A lengthy letter to PETA: I will never donate to an organisation that kills and robs the future.

Dear PETA,

It is with great interest I note that you continue to tap dance on the grave of the widely respected animal and environmental conservationist Steve Irwin and point out everything he did wrong so in this letter I am going to be brutally honest and point out why I don’t respect People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and why your behaviour on social media only serves to piss off those you need to come on board and give you money.

Oh yeah, that’s right…money….the money people think is going to go toward helping animals that need attention, love and care so I was very surprised to find out when I looked it up that only 1% of the money you receive is spent on actually acting on behalf of animals and working to save their lives. The rest of the money appears to go on fundraisers and campaigns including a boycotting a pet store that actively does more for animals than you do on a smaller budget? How the hell does that work.

Just to let you know, I will be actively ensuring that there are alternatives to you that use their money for actual animal care.

We also must confront that there’s the innocent healthy, adoptable dogs and cats than you take to your “shelter” in Norfolk, Virginia to kill and eventually dispose of the bodies in dumpsters or in the nearest supermarket bin and hope to god that nobody sees you do it and don’t deny it with your pap from your website, Nathan J Winograd, a man you guys tried to sue, has all the gory evidence of PETA’s killing spree of new born kittens, puppies, dogs and cats over the years, I sat there crying for those dogs and cats that you murdered – is buying the chemicals to kill these perfectly healthy animals apart of your budget? Why not spend some of that donor’s money on fostering programs that allow dogs and cats to be cared for until a furever home can be found for each dog and cat in PETA’s care rather than being put down 24 hours after PETA receives them, okay?

But then again, why am I not surprised the kill rates are so high when you believe no human should be allowed to have a pet/animal companion and that you eventually want to ensure that dogs and cats are spayed/neutered to the point where dogs and cats are a thing of the past. I want my children to experience the love, joy and affection dogs and cats bring to people so I really don’t understand why you want to take that away from me and future generations.

Then there’s the issues with your rantings and ravings on social media that actively talk down to your audience and I’m going beyond the whole Steve Irwin grave tap dancing here, there’s the politically correct bullshit like changing well known famous sayings that wouldn’t offend ANY animal to demanding Australian rock band Hunters and Collectors change their name because the name of a band that has been around since the early 80s is apparently offensive to ducks, honestly it was probably at that point I should have realized PETA had lost the plot. Also people lovingly refer to their animals as their pets not the rubbish you spouted on Twitter...yet again a waste of valuable time and money that could be spent finding homes for cats and kittens or stopping the Queensland Government's crocodile egg farming.

As for some of the nonsense on your website, a simple Google search can debunk most of the stuff you claim eg: sheep shearing is cruel etc. I mean please if you are going to write an article claiming something is wrong/cruel actually put facts not emotional touchy feely crap which ensures people are so horrified they think they are helping these animals by giving you money but they aren’t. Half the time I roll my eyes and call you Chicken Little

As for this whole vegan crusade you are on, you are not going to convince people to go vegan with scaring people like you did on Australia Day by roasting a fake dog in Sydney making children cry and revolting people who may have supported you before. Nor are you going to convince people to go vegan by making up bullshit like linking milk to autism or to white supremacy or using a man in an adult diaper that just looks like you are ridiculing people with incontinence issues. It’s laughable, you can’t force people to go with your ideologies that need more research from reputable organisations especially considering the alleged “vegan frappucinos” that Starbucks are going to be selling have been found to not actually be vegan and that Starbucks has also been caught out not doing enough to ensure the health and welfare of chickens.

If people want to go vegan, its up to them as individuals, you can’t use shock tactics and publicity stunts to make people think going vegan is a good idea.

I guess what I am saying is PETA needs to fundamentally change, it needs to be a organisation that works for the welfare of the animals, stop it with the shock tactics and the lame stunts that are borderline embarrassing and use donors money to set up programs that do help animals.

