">My Big World Of Crap

For all my Hermione Granger fans, I can say, yes I have seen her.  Took the kids to see “Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince” last weekend – my first time, their second.  I thought it was an ok movie, nothing special.  My kids rated it one of the better Harry Potter movies – my daughter was especially keen and had prepared for the new movie by watching all the previous ones on DVD in the week leading up to its opening at the cinema.

Anyway, enough about the movie.  For the benefit of all the Hermione fans who visit my blog looking for her, here she is.

Bad luck guys – not nude.

In today’s Sydney Morning Herald, Ross Gittins wrote a nice column which points out a few home truths about the Rudd government which I’ve thought for a while. To quote from it:

In the short time he’s been in office, Rudd has established a record of over-promising and under-delivering.

One of his greatest weaknesses is an inability to set priorities. He has a thousand things he wants to do and problems he wants to fix, and while he’s focused on fixing something, it’s his top priority.

Exactly – overpromising and under-delivering is the hallmark of this government.  After the excitement of seeing a new government elected with the promise of change, and the end of the rather stale Howard government, I have to say I’m underwhelmed by what the Rudd government has actually done.  For example, given a strong mandate on climate change, they’ve squibbed it completely, making concessions to every interest group under the sun, resulting in a climate change policy that’s likely to achieve 2/5 of fuck all.  Broadband – nothing delivered yet, health reform – on the never never …. and so on.

Too interested in process, not enough outcome focus, in my view.

“Curry bashing” apparently is a form of amusement for some of the lowlife scum among the population.  It means going out looking for Indian people to beat up.

Or, if you’re John Caratozzolo, and you can’t find an Indian, a Chinese will do just fine.  Caratozzolo and his mates were out one night in January last year, when he suggested to them they go “curry bashing” because he needed a new mobile phone.  However they ran into  Dr Zhongjun Cao, who was on his way home from his job as a university lecturer.  The group attacked him without warning, assaulting him "for pleasure" without even asking for his phone. One of the group dropped Dr Cao on his head during the attack and as he lay badly injured.  Carotozzolo kicked the dying man in the head as a parting gift, laughing with his mates as he did it.

Soon afterwards, Caratozzolo and friends attacked another man, an Indian student and robbed him.  He didn’t die, but he was injured seriously enough to spend time in hospital and to require 2 weeks of sick leave from his job.

Caratozzolo pleaded guilty to murder and two counts of robbery.  The judge talked tough in sentencing him, but in the end gave him only 15 years, with a non-parole period of 10 years.  Way too lenient in my view – Carotozzola is 21 and will be back out in the community in his early 30’s.  It completely escapes me why scum such as him should be fortunate enough to see the outside of a prison cell before they are very old and infirm.  25 years should be the absolute minimum for a murder, especially when its random and completely unprovoked and done just for the hell of it.

A 16 year old was also charged in connection with Dr Cao’s murder.

Their families must be so proud of them!

A Melbourne man was angry that his wife didn’t make his lunch one day.  So he did what any reasonable person would, and went and bought some, right?  No, he poured petrol on the staircase and set fire to the house, with his wife and 2 daughters inside.  Fortunately they were able to flee through the flames and received only minor burns.

Rajah Theivendradas, 54, was sentenced to 4 years jail for his lunch tantrum. The court heard that he had been drinking heavily on the day before the fire and had an argument with his elder daughter about respect.  Victorian County Court Judge John Nixon said Theivendradas was out of control but not psychiatrically disturbed.

Jamie Neale, the young British backpacker who was lost for 12 days in the Blue Mountains recently, and his father, Richard Cass, look to be developing very Corby-like publicity deficit disorder, characterised by the constant need to be in the public spotlight.  

Cass, 54, said the relationship with his 19-year-old son had turned "murderously nasty" over the cash he received for recounting his story.  Neale was reportedly paid $100,000 for his story by the Channel 9 program 60 Minutes.  He said:

"I’m not sure if we’re going to be on speaking terms for a very long time,"

"I feel I have been robbed by my own son. I was so glad when he was found but it’s gone from being such a feelgood thing to being murderously nasty. The son I found isn’t the son I went out to look for,"

"He knows he’s got to give me some of the money and I will be happy. I want him to make that step that will enable us to reconcile. I feel terrible that this dark incident has now blighted Jamie’s return from the dead.

"I would back down in that I don’t want to lose contact with him but it would gnaw away at me. I feel betrayed."

