Afghanistan images

A series of photographs from Afghanistan.

Smug Morning Herald

A letter published in Saturday's Sydney Morning Herald from Alex Smith of Ballina:

The Sydney Morning Herald is the only balanced newspaper in Australia and is relied on by many people to get the facts without the spin.

You read it first, in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Update: Via comments, JimboK observes that not only is Mr Smith a Labor tragic, he also owes Fairfax a favour after some nice free publicity last year. Not spin, of course.

Gateway to Hell

According to its website:

Arab Gateways has been developed by Education Services Australia with a grant from the Council for Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR), which is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The resource aims to enable teachers to promote between the peoples of Australia and the Arab world mutual interests and a greater understanding and acceptance of each other's cultures, values, beliefs and diversity.

No doubt a corresponding website and school program will be promoted across the Arab world, promoting understanding and acceptance of our cultures, values, beliefs and diversity.

Ahem.

Disturbingly (though not surprisingly) the map, entitled "Arab World Explorer" in the first edition of that website was missing a certain country. Israel. Like most Palestinian schoolbooks.

When this was pointed out, it was hastily corrected. Now, whereas "Palestinian Territories" caption dominates most of the Mediterranean Sea, the caption for "Israel" appears in a much lighter font than all other countries in the region. Perhaps an allegory to its disappearance. Feel the love. Share the peace.

If you highlight Egypt in the interactive map, the south of Israel is absorbed by Egypt proper, while the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan all take in the northern half of Israel. Saudi takes in Jordan, parts of Egypt and (of course) Israel and southern Lebanon. Quite a geography lesson...


(Click to enlarge)

The homepage graphic depicts three flags. A quarter of the Qatari flag, the Somali flag (despite Somalia being in Africa, it is still considered a member of the Arab League) and one and only one flag depicted in its entirety. Can you guess which one? I'll give you a hint. It isn't Israel and it's chief export is suicide bombers.

Clearly there is an agenda.

According to the more prominent than usual "Disclaimer" on the website:

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) does not guarantee, and accepts no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this website or on any linked site.

No kidding.

The remainder of the website presents a greatly whitewashed perspective on Islam and the Arab world where there is no critical analysis of Islam whatsoever. Instead, (presumably compulsory) reading of material by Palestinian booster Randa Abdul-Fattah and Waleed Aly, both regulars on ABC programming and presumably the best and brightest in the Australian Muslim community.

Needless to say, whilst the materials cover the Haj (Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca), "Muslim Heroes and Personalities" and various other Islamic traditions in detail, it makes barely any mention of the non-Muslim Arab world. You know, the Kurds (Muslims, non-Arabs), Assyrians (Christians), Copts (Christians), southern Sudanese (Christian), Maronite Lebanese (Christian and mostly identified with their Phoenician ancestors) and the odd Jew or other.

This, plus the obvious anti-Israeli slant of the site is a worry. Sure, it's not teaching impressionable young Muslim Australians about eeevil Jews putting poison in their Bananas (as previously taught at an Australian Islamic school). However it represents the creeping of an intellectually dishonest and far from critical analysis of one of the most troubled and culturally backward regions on the planet.

And your tax dollars paid for it.

Blaming Alan...

A letter in today's SMH is terribly worried.

Alan Jones insists that he is not responsible for people threatening the life of the Prime Minister, even though he has denigrated her and told his listeners that she should be shoved into a sack and dumped out at sea.

Here's what he actually said, originally in relation to Sydney Mayor Clover Moore:

Alan Jones: Put her in the same chaff bag as Julia Gillard and throw them both out to sea.
— 2GB, The Alan Jones Breakfast Show, 29th June, 2011

Chilling, isn't it? I can imagine "Right-Wing Christian Extremists" (probably Norwegian) stocking up on chaff bags and rowboats as we speak.

The correspondent continues to worry:

He claims that people are very very angry, because of the carbon pollution tax - of course they are, he makes sure they are, he is inciting people in the same way he did during the unrest at Cronulla some years ago when he urged Anglo Australians to get down there and recruit some big islanders along the way, and we all remember the result.

If any violence is perpetrated against the Prime Minister or any members of the Government, I for one will blame Jones and 2GB.
Lorraine Bevins Chester Hill

It's nice to know that if any Islamic Jihadists make good on their threats against an Australian Prime Minister, that Alan Jones will be blamed instead.

As for Cronulla? I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the surfers and bogans who got caught up in the riot weren't the typical Alan Jones demographic.

Australian conservatives "inspire" Norway atrocity

Crikey media analyst Jeremy Sear absolves Australian conservatives of responsibility for Anders Behring Breivik's murderous rampage:

Nobody is suggesting that Howard, Costello or Pell want to round up young Labor party activists and shoot them like the Oslo killer did. Nobody is suggesting that they want someone else to do it for them, or that they would be anything but utterly appalled by the bloodshed. I have no doubt whatsoever that they were as sickened by the murder as the rest of us.

Lefty Jeremy then lays the blame on Howard, Costello and Pell:

But it appears to be the case that their words, their actions, their preferred target, their rhetoric of destruction were apparently part of the inspiration for this psychopath’s actions.

Jeremy's Lefty followers lap up this blame allocation, of course, despite Jeremy's failure to cite the words, actions, nominations of preferred targets and rhetoric of destruction that inspired Breivik's construction and detonation of a massive bomb and subsequent execution of young Norwegian Left-wingers.

Jeremy is thus guilty of disseminating loose rhetoric far surpassing anything articulated by Howard, Costello and Pell. Maybe Jeremy is experiencing jitters in anticipation of his upcoming marriage.

