tha bastard son

Goodbye and Hello

2010-01-28T21:54:00.002+11:00

It is with great regret that I close this blog, but a loss of interest in politics and the eventual death of this sites terrible commenting system has led me to change blogs and start anew.

Lost in a Forest will probably be a very different sort of blog, a bit more personal or as I call it "emo rambling" and a bit less giggling at whoever is leading the Liberal Party to failure this week.

Thanks for the giggles, arguments and good times on the blogosphere over the last two years and I hope to see some of you at my new blog.

Till next time.

Objectivity for Dummies

2010-01-11T23:46:00.003+11:00

Faith, religion and all that stuff is a subject that the media treats with a great deal of care (except if they want to rile up some anti-Muzzie hatred of course). So I was quite surprised at how the the Daily Terror's standards have dropped with this piece.

A WOMAN cured of inoperable lung and brain cancer through prayers to Mary MacKillop has broken her silence, 16 years after being cured of the disease.
Kathleen Evans, 66, a self-confessed "ordinary woman" from Lake Macquarie beat an aggressive cancer which riddled her body, with the help of Mother MacKillop.

A woman was saved where medicine had failed by the spirit of a woman who died over a hundred years ago, so declares journalist Clementine Cuneo. Oh but global warming, now that's CRAZY! Angels and a magical invisible man in the sky control the climate.

Ummm, OK.

It's obviously a fantastic thing that the woman, who thought all hope was lost won her battle against cancer. I cant say that Mary Mackillop didn't save her life, but the Terror for a mainstream news organisation to declare a miracle as fact in a news story is just a bit rich if they want to be taken seriously.

In contrast, here is how the ABC handled the story.

The woman said to have been miraculously cured of inoperable cancer after praying to Mary MacKillop has been identified for the first time and has spoken of her experience.

Better, respectful to the woman's beliefs and leaves the judgement to others.

And given opinion editor Tim Blair's recent jihad against scientists one cant help but wonder how the Terror can harm their credibility further. Perhaps a return to angel, UFO and Elvis sightings.

Because all black people are the same

2010-01-06T13:38:00.003+11:00

Oh for fucks sake, yes we do have racism in this country much like any country. No, this advertisement is not racist.

AN ad by KFC Australia showing a man giving fried chicken to West Indies fans has been labelled racist in the US.
In the "cricket survival guide" ad, an Australian fan named Mick asks viewers "Need a tip when you're stuck in an awkward situation?" after being surrounded by cheering West Indies fans.
He then shares a bucket of KFC chicken with fans around him to calm the situation.
Is this ad racist? Tell us below.
The video has caused a huge stir in the US after it was posted on YouTube. The ad has been seen by some in the US as a reference to racial stereotype that African Americans eat fried chicken.

Here is the shocking travesty here.

The funny thing about black people is, much like white people they don't come from one single country. The stereotype of the lazy black man eating fried chicken comes from the American South, and has little to no relevance in the rest of the world. The people in the ad are meant to be from the West Indies which is about as far removed from the American South as Moldova is to Norway.

Yet dumb (and possibly racist) Americans see a group of black people and instantly assume they are African Americans. We aren't the ignorant ones here, you guys are.

Here is the otherwise amusing Young Turks putting their racial stereotypes on the black crowd.

Skip to 2:48 and listen to nitwit Ana make a rather ignorant judgement.

"People see it and they think Oh Yeah Yeah, those African Americans, they're so rowdy those rowdy bunch"

Ana you half-wit, just because someone is black doesn't instantly make them an African American you insular, ignorant nitwit. Just like because I am white it doesn't instantly mean I am Swedish. They are supporters of the West Indies cricket team, the Carra-fucking-bean (You know, like that Pirate movie), yes black people exist in other countries!!! Shocking isn't it.

Yes but somehow we are racist once again, because Americans fail to realise the world doesn't revolve around them.

Fighting Intolerance with Intolerance

2010-01-03T01:46:00.003+11:00

Having one of those lazy days I've been reading a lot of crap I should otherwise ignore.

As a few may know, I don't have a high opinion of modern feminism. I don't deny the achievements made in the past by the feminist movement, but I think anything vaguely sensible supported by feminists is also supported by the left side of politics anyway.

Hey I could be wrong, but when feminists jump en masse to do really important things like call the film Avatar sexist and racist, its hardly on par with the fight for voting and property rights is it?

