Moderate Schmoderate

The grand mufti of the Australian continent has been visiting friends in Gaza where he proclaimed:

“I am pleased to stand on the land of jihad to learn from its sons and I have the honor to be among the people of Gaza where the weakness always becomes strength, the few becomes many and the humiliation turns into pride,” Sheikh Salem said.

The usual apologists will no doubt remind us that he wasn't talking about the mass-murdering type of Jihad, but rather the 'internal struggle', quit cigarettes and be nice to your Mother type of Jihad.

For example:

We came here in order to learn from Gaza. As I said in my speech, we will make the stones, trees, and people of Gaza talk, in order to learn steadfastness, sacrifice, and the defense of one’s rights from them. We feel like we are on cloud nine. We feel like we are on top of the world.”

See? Talking to stones and trees. Lovely, right?

Wrong.

His Hamas audience would be well acquainted with the Hamas Charter. A profoundly violent and antisemitic ideology conveniently ignored by all those who are naive or dishonest enough to claim Israeli actions are the problem. The Charter quotes the Muslim prophet Mohammed:

“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews , when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him".

It's pretty clear what he was talking about. Aren't we lucky he's considered a "moderate"?

Fairfax on the United States Constitution

A letter in today's SMH:

They managed a second amendment, how about a third amendment?
Luis Sanchez Connells Point

Hmmm....

The Third Amendment (Amendment III) to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. It was introduced on September 5, 1789, and then three quarters of the states ratified this as well as 9 other amendments on December 15, 1791. It prohibits, in peacetime or wartime, the quartering of soldiers in private homes without the owner's consent.

The Third Amendment was introduced on the same day as the Second, as part of the Bill of Rights:

the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public.

What a shame sneering Australians aren't more familiar with the mechanics of one of, if not the world's greatest democracy.

Now Hurry Up Now cuz my Husband's FIxin' to shoot him.

This is great.

A suspected burglar called 911 after the owner of the home he broke into caught and held him at gunpoint.

The suspect, Christopher Moore, placed the emergency call in Springtown, Texas, during the botched burglary attempt early Tuesday after James Gerow, the homeowner, and Gerow's son pointed guns at him as he sat in his pickup truck parked in the driveway.

"I'm out in the country somewhere," Moore told the 911 operator during the 10-minute call. "Some guy's got a gun on me."

Australian criminals don't think twice about sneaking into your home at night. Most of the time the worst they will face is a frying pan.

Peak Literacy

While we're on the topic of teachers and spelling, an article in today's Australian reports:

A peek education union has slammed the University of Western Sydney for buying 11,000 iPads, saying they should put courses ahead of Apple’s iconic tablet device.

Spelling being one of them.

The Other School Massacre

The Connecticut school shooting has prompted the usual calls for guns to be banned.
Earlier this month, Islamist terrorists in Syria killed 28 students and their teacher at school.
Did anybody notice? Of course not. If it happened in the Middle East but Israel isn't involved, it's not news. If it involved an attack on a school but American culture can't be blamed, it's not news.
>Don't even get me started on school attacks in China.

Since the recent spate of attacks, many parents are now worried about their children's safety in schools and have since asked local officials and school governors to step up security at the schools. The education ministry has formed an emergency panel to tackle the violence and some local police authorities have distributed such instruments as steel pitchforks and pepper spray to security guards in schools.

Update: Via comments Steve points out that I missed the murder of 26 schoolchildren in Nigeria earlier this month. I certainly did, having not even read about it presumably for reasons described above.

Gunmen opened fire on students in a northeast Nigerian college, shooting some of them dead and stabbing others. Police say an Islamist extremist group could be behind the attack, but are also looking into possible links with student union elections.

Boko Haram is responsible for between 3,000 to 10,000 deaths. Perhaps instead of guns, we should be talking about banning Islamists? Nah....

In today's Age:

MASS killings are always a tragedy. But can we trace the mass killings in the US back to its violent colonial past, when the English spread across the plains killing Indians? This was perhaps the start of the gun culture in a country where there are some 300 million privately held guns.

Then there are America's wars, where all over the world thousands are killed with impunity, encouraged by an immense military industrial complex. And there are comments like those of Mitt Romney, who, in one of the presidential debates, stated that one method of obtaining citizenship for foreigners would be by enlisting in military service.

