Cycling
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CHEERS to the amazing Ritchie Porte for three weeks of riveting gutsy cycling entertainment as he tackled The Tour de France.
No dummy spits, no rolling about on the deck pretending to be injured, just an iconic ride that made us feel so proud as he put Tasmania on the International stage.
— M. WELLMAN, Legana.
Power
IN THIS day and age of solar energy etc, why hasn’t the ambulance centre in Hobart got something like that to switch over to whenever there is a electrical power failure.
A centre with such importance to the community should have zero time down if such an event happens.
— DAVID PARKER, West Launceston.
Climate change
IT’S about time for zero tolerance of climate change denialism. There is no debate.
It is a scientific fact that global warming is happening.
It is a scientific fact that humans are responsible, through the production of greenhouse gases.
The evidence very strongly suggests that the consequences are already occurring, and in the future will be extensive and bad.
If we continue on our present course the consequences will be catastrophic.
The suggestion by some denialists that this is some elaborate conspiracy perpetrated by the overwhelming number of scientists is laughable and offensive.
— RALPH MARSHALL, West Launceston.
Abattoirs
IN Australian abattoirs Halal slaughter means that the animal may be knocked out but not killed by the stunning blow.
Kosher slaughter does not use stunning.
This means the animal might not be effectively knocked out for Halal, with the reversible stunning Halal method; clearly it is not knocked out with the Kosher slaughter method.
With both these methods there is a chance of increased suffering compared with the normal, full-power, full-penetration, irreversible stunning technique.
It is entirely ridiculous to compromise the suffering of the animal for an archaic tradition.
No doubt all those centuries ago, the original purposes of the Halal and Kosher procedures was to ensure minimal animal suffering by stipulating sharp knives and swift blows.
It seems now, in ignorance, people value the tradition to the exclusion of its original purpose of reducing animal suffering.
If stunning equipment had been available in the past, I bet both methods would have stipulated the most effective stunning possible.
Ideologies that choose tradition over rationality are to be resisted, and in this case ignored.
— M. FYFE, Riverside.
Rotation
A North West coast lawyer has called for all magistrates to go on circuit across the state to encourage uniformity in sentencing (The Examiner, July 21).
Veteran lawyer Greg Richardson said “an offender’s penalty for a particular crime might be higher or lower depending on which Magistrates Court they ended up in.”
That’s totally unfair - What happened to equal justice?
— A.R. TROUNSON, Needles
Homeless
HOMELESS Person’s Week runs from today through to August 9.
It’s upsetting to think that Australian young people are still in danger.
It’s 2015, and we still have 47,000 young people on the streets every night and these are just the ones we know about.
Six of every 11 young people that try to get into a refuge will be refused; there just aren’t enough resources available for homeless young people.
The five that aren’t able to find a safe bed for the night will have to try their luck on the streets.
Make no mistake, this is a very tough and stressful decision for a young person to make.
The dangers on the streets are well known.
The homeless young people that I talk to often tell me of friends or people they know being bashed, sexually assaulted or tormented after sleeping rough on the streets.
Young homeless kids have to keep their shoes on at night, because they have to be ready to run from danger at a moment’s notice.
We don’t want this to be the case: we want to create a safer Australia for our young people.
The #laceitup campaign is aimed at raising awareness and funds for homeless young people.
It highlights the fact that homeless young people have to sleep in their shoes.
They don’t have the luxury of taking their shoes off at night and lacing them up in the morning.
During Homeless Person’s Week, we’re asking Australians to support homeless young people by swapping their normal laces for blue laces.
As you swap the laces, take a photo and share it across social media using #laceitup.
Only by coming together can we truly tackle the issue of youth homelessness and help get them off the streets.
Visit www.laceitup.com.au for more information on how to get involved and help the most vulnerable in our society – the young and homeless.
— FATHER CHRIS RILEY, Youth Off The Streets ceo and Founder