Smacktard of the day...

[Gutter Monkey]

Originally Posted by unfrufru

next week Shannon Noll is releasing a new version of C'Mon Aussie C'mon, that's more sacriligious than the anthem people!

Yeah ... but if he does more covers then that means he won't 'write' as many 'original' songs. It's a give n' take situation.

[Mythor]

Smacktard of the day: Casey Donovan.

Sixteen. Winner of nationwide talent search. Idol to hundreds of thousands of young adults and aboriginals.

Smoker.

She's reported to be refusing to give up a "packet-a-day" habit.

She can't even legally buy the damn things herself. I hope she gets busted trying to do so or something so I can laugh. LAUGH I TELLS YOU.



Runner up: Senator Andrew Bartlett. Bartlett joins hunger strikers.

Firstly, as Senator Vanstone points out, Bartlett starting his "hunger strike" legitimises the tactic in a way. As she said, it sends the message that it's an accepted form of protest. It isn't, and it shouldn't be seen as anything but extortion.

But, perhaps more importantly, he's a smacktard for the weak-ass way he's going about his "hunger strike". He is consuming "water and 'other fluids'". And will not "do anything harmful to himself" in the process.
Thus completely negating the whole point of going on a "hunger strike"! The idea is that you don't eat or drink until the person/s you are attempting to extort either relent, or forcibly feed you or otherwise give you nourishment, such as through IV's or what have you. Or you die, in which case the people responsible can get in trouble through various channels or the people holding you prisoner can get in trouble or they lose their bargaining power etc etc.

Mmmph. He should've been kicked out of parliament anyway, before now, but what can ya do.


Honorable mention (and almost runner-up) : ARIA.

When is a platinum CD not a platinum CD?
Makes an absolute mockery of the entire "platinum" and "gold" record sales system. With it operating in that fashion, ANYONE can essentially "buy" a platinum record by shelling out for enough CDs for the level they want, a computer and a really bored geek, then burn a dodgy song onto each one and convince a store to take delivery of your "album". They don't even have to BUY THEM FROM YOU. You could probably even give them just a single CD and tell them they're allowed to make 40 bajillion copies of that CD and voila! Multi-mega-giga-platinum! Yay!

The fact that they won't even release the actual sales figures completely blows out of the water any claims they have about how music piracy has affected sales. BULLSHIT! The figures you have provided are completely worthless if you won't let us verify them for ourselves, so you can FUCK RIGHT OFF NOW. kthxbai.


Merry bah-humbug to all the smacktards of the world.

[Gutter Monkey]

"Drinking game puts Perth man near death"

http://thewest.com.au/20041215/news/...sto130036.html

A 21-year-old Perth man is lucky to be alive after having his stomach ripped open during a beer-skolling game using a home-made device powered by an electric pump.

Aussie Aussie Aussie!

"But I knew something wasn't right soon after I drank from it. I started spewing up red stuff and was in a lot of pain."

We so very nearly had a candidate for the Darwin Awards right there. Maybe they'll give him a special near-miss mention.

[Gutter Monkey]

My other candidate for Smacktard of the Day is the Victorian Police force, over the roadside drug-testing fiasco. Now, testing drivers for drugs is good. And the system is brand new and it might need some fine tuning, so there may be some hiccups. So two people were booked for driving under the influence but laboratory tests showed that they were in the clear - okay, that's understandable, I'm sure they'll take that on board and amend the system. But in the case of John De Jong, the first guy to be booked under this new scheme, John reports that things started to go wrong "when his image was captured by waiting press photographers and cameramen assembled by police to witness the first tests."

The police *invited* the press to the first trial of the program against the general public??? They let them film it and broadcast it when they weren't *really really* sure that the road-side test was fairly accurate?

Gee, do you think that inviting the press along might now be having the opposite affect that the police intended? 'Cos the press sure aren't going to hold themselves responsible for broadcasting John's identity when he hadn't actually done anything wrong.

[Munchkin]

I sense a lawsuit.

[Mythor]

He is apparently considering legal action. I'd've been extremely surprised if he wasn't, because even if he had done something wrong, he still can't be identified until found guilty. I think they can give his name, but they can't show his face, etc.

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2004/s1270272.htm

Stuff like this is why I wish they'd just completely bar any identification of people UNLESS THEY ARE FOUND GUILTY. That's how the whole "innocent until proven guilty" thing was supposed to work... Meh.

[veronica tghf]

Originally Posted by Gutter Monkey

So two people were booked for driving under the influence but laboratory tests showed that they were in the clear

(from the AM transcript)

JOHN DE JONG: What I've said throughout all this is that four weeks before I had this drugs test, I did have a smoke of cannabis.

Most modern laboratories have the limit on the level of detection set quite high so that if their results are used as evidence in court it can't be discredited by the defence saying "but how accurate is your apparatus", so that's why the lab tests showed he was in the clear, yet the saliva test was positive.

But yeah... it's not a good idea to let someone be identified in the media if they haven't actually been found guilty.

[awaywithfairies]

Originally Posted by Gutter Monkey

"Drinking game puts Perth man near death"

http://thewest.com.au/20041215/news/...sto130036.html

We so very nearly had a candidate for the Darwin Awards right there. Maybe they'll give him a special near-miss mention.

