Thursday, October 8, 2009

Q&A

Tonight's panellists
Germaine Greer - feminist author and commentator
Todd Sampson - the Gruen Transfer's Ad-Man
Belinda Neal - Labor Party MP
Cory Bernardi - Liberal Party backbencher
Janet Albrechtsen - opinion columnist

Youse southerners'll be settling down to watch now...

Who knows, it might be worth watching with Cory and Janet.

Regarding the Hey Hey Its Saturday Jackson send up on Red Faces, points to Germs, get angry about real shit. Yay. Brits critical of Aussies and racism in Aus because they can't play cricket.

Janet Albrechtsen - we should laugh more. It wasn't funny and only was looked at because of the furore.

Question about racism, gee what a surprise. Not sure if he means whitey's are racist or non whiteys - he's Sri Lankan I think so....

Carpe, I think JA is much prettier than you in those glasses.

Todd thinks that Australia is full of racists. How is that manifest asked JA.

Transcript will be interesting.

Make up your mind, Todd. Oh, good you're speaking for all those people who suffer racism.

Oh, it's subliminal racism, covert, not overt. Sure.

Blenda is talking about her experiences with racism, coming back to Aus in the 70s, speaking Italian and doing things like shaking hands which others didn't in the 70s. The 70s.

Germs talks about Anxious racism.

Thank God Germs didn't breed.

Aussies tolerate different races, but don't embrace their cultures... um, what exactly does that mean?

That's news, opposition is opposed to an ETS.

Oh, wait. Just Rudd's.

Gruen is a True Believer - he doesn't know much about politics, Australian politics, but he's a True Believer in AGW. Idiot.

Gruen doesn't understand politics. Shows he doesn't understand anything.

Nuke power. Gruen calls it Nucular power. RAOTFLMAO. It's not only George Bush who calls it that... he he.

Germaine thinks that we haven't done anything with nuclear power because we have been too scared. Shit. That's news to me.

Funny how Belinda Neal speaks about her personal life and her husband's infidelity and her handling of it and how we all grow from adversity... but nothing about her meltdown.

Germs knows all about raising children and their problems. Children are not born free.... She's right about kids being free to learn from their childhood mistakes, rather than being overprotected by their parents.

Janet's agreed with Germs about kid's overprotection and their lack of doing stuff.

Belinda says that kids are wonderful and can do anything.

Corey's with Germs and Janet. Learning about taking risks and being able to make decisions using their judgement.

Yawn
it's over

Next week:
Alexi Sale
Anthony Albanese
Christopher Pine
Deepak Gupta
Nikki Williams

Last week's transcript is here. Search for BASAK YILDIZ for the question from the Iraqi who Christopher flamed.

BASAK YILDIZ: Why is it that the Islamic country, Iran, is the threat to the peace in the world and not the Zionist? Is it America’s support of Israel, while hundreds of people are getting killed in Gaza and West Bank, everyday with the support of America. The Israel and Palestinian war has been going on for 61 years and we are not actually looking at what is actually happening and we're fearing about what is not happening? We're fearing about something that hasn't happened.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: It's become a familiar thing. I should perhaps preface this by saying that with Edward Said, the late professor Edward Said, I wrote a book about the rights of Palestinians and the way in which these have been negated by Israeli policy. But I know a lot of people in the Arab and Muslim world who are fed up with having the subject changed to Israel whenever human rights for them comes up. A very good example of this just last week in Tehran, where the government has an official Al-Quds Day, as it's called, the day of Jerusalem, where school children and others are paraded. It's a more or less compulsory demonstration to say they'll give their blood and their lives for Palestine and hundreds of thousands of Iranians turned up to say, no, we'll only give our blood for Iran, thanks. We're fed up with being told by the regime that they represent the oppressed of Palestine. That we can't talk, and they are having to shed their blood because the regime keeps on killing them for wanting to have a say in their own internal affairs. And a regime that does this and has just pulled off a blood stained military coup. It's overturned the results even of an already pre-determinedly fraudulent election that says that a woman's voice is worth that of only - sorry, it takes three women in a court against one man; that uses torture and rape as policies in prison and so forth. If you want a regime like that to have nuclear weapons, you're welcome, but you should say that's what you don't mind. Are you going to say that? Are you going to say you've no objection? That the real problem is the Jewish state? Come on, be serious.

BASAK YILDIZ: Sir - sir, you're - sir, the Jewish state doesn't have nuclear weapons. Is that - is that what you're saying?

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: Well, now, I appeal again to the fair mindedness and intelligence of the audience. Did I say that?

AUDIENCE: No.

BASAK YILDIZ: No, but you say...

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: Did I by - in any way imply it?

BASAK YILDIZ: No, but...

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: No. Did I not begin with a throat clearing, which I'll amplify if you like, about my long record of work about this, my defence of the Israeli dissidents who publish the news about Israel's illegal program and have gone to jail for it. I can refer you to all that, if you like.

BASAK YILDIZ: What...

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: My point was directed specifically to you.

TONY JONES: Yeah, okay.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: I said, "Does this, in your mind, make the destruction of human rights in Islamic countries okay or not?"

BASAK YILDIZ: No.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: Good.

BASAK YILDIZ: No, it's not.
Then he goes on to flame out Aly.