Anyway I started reading the writings of deranged dingbat Julie Bindel today. To be fair her nonsense would probably be dismissed by most feminists with a functioning brain but anyway she still deserves to be ridiculed for the hate filled dingbat that she is.

First of all she is one of those try hard rebels that fights teh patriarchy through pointless bits of symbolism like refusing to wear make-up, you know until a lucrative promo offer comes along and tempts her to change her mind. Oh you rebel you! So subversive.

Anyway, she follows the teachings of radical feminist Sheilla Jeffreys who advocates that women cannot be free unless they refrain from all sexual activity with men.

"We think serious feminists have no choice but to abandon heterosexuality," it reads. "Only in the system of oppression that is male supremacy does the oppressor actually invade and colonise the interior of the body of the oppressed." It also asserted that penetration "is more than a symbol, its function and effect is the punishment and control of women".

Who else can spot that rather large flaw in that plan? What would happen to women (and humanity) in the long run if we stopped heterosexual sexy time? Something important, vital for the future of humanity..... Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Julie Bindel's main shtick seems to be fighting intolerance with her own intolerance, ie men are evil and are not individuals and every man is responsible for every bit of evil committed by other men. We are born guilty.

To me, political lesbianism continues to make intrinsic sense because it reinforces the idea that sexuality is a choice, and we are not destined to a particular fate because of our chromosomes. I also suspect that it is very difficult to spend your daily life fighting against male violence, only to share a bed with a man come the evening.

There are people who can see individuals and judge them as such. There are others who if they see a person of a certain race committing a crime, will judge all members of that race negatively. Julie does the exact same thing that racists do but applies it to sex, she is less interested in ending violence against women than she is at throwing a presumed guilt at all men.

Women are told we must love our oppressors, while, as feminists, we fight to end the power afforded them as a birthright. Come on sisters, you know it makes sense. Stop pretending you think lesbianism is an exclusive members' club, and join the ranks. I promise that you will not regret it.

Fight sexism by sexism, be discriminatory towards all men because of the crimes of a few.

As much as I think all her hateful nonsense is a heartfelt fuck you there is a a glaring hole is what for lack of a better word I'll call her logic.

The debate over the differing role in biology and environment over humanity is pretty complex. It is impossible to know how much of us is because of our genes and because of the surrounding environment.

One of the biggest debates is if sexuality is pre-determined by our genes or if is a result of environmental factors. Julie has determined with her superior non-scientist mind that everyones sexuality is a choice, because umm she says so.

Thirty years since homosexuality was removed from the list of recognised mental disorders, scientists persist in searching for a "cause", refusing to accept that sexuality and sexual desire are social constructs, not biological or genetically determined.

She presents no evidence of this rather large discovery, apart from some story about how she decided to turn gay because all men are evil. But therein lies the contradiction, how can she on one hand say that biology doesn't matter and that sexuality is purely a social construct which can be chosen, yet also say that men are all evil women hating rapists not because of choice but because of biology and their gender in particular? Eh?

Oh and Julie Bindell, fuck you you stupid cunt for being such a sexist intolerant hateful bitch.

You just Can't Please a Conservative

2009-12-24T13:46:00.003+11:00

I went and saw Avatar last night in 3D (Good, not great movie yet an amazing technical achievement) and as usual the typical clowns have come out of the woodwork decrying it as leftist indoctrination.

The story is pretty basic, ex-marine hired to infiltrate alien tribe by evil corporation. Good guy ex-marine decides to side with the alien tribe against the evil corporation, cue love story, cliched army general and some pretty awesome 3D battle scenes. All in all, not a bad way to spend 11 bucks. But of course, the cartoon conservatives see an evil leftist plot in this standard Hollywood fare.

especially in the third act — is ardently left. It is pro-indigenous native, anti-corporate, anti-imperialist, anti-U.S. Iraq War effort, anti-U.S.-in-Afghanistan (and anti-troop-surge-in-that-country, or strongly against the thinking of President Barack Obama and Gen. Stanley McChrystal), anti-rightie, anti-Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld, etc.

Eh? and Wha?

The most surprising thing about that verbatim lunacy is they think something is leftist if it is pro-indigenous. Does that make them proudly anti-indigenous? Do they think conservatism is in itself racist? Because that is what they seem to be saying.

For those that have seen it, the film is stock standard cardboard cutout cliches. Heroic good guys, evil bad guys. It is so standard that it could be a metaphor for a dozen armed conflicts in the last 70 years, and James Cameron had the story in his head long before Iraq Mark II happened.

