Tough Words

In a recent post, Antony Loewenstein sneered that Canberra needs to grow a back bone.

This from a guy who cowers at non-existent "death threats" (by little old Jewish ladies).

The good news: It looks like Antony has been widening his reading.

Good piece in today’s Sydney Daily Telegraph

Good piece in today’s Sydney Daily Telegraph

Good piece in today's Sydney Daily Telegraph.

It's not April Fools Day and that's not even "Murdoch's Daily Telegraph". Perhaps Antony's looking for work and wants to impress the Opinion Editor at the Tele? Good luck with that. Then again, Tim Blair has previously run opinion pieces by seditious twerps calling for the defeat of Australian soldiers. Antony might just have a chance. Let's hope Tim forgets when unemployed Antony called him a stenographer.

One of the comments at Loewenstein's blog (lucky enough to get through censorship) is less impressed with the Tele piece.

It's the short of article that makes me not read Australian papers.

That's the sort of literacy that makes one read Loewenstein.

Good piece in today’s Sydney Daily Telegraph that tackles

Good piece in today’s Sydney Daily Telegraph that tackles

Julian Assange tells The Power Index that Canberra needs to grow a back-bone (fat chance):

Bob vs Gore

Miranda Devine offers a wonderful quote.

Bob took the long view: “I am a life member of Bronte Surf Club. I am 76yrs of age and I have not seen the sea level change at all.

“In fact as a child I remember one year with the Xmas tides the water came right up through the park. How come these alarmists can predict that the beaches are going to be swamped in the next 75yrs when nothing has altered in the past 75yrs?”

Gavin Moves On

I had a feeling something was up when there were no "passing shadows" for the last couple of weeks. The Shadowlands' Gavin Atkins, a good mate, writes:

I have decided to take an extended break from blogging this year to chase up some other freelance writing opportunities.

So long Gavin, and thanks.

Ex-Trad-Ition

Everybody's favourite Lebanese-Muslim spokesman, Keysar Trad lost a 2009 court case against radio broadcaster Alan Jones, who made some fairly pointed comments about Muslims. After losing, Trad appealed.

Last month the appeal panel ruled against him again.

For those reasons Mr Trad's appeal would ultimately fail. It would not be necessary to consider the factual questions concerning incitement.

I was also surprised by this bit:

37 Of particular potential significance here is this material pointed to by Mr Trad's experts:

Muslims in Australia gained an image of being problem migrants largely through the particular settlement experience of Lebanese Muslim migrants settled in Sydney as a result of the civil war [in Lebanon]. In particular this image was created and sustained by the fact that Lebanese Muslims experienced chronically high levels of unemployment in the 1980's and the 1990's, by the perception that Lebanese youth were heavily involved in gang activities and by the conviction of Lebanese Muslim brothers for gang rapes in Sydney.

Really? Could it not be because of the Lebanese-Muslim community's almost complete silence in the face of a nearly total failure to assimilate into the Australian Community? Rather than saying "we have a problem, what can we do about it?" it's been constant moaning that it's "racism", like a violent, rude child saying it's everybody else's fault that they're unpopular at school.

Were there ever any protests from the Islamic Community against Jihad? Against terrorism? Against any of the other problems within the religion? Not that I'm aware of.

Whereas if Israel bombs a few armed terrorists, you can have ten thousand Muslims marching in the streets on a day's notice. So we know they can get a crowd together when it suits them.

Of course, I'll probably get called a "racist" for saying any of this.

On Balance

Letter in today's Silly:

There have been a few letters wailing about the so-called left-wing bias of the ABC. I recall someone once said "the ABC couldn't balance the right-wing bias of the rest of the media if it were run by Lenin and Marx''.

Peter Butler Balgownie

My tax dollars don't compulsorily pay for the 'rest of the media'.

Fireworks Fizzer

A few years ago, I had this letter published in The Silly:

On New Year's Eve I watched the fireworks from a public vantage point. I saw backpackers sending text messages to their friends urging them to come to Sydney. That is, the few million dollars spent on the event will result in many millions worth of tourism.

