Posts filed under 'Talkback Emails'
An email to 2GB and MTR’s Andrew Moore
G’day Andrew
On political points I find myself disagreeing with most things that Mark Latham has to say, but I think he’s nailed Julia Gillard’s lack of conviction and Labor’s gradual decline in to standing for nothing…a decline which his own leadership was partially responsible for I might add.
That said though, Latham is an irrelevance, he just rambles a bit whenever he thinks we’ve forgotten about him, makes a few semi-valid points and spends the rest of his time mouthing off about anyone who might be headline-worth and an easy target, and frankly, seeing as I’m paying his pension as a taxpayer, I expect more of him than an occasional incoherent uttering. Perhaps what we need is a work-for-the-pension scheme for retired pollies…one where they go and drive the buses trains to keep them on-time and fill the pot-holes in the roads…you know, all the things that they failed to do while in office.
Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra
March 30th, 2011 at 04:23am
An email to 2UE’s John Kerr
Good morning John,
Well I can tell you that I definitely fall in to the category of a fanatic when it comes to supporting the Bulldogs in both the AFL and NRL. As an example, during the AFL pre-season I had to be at work while the Bulldogs' games were on, so I recorded the radio coverage of the games on my iPhone (Rex Hunt was calling the games and I love listening to Rex call football) and avoided the scores all night which is a tad difficult where I work, and then after work set off on a drive to Goulburn and back so that I could listen to the games through the car radio. The Dogs won the first game and lost the second game, and didn't progress to the next round, but it was worth the effort.
And it's not confined to me. In this household everyone is fanatical about their teams. In the AFL, Dad's a Carlton fan…well one week back in 2000 I won a competition on 2CA in Canberra where Daniel Gibson was working. Daniel, who is now a weatherman and newsreader for Prime Television, is an avid Bulldogs fan, and the Dogs were playing Carlton that weekend, so when Dad and I went to the radio station to pick up my prize (a vegemite t-shirt from memory), Daniel was wearing his Bulldogs jersey so he and I wound Dad up a bit, and the Dogs won that weekend. On the Monday, Daniel said to me that he could picture me and Dad sitting at opposite ends of the couch in our team scarves and beanies, one of us cheering and the other crying…that's pretty much what happened on that Sunday!
Anyway, this Earth Hour nonsense tonight…finally it falls on a sensible night. Kristina Keneally's fans will be able to turn the lights off and go home at 8:30. I, on the other hand, will be turning the lights on for Human Achievement Hour at 8:30 as a protest against Earth Hour and its promotion of the flawed theory of man-made global warming.
Have a wonderful day John, and thanks again for your note yesterday.
Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra
March 26th, 2011 at 12:49am
An email to 2UE’s Jason Morrison who had Mark Dreyfus MP who is the Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and Senator Barnaby Joyce of the Nationals on his show at the same time this morning to discuss yesterday’s anti-carbon tax rally. During the discussion, Mark declared that carbon dioxide is “pollution” despite it being plant food, but stopped short of calling Jason a “climate change denier” pr an “extremist” even though he branded most of the anti-carbon tax rally’s attendees as such.
Good morning Jason,
I love Mark dreyfus’ logic. Firstly, the cherry picked more sensational signs at the rally are representative if everyone at the rally, and they are therefore all insane. Secondly, if you don’t believe every word that Al Gore says, then you’re wrong and should not be allowed to have a view on the issue.
It’s amazing how Mark and politicians on that side of the debate are so scared by a few thousand conservative protesters that they have to go back to pre-climategate “the science is settled” nonsense, while Barnaby and similar politicians want to debate the issue and, as yet, have not said a bad word about the people who were presenting pro-carbon tax petitions yesterday. The difference is stark.
I would have loved to be at the protest yesterday but I couldn’t make it. My hat tips for all the people who did make it and represented the silent majority…perhaps Mark Dreyfus should look St the Ninemsn poll yesterday which was at least 90% against the carbon tax.
Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra
March 24th, 2011 at 08:53am
Good Morning John,
One of your callers asked about Pauline Hansin’s distribution of preferences. Well the short answer is that they’re not going anywhere.
The longer answer is that the NSW upper house preferences work differently to federal senate preferences in that candidates can not choose how an above the line vote’s preferences are distributed. In NSW, the above the line vote only goes directly to the candidate or party to whom the voter placed the number in the box.
If your caller wishes to vote for Ms. Hanson, she can either do so above the line and have her vote go only to Ms. Hanson, or she can vote below the line and distribute her preferences to whomever she likes. Ms. Hanson will have no control over the flow of her preferences.
I hope this helps.
By the way, you said last week that Tom Wards might be retiring and that you would check this with him this week. What did he say? Is he retiring? If he is, I know that he will be greatly missed from your show by many people.
Have a wonderful day.
Regards, Samuel Gordon-Stewart Canberra
March 19th, 2011 at 02:53am
Good evening Stuart,
As a Bulldogs fan, the Ryan Tandy situation is very simple and quite painful for me. A player’s loyalty must be to their club at all times, and when a player bets on a game, they are splitting their loyalty between the club and their private profit which is entirely unacceptable, even if the bet is on their own team, as even a bet on their own team can affect their judgement on the field.
