Sounds more like he was commenting on himself!

Dear Ed,

“Here, here” I say in response to Paul Lennon’s comments regarding Tasmania Times.

Occassionally i have surfed onto this website and had a chuckle at the pages and pages of negative, pessimistic and anti-everything tribe that has spewed forth from the likes of James Boyce and his cronies, all in the name of ‘independent media’.

If you happened to be someone that wasn’t familiar with our State and had the misfortune to stumble upon this website and the positings of some of your regular contributors, you would be left with the real impression that Tasmania was some kind of backward, ignorant and dispicable society with third-world environmental practices and even worse standards of social justice and democracy.

Fortunatly, most Tasmanians have a brighter impression of our islands, and are proud of its environmental beauty, its plentiful natural resources, its tolerant and talanted people and its vibrant and (now) prosperous economy.

Can I suggest to the Editor that if he wants this site to be the genuine alternative source of commentary and editorial on Tasmanian affairs that it can be, that some alternative viewpoints be portrayed in your column beyond the narrow-minded extreme views of your current stable of writers.

The daily ‘Lennon’/‘Labor’/‘Gunns’/‘Federal Hotels’/‘Rene Hidding’/‘Forestry’/‘general-non-Green-politician’ bashing is getting tired. 

Yours sincerely,
Jack McMahon
Glenorchy

Jeez Jack, hope you’re not tarring me with that broad brush of yours.
 
While I really love those who call for everyone else to stop whinging while they indulge in an uber-whinge themselves, I think someone maybe needs to reflect a bit more on the meaning of “genuine alternative source of commentary and editorial on Tasmanian affairs”, especially “commentary” and “editorial”.

Anyway, I reckon James Boyce’s articles are the true gold at the heart of this site - your decision to out him in particular for “spewing forth” and belonging to the “negative, pessimistic and anti-everything tribe” is strange as his articles appear rather well thought through and are not just general whinges.

While there are plenty of whingers out there, myself included, I’m wondering if Jack is possibly a Franklin Graham acolyte somewhat offended by Boyce’s last excellent piece of analysis: http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php/weblog/comments/franklin-grahams-mediaeval-crusade/

Whatever the reason, calm down fella, take a look in the mirror and please desist from attempting to insert your square peg in my round hole.

cheers all,
Jason

Thanks Jack for contributing to Tassie Times. This site exists for all points of view and if you’ve got something to say then jump right in and say it!

I’d love to see alternative visions of our state. How about an article about how good a pulp mill would be for our state? Or an article about all the positive things that have happened over the last few years?

Perhaps you can get some of your acquaintances to contribute also. Over to you Jack!

Barry Brannan
Sandy Bay

Come back Guy Fawkes—all is forgiven!