bushfire observations

I wish to take nothing from the tragic events of the past few days. However, a few observations on reactions and presentations in the media.

PM Kevin Rudd has described the arsonists who started some of the fires as "Mass Murderers"

The prime minister, Kevin Rudd, echoed the anger of a nation yesterday when he described such actions as "mass murder". Fighting back tears, he said: "This is of a level of horror that few of us anticipated."

Sure he may be echoing the anger of some, but unless we can prove intent to kill or seriously harm we should not be speaking of murder. This is populist political grandstanding and I for one do not like that. Anyone who sets a fire in Australia in summer is a cunt - no doubt - but unlikely to be convicted a murderer. The crime of Arson Causing Death, as well as being far easier to prove (you lit a fire and they died) carries a maximum of 25years. If you are aforementioned cunt then having murder thrown at you will be easier to wriggle free from than Arson Causing Death.

Murder carries 13years to life with the median sentence being 18years (half shorter, half longer.) So, Mr Rudd, please stop grandstanding for the press and allow the courts to do their jobs; push hard for 25years. If you want to make the punishment more harsh then push for 25years per death.

Speaking of cunts, this guy takes the prize. Victoria is burning because god is punishing the state for decriminalizing abortion. Just shut the fuck right up. My views on religion are well documented here and this is unlikely to alter them. Danny Nalliah, fuckwit first class, would get on well with the Pope's charges who are currently denying the Holocaust and claiming New Orleans suffered Hurrican Katrina because of homosexuality. What kind of a fucking god do these people want? Anyway, back to the fires.

A stunning bit of news; maybe, just maybe the aboriginal people who were here in Australia for 40-60,000 years beore whitey arrived might have had the annual fire thing sorted after all. Note the bits where the twigs and leaves and bark that litter areas that are not maintained and where people choose to live are referred to as fuel. There is a clue in there somewhere...

Apparently the advice in Victoria is to stay and defend your property or to get out early. Hmmm. Sounds somewhat contradictory and somewhat daft. If you decide to stay and defend then things get bad - real bad - you are in serious peril. You may not be able to get out. I'd have thought better advice would be to make sure you maintain your property (clear the trees), have decent insurance, somewhere fireproof to store the things you must keep and then just get the hell out of the way. Photographs and wedding dresses are not worth dying for. Worth a rethink.

Flags were flying at half mast in Sydney as a sign of respect. But is that another somewhat populist move in a nation that has to be told how, when and why to feel grief? Again, taking nothing from the tragedy, I think this is over the top. Flying the flag at half mast was, when I was growing up, indicative of the death of a monarch. Now it seems an Australian flag at half mast can be indicative of the death of an actor from an accidental overdose of prescription medication or those losing lives in war or a bushfire. Is the gesture maybe a little overused and therefore lacking in genuince impact?

Another thing that tweaks me is the sense that a cluster of personal tragedies are somehow more tragic than an individual tragedy. I get it that who towns have been wiped from the map of Victoria. Houses have gone, people have died, communities are broken. But let us not forget these towns were in areas prone to bushfires. Combined with the lack of fire prevention measures (backburning etc.) the disaster was somewhat predictable. So I don't get how it is a national disaster, a national tragedy. Painful, sad, tragic, all of the above, yes. National event? Only in media (and charitable) terms.