The Tarpitting of Alan Jones

Andrew Bolt is discussing the attempts by GetUp to drag Alan Jones before the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)

The complaint says the 2GB broadcaster was wrong when he stated human beings produce only 0.001 per cent of carbon dioxide in the air.

Several climate scientists have insisted the claim is inaccurate, and the proportion of carbon dioxide in the air today for which human beings are responsible is closer to 28 per cent. They base this on the difference between the pre-industrial concentration of CO2 (about 280 parts per million) and the current concentration of about 390 parts per million..

GetUp! has also alleged Mr Jones contravenes another section of the code of conduct which requires broadcasters to give ‘’reasonable opportunities’’ to ‘’significant viewpoints’’ on ‘’controversial issues of public importance’’.

Boo frickin' hoo. So change the channel.

There is a problem however. If Jones wins this case. And the next one. And the dozens that will follow, it still costs a tremendous amount of time and money.

The 'activists' know this. Alan Jones' management will at some point have to decide if it is worth it. Unlike the taxpayer funded ABC, they have an obligation to return a profit. As with much vexatious litigation, if there is no disincentive against activist groups making frivolous claims, then even if the defendant 'wins', it is a Pyrrhic victory.

I'm sure they'd be welcome on his program for a live debate. I wonder if they'd go.

Obama of Id

Sent to me by email. Original source unknown.

Click to embiggen.

Shouty URL of the Week

The URL of this blog post says it all:

http://lalqila.wordpress.com/2011/07/23/christian-terrorism-comes-from-jew-hasbara-propaganda-and-schemes-to-brain-wash-the-simpletons-of-the-world-i-hold-genocidal-jew-murdoch-a-bloody-israeli-citizen-directly-responsible-for-the-massa/

(Warning: You'll probably need a wash if you click that link and read what follows).

Israel Matzav makes the interesting observation that there were vicious anti-Israeli protests at the Labour Youth League summer camp the day before the Norwegian massacre.

As a result, there are now conspiracy theories brewing that the Vast Zionist Conspiracy was behind the attack. As IM notes: A non-Jew kills a bunch of non-Jews and the Jews will get blamed.

Jesus Akhbar

In The Australian:

GIVEN the demonisation and vilification of Muslims in our community by radio shock jocks and print columnists since September 11, 2001, I suppose we will now see those same opinion-setters attacking fundamentalist Christians as a result of the terrorist attack in Norway by a right-wing fundamentalist Christian.

Barry Welch, Bridgeman Downs, Qld

Let's see. Was Anders Behring Breivik shouting "Jesus is great" when he pulled the trigger?

Was he basing his acts on something he read in the New Testament?

Had his local priest spent years inciting him to murder people?

Were thousands of Christians from the Vatican to Baulkham Hills dancing in the streets celebrating afterward?

No, no, no and no. So Barry Welch, as much as you would like to believe this atrocity somehow negates Islamic responsibility for global terrorism, it seems to me that his his Christianity was largely irrelevant and Islamists are hardly off the hook as a global threat.

However I wish to make a public offer. When "fundamentalist Christians" have pulled off another few dozen such attacks in the name of Jesus, I'll happily denounce Christianity.

Until then, it's statistically insignificant and a complete red herring. Of course it's far easier to discuss Christians and gun laws than it is certain other topics. You won't be called a "racist" for starters...

In the SMH, more Muslim apologia:

Christians will not be feared like Muslims, Kel Cowling (Letters, July 25). This is because the media has used, and will continue to use, different language for them. That is, when a Christian goes on a killing spree, he's called a ''madman''. But when a Muslim goes on a killing spree? Oh no, he's a ''terrorist''.

Abrar Chowdhury Glen Alpine

Got that? Muslims are "feared" because of the media. Nothing to do with that whole shooty bomby beheady thing.

Chowdhury is also wrong. When a Muslim goes on a killing spree he is all too often not called a terrorist, by a gutless media who self-censor and refuse to call a spade a spade. CAMERA has tracked this.

Rumplestiltskin was too boring

Every day my inbox is bombarded with "Amazing Deals" offering to sell me crap I don't want at half the price I usually wouldn't have paid.

Today's Deal was for a "Personalised album of children's songs" (each song featuring a name you select when ordering) and which is described as " an amazing concept that is taking the nation by storm". Hardly a new concept - I had a 45rpm record singing "Happy Birthday Daniel" back in the day.

What is new, are some of the names you can select. What do you suppose the return on investment was for getting some studio singers to record a song just for "Smookums", "Candlearia" or "Sumshine" [sic]?

A Roshanda by any other name...

And I, for one, welcome our new canine overlords.

Professor Bunyip reports the government's advice on reducing energy consumption by snuggling up with your pets. According to the Sydney Morning Herald:

AUSTRALIANS are being urged to play board games and snuggle up under a rug with a pet or their families to help cut power bills.

Letting your dog sleep in or on your bed, or sitting at the same level as you, such as on the couch, is considered by many dog experts as a great way to tell your canine that it is equal to or dominant to you. This can lead to disobedience, at best, or aggression in certain breeds which could lead to major problems for a household animal.

Yes, a lot of owners of dogs, particularly small ones, ignore this advice (or are simply clueless) because dogs are cute. And they're not cats. However it's a different story when the Government offers this as good advice. Wait until one of these Carbon Saving Canines bites a small kid for daring to get onto the couch.

Obama Fiddles

After the Norwegian terror attacks, Barack Obama said:

It's a reminder that the entire community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring.

Yet when certain countries take effective measures in preventing exactly this kind of terror, they get told not to. Including by Obama.

This isn't a war that can be won at the same time as a popularity contest. I'm not aware of any war which was.

