SOCKPUPPETING SOLICITOR

When Irfan Yusuf enters a comments thread aggressively nasty anonymous sympathisers soon appear. It's no coincidence.

TASER XREP

Introducing the wireless shotgun-fired Taser projectile offering both Neuro Muscular Incapacitation (NMI) and blunt impact. The promotional video is oddly entertaining.

Update: A field-test opportunity missed:

Police have returned a 7-year-old to his parents after the child mugged a teenage jogger in a Berlin park on Sunday afternoon.

The female jogger pinned the little crim. Thank God she didn't hurt him.

OUTLANDISH OAF OSTRACIZED

George Galloway, forbidden entry to Canada, should be allowed in for entertainment value:

So while I am personally not ambiguous that Canadians are missing anything substantial because Mr. Galloway is not present, there is the consideration that we may have lost an occasion of some dubious amusement.

For Mr. Galloway is not only a roughhouse debater, he is also one of those low-rent sad sacks who show up on pseudo-celebrity television. He was a "contestant" on Britain's Celebrity Big Brother - while still an MP - and there gave one of the most craven and embarrassing spectacles I think all of television has ever seen.

Let me quote from the BBC account: "During a Big Brother task to see whether 'humans can communicate with animals,' Mr. Galloway asked [actress Rula] Lenska: 'Now, would you like me to be the cat?' He crawled on all fours and then pretended to lap from her hands as if drinking cream, after which she rubbed the 'cream' from his 'whiskers' and stroked his head and behind his ears." The YouTube of this is the stuff of nightmares.

Should [Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism] Jason Kenney let this man in? Well, if there's a loophole under Outlandish and Oafish Entertainment, by all means.

That video's worse than watching puppies being fed into a wood-chipper.

VOTE NO

NASCENT OBSESSION

A PP boyz roundup. Jeremy engages someone he knows isn't me: That Jeremy so keenly converses with a fake is just a tad hypocritical considering the front page of his site features a big sad blurb about people pretending to be him:

Bizarrely enough, there are a few sad morons out there on the intertubes pretending to be me - commenting on other blogs as "MrLefty" or "Jeremy Sear" (using the same image of Blackadder), copying my posts into new blogs (or trying to steal my actual ones) but slightly changing the text to invert its meaning, and generally being obnoxious in an attempt to sully my good name (or pseudonym).

Jeremy needs no help sullying his name. Only a few hours ago he lodged a comment at Pure Poison; the comment, connecting Tim Blair to gayness (Jeremy and mates regard these gayness hints as insults), was modified and modified again. Another Jeremy comment – about "laughing" at legal threats – in the same thread was deleted. Jeremy just can't resist typing without thinking.

The stealthy comment manipulation takes place in this Scott Bridges post accusing Tim Blair of calling soccer a homosexual:

I was surprised to read, however, that taking part in Earth Hour makes you homosexual. Thanks to Tim Blair for this useful information.

UPDATE X. Further proof, if proof be needed, that soccer is gay:

The Socceroos planned their own contribution to Earth Hour last night, deciding to turn off the lights during their scheduled team dinner.

Bridges is apparently unaware that "gay" has for years been used as a "general term of disparagement" having nothing to do with sexual orientation. You'd think a school teacher might have heard this usage maybe a few times. Anyway, I'm thinking it's Tim Blair's fondness for Pepsi that set Bridges off. Regardless, Bridges has a history when it comes to odd gay and lesbian posts.

Finally, Pure Poison and Grods regular commenter "confessions" reckons my Jeremy "obsession" requires a legal remedy:

wow that is some internet obsession Beck has - worse than timmy. if i was jeremy i’d be taking out a restraining order.

Hey, there's obsession and there's OBSESSION! I'm going to have to get with the program if I'm ever going to catch up.

Update: At top Jeremy asks how I got the total of 2,765 Jeremy Bolt-mentions. It's a simple matter of going through posts and counting. It's called research; Jeremy should try it some time.

SPRING SNOW SURPRISE

Swedish government meteorologist Sten Laurin just the other day declaring the end of winter:

There will be no more snow.

And yesterday:

A powerful, late-season snowstorm caused a number of traffic headaches in parts of western and central Sweden on Friday.

It's good that predicting climate is easier than predicting weather.

ARSE FLASH REWARDED

Dr Megumi Ogawa lectures in the School of Law and Justice at Southern Cross University. Ogawa has issues, legal and otherwise:

Brisbane District Court Judge Stuart Durward sentenced Megumi Ogawa, 41, to four months' jail for her "disgusting behaviour" during her trial.

Judge Durward charged Ogawa with contempt just moments after a jury found her guilty of two counts of each of using a carriage service to harass and using a carriage service to threaten to kill Australian Federal Court officials in 2006.

During the trial, the court was told Ogawa... sent 83 emails and made 176 phone calls to Federal Court staff. During some of the contact, she made threats to kill registry staff.

She refused legal representation at the start of her trial, electing instead to represent herself. However, she was repeatedly kicked out of court for screaming, making disparaging comments about the justice system and wrestling with corrective services officers.

She also flashed her bottom on one occasion when being dragged into court.

She was feisty to the end:

Judge Durward read out his full sentencing remarks in Ogawa's absence before the screaming lecturer was brought into the court room so she could be told her fate.

Ogawa had to be carried into the dock by three corrective services officers who had to hold her down as she was sentenced.

Now for the really funny part:

She will be released on a good behaviour bond in September.

Right.

COMMENT PROBLEM?

A reader emails:

Hey Beck, don't know if it is just me or what, but every time I try to read comments on your site, the comments box comes up, then in a sec or so, is replaced by a Google Accounts error.

Is anyone else experiencing this problem? If so, please email details to rwdb -at- budweiser.com.

EARTH HOUR COSTLY

Turning off the power in a large building for Earth Hour isn't cheap:

For their office park of roughly half a dozen buildings in a commercial district that is largely deserted at night, they figure they would need to hire several additional security guards and several technicians to orchestrate anything approaching a near instantaneous blackout of all buildings. Because all such personnel are union employees, they would all have to be paid for a minimum of four hours.

"We're probably talking about a $5000 to $10,000 additional labour event for perhaps $100 in electricity savings," one of the building owners said.

Fancy these capitalists putting a price on saving the planet.

