Media - Blatant Lie & Spin

Friday Evening, on the 8th of December 2006, Melbourne Victory FC played Sydney FC in the 2006/2007 Australian League competition. The game was one of the most important games for both clubs. A win for Melbourne means they were virtually winning the Premiership. A loss for Sydney means, not only were they beaten by their main rival, but also possible drop of their position in the league. The game eventually finished with a 0-0, and the crowds, 50,333 people, were a new milestone for football club competition in Australia, the highest ever in a regular season.

Once the game finished, a group of Melbourne Victory FC fans gathered outside gate 7, taunting a small group of Sydney FC fans. Police ordered both sets of fans to move on peacefully but the two groups failed to obey the police. When situation became a bit heat up, police released pepper spray and arrested 3 Melbourne fans for showing anti social behaviour, failing to move on when ordered by police. So the story started.

The next morning, Channel Nine broadcasted the "riots" after the game in one of their morning news. A bloke was interviewed by the station. The bloke admited that he was one of the "fans" and he talked about the "riots" and describe how he felt "unsafe" while watching soccer. He then displayed a footage of his mobile phone video, showing people who were chanting "Come on Melbourne, Come on Melbourne" as being rioting. Funnily, I was in the game and went home safely without any fear of riot whatsoever and do did 50,000 other people.


The pic above is taken when he was being interviewed. Apparently he is Sean Sowerby. So who is Sean Sowerby?

Sean Sowerby is one of the producers of the 3AW radio station. He was voted the Best Newcomer Off Air in the 2006 Australian Commercial Radio Awards (see page 2 of the link). His programme, "3AWSport" is famous for broadcasting the AFL Games. 3AW is also well-known for "not liking" football (soccer) and they never broadcast any news on the A-League. Eventhough they are based in Melbourne and Melbourne Victory FC has been playing very well this season, they don't think it is worthy of a news for them.

So, let's pause for a moment and think of this situation, a producer of a sport programme in a radio station that never want to touch anything about football (soccer), then suddenly he said he went to the stadium and watched the game, but then he told people "he is one of the fans" and talked about riot in football game and how he felt unsafe, isn't something fishy going on here?

I am pretty sure this was a blatant lie and spin by a major media to undermine the image of football (soccer) in Australia. A lie like this is mostly like not the only case. May be it happens on other issues around us too and we don't realise it at all. Beware!

More coverage of this blatant lie can be found here:
http://rankandvile.dailyflute.com/

Crimes Against Humanity

Mr. Saddam Husein is now dead. He was hanged to death in a secret place, at 2 PM Melbourne time or 3 AM GMT. He was executed as a punishment of his "crimes against humanity". Presumably they are the "crimes" against the "humanity" as defined by people who defeated him.

The winner always re-write the rules and the definition of the words in the rules. "Crimes against humanity" is such a subjective term that people can twist it to their advantage. There is no doubt that Mr. Saddam Husein did use a "hard" approach when dealing with people who did not obey him. Reports and stories told that he governed his people with fear, and he did not hesitate to kill anyone who was not following him. There was only one person who could define rules when he was still the president of Iraq.

However, if Mr. Saddam Husein's order to kill the Iraqis was considered as a crime against humanity, was Mr. George Bush's order to send troops and bombs to Iraq to kill many hundred thousands of Iraqis (and to remove Mr. Saddam Husein and his government) considered as a crime as well? Apparently no, because that was a "help" for the Iraqis, to make their lives better "in the future" although the facts are now many Iraqis have lost their lives, loved ones, and perhaps lost their limbs and permanently disabled by bombs. All these are called "sacrifices", it is needed to build a more democratic and peaceful Iraq.

So what is actually "crimes against humanity"? Which "version of humanity" is it?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Selamat Hari Natal!

It is a grey Christmas here in Melbourne. A change in weather has presented some light rain around Melbourne and other parts of Victoria. The temperature also dropped to around 15 degrees at the moment. It is quite different from the Christmas eve two years ago (2004), when the temperature was quite warm and the sky was clear and blue.

Weather forecast bureau in Melbourne has predicted that some snow will fall in the Alpine region of Victoria. Some places in the area were burning last week due to bush fire. It is a relieve for people who live in the area that rain and snow are coming during this Christmas period. To some areas, it has been a bit too late though.

Laura

"Laura" accidently came up in my Friendster connection list one day and I was like "Gee! She is a beauty! I must ask her to be my friend". I checked her profile, apparently she is still a single, living in Singapore, a DJ, only 19 years old (never mind she is old enough :p).

She said on her profile that she doesn't want to receive any message from a male/boy (oh no!). But of course this will not prevent me from sending her a message anyway. So I did it. I sent her a message asking for her invitation or email. She never reply until now :(

And then today, surprise-surpise, I saw the photograph of "Laura", the very one used in Laura's friendster profile, and it is shocking, this is apparently the photograph of Maria Ozawa aka Miyabi, the Japanese Adult Video Star. Goodness me!!!!

So, "Laura" in my friendster list is not a real Laura. He/She is probably the addoring fans of Maria Ozawa, the Japanese/French/Canadian Adult Movie Star. I am sort of disappointed with this "revealation". It is disappointing because not only the beautiful "Laura" will never be my friend, she is also an Adult Video star. What a pity! Such a waste!

Big Day Out: Melbourne vs Sydney on Friday

The Big Day is tomorrow, no, this is not about the Big Day Out Music Festival, but the football (round ball that is, aka soccer for those who do not know what football is) big match between Melbourne Victory FC and Sydney FC. One of the most important game in the season because a win for Melbourne means they become Minor Premier Elect of the A-League for this season.

Melbourne is now on top of the ladder with 37 points, while Sydney is second with 24 points. With 5 games to go after this week, a loss for Sydney means their maximum points will be 39, 1 point short of Melbourne' point next week (40), therefore it means they will not become Minor Premier.

The game should be a good one, because Sydney cannot afford to lose, while Melbourne want to get the 3 points. It is a final for both teams, especially for Melbourne Victory FC.

Writing and Thinking

"The art of writing clearly is thinking clearly"

It is not about the language, but it is about how ideas are organised and written on a piece of paper. Writing is about expressing thoughts in mind and telling it to others in the form of formal language.

A difficulty in writing means something is not quite right in the thinking. Ideas are not well expressed perhaps due to either lack of understanding of the subject or lack of information. So to write clearly, make sure the subject has been thought carefully with enough information.