And then this (Hitchen's replies and retorts are worth reading, too):

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Look, my one question is basically - or my one comment or passing comment is that so many times you've brought up women and Islam. I'd just like to correct that I've read the Qur'an and all Muslim scholars would agree with me that Islam gives women a lot of rights. We over and over give Islam women - in Islam, through the Qur'an, I may not say it through individuals who preach the religion but Islam, through the Qur'an, gives women a lot of rights and I need that to be heard. I need to have everyone to understand and hear that. I mean, I am a young Muslim woman myself. I sit before you. I have a voice and I can speak to you and I can look you in the eye and I do have my rights. And when I go to Iran - I'm actually Iranian, as well. So when I go to Iran I also have my rights. I need it to be heard that the Qur'an - the Qur'an, Allah, (indistinct) Allah, gives us our rights. People - individuals in countries and people who represent our religion may not and they may do the wrong thing to sort of stand in front and show us religion and preach us religion, but Islam does.

TONY JONES: All right. We're going to take that as a comment.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you.

TONY JONES: And a very passionate one. Okay.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: Oh, no. Oh, no we're not. No, we're not going to take that as a comment. I can see your face. I can see your hair and I can you sitting there in the audience with young gentlemen. Don't you tell me you can do any of that in Iran.

21 comments:

LouMac said...

what I hear from germs, I think not.

night night kae.

Carpe Jugulum said...

Yes Kae it will be worth watching, and no i won't spoil it for you, but it is shaping up as a good show tonight. Quite measured.

LouMac said...

well I don't know about your definition of "measured", but not wanting to ruin kae' enjoyment, I better say it later, if I can stand any more of it?

Carpe Jugulum said...

Fair call LouMac, i'd advise Kae not to have objects that can be thrown at the TV nearby (i'll hedge my previous comment because it was 20 min ago)

kae said...

Ok
Germs took over? Talked over others?
Cory and Janet were either
1. too weak to talk over anyone (else how would they get a word in edgeways?)
2. too polite.

Huh?

LouMac said...

I'm actually very much surprised by one person, teaches me, and all of us, not jump to conclusions!
You know who I mean?

LouMac said...

wait and watch, kae, I may actually stay the distance this time

Carpe Jugulum said...

My take thus far

Gernaine Greer - Please just go away.

Todd Sampson - Overly opinionated AGW wanker & prospective hobo.

Belinda Neal - eh, i'm fairly ambivalent there.

Cory Bernadi - See above.

Janet Albrechtson - Erudite, articulate and wears the same glasses i do, (classy)

kae said...

Blenda?

LouMac said...

yup

kae said...

Hmm, OK

It's not the same watching it on my own!

Devil dog is woofing.

It's the old "come out and play with me, I want to teach you some tricks with my tug-o-war rope" woof. Kinda plaintive.

LouMac said...

Gernaine Greer - Please just go away.

the sooner the better, b...y harpy, I wouldn't mind so much her being a harpy but at least talk sense for God's sake, she is just droning on and on saying nothing but platitudes.

FFS I never built a tree house!!!
Still had a good time a a child!

LouMac said...

how far behind in time are you kae?

Carpe Jugulum said...

So who would i invite for dinner?

GG - It will be a cold day in hell first.

TS - Ill mannered, poorly dressed, pretentious asshat. Fire up the electric fence and unleash the hounds.

BN - Doubtful

CB - Doubtful

JA - Yes, politics aside, i think she would be an engaging dinner guest able to converse on a range of topics. (and she has the same glasses i do [bonus points for good taste])

kae said...

Used to be 20 years when I was a kid for Qlders. Then it was 20 years and 1 hour. Not sure how many years now, but at least an hour in Summer.

LouMac said...

droll, very droll LOL

see you later kae.

CJ.
JA - Yes agree.
I think Cory is being very careful, in enemy territory.

Egg said...

'Germs knows all about raising children and their problems.'

WTF?

splice said...

Belinda says that kids are wonderful and can do anything.

Late comment, I know, but here ‘tis

I’ve gotta agree with my local Federal MP on this one. In Belinda’s homezone of Woy Woy, kids can do anything… just ask police on patrol.

kae said...

Splice, honey, love, darling, sweetie, I don't think Blenda meant that... she meant their talent in front of the computer and using txt.

he he

But you do have a point, and you know, they do it all... and mostly get away with it!

splice said...

I’m not kidding, for shiz, Kae. There’s a serious white trash thing happening on the Peninsula, as they call it. Ettalong, Umina, Woy Woy.

Gangs of youths bumming around and smashing stuff for want of reason.

There are government schools and speed zones and such, but no nearby employment opportunities closer than two hours at least for those who own a car to get to the train and then change at Strathfield.

Buy a nice six cylinder Ford or Holden sedan, start the engine at 5:30 and wind your way up to the F3 freeway and you might climb the executive ladder. If you do that, you won’t choose the Peninsula to live no matter how cheap the housing. And you won’t send your kids to local schools to learn fine arts, like graffiti.

I blame the Holden drivers.

Bathurst Organic Fuel 1000… Ford rules!

Mine Host said...

Basak Yildiz? Is that her name? One hot babe!

Lacks the ability to think critically though, what a shame!