And to those who still believe you can 'negotiate' and 'reason' with someone intent on killing you, consider this:

"Some of my friends tried to stop him by talking to him. Many people thought that it was a test ... comparing it to how it is to live in Gaza. So many people went to him and tried to talk to him, but they were shot immediately."

The only way to stop him, was to kill him.

Oslo has a history of believing you can negotiate with mass murderers.

Update: Pulled Islamist tag.The media are wasting no time at all reminding us that the killer was a "right-wing extremist Christian" with blond hair. Usually it takes them a lot longer to determine that a terrorist is a Muslim, or a criminal is of Middle Eastern appearance. Great job, media.

Update: An Islamist group initially claimed responsibility for this. Flash: Islamist groups are murderers and liars. Who knew?

Gavin Atkins calls the Left out.

Update: Via Gabe: Interesting how the media aren't calling him a "militant".

Update: Andrew Bolt expands on the media's frenzy that he's a "right-wing Christian". No doubt this will be used, like the occasional abortion clinic bomber or Timothy McVeigh as a convenient excuse to completely ignore obsessive Islamic terrorism.

Put simply, even if this guy was holding the New Testament and saying "The Power of Christ compels you" when he pulled the trigger, from a religious perspective, his murderous rampage is statistically insignificant. Now watch as Islamist boosters use this to their advantage and tighten the muzzle of political correctness.

Operating Expenses Reduced

In today's Australian:

Best wishes to Kevin Rudd on his impending cardiac op. We trust the surgeon will go in via the previous incision.

Trevor Farrant, Hackney, SA

Did Rupert Murdoch pay to get Pied?

In the mind of the feral left, Rupert Murdoch is the new Bushitler, the single most evil force known to man. So when "Jonnie Marbles", the "comedian" who threw a pie at his head during a parliamentary hearing wrote about his act in the Guardian's "Comment is Free" section, Ed West called him on it in the UK Telegraph. A question followed:

Rupert Murdoch would have paid good money for such a distraction at such a time. The question is - did he?

Now, there's a slim chance admittedly that the above is satire. But given the ease with which the Left will believe the most incredible things about their enemies, I'd be surprised.

I'm also surprised "Marbles" received an op-ed in the Grauniad online. Had he simply slapped, or punched an eighty year old man, rather than throwing a pie at him with as much force (albeit worse aim) would he also be getting space in the media to tell 'his story'? Perhaps...

Marbles himself doesn't think Murdoch is the most evil, noting:

Believe it or not, I even worried about Rupert Murdoch's feelings. You see, I really don't hate 80-year-olds and, at the end of the day, Rupert Murdoch is just an old man. Maybe what I was trying to do was remind everyone of that – that he is not all powerful, he's not Sauron or Beelzebub, just a human being, like the rest of us, but one who has got far too big for his boots.

Such a compliment.

Update: The Nazi comparisons continue. In The Age:

AT NUREMBERG, those on trial told the world they were only following orders. Now, Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corp, denies knowing anything about the phone ''hacking'' scandal because nobody tells him anything.

Alex Njoo, St Kilda

Carbon tax a "lost cause"

Fairfax reports:

Reader in politics at the University of Queensland Ian Ward said the public had made their minds up on the issue and any effort to sell the [carbon] tax was "a lost cause".

Anti-carbon tax opinion was driven by right-wing dominated media reports, right? Wrong:

Dr Ward said the tax was being used as a fulcrum for wider resentment and anger towards the Labor government over failures to manage past problems such as the asylum seeker issue.


"It's not as if the carbon tax issue has damaged the government, the government was damaged when it took up this issue," he said.
 
"This is an issue on which opinion is entrenched, it's an issue which is a touchstone for much wider resentment of the Labor government.

Australians are merely reacting to perceived Labor government incompetence.

Almost famous

As the New of the World scandal unfolded, al Jazeera sought "analysis" from anti-Murdoch crusader Antony Loewenstein. The interview, uploaded to You Tube on 8 July, has so far been viewed an astonishing 266 times.

Yep, given his popularity, it's not surprising that Loewenstein's far-Left views are sought by the likes of al Jazeera and Australia's ABC. I mean, with seven You Tube videos attracting 3,354 viewers over two years, the guy's a veritable media powerhouse.

Scientist imagines death threat

Notorious truth-bender Tim Lambert is at it again, this time erroneously alleging that German physicist Hans Schellnhuber was threatened with death at a Melbourne climate conference. The nature of the threat? A LaRouche loony in the audience held up a noose and said, "Mr Schellnhuber, welcome to Australia." Weird, yes, but not even remotely scary.

Wifeless barrister doesn't understand

It took Crikey media analyst Jeremy Sear all day to come up with this:

Good thing Wendi was there to hit the pie guy rather than going to her husband's aid.

Jeremy obviously expects his partner to sit and watch should an attacker attempt to smash him in the face – a highly unlikely scenario I admit – and then render first aid after.

Look Out! Carbon!

Ziggy Switkowski in The Australian:

Water vapour, as seen billowing from the hyperboloid cooling towers much favoured by photo editors, is not pollution unless we include clouds and rain in that definition, which few do.

HRT writes:

Go to: www.climatechange.gov.au/ and click on the No 2 photo on the top left of the page. It is called Carbon Price Announced.

Note the photo of cooling towers emitting steam.

Coming soon - A tax on Dihydrogen Monoxide.

Carbon? Carbon!

Andrew Bolt highlights the dishonest use of the scary term "carbon" instead of the rather inoffensive "carbon dioxide"

Presenting, RWDB, Carbon Edition.

Update: Via comments, Tim Blair, Carbon Edition.

Ethics of the Unemployed Journalist

Antony Loewenstein has been working overtime to try and discredit Rupert Murdoch. Good luck with that, oh 'independent journalist'.