Right now, when I look at organisations that call themselves “animal lovers”, PETA will not get a cent from me, I know that out there are organisations like the RSPCA and Wildlife Warriors who ensure any money donated actually goes toward helping keep animals alive and have a philosophy that isn’t extreme political correctness gone mad or robbing the future generations of having a dog or cat sleep in their lap. 

Have a good day.

Julie Keast

A frustrated fan's letter to Cricket Australia

To Kim McConnie and Cricket Australia,

Hello, you wouldn’t know me from a bar of soap but I am your ordinary Australian cricket fan, I sit down and watch a lot of cricket over the summer be it the test matches, the ODIs and even a lot of domestic cricket with one dayers, Sheffield Shield and the Big Bash League. I grew up watching cricket every summer and looked forward to the domestic one dayers being on tv when the rugby league season was done.

However I regret to say that I have problems with Australian cricket and the scheduling of it, the problem being with the Big Bash League now becoming the predominant feature of the Australian summer with matches every single night of the week barring the first two ODIs v India from just before Christmas and it has become concerning that the length of Big Bash League is causing additional problems.

1,  Players in the Australian ODI squad will pretty much have to be on the plane to India right after the Big Bash League final on February 17 so therefore guys like Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell will be relying on white ball form to push for Ashes selection rather than having a chance to show they have what it takes in test cricket by playing in the Sheffield Shield when it eventually resumes, they won’t get a chance to play Shield cricket either because Australia tour both India and the UAE (series v Pakistan) right up until April and with Sheffield Shield ending with the final in late March, there’s no chance Stoinis and others will get that opportunity unless selectors choose a weakened team for the tour of India but I don’t see that happening.

2. The Big Bash League has stopped being fun…in between the repetitive P.A. noise used as crowd participation that hasn’t changed since the first Big Bash of the city format to the same god damn fireworks and now to add to it, the matches this Big Bash have kind of sucked be it because of the pitches a lack of quality players because most of the good players have decided to play a T20 league that is shorter with more money in Bangladesh over the Big Bash League, some of the basics of cricket are done rather poorly eg: the basic ground fielding and catching from the Brisbane Heat was atrocious and some pretty strange umpiring to say the least.

3. 59 matches is just too many for a league that has been of a really poor standard this season even if Cricket Australia are loving the crowds, the TV figures and the money and no amount of sticking your head in the sand while insisting the Big Bash League will remain the same length is going to fix it. No, it’s not like AFL and NRL, Ms McConnie, the AFL and NRL do not have matches every single day of the week, AFL and NRL fans get a rest Monday through Wednesday and the occasional Thursday, they are actually able to take a deep breath and build excitement to the next fixtures unlike the BBL.

4. The scheduling isn’t helping the selectors at all. Am surprised none of them have quit yet.

I have a solution though:

What I propose is this: Going back to what worked with the 4^th and 5^th seasons of the BBL and making it a 38 game competition starting traditionally on 20^th December. The finals would consist of three matches. Semi final between 3^rd and 4^th, a prelim final between 2^nd and the winner of semi final, 1^st would then take on the winner of prelim final in the Grand Final to be played on Australia Day. To make it fair, home and away could be done over two years eg: if Sydney Sixers play Perth Scorchers at the SCG in BBL9 then in BBL 10, Sixers would travel to Perth.

Think about it, a shorter BBL would see international players find the BBL appealing and maybe stay for the whole tournament, would open up the opportunity to schedule the T20Is after the BBL so that Australian players not involved in the test team can also play BBL for the whole season and teams like the Melbourne Stars aren’t so badly affected in January and also February would be opened up to an early resumption of Sheffield Shield so players aren’t having to use ODIs to push test selection claims

Also the BBL could have more double header weekends which could open the way for breaks during the week just to allow people to look forward to the next game. Hell it’s not going to kill anyone if there’s no Big Bash League game on for a day or two. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

We need a better-balanced summer, Cricket Australia, right now it’s all weighted toward the Big Bash League and that is wrong. Please consider making changes for the sake of Australian cricket’s long-term future across all formats of the game in this country. Please put aside money and take steps to help the selectors, the players and even fans who are tiring of the overly long BBL.

From a frustrated Australian cricket fan.