But these clowns can see leftist indoctrination wherever they look. Did you know Titanic, the highest grossing film of all time is actually an ideological Trojan horse that is preaching radical Marxism? Apparently so.

After Titanic I lost all interest in Cameron. Pure lefty crap.

Eh, you know because the good guy is poor and the evil guy is rich the storyline is leftist. Or something, fucked if I know. Lets hope if these morons ever read a book that they avoid the leftist texts of Dickens. Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol with its anti-materialistic message would put them into a fit.

One can really see what they want in these movies, I could argue that it has a conservative message because it is basically about the protection of property rights. But because the white people are bad the film is inherently evil.

Proving that the leftist indoctrination meme is a Rorschach test that shows each persons insanity. Local nitwit Andrew Bolt also sees Avatar as leftist indoctrination. But no, it isn't a metaphor for Iraq or Afghanistan, its about global warming, or something...

Avatar, in fact, is the warmist dream filmed in 3D. Staring through your glasses at James Cameron’s spectacular $400 million creation, you can finally see where this global warming cult was going.

If Tim Flannery, Al Gore and all the other Copenhagen delegates could at least agree to design a new kind of people, they’d wind up with something much like these 3m-tall gracelings.

The Na’vi live in trees, at one with nature. They worship Mother Earth and, like Gaians today, talk meaningfully of “a network of energy that flows through all living things”. They drink water that’s pooled in giant leaves, and chant around a tree that whispers of their ancestors.

Liking trees and water is leftist?

These people are insane.

But I'll leave the final word to conservative Ace.

If Sarah Palin sees Avatar and then sits down and actually thinks about what it’s saying (which is always a dicey proposition, I admit), she’ll hate this movie.

Yes, the prospect of Sarah Palin actually thinking is quite an unlikely scenario isn't it?

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and jah bless Gaia everyone.

500 Posts! and a Song for Sunday

2009-12-13T21:17:00.002+11:00

Blogger tells me this is my 500th post. It would mean more if I had something to blog about.

As happens occasionally, life has thrown me snakes and I haven't the passion for the semi daily bloggings of irrelevance that I was. I'm not throwing in the towel, but as is often the case by the time I can be bothered blogging about something that is on my mind the subject is already old news that has already been dissected on twitter and other blogs that are better than mine.

But anyway, I heard this song today whilst driving in a friends car. It was a song I really loved when it came out, all the way back in 2003. Usually when I hear a song that reminds me of a particular time in my past, I am hit with an almost painful nostalgia as I reminisce of times gone by and ponder about choices made and where I would be if I had done things differently.

Today however, I felt content. For the first time in a long time.

Anyway the song is David Bowie - Bring Me the Disco King.

From the film Underworld. Average film, great soundtrack.

Men's Rights

2009-12-07T21:24:00.002+11:00

The eternal argument between men and women is probably the toilet seat. Women have for years cracked the shits with men for "leaving the seat up". Sure, it would be more practical for anyone who wastes time whinging about the angle of the toilet seat to simply move the seat themselves, but if women were practical Lousis Vuitton wouldn't be selling glorified purse's on handles for $1000 a pop.

Over the years however I have noticed a rising trend of toilet seats that do not stay upright by themselves. You know what I mean, it sticks in the back of your mind. You go to use a public toilet to do a number one, you put the seat up and notice that it doesn't stay up by itself, almost like it was never meant to be used by men in the first place.

You are stuck with a dilemma. Touching a toilet seat is not a desirable experience in the best of circumstances, so the prospect of using one hand to hold up the seat in a usually disgusting public toilet for the extended routine just isn't going to happen. You could sit down to piss, but the average public toilet seat gives off germs just by looking at it, so you wouldn't want to sit down unless it is completely necessary.

A middle ground is getting a square of toilet paper to hold up the seat without touching it, but odds are the seat is already in a disgusting state anyway so why bother. And it is much better to use two hands when doing your business, its a complicated and delicate process after all.

But I am sure I am not the only one that has noticed a significant rise in these defective toilet seats over the years. They used to be a rarity but now I am estimating they make up at least 20% of public toilets.

The only logical explanation is that they increase in female engineers/designers in the last decade or two has med the sisterhood to end the toilet seat up/down debate by stealth, by designing defective toilet seats that do not stay up by themselves.

We must fight this abomination.

Global Warming Debunked

2009-11-28T15:29:00.004+11:00

Liberals (Former) Senate Leader Nick Minchin.