Wendy Bacon, a journalist for the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism at the University of Technology, writes in New Matilda that now is the time to seriously investigate the power of the Murdoch empire in Australia. It’s called democracy, hacks:

Perhaps if he uses the term 'hack' enough they'll really get offended. Newsflash Antony: It's about as offensive as calling a police officer a "cop". You'd know that had you worked in a newspaper office for more than a week. But you didn't, did you, Antony?

In an earlier attempt at smearing News Ltd, Antony wrote:

News of the World needs to learn what ethics are all about

Hello my name is Rupert and I make money from finding the mobile phone numbers of famous people.

Perhaps when he's finished, Antony might reflect on the ethics of publishing the email addresses of those who write critical emails to him.

I'm not surprised people emailed him directly. Every critical comment I ever left on his blog was summarily deleted. This phenomena was scientifically tested (be sure to read comment #10).

Antony has even less credibility teaching someone about ethics, as he would teaching a course on quality writing or journalism.

Fauxtilla

Had the Floptilla managed to get towards Gaza, the results were predictable. Israel would attempt to stop the boats from breaching the blockade and the occupants of the boats would insist they were all about peace, freedom, justice and other terms the Left seem to really misunderstand these days.

Not to waste an opportunity though, 400 brave 'activists' from a previous Flotilla attempt, upon realising they wouldn't make it to Gaza decided to travel to Syria instead.

To support the local Syrians in their struggle for democracy? To stand up for human rights and freedom? Not exactly.

Some 400 Lebanese women arrived in Syria Sunday to show solidarity with the protesters – the pro-government protesters, that is. They women did not come to to side with the activists calling for reform and democracy, but rather to support Bashar Assad's regime.

And of course to support for the Palestinians in their ongoing attempts to murder Jews brave struggle for freedom:

In a press conference held in Beirut last weekend, Al-Hajj also addressed the situation south of Lebanon's border, and the shelved idea of the Gaza-bound flotilla.

"Palestine is a high priority, but our initiative took a different direction – to stand by Syria against the difficult circumstances it is dealing with," she said. "Syria is dealing with an attempt to breach its security, stability, sovereignty, economy and the safety of its citizens. Its internal affairs should not be meddled with."

Al-Hajj is known for her strong ties with Hezbollah and Syria, which appear to be what prompted her to embark on the journey to support Assad in his hour of need. Syrian opposition sites that reported on the bus convoy stressed that the participating women are pro-Palestinian.

The good news is that Australian Greens MP Sylvia Hale certainly won't be meddling in the internal affairs of Syria. Or Iran. Or North Korea. Or Libya. Or China. Or Sudan. Israel on the other hand....

On Abos.

Former Carlton Football Club President John Elliott caused offence on Channel Ten's Can of Worms last night by referring to indigenous Australians as 'abos'.

Channel Ten's publicity department couldn't have been happier.

The whole thing seemed rather familiar though.

Oh dear...

Looks like Antony Loewenstein has fallen for a hoax. Not for the first time either.

Finally, after decades, some honesty from the Murdoch king

screams young Antony's headline. He then follows it by a 'full page advertisement', entirely unlike the one Rupert Murdoch actually placed in a number of UK newspapers.

You'd think lines like "We're sorry we got caught" and contact details offering "more information about all the appalling things we've been involved in" might have tipped Antony off it was a hoax parody? Apparently not. Disappointing for such a media hotshot. Clearly he's inexperienced in recognising apologies and corrections, having never ever issued one himself.

Not that I expect Antony to actually respond (he barely ever responds to his critics) but if he even tries to claim he was being witty, his would have to be the most awkward attempt at humour I've seen in a long time. Well, since his last book.

What an idiot. Still considered good enough for 'our ABC'.

Update: He's also in hot demand at Al-Jazeera according to this report in the ever-popular Green Left Weekly:

Independent journalist Antony Loewenstein told Al Jazeera on July 8: “Clearly the problem is not so much the staff that worked for the paper, although clearly some staff transgressed and broke laws. The issue is more the direction the newspaper organisation has from the top, from Murdoch down.”

Murdoch is renowned for using his media empire to bully and pressure politicians and governments. This has led pro-corporate politicians all over the world to ingratiate themselves to Murdoch.

Loewenstein told Al Jazeera: “What you’ve seen over the last two or three decades in Australia [from] both sides of politics, a bipartisan agreement that Murdoch should have more and more power, to the point now where there is virtually no transparency between his empire and the political elites.”

The irony of calling for Western media transparency on an Islamic news channel appears lost on Loewenstein.

He then goes on to make completely baseless claims about the behaviour of the Australian media. Like he'd know...

As Joe Hildebrand said, "Don't hate the media just because you can't get a job in it Antony".

"Independent journalist" does sound better than "unemployed", doesn't it?

Twat Twittered.

This blog has spent years documenting the incompetence of Antony Loewenstein, currently trying his hardest to slag off Rupert Murdoch.

Joe Hildebrand has summed Loewenstein up in fewer than 140 characters.

@antloewenstein Don't hate the media just because you can't get a job in it Antony.

Loewenstein's awkward reply:

@Joe_Hildebrand Yes, Joe, I'm dying to work for a company like News. Each day filled with new ways to challenge the powerful. Oh wait...

Oh wait, indeed. How far do you think Failed Fairfax cadet Loewenstein's resume would get?

Hildebrand should be flattered. Loewenstein seldom responds to critics, convinced they're all part of a grand conspiracy to silence him.

Honk Honk

A Colorado woman is accused of putting her hands on a TSA agent at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix.

Court records show 61-year-old Yukari Mihamae grabbed the left breast of the female agent Thursday at the Terminal 4 checkpoint.