WHITE PHOSPHORUS WEAPONS: A SEARING INDICTMENT

Israel's use of white phosphorus artillery shells in Gaza was inappropriate because, you know, it's an indiscriminate weapon as opposed to Israeli convention artillery which seeks out and kills only uniformed combatants (of which there were none in Gaza). Seriously, the whole white phosphorus war crimes scenario is a cruel joke.

Human Rights Watch now says two children were killed when an expended M825A1 projectile struck the Beit Lahiya school in Gaza. This directly contradicts a contemporaneous account of the incident by John Ging, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), who says that two white phosphorus rounds exploded above the school with a single high explosive artillery round striking the school some minutes later. Ging alleges that this high explosive round killed "two little boys" at the school.

Who do we believe here? John Ging who says a high explosive round caused the fatalities or Human Right Watch which says the inert remnants of a white phosphorus round killed the two children. Actually, why should we believe either?

Perhaps if Jeremy did some research – any research – he could be taken seriously. Then again, artillery is a long way from his area of legal expertise: dentistry.

FOOD, ART, MUSIC, DANCE AND COMEDY

Guess who's doing the April Fools' comedy (cunningly disguised as a lecture).

DRUG CHEATS TARGETED

Top level German chess players are being drug tested. About goddamn time.

COMPUTIST CRANKY

Computer scientist Tim Lambert employs crank spelling to condemn botanist David Bellamy:

Geargoe Monbiot has the latest on David Belllamy's descent into crankdom...

Bellamy is a crank because he rejects the peer review process. Well, Bellamy isn't alone:

The mistake, of course, is to have thought that peer review was any more than a crude means of discovering the acceptability -- not the validity -- of a new finding. Editors and scientists alike insist on the pivotal importance of peer review. We portray peer review to the public as a quasi-sacred process that helps to make science our most objective truth teller. But we know that the system of peer review is biased, unjust, unaccountable, incomplete, easily fixed, often insulting, usually ignorant, occasionally foolish, and frequently wrong.

That's Lancet editor Richard Horton. Here's more from Wikipedia:

The interposition of editors and reviewers between authors and readers always raises the possibility that the intermediators may serve as gatekeepers. Some sociologists of science argue that peer review makes the ability to publish susceptible to control by elites and to personal jealousy. The peer review process may suppress dissent against "mainstream" theories.

Scientist Lambert has no such worries, having published nothing since 2005.

NAMES CHANGED

Zhang and Wang replacing Cock and Balls. It had to happen.

OBSESSION NOTICED

Jeremy borrows the Grods.com technique of site-searching for particular words, searching Bolt and Blair's blogs for "teleprompter". Site-searching Pure Poison, operating only since 17 February 2009, for Bolt and Blair, produces results much more indicative of obsession.

Speaking of obsession, here's a tally of Jeremy's Bolt-mentions for the period from February 2005 until the end of February 2009. At his various sites during that time – Anonymous Lefty, Bolt Watch, Blair/Bolt Watch and Pure Poison – Jeremy mentions Bolt 2,765 times.

That number includes all individual mentions, ie "Andrew Bolt", "Andrew", "Andy", "Bolt", etc.

"Andrew Bolt" only counts as a single mention, of course.

Not counted are Jeremy's mentions of Bolt in his comments or in comments elsewhere.

This means that Jeremy has mentioned Bolt 1.88 times per day for 1468 days. Or, in other words, nearly two mentions per day for four entire years.

Some months were particularly Bolt-heavy. In June 2005, Jeremy mentioned Bolt 186 times – or a mention every four hours for an entire month. A boy band-obsession site would struggle to match that.

From the end of April, Jeremy's Bolt mania eased off. Sometimes he got his addiction down to single figures per month.

But then the Pure Poison site began. Over the entire 49 months examined, the average count is 56.4 mentions per month. He's now back on track, mentioning Bolt 55 times in February.

March remains to be counted. (These figures are yet to be verified by independent audit.)

Jeremy needs to get a life.

Update: Over the past few days I've received a couple of similar emails from Wordpress:

You are receiving this message to confirm that you wish to receive comment notifications by email for the blog post 'Lefty pwned' on the blog 'An Onymous Lefty'.

If you did not request this action, please disregard this message.

This is really odd considering I've not commented at "An Onymous Lefty". Gee, it seems I have my very own obsessive lefty admirer.

WHITE PHOSPHORUS AGAIN A HOT TOPIC

Human Rights Watch has released a 71 page report, Rain of Fire, detailing Israel's allegedly illegal use of white phosphorus munitions in the recent assault on Gaza. The report's underlying thrust is that the IDF used white phosphorus air burst rounds, an anti-personnel weapon much inferior to conventional artillery, not to inflict maximum casualties but rather to inflict maximum suffering on a small number of casualties. The report is both vague and contradictory.

For example, page 22 shows an M825A1 155mm white phosphorus artillery shell air-bursting with the caption:

Two brothers aged four and five were killed and 14 others were wounded when white phosphorus shells burst above this UN school in Beit Lahiya on January 17, 2009.

A casual reader skimming through the report will be left with the impression that the IDF shelled the school with white phosphorus killing two and wounding many. Page 46 of the report describes the incident in more detail:

The attack killed two young brothers when an already detonated white phosphorus shell landed in a classroom on the top floor of the school; the shell also severely injured their mother and a cousin. The shelling also spread burning white phosphorus wedges all over the school and surrounding area, wounding 12 other people, setting fire to a classroom where displaced persons were sheltering, and damaging a nearby market.

So rather than target a school, said to be housing 1,600 civilians, with conventional artillery to devastating effect (possibly killing and wounding hundreds), IDF gunners fired white phosphorus rounds, the remnants of the shells' metal casings killing two. This is an absurdly inefficient way to kill and wound, with those killed dying more as a result of bad luck than anything else.

JEREMY SEAR RETRACTS CRIKEY APOLOGY

Environmentalist Jonathon Porritt recently suggested that everyone should limit their procreational activities so as to stabilise world population at around 7.8 billion. Porritt later suggested that the UK population should be halved, but didn't describe the mechanism whereby this miraculous achievement might be realised.

Andrew Bolt picked up Porritt's absurd suggestion in a post titled "Save the planet! Cull the humans". Bolt-obsessive PP boy Jeremy Sear challenges Bolt's take on Porritt:

Question: does Bolt genuinely think Jonathon Porritt was suggesting the murder of living humans (a “cull”)? If not, isn’t his smearing of Porritt by using that word both wrong and offensive?

