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December 2021

Ray Hadley gets owned by common-sense Aussie Cossack

Tuesday, 21 December 2021

Whether it's a Knee-Jerk, or a common garden variety jerk like Hadley, The Australian is spot on with this editorial.

 

No place for kneejerk reactions

    As national cabinet prepares to meet on Wednesday amid concerns about the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus, two points are clear. First, Australians need to take advantage of booster shots, of which 13 million are available at 9000 distribution points around the nation, Scott Morrison says. Second, all jurisdictions should follow the example of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet in refusing to tighten restrictions, especially related to travel and avoiding lockdowns. The nation is open and needs to stay open. From available accounts, the Omicron variant is a milder illness than the Delta variant. One of the problems, judging by experience overseas, is that fully vaccinated people may not know they have the Omicron variant.

    Australia has reached the milestone of more than 90 per cent of people fully vaccinated with two shots. But Oxford University data shows that only 5.2 per cent of Australians – about a million people – have received their third shot. This puts us on a par with New Zealand but well behind much of the world, including Chile (52 per cent), Britain (41 per cent), the United Arab Emirates and Malta (each 33 per cent) and much of Europe, where booster rates generally exceed 20 per cent. Many Australians were vaccinated later than people overseas. But the time frame for boosters here has been cut from six months to five months.

    The potential of Omicron to wreak economic and travel havoc is clear. In last week’s mid-year budget update, which forecast growth of 4.5 per cent this financial year and 4.25 growth next financial year, Josh Frydenberg included the expectation that “we’re not going to see Omicron derail the recovery”. Some in the community are less certain. A survey of 1500 people by the Tourism and Transport Forum shows that three-quarters of those travelling in December and January are reconsidering their plans. More than half had no confidence in borders remaining open, with Western Australia and Queensland seen as the most likely to shut their borders at a moment’s notice. Governments need to reassure the public that is not the case.

    Mr Perrottet is correct in urging the NSW community to take responsibility for their health and seek out boosters. The key metric, he said, was intensive care unit presentations rather than the daily caseload. Most people presenting to ICU facilities, currently 28 people in NSW, he said, appeared to be unvaccinated. Summer may not be looking as smooth as many hoped. But with 13 million booster shots ready, the nation is well positioned to minimise the impact of the Omicron variant.

    Posted at 09:16 PM | | Comments (22)

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    How's that Covid Freedom going Queenslanders?

    Tuesday, 21 December 2021

    "Your chance to hop aboard the vaccination train, your chance to catch the express to Covid freedom"

    Who talks or writes like that?

    Pub test:

    "You gonna get the jab?"

    "Shit yeah, it's my chance to hop aboard the vaccination train and catch the express to Covid freedom".

    Clown state.

     

    Posted at 02:49 PM | | Comments (45)

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    Really terrific article from Tony Thomas - Smug Slurs from the ABC Sewer

    Tuesday, 21 December 2021

    Many of our readers and their comments quoted here too.

    Great patriotic and important work Tony.

    Lest We Forget.

    Smug Slurs from the ABC Sewer

    Their ABC hit a new low last week. ABC flagship 7PM TV news bulletins on December 14 included an insulting reference to two Australian war heroes in the Vietnam conflict as working “for their American masters”. See it here at 16 minutes on the Victoria bulletin.

    The insult was aired on bulletins for Victoria, Queensland, SA, ACT, NT and ABC Late News.[1]

    The heroes operating “for their American masters” (in ABC-speak) are the post-humous VC winner Warrant Officer Kevin Wheatley (left) and Group Captain (rtd) Macaulay Cottrell, a forward air controller. Wheatley’s son, George, and Cottrell himself received long-delayed Silver Star medals at a US Embassy function in Canberra on the same day the gratuitous slur went to air. The Silver Star is America’s third-highest bravery medal.

    Soon after his 1965 posting to Vietnam, Wheatley noticed a three-year-old girl running amid crossfire. He ran and brought her back to safety, shielding her with his body. In August he was commended for the US decoration based on single-handedly reviving an uphill assault against a Viet Cong-held village.

