UPDATE: Bolt litigation, Marcia Langton & Larissa Behrendt's twitter apology

Marcia Langton.

Professor... Yes! She's a Professor at a tertiary institution. Professor Behrendt repents, but not before denying the twitter by stating it was "taken out of context".

Integrity is in shifting shades of black and white, read letters from Susan Birch of Bronte, and others, in the Australian today.

Who tweets for Aborigines?

That Behrendt is herself involved in a racial vilification case against News Limited columnist Andrew Bolt adds irony to her comments. That action has people across the political spectrum concerned because of its implications for free speech. At its core is the identification by Behrendt and others as Aboriginal. This is not the place to argue the merits of the action, but Behrendt's professional career is central to the split exposed on Twitter. Like others who work in the urban indigenous industry, she has built a career on indigenous issues and policy. Like others, she argues against the 2007 intervention initiated in response to appalling levels of violence, addiction and child abuse. Difficult as it is to believe, this newspaper has been lobbied directly by Aboriginal leaders in Canberra to stop reporting on the despair of communities in the far-north, central Australia and the Kimberley, and to focus on success stories of urban Aborigines. In essence, these leaders have urged us to ignore the shameful state of affairs in so many areas and boost the good-news quota in our pages. Such a view is not just out of touch with the needs of remote Aborigines, it casts them as unworthy of attention. These urban dwellers are prepared to risk the health, education, physical safety and futures of other Aborigines in the cause of an out-dated, leftist agenda which privileges "rights" above well-being. There is a "let them eat cake" touch about it all.

Read more.

Update: 7:27pm 15/4/11
The comments on the article by Ms Langton are heartening.

In a nutshell - free speech is worth fighting for

Will this criticism be silenced along with Andrew Bolt - this criticism from a black Aboriginal of white Aboriginals? Read the last paragraph!

Another interesting article.

Skepticlawyer's blog interesting post

This post by Legal Eagle is worth reading, as are the comments.

Israel honours Australian aboriginal with a memorial

An Aboriginal elder is to be honoured for his unique role in opposing Nazi Germany's persecution of Jews, with a memorial to be unveiled at Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum.

Eighty-two years ago, William Cooper, then aged 77, led a protest march in Melbourne a month after the notorious "Kristallnacht" co-ordinated attacks on Jews carried out by the Gestapo and Schutzstaffel (SS).

I'm not so sure that this indigenous Australian man would have experienced similar oppression to that of the Jews in Europe during the war...

"He would've experienced a similar oppression ... a similar genocide right here in Australia, so he had a very firm empathy with the Jewish people," Mr Cooper's grandson, Kevin Russell, told AAP on Saturday.

He is uncommon in his protest as he was defending the rights of others rather than completely concentrating on the "poor me" and "my ppl" focus of later "activists", who seem determined to blame everyone for their failings.

Read more here.

MIUAYGA business... lying liars

Can't believe a word they say.

I know it sounds like a lot of money but

... it hasn't really impacted how we deliver our services to our members.

Black Armband retaliation

From Janet Albrechtsen in today's Australian:

Windschuttle undertakes the long overdue task of returning to primary source material. He destroys the central thesis of genocide with reams of cold hard facts. For example, he reveals that the “small numbers of Aboriginal child removals in the 20th century were almost all based on traditional grounds of child welfare”.

In other words, most indigenous children placed in state Aboriginal settlements were orphaned, abandoned, destitute, neglected, subjected to violence, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse or went there with their parents.

More here.

UN finds fault with Australia's treatment of Aborigines

What a surprise.

THE United Nations special rapporteur on indigenous rights says the intervention into remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory is clearly discriminatory, and that there is "entrenched" racism in Australia.

James Anaya didn't pull any punches after his two-week visit of the country.

He says the Rudd Government should reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in the NT "right away" because the intervention is discriminatory.

"It undermines the right of indigenous peoples to control their own destinies, their right to self-determination," he said.