And doesn’t it make him look a bit silly? Particularly given his notorious sensitivity about having certain negative - but arguable - words applied to him?

This brings to mind some questions for Jeremy. How, exactly, is the UK population to be reduced by half without a "cull' or other similar form of population reduction?

Also, isn't Bolt right to be upset at being called a "racist' and "liar", or would Jeremy like to argue this?

And finally, doesn't Jeremy's "arguable words" comment render insincere Jonathan Green's apology to Bolt on behalf of Crikey?

Maybe it's time for Jeremy to shut up.

MYSTERY JEW DEFENDED, JEWISH HOMELAND NOT SO MUCH

Independent Australian Jewish Voices blogger Michael Brull passionately supports mystery-man Edward Einfeld:

There has long been enormous media coverage of the Edward Einfeld case, gleeful reporting of his lying, and self-righteous proclamations of the need for him to suffer for his crime and so on. I find the desire to see him publically lynched and humiliated quite repugnant.

According to Brull, Jews everywhere should support Edward Einfeld – whoever he is – despite his shortcomings. You know, like Jews everywhere should support Israel, despite its shortcomings.

Update: A reader emails:

Brull is an idiot, and I'm not sure you fully made the point.

I thought it was obvious.

OVERKILL

A waste of law enforcement resources:

Police are considering laying more charges against disgraced former Federal Court judge Marcus Einfeld after he was pictured in an ABC documentary, not wearing a seatbelt in the back of a chauffer driven car.

Leave the poor guy alone.

BEWARE: ARMED DOG

Linking to a story at a science fiction site Jeremy Sear frets over armed robots:

Seriously, US military - WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP PUTTING GUNS ON ROBOTS?!

These robotic monsters with its array of big guns and mountain-climbing ability will soon be released on the Taliban and terrorists hiding out in their Himalayian hideouts and caves in Afghanistan.

No need to worry, Jeremy, the featured quadruped Big Dog robots are designed for cargo-carrying and are unsuited as weapons platforms – their bobbing motion makes targeting problematic. Big Dogs are also prone to go off task. SkyNet is still in the future.

Update: Super-sensitive Jeremy reacts to criticism, disowning the misinformation at the linked sci-fi site:

I’m not convinced that the source above is right - I can’t actually see any guns on the images in the video, and the general design appears to be as an equipment-carrying device.

See, you're supposed to check out information before you link to it. Duh.

GERMAN INSULTS SWISS AND NATIVE AMERICANS

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück has pissed off the Swiss:

Following Switzerland’s tentative moves toward transparency in the banking sector under international pressure to combat tax evasion last week, Steinbrück described the Swiss as “intimidated,” comparing them to American Indians quaking at the thought of the oncoming cavalry.

The Swiss were outraged by Steinbrück’s comments, with one tabloid calling him "one of the most hated men in Switzerland" and another politician compared him to the Nazis.

Native Americans are none too happy either:

Don Watahomigie, chief of the Havasupai Indians in Arizona, told SonntagsZeitung that “the German politician clearly has no idea what he’s talking about,” adding that Havasupai don’t evade taxes or aid in tax evasion.

“What the German says is a slap in the face for Native Americans,” he added.

An insult to Jewish financiers will make this a triple play.

ALCOHOL'S LEGACY

A sad story no matter where it comes from:

"We've got ... mothers on the ward here now who are 13, 14-year-old mothers who are foetal alcohol syndrome kids and so they have learning difficulties and problems interacting with people and now they've got their own kids - and it's quite sad," he said.

"I have got a mother who has quite classic features of foetal alcohol syndrome, holding onto a baby that's got foetal alcohol syndrome, and they can't interact with each other."

What is to be done and by whom?

MASTER BAITER BAITS AGAIN

Brainiac Bruce on atheist hero Richard Dawkins:

In 2006, after the release of The God Delusion, a dearth of unfavourable reviews sprung up citing a raft of problems, from the slightly problematic, to outright non-issues, to utter fabrications.

The wanna be school teacher doesn't know the meaning of dearth.

ENVIRONMENT VS JOBS DISCONNECT

The West Australian government is making some changes:

The economy will override environmental considerations and the role of environment minister will be downgraded in changes being considered by the Government.

A massive overhaul of how mining and other development applications are assessed in WA is revealed in confidential documents obtained by The Sunday Times.

Far-reaching recommendations by a special committee include a proposal to transfer Environment Minister Donna Faragher's powers to Mining and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore and the Premier.

If adopted, major and contentious developments might go ahead without needing approval from the Environment Minister.

Ross Garnaut disagrees:

At a conference in Perth, Professor Garnaut said the recession was a good time economically for governments to invest in structural change.

"The case for investment in mitigation in recession is that expenditure that improves the future operation of the economy gives value beyond the immediate stimulus to demand," he said.

Garnaut is an economist, not a "climate change expert". Governments wanting to be reelected have no choice but to make jobs their number one priority.

PP NEWS

The PP boyz have broadened their horizons beyond debunking "intellectual dishonesty" to pointing out typos. Jeremy Sear's misnaming of Pauline "Henson" is ignored, however.

In tangentially related news, Jeremy has moved his personal blog from Blogger to Wordpress where he now has the much desired ability to ban difficult commenters. Jeremy notes:

The move has been prompted by the woeful state of Blogger’s own commenting facility, combined with the alternatives on which I’d come to rely either dying (Haloscan) or generally being crap (Disqus). And since a blog lives or dies on comments, it’s about time I stopped letting bodgy software kill something I’ve procrastinated worked so hard on.

Hmm, some blogs seem to do just fine without comments. And if comment count is the crucial factor, the PP boyz are going to have to lift their game.

Jeremy also notes that Andrew Bolt is wrong yet again:

...the Cylons are pretend robots, not aliens.

Bolt obviously isn't watching enough TV.

Update: Amazingly, Blair and Bolt commenters are unsympathetic to the plight of Muslim convert Beverly Giesbrecht, who is threatened with execution by the Muslim extremists with whom she sympathises. It's a poetic justice thing.

Update II: As noted in comments, one of the PP boyz has stealthily changed "Henson" to "Hanson". Imagine the PP uproar if Blair or Bolt did that.

PROSTITUTES FACING SOFT TIMES

The financial crisis is hurting the sex trade:

Times are hard down at Berlin’s Pussy Club where a new all-in service is on offer: €70 for girls, drinks and food.

