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BLACK CHAT: It pays to advertise... or not
ISSUE 190 - 12 Nov 2009
ISSUE 190, November 12, 2009: Sometime, it's best not to fess up... or advertise. Or both. But in these days of Labor government spin, the temptation often proves too great.
On the road to Irrultja in Central Australia (a small outstation about 280 kilometres from Alice Springs... see our main feature page 16) appears a sign (PICTURED RIGHT) promoting the federal government's role in keeping the local road up to scratch...
SPEAKING of innovations, most of us by now should know that LOL is an internet acronym for 'laughing out loud'. And there's LMAO, which is 'laughing my arse off'. And ROTFLMAO, which is 'rolling on the floor laughing my arse off'.
So what is 'ROTFLMBAO' (note the addition of the letter 'B')? From the National Indigenous Times Facebook fan page comes the translation: 'rolling on the floor laughing my black arse off'.
YOU can't help but suspect he'd be rolling in his grave. Deliverer of this year's annual Neville Bonner lecture was none other than little Johnnie Howard.
Bonner, of course, was Australia's first Aboriginal parliamentarian. He was a federal Senator for the Liberals, and was the third most active in crossing the floor against his own party in parliamentary history.
Apparently unaware that he was voted out of office two years ago, Howard told the recent Sydney gathering that there would be no Australian republic while the Queen remained on the throne.
He also claimed that the greatest threat to the collective will of Australians today was renewed efforts to introduce a Bill of Rights, adding that taking power away from ordinary citizens and placing it in the hands of the judiciary was a recipe for disaster.
Which is of course complete rubbish. A Bill of Rights could only be determined by a referendum, then written into law by parliament.
Now why would a privileged, wealthy old white man who used to be a politician oppose a Bill of Rights?
You've got to wonder what Bonner would make of it all today, particularly given it was a speech by 'Not Sorry John' delivered in Bonner's name, promoting the Queen of England.
ONE of the staples of this column is trawling through The Sydney Morning Herald website looking for stupid stories and mistakes. Not to mention breathtaking hypocrisy. We're seldom disappointed.
Top story on Sunday night was "Labor rides refugee tide". It was a response to a Newspoll from Fairfax's competitors last week (News Limited), which showed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was being smashed on the asylum seeker issue.
The Fairfax poll, we're asked to believe, is more trustworthy.
"Kevin Rudd's popularity has taken a
hit but support for his Labor Government remains strong following a month dominated by asylum seekers, rising interest rates and the economy.
"The latest Herald/Nielsen poll finds Australians are split evenly over the way the Government has handled the asylum-seeker issue, with 45 per cent approving of the job Mr Rudd has done so far and 47 per cent disapproving.
"They are similarly divided over whether the Government's policy is too soft or about right."
And here's us thinking there should have been a third option.
And still more from the Herald.
"LABOR faces a big defeat in Belinda Neal's federal electorate of Robertson if she stands for the seat, according to secret research shown to union secretaries last week by Labor's general secretary, Matt Thistlethwaite.
The research showed that a swing against John Della Bosca and/or Ms Neal in a lower house seat in the Gosford area would be about 20 per cent, two sources at the meeting have told the Herald.
The research, of 650 voters in the state seat of Gosford, was shown to kill off hopes held by Ms Neal's husband, Mr Della Bosca, of becoming premier.
One source said the polling showed the swing would be greater against Ms Neal than against Mr Della Bosca, who has previously asked Labor's head office for a move from the state upper house to the lower house to challenge Nathan Rees for the premiership.
Accompanying focus group research shown to the union bosses found voters believed Mr Della Bosca and Ms Neal were "dishonest" and "lacked integrity", according to union sources."
You've got to wonder how much "union sources" paid to find that out. Even so, you'll never guess what has caused all the damage.
"The findings showed the pair had been irreparably damaged by a confrontation with nightclub staff at the Iguanas bar in Gosford last year."
Apparently, Della Bosca's infidelity with a woman half his age wasn't a problem.
AND still with the Herald comes a story entitled, "Elite college students proud of 'pro-rape' Facebook page".
"A GROUP of past and present University of Sydney students set up a ''pro-rape'' page in the sports and recreation section on Facebook, describing themselves as ''anti-consent''.
The male students, mostly from the elite, all-male St Paul's College, initially ensured the ''Define Statutory'' group had an open, public profile, and proudly displayed their membership on their personal Facebook pages.
Both the commander of the NSW Police sex crimes unit and the head of the NSW Rape Crisis Centre condemned the site, describing it as ''grooming perpetrators of sexual violence''.
The Facebook page, which has since shut but ran from August until late last month, is part of a broader culture at the residential colleges that demeans women in a sexist and often sexually violent way, experts say.
The Herald has spoken to several women, also past and present residential college students, who have experienced sexual assault and attempted assaults on campus. They say the privileged atmosphere of colleges, combined with a culture of binge drinking and few restraints on behaviour, mean most rapes go unreported."
At the bottom of the story is a promo for "Cheap Credit Cards". For no apparent reason, the picture accompanying it is an 'upskirt' shot of a scantily clad woman.
Off to the side is a promotion for an SMH story about a trendy new pub in Manly, which "you'll love... if you want cocktails, and plenty of them".
And in the video news section (also for no apparent reason) at the top right of the page you can watch footage of women assaulting each other during soccer games, with no accompanying news story or explanation... just a bit of gratuitous girl-on-girl violence.
The Sydney Morning Herald... upholding the finest traditions of Australian journalism.
THE Herald's feigned concern for violence against women is almost as believable as the third most read story on the WA Today site (another Fairfax publication).
"A 68-year-old woman in South Korea has passed the written test for her driving licence after 950 attempts.
Cha Sa-Soon finally scored the 60 per cent required after sitting the exam nearly every day since April 2005, said officials at the drivers' licensing agency in Jeonju, 210km south of Seoul.
Yonhap news agency said she had spent more than five million won ($A4,608) in the process.
But it's not over yet for Cha, who now has to take the road driving part of the test before she can be given a licence.
"I felt so ashamed of myself for failing so many times but I simply could not give it up," Cha told Yonhap.
"My four children were overjoyed at the news that I finally passed it," she said.
"I still have to pass the real driving test but I think it will be easier for me to pass than the paper test," she said, adding that she needed a driver's licence for her vegetable-selling business."
blackchat@nit.com.au
* Blackchat is a fortnightly NIT column. Tip-offs and comments are more than welcome! Legal action is not.
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