Noise Ltd: Move along, nothing to see here…
Friday June 26th 2009, 7:48 am

News editors have a powerful position. They can’t change the news but they certainly can affect public perception of the importance of certain stories through how they place or ‘play’ a story. At reputable publishers or broadcasters, the good judgment of the editor along with public response and interest will determine whether something is on the front page or 1/2 of a column inch on the bottom of page C-34. At disreputable media outlets, the political affiliation of the editor makes the determination.

Ever since the email Malcolm Turdbull was relying upon to hang Rudd and Swan as corrupt was revealed as a fraud, News Ltd editors have been playing down the story, decidedly against the concept of public interest and the actual public’s interest. The News Ltd line at present is that ‘the public are tired of the story and want it to go away.’ Ex-News Ltd editor David Penberthy on his blogsite ‘The Punch‘ goes so far as to spell out what the people are thinking. The front pages this morning of news.com.au, smh.com.au and abc.net.au/news are telling. Only news.com.au has no stories linked from the front page about the so-called ‘utegate’ or OzCar story.

Worse, News Ltd been manipulating the comments threads in OzCar stories which have been given them. As an experiment, I placed 20 comments under differing usernames and through various proxy servers to prevent the comments editors from knowing all of them were coming from one computer. 10 comments supported Rudd & Swan, 10 comments supported Turdbull. Of those 20, 9 were published. All 9 were those supporting Turdball.

News Ltd: It’s not news- but it is limited.

-weez



Need yur help in Nigeria, Mr Turnbul
Saturday June 20th 2009, 9:59 am

Turnbull apparently believes anything he reads in an email.

Aw-right!

Just sent:

yep, dat's moiDear Mr Turnbul,

Pleaze alow me to introduce myself. I am HRH Prince Phuque de la Mountaine. After a recent violent coupe in my native countrey of Mountaine, I fled to Nigeria with aproximately $USD100,800,756,236.00 in Mountaine government funds to keep it from faling into the hands of the goddless socialist rebbels. This money is in a Nigerian bank at the moment, but I have fergoten the password and can not excess the funds.

My Australian frends compliment you. They say that you are a ‘dill’ and a ‘silvertail’ and as such are the guy to ask for help in this matter. If you would be so kind as to forward $USD1000 so I can pay a hacker to crack the bank website, I am happy to give you half ($USD50,400,378,118.00) of the sum on deposit.

If u can not find it in your Christien heart to help with this matter, could I interest you in a 13-year-old Japanese ute? $1000 ono.

Cheers much,

Prince Phuque de la Mountaine

I’ve already spent the $thou, BTW. 😀

-weez



Don’t tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase tase me, bro
Thursday June 18th 2009, 10:51 pm

Cover-up claims over Taser death

By Annie Guest for PM

Queensland’s Police Minister has admitted he has known since Monday that police released false information about the use of a stun gun in an incident where a man later died.

Today it was revealed that Antonio Galeano could have been tasered up to 28 times before his death during an arrest at Brandon, south of Townsville, last Friday.

It was not until the media reported today that the Taser was used 28 times, and not three, that the Minister, Police Service and Union all publicly acknowledged the truth.

It’s not a cover-up. Queensland Police are just really, really bad at math.

-weez



…and a nervous titter ran through the crowd…
Thursday June 18th 2009, 9:23 pm

Lib staffer resigns over alleged sex harassment

June 18, 2009

A Liberal opposition staffer has resigned over the alleged sexual harassment of several women at a social function in Canberra on Wednesday night.

Anthony Scrinis, an electorate officer working for Liberal Sophie Mirabella who is opposition spokeswoman for women (emphasis mine. -weez),  handed in his resignation late on Thursday, according to Ms Mirabella.

Mr Scrinis allegedly grabbed the breasts of two women on the dance floor while at the Midwinter Ball at Parliament House on Wednesday night, media reported.

It is alleged he also approached four other women during the evening asking to fondle their breasts.

It’s understood one of the women whose breasts were grabbed is a senior adviser to a cabinet minister who left the dance floor in tears.

One of the women had lodged an official complaint about Mr Scrinis’ behaviour, it was reported.

One woman who observed Mr Scrinis’ behaviour at the ball said he appeared to be under the weather.

“He appeared to be drunk and was approaching various women on the dance floor,” the woman, who did not want to be named, told AAP.

“He was pretty sleazy and kept trying it on, he wouldn’t go away.”

Mr Scrinis seems to be an arsehole even when he’s sober. Scrinis was a candidate for Port Phillip council who believes there’s more harm to be done by enacting carbon-neutral council policies than by doing nothing; apparently his property value trumps global warming, which Scrinis believes is a furphy:

Doomsday is not coming from man-made climate change. Climate Change is a beautiful natural process, which has always occured [sic] on Earth.

Does this guy hang out with Fielding?

Scrinis is also a sore loser who failed to enroll to vote for his entire adult life- until he wanted to be a candidate.

I have enrolled to vote for the first time in my life, because this is the most critical policy judgement for us and our children.

Scrinis also volunteers:

I am truly independent and not a member of any political party.

…except when he’s working as a staffer for Liberal politicians.

By-election or not, I don’t think Scrinis could be elected dogcatcher after his boob job at the knees-up.

Go the Liberals. Cement that irrelevance, baby.

-weez



Dear Senator Fielding
Tuesday June 16th 2009, 9:19 am

I think Steve Fielding is on to something. If you can’t see it for yourself or understand it without the aid of ‘educated’ people, you are fully within the course of reason to deny it. Even if you ARE aided by ‘edumacated’ people, you should ignore reality at all costs.