Sex, food and alcohol; it's a complete package.

SHAKEDOWN

Ezra Levant emails:

As you know, in 2006 I was the publisher of the Western Standard magazine when we reprinted the Danish cartoons of Mohammed. In response, a radical Muslim imam complained to the government's so-called "human rights commission", and I became the only person in the world to be charged with a legal offence for doing so.

You stood by me and our magazine's freedoms -- freedom of the press, freedom of religion and our property rights. It was a fight between our modern, enlightenment values and a medieval fatwa designed to silence criticism of radical Islam.

Thank you again for your support -- I sure needed it.

For 900 days, a team of fifteen government bureaucrats and lawyers investigated me, treating me like I was a major crime scene. I was even subjected to a 90-minute interrogation at the hands of a government "human rights officer", for daring to exercise my freedoms.

Videos of his interrogations are available here. His book describing events, Shakedown, is published on the 24th and can be preordered from Amazon, where it's already at number 67. By the way, Mark Steyn wrote the introduction.

MASSIVE TURNOUT EXCITES

Omar Hassan, Monash Student Association's Education Public Affairs Officer, gets all excited at .06% of the university's students turning up to an event:

The Students For Palestine campaign has really taken off at Monash, with our third meeting... attracting 33 activists...

It's the 1960s all over again. This massive group is sponsoring a number of events including a lecture:

As well as all that, in a real coup for the campaign, we were delighted to announce that Antony Lowenstein, a prominent [pro-Palestinian, Jewish] activist is willing to come and speak on Wednesday the 1st of April. Author of My Israel Question, Lowenstein has been outspoken throughout the recent atrocities in Gaza, and his presence will provide a real focal point for the week.

But not prominent enough for Hassan to get Loewenstein's name right. In reality, author and journalist Loewenstein is neither prominent (current blog hit count 373) nor, according to a supporter, Jewish. Anyway, the mural painting and tree planting should be fun.

IRREVERENT SITE TONED DOWN

With the core of the Grods.com crew now blogging at Pure Poison the home site has undergone a radical transformation, with the "fucks" and "cunts" now few and far between. Sell-outs.

BUSH SAID NUCULAR, OBAMA SAYS DEFIBULATOR

George W. Bush was repeatedly attacked for misspeaking – nucular instead of nuclear, for example. Nothing is said about Obama saying defibulator (the anti-fib machine?) on Leno (at 1:58), however. It just isn't fair.

Update: The video above has been pulled from You Tube. An audio recording is here.

Update II: The defibulator lie and truth probability detector comes with Obama's likeness preloaded.

SHOCKING NEWS: CLAIRVOYANT A PHONEY

A fortune teller has duped a Swedish woman out of 3.2 million kroner. Caveat emptor.

Editing note: Phoney edited for spelling.

GIBBERISH REJECTED

An excerpt from an unpublished letter to the Sydney Morning Herald from journalist and best-selling author Antony Loewenstein:

As an Australian Jew, I stand alongside the Palestinians with millions of other Jews around the globe. The tragedy of their situation, inflicted by Israel and the Western powers, requires a simple moral reasoning; Jews are no longer the victim.

Judaism is not Zionism. A far deeper understanding of human rights is necessary, not least because the Jewish state insists on invading, occupying and destroying the Palestinian existence, a reality rejected by the vast majority of the civilised world.

Visiting Israeli/American scholar Dr Jeff Halper is part of this noble tradition. We are among a growing number of Jews in opening the eyes of the Jewish establishment, who believe any public criticism of Israel is tantamount to treason and anti-Semitism.

The letter wasn't published because it requires a complete rewrite. Try to imagine the editing effort that went into making his books readable.

JUNK FOOD ADVERTISED INSIDIOUSLY

The screen-grab above (click to enlarge) is from the MathsOnline site which now offers free maths tutoring to any students wishing to participate. Prior to McDonald's sponsorship the service cost users $40 a month.

That the site twice says "McDonald's" and features a small McDonald's logo has do-gooders up in arms:

Sharon Johnson from the Parents and Citizens Federation of NSW says the Federal Government's endorsement lends the McDonald's initiative credibility, and that could be open to abuse.

"We definitely don't want our children being soft targets of what would be a really successful marketing campaign," she said.

"The Happy Meal and the Quarter-Pounder Meal add up to a really great opportunity for McDonald's to get some exposure online by saying that they're offering students an educational experience."

Nutritionist Rosemary Stanton sees the McDonald's branding of the website as a form of backdoor advertising.

"If this didn't work to encourage children to have more of the product, I think that ... it's a fair bet that the company wouldn't be doing it," she said.

"The food industry realises that sooner or later junk food advertising to children is going to stop, so they're looking at other ways to make sure that their name is constantly before the children's' eyes and ears, and this is a very insidious way of getting to them."

Now if Durex had sponsored the site everything would be hunky dory.

NAZI DEATH SPIN

Antony Loewenstein tries to make a point:

Haaretz is Israel’s finest newspaper and regularly publishes damning indictments of the Jewish state’s occupation policies.

Hitler may be turning in his grave. As he should.

Huh?

SWEDE LEADS SOMALI INSURGENTS

A Swede once held on financing terrorism charges is leading a group of Somali insurgents:

Yassin Ali was released on June 11th, 2008 after spending more than three months in custody last year following his arrest in a joint raid carried out by Swedish and Norwegian security police.

He and two other men were suspected of having sent money to al-Shabaab (‘The Party of Youth’), a Somalia-based Islamist insurgent group with ties to al-Qaeda.

Al-Shabaab has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and is considered a terrorist group by both the Swedish and Norwegian security police.

One of the men was released shortly after the February arrests, while Ali and a second man remained in custody as prosecutors continued to build their case.

But Swedish prosecutor Ronnie Jacobsson eventually closed the case in September 2008 without filing formal charges, saying he had been unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the men had sent money to finance terror groups in Somalia.

Yassin Ali's terrorism connections now seem to be beyond doubt. So why was he released?

Per Gudmundson, an editorial writer with SvD who has written extensively about Swedish terror connections in Somalia, says it’s regrettable that Swedish authorities weren’t able to build a case against Ali and prevent him from returning to Somalia to participate in more violence.

“Part of the problem is that the Swedish security services, law enforcement, and prosecutors don’t have the resources to carry out the costly and time consuming work of tracing money all the way back to al-Shabaab,” he told The Local.