For the extreme left it provides the opportunity to do what they've always wanted to do, to sort of de-industrialise the western world. You know the collapse of communism was a disaster for the left, and the, and really they embraced environmentalism as their new religion.

It's all a secret communist plot. Somehow leftists infiltrated hundreds of different and unaffiliated scientific institutions in an elaborate scheme to doctor data to convince the world to return to the dark ages. Seriously.

Nationals Senator Ron Boswell, debunking AGW with sound scientific reasoning.

I observe the weather because I have been sailing all my life. Every morning I get up, look at the tide and where it has been, and I cannot see any noticeable change. If the tide was going to go up or the sea was going to rise I would have observed it.

I can't argue with that, if darn ocean was flooding gosh damn it then Cletus the Slack Jawed Senator would have known, ya hear.

Climate scientists pwned.

An exercise in pointlessness

2009-11-26T09:11:00.004+11:00

It's hard to keep up with all the annual pledges, poppies, wreaths for a variety of causes. Symbolism in itself isn't a bad thing, but global warming isn't going to be solved by turning off the kitchen light for one hour each year, and domestic violence isn't going to be stopped by taking a pledge.

White Ribbon Day has been going on for over a decade, and has the noble goal of eliminating violence against women in our society. This year however, they have an oath that they urge all Australian men to take.

I swear:
never to commit violence against women,
never to excuse violence against women, and
never to remain silent about violence against women.
This is my oath.

Eh?

Am I guilty of something just because I am male? Or presumed likely to be guilty that I should take a public oath to redeem myself?

That ins't the point of the oath, but it looks like spreading guilt by association to all males. And this is what I don't like. How would Muslims react to being asked to take a public oath to renounce terrorism? Or Catholics a public oath to renounce pedophilia? I imagine the reaction to such a demand would be quite hostile.

Furthermore the pledges treats only female victims of domestic violence as important. Newsflash, males are victims of domestic violence as well, sure in much lower numbers, but why should a campaign only try and single out male perpetrators and females victims? If an abusive father beats both his son and daughter, is one crime worse than the other? Both are equally disgusting.

But more than that, the oath seems to be more of an excuse for politicians and celebrities to get positive press than anything else. Kevin Rudd, Shannon Noll and Will Anderson all taking a public oath to never hit a woman isn't in itself a bad thing, its just that actions are harder than empty words. If oaths meant anything to people, then 50% of marriages wouldn't end in divorce.

The clearest example of the hypocrisy of people taking this oath has to be the NRL. On the frontpage of the NRL site the director makes a big deal about the oath and how the NRL is changing the culture of how the players treat women.

At the bottom of the page, a link shows just how pointless and empty this promise is.

North Queensland have emerged as early favourites to secure controversial star Greg Bird with chief executive Peter Parr declaring few rival NRL clubs could match a Cowboys offer.

Sure take an oath, make a pledge. But what better way to mark a day that aims to end violence against women by racing to hire a thug who smashed glass into his girlfriends face. The NRL's public pledge is just a PR campaign designed to look like they are doing something. If they cared about violence against women then clubs wouldn't be rushing to hire this thug. Words are easy, actions that result in real change, not so much.

So What?

2009-11-25T17:39:00.003+11:00

If Mike Rann is lying and he did screw some annoying, attention seeking barmaid tramp, who really cares? If we demand such high standards of our elected officials private lives, why stop there? Should a teacher be sacked for cheating on his/her wife? Should the chairman of 7 (who aired the Rann story) be sacked because of his drunk driving conviction?

Anyway, I think most Australians are pretty decent and when some holier than thou types try and tar politicians over trivial incidents it is usually the journos who come off looking a bit silly when Australians doesnt fall for the smear.

Anyway two annoying thing about the Rann story. First the claim that if they did have sex, Rann as the male is for some reason the one taking advantage of the woman.

"It is my opinion that Mr Rann took advantage of my wife's youthful
naivety during a very difficult time in our lives and our marriage," he
said.

Youthful naivety? She would have been around 35 at the time of the alleged affair. Should a man wait until women hit 60 before making a move? And if you are angry about your wife cheating on you, well she is the one who is kind of responsible. If I went around cheating I doubt I could get away with blaming the other woman "sorry baby, I'm youthful and naive, those women tricked me".

And this story really takes the cake. Mike Rann has been accused of........ get this...... it's terrible.....

Flirting!

SOUTH Australian Premier Mike Rann flirted openly with his friend Michelle
Chantelois in the presence of her sister as he gave the two women a personal
guided tour of Parliament House in 2001.

