Crikey
A sad end to one of Australia’s most famous entertainers:
THE Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, is dead.
He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said. It is understood he was killed by a sting-ray barb that went through his chest.
He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary and that’s when it occured.
Ambulance officers confirmed they attended a reef fatality this morning at Batt Reef off Port Douglas.
At least it’s fair to say he went out in a way that befitted his life’s work. It would have been even more sad if he died in a mundane fashion.
Update: A photo tribute to Steve Irwin
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A Yobbo\'s View 
September 4, 2006 at 5:21 am
Never have I heard of a stingray fatality. This is not at all befitting the man’s life’s work. Stingrays are bottom dwellers. When stepped on, the barb comes up and usually hits a foot or lower leg. To hit the man in the chest, he would have had to pick it up and practically have been giving the thing a bear hug.
No matter what Aussies say about the man I’ll give him this: rather than bitch about what the government wasn’t doing to preserve the environment, Irwin put his money where his mouth was. Instead of advocating that the rest of us punters pitch in for the environment, he used his wealth to buy huge tracts of land and dedicate them private nature reserves. A true libertarian if ever there was one.
September 4, 2006 at 5:25 am
Everybody knew sooner or later some critter was going to get Steve – it was only a matter of time, frankly. But a stingray just doesn’t seem right.
September 4, 2006 at 6:34 am
Agreed Seppo, he was a good man.
September 4, 2006 at 9:04 am
He was a fruit loop greenie, using money generated from the entertainment industry to purchase productive agricultural land & take it out of production.
The world cannot afford too many like him, or we won’t have enough to eat.
The crocodile industry, while never having wished this upon him, will probably now be able to get some common sense back into their lobbying to politicians.
He had a high profile, & a fat bank balance thanks to his wife’s horse sense, but he had little or nothing to add to animal conservation beyond some smoke & mirrors.
Thinking wasn’t his strong point.
September 4, 2006 at 9:14 am
Everyone here is now dumber for having read this. Before accusing the recently deceased of stupidity, you should go take a good look in the mirror.
September 4, 2006 at 10:32 am
“The world cannot afford too many like him, or we won’t have enough to eat.”
Ummmm, before that, the price of food would go up, thereby increasing returns to farming, and thus increasing agricultural output in turn.
Like Yobbo, we are all dumber for having read this economic illiterate.
September 4, 2006 at 10:34 am
Vale, Stevo.
September 4, 2006 at 10:55 am
Being recently deceased in no way confers common sense onto someone.
This is the man who dangles his kids over the open jaws of a saltwater crocodile.
Anyone who believes that using windfall money generated from outside agriculture (showbiz) to then take agricultural land out of production is in no position to call anyone an economic illiterate.
The crocodile industry has been hamstrung for years by this fellow, who has been using his high profile to impress (dumb?) politicians into seeing things his way, rather than listening to carefully thought out proposals by industry representative organisations.
Whilst the crocodile industry has for years wondered how to get rid of this fellow, or his hamstringing influence, nobody would wish such a fate onto him, or onto his family. Those who wanted him gone will be feeling all the worse for probably having in irate moments past, wished a horrid fate onto “that blighter”.
A very very sad occurrence, a gloom is over the nation tonight, and we are all reminded of our mortality. (or impending mortality)
September 4, 2006 at 11:22 am
Government mandating that land be used for a particular purpose: bad.
Individual deciding to use their private wealth to buy land and set it aside for a particular purpose: None of anyone else’s business.
I wouldn’t worry about running out of food – I’m sure there’s more agricultural land in the world than there are rich idealists.
September 4, 2006 at 11:29 am
Quit while you’re behind Steve.
September 4, 2006 at 11:48 am
crikey, does steve really run a pub?
September 4, 2006 at 11:51 am
Steve, Back to the pub where you can complain about your lazy employees. These are foolish claims when this great Australian has just died.
To go off topic, I heard a part of Yobbo’s ‘I’m sorry’ speech this afternoon on an ABC radio show on blogging. You’ve hit the big time Yobbo.
September 4, 2006 at 12:29 pm
I guess I should expect my cheque any time then. First I’ve heard of it.
September 4, 2006 at 1:08 pm
[…] Despite the $750 million in extortion proceeds they receive each year, the ABC is still on the bones of its arse, to the point where they are reduced to stealing: I heard a part of Yobbo’s ‘I’m sorry’ speech this afternoon on an ABC radio show on blogging. You’ve hit the big time Yobbo. […]
September 4, 2006 at 1:33 pm
Jason: Indeed I do. All suggestions/offers of help are most welcome.
September 4, 2006 at 5:05 pm
Stevo, stevo, stevo, stevo
Half the bloody food in the world is thrown away. So what if he purchased land to take it out of production? It’s his money and his land. You’re just as bad as greenies who want to tell freeholders what to do with their own property.
Now go pour me a beer bitch!
September 4, 2006 at 11:00 pm
“To go off topic, I heard a part of Yobbo’s ‘I’m sorry’ speech this afternoon on an ABC radio show on blogging. You’ve hit the big time Yobbo. ”
I’d like to have heard that. But the context and irony was everything in Sam’s presentation of it on his blog. How did the ABC present it Harry?
September 4, 2006 at 11:06 pm
Just look at the incredibly filthy indecent comments on the Tim Dunlop “tribute” post.
http://www.roadtosurfdom.com/2006/09/04/vale-steve-irwin/
That blog is about as low as it gets, surely. Although I haven’t been to LP or Quiggan yet. I don’t think I can face them so early in the day.