It's idiots like this that have inspired my unofficial campaign at work (I work in the health system) to have a regular Tell It Like It Is Day. You'd be surprised how many people do completely stupid things and then expect the overworked and under-resourced health systems of this country to fix them. On this day we'd be allowed to actually tell them "You know what? You're a moron and you deserve to die".

[Laurenandë]

Originally Posted by vtghf

But yeah... it's not a good idea to let someone be identified in the media if they haven't actually been found guilty.

Went to a press conference with the QLD police commissioner once, and had a chat about the media publishing names of people before they've been proved guilty. It's apparently something that the News Ltd newspapers (ie Courier-Mail) do on a regular basis (not for all cases, and certainly not when they become directly liable) and it upsets the police no end, but they can't do a thing about it. I suspect it's the same thing for NSW/Vic (but your laws are different)...

I think the media would kick up a fuss if they tried to restrict the laws anymore on id'ing people.

Hope he does take it to court.

[Edward]

Originally Posted by awaywithfairies

On this day we'd be allowed to actually tell them "You know what? You're a moron and you deserve to die".

That's a great idea, but I think it needs to be expanded to include all industries (on different days of the year). Boxing Day, for example, could be "Shop-Security-Officer Tell It Like It Is Day". Then they could say "You know what, you need crutches and you placed yourself at the front of a pack of eager shoppers outside the Myer Melbourne store on Boxing Day, it's a real shame you didn't sustain any serious injuries when you fell over and got trampled."

[Mythor]

Smacktard(s) of the day: Everyone criticising various governments (such as the Australian and American governments) for being "stingy" in their offers of aid for the countries affected by the tsunami.

Firstly, we don't have to give any of them a damn thing! Not a brass razoo! Nothing!!!
If we do decide to help, blasting the help we offer as "stingy"/"inadequate"/whatever is atrocious. Wake up to yourselves.

Secondly, most countries already contribute moneys to various poorer countries in various forms, including Australia and America. In America's case, they're actually #1 in terms of total money provided to other countries, although they're "only" #22 when taken in terms of percentage of GDP.
It's still more than they're required to give!

Thirdly, it doesn't help to say "We're going to give you eleventy billion dollars!!!1!11!" before the extent of the damage is even vaguely understood. Are we supposed to jump up and offer a billion dollars every time there's a natural disaster?
Noone ever said, "We'll give you $X million, AND DON'T YOU DARE ASK FOR A PENNY MORE!!!"
Of course, if it was obvious that more aid was going to be needed, other countries, particularly other countries in the region, would step up and lend a hand.
These things take time. Getting on your high horse this early makes you look foolish.

And on a slightly related note - countries current levels of commitment are their current levels of commitment based on what they can offer and get organised to send over there ASAP. The situation is still pretty chaotic and they're having trouble getting the resources that have already arrived organised and distributed as appropriate.
All of which has absolutely nothing to do with any countries involvement, or lack thereof, in Iraq. Comparing the two makes you look like some retarded biased mental nutjob.

Or something. =d

Please, give your thanks to the governments that are helping, don't abuse them. Spend your time encouraging them, and the people around you, to give generously. While a tsunami may seem to be such a quick thing, and you might think the worst is over - it's not. There are thousands upon thousands injured, some of whom probably won't make it. All the dead bodies and pools of water and various other muck all over the place are going to become a rave party for germs. There is likely to be at least one outbreak of disease following this.
The destruction of so much property and infrastructure and so on is going to lead to food shortages and potable water shortages and hundreds of thousands are likely to not have a home to live in. The countries affected don't just need a billion dollars now, they need millions now and similar amounts every month probably well into next year, if not longer.

I think a lot of people are still massively underestimating, or simply not understanding, the scope of this disaster.

But I shall stop my angry insane rantings now.

[hails]

but we need someone to blame!! *s*

channel ten news just said that the australian government is giving 35 million dollars worth of medical supplies, care and the like to the affected countries. yay government!

(i hate our government, but good on them for doing something good for once)

[Munchkin]

Of course Australia and Japan are going to be able to get aid to the area faster then America and the UK, they're physically closer. It takes a little time to assess what is needed and where, and more then money what those 11 countries need right now are clean water, food, medicine and medical personal and they take time to assemble.

[Mythor]

Yah, I'm not saying our government is the bestest ever or anything, but it's not right to slam them for offering a whole bunch of help. They don't have to do it and they're in government for the next three years no matter what, so you can't even ping them with the cynical vote buying thing.
Not saying shower them with undying love, but give them credit when it's due.

And dig down the back of the couch and find some money you didn't even know you had and donate what you can. You definitely can't bag them unless you've donated something yourself!

[Mythor]

Smacktards of the day: The Australian Cricket Selectors, for fiddling around with the Test team for the dead match at the SCG this week, yet still not finding a spot for Brett Lee in the team!
At least they've done him the courtesy of not naming him 12th man yet again, so he can finally go get a game at State level.

They're still smacktards though.

And if Binger still gets only a handful of days of real cricket in again this year, the selectors should all be fired.

Disclaimer: I am not really that big a Brett Lee fan, but the way he's been treated by the Australian selectors is a disgrace.