    Then, in November 1965, he was with a Vietnamese Civil Irregular Defence Group company attacking a Viet Cong village. His Digger, Ron ‘Butch’ Swanton, was shot in the chest. The Viet platoon around Wheatley broke and scattered, leaving Wheatley exposed to heavy automatic fire. Although told that Swanton couldn’t survive, he refused to seek his own safety, dumped his radio and drag-carried Swanton 200 metres to cover. When the Viet Cong came after them and were only 10 metres away, according to the citation

     He was seen to pull the pins from two grenades and calmly awaited the Viet Cong, holding one grenade in each hand. Shortly afterwards, two grenade explosions were heard, followed by several bursts of fire. The two bodies were found at first light next morning after the fighting had ceased, with Warrant Officer Wheatley lying beside Warrant Officer Swanton. Both had died of gunshot wounds.

    The citation spoke of his magnificent courage and unflinching loyalty. 

    Flying Officer Macaulay Cottrell earned the Silver Star as a forward air controller directing ground attack aircraft near Lai Khe  on June 10, 1968, during intense hostile fire.

    I complained to ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs at 1.51pm on Friday, December 17, about the ABC’s “American masters” insult to Wheatley and Cottrell. An hour later at 3pm, complaints head Kirsten McLiesh responded,

     ABC News apologise for this choice of words and acknowledge it has caused offence. A post has been made on the ABC’s Corrections and Clarifications page

    The ABC had put up a correction the previous day:

    Silver Star medals
    News: On 14 December, ABC News presented a story about two Australian soldiers who had been awarded military honours by the United States for exceptional valour in combat. The story closed with an observation that there had finally been ‘recognition of brave deeds performed by two Aussies for their American masters’. ABC News regrets this choice of words and acknowledges it has caused offence. Australians fought alongside Americans as allies in the Vietnam War.

     My complaint was:

    I am bewildered that this blatant propaganda was promulgated by [ABC Canberra Bureau reporter] Craig Allen and endorsed by the whole news team including sub-editors, producer and newsreader. The print version has been corrected but this live TV version has no correction. 

    It is a particularly vile insinuation in respect of our soldiers who put their lives on the line in OUR national interest.

     Please correct it and ensure my complaint is included in the 2021-22 ABC annual report. I would also appreciate some explanation for how this gross violation of the ABC Charter [for impartiality] was permitted on the flagship 7pm TV news.

     Ms McLiesh explained 

    We have reviewed the story and sought and considered comments from ABC News. The intent of this story was to recognise the remarkable courage and contribution of these two Australian soldiers who had served in US military units in the Vietnam War, reporting to US commanders. It was this chain of command relationship that the story sought to convey in its closing observation that the award of these military honours was a ‘recognition of brave deeds performed by two Aussies for their American masters’.

     It says something about ABC green-Left groupthink that the insulting words were passed for inclusion by all those running the flagship 7pm TV news in Canberra, Vic, Qld, SA and NT. Are these bulletins not checked by senior ABC news managers, as would be the case in any decent, well run newsroom? So one must assume in light of all the lower apparatchiks — reporters, subeditors, video people, pretty-faced anchors reading TelePrompters — who saw nothing amiss in the cheap “American masters” shot.[2]

    Much online vitriol has been directed against Canberra ABC reporter Charlotte Gore, whose byline was on the ABC on-line report.[3] She replied to one critic:

     The ABC Canberra newsroom regrets the choice of words in our television coverage of this story, which can be seen here:

    So you are aware, I at no point in any version of my online story used this phrasing. 

    I had no involvement with the television script which included this choice of words.

    Kind regards,
    Charlotte Gore.

    I checked all versions of her ABC print story via Wayback Machine, the internet’s archive, and confirmed Ms Gore had never written “American masters”. On December 20 I got through by email to her bureau’s Craig Allen who replied, with commendable fortitude,

    The words were mine, and mine alone. Best wishes, Craig.

    Blogger Michael Smith is a four-year police officer and an eight-year army veteran with a big following among other veterans. He opened his attack on the ABC on December 16 with a post headed, ‘ABC News. You filthy dirty bastards. Lest We Forget’ saying

    No Aussie dig fought ‘for American masters’. You ABC dogs.

