A criminal is dead, and Australian media dances on his grave. Another man dies after being chucked out of the country — but he’s a criminal too, so who cares? And something about a volcano and aeroplanes.
After a ridiculously long break, here is episode 11 of The 9pm Edict. Enjoy.
You can listen to this episode below. But if you want them all, subscribe to the podcast feed, or even subscribe automatically in iTunes.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:36 — 6.5MB)
For more information about the topics covered in this episode, check out how the Victorian government may have to pay compensation for the death in prison of Carl Williams, the bizarre case against Christine Nixon, the federal government’s changes to refugee processing, Tony Abbott’s border protection truck, how Australia leads the global economic recovery, and the sad tale of Andrew Moore.
If you’d like to comment on this episode, please add your comment below, or Skype to stilgherrian or phone Sydney +61 2 8011 3733.
[Credits: The 9pm Edict theme by mansardian, Edict fanfare by neonaeon, all from The Freesound Project. Photograph of Stilgherrian taken 29 March 2009 by misswired, used by permission.]
Spot on, love the way you say it like it is. If only politicians thought like you do, oh and mainstream media.
Have I ever told you that I love you? It’s so nice to hear someone else ranting about the things I rant about — it makes me feel so much less of a voice in the wilderness. Well, I’m under no illusions that it is the wilderness, but it makes it a little less lonely.
And what’s with the Victorian Premier saying that we don’t need an inquiry into a death in custody? It’s fine — he was a serial killer. And there I was under the impression that we didn’t have capital punishment in this country, and that the government and its servants had a responsibility to protect the safety of prisoners. Just as well he wasn’t black, eh? Then we might have had to do something about it. Or not.
As for the asylum seekers, I’m just gobsmacked at the about face by Labor. WTF? They got my preferences precisely because they stood on a platform of fairer treatment for asylum seekers, so I’m feeling more than a bit betrayed. Not to mention sick of the hypocrite Christians who do their praying standing on the street corners and in the synagogues, but don’t seem to have read the bit in the Good Book about whatsoever you do for the least of my brethren …
Ok, I’ll go and wipe the foam off now. I don’t suppose you feel like a few edicts on nationalism and the glorification of war in time for Anzac Day by any chance?
Thank you both for the compliment. However I’d rather politicians didn’t necessarily think like me, since they still have to create the grubby compromises that actually allow our complex society to function in spite of mass stupidity. If they thought like me, they just might deploy the violent apparatus of state at their disposal more frequently than they do.
Still, I think they should pay a great deal less attention to the braying hordes and quite a bit more attention to a more sensible, leisurely thought process.
As for ANZAC Day, well, I wrote two quite lengthy pieces on the last two years, Anzac Day Rememberings and then Anzac Day 2009: Sacrifice. It’ll all depend on my mood over the next 24 hours.
Kevin Rudd’s decision on refugees is so many shades of disappointing and such a heartless political manoeuvre up there with Howard’s best.
I heartily your call to tabloids to consider doing a little better than tugging at the most base of the emotional strings within us. Do they really not have access to suffifciently talented writers to compile and deliver news stories that interest the reader, address the issues and serve to edify rather than debase?
As always, it’s a pleasure to listen in. And now that I’ve finally pulled my finger out, iTunes ensures that I receive my Edict, Patch Mondays and A Series of Tubes when they appear, guaranteeing many minutes of travelling pleasure.
@Sylmobile: The tug-heartstrings tabloids exhibit a depressingly arrogant view of the working man. I’d say “working man and woman”, except tabloids like Sydney’s Daily Telegraph are still relentlessly bloke-oriented. Their target market is certainly the less-well-educated segments of our complex society. But they seem to assume that less-well-educated means stupid, and that it’s not worth trying to inform and provide real news in a newspaper, but just stir up the proles a bit by telling them how they should respond.
There may be a bit of a wait for the next episode of A Series of Tubes. Richard Chirgwin is dealing with some family issues at the moment.