Comments on: Forced-birther blames bushfires on abortion law reform

By: skepticlawyer » The Bent Spoon

skepticlawyer » The Bent Spoon — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:49:08 +0000

[...] friends at Catch the Fire Ministries — for linking the Victorian bushfires with the repeal of Victoria’s old abortion law. Obviously the God that Danny and friends are into is a right old smiter, and he’s been [...]

By: P.P.

P.P. — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 06:47:10 +0000

I’d just like to point out that a Green perspective goes way beyond environmental issues, and is recognised in social work as an approach to community development. It’s not really just about trees anymore, if it ever was.

About the term douchebag and the reasons it is acceptable as feminist abuse; it represents a symbol of miso-tropes about women/woman bits being dirty and disgusting and in need of much washing and deoderising.
It doesn’t mean that there is never ever a non-sexist practical reason to use one. The insult is just about symbolism.
I know this was clarified earlier but I’m adding to that for the benefit of IY.

By: Helen

Helen — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 06:31:19 +0000

Troll-off? Is that like Troll.B.Gone?

IY, your notion of the green-policies-caused-deaths is simplistic in the extreme, as you would know if you had already read anything besides breathless press releases from people connected with the timber industry. The Greens and the Wilderness society, to name two of the best known green groups. both support fuel reduction burning – but it’s not the universal panacea it’s been made out to be.

Marysville was full of soft-leaved exotics. The gippsland fires started in a bare paddock. The temperature was in the high forties with gale force winds. These are just a few of the facts you are ignoring.

By: fuckpoliteness

fuckpoliteness — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:50:40 +0000

IY, does it strike you as ironic after your straw person attack on my position regarding Devine (or you not reading the post properly) to accuse my questioning you about which site you’re from/if you posted that/why you hadn’t said there it was too early (esp in the context of hey – you actually having *said* green policy had killed ‘all those people’ at 62) of being an ad hominem?
That just tickled my funny bone a little. I developed that funny bone in Critical Thinking at Uni by the way. I did a great many topics at uni. None of which qualify me to make blanket statements such as ‘greens policy killed all those people’. Just sayin.

By: fuckpoliteness

fuckpoliteness — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:37:36 +0000

as opposed to defending or attacking the green political agenda and its consequences and yet, there is your comment at 62. Curious. fuckpoliteness's last blog post..Ok, you can now comment without a WordPress Login

By: Lauredhel

Lauredhel — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:28:43 +0000

Having taken a University based philosophy topic of environmental ethics [...]

Can I nominate this for some sort of award? Or maybe just a Bingo square?

By: informally yours

informally yours — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:16:40 +0000

When I saw this thread there was nothing up at ST and just as the Hoydens are not a hive-mind, neither are those blogging at ST. But the ST people are mostly Victorian based and so it is only natural that they are going to say something. Shooting the messenger with ad hominem attack, Ohh ahh a Lastsuperhero, is useless. What is clear is that there is much controversy in Victoria over the correct measures to ensure fire safety. People are being fined for tree removal. Germaine Greer is saying there isn’t enough fuel load reduction occurring and I agree as I can see this is an issue here as well. There is obviously something going on.

Having taken a University based philosophy topic of environmental ethics I’m under no illusions that green philosophy offers any coherent practical political strategies for re-ordering the world. Look hard enough and you find there are fundamental contradictions about competing interests, programs, priorities etc. Calls now to rebuild with green principles in mind are a waste of breath. Are people for reducing fuel loads or not? Clearing trees near houses or not?

I’m still interested in discouraging the use of douchebag as feminist abuse; and still interested in feminist ethics and civilly discussing medical issues, breasts, vulva’s and vagina’s etc as opposed to defending or attacking the green political agenda and its consequences.

By: A Lavey

A Lavey — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 07:54:34 +0000

Th bsh frs r prdct f cnvct bld, gd s pnshng thm fr mbrd sdm btwnn brthr, sstr nd nml. Th ll lv th ttntn, th r s swft t bcm crtcs nd vglnts t hd thr wn trrbl scrts. dts, dd nyn hv th brns t thnk f wrnng systm whn th chs t lv n th bsh ? N. bnch f rch ppl wth thr hd n th clds. ll ths mn prng n th d nt dsrv. Ppl n th ct nd sbrbs tht gt brnt t gt n spcl trtmnt r dntns. Ths ppl n th bsh wld ll hv nsrnc lk vryn ls, wht wst f mn. Mst wll gt bttr hms thn th hd n th frst plc.

[If you'd like to read this with vowels, stay tuned for next week's Troll-Off post. ~L]

By: fuckpoliteness

fuckpoliteness — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:56:41 +0000

Informally Yours, if you had cared to read WHY I was calling Devine an arsehole along with Danny Nalliah, you would have read for yourself that she *does in fact* blame greenies and explicitly says that arsonists are not to blame. She then goes on to say greenies and not arsonists should be hanging from lamp posts. So, that’s that part of your indignation taken care of.

You say now you would say it’s too early to apportion guilt (which is another factor in me calling Devine an arsehole – she’s written on this shit before, and she leapt on the opportunity to appotion blame and guilt at the feet of the greenies) but you just announced that they were to blame, nay in fact that their policies had KILLED ‘all those people’, right up there in this very thread at 62. So if you don’t want me to respond to what you say (as I’m not psychic so can’t know what you think when you say something else) perhaps think first, type later.

Are you in fact someone who blogs at Strangetimes/the last superhero? I keep trying to click through on your link, but it just leads to a space that tells me the domain is for sale, but this blog seems to be connected to Strangetimes which is where your link says you’re from.

Anyway they’ve had a post up for a few days blaming greenies and I haven’t seen you tell them it’s too soon unless you’re the person who posted the link to the Syd Walker article, or you are Young Marxist who only commented late yesterday. If so, it’d be great if you could fix your link.

Anyway, so both you and Devine *have* asserted that green policy killed all those people in Victoria, the counterargument by someone who has done some research and is discussing the substantive points raised by Devine/Last Superhero (and not just calling people arseholes for apportioning guilt when they’ve got no qualifications and before all the bodies are discovered, which is a position I stand by):

http://www.kieranbennett.com/2009/02/debunking-miranda-devine/

http://sydwalker.info/blog/2009/02/12/when-bushfires-rage-it%E2%80%99s-not-easy-being-green/

Hey, turns out that backburning was prevented NOT BY GREENIES but by massive underfunding. What DO you know?

Reread 70 (no, slowly now) – it’s a request for you to respond to my posts over at my place, not an order not to engage with me here. Which is what you did at 65

By: tigtog

tigtog — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:07:28 +0000

@ informally yours:

the blame will be at the feet of the arsonists and i sure hope they catch those responsible for this murderous assault

I doubt that the legal requirements for murder are present i.e. motive and intent. It's at the very least negligence and probably easily substantiated as culpable homicide via arson, but murder is unlikely to stick.