Police say she squeezed and twisted the agent's breast with both hands.

Not a thorough search.

Poor Widdle Palestinians

After the Gaza 'Floptilla', Hamas boosters decided instead to organise a 'Flytilla' and converge on Ben-Gurion airport, hoping to humiliate the Israelis. The result? They got knocked back at the arrivals hall. Failtilla! A waste of a flight ticket. Idiots.

As a modern democracy, Israel doesn't require (waives) entry Visas for citizens from a lot of democratic countries. Can you imagine how far these Useful Idiots would get if they turned up to the Chinese Consulate seeking an entry visa in order to help with Falun Gong protests? Perhaps a visa to Saudi Arabia to promote Christianity? North Korea to do your famous Kim Jong Il impersonation?

Oh, wait, those examples don't count. We're not talking about those lightweight human rights abusers. We're discussing Israel, the world's most eeeevil insidious lair of umm... Evil.

How dare they deport peaceful anti-Israel peacemakers of peace . Fascists! Accordingly, this letters appears in The Australian:

Is this what democracy looks like? Sylvia Hale and Vivienne Porzsolt fly to Israel for the purpose of raising awareness of the plight of Palestinian people and are promptly arrested and threatened with deportation.

At the time of writing, the Australian government has not made any statement supporting the right of its citizens to speak freely about human rights issues in Israel without fear of retribution.

What sort of message does this send to non-citizens in Australia who criticise the government's appalling record on indigenous peoples and refugees?

Judith Wright, Marrickville, NSW

Judith Wright is shocked. Shocked! "Is this what democracy looks like?", she asks, because Israel has chosen to deport two airport arrivals, who freely indicated they were there to undermine the State of Israel.

Anyone who watches Border Security knows our officials routinely deport arriving passengers who are guilty of far less than supporting an enemy sworn on the country's destruction. See the Hamas Charter and ask whether you'd have these guys round to your place.

If the Greens MP Sylvia Hale genuinely wanted to visit the Palestinians, she could have easily entered Gaza via Egypt. But that was never going to happen as this was never about the Palestinians and was instead a pathetic PR stunt aimed at demonising Israel.

Wright continues to moan: "Australian government has not made any statement supporting the right of its citizens to speak freely about human rights issues in Israel without fear of retribution."

Probably because they don't need to. On the other hand, these rebels without a clue should try wandering through Gaza shouting "Hey hey, ho ho, Hamas terrorists gotta go" and see what happens.

As for democracy? The very same week pro-democracy protesters were being shot dead all over the Middle East, (except in Israel of course), Yet all we're hearing from local 'pro democracy' advocates are complaints about poor Sylvia Hale getting politely told to go away.

Could the anti-Israel mob be any more precious?

Say Cheese

If I call this guy an idiot and question his beliefs, does that make me racist?

Story Time

Former Playschool host Noni Hazlehurst reads "Go the Fuck to Sleep".

Update: Youtube have pulled the clip, claiming "This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube's policy on depiction of harmful activities".

Pathetic. I guess I'll have to go back to watching Youtube clips of harmless activities instead.

Update 2: Like kicking anthills. Here is another copy.

Global Warming - Worse than Hitler

An absurd letter in today's Melbourne Age:

When sacrifice is the right thing

HOW many of us are so selfish that the first questions we ask when confronted with change, are along the lines of: why should I have to pay a carbon tax? Why do I have to look for another job? Who's going to look after me? Why isn't my compensation higher? Who says $150,000 a year makes me so rich that I should have to pay this tax? Why should I change my lifestyle?

Obviously, these people are unwilling to make any kind of sacrifice. Did our forefathers question why they should fight Nazism and fascism? No, they put aside petty arguments and self-serving questions and went off to fight the enemy. Not because they wanted to, but because it was the right thing to do. Today, we are fighting a different and infinitely more dangerous enemy - global warming. This enemy will kill millions of people through famine, flood, drought and other disasters, unless we start fighting it now.

Tony Abbott is like Neville Chamberlain, who refused to believe that there was an enemy who must be defeated until it was too late. Abbott is just as blind when he says we shouldn't have a tax on carbon. Abbott will go down in history as being just as foolish and misguided as Chamberlain.

Chris and Jacki Burgess, Port Melbourne

Meanwhile, in the Sydney Morning Herald, a letter argues:

If a demonstration outside a chocolate shop, and a crucifix appearing in an anti-Abbott advertisement, are the worst examples of anti-Semitism and sectarianism that the ever-vigilant Gerard Henderson can garner, we should rejoice in Australia's tolerance (''Jews know acceptance still has its exceptions'', July 12).

Jack Sumner Eastwood

So there you have it. Global warming is a bigger threat than the Nazis, yet a bunch of antisemites forming a violent mob outside a Jewish business is no big deal.

I'm not a Teacher, but...

Andrew Bolt points to the concerning dialogue between Jonathan Holmes and a smug school teacher, Fran Barlow.



Despite her apparent penchant for large words (for which Holmes calls her on her condescension), Ms Barlow describes herself as: "A green and leftwing schoolteacher" [sic].

Let's hope she's not teaching English.

Now, I'm no Climate Scientist, but in her rush to appear smarter than everybody else, I'm pretty sure she used the word stoichiometrically inappropriately as well. It refers to chemical reactions, not terminology.

Nimbinpoop

Colin Ford writes in today's Sydney Morning Herald:

Genuine concern mixed with a flood of hypocrisy

As the phone-hacking scandal deepens in Britain and more and more questions are raised (''Murdoch makes mercy dash for empire'', July 11), there is one question that we have yet to hear.

If News Corp employees have broken the law and violated people's privacy so egregiously in that country, have they been doing the same thing in the US and Australia too?