“Of course, they also operate with the goal of preventing crimes from taking place in Sweden, and don’t have the legal tools to prevent crimes from occurring abroad.”

Sounds like a justification for Gitmo-style detentions.

PERVASIVE SYMBOLS UNREPRESENTATIVE

Antony Loewenstein protests being seen as anti-Israel:

I spoke at a rally, a handful of anti-Israel slogans were shouted, I’m therefore a Jew hater, Jeff Halper is obviously equally disgusting and the Jewish News could hardly be expected to advertise his visit. Like at any rally, some racist slogans at an event with 6000 people were hardly representative.

So let's take a look at Antony's photos from the rally. There's an Israel flag with swastika, numerous pro-violence symbols, Hitler references, another swastika and yet more Nazi images, none of which are representative of the peace-loving crowd before which Loewenstein spoke. Amazing.

THE LINGERING STENCH: RUSSIA

A primer on the hideous Soviet archives. Read it!

BONER BLUETOOTHED

A German tram driver gets himself into trouble:

A court in the southwestern German city of Karlsruhe has fined a tram driver €1,800 for sending pictures of his genitals to passengers in his train via Bluetooth.

The 31-year-old was convicted on Tuesday of disseminating pornographic materials after his risqué camerawork ended up on the mobile phone of a 20-year-old woman riding in his tram.

The train driver admitted he’d snapped pics of his morning glory, but claimed they were meant for his girlfriend.

Jeez, no one ever send me genital snaps.

MEAT BLINDS

"Excessive meat consumption" is associated with vision loss. Government intervention is required, of course (click link and scroll to first comment):

Will those obnoxious red meat adverts now be taken off the tv?

COMMENT COPS QUIET

The nasty comment at Crikey, online for hours, has been deleted – "CUT"– without comment. No comment from the comment cops at Pure Poison, either. Funny that.

COWARD REWRITES RULE

Jeremy Sear in Mr Tough Internet Guy, standing up to The Man mode:

[J]ust how much should the company you work for get to restrict your political activities outside work? The staffer was not representing himself as a Telstra employee, or that his views coincided with those of Telstra, and provided he wasn't doing it on work time or from a work email account, what business is it of Telstra's what he does? Telstra management may not agree with the views he expresses - but so what? Do we really want a world in which the person who signs your paycheck gets a say not only in what you do at work, but also what you think or say outside it?

"Brave" Jeremy took down his original site where, if I remember correctly, he used his real name, replacing it with Anonymous Lefty after his then employer expressed disapproval. Another rule rewrite from Jeremy.

Update: Jeremy berates Legal Eagle for her blogroll inclusions. It's Okay for Jeremy et al at Pure Poison to link to a blog at which Andrew Bolt is slandered as a "fuckin fucked up racist Dutch cunt", however. The comment was in keeping with the general tone of the comments thread and didn't draw condemnation.

MOSQUITO ZAPPER

A high tech malaria solution:

Scientists in the U.S. are developing a laser gun that could kill millions of mosquitoes in minutes.

The laser, which has been dubbed a "weapon of mosquito destruction" fires at mosquitoes once it detects the audio frequency created by the beating of its wings.

The laser beam then destroys the mosquito, burning it on the spot.

Great if it works anywhere near as well as claimed.

IN PRAISE OF AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM

Would America be better off if more like enlightened Europe? No.

RESISTING ARREST OR SELF-DEFENCE

Legal Eagle produces an excellent post on the Constable Matthew Butcher flying-headbutt controversy.

COMMENT UNMODERATED

The Pure Poison comment cops, preoccupied patrolling the Blair and Bolt beats, miss a real beauty:

[ABC Managing Director Mark] Scott is a shocking hypocrite. A two-faced peddlar of horseshit. This is why he is loved by Gerard Henderson, among other, similarly-inclined back door bennies.

That little gem appears at Crikey, of all places. How will the PP boyz react?

PURE POISON VS EVERYONE

Scott Bridges recycles a six month old post (with 288 comments!) hoping to generate some discussion at Pure Poison. Unfortunately a crucial piece of evidence – a linked but now gone blog post – is missing:

I really wish I had a copy of that comment to reproduce but I can’t find one anywhere so my paraphrasing will have to do.

Bridges has in fact linked to the unfindable comment:

I heard Catherine Deveney speak in Daylesford last weekend, and it seems she really IS in the midst of a nervous breakdown or similar. She was talking about visiting a shrink and being diagnosed as possibly bipolar, and having Valium in her bag that she’s trying hard not to take.

Unaware that he has linked to the comment, he seeks a copy from the proprietor of the blog where it originally appeared, receiving a less than warm response:

I find it hard to express accurately how incredibly distasteful I found the email I received this morning from somebody who writes for Pure Poison, asking about a post on my blog from last August, which I’ve since deleted, where in the course of a bit of complaining about the mental poverty displayed by a Fairfax columnist’s op-ed, it came out in comments that said columnist had some personal issues; Bolt somehow got onto it and took it up as part of his own vendetta.

An internecine blog spat ensues, turning decidedly nasty with Jeremy Sear's arrival on the scene – it's an all for one, one for all thing with the PP boyz. Hoping to resolve the conflict I lodge this comment (complete with misplaced apostrophe):

Bridge’s Pure Poison post links to the comment he can’t find. It’s here.

A Grods groupie then makes a failed attempt at a gotcha:

a self-pwning from JF Beck...

beck links to the original COLUMNIST DOWN post by timmy. in fact scott’s PP thread also links to the same thread. Beck obviously hasn’t been following the LP discussion. here’s a tip: the fucking original post has been DELETED dickwad. however many times you link to timmy won’t change that.

D’oh!!!

D'oh! indeed, moron; I linked to Blair's post because that's where the elusive comment could be found, as appreciatively acknowledged by Bridges:

Thanks, Beck. I’ve updated the PP post with explanation.

Bridges' Pure Poison post is, in my opinion, nothing more than an attempt to generate some traffic by revisiting a months-old "controversy" – 288 comments!. What's really revealing is the outright nastiness of Jeremy Sear and followers in dealing with the ideologically sympathetic lefties at LP who do not support the PP boyz' attempt to manufacture a controversy. Pick up the comments here and see for yourself: the PP boyz are going to be famous no matter what.