Ryan is a valuable player, but given his refusal to answer a simple question which is directly relevant to his loyalty, he has to go and the management of the Bulldogs have my full support in this difficult decision.
I hope that you have a good weekend.
Regards, Samuel Gordon-Stewart Canberra
March 18th, 2011 at 10:19pm
An email to 2UE’s John Kerr
Hello John,
I won't say good morning because it really isn't. I feel very sorry for all of those poor people in Japan and in the countries which are being affected by the tsunami. It's dreadful, and I hope that the vast majority of people in the affected areas remain safe.
Anyway, changing the subject, I heard on the news earlier that Andrew Stoner has promised to re-evaluate the length of daylight saving after the coalition win the state election later this month. I can't tell you how sick of this discussion I am. It is very tedious having politicians change the length of daylight saving every few years…it seems that just as soon as the states settle on which dates they will all use, one of the states feels compelled to change their start and end dates for daylight saving again.
I think daylight saving goes on for a bit too long as it is at the moment, however I also don't like the idea of starting and stopping daylight saving. I think that we should have one timezone and stick to it…in other words, we should either have daylight saving all year round or not have it at all.
And on the 2UE website there are some photos of the 2UE folk wearing their footy jerseys for Footy Jersey Friday. There's a photo of a "Lawrence" in a Chelsea jersey. I've attached it for your reference…is this the same Lawrence who produces your show from time to time and was recently over in the UK?
All the best for the coming day!
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Deniliquin, NSW (for the next eight or nine hours, then it's back to Canberra for me)
March 12th, 2011 at 01:23am
G’day boys,
Thanks goodness you’re live on the internet. Down here in Deniliquin the NRL doesn’t get shown on the TV until 12:30am. At least I have you to keep me up-to-date on the football, and to be honest I’d be listening even if I was back in Canberra and could watch the match.
Have a great call!
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
On holidays in Deniliquin, NSW.
March 11th, 2011 at 08:20pm
An email to 2SM’s John Laws
G’day Lawsie,
How wonderful it is to hear Dale on the radio again. He’s such a cheerful and wonderful guy, he always puts a smile on my face. Great to hear him sing as well.
I know that you’ve had him on before today since your wonderful return to the airwaves, but as I’m not in one of your broadcast areas these days I don’t get to listen all the time. Pity, because if I owned a radio station, I’d run your show.
My best wishes to you, the princess and all of the hand maidens!
Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Deniliquin (having a holiday from Canberra)
March 11th, 2011 at 11:16am
An email to 2UE’s Jason Morrison
G’day Jason,
Your story about the odd people outside the servo this morning amused me…it reminds me of some of the types outside the Shell in Dickson in Canberra at night which, oddly enough, is one of the servos which is happy to let you walk in at all hours rather than make you talk through the glass, most of the time anyway, I think it depends on the mood of the staff on duty.
Incidentally it reminded me of something which happened on my way to Deni earlier this week. I was going through Wagga Wagga and needed fuel, and the easiest servo for me to get to once I had been able to stop for long enough to make the GPS give me a list of nearby servos was one a tad out of my way, a few KMs off the main road, the Shell up on Bourke Street…they filled the car up for me! I didn’t think such a thing still existed…a full-service service station. I was happy, and I’ll probably go back there on my way back to Canberra…it’s the sort of thing which should be supported.
Have a great weekend Jason.
Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Still in Deniliquin
March 11th, 2011 at 07:56am
An email to 2UE’s Jason Morrison
G’day Jason,
I think you’re right that Barry O’Farrell’s stance of ostracising Pauline Hanson and not ostracising The Greens is a peculiar one and not the message that he should be sending to conservative voters, although I think it’s wider than just conservative voters. Ten News had a phone poll last night asking whether people would be willing to vote for Pauline Hanson which I believe they started after their 6pm interview with her…by the time the late news came around, 86% of Ten News viewers were saying “yes” they would vote for Pauline Hanson.
Perhaps the Ten News core demographic has changed in recent times, but I see the typical Ten News viewer as being less likely to vote conservatively than viewers of the other commercial networks’ news services, so needless to say, the result surprised me. I’m hoping that it also surprised Barry O’Farrell and he changes his stance to reflect community attitudes by denouncing the Greens and supporting some of Pauline Hanson’s positions.
I can understand why Barry doesn’t want to denounce the Greens…he’s worried that disenfranchised Labor voters may swing to the Greens. Well if they’re that silly to think that the Greens would do a better job and they’re that committed to vote for the left, then they deserve what they get, and Barry shouldn’t be risking the support of the overwhelming majority of sensible voters by targeting Greens voters.
All the best from a rather wet Deniliquin!
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
March 10th, 2011 at 07:23am
An email to 2UE’s Jason Morrison
G’day Jason,
You and Gibbsy were kept up by dogs and cats eh? Well let me tell you, dogs and cats are nothing mate…just wait until you’ve been bothered by grasshoppers all night.