Fuck me dead. Since when was that illegal, or even immoral?

Mad World

2009-11-24T17:02:00.004+11:00

Ever get the feeling you are stuck in a Twilight Zone episode? You wake up and feel the same, but the rest of the world has gone crazy?

I thought surely it was just a bit of Internet silliness that the Liberals own Senator Palpatine, Kevin Andrews was being touted as a possible leader.

Seriously.

At least the other joke candidate, Wilson Tuckey has a dash of crazy uncle charisma and an inventive fighting style.

How can they possibly even consider a man who is most well known for the disastrous case against Mohammad Haneef, where the government intervened in a police case for attempted electoral gain. A guy who was caught lying on his CV, who said we should start basing our immigration intake on religion (more Christians, less Muzzies) and who introduced a very ugly dog-whistle in the final days of the Howard government. Oh and he also had something to do with something called "WorkChoices".

Combined with the people skills and an uncanny physical resemblance to Mr Bean, you just have to wonder what sort of election reaming the coalition would have next year if they let this goon lead the team.

Not that this matters, as we already have our own slightly unhinged, homophobic, Christian conservative called Kevin to worry about, only this guy is the PM.

The government has indicated that they will override the ACT's recent legislation allowing official ceremonies for civil partnerships. Despite gay marriage being supported by the rank and file of that Party that Kevin Rudd happens to lead, by the majority of Australians and that the ACT government has taken their legislation to elections the Ruddster doesn't want gay people to have silly ceremonies in public.

How the sight of two men or two women dressing up and kissing in a public ceremony harms the fabric of society is beyond me. But Kevin seems to have happily taken his orders from unelected leaders of some sort of cult that base their values on the belief that a resurrected Jewish zombie is his own father and that we can receive eternal salvation by metaphorically eating his flesh and drinking his blood every now and then. Makes sense.

I preferred it when they took their orders from unelected union thugs.

Meanwhile a whole bunch of conservatives have supposedly proven global warming is one great conspiracy because of some ethical dubiousness in some ten year old emails. That's a bit like denying the holocaust because of a spelling error in the diary of Anne Frank. But given their previous best argument against AGW was Al Gore's weight, this may be a step up for them.

Friday afternoon FAIL

2009-11-20T19:43:00.003+11:00

I really haven't had the drive to do any blog posts of substance lately, but Andrew Bolt's near constant failures always bring a guilty giggle.

Today, the "professional idiot" as Darryl Mason calls him falls for a sixth month old email that originated from the wingnut-o-sphere.

The poor will always be with us - if we now acept (sic) as poor a beggar who can still afford to snap Michelle Obama on his BlackBerry as she spoons out his free food:

Snopes has debunked this months ago, so either Bolt is being intentionally dishonest or he believes any old nonsense that falls in his inbox.

1. Is it a Blackberry on a $100 plan? Looks like a more standard phone to me.

2. As snopes pointed out, the kitchen was not Government run or funded, another FAIL for Mr Bolt.

3. Does Bolt know the man is homeless or if he is helping out at the kitchen? The photo doesn't make it obvious. But hey, he's black, he's gotta be guilty of something hey Bolt?

But most importantly, so what if it was a homeless man with a phone. This isn't 1987, mobile phones aren't expensive anymore. And think about it Mr Bolt, if you were homeless, didn't have a permanent address and needed a cheap way for people to stay in contact with you, look for jobs and so forth what would you use? A cheap pre-paid phone seems quite sensible doesn't it?

But on planet wingnut, presumably compassionate Mr Bolt would send homeless people away if their clothes are too clean or if they have the latest communication device from the mid 1980's.

And Bolt, if you really believe any old rubbish that is emailed to you, then I have a certain Nigerian prince who would love to get in contact with you.

All Quiet on the Wingnut Front

2009-11-16T13:11:00.006+11:00

Last night I had one of those quick twitterthoughts that probably deserves a bigger post.

Isn't it funny how little conservative resistance there is to apologies when the
victims are not aboriginal?

And today the silence from the usual wingnuts has become deafening. Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull's apology to victims of abuse in state care is the lead story on all of the major news sites, yet the usual conservative commentators are oddly silent on the story of the day.

By contrast, last year Andrew Bolt worked himself into a fit about the stolen generation apology.

Tim Blair also covered the day on his blog.

But today both men seem silent on this important apology.

If they oppose or support it why wont they tell us?