By the way, Bridges' original post gives pretty much the same credence to the now gone blog post and comments as indicative of mental health issues as do Blair and Bolt:

Is it not possible that Deveny can have a mental illness and still have perfectly valid opinions, unshaped by that mental illness?

Regardless, attempting to use Deveny's state of mind as a springboard to internet notoriety is disgusting.

Update: Even though I'm not directly involved Jeremy aims his scattergun in my direction:

And there are many, many differences between me and Beck. I’m not obsessed with other bloggers’ private lives, for one.

Jeremy remains all upset about me blogging about the "private" information he and his lover make available online. Boo hoo. Jeremy on the other hand thinks about little other than Blair and Bolt.

Update II: Jeremy publishes one of the controversial "Hanson" photos but modifies it after his hypocrisy is revealed.

MIRACLE HAPPENS

Pure Poison's Scott Bridges describes as "sensationalism" the Herald Sun's publication of explicit photographs of a teenaged Pauline Hanson. He's right.

GAP CLOSED

New federal legislation closes a loophole in existing law, prescribing significant jail-time for Pine Gap protesters who insist on invading the facility. Greens senator Scott Ludlam is outraged:

"It is very unfortunate that Attorney-General Robert McClelland has followed his predecessor's lead, finishing what Ruddock started by amending the law to further crack down on peaceful protest."

He described the amendments as "retrospective revenge" designed to "punish and frighten those thinking about engaging in non-violent resistance against Pine Gap's role in war-making".

Protesters can still protest; they'll just have to remain outside the base.

HELLO? HELLO? HELLO?

University student Miss Politics notes a serious flaw in electronic phone call handling services:

Try being deaf and having to deal with those automated systems...

Yep, it's certainly good that some businesses still employ actual people to take phone calls from the deaf.

CASTRO A GUARDIANISTA

The left's favourite former dictator is a Guardian reader:

Fidel Castro has long been convinced of capitalism's doom, but he was gratified this week to receive fresh confirmation from the Guardian.

Cuba's former president seized on the paper's report of surging cocaine production as further proof of the "incurable crisis" afflicting western economies.

Karl Marx nailed the idea first, of course, but the Guardian's article on Monday was better late than never in exposing the fatal consequences of market-driven decadence.

Cubans may not be able to afford cocaine but there's no reason they shouldn't make money off it. Those living in communist utopias must make do with cheaper addictions.

MUD CHUCKERS OUTED

Not much happens at Pure Poison over weekends, when the responsible adults tasked with vetting posts are out of the office. With time on their hands, the PP boyz conduct intellectual dishonesty debunking "research":

I find it hard to express accurately how incredibly distasteful I found the email I received this morning from somebody who writes for Pure Poison, asking about a post on my blog from last August, which I’ve since deleted, where in the course of a bit of complaining about the mental poverty displayed by a Fairfax columnist’s op-ed, it came out in comments that said columnist had some personal issues; Bolt somehow got onto it and took it up as part of his own vendetta.

This all happened about nine months ago and reflected well on nobody concerned, so what’s the point in digging it up now? I can only guess that the PP people are scrabbling about in search of mud to chuck. FAIL

Other than family and friends, who haven't these guys managed to alienate?

Update: PP boy Scott discovers Andrew Bolt's recurrent use of certain catch phrases. Bolt writes on a wide range of topics, often employing these catch phrases. The obsessive PP boyz on the other hand write mostly about Andrew Bolt.

Update II: When not thinking about Andrew Bolt, their thoughts turn to plastic vaginas and bodily functions.

VOMIT SAUNA

Eleanor Harris reports on scientists using themselves as test subjects. Some of it isn't pretty:

Emboldened by this success, Ffirth graduated to dribbling the vomit into his eyes and smearing assorted other bodily fluids from yellow-fever sufferers over his person - including blood, spit, sweat and urine (see Top 10 bizarre experiments, if you really want to). He even sat in a "vomit sauna" full of heated regurgitation vapours, which caused him "great pain in [his] head", but left him in rude health.

Then there are the hook worms...

Update: Self-experimentation can be dangerous:

The Maryland woman was flown to hospital on Monday after she was injured in the incident involving a sex toy attached to a sabre saw blade, according to NBCWashington.com.

LOEWENSTEIN STILL PLAYING DEATH THREAT CARD

Antony Loewenstein reveals his best blogging experience:

Receiving countless tips, suggestions and links from readers across the world, keen to engage in a respectful discussion over the Middle East.

Wherever this discussion is taking place it ain't happenin' at his blog.

His worst blogging experience (other than lack of reader interest):

It's often amusing, though frustrating at times, to receive brainless online, ad hominem attacks by critics and partisan hacks. The rules are simple: criticise Israel and expect abuse, such as hate mail, death threats etc.

Again with the death threats; the guy is fearless! By the way, check out the max head tilt on Loewenstein's interviewer.

COMMENT EVOLVES

Comments on Amanda Beard's desirability:











Weeks later:








Later still:







Now what makes this interesting is that Jeremy had this to say just prior to making the 1:13 comment above:

Wow, you really think you've got something with that off-the-cuff comment about Beard, don't you? I made a comment about not finding a particular model attractive, mannish in fact (a model, note, whose work we were commenting on), although in language which I subsequently regretted and withdrew.

Apparently you think bringing it up constantly wins you the internets. Good luck with that.

If the comment was no big deal, why does Jeremy keep screwing around with it? And strangely, Jeremy and Scott over at PP are critical of Tim Blair for making fun of people's appearance. But it's Okay for them to make fun of people because they only do it at blogs with small readerships. Blair on the other hand blogs for a major newspaper and should be ever so nice.

Update: Oooohhhh Timmeh, that tickles.

IRAQ DEATH TOLL UPDATED

Famed shoe-thrower Muntadhar al-Zeidi is still in jail, due to appear in court again this week. He should be released. That said, some of his defenders are talking complete crap:

Zeidi's brother, Dargham, said he should be treated as "a national hero who deserves a medal" and not as a criminal.

He urged the government to consider the motives behind his brother's actions. "He was simply taking some revenge for the millions of Iraqis who were killed by Bush. We believe his trial is illegal and unfair," he added.

Millions?

ICE MELT UNCERTAINTY

Cracks in the scientific consensus:

The giant Greenland ice sheet may be more resistant to temperature rise than experts realised. The finding gives hope that the worst impacts of global warming, such as the devastating floods depicted in Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth, could yet be avoided.