Colin Ford Nimbin

This, despite local media outlets being wholly separate entities.

Noting that Mr Ford writes from Nimbin, a town infamous for drug dealing and drug use, as Mr Ford himself wrote: "there is one question that we have yet to hear" - that is, has Mr Ford been engaged in drug activity? Has he been walking up and down the main street of Nimbin selling illegal drugs in broad daylight?

Or would he prefer not to be found guilty by association. It certainly seems good enough for crucifying the eeeeevil Murdoch Empire...

Meanwhile, Antony Loewenstein asks "if firing News of the World journalists is enough to save Murdoch’s credibility".

Well, firing Antony Loewenstein after a few weeks as a cadet didn't do much for Fairfax's credibility. So I guess he'd know.

Apartheid?

This letter appears in today's Sydney Morning Herald.

Time for a change

Why do changing rooms at swimming pools and other public facilities continue to be separated along the lines of gender? Isn't it just another form of apartheid, except this time the two parties discriminate equally against each other?

With increasing rights of both gay and intersex people, is the separation of the sexes even relevant in today's world?

Stuart Baanstra Mascot

One hopes the Herald's Letters Editor published it as a banal little witticism, to attract a few letters about anything other than the Carbon Tax.

Except the author was in fact quite serious. And the Herald should have known that, having written about him previously.

But the Coalition's good fortune was overshadowed by Stuart Baanstra, a passionate nudist and independent candidate who arrived in a dressing gown, dress shoes and bow-tie. Midway through, he threw off his robe to reveal a black G-string.

A softly spoken former employee of Australia Post and one-time member of the Greens, Mr Baanstra has one of the simplest campaign platforms of the election: ''The right to be nude anywhere, any time.''

It was a philosophy that clashed with the ideals of the NSW Electoral Commission; a security guard dragged him from the room as he made his best attempt to deliver an introductory speech.

The term apartheid gets thrown around all too freely by people, mainly of the Left, who have no idea what apartheid really represents. What an insult to those who suffered under apartheid.

Boycotting Jews

The anti-Israel proponents of the so-called "BDS" campaign (given an abbreviated name because "Boycott" conjures up imagery of precisely what the Nazis did to Jewish businesses in 1939) insist they aren't boycotting Jewish businesses. Just Israeli ones. As though there is much difference.

Not that it's any real surprise, but the Australians for Palestine website has very kindly exposed its true colours, calling for a boycott of Westfield.

Information on WESTFIELD

National sponsor of Israeli Chamber of Commerce. Co-founder Frank Lowy is the Chairman of the Institute for National Sceurity [sic] Studies at Tel Aviv University and fought as a Golani commando in Israel. The Golani Brigade is renowned for its murderous assaults on Palestinian civilians and its involvement in the 2006 invasion of Lebanon. A group of ex-Israeli soldiers has spoken out and documented numerous cases of Golani Brigade involvement in human rights abuses

Frank Lowy , a Jewish Australian represents one of the all-time great success stories of Australian immigration. Having arrived here peniless, he has gone on to create an empire which has benefited countless Australians.

So of course the 'Friends of Palestine' want to see it driven into the ground.

Oh if only the Palestinians and Arab world would learn to emulate the Jewish people, rather than trying to kill them.

Standby for these Jew-hating anti-Semites to complain about always being called anti-Semites...

Update: Proving that sunlight is the best disinfectant, Australians for Palestine have now removed the offending text, above replacing it with a wishy-washy claim that Westfield is a "National sponsor of Israeli Chamber of Commerce." [sic]. Needless to say their boycott won't extend to the numerous other successful businesses which are also sponsors.

Fakeworks

The News of the World scandal is producing huge amounts of schadenfreude and self-righteous anti-Murdoch commentary from any number of news outlets who have themselves been complicit in intellectual dishonesty, fraudulent claims and the propagation of lies which just happened to suit their agenda.

The front page of Fairfax's Sydney Morning Herald crows about it, of course, despite their News Ltd competitors in this market having nothing whatsoever do do with what happened. However any news outlet that has recently promoted Paul McGeough, a proven liar, has no right to lecture anyone else on media ethics.

What's worse, is that media outlets don't seem to actually learn anything when they're busted. After Hezbollywood, Pallywood and the Reuters 'fauxtography' scandals, you'd think media outlets would pause before faking graphics.

Apparently not. Whilst not the biggest scandal, CBS faked Boston's 4th of July fireworks for the 'benefit' of its home viewers.

Check out comments on that post, which straight off the bat amount to "Yeah, but Fox News..."

Germany opts for dirty but reliable

How will Germany meet electricity demand after its decision to phase out nuclear power?

Germany will plug the gap by building coal and gas-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 20 gigawatts for cloudy days.

Fossil fuels, dirty but reliable.

Hey Hey Ho Ho

Ted Lapkin has written a terrific smackdown of the deluded hippies, ferals and Jew-haters who tried to obstruct Max Brenner from selling chocolate.

However even if you remove the Israeli protest element, he's pretty much summed up every other leftist protest as well.

This unruly mob was so stereotypical that could have been supplied direct from central casting. There were 'kafiyeh' Arab-scarf-wearing Leftwing atheists rallying in defence of the theocratic medievalists of Hamas. There were radical feminists protesting on behalf of an Islamic radical regime that would slap them into a burka so fast it would make their head swim. And let's not forget the Rip Van Winkle hippies, that de rigueur cohort of aging radicals who've never outgrown their anti-Vietnam war protest stage.

And all the while, these protestors were chanting the puerile, poetically-challenged slogans we've come to expect at such events: "hey hey, ho ho [FILL IN THE BLANK] has got to go."