He also slammed Labor's policy of demanding 40-year leases over indigenous land before building new houses and said the stolen generations should be paid compensation.

More later.

Update:

So the UN has advised that the Rudd Government shouldn't racially discriminate.

Does that mean extra handouts should stop? Does that mean that extra medical assistance should stop?

The special treatment of aboriginals, for example, separate legal aid, etc, special petrol which can't be sniffed?

After all, this is all racism.

Some aboriginal people need more help than others; some white people need more help than others, but there is a limit to the help you can give when the helped don't help themselves.

The people who are making a living out of the aboriginal industry should be ashamed. They are ripping off their own people and feathering their own nests. And they are blaming the white man for the aboriginal situation (where it is bad).

The UN rep talks of self-determination. All self-determination in remote communities (and some not so remote), has done is enable the continuation of anti-social, dangerous, predatory, self destructive activities in these communities. Left to their own devices only the strong would survive and those not for long as they fall to savagery.

So, Mr UN rep, what's your suggestion? Have you read the history of the aboriginal situation? White man's guilt has enabled a lot of what has turned these communities savage, guilt which has been assuaged by throwing more and more money at the problem, with little reaching and benefitting those who most need it.

Don't even get me started on the ridiculous statement about the "stolen generation".

The stolen generation and AGW. Peas in a pod. Say it often enough, stifle dissent by calling those who disagree or doubt racists/deniers, and there you have the pattern.

Why won't these people open their eyes and see the truth?

TEN News tonight

TEN News?

Not much news tonight.

First up, the appalling conditions in the aboriginal camp outside Mt Isa. The joint looks like a pigsty, these poor people are living in squalor. They have to prepare food outside because the kitchen's so filthy. They sleep on mattresses on the floor. Several families share one house.

Yeah, right. Someone should ask who wrecked the houses. Who left the filth in the kitchens. Who destroyed the fittings.

Later, upcoming in the news report, snoring can cause brain damage - gee, you mean that some reasearcher has just discovered about sleep apnoea?

The next big health item is that *SHOCK* pool chemicals may cause cancer! (Anti-algal chemicals.)

Oh, this is a classic. Kevin's blaming the Hard Decisions of the budget for his 10% popularity slump.

Hard decisions?

Oh my. RAOTFLMAO.

Speaking of squalor.
Now I'm watching "Living Black" on SBS.
More whining about the town camp at Hidden Valley.
Another pigsty.
It was built 15 years ago, and is wrecked.
My house was built over 15 years ago and it's getting on, but it's not been wrecked.

More unravelling

Paul Toohey writes about aboriginal issues and the right and wrong he sees with some "solutions".

Here he talks of

THE slow unravelling of the Northern Territory Emergency Response, better known as the intervention...

Langton criticises PM for lack of child abuse body

She said the Government was taking advice from lobbyists who believed child abuse in the NT was a "fantasy" and a "conspiracy".

She also said he was appeasing both sides of the argument... those who were anti-intervention and those who were pro-intervention. Her criticism is valid as Kevin seems to be doing or agreeing with what's popular with whoever he's meeting with at the time.

Read more here.

Trying to get them educated, and promoting the victim mentality

STEVE GUMERUNGI HODDER: This song I wrote about was one of the first rhymes that I did. I actually wrote it as a poem because I'd read about Australian history and black fellas and white fellas and the fights that we had in...you know, like 1800s, when were still pretty much just tribal fellas, mostly. And it made me angry too some of the stuff...even when we did start to work for whitefellas, we got treated like slaves. And people...you know, they forget about that sort of stuff too. So I was writing this poem about what it was like to imagine being one of them stockman and ringers and getting only paid flour and sugar and tea.

and

STEVE GUMERUNGI HODDER: Right. Hit it. # You may not have heard this story before # See, it ain't a part of common Aussie folk law # Us Indigenous people # We were used to slave labour # And you wonder why there's so much antisocial behaviour # They that we're messed in the head, we're nothing but slack # Will let me take you back # To when the backbone of Australia's cattle industry was black. #

That's news to me.