Right?

Naturally, that prompted a letter.

Dear Senator Fielding,

Thank you for standing up to those ‘global warming’ fanatics. It gets hot in the summer but cold every winter. I sure haven’t noticed any difference since the beginning of the industrial revolution- well, the part of it that I’ve seen for myself, anyway.

I’m also annoyed at these ‘scientists’ (ha!) claims that invisible ‘electricity’ (as they keep calling it) can in any way hurt you! Pure nonsense! We should all eat more of it!

On top of that, ‘THEY’ keep saying that HIV causes AIDS and that condoms can prevent the spread of the disease. How stupid is that? I just got back yesterday, but I don’t feel bad at all after that month of having unprotected sex with a half dozen bar girls in Bangkok. I’ve never seen any HIVs, have you? Of COURSE not. It’s all a left-wing fraud!

Don’t even get me started on this ’round earth’ garbage. I just looked out my window and it still looks as flat as ever. Idiots. Good heavens, the next thing you know some ‘educated’ dope will try to make you believe men have actually landed on the MOON! HA!

The unrealistic nonsense that THEY want you to believe is breathtaking. It takes a brave man to stand up to these anti-business communists with all those letters after their names. The cheek of these ‘learned’ people! Just because ‘they’ spent loads of money and years of life they’ll never get back on some stupid ‘education’ makes them think they can get you and me to believe ANYTHING. Well, I’m no fool and you’re obviously not either!

Good onya for believing those uneducated American ‘climate change’ skeptics. You can be sure that they’re unbiased by any of those highfalutin’ ‘educated’ anti-progress ‘experts’ and all their so-called ‘research’ and ‘facts.’

I won’t believe a word of any of it until YOU come to my house and explain it to me.

Keep up the good work, Senator.

Um, you ARE a ‘senator,’ right? I’ve never met anyone who voted for you. Until all those ‘voters’ show up and my place and TELL me they voted for you, there’s a bit of a question mark over your head, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt- for now.

Regards,

T. Witt

Sydney

Education! Waaaay overrated.

-weez



Up yours, Forestry Tasmania
Thursday June 11th 2009, 4:19 pm

Public donations pay Brown’s legal bill

Senator Brown faced losing his seat in the Upper House if he failed to pay Forestry Tasmania’s legal fees after initiating a court case to stop logging in the Wielangta Forest.

He admitted earlier this week he was having trouble paying court costs and Dick Smith offered to help out.

But Senator Brown has told ABC Radio’s AM program generous donations from the public have helped him raise the money.

Senator Brown says he will be able to meet the June 29 deadline after more than 1,000 people donated their money.

“A lot of these people have said ‘we are not Greens voters, we are Labor voters or we are Liberal voters, but we want to make a donation for Tasmania’s forest and for this stand that you have taken for them’,” he said.

Bob Brown lost this case on appeal due to John Howard and Paul Lennon colluding to amend the Regional Forestry Agreement in February 2007, after Brown’s original victory. The legislative change, which does not have voter assent, was applied retrospectively. How this didn’t shake out to be a conspiracy to act in contempt of court, I’ll never know.

But yeah, I was one of the 1000 or so who ponied up some cash. Go Bob. 🙂

“Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.”

-Benito Mussolini

-weez



ATTN: Steve Fielding – Critical Thinking 101
Wednesday June 10th 2009, 8:33 am

Interesting vid, even if QualiaSoup‘s use of ‘close-minded’ vs. ‘closeD-minded’ is a bit annoying. A British English convention? Dunno. Regardless, the dissection of basic critical thinking is worthwhile for those with a defective bullshit filter such as Mr Fielding.

-weez



The Duchy of Grand Fuckwit
Tuesday June 09th 2009, 12:50 am

In a tale mirroring the 1959 Peter Sellers flick The Mouse That Roared, North Korea has (claimed to have) set off nuclear bombs, fired a few missiles toward Japan and now has kidnapped two US journalists from Chinese territory, spirited them into NK territory and has convicted them of spying in a show trial, sentencing them to 12 years in notoriously brutal prison labor camps.

The only possible outcome Pyongyang must expect is to get bombed into prime carpark real estate and hope the US will pay to rebuild it.

Your move, Mr Obama.

-weez



Steve Fielding is a credulous dope
Monday June 08th 2009, 12:35 pm

Fielding wants solar flare theory investigated

By Emma Griffiths for AM

Family First Senator Steve Fielding says increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might not be causing global warming.

He has been at a climate change conference in the United States where he heard that solar flares could be linked to temperature change.

In other news, Fielding also wants to know why invisible pink unicorns have been duping young women into having happy, fun abortions.

This part knocks me out:

“Now obviously that’s a question mark that I need to get to the bottom. Now I’m an engineer, so I suppose that when someone puts forward an opposing view, I’ve got to check out to make sure whether it’s right or wrong.”

No wonder Steve-o can’t keep a job as an engineer. A real one would inquire about the radiant infrared emission potential of solar flares, the nature of their transience and conductivity of radiant IR through 149,730,000km of space and, after a quick shave with Occam’s, conclude that solar flare activity would be enormously less likely to cause global warming than rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and other such gases.

The arrogance of ignorance is staggering.

-weez



Tiananmen +20
Thursday June 04th 2009, 12:00 am

NEWSFLASH: Nothing’s changed.

-weez