Read it all. It gets better.

Part of the reason Australia is such a political basket case, is that ordinary men and women would never dream of going to a protest. Regrettably, one of the fundamental democratic rights - the right to protest has been hijacked by ferals and any reference to a protest usually conjures images of ferals smashing windows, smashing cops and a copping a liberal dose of capsicum spray.

So politicians know that no matter what they do (Carbon Tax anyone?) the biggest backlash they can expect between elections, is an angry letter to the editor.

Q&A Uncovered

This week's token Muslim on Q&A was Najeeba Wazefadost.

Whilst she wore an Islamic headscarf during the program, she appeared without it in the promotional photograph at the beginning. Perhaps it was on loan from the ABC's wardrobe department?

The description of most of the panelists on Q&A could politely be described as fawning. What a lefty love-in.

A summary:

Chris Bowen is new Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.
Chris has risen rapidly through the ranks of the Labor Party.

He became a minister after just three years as an MP and has now been given responsibility for one of the most important non-economic portfolios.
was mayor at the age of 25.

Scott Morrison is the Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.
Short time in Parliament

When Sarah Hanson-Young was elected to the Senate at the 2007 election, she achieved three significant milestones: she was the first Greens Senator to be elected in South Australia, the youngest person ever elected to the Senate and the youngest woman ever elected to the Federal Parliament. She is now regarded as a rising star in the Greens Party, a leading member of the new Greens generation

With the Greens achieving a stunning result

One of the Party’s most capable and high-profile younger representatives

David Marr is one of Australia’s most influential commentators.
has many areas of expertise
sensationally published an explosive article

has written a number of highly acclaimed books

Afghan refugee Najeeba Wazefadost and her family fled the Taliban
She arrived in Australia by boat with her parents
won the 2011 'Young Woman of the West Award'
finalist of the Young Human Rights Medal Award

Piers Akerman

Labor-baiting columns
best-known commentators
confrontational approach
assault on Labor and all soft-Left causes
staunchly supporting the coalition
committed climate-change sceptic and a voracious critic of most green causes.

No wonder Julia Gillard has decided to appear on Q&A next week. No doubt she'll be asked all the hard questions...

Always Watching...

I wonder if you have to give them your name when you buy a ticket.

I can't even get mine to make a phone call in the CBD...

Via the Daily Mirror:

A paramedic downloaded an iPhone app so she could treat a crash victim who did not speak English.

Nicola Draper searched for the online Medical Polish translator tool when she realised the lorry driver could not understand her.

Thank heavens the technology has improved.

Jihadi Jobseeking

Via comments, Boy on a Bike discovers one of the all-time great job descriptions:

"Palestinian experts in conflict resolution and peace studies."

Imagine the Key Performance Indicators for the role.

Always the Jews...

A few days ago, the Sydney Morning Herald happily printed a claim that not only are the Jews are responsible for antisemitism, they are doing more to advance Jew-hatred than the Nazis did.

This fellow feels the same way. Watch just for a few seconds and you'll appreciate how messed up these people's views are, and wonder how such stupidity can become mainstream accepted wisdom.



Anyway, all the man had to do was look a Jewish man in the eye. It's not like had to do anything really terrible, like shake a Jew's hand.

Latino Luggage

Caught: Mexican too lazy to climb over the fence.

Minimum Exposure

The following letter appears in both the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian.

As a Jewish woman, I am concerned by the lack of sensitivity the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, has shown by unconditionally empowering the police to remove the burqa from religious Muslim women. At the very least there should be an attempt to ensure a female policewoman is present, in which case there is no problem to remove the burqa.

Where is the balance between religious respect and ensuring law and order? These laws against specific religious expression can be the beginning of far more insidious laws that are more about prejudice than justice.

Donna Jacobs Sife Willoughby

According to her website, Donna Jacobs Sife is:

a singer, storyteller, educator and published writer, who uses her talents to enlighten and enhance tolerance and understanding within the people she touches... has been involved with Judaism as a teacher, performer, writer and contemporary interpreter with regards to creative, spiritual and ritualistic expression for 20 years.

Yes. Well.

How I long for the day, when outspoken Muslims stand up for the rights of Jews. Might make a change for calling for them to be killed, or simply staying silent when others do.

Update: Sensible letters in The Australian:

WHEN women make up only 21 per cent of all police officers in Australia, Donna Jacobs Sife, ensuring the presence of a female officer for the removal of a burka in an identity check is not only impractical and costly, it actually inhibits police officers from doing their job effectively.

One would also imagine that the burqua inhibits women from doing a lot of things effectively. Including driving. The Saudis took care of that problem by banning women from driving. Perhaps we can try a different approach to the problem?

It's all the Jews' Fault.

A disturbing letter appears in today's SMH:

Think again

The wise and timely essay by Samantha Selinger-Morris (''Old hatreds in a new medium'', July 2-3) raises an issue that should make Jewish community leaders in Australia rethink their attitudes to the growth of anti-Semitism.

Tragically this upsurge of racism is attributable directly to the perceived suffering the Israeli government has imposed on the Palestinian people. The current Israeli government is more responsible for the spread of anti-Semitism worldwide than any ratbag racist groups waving symbols of Germany in the 1930s.

To Jewish leaders in Australia, Israel can do no wrong. They have closed minds to the damage being done to the image of Jews internationally by the intransigent attitude of Netanyahu and his extremist supporters.

Intellectuals, including many more thoughtful and perceptive Jews, realise this dilemma. They should be listened to rather than dismissed as anti-Semitic.

Vincent Matthews Forestville

Get that? The Government of Israel is doing more to encourage Jew-hatred than the Nazis.

Yes, the SMH actually printed that.

