Thursday, February 12, 2009

Greg Sheridan article

Greg Sheridan wrote an opinion article on the Victorian bush fires in The Australian. I agreed with most of what he said. The majority of his views on the issue were well reasoned and appropriate. The fact that Greg Sheridan wrote an article that contains quality opinion that I largely agreed with is remarkable. Such an occurence is so rare that this alone was almost worthy of note on these pages. However, returning to his usual form, he ruined his article with divisive concluding remarks that linked the response to the bush fires with Israeli responses to terrorism. I criticised this on the article's online comments page.

Monday, February 09, 2009

Victoria burning

I am deeply saddened by the consequences of the fires that have burnt out of control in Victoria for the last few days. I have spent good times and have great affection for a number of towns/hamlets that have been severely damaged by the fires. Marysville, Narbethong, Buxton, Taggerty and the beautiful strip of country at the foot of the Cathedral Range that I love so much will be reconstructing and recovering for many years hence. I feel for the large number of other Victorian communities that are similarly affected. It will take years, if not a lifetime, to relieve the pain associated with the loss of close family and community members. My thoughts are with all Victorians who have lost friends, family, property and treasured environments as a result of this disaster.