Posted by Kevin Rennie
Our National priorities were clear on the 6 pm Channel Nine News in Melbourne last night. As Robert Merkel posted at Larvatus Prodeo about the drafting Ben Cousins It’s more important than the CPRS…
Nine had Cousins as the lead story, followed by Chopper Read, with the 5% CPRS a lame third. In fact the climate change report had a graphic of a $6 rise for household costs, timeframe unspecified, plus the National Press Club protest, but little of substance about the targets. Have to get your priorities right.
It is little wonder that the Rudd government is prepared to squib the global warming challenge with yesterday’s lame effort, when it receives such shallow media treatment.
Footnote: When we lived in Western Australia, Ben Cousins was one of the three lead stories almost every night on the ABC News. We were convinced that it stood for ‘About Ben Cousins’. It seems this has followed us to Melbourne.
Filed under: climate change | Tagged: ben cousins, media
Kevin,
I gave up on the six o’clock news months ago.
It’s more like a TV version of “New Idea”. Total shite.
SBS news at 6.30pm is not bad though. It does seem to drag on a bit too long though.
Or maybe I simply won;t be satisfied until I have my own current affairs show – “The 7.30 rebort”
Just imagine the quality of the journalism – Mercedes the slut.
Thank God Richmond picked him up in the draft………………..at least it gets him off our screens until he has a :nightclub incident” early in the New Year.
What beats me is that hardly anyone in Sydney (save a few Swans supporters) give a toss about what goes on in the AFL.
Plus compared to Rugby or Rugby League and the drug policies they have in place the AFL just lacks cred in my book.
The guy should have been banned for 2 years just like Wendell Sailor was.
I’m sick of hearing about him……………………….plus he actually looks like a real smart arse as well !
Got to agree there, Kevin, but it goes deeper.
Aside from getting my head on TV as a kid back in the days when you could run onto the footy field after South Melbourne beat Collingwood at the Lakeside Oval, I have been the subject of news on 3 occasions. Once for winning a sporting title, once as the victim of an assault (stop with all the applause for the thug!) and once for my participation in some late night nude running in the back streets of an inner Melbourne suburb in a bit of a last item news “fun piece”.
Out of the three, the only report that was close to accurate was the third. The other two items were largely made up with pieces of quotes matched together to represent something entirely different from what was actually said. It didn’t much matter given the subjects, but it did make me pretty sceptical about what gets reported as “news”.
James
I have rarely been involved in or in attendance at an event covered by the media where they didn’t get the facts wrong, much less the analysis. Frank Crean’s funeral last week was an exception.
Reb
I’m not a regular on the commercial stations. Used to watch A Current Affair because it was funnier than Frontline. Life imitating art.
This is a practical illustration of how the general public won’t fall for all the “dangerous” and “catastrophic” climate-change rubbish. It’s a lot like TV violence really: it’s quite shocking and realistic when used well for dramatic effect, but, deep down, the viewer knows it’s only make-believe.
Even if I was a believer, however, I wouldn’t be all angry and frustrated because Kevin Rudd has just signed a suicide note for the Barrier Reef, the Murray-Darling Basin, and whatever other eco-catastrophe the alarmists want to use to scare the children.
Unless your brain is showing the effects of too many years swinging off a bong in Nimbin, any rational person knows that no amount of carbon reduction by Australia will make one iota of difference to global warming.
Now, more importantly, as a Richmond supporter: Go Ben! (And please try and keep the powders to a bare minimum.)
100,000 HITS WELL DONE BLOGOCRATS!!!!
Ben, meet Mercedes…
The Cousins Story made to the top on ABC TV News Victoria and drove me away from the 7.30 report. Not good enough aunty.
Ben, meet Britney…
Last story in NSW renniek.
When I went to Glenferrie Primary I used to do laps of Glenferrie Oval after school with the Hawthorn footballers. Which was pretty good given that I’m a girl and a Collingwood supporter..but then my cousin was John aka Jerka Jenkins who played for North Melbourne. Ben who???
Cousins ,or some other, and drugs(non-legal), living and making a living from what I produce, I can mostly track down a source of legacy that will effect production.Point is , where did you get the gear from Ben, fill in the blanks,…………Aw, from a mate and etc.
Came from somewhere,tracking back from a dill like Cousins would be a little smart, sort of like science does mostly, or is it all to hard, seems pretty easy given resources now available ,with a bit of hard approach to nudge things along.
Or am I missing something?.
