his second term to make his most recent action which has blown people away (not hating that pun either).
Social media memes such as Vanilla ISIS and Y’all Qaeda have given me a chuckle, but there is a serious side to what is happening in Oregon. Over 100 terrorists have occupied a wildlife refuge and large parts of America seem fairly unconcerned and even sympathetic. This lack of response and media has been its own source of outrage from those who rightly point out the reaction would be very different these were armed occupiers were Muslim or black instead of white cowboys.
A lot of opinions flying around in light of Chris Gayle’s comments to female reporter, Mel McLaughlin, on Sunday night. As usual, most of them are very black and white.
Without question, Gayle came across as looking like a tool on national television. Not only did he massively misjudge the appropriateness of his comments, he was also coolly shut down by the recipient of his comments. Do you have a New Year’s Resolution?
Good on you if so. No rolled eyes or comments such as, “I give it three months,” coming from me. I am strongly in favour of people setting themselves challenging goals to make themselves better in some way or another. Whether it be professionally, physically, socially, academically or any other way, there are myriad ways to we can improve our lives. Aside from the obvious benefit, being the agent of such improvement can have a positive effect on our self-esteem as well.
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