Neale in response has said:

"I had an agreement with my father regarding his involvement in the 60 Minutes interview - he wanted his flights and the rescue party paid for.

"I agreed to that and I intend on honouring that commitment,"

He says he has not been paid yet by 60 Minutes.

Quite wisely, and showing much more maturity and sense than his father, he also said:

"I do not plan to get into a public slanging match with my father and will deal with any issues in private."

Thank god for that!  My advice to his father, pull your head in, shut your mouth and return to obscurity.  Or to be blunt about it, fuck off, shut up,no-one outside your immediate family and friends actually gives a shit.

See what happens when you give some bogans (whats the English equivalent of a bogan?  chav?) money – can’t help but try to get their snouts in the trough, and fight it out in public.

According to family, Australia’s favourite drug smuggler, Schapelle Corby, in jail in Bali is delusional, so traumatised by her time in jail that she has lost all touch with reality.  Her condition has so shocked her family they are begging the Australian Government to send a psychiatrist to Bali to assess Schapelle and try to bring her back home for medical care.

Her uncle said that when he visited Corby last month in a Bali hospital she sat on the floor for an hour and a half, saying nothing and holding a child’s toy. 

"At one stage she sat on the floor with my daughter’s stuffed frog that plays tunes and she was there holding it for 90 minutes without moving."

She would slip into delusional states in which she would think she could just walk out of custody.

"She thinks she can hop up and go, she’d just start to get ready. She’d change her clothes and say ‘let’s go’,"

Her uncle said Corby still maintained her innocence and lived in hope that new evidence would emerge.

"Every day she thinks the nightmare’s going to finish. Now she’s not thinking lucidly at all,"
"She will not admit guilt because she’s not guilty."

Personally I think her delusional state is nothing new.  I think she’s been that way since she loaded the marijuana into her bag, got busted at Denpasar airport, tried to bullshit her way out with farfetched claims as to how the drugs got there, magically tailored to her particular bag, but she had nothing to do with it, rather that it was some sort of conspiracy on the part of corrupt airport baggage handlers.  Never mind that no-one before her seems to have had the same thing happen, nor anyone since …. strange that!

Also looks like the Corby family must be feeling some sort of attention deficit disorder.  Haven’t been in the media lately so time to drum up some more publicity and enrol the support of high profile broadcaster Alan Jones (god knows why anyone listens to his rantings, but for some weird reason I can’t fathom he is popular).  Yep, whip up the publicity, try to win in the court of public opinion, hoping to gain enough bogan support to pressure the Australian government to pressure the Indonesian government into doing something for her, like send her back to Australia to serve out her sentence – where strangely I suspect all her mental health problems might just suddenly disappear.  Funny that ever since Schapelle got caught in Bali, her whole case has been based on getting sympathy for the pretty girl who can’t possibly be a nasty drug smuggler, and winning a PR battle.  Nothing like any actual evidence to clear her name has ever been presented.

I’ve posted before about the early sexualisation of children, and here’s the latest kerfuffle on the subject.

Retailer Cotton On is selling a range of children’s t-shirts with risque slogans on them, for example:

• "The condom broke"
• "Pardon my nipple breath"
• "I’m living proof my mum is easy"
• "I’m a tits man"
• "Mummy likes it on top"
• "Wipe my butt sucker"
• "So hot right now"
• "I like big boobs and I cannot lie"
• "I’m bringing sexy back"
• "Practice safe sucks".

Some family groups are complaining and want the range of t-shirts removed from sale.  Kids Free 2B Kids director Julie Gale said as a comedy writer and performer she had a great sense of humour, but using babies and children as "a vehicle for sexual innuendo" was unacceptable.  She said research had linked premature sexualisation to eating disorders, depression, and self harm.  Prominent psychologist Steve Biddulph said using sexual language around children trivialised it and could harm their development.  He said:

"Children exposed to sexual messages too young get a cheapened idea of what love is about, before they are old enough to form better ideas,"

"The sad thing is that smarter parents protect their kids, but as the media environment and the shopping malls deteriorate, the kids with not very bright parents have their mental health and sexual health degraded."

My thoughts on this particular subject.  I wouldn’t send my kids out in public with such messages on their clothes.  There’s a couple of them I don’t mind, but several of them I think are simply inappropriate for children.  Who would send a kid out with “the condom broke” on its shirt?  Most likely those parents who treat their kids as just another lifestyle accessory? “oh, isn’t it cute?  aren’t we the witty ones dressing the kid like that?”.