The upsurge in global antisemitism must not be blamed on Israel, any more than girls wearing short skirts should be called uncovered meat and blamed for rape. I note the Islamic connection between the two arguments. Jew hatred, from Hilaly to Hamas has never been rational and it is disappointing that there are still those seeking to excuse it.

Israel's actions are simply a response to Arab antisemitism, quite clearly promoted in the Hamas charter and the Koran, both of which explicitly call for death to the Jews.

"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.".

Why wouldn't Israel fight against that, and how dare you accuse them of bringing it on themselves.

What certainly doesn't help, is obsessive demonisation of Israel in a media quick to believe every word the Palestinians say, despite their history of dishonesty and blood libel e.g. the "Massacre at Jenin" which never actually happened.

Earlier this week, the SMH happily reported that Israel was responsible for "Terrorist attacks" on flotilla boats, despite no evidence whatsoever - none. Only unchallenged claims by highly biased anti-Israel activists, taken at face value by the Fairfax correspondent.

Lies about the Jews certainly do lead to antisemitism and the media have a special responsibility, which they aren't meeting. Especially Fairfax, publishers of the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age.

Every day hundreds are being killed in Syria and you'll barely read about it. Should a single 'activist' even get their hair messed up aboard the 'flotilla' however, it will be wall to wall coverage. Why the contrast? Because the tiny Jewish state is subject to a completely different set of standards, and if that isn't antisemitism, well...

Oh, and in case it wasn't completely obvious, Vincent Matthews has written plenty of letters to the editor about a certain topic. Can you guess what it is? I can only imagine how many he wrote which weren't published (must be dozens of times more based on my modest success rate). Clearly he takes human rights very seriously. Yet I didn't manage to find all those letters he's written about other countries, far, far worse than Israel. Matthews has an unhealthy obsession with the Jewish state and the SMH are happy to be its enablers.

Activists Leaned On

When Carnita Matthews sentence was overturned there was a 'culturally diverse' group outside the court, chanting "Allah Akhbar" and getting in punch-ups with media and bystanders. A 'culturally appropriate' manner, according to their representative.

Have a look at the man on the right-hand side of this photo (Source: News Ltd):

(Click to embiggen)

That crutch looks like a weapon. Not a walking aid. Maybe Allah healed him?

Fairfax Declares Bankruptcy

Fairfax, publishers of the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age has long been suspected of bankruptcy but earlier today indicated it formally.

Moral bankruptcy, that is.

See what I did there? If a person only reads the headline and/or the first paragraph of an article, they might get completely the wrong idea. Responsible journalism would aim to avoid this at all cost.

Now have a look at this article published in today's SMH:

Gaza ships hit by Israeli attack

Mark Weiss, London, London

July 2, 2011

ISRAELI saboteurs have carried out underwater ''terrorist'' attacks on two ships preparing to challenge the blockade around Gaza, activists claim.

There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to support that headline. It is a lie. It is then followed by hearsay, passed off as fact.

It seems a Big Lie, followed by a series of other wholly unsubstantiated and unverified claims are more than good enough for the Syrian Moaning Herald Sydney Morning Herald. I mean, hey, it's only Israel and it's not like any source would ever lie about Israel. Right?

Needless to say the press will be obsessing over the Flotilla of Fools and their every move will be dissected. Meanwhile, hundreds will die in Syria and other Arab states daily, and their deaths at the hands of government won't even rate a mention.

For the record, I'd be tickled if Israel sent those boats and every terrorist aboard, to join Osama bin Laden. However knowing how completely braindead these 'activists' are, it's just as likely they screwed something up themselves, but like so many failed Arab states, will blame the Jeeew for it.

Ignorance revealed

Murdoch-obsessed Crikey media expert Jeremy Sear claims to know "exactly what's happening" in the world today but has reached middle age without ever learning that the media magnate kept a bust of Lenin in his room at Oxford. Expecting Jeremy to have knowledge of subject is too much to ask.

Update Antony Loewenstein asks a question that isn't: Hands up who knows the enemies in the false “war on error”?

War on error? Were it so, Loewenstein would have long ago been Hellfired from above.

Rooted

According to today's Sydney Morning Herald 'Media' column:

The Diary: Black comedy

The bitter comic Austen Tayshus made a bit of a goose of himself on the ABC's Q&A recently, by talking over everybody unfortunate enough to have shared the rostrum with him. He even monstered the Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon, challenging her to go public about her Jewish roots, but the link is on her father's side of the family and Rhiannon does not identify as Jewish.

Do you get the impression Diary doesn't like Austen Tayshus?

I watched that episode of Q&A and don't remember any such comment, monstering, murmured or otherwise.

A quick check of the transcript also shows no such discussion whatsoever. As far as I can tell, the Sydney Morning Herald have simply made this up.

I emailed them earlier today but have not received a response. Now who's the goose? Honk!

I'm not a big fan of 'Austen Tayshus' and he did tend to be overbearing on the show, as is his schtick. However when he laid into Lee Rhiannon it was well deserved and his comments on her gross hypocrisy were spot-on. Specifically, demanding to know why she was shilling for a boycott of Israel, and a 'flotilla' of 'activists' to go there, yet say and do nothing about Syria and other countries far more deserving of opprobrium, yet completely ignored.

As expected, the best Rhiannon could come up with was a snivelling claim that it's not antisemitic to criticise Israel.

We know. The most obsessive narrow-minded critics of Israel continually remind us. However, as Thomas Freedman said:

Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction — out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East — is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest.

It seems there's quite a bit of dishonesty going around.

Update:

Finally received this via email.

Subject: RE: Query about today's Diary
Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2011 11:35:45 +1000
From: Diary SMH

happened in the green room before the panel entered the studio

Of course.