     A woman responder said,

    I know several Vietnam Vets who fought and when they returned were treated like scum. Many are still suffering from the after effects both physically and mentally and each time one of their mates passes, their pain is renewed.

    I hope none of them saw this ABC programme as their wounds would once again be opened. Never been a woman who swears but: ABC, UNPATRIOTIC BASTARDS.

    “Denise” added:

    Everything the ABC does is done with the intention of offending. I’m sure they believe anyone who fought against communists must be punished. Whatever it takes.

    Other comments included:

    [Speaking] as a Vietnam Veteran,we had complete control of our province in South Vietnam without the help of the Americans. We rarely fought alongside the Americans. In fact from my recollection 2 RAR only once fought alongside the Americans and in that case they let us down by arriving too late as a blocking force in the sealing of a valley to stop the Viet Cong withdrawal.  

    Shame on the ABC the Enemy at home of all former and serving ADF personal. You unpatriotic Bastards.

    Another comment:

     A couple of very carefully chosen words to further push the progressive agenda and demean the ANZAC spirit. 

    Looking further into Craig Allen’s piece to air, it generally mined the US Embassy press release, but he also chose to google up and include a jab at the Menzies government:

    Kevin Wheatley was killed in Vietnam. A begrudging Australian Government would not even fly his body home for burial. It fell to the grateful public to pick up the tab.

    While that is true, Allen didn’t add that Harold Holt’s Coalition government corrected the policy a year later. He ended his piece with the “American masters” line. 

    At Michael Smith’s blog, commenter “Suparat” said,

    Whoever put that last line in, along with whoever approved it, should be instantly sacked.

    If Allen were to go, some might argue another 20-or-so ABC line managers at Ultimo headquarters and most states, starting with the acting director of news, should perhaps go with him.

    (Editor’s note: While it might surprise some, there really is a minister whose job it is keep an eye on the ABC. His name is Simon Birmingham.)

    Tony Thomas’s just-published “Foot Soldier in the Culture Wars” ($29.95) is available from author at [email protected] or publisher Connor Court

    [1] In other States the medal item was crowded out by a climate piece falsely claiming US tornados have been on a long-term increasing trend. https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/11/21/below-normal-extremes2021-northern-hemisphere-cyclone-activity-below-normalus-tornadoes-below-normal/

    [2] ABCTV promotes the fiction that its newsreaders are “real journalists”. This episode demonstrates that they aren’t.

    [3] Gore’s report was a wholly professional job

    Posted at 01:08 PM | | Comments (13)

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    Scathing letter to Facebook's Zuckerberg from the British Medical Journal (BMJ)

    Tuesday, 21 December 2021

    Here's a little background to the British Medical Journal - BMJ - with more here.

    Screen Shot 2021-12-21 at 8.56.29 am

    And here's the scathing open letter from The BMJ to Mark Zuckerberg

     

    Dear Mark Zuckerberg,

    We are Fiona Godlee and Kamran Abbasi, editors of The BMJ, one of the world’s oldest and most influential general medical journals. We are writing to raise serious concerns about the “fact checking” being undertaken by third party providers on behalf of Facebook/Meta.

    In September, a former employee of Ventavia, a contract research company helping carry out the main Pfizer covid-19 vaccine trial, began providing The BMJ with dozens of internal company documents, photos, audio recordings, and emails. These materials revealed a host of poor clinical trial research practices occurring at Ventavia that could impact data integrity and patient safety. We also discovered that, despite receiving a direct complaint about these problems over a year ago, the FDA did not inspect Ventavia’s trial sites.

    The BMJ commissioned an investigative reporter to write up the story for our journal. The article was published on 2 November, following legal review, external peer review and subject to The BMJ’s usual high level editorial oversight and review.[1]

    But from November 10, readers began reporting a variety of problems when trying to share our article. Some reported being unable to share it. Many others reported having their posts flagged with a warning about “Missing context ... Independent fact-checkers say this information could mislead people.” Those trying to post the article were informed by Facebook that people who repeatedly share “false information” might have their posts moved lower in Facebook’s News Feed. Group administrators where the article was shared received messages from Facebook informing them that such posts were “partly false.”