But back to the main question … am I a tits man?

Not telling.

I just saw this story of British man, Gary Reinbach, who died aged 22 of liver failure, caused by severe cirrhosis of the liver.  Gee, I thought, that would have taken some serious drinking to get to the point of killing him at such a young age.

Reinbach began binge drinking when he was just 13.  He began by drinking bottles of cheap cider with his mates while skipping school.  When he left school aged 17 he began drinking up to eight cans of beer plus a bottle of vodka or half a bottle of whisky and cans of cider. (One has to wonder how he paid for all this – let me hazard a guess, social welfare.) 

He was admitted to a London hospital in May but died after doctors refused to give him a liver transplant amid fears he would not stay sober for six months after the operation.  His mother Madeline Reinbach said her son had been in great pain and scared before his life support machine was turned off on Sunday.

You won’t be surprised also to find out he was a smoker – that was something he had given up earlier on doctors’ advice, as it was contributing to his health problems.

Sad story, but wholly brought upon himself.

Went to the movies today to see “Bruno” the new Sacha Baron Cohen movie.   I enjoyed it.  Like Ali G and Borat, Baron Cohen’s other characters, you need to be a fan of crude humour (I am). 

Best bits:

• the scene with the psychic
• Straight Dave’s Man Slammin’ Max Out

According to one young girl’s mother, you can get pregnant from swimming in a pool.  I suppose it beats found a baby under a cabbage leaf, or delivery by stork.

Magdalena Kwiatkowska’s 13-year-old returned to Poland from their holiday expecting a baby. Magdalena believes the teenager conceived from stray sperm after taking a dip in the hotel’s mixed pool. She is adamant that her daughter didn’t meet any boys while she was there. She is now seeking compensation from the hotel.

Meet the proud father….

Now, in the event of the 0.00001% chance that Magdalena is not either extremely gullible or in serious denial about her daughter’s behaviour, does this mean there is a market for full body condoms for swimmers now?

Not satisfied with seemingly having driven his son Michael into freak show territory, Joe Jackson now seems determined to screw with his grandchildren’s lives.

He has visions of taking his late son’s children on tour as The Jackson Three in 2010.  Details of The Jackson Three tour came after Jackson, 79, told Good Morning America that he believed Michael’s three children had talent that could be developed.  He says:

"I keep watching Paris, she maybe wants to do something, you know,"

"And Blanket, he can really dance, that’s what they’re saying. He can really dance."

Not only a tour next year, but there are rumours the young Jacksons are preparing to star on stage in London next month for a celebration of what would have been their father’s 51st birthday and that Prince Michael may record a "virtual" duet with his father.

However, the rest of the Jackson family is violently opposed to Joe’s plans.  Said one confidant of the family:

"One of the family members is livid. He is saying Joe seems intent to do this no matter what … he wants to exploit the kids the same way he did Michael."

For the sake of Michael Jackson’s children, keep their grandfather away from them, or its likely there’ll be another generation of screwed up freaks in the family.  Oh, and get some normal names for them, too.  Who calls their kids Prince and Blanket?  Paris is OK I suppose.

What is unusual about this is that it concerns 2 women’s soccer teams in Adelaide.

Adelaide University women’s football club hired a security guard to crack down on unruly behaviour on and off field, when their team faced Elizabeth Downs today.  The rivalry between the two clubs has become so fierce that Adelaide University division one players fear for their safety.  Some have chosen not to play because of past experiences.  The club also notified the university’s security to be on standby for the game.

Adelaide University coach Kevin Holohan said:

"Players are being punched and physically and verbally intimidated,"

"The spectators are just as abusive - making physical taunts towards other spectators and players."

He also claimed that during a game he was chased by a relative of one of the Elizabeth Downs players, who threatened to physically assault him. 

Elizabeth Downs club chairman Bill Duncan said he did not know of any specific issue with Adelaide University and was surprised to hear the club had called on security to monitor the game.  He said Elizabeth Downs players behaved well and held "no animosity" towards Adelaide University.

So what does this say about the two teams?  Are the University players overly sensitive and unable to deal with what the Elizabeth bogans throw at them?  Are the Elizabeth people saying nothing is wrong because violence and abuse is par for the course where they come from?

Meanwhile in mainstream sport here in Australia, professional footballers are getting on with the business, getting pissed and shitting in hotel corridors.