Min: Jerka Jenkins did not play for North Melbourne. Jerka played for Collingwood, and was the stepladder for the 1970 VFL Grand Final mark of the century taken by the brilliant Alex Jesaulenko of Carlton.
Ben who???? Cousins.
‘the guy should have been banned for 2 years’ – Walrus
On what charge? To think the WA Police do not know who is supplying drugs in this city is indeed naive. As usual, and in Ben’s case the police went after the symptom instead of the cause, failed miserably, but left a trail of dirt heaped upon Ben and his family, for no apparent reason.
‘now, more importantly, as a Richmond supporter: Go Ben – Tony of South Yarra.
I agree Tony; for whatever happens to Ben and Richmond from here on, Richmond are to be congratulated for their decision to recruit Ben, in recruiting one of the very best the game has seen. All power to Richmond, and good luck for 2009. We’ll be watching more Tiger games than you can imagine.
‘the guy should have been banned for 2 years’ – Walrus
On what charge?
2. Oftenbark | December 16, 2008 at 11:02 pm
1) For being a dickhead
2) For Looking like a dickhead
3) For bringing the game into disrepute (not that I really care about AFL) i.e. drug taking, avoiding an RBT, and see 1) and 2) above.
I’ll never be able to figure out why you AFL supporters become so entranced by this weird Cult of Celebrity that surrounds your top AFL players. Sure there is a bit of idolisation in Rugby and in Rugby League but I just, I just, I just………………………….well I dont understand it.
A bit of idolisation in RL, now there’s an understatement if I’ve ever read one.
Come on Adrian,
We dont get 2,000 people turning up to watch a squad of meatheads train.
Sure the top 6 to 10 are idolised but not to the extent of AFL………………..and certainly no where near Rugby.
I dont believe what I said is an understatement when compared to AFL.
True on Rugby, but I’ve seen the celebrity cult in RL and I’ve seen plenty turn up for training sessions.
But then again RL thinks 2000 is a good number for a game so what hope does it have for a training session.
It is perhaps ironic that a post decrying the obsession of the mainstream media with sport/celebrities has turned into a sport thread.
ABC: About Bloody Celebrities
Adrian,
Ha !
I think RL is happy at around 10,000……………so a bit of exageration there on your part.
But RL is a much better TV game……………..whereas AFL is great to watch live.
I’m not trying to slag AFL it’s just that I dont understand why the players are so idolised…………………Even to the point where the AFL wont release the names of players who have been on the party juice.
ABC: About Bloody Celebrities
17. renniek | December 17, 2008 at 9:10 am
Well renniek you do have a point there. But in Sydney the 2 big stories that day WERE the emissions policy release and the exclusion of Telstra from the Broadband fiasco.
Cousins was in fact way down the list but he was still on the radar. But that’s in Sydney and obviously from the radio and TV that I was watching or listening to.
Walrus, with due respect, to the best of my knowledge, there are laws which state that a juvenile can be charged for under age drinking, yet I do not know of a law which deems offense for a juvenile to be in possession of or under the influence of an illicit drug. Check your local hospital emergency ward on any given weekend. Ben has never tested positive or found to have been in possession of either of the above substances.
Bringing the game into disrepute is the charge sporting administrators lay when there is no clearly defined charge to lay.
The two main culprits in the neverending Ben saga, apart from Ben, are initial inaction by Andrew Demitriou CEO AFL, and the mindnumbing Melbourne press, lead by the also mindnumbing Caroline Wilson.
But then Walrus, I do agree (tongue in cheek), a gaol dedicated for the imprisonment of dickheads is well overdue.
I nominate JWH as its first permanent resident.
20. Oftenbark | December 17, 2008 at 9:31 am
Good…………….at leat we agree on the gaol and JWH as its first occupant.
Clearly yet another piece of sorely missed infrastructure that was not built during the JWH years.
My God……………….what are we doin’ talking about AFL when one of the most keenly awaited cricket match ups in recent years is about to get underway today at the WACA.
Forget the “training” games against the Kiwis !
Richie Benaud is about to announce the official beginning of Summer !
Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee !
The issue with Cousins is mightily complex. Personally I hope that he stays off the drugs, does well for Richmond, and sets a beacon for drug users everywhere. Sadly, I fear that this won’t be the result.
Cousins doesn’t have to be tested positive, he’s admitted being an addict. He’s known to have regular contact with high profile underworld figures. He has had more assistance than anyone in this country to get his shit back together and has repeatedly failed spectacularly.
