Perth Voice Interactive

Willis wears me out
WHENEVER I reach Voice Mail I almost always find another unnecessary letter from Ron Willis. I didn’t need to know that Ron’s daughters play April Fool’s Day tricks, as I did this week, nor that a meeting he thought would happen didn’t. Non-news equals no interest!
There really are meaningful subjects Mr Willis could tackle: the continuing lack of traffic improvements at the Beaufort-Walcott junction; rat-runners increasingly taking to the back streets; SUV-toting parents speeding in quiet streets around Perth College; long-distance commuters parking on our streets for free, and bussing it to town; retail rent-gouging in East Perth, destroying any chance of creating a vibrant community there; and so on. So Ron, have a go at something meaningful or take a break, for all our sakes.
If you don’t receive any other letters worth publishing, dear Editor, please compose your own, under pseudonyms if necessary, and limit the airtime Ron enjoys in your paper.
Peter Hopwood
Mount Lawley

Against the grain
WHILE the sheer courage of Julia Gillard is inspirational for all women, our federal government urging us to do anything rubs against my grain.
Fair goes, though: so does much of our state government’s manoeuvrings. You’ve guessed: I’m a floating voter with shades of green.
Perth and “surrounding areas” to switch come Tuesday (April 16), from analogue to digital TV pushes today’s pen. My only switching on the day will be from sleep to wakefulness and vice versa. Come July, my Achilles heel, Ashes cricket from the UK, just might prompt a switch—or twitch. Meanwhile, for those of us, including any Alices, who choose to go against the stream, a wonderland awaits next week: life without commercial TV’s relentless and ruthless persuasion machine.
My childhood and beyond spent on isolated farms beheld the wonderland. TV was a vague mystery, perhaps on Mars or Venus, until our Queen’s coronation in black and white—watched on the only TV in the neighbourhood. Steam radio was youth’s thing. Nowadays ABC Radio’s Classic FM; groovy, even steamy, yet so cool for our brain’s grain, welcomes all of us.
Without even a mobile, yours truly,
Ron Willis
First Ave, Mt Lawley

Cops’ call
IT was a former police commissioner who told prostitutes they could operate on Stirling Street, which they began to do all the way from the Sunday Times building to Harold Street.
The most popular spot has always been around the phone box near Bulwer Street. Even to this day that is where you will find hookers.
If they see a cop car they will soon duck for cover or simply start walking, only to return when the fuzz goes away.
Because they smoke drink and take drugs these women want at least a hundred. Some are such scoundrels they will take the money and flee—offering nothing in return. Drug suppliers are always close by and will even drive them to their next destination.
The commissioner of the day had it all contained in one area. Then he ordered his troops to quickly move in and charge them with offences. We never heard of any blokes being charged. Not much has changed. Occasionally the sheilas move a little to the north, south, east or west of this cosy location—always making themselves obvious to would-be clients.
Seriously, if the police, government, local government wanted to end it all once and for good why don’t they? Because there are always corrupt officials. People on the take. Right where the phone box is on Stirling Street the police could set up a command post, just like they do with booze buses.
There could be a string of police cars. Coppers on bike, on foot,uniformed, plain clothes—it could be one hell of a police operation. Every bloke could be thrown into the clink as well as all the sheilas. All the officials can mouth off, neighbours complain and nothing of consequence occurs.
What about an Elliott Ness and the Untouchables demonstration of how to deal with unwanted lawlessness? Like I said it has a lot to do with police corruption and so called containment policies. That commissioner was a flop and so is this latest bloke.
Raymond N Conder
Central Ave, Inglewood

Broken cameras
IT is not often Perth can claim to be first in showing one of the 2013 Oscar-nominated documentary films.
We hear a lot about the problems in the Middle-East and in this violent world it is refreshing to see a film that shows how non-violent resistance can work captured by the camera.
A wonderful opportunity therefore to see here in Perth 5 Broken Cameras by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi, in which a Palestinian farmer watches from behind the lens and records a first-hand account of non-violent resistance in a West Bank village.
Showing at 6.30pm on Thursday April 18 at the Fox Lecture Theatre, UWA, Nedlands.
Marta Szedlak
Ewing Ave, Bull Creek  

Karmacera
WHAT irony. With Mothballed (Voice Mail, April 6, 2013) Patricia Meydam, bless her, succeeded only in delighting Michael Sutherland by quoting him; and irritating Bob Kucera. Such is life.
Aloysius Pepper
Queens Cres, Mt Lawley

Dark boxes
CANBERRA tells us that come Tuesday (April 16) we shall see nothing on our goggle boxes unless we have switched to digital-only.
Yippee! What a splendid chance to sample life pre-TV. Bring it on.
Alvar Scrope
St Georges Tce, Perth