distortions on a windy day

To the good people of Turkey, an urgent update from the Australian Government, this man is a violent terrorist and habitual drunkard looking to despoil your women, steal your heritage and be massaged in a steam bath.

His name is not important, he is bound to be travelling under one of his psuedenoms, Big Scratchy, PKK Devinne or Limper Octaviopus, and has been known to frequent Smallgoods factories in his evil guise as a freelance sausage maker. Dont be fooled into him exposing his meat, it is not as he will claim, refridgerated.

Notice the evil elongated forehead, the ugly scowl suggesting he is about to commit dastardly acts, notice the bulge in the centre of his frame, it is either a bomb or maybe some smuggled wild life. The beverage in his hand is not alcohol, it is liquid hasish, I've seen the documentary on your country, Midnight Express and know that you will treat him fairly and justly in accordance with your traditions. If not just stab him in the buttocks, he deserves it.

But above all, be alert and alarmed, if you have to panic, well damn it, panic and act harshly, remember mercy is for those without guns.

.............................................................

I accept and understand that large media organisations are inherently conservative, the Sunherald and the Australian are predominately feeders of the howard government line, while the fairfax press are much more liklely to give credence and expansion to those with a differing view, televison in australia has managed to avoid the extremes of say the Fox news republican propoganda. Yet i was struck last night by the differences in approach by the various news programs to a single story, the price of petrol.

Channel 9 is clearly spruiking for the flailing, permanently confused, flip flopping Howard Government. When discussing the current price of petrol and the ACCC role in examining costs, 9 had Howard and Costello both earnestly declaring that what the ACCC wants in terms of powers, the ACCC would get, as long as it asks for it, a noble sentiment of complete useless rhetoric.

Channel 7 on the other hand was the only station to point out just how meaningless this statement was, the ACCC by law cannot ask for more powers, the government has to give them more power, creating a catch 22 which Howard used to get his slimey features on the news displaying a sense of concern over something he has clearly chosen to do nothing about. 9 then added a negative Rudd story to the end of this peice by clipping the opposition leader asking about question about an additional troop requistion to Afghanistan, cutting it in such a way that turned a question into a statement. So 9 turns a peice of Howard puffery into a positive spin, while framing Rudd in a negative light through clever editiing.

Are we reaching a point where our major commercial television news are starting to branch out into ideolgical streams, staking out their obvious voting intentions in the run up to the election? Ive always thought that Laurie Oaks in his sunday time slot used sloppy and soft questioning of Howards cohorts, allowing them to use their time to push false and totally misleading rehtoric with barely a whimpering challenge from the tubby "journalist", where as the opposition (wether it be green, labor or democrat) are challenged on almost all points. Add to that the pre-ponderance of conservative/government figures on the 9 network and it all adds up to what I see as 9's wish to see the Howard riegn continue.

We need an australian Media Matters, and we need it now to challenge the status quo, besides the ABC's media watch.

http://mediamatters.org/index

.................................................................................................

Will our great culture warrior, the disgrace in high lift pants, C. Pyne, highlight this story in his waste of billions of dollars with the unwinnable War on Drugs.

http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2614895.ece

Zero tolerance equals zero ideas plus bucket loads of tax payer dollars and cheap votes. I do notice after the Grand Mufti of Poonce, C pyne went after the AFL with his media whore buddy, G Brandis, that there position has been just a little on the silent side of mute. Could be that their postion was so totally and blatantly ridiculous and designed to do naught more than push their over appreciatiated faces into the nightly news, that they are just embarressed by the unwanted exposure of their stupidity. But then who could accuse such a blatant, gasseous, waste of air, time and space as C Pyne of even being capable of understanding what embarressment is, he gives one B. Bishop a run for the money in the get in front of a camera at any cost stakes.