Is it because they know their conservative and occasionally racist audience would be more sympathetic to the plight of white children taken from their families for unjust reasons?

Is it because if they supported this apology, they would look like hypocrites for opposing a similar apology?

The arguments for opposing the stolen generation apology could also be used for this apology.

Conservatives argued that one generation cannot apologise for decisions made by previous generations.

Conservatives argued that a national apology would inflict guilt and shame on Australians who were not responsible for the injustice.

Conservatives argued that a national apology would be an admission of guilt that would open the floodgates for expensive legal claims.

These arguments are still relevant for this apology, yet no-one seems to be making them.

How come Wilson Tuckey, Sophie Mirebella, Peter Dutton and other cartoon conservatives didn't feel the need to vocalise their opposition and snub this apology?

It could be that we have grown and matured as a nation, and we now realise that accepting past wrongs does not harm the nation, and that it is a good and decent thing to do to acknowledge and apologise for past mistake.

But the cynic in me suspects that the colour of the victims skin has something to do with different reactions from conservatives.

Gimme Cheaper Books

2009-11-15T17:28:00.003+11:00

A few days behind the times, but what a disappointment this decision was.

Cabinet has rejected both the Productivity Commission recommendations for cheaper book imports and Competition Minister Craig Emerson's "compromise" plan. Dr Emerson had proposed that Australian publishers be required to publish works for which they hold copyright within a week of their international release, rather than the current time limit of 30 days, or face competition from overseas imports.

In short, Australians will continue paying more for books because for some reason successive governments have decided that the printing and publishing industry should be protected from foreign competition.

How can Kevin Rudd claim to support an education revolution when he leads a government that rejected a decision to make books cheaper?

The arguments coming from the independent booksellers who were against the proposed changes are quite confusing.

And independent booksellers -- although they opposed the abolition of import restrictions -- also struck out at the government for failing to reform the industry to allow local bookshops to compete with large online sellers such as Amazon, which pays no GST.

Fiona Stager, who owns the Avid Reader bookstore in the inner Brisbane suburb of West End, said the government had squandered an opportunity to reform the book industry in the face of ongoing digitisation and online retailing.

"It breaks my heart when I say to people that we don't have a book in stock yet, and they say 'I'll just get it on Amazon'," Ms Stager said.

"Amazon pays no GST, they don't remember their customers' children's names, they don't support local schools and charities, which is something that all bookshops in Australia do every day.

"We are fighting this kind of shifting consciousness where people think, 'Oh, I'll just get it on Amazon', as if Amazon is this kind of benevolent charity," she said.

It's hard to feel sorry about independent book-sellers losing market share if they opposed the reform that would have made them more competitive. And there solution, instead of listening to customers complaints about delayed supply and excessive costs they propose a tariff on foreign competition. Sorry guys, but we live in a global marketplace, and if a new book is 15 bucks cheaper from bookdepository.co.uk that is where I am buying it.

The sad thing is, although this decision is relatively small compared to the big tariff decisions of the past, it does show the Rudd and the current Labor government are a far cry from the pro-market reformists of Hawke and Keating.

Conspiracy Alleged

2009-11-11T12:34:00.002+11:00

Left wing bias can be found anywhere you look. If you can't find anything wrong with what the media actually says, then accuse them of bias for what they don't say.

Andrew Bolt has a go at MSNBC for not mentioning Ronald Reagan in a short clip about the 20th anniversary of the wall coming down.

America’s NBC shows how - if you really try - you can report the aniversary (sic) of the fall of the Berlin Wall without mentioning nasty Ronald Reagan once. Extra points for mentioning Hillary Clinton twice:

A few things.

1. The clip only goes for 4 minutes and 12 seconds, as a short clip it spends the majority of the story about the impact of the wall coming down on Germans, not Americans. Not all news is US-centric Mr Bolt.

2. Ronald Reagan was no longer President at the time of the wall coming down.

3. The then American president, George Bush and the British Prime Minister was also not mentioned.

4. Hillary Clinton was mentioned because she is the current Secretary of State, that she is a democrat and not a republican is not the fault of MSNBC.

But Bolt suggests that it should instead have been a celebration of Reagan. Funny, I thought the fall of the wall was about more than one man.

But let’s help these revisionists out with some footage of one of the most symbolic moments in the fight against Soviet tyranny:

Well exactly, its symbolic and an important footnote in history. But the real reasons behind the wall coming down are much more complex than Reagan issuing a challenge. The small amount of free movement that was allowed in the Eastern bloc led to a domino effect. Gorbachev did not simply decide to tear down a wall, thousands of East and West Germans did.