Now I don’t pretend to understand the difficulty in breaking a drug habit. Lord knows I have enough trouble with my addiction to ciggies and blogs. But if I were trying to convince football clubs and the public that I was making a genuine attempt to sort myself out, I would have acted much differently to the way Cousins has. I would be careful with who I was seen in public, I’d dress other than if I was about to enter a nightclub, and I’d try to show in my demeanour that I take the issue a little more seriously than Cousins appears to. Now I know that that sounds a bit harsh, but I can’t shake the impression that Cousins still doesn’t reckon he’s done much wrong. Apparently Collingwood and St Kilda football clubs hold a similar view.
And the reason this is serious is this. Everyone is watching Cousins. He’s been thrown every lifeline that could possibly be thrown, because he’s such a beautiful footballer. If he fails, then every drug user could be forgiven for believing there’s no hope. If he succeeds, it will for many provide much needed hope. I really hope I’m wrong, I really hope he is successful.
Walrus, it’s a thing of culture which I’ll explain in detail at another time. Not having a go at you, but I kind of find it funny in the RL v AFL wars when the argument that RL is better to watch on TV is used. How did we ever reach the point that a sport could be considered better than another because it’s better viewed on a TV screen whilst sitting on your arse in your lounge room? If ever there were a reason to hate the Yanks.
Correct again there James, you’re not sounding harsh at all. I sincerely hope that a fine athlete and person as Ben can mend his silly ways, for his sake, and more importantly for the sake of his fine family.
23. James of North Melbourne | December 17, 2008 at 10:12 am
James………….on Cousins I agree
Now…………………..I’ll pass you back to Richie
“……for his sake, and more importantly for the sake of his fine family.”
24. Oftenbark | December 17, 2008 at 10:22 am
Walrus shakes his head with tears running down his face as a result of hitting his head against a brick wall in his conversations with Oftenbark …………………………..!
Oftenbark…………………………….there you go again. The Cult of Celebrity has you firmly in its grip.
How do you know they are a “fine family”. Do you know them personally ?
If not how do we know that they are not the biggest bunch of drop kicks since the Corby’s appeared on the small screen……………………….just with a better sense of media management.
IATW
Shouldn’t that be a “bunch of punt kicks” since we are talking about AFL?
joni
bunch of punt kicks
I thought that was a spoonerism for a minute
Yes Walrus, one one count. Do I read Fox Sport? Never. Nor do I watch the footy show or commercial television.
Matter of fact, I think News.com and others are farcical, cheap tabloids, as are our commercial TV channels to be avoided at every turn.
This is not an overly large city.
Well Joni, look at it this way.
To the moribund media outlets, Ben is a place-kick.
Dave at 28
LOL! The selection process for the Liberal Party leadership…??
I wish Ben all the best for what is left of his career.
I also hope he keeps off the drugs but a lot of people will be sitting on the fence like vultures hoping that he fails…an Australian trait not to be proud of.
Comparing football codes reminds me of the beer thread actually…the half kilo of king prawns and Crownie glasses are on ice ready for the Perth test match in a couple of hours and I hope it is a close game on one of the best cricket decks in the world.
I love this time of year.
Oftenbark | December 16, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Oftenbark..my cousin John Jenkins was the original Jerka Jenkins and he played for North Melbourne. He later played for Preston and went on to coach Preston (from memory, but I would have to check with my mum).
John aka Jerka passed away 1980 age 44yrs from muscular dystrophy.
The Jerka who played for Collingwood was Graeme Jenkins (not a rellie to my knowledge).
Min, I’m not certain I should ask, but how does one obtain the nickname “Jerka”?
All over Australia are great places and people and of course the landscapes are beautiful.
I have not seen a great deal of this country yet but that time will come…eventually.
Here’s a link to my closest friend’s web site…she just left to spend the summer in Tasmania as she does not like the heat in her older age.
http://visionsofdownunder.com.au/
Enjoy.
Hello James. Well I can only relate from my own knowledge of my big cousin John Jenkins. John was a gentle giant..a kinder soul never walked this earth. John was 15 years older than me being the son of one of my dad’s older brothers.
When Johnny walked through the door and lifted you up on his shoulders it was as if you were being lifted up to the heavens.
Being back way back, the name Jerka didn’t mean ‘a jerk’ which is an Americanism but more likely to mean jerky as in Billabong jerky…something as tough as old boot straps and meant to last the distance.
OK MIn. That’s interesting, and I humbly apologise for my faux pas.
Good comments there Scaper. From what I heard on the ABC World Today report, the Melbourne parasitic journalists are out for their litre of Ben’s blood. Why am I not surprised?
As for the cricket. Hmmm. Early days.