Yet every year there are letters from people insisting we cancel the fireworks because of (take your pick) global warming, war, poverty, bushfires or the expense.

I saw young children amazed, I saw grown-ups holding hands and I saw thousands of Australians having a fantastic time. It really takes a special kind of killjoy to want to cancel that.

The editor replaced the word "arsehole" with killjoy. Arsehole.

This year, The Australian's letters page ran this rather poorly written whinge:

Millions have been blown on fireworks to pander to the affluent. Think how many Somali children could have been saved with that.

Rob Ryan, Atherton, Qld

You can save Somali children with fireworks? Cool!

The Drone Continues...

Antony still can't count.

Washington’s drone wars against countless countries receives far too little media scrutiny

Those weren't fireworks on New Year's Eve.

They were drones....

What the Face?

Some models smile. Most pout. What the hell is this girl doing?

No. Seriously. What? That advertisement is popping up on all sorts of websites. I thought Blue Steel was for men only.

Doesn't Work on Door-Knockers

I just watched a TV ad for "outdoor insect protection". Specifically, an automatic insecticide dispenser. Just in case the indoor plug-in sprays weren't already killing the family bugs.

Good grief.

Haven't people ever heard of spiders?

Loewensomething something

It's been hard lately to post any of the usual observations about Antony Loewenstein's blogging as it's becoming largely impossible  to work out what the hell he is even trying to say.

Headline:

When far Right hearts Zionism, sensible folk run (yet so many Jews are smiling)

Any idea?

One theme did emerge. Antony continues to protect murderers and the enemies of democracy.

Here's what's happening in Syria. Right now.

The use of artillery against protesters has been the government's favoured way of quelling unrest over the course of the nine-month uprising. The tactic has ensured disaffected soldiers do not get close enough to protesters to defect while inflicting maximum terror.

Deprived of its weapon of choice, the regime was forced to resort to cruder methods.

The security forces fired automatic rifles at protesters in the cities of Hama and Dera'a and, according to opposition groups, used nail bombs to disperse demonstrators in Douma on the outskirts of Damascus.

The regime has been accused of using nail bombs since August, resulting in a large number of amputations that have often been conducted in makeshift field clinics because protesters taken to hospitals have frequently disappeared.

If it were the Israeli government using rubber bullets against terrorists, Antony would be furious. When it's someone else using real bullets, bombs and nails against civilians? He has a slightly different view.

Syria may be convulsing but foreign intervention must be avoided

Even the far left Grauniad is advocating for foreign intervention. Not Antony though. Violence in the Middle East is invisible if there's no Israeli Jews involved.

Elsewhere, Antony's been caught out again, using dodgey statistics. Can this boy get anything right?

Spectacle

Every New Year's Eve from 2000 to 2009, party goers would wander around Sydney streets wearing cheesy novelty glasses where the two zeroes were over their eyes. I figured that market would dry up in 2010 (except perhaps for one-eyed party goers) and die altogether by 2011. I didn't see many last year and figured I was right.

Apparently not. Damn those creative plastics manufacturers.

Children Deserve Cracker Night

Justin Sheedy wrote:

For any young child growing up in the suburbs of 1970s Australia, there were three days of any year that you held as holy. One was your birthday, one was Christmas, one – and by far the most primordially sensual, wondrous and potentially lethal to your young life – was Crackernight.

...subsequently known as the Queen's Birthday after fireworks sale in NSW was banned 25 years ago.

We were all told that fireworks were dangerous and should only be fired by professionals.

Yeah? Well at least I never set fire to any buildings. Perhaps in Clover Moore's increasingly desperate attemtps to copy Melbourne, next year she can have the Sydney Opera House set ablaze. It will be perfectly safe as long as no child in the outer suburbs gets to ignite any bungers...

Three Demerit Points and a Defect

Driving along Anzac Parade, Kensington this afternoon I was stopped at the lights when a marked police car pulled up alongside. Waiting for the lights to change I turned to check out the driver. A middle aged police officer, with his mobile phone held against his ear.