I know there was a problem with payments being held back and the money being misappropriated and I am not talking about that, but I am talking about the bullshit notion that aboriginal stockmen were slaves. Some may have been badly treated, but there are people who will treat employees badly even now, it does happen on properties and to stockmen black or white.

Aboriginal stockmen were clothed, fed and sheltered by the graziers who they worked for. Mostly their extended families were looked after by their employers.

I feel that successes achieved with this project may be negated by the promotion of the victim mentality and a "them and us" attitude.

And Rebecca Wolmby deserves a medal chasing the children to school. (See the video for a better idea of this story.)

Read the transcript here and see the video here.

Cleaner in a brothel? (poor taste warning)

CHILD protection authorities in Western Australia were warned last May that a foster carer of four children was working as a prostitute, gambling heavily and using her taxpayer-supplied vehicle to drive to work at a suburban brothel.

Perfectly legit.

Yesterday, DCP director-general Terry Murphy confirmed that a complaint last May was investigated. “It was found (the carer) had worked as a cleaner in a brothel before the children came into her care. She has not worked in that capacity since caring for the children.” He said a vehicle had been provided by the department, and it was in the process of screening the woman’s male paying boarder.

Is that like a knob polisher?

Sounds sus to me, too.

Must reads

Andrew Bolt's The Fires and "Mouthed his silent thankyous and was gone".

Australian of the Year - Update III

I think it should be cancelled.

The one before the last one was a dud.*

This one is a professional whinger*. He's done bugger all except pose and complain. On the outer with the Howard Government he's now back in favour with the posing, preening ALP Federal Government. He humbly said:

While proud to receive the award he was also slightly embarrassed because "there's a couple of million Australians out there who probably deserved this ahead of me".

I'd add that he's perhaps never spoken a truer word.

Standby for the start up of the New Improved Reconciliatory Compensation Plans. There'll be more money thrown at this lot for little improvement.

*Coined in this case by Saint.

Update:
More about Dodson and links at Andrew Bolt's.

Update II:
Corrected the dud comment.

Update III
Janet Albrechtsen at the Australian speaks about the ungracious winner....

Unjust

Why do I think this is wrong and bad? Fair enough if it was some kids who had vandalised property... but any assault, or any action causing death should be treated differently. This is already happening in Australia, the elders deciding the sentence. In cases where only property is involved I think this is reasonable, and especially if it involves kids who may be put back on the straight and narrow.

ROSE VALLEY, Sask. -- A Saskatchewan man whose two young daughters froze to death after he drunkenly dragged them outside on a frigid winter night last year has won his bid to be judged by an aboriginal sentencing circle.

Considered a form of restorative justice, sentencing circles have existed in Canada for almost two decades for aboriginals. The suspects go before a jury of their peers to make amends through healing, apologies, punishment and treatment if needed.

More.
Thanks again Pogs.

Sure, throw more money...

THERE ARE no doors, no furniture and bare, dirt-caked walls. The toilet is
broken. Stinking mattresses are strewn in three small, sweltering bedrooms where
at least eight people sleep every night.

Look at the photo, I'm sure they didn't start off this way.

From Andrew Bolt's.

Ancient rage? Paul Toohey makes sense again

Aboriginal bully jailed after rage

AS Marcia Langton and Germaine Greer this week bickered about the cause of the violent rage inside Aboriginal men, that rage was asked to take a seat in the dock of the Northern Territory Supreme Court.

The name of the rage was Gary Aaron Albert, 32, described by the judge as a "full-blood Aboriginal man" from Katherine. Albert's rage took perverse and cruel aspects.

...The judge appeared to have no interest in Albert's Aboriginality and did not make the usual "he is a cultural man" or "he had tragic upbringing" type comments.

Justice Mildren told Albert: "It is clear that you are a violent bully, with no respect for women, and no respect also, I might add, for orders of the courts."

Read the whole article...