This is what happens when a politician does science. Me, I rely on Tim Blair for up-to-date climate science. By the way, Al Gore is fat.

COURT NEWS

Barrister Jeremy Sear argues that a man charged with "driving while disqualified, failing to use an indicator and refusing to accompany police to a station for a breath test" should receive "a one-month suspended sentence". The magistrate didn't buy it:

Ms Robertson told McBain drink-driving was a very serious offence, "because of the injuries it could cause to other people and yourself".

She sentenced McBain to two months' jail, suspended for 12 months.

Perhaps Ms Robertson was swayed by Sear's prior argument that drink driving is a serious offence which can "result in death and dismemberment". All things considered, the offender got off very lightly indeed.

Stand by for a big sad from Jeremy about his privacy being invaded.

BRITISH, BLACK AND HOT

Every red-blooded male would love to swing a leg over this beauty.

CREATURE OF THE NIGHT

All of the Hitler assassination plots failed. Why? The job required not a von Staufenberg but a Buffy:

Hitler was highly susceptible to exposure to the sun which seemed to affect his brain in some way. Generally a man who lived at night.

Sort of suspected that, didn't ya?

FAKE FRIENDS

Facetards.

IRAQ: LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

Ugandans are queuing up to work in Iraq:

As President Barack Obama announces plans to withdraw US troops from Iraq, thousands of young Ugandans are increasingly desperate to be sent to the war-torn country. Already, the Ugandan government says there are more than 10,000 men and women from this poverty-stricken East African nation working as private security guards in Iraq.

Free market economics producing cultural diversity. Cool.

MAN IN TIGHTS

Taking meggings for a spin:

I looked like an evil mermaid and felt as if I was walking with a crotch full of staples.

What, no man-bag?

WIND TROUBLE

Wind turbines have lost their allure:

Alternative energy analysts at HSBC expect the industry to shrink by 20% this year although they are still hopeful that economic stimulus measures in Britain, the US and China will trigger some kind of bounce back in the second half of 2009.

EXOTIC INSULT

A nasty racial insult is not funny, of course. The translation – WARNING: NOT WORK SAFE – is oddly funny, however.

SNEAKY UPDATE

As originally reported by the ABC:

Dutch anti-Islam filmmaker sent home

A Dutch MP who made a film that called the Koran a fascist book has been sent back to the Netherlands after trying to enter the UK.

Geert Wilders had been invited to show his controversial film, which links the Islamic holy book to terrorism, in the UK's House of Lords.

But at Heathrow airport Wilders, who faces trial in his own country for inciting hatred, was denied entry by Immigration officials.

The British Government banned the Dutch MP, accusing him of inciting racial and religious hatred.

Mr Wilders says it is a very sad day for democracy and he says the Government's actions prove that the UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, is the "biggest coward in Europe."

Mr Wilders was deported and he is now returned to the Netherlands.

As updated three weeks later:

Dutch anti-Islam filmmaker sent home

A Dutch MP who made a film that portrayed the Koran in a negative light has been sent back to the Netherlands after trying to enter the UK.

Geert Wilders had been invited to show his controversial film, which links the Islamic holy book to terrorism, in the UK's House of Lords.

But at Heathrow airport Wilders, who faces trial in his own country for inciting hatred, was denied entry by Immigration officials.

The British Government banned the Dutch MP, accusing him of being likely to pose "a threat to community harmony and therefore public security".

Mr Wilders says it is a very sad day for democracy and he says the Government's actions prove that the UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, is the "biggest coward in Europe."

Mr Wilders was deported and he is now returned to the Netherlands.

Editor's note (March 3): This story has been amended to clarify that Geert Wilders' film portrayed the Koran in a negative light. It has also clarified the British Government's reasons for denying him entry to the UK.

The full editing note must be accessed separately:

Dutch MP banned

ABC News Online

On February 13, 2009, in reporting on a Dutch MP being banned from entering the UK for making an anti-Islam film, the ABC incorrectly reported that the film called the Koran a fascist book. The ABC also acknowledges that in reporting that “The British Government banned the Dutch MP, accusing him of inciting racial and religious hatred" was incorrect. For that reason, this story has been changed to report that Mr Wilder was advised by the UK Government that he was not welcome because he posed a threat to "community harmony and therefore public security”.

That's kinda sneaky. Maybe the Pure Poison guys could pick up stories like this.

TOO OLD TO WORK

The European Court of Justice has ruled that a mandatory retirement age can be enforced:

"National legislation may provide, in a general manner, that this kind of difference of treatment on grounds of age is justified if it is a proportionate means to achieve a legitimate social policy objective related to employment policy, the labour market or vocational training," the ECJ ruled.

Why not decree a mandatory check-out age for the oldies, so they stop contributing to global warming? You know, for the broader good.

THE LANCET: ACTIVISM BEFORE ACCURACY

Posted on The Lancet Global Health Network on 2 March 2009:

We have taken down the blog post "The wounds of Gaza" because of factual inaccuracies. We would like to point out that our editorial decision process to post blog entries (and their comments) on The Lancet Global Health Network is very different from our rigorous peer review process in The Lancet and TheLancet.com. We want to encourage debate and we see The Lancet Global Health Network as a good forum to do this. We do not endorse any particular side of a debate and so post a range of views and comments.

The truly atrocious The wounds of Gaza was posted on 2 February 2009 with various commenters quickly pointing out obvious errors. These were ignored with the post remaining online for a month. Given that this post was published at all, the Lancet's "editorial decision process" is again shown to be highly suspect.

Update: A rebuttal published by the Lancet on 18 February 2009.

HANGOVER HELPER

Designed in England; with removable feathers.

PURE POISON GETS IT WRONG, AGAIN

Andrew Bolt posted his print column Admiring Comrade Julia this morning, apparently reposting the column with a minor correction at 9:08. (Bolt's error was pointed out by reader James F at 8:35, with Bolt acknowledging and explaining his error, and noting his intention to correct, shortly thereafter. At 9:18 James F acknowledged Bolt's admission of error.)

While this was going on, Pure Poison's Scott Bridges was writing a piece pointing out Bolt's error. His piece went online at 9:56 am, almost 50 minutes after Bolt's column had been corrected. After revisiting Bolt's column and not seeing the admission of error Bridges subsequently updated his piece with a gotcha:

Andrew has edited his online version of the column...