I would have taken a photo of it except the Roads and Maritime Services (formerly Roads and Traffic Authority) website notes:

It is illegal to drive or ride a vehicle while using a hand-held mobile phone. The penalty is a significant fine and three demerit points.

This means that talking, sending or receiving text messages, playing games or taking photos are illegal when using a hand-held phone. It is also illegal to perform these activities when your vehicle is stopped but not parked, for example when you are waiting at traffic lights.

Right officer?

When he drove off, roughly 10kmh above the posted speed limit, I also watched him change lane without indicating. Oh and one of his brake lights wasn't working. But here's the thing. I'm not calling for this Officer to be pulled up, so to speak.

1) Police obviously think Mobile phone rules are silly too. There is also good research which suggests laws banning handheld mobile phone use whilst driving do not reduce accidents compared to handsfree use.

2) The obsession with speed enforcement is ridiculous. It was a three lane dual-carriageway road (Anzac Parade) and he was travelling only slightly quicker than the prevailing speed (everybody else slowed down when they saw the police car). His 70kmh in a 60 zone was harmless. I'm sure plenty of people have been booked on that section of road for 'lesser' offences.

3) Like a number of people who've probably received a defect notice and fine, he would have had no idea the brakelight was out.

Having said that, I do hope the officer concerned has never and will never book any driver for anything, ever.

Clown Shoes

There were scuffles in the USA by sad losers who would get in a physical confrontation over sneakers. Stories reported shoppers fighting and arrests being made.

Scuffles broke out and police were brought in to quell unrest that nearly turned into riots across the United States on Friday following the release of Nike's new Air Jordan basketball shoes — a retro model of one of the most popular Air Jordans ever made.

It's unclear whether it was the 1% or the 99% involved.

In Georgia, officers said they had to break a car window to get two toddlers out after a woman went in after the shoes. They said she was taken into custody when she returned to the car.

No sneakers for you.

A new edition has been launched each year, and release dates had to be moved to the weekends at some points to keep kids from skipping school to get a pair.

Hey, they'll need some good footwear for their fried chicken career.

But here's where it gets interesting.

The disbelief over unruly crowds fighting and being pepper sprayed over Air Jordan Concords turned to mourning when it was reported on social media and blogs that a young man, 18-year-old Tyreek Amir Jacobs, had been killed for the coveted shoes.

Never happened.

"Nothing like that has happened here, and I hope we would know," said one Montgomery County police official. While media outlets in the district reported on disturbances around the area, none ended fatally. Still, as of this writing, some 12,000 people were participating in no less than eight Facebook groups about Jacobs' killing.

Next time you hear an unemployed 'journalist' sneering about the unmatched power of the Internet and blogs over the established media which won't employ him, consider this example, of a lie (or mistake) spreading like wildfire. People will have lost interest by the time the corrections are issued.

Be kind to animals while saving the environment: eat meat

It turns out that the ethical high ground is occupied not by anti-meat progressives but rather by steak-lovers:

Published figures suggest that, in Australia, producing wheat and other grains results in:

• at least 25 times more sentient animals being killed per kilogram of useable protein
• more environmental damage, and
• a great deal more animal cruelty than does farming red meat.

The article, by an academic unaffiliated with meat producers, is well worth reading – and you might want to refer sanctimonious veggie-eating friends to it for enlightenment.

Going Down

A North Korean escalator has become something of a shrine as possibly the last escalator Kim Jong-Il rode.

Countries which have freedom tend to have much cooler escalators.

Waiting for Leunig's attempt

In today's SMH, a letter urging more respect for Dear Leader.

Derisive and insulting cartoons and articles about the recently deceased leader of a volatile and unpredictable nuclear-armed country of 35 million people like North Korea are in poor taste, politically unwise and potentially dangerous.

Michael Scott South Hobart

Why? It's not as though they were cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Now that would be dangerous.

I can't believe that there are calls to limit our free speech so as to avoid upsetting dictatorships which deny it to their own people.