September 5, 2006 at 12:26 am
I’ve read them already and commented. They are digusting people.
September 5, 2006 at 11:52 am
“That blog is about as low as it gets, surely. Although I haven’t been to LP or Quiggan yet. I don’t think I can face them so early in the day. ”
That’s rather harsh, whyisitso. LP and Quiggin are generally decent folk, though Cristy and Peter Kemp may have been dropped on their heads as babies …
September 5, 2006 at 12:11 pm
just went to the Road to Surfdom site. what a disguisting display that was. and Tim Dunlop was too much of a pussy to disown his crazy readers.
September 5, 2006 at 2:04 pm
Yeah he’s weak as piss.
September 5, 2006 at 3:40 pm
Dunlop et al are as weak as piss.
Someone with bigger balls than they will ever grow drops off the twig, and they race in like fucking hyenas to the corpse to try and prove they are better men by bagging him
Truly, truly disgusting little girly men.
Fuck me, I am appalled.
September 6, 2006 at 10:56 am
Irwin was not only a great character, but he enriched us all. He widened peoples’ interest in nature from just the cute and cuddly towards all creatures great and small – a real understanding, not just an idealised image.
Irwin and Attenborough both feared humans more than animals. After seeing the toxic barbs at RTS, I think their assessment is still spot on.
If I recall correctly, Tim Dunlop was happy enough to denounce tasteless comments about the injury to the Roy of Siegfried & Roy … when the comments were made by a right-wing radio host.
The tasteless comments about Irwin seem to be by what could loosely be called “the left”: Road To Surfdom, Daily Kos, and Germaine Greer.
I primarily hanged around the right-wing crowd after September 11 because it seemed that they had the better grasp that Islamism is a major threat not only for their adherents’ capability to inflict damage but the scale of their aims.
If it weren’t for that, maybe the “screw ’em” attitude towards things like this would have encouraged me to jump ship.
The comments by Greer confirms her role as a reverse barometer: she speaks favourably of female genital mutilation, child sex and now thinks this death is nature’s commupance. I’m glad that she also opposed the invasion of Iraq.
September 6, 2006 at 11:32 am
I’m afraid I’m rather a conservative person. (Yes, Jason, I’ve admitted it!) I still have this quaint notion that a “Vale” post ought to consist of positive or at least interesting narrative comments. Plenty of time after the burial to indulge in a critique of someone’s life. It just strikes me as supreme cowardice to attack a dead person before the body even goes cold. And even worse in some ways to use a tragic death to attack a hated person (John Howard) in this case as they’ve done at RTS.
The left parades its greater humanity, compassion, charity and love over the “horrors” of right-wing thought. Heaven help us!
September 6, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Check out these guys. Despicable, utterly despicable
http://www.leftwrites.net/2006/09/06/national-heroes-and-villains
But don’t expect to be able to get a word in. They censored Boris, the guy who comments at Catallaxy.
September 6, 2006 at 1:16 pm
I’ve read that site once before and don’t really see any reason to ever read it again. The people who inhabit that site have no redeeming features.
September 6, 2006 at 10:59 pm
I don’t think its timing of the criticism but the lack of substance. Apart from environmentalism his shows were politicly neutral. A rare thing in documentaries today.
September 6, 2006 at 11:17 pm
“his shows were politicly neutral. A rare thing in documentaries today”
Quite so, Gary. It’s becoming very rare to see any TV documentary, film, play or serious work of virtually any description without its author’s agenda being highly visible throughout, usually left-wing.
A little bit off topic, I know, but for example I’d really like to get my hands on a book describing the modern (late 19th century onwards) history of Israel without it being flavoured with the agenda of either side of the zionist argument. Any suggestions, you well-read lot?
September 7, 2006 at 1:00 am
I don’t think they exist whyisitso, but I have an acutance that may know of some balanced works. If he’s using the same Email I’ll ask and get back to you.
September 7, 2006 at 11:47 am
With regards to unbiased historys: I’ve found two approaches to this that sort of work.
1. (The best) get a book written before world war 2. Obviously this doesn’t work for modern subjects, but when it does it’s brilliant.
No, the old books are NOT without bias, but it is really quaint, outdated bias that has no connection to modern attitudes. So it is bleedingly obvious when they are speaking from bias and easy to allow for. Eg. HG Wells “History of the World”. Sure he was a naive socialist and an amusingly innocent racist and sexist, but this is all so obvious that you can see straight through it.
2. Get books written by someone who’s bias is strong, clear and (most importantly) DIFFERENT FROM YOUR OWN. This once again, allows you to see where the bias is acting.
The problem being that even someone from the opposite side of politics still shares many biases with you just because you live in the same time. Don’t believe me? Read some works from the 19th Century and stand gobsmacked at the COMPLETELY ALIEN assumptions about some things. (Eg. Diary in America by Capt. Marryat)
September 8, 2006 at 12:05 am
The best history of the foundation of Israel I’ve read is a book published shortly after the 1948 war. It’s called “The Arab-Israeli War”, by Edgar O’Ballance, and it’s a military study of the battles of that war. Because it’s written for military students by an Irish Pom, it talks about the politics in a pretty neutral tone. The bulk of the book is a dry military work, but the first few chapters discuss the background to the conflict very clearly. There’s background material interspersed into the main chapters, too. It won’t answer all of your questions, but for a general overview it’s very good.
September 8, 2006 at 6:18 am
Thanks for your interest and help, Patrick and Orpheus.
September 9, 2006 at 6:27 am
I agree both Steve and Peter were icons of the marque – but a State Funeral ?
I think we are seeing the start of interstate Funerall Wars !