Initially did not plan to post this, but given the high grade it received and the fact I’m posting other university essays here today, let’s go! This essay simply covers misinformation and conspiracy theories surrounding Covid-19 and the vaccinations on Twitter, as well as some of the (failed) attempts at combatting it. We truly did unleash a virtual portal to hell with the internet and social media, and no one has figured out how to fix it.
Continue reading “Covid-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Campaigns on Twitter”Category: Health
The Patriarchy: Reform or Displace?
17/11/2021
This is one of three mini essays submitted for a political science assessment. Given the limited word count and my struggles to adhere to “academic writing”, they’re likely not the best pieces, but ah well, uploading them for shits and giggles. This one discusses the patriarchy, some brief examples and history of it, and an intersectional approach to abolishing it. While not denying the importance of reform, it argues there must be radical change to ensure the full liberation of women in society.
Patriarchy, literally “rule of the father”, in its simplest form refers to the dominant role played by the father, by men, in the traditional family structure. In feminist thought, this definition is expanded to include the broader societal discussions of male dominance in most, if not all, aspects of life and their institutions. For many feminists, fathers as the centre of family life “symbolises male supremacy in all other institutions”, and that this “reproduces male dominance in all other walks of life” including “education, at work and in politics.” (Heywood 2021).
Continue reading “The Patriarchy: Reform or Displace?”The Monopoly of Australia’s Major Parties and Political Disenfranchisement
This essay was written for one of my political science units at UQ. It is a response to the question of whether Australia’s major parties enhance or damage our political system. While (hopefully) sticking to the criteria and constraints of the assessment, I have argued the latter. A full reference list is at the end. Enjoy.
Australia’s political system has been dominated by two major contenders dating back to 1909, between the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and what is now the Coalition parties (the Liberal Party of Australia (LPA), the National Party, and, in Queensland, the Liberal National Party (LNP)). While the latter has gone through several iterations and name changes, these two blocs have maintained power between themselves with only tentative challenge from minor parties and Independents in recent years. (Kefford et al 2018). It is the purpose of this article to explore some of the key issues such a restrained system has and the damage it has had on Australian politics and policy.
Continue reading “The Monopoly of Australia’s Major Parties and Political Disenfranchisement”The Melbourne Protests Are Not a Worker’s Movement
22/09/2021
We are in the third day of small but loud protests taking place in Melbourne right now, and it has become crystal clear what the purpose of these demonstrations really are. What started ostensibly as a “tradies” protest against Victoria’s vaccine mandate and the Union’s support of it has quickly turned into a violent, nationalist and conspiracy ridden farce. The misinformation online has accelerated as clashes begin with police, now at the Shrine of Remembrance.
Continue reading “The Melbourne Protests Are Not a Worker’s Movement”A Recent Timeline of Andrew Laming
26/03/2021
My Federal MP, Andrew Laming, is in the news yet again, this time being thrown into the pool of fiends in Parliament House who can’t seem to grasp the concept of respecting women, so feel the need to try grasp at women. He has been the MP for Bowman since 2004 – 17 years this year. I first voted in 2016, so I thought it would be fun to run through his various stunts, media appearances, and mishaps in that time! (This is a list of what I remembered and found with some quick searches – if you have anymore to add, let me know!)
Continue reading “A Recent Timeline of Andrew Laming”Sky News’ Rita Panahi Spreads Lies About Victoria Anti-Conversion Bill
08/02/2021
Like all other Sky News’ hosts, Rita Panahi is a textbook example of how vacuous sycophants will reject and oppose anything so long as they get paid large enough sums to do so. The more outrage and clicks it can generate, the better – facts and science be damned. Yesterday, she rambled (and on occasion stumbled) on about how the “radical left” can fool the “apathetic masses” by using ostensibly pure naming to “[ram] through radical policies”. Antifa, BLM, the Labor Victorian government – surely, she’ll consider all the facts on hand!
Heh.
Continue reading “Sky News’ Rita Panahi Spreads Lies About Victoria Anti-Conversion Bill”Alan Jones A Confirmed Case of Idiocy
02/08/2020
Right after having to claim he isn’t stupid, Alan Jones, now gracing the festering pit of Sky News commentary, repeated the claim made by Donald Trump – that COVID-19 cases only appear to be bad because more testing reveals more cases. He then goes onto question whether there is a pandemic, if it is even dangerous at all, and concludes by saying we’ve committed economic suicide. But not before he tears Victorian Labor Premier, Daniel Andrews, to shreds over his handling of “not-a-pandemic”.
Go Read Merchants of Doubt
25/06/2020
Merchants of Doubt, a 2010 book written by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, is a must read. As one of the testimonies on the cover of my copy says, if there is one nonfiction book you read this year, it is the one to go for (obviously try to read more than one, but make Merchants of Doubt a priority). It follows a number of stories that mar the history of scientific progress by telling them from the perspectives of actors we often don’t hear from in the modern “debates”: the scientists themselves.
Defunding the Police and Changing Focus
21/06/2020
There is a post going around at the moment that is supposedly meant to paint the police in a positive light during the recent global protests again police violence towards native peoples and people of colour. Honestly, it really sounds like the author (unknown, at least I’ve not seen a name with it) is telling the population to submit to power because… it’s power.
Politics Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, Like the Planet
30/05/2020
I’ve made the observation before that a lot of what we consider to be political issues are, in fact, a collection of other issues given a controversial spin that generally leads nowhere but a breakdown in discourse and understanding. The main example I used at the time was that abortion was a healthcare and women’s rights issue, not political, and certainly not religious. The most impactful on a global scale is, of course, climate change.
Continue reading “Politics Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, Like the Planet”
Anarchist Rising 