Of if Bolt really wanted to test if there was a MSNBC imposed Reagan ban on Berlin Wall reporting, he could have just used their search function and found this story that clearly mentions Reagan and his "tear down this wall" speech.

Bush had initially been criticized in some U.S. circles in 1989 for not rushing to Berlin to celebrate the opening of the Wall. By contrast, Reagan had delivered a hard-hitting speech just west of the Berlin Wall two years earlier in 1987.
"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall," Reagan had said.

Another FAIL for Mr Bolt.

Repeat After Me

2009-10-26T10:35:00.004+11:00

This morning Andrew Bolt has a go at the PM for his habit of repeating the same lines again and again and again.

Not that Bolta would ever spin the same silly lines ad nauseam...

Save the planet! Ban warming summits!

Save the planet! Stop eating

Save the planet! Poison Chinese workers

Save the planet! Hurt people!

Save the planet! Crash into people

Save the planet! Charge customers extra

Save the planet, but ditch the child

What is it with the right and hypocrisy?

The Brisbane CBD is usually dead on a Sunday

2009-10-25T22:35:00.014+11:00

But not like this.

Today was the Brisbane Zombie Walk, what is becoming an annual fixture. What is a Zombie Walk you ask, well it is exactly what it sounds like, a big group gets together dressing as the undead and walk like zombies through a public place.

Today's was good fun, apart from the Brisbane heat melting off every ones white foundation make-up. The looks from the generally confused locals was most amusing.

Anyway, here are some of the photos I took.

And the winner of the bad-taste award goes to...

Zombie Miscarriage.

Join the Dots

2009-10-21T16:10:00.005+11:00

Last week Andrew Bolt was deeply embarrassed that both the ABC and David Marr dared point out the homophobia and racism that runs freely at his blog of shame.

As usual Bolt played victim, blaming everyone but himself for what happens at his own blog. It may be easy to call Bolt a racist, I don't know if he is but I do believe he willingly plays up to an audience that he knows is racist. If that is better or worse, I don't really know.

Today was a perfect example of his usual tricks. He wants to criticise Obama for anything and everything and also point out the colour of his skin at every opportunity as a dig against him, but it has to be subtle so no-one can yell "Racism".

It was just a tiny post about African governance and the corruption and mismanagement that is all too common in the continent.

Africa’s tragedy:
A foundation set up to award a $US5 million ($5.4 million) prize for good governance in Africa has said there will be no winner this year because it could not find anyone to award it to.

Fair enough you say, but what is the point of this headline?

Not even Obama

As the kids say, What. The. Fuck?

It's intentionally subtle and nonsensical so that Bolt can blame everyone else for how it would be interpreted. But what point other than racism could this be? Africa is poorly governed, Africans are black, Obama is black therefore he must be hopeless because of his race. It's the sort of bullshit he peddles to his gang of chromosomingly challenged nitwits every day.

His racist jibe even bought a birther to the forum.

Chris M replied to indigo
Wed 21 Oct 09 (09:30am)

I think because the Kenyan-born Obama is outperforming all the other black presidents in the world.

And general race fearing nuttery.

I’ve just come back from holidays. Did America become part of Africa while I was gone?

Admiral Motti (Reply)
Wed 21 Oct 09 (09:28am)

Ron of Brighton replied to Admiral Motti
Wed 21 Oct 09 (10:45am)

Well, sort of. I assume you’ve been on holidays since just before the US elections?

ZOMG, the Africans have taken over America!!!! Oh noes.

Don't play ignorant Bolt, it's pretty obvious that you willingly encourage this shit.

Well this blows

2009-10-21T15:23:00.002+11:00

Yet another moral panic warning parents that their teenage daughter could be pulling tricks on the side.

They don't give their names, but viewers can see their faces plainly and what these teens are saying is shocking parents.

"I ended up having sex with more than one person that night and then in the morning I was trying to get morning-after pills," one of the girls said. "I was, like, 14 at the time."

And the name of the documentary?

Oral Sex Is The New Goodnight Kiss

Well that could make saying goodbye to my mother after dinner even more awkward.

Sing for Songday

2009-10-18T19:52:00.002+11:00

Evidence - Faith No More

What's wrong with a bit of rape between co-workers?

2009-10-17T14:12:00.002+11:00

This has to be seen to be believed. Republican senators vote against an amendment that would outlaw hiring contractors that put clauses in contracts to prevent rape victims suing for damages.