And now it is possible to drone people to death from the comfort of an armchair. Pity the little children, and also the ones we don't shed a tear over.

Andrew Kovesdy, Templestowe

Like the ones which can't be reflexively blamed on Amerikkka? It is the Left which is doing the droning.

More Laws Not Required

Say Uncle:

Apparently, we’re to now have a “national discussion” on gun control. Again. We already did and you lost. But here you go. This happened in a state with some of the nation’s strictest gun laws.

A 20 year-old had a couple of handguns (illegal). And, depending on the press report, had an assault weapon (illegal), automatic rifle (illegal), or machine gun (illegal). Shot his mom in the face (illegal). Stole his mom’s vehicle (illegal). Transported the gun in the vehicle (illegal) within 1,000 feet of a school (illegal). Carried it onto school property (illegal). Broke and entered (illegal). Carried a gun in a school (illegal). Discharged a firearm (illegal). Shot at people (illegal). Killed some people (illegal). Killed himself (not sure if illegal).

And I’m sure broke other laws I’m not aware of. But, you know, one more gun law ought to do it. Right?

All the laws in the world do not stop people who ignore the law.

Proof 2Day FM are Full of Sh*t

2Day FM suspended advertising due to public outrage about their recent 'prank' gone horribly wrong. Ordinarily I can't stand listening to FM radio as every song is punctuated with banal ads and endless ironic reminders of how much music they play. However I tuned the van's wireless in earlier this week hoping to hear uninterrupted tunes. Between 8:30am and 10am I heard the word "Shit" nearly 100 times. Admittedly much of this was thanks to Gwen Stefani introducing us to her shit. I'm no wowser and have no objection to a bit of blue language, but it also happened to be the hours when most cars had small children in them. The 'radio edit' of most of these songs usually involves a sound-effect or audio change, rather than a different lyric. Any child would hear right through it. 2Day FM (and a number of 'artists') are being offensive simply for the sake of it, and clearly believe this is good entertainment. Losers.

I wonder if the Tooth Fairy celebrates Earth Hour?

For the benefit of its few remaining readers, The Melbourne Age printed this letter today:

ANYONE who believes Israel is serious about achieving a just outcome with the Palestinians must also believe in the tooth fairy.

Raelee Hunter, Keilor Downs

Presumably the as-submitted version ended with "nyah nyah" which was cut for brevity.

If that argument represents the sort of rubbish which gets published by The Age, you've got to wonder what sort of dreck wasn't considered worthy...

As for whether Israel is serious? Let's take a look at last week's Palestinian TV.

What brother Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] is doing is living proof of the independence of our decision making and our will. This is the sacred message borne by the greatest Palestinian since Jesus – Yasser Arafat. It runs in the genes of all the Palestinians. We are all Arafatists, and we are loyal to your blood, oh Abu Ammar, whose death we commemorate this month: We shall only return our swords to their sheaths when the [Palestinian] state is established, your hopes are realized, and the refugees return.

Nice people. Let's give them a state!

Ironically, The Age itself quoted Hamas leader Khaled Meshal saying

"Today is Gaza. Tomorrow will be Ramallah and after that Jerusalem, then Haifa and Jaffa."

But go on, Age, and keep reminding us that Israel is the problem.

Radio Killed the Radio Star

The tragic suicide of a London nurse has seen the daggers pointed at 2Day FM's jocks, responsible for a childish prank.

It's impossible to say whether their prank caused her suicide, or was simply the last straw for a disturbed woman. However some predictions are easy:

1) Radio comments which arguably resulted in an actual death won't result in massive widespread calls for boycotts. Unlike when Alan Jones merely made a comment about someone who had already died.

2) Large companies will immediately pull advertising from 2Day FM for a few weeks. The free publicity they will receive across all media for doing so will far outweigh the advertising itself, formerly confined to 2Day FM.

Amidst all the talk about government controlling media and Alan Jones, has anyone actually listened to commercial radio lately? It's cringeworthy.

Saturday nights on 2Day FM, in between poppy dance hits are filled with recordings of Gen-Xers leaving recorded messages about how "wasted" they're getting tonight. Getting drunk is nothing new, of course but geez get over yourselves.