    Readers were directed to a “fact check” performed by a Facebook contractor named Lead Stories.[2]

    We find the “fact check” performed by Lead Stories to be inaccurate, incompetent and irresponsible.

    -- It fails to provide any assertions of fact that The BMJ article got wrong

    -- It has a nonsensical title: “Fact Check: The British Medical Journal Did NOT Reveal Disqualifying And Ignored Reports Of Flaws In Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Trials”

    -- The first paragraph inaccurately labels The BMJ a “news blog”

    -- It contains a screenshot of our article with a stamp over it stating “Flaws Reviewed,” despite the Lead Stories article not identifying anything false or untrue in The BMJ article

    -- It published the story on its website under a URL that contains the phrase “hoax-alert”

    We have contacted Lead Stories, but they refuse to change anything about their article or actions that have led to Facebook flagging our article.

    We have also contacted Facebook directly, requesting immediate removal of the “fact checking” label and any link to the Lead Stories article, thereby allowing our readers to freely share the article on your platform.

    There is also a wider concern that we wish to raise. We are aware that The BMJ is not the only high quality information provider to have been affected by the incompetence of Meta’s fact checking regime. To give one other example, we would highlight the treatment by Instagram (also owned by Meta) of Cochrane, the international provider of high quality systematic reviews of the medical evidence.[3] Rather than investing a proportion of Meta’s substantial profits to help ensure the accuracy of medical information shared through social media, you have apparently delegated responsibility to people incompetent in carrying out this crucial task. Fact checking has been a staple of good journalism for decades. What has happened in this instance should be of concern to anyone who values and relies on sources such as The BMJ.

    We hope you will act swiftly: specifically to correct the error relating to The BMJ’s article and to review the processes that led to the error; and generally to reconsider your investment in and approach to fact checking overall.

    Best wishes,

    Fiona Godlee, editor in chief
    Kamran Abbasi, incoming editor in chief
    The BMJ

    Competing interests:
    As current and incoming editors in chief, we are responsible for everything The BMJ contains.

    References:

    [1] Thacker PD. Covid-19: Researcher blows the whistle on data integrity issues in Pfizer's vaccine trial. BMJ. 2021 Nov 2;375:n2635. doi: 10.1136/bmj.n2635. PMID: 34728500. https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n2635

    [2] Miller D. Fact Check: The British Medical Journal Did NOT Reveal Disqualifying And Ignored Reports Of Flaws In Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Trials. Nov 10, 2021. ​​https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2021/11/fact-check-british-medical-jo...

    [3] https://twitter.com/cochranecollab/status/1458439812357185536

    Competing interests: As current and incoming editors in chief, we are responsible for everything The BMJ contains.

    Posted at 12:01 PM | | Comments (7)

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    Ita wants more money for the ABC - here's an idea, stop paying Louise Milligan's private legal bills

    Tuesday, 21 December 2021

    The ABC is presently seeking advice as to whether fringe benefits tax applies to the matters raised

    Here's the blowout in the ABC's external legal expenses this year.

    Screen Shot 2021-12-21 at 8.30.22 am

    Here's more - apparently if a law firm sends you paperwork to your work email, your employer should pay for your costs!

    Screen Shot 2021-12-21 at 8.36.24 am

    Here's more - the Milligan Costs could spike again when the ABC works out whether FBT is payable when an employer pays a private expense for an employee.


    Screen Shot 2021-12-21 at 8.40.09 am

    Screen Shot 2021-12-21 at 8.40.09 am

    And here's Ms Milligan's Licence to Spray against people she doesn't like - at taxpayers expense.

    Screen Shot 2021-12-21 at 8.44.46 am

    And here's a running total of the taxpayer funded Milligan spray-a-thon.

    Screen Shot 2021-12-21 at 8.46.40 am

    Meanwhile, tone-deaf Ita's crying poor!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Screen Shot 2021-12-21 at 8.50.37 am

    6a0177444b0c2e970d0282e107064a200b-600wi-2

    Posted at 11:53 AM | | Comments (18)

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