Can't get the embedding to work, so click on this link.

You would think if anything would reach across the partisan device and unite politicians it would be rights for rape victims.

Un-be-Fucking-Lievable

Originality, yer doin it wrong

2009-10-15T05:19:00.006+11:00

Following on from this highly original piece of modern art (a blank white canvas) those crafty poles have really taken modern art to exciting new levels.

How It Is, by Polish artist Miroslaw Balka, opened to the public yesterday in the huge Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern gallery.

The installation is a steel box, resembling a giant shipping container. Accessed by a ramp, it measures 30 metres long, 13m high and 10m wide.
The work is lined with light-absorbing material, meaning visitors can see nothing but blackness when inside.

You've seen white, now see black!

Wow, darkness. How ummm arty.

I may not have such an understanding of modern art as to appreciate all the complex messages and emotion the artist was trying to convey by their darkened room. Perhaps if I ever cant pay the electric bill I should lease the apartment to the Gallery of Modern Art instead eh?

But you would think one of the smart chaps at Tate modern would have known that the thing about darkness is, well it's kind of hard to see things.

A PITCH-BLACK art installation in London claimed its first victim on the opening day as a man walked straight into a wall.

Ehh, well apparently that is one thing they don't teach at art school.

She's not the Messiah, she's just a silly girl

2009-10-13T08:46:00.002+11:00

This line about Alaska's favourite neomilf, Sarah Palin gave me a bit of a giggle.

Obama's political enemies, such as Sarah Palin, are using the dollar's distress against him.
But serious people are troubled.

Hehe, Palin = Pwned.

Feminism Will Eat Itself

2009-10-09T00:29:00.007+11:00

I generally don't have a high opinion of feminists. That's generalising I know, but my first instinct when I hear "feminist" is *groan*.

A bit of history, when I was young my dad's girlfriend was a hardcore feminist. And the one thing that sticks in my mind more than anything was being chastised for not calling my Sony Walkman a "Walkperson". I kid you not, it was pointless feminism to the extreme and I think most feminists would laugh at such trivial wankery but for some reason it is the first thing I think about whenever I am reading about feminism.

This doesn't mean I disagree with their views, their achievements and what they are still trying to achieve, but at least in my lifetime feminists have not been fighting many important battles. Take Hoyden's brave battle to defend pregnant women the right to drink or Twisty's jihad against oral sex (hint: only fellatio is evil, not cunnilingus). Selected examples sure, maybe its just a case of the most vocal being the most stupid.

As Sarah pointed out with her brilliant take dow n of a feminist article on marriage, I think modern feminism is too obsessed with symbolism and semantics. Perhaps worry a bit more about female genital mutilation, domestic violence and unequal pay, and less about the colour of a wedding dress.

But still, full points to classic old school dingbat Germaine Greer on this brainfart. When asked about the Hey Hey non-outrage she came up with this.

Yes, you hear that. Of all the issues facing women this is what's important.

Well, uh at least we would be spared Big Momma's House 3.

Play Minstrel For Me

2009-10-08T12:11:00.005+11:00

First of all I kind of feel dirty defending Hey! Hey! it's Saturday. I don't dislike the show as much as some, but it is a tad on the corny and dated side.

But it seems that most of the people who are saying it is horribly racist are those that disliked Hey Hey anyway and dont want it renewed. Ruth Brown at Crikey gave the game away at the end of her column.

On the upside, the international scorn virtually guarantees this is the last time we’ll ever see Hey Hey rear its tired, shoe-polished face on our screens again.

Lets put it in perspective. The problem was a clash of cultures. The history of blackface and minstrel shows was a Northern American fad that spoofed African Americans as lazy, wacky racist caricatures. As such the appearance of black make-up in America these days is a no-go area, even if it is not a minstrel show it brings back bad memories of the countries racist history.

But it is quite arrogant of Americans to expect the rest of the world to adopt their shame.

I think it's similar to this incident some years ago.

Bert Newton was not racist, just slightly ignorant of how the word "boy" was used in America. American history is not our own, and we shouldn't be expected to adopt every taboo to skirt over their racist history.

But still, why is Australian doctors putting on black shoe polish is considered racist, yet Fred Armisen putting on lighter black make-up to play Barack Obama on Saturday Night Live is not?

And yes, we do have actual problems with racism currently and in our history. How about we worry about that instead of shoe polish? Just saying.