I can’t see any acknowledgment of this change on his blog post.

But Bolt had already noted the change in comments, later adding a note at the end of the column:

(This column has had a minor correction made on the funding of the plaques. See explanation in comments below.)

Bridges whole piece is much ado about nothing. Will he acknowledge he got it wrong? Not likely – he refused to admit he was wrong about Wonthaggi's winds.

By the way, Bridges agrees with the gist of Bolt's column, that is, that education funds should be spent on education and not on pro-Labor advertising; highlighting Bolt's error is the whole point of his piece. Pure Poison still has a way to go to be relevant.

EXPENSIVE SHIT

A German parliamentarian proposes the use of DNA testing to catch owners who don't clean up after their street-dumping dogs. For matching purposes all dog owners will, of course, be required to have pets entered in a DNA database at a cost of €200 each. Well, that should just about kill dog ownership.

LOGO LAUNCHED

Sweden assumes the EU presidency on 1 July. Its just revealed logo:
















The inspiration:

"Climate", "light", "down-to-earth", as well as "transparency and "dialogue" were some of the key words used in working on the logo.

Looks like a stylised "S" to me.

SUICIDE PSYCHO ART

Sweden's University College of Arts, Craft and Design is cracking down on students' overly creative art projects:

The school launched an internal investigation after it was revealed that advisors had approved an art project in which a student faked a public suicide attempt and then pretended to suffer from psychosis at a Stockholm-area psychiatric clinic.

Prompting a priceless reaction from the clinic:

"She and the head of the school ought to cut their hair and get a real job,” wrote Dr. David Eberhard from Stockholm's St. Göran's Hospital following the incident.

The ultimate creative art requires a successful suicide.

SENSIBLE ALTERNATIVE

Tired of the incessant bickering hereabouts? Try Opinion Dominion instead.

NEW RULE

Jeremy takes time off from apology-writing to come up with his best rule yet:

Who is "WB", and why, whilst embarking on her vigorous attacks on us for criticising Blair, hasn't she identified her connection with him?

Yep, we all know about the requirement for people to “identify their connection” with Tim Blair. It’s a Lefty Law.

What this is about is that this "WB" person who's been travelling the internet smearing us is POSTING FROM TIM BLAIR'S IP.

NOTE THE CAPITALS. This must be the crime of the frickin’ century. Incidentally, how is he so certain that Blair pays the Internet bills? Why does Jeremy not imagine that Blair might be posting from WB’s IP? Sexist scum!

Update: Jeremy decrees that Andrew Bolt must answer his emails. No response from Bolt. Gee, I can't imagine why Bolt would refuse to answer emails from a person who called him a racist liar. Maybe Jeremy needs to find some new magic words... like "I apologise".

Update II: Helen Dale mentioned the other day how Jeremy's writing had become rather "mean-spirited " of late. Turns out Jeremy had the same thought... three years ago:

The longer a person partakes in internet sniping, the shallower and more bitter their own writing becomes, until eventually the only people continuing to read them will be those who are already vicious and twisted themselves.

He should have made a rule about that.

Correction/retraction: Jeremy did not use the words "racist liar" when referring to Bolt. Here is what Jeremy actually wrote, in a post titled "Still a dickhead":

I confess I haven’t been reading Bolt at all lately. But I was clearing out my RSS feed reader this morning and the last post it caught, from late November (before Bloglines hit the 200 unread post limit and started ignoring him) was such a spectacularly awful effort that I can’t just let it pass. Even though it’s almost a month old.

Racist, where race had nothing to do with the issue at all. Misleading and dishonest, where he pretends not to understand what is meant by the word “murder”. And contemptible pandering, as he sets his readers off for some absolutely despicable “let’s slaughter the insane” and “avoid getting in taxies driven by Africans” drivel.

HEADS COLLIDE: GREAT HOLLOW SOUND MADE

ABC news:

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and ex-AFL star Warwick Capper will go head to head in the Queensland state election in the seat of Beaudesert.

And I thought WA politics had problems.

CRIKEY DOUBLES STANDARDS

Crikey's Jonathan Green has apologised to Andrew Bolt for some of the name calling coming out of Pure Poison. Reader Toaf is mystified:

I missed the accusations that Bolt was either a liar or a racist. I know that none of the authors here would call him a racist...

Sure they would: in a December 2008 Blair/Bolt watch piece titled "Still a dickhead" Jeremy Sear says Bolt is "racist" and "dishonest".

Further from Green:

Our comments code, the code our bloggers/moderators are contracted to observe, is based on the guidelines followed by Guardian publications. It covers most of the bases. On top of that, we will try where we can to weed out not just the vexatious and insulting, but also the frivolous and time wasting.

In short, Green expects all concerned will "play the ball, not the columnist". Bloggers are fair game, however:

As far as bottom-feeders go, little-known blogger J.F. Beck was the most unctuous to weigh in to yesterday’s Pure Poison attack. Beck’s blog has for years been little more than an exercise in ingratiating himself to Tim Blair with creepy personal pot-shots Jeremy Sear and ham-fisted attacks on Antony Loewenstein. Not surprisingly for someone of Blair’s ego, it seems to have worked — the two exchange links (and cuddly emails) with almost the same loving frequency as Blair and Bolt.

I won’t bother posting a link to Beck’s site because it (like the man himself, who all those years ago stalked Jeremy until he’d uncovered his identity) truly is a steaming pile of shit. But if you really must have a look at it, you can find a link in Legal Eagle’s blogroll at (gasp!) anti-bullying-humour-authority Helen Dale’s site.

Yep, Crikey is the home of high standards.

Update: Toaf's comment has disappeared. Imagine that.

COMMENT MODERATION CAUSES EMBARRASSMENT

Pure Poison commenter DBD complains about "a post that failed to make it through Bolts moderators…" Unfazed that his long comment is trapped in Crikey moderation, DBD later pleads with Crikey moderators:

Hey, regarding that post of mine in moderation, dump it. It turns out i was just being impatient! Im amazed, but bolt actually did let it through.

Realising his original Crikey comment has been posted, DBD sums up the whole Pure Poison experience:

D’oh!

SAD NEWS

Rafe Champion's wife has died. There is a lovely tribute by Nicholas Gruen at Club Troppo.

I do not know Rafe personally but we have corresponded on occasions over the years. He is a top bloke. My thoughts are with him at what must be a very difficult time.