I was also listening to 96.1FM, "The Edge" a Sydney Western Suburbs radio station today and detected a certain theme. Their forthcoming CD was promoted as "Sexy tunes". This was followed by an Ad for a nightclub billing itself as "Parramatta's Sexiest" and lastly, an ad for breast surgery by an unscrupulous doctor offering to make people feel sexy.

It's hard to feel sexy when you're vomiting in your own mouth. Why don't these people just STFU, play some tunes and a few ads to pay the bills?

This Man Could have been Prime Minister...

Watch from about 15 minutes in to see Derryn Hinch getting stuck into Mark Latham. (Hat Tip: Media Watch Dog)

Carbon Slaves

A late entry for the stupidest letter of the year, in today's Age:

I AM struck by the parallels between the struggle to abolish slavery and the struggle to confront climate change. In both, a way of life and the path to wealth were/are challenged; the need to tackle the issue was/is a moral challenge; and the aftermath is better and worse than what had gone before. With the abolition of slavery, the certain knowledge that black Americans were meant to be enslaved was replaced with 100-plus years of racism. Now we find a black American president is no better or worse than a white one.

In tackling climate change there will be decades of tumult as lifestyles and industries adjust. If temperature rise can be forestalled, there is a chance that the lives of many millions in Bangladesh, China and sub-Saharan Africa may be saved. If we refuse to tackle climate change, our moral shame and selfish stupidity will be as inescapable as our horror that slavery still exists in parts of the world.

Russell Downie, Balwyn

The author observed that after all those struggles a black American president is no better or worse than a white one. So it would follow that after "decades of tumult as lifestyles and industries adjust" we'll find out that the climate is neither better nor worse...

Men

The Cancer Council have launched a clever campaign to encourage men to discuss health issues between themselves. Watch it.



Meanwhile a report in the Daily Telegraph makes me wonder whether men are still being created... Look at these idiots who make last decade's "Metrosexuals" look like Al Bundy.

Robo Parking Inspector

Darebin City Council in Victoria has issued a tender for Provision of a Licence Plate Recognition System.

The City of Darebin (Council) is seeking quotations in respect to Licence Plate Recognition System (LPR System) that allows Officers to identify vehicles which have over stayed the specified signage.

The License Plate Recognition System is vehicle mounted and consists of high speed digital cameras, integrated GPS and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software that is easily transferable between vehicles.

The system automatically captures each parked vehicles license plate and, on the second pass, detects offending vehicles that have exceeded the parking restriction or do not have the relevant permit (i.e. Residential Permits) alerting the Officer and pre populating the details into the PDA.

In other words, parking inspectors will be able to book vehicles without even getting out of the car. Depending on where the moneygrubbing parking inspectors drive, resident vehicles on empty streets will be booked for taking up parking spots nobody else needs.

Will this increase the number of tickets issue? Of course.

The HHD (handheld device) must be capable of issuing a minimum of 200 tickets before returning to base.

It will mean that cars a few minutes overtime in a relatively empty street can look forward to being booked as well. This is Council revenue raising out of control. Every other cash-strapped or greedy council will be watching this technology closely. It will certainly pay for itself many times over. What a disgrace. Councils are addicted to fines revenue and spending money before they've earned it, meaning they can never wean themselves off it.

Council's website notes:

much of Darebin’s property market is out of reach of families, even with two average wage earners.

Poor ratepayers. Let's issue them fines then! That'll show 'em.

Update: Darebin Council apparently has other fundraising techniques and may shortly be sacked.

The report is poised to be one of the most scathing assessments of a council in Victoria in decades, with more damaging revelations than the Ombudsman's 2009 report on western suburban Brimbank Council. While the subjects of the inquiry, and the ALP, have been bracing themselves for the report for months, it now appears it will not be tabled until next year. The inquiry is believed to have included investigation of allegations of bribes offered for a contentious planning application. As in Brimbank, the Ombudsman's office is also believed to have investigated the influence of senior Labor Party figures on the council. The embattled council was also recently involved in a 12-month police investigation that culminated in criminal charges against a former planning enforcement officer, who allegedly accepted bribes from brothel owners.