I’m over in Deniliquin at the moment where there seems to be a few too many grasshoppers. I had to chase about a dozen of them out of my hotel room because they were all jumping about, crashing in to things and chirping. There’s still two of them in here somewhere, but they’re being quiet so I’ll leave them alone, but if they bother me tonight, they’re getting the bug spray.
Hmmm, I wonder if the Greens would stop me from killing grasshoppers and other bugs if they had the power to make such rules? I’d better not show them the bug splatter on the front of my car.
Have a good day.
Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Deniliquin, NSW
March 7th, 2011 at 06:20am
An email to 2UE’s John Kerr
Good morning John,
Two assistants this morning! You are lucky John.
I remember my canteen lunches very well. They were very systematic. Usually the way it would work is that I would have a home-made lunch one day and a canteen lunch on the next day, and it would continue to alternate in this way. My lunch order would be placed on the front of a brown paper bag and the money for the lunch would be in the bag, and I would fold the bag in to thirds both lengthways and sideways so that it could be folded and taped up securely, and the lunch that I was ordering would be readable on the front of the bag without needing to unfold it.
During primary school, the menu was a selection of rolls and sandwiches, with certain hot foods being available depending on the day of the week, and I printed up a set of labels for my selections for various days so that I didn’t have to write out my order each day. I remember that on Fridays in my final year the hot food of the day was crumbed fish with potato gems and tomato sauce. My favourite hot food from the canteen during high school was baked potato with sour cream, cheese, chives and bolognese sauce. It was delicious, but sadly it wasn’t very popular so it was only available for a little while.
And during college, the canteen was run by two of your listeners who made lovely coffees. If I got to college early enough in the morning, I’d get a coffee and a donut from the canteen and listen to Mike Jeffreys or Lawsie for a while. The names of the manager and manageress escape me, and I’m sorry for that, but if I may, could I please say hello to the now retired manager and manageress of the Dickson College canteen. They are lovely people.
Have a wonderful morning John.
Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra
February 13th, 2011 at 12:35am
Good evening Stuart,
I have to challenge the assertion by the road safety expert you had on, that road deaths are treated less seriously than deaths in workplaces and that every death in a workplace is vigorously investigated. It really depends on the industry.
In construction, almost every fall becomes headline news and gets investigated by workcover, however in other industries it is different. For example, I’m aware of at least half a dozen deaths of electricians through electrocution in the last few years in Canberra alone, and none of those received media coverage or more than a brief investigation due to the nature of the work. By comparison, road deaths get investigated by teams of police and receive media coverage.
Your guest also said that we should never accept that road deaths are unavoidable. I disagree. Road travel is inherently dangerous and we will inevitably have road deaths, even if computers completely take over the act of driving. We can reduce the likelihood of deaths, but I’m afraid there will always be some deaths on the roads.
Have a great night.
Regards, Samuel Gordon-Stewart Canberra
February 10th, 2011 at 10:53pm
An email to 2UE’s Jason Morrison
Good morning and welcome to 2UE Jason!
You touched on the proposal to ban all phone use by drivers in cars and other vehicles. I think this is just crazy…I do not buy for one moment this notion that using a handsfree phone is just as dangerous as using a handheld one. I don’t see it as being any more dangerous than having a conversation with someone else in the vehicle.
From all of the “experts” that I’ve heard on this subject, it seems that they think the act of listening, rather than the act of talking is the problem here, so should we ban conversations in cars as well? And what about talk radio? There was a study in the US last year which claimed that listening to an engaging sport commentary was just as dangerous as talking on a handheld phone…I don’t believe the study, but I don’t make the laws…I can however see that being extended to listening to blokes like you.
I can see this rapidly deteriorating in to total control over what you can and can’t listen to in the car or on the footpath…and the driver/phone and pedestrian/ipod bans are just the start.
One final question though…if using a handsfree phone while driving is dangerous, why isn’t using an ipod while driving just as dangerous. It’s perfectly legal, headphones and all.
Have a great day Jason!
Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra
February 7th, 2011 at 06:42am
Good morning John,
It was wonderful to hear Stan singing not long ago. I always look forward to hearing Stan sing songs for you…and do you know who I miss hearing? Billy The Kid…some of his singing was a bit odd at times, but always entertaining.
I'm sorry that I couldn't make it to your lunch on Friday. I had the day off from work but finished lateish on Thursday night and had many things to do on Friday. Maybe next time. It's been a while since I managed to get to one of your lunches, so I'll have to try to get to one of them this year. I hope that the hot weather didn't detract from the lunch.
And I was very interested to hear you mention that it's Kevin Whately's birthday today. I was watching him in Inspector Morse last night. In fact there were a couple other great actors in the show last night. Roberta Taylor (Inspector Gina Gold from The Bill) and Nicholas Bell who has been in all sorts of Australian shows. My favourite role of his was as the assistant to the Olympics Minister in "The Games". Did you know that John Clarke and Gina Riley from The Games have been commissioned to produce a British version in the lead-up to the London olympics? It will be on Channel Nine at some stage.
I hope that you have a wonderful week.
Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra
February 6th, 2011 at